King's Landing, 288 AC
Ser Davos has joined Stannis directly in King's Landing. They have stayed here for a week, time that Stannis buys a few gift for his future wife. Today, they go with Renly to a horse seller. Stannis knows Aylis loves horses and loves riding, and he remembers a letter she sent him a few weeks ago, where she was very sad because her pony, Smudge, has passed away. She is now old enough to ride a real horse, and Stannis has thought she would appreciate the gift. He gets in a large stable yard, where a middle aged man is feeding his horses. He immediately stops when he sees the two men and the young teenager walking in.
"My Lords", he bows respectfully.
"I came here to buy you a horse. A mare if you have", Stannis directly says, wishing the visit to be the quickest possible.
"Of course, my Lord", the man immediately orders his employees to take horses out of their boxes. "Do you have a particular wish for the coat, or the age, my Lord? We have everything you want, from newly broken horses to most experienced ones."
Stannis glances at Davos and says:
"I would like a coat not very common. And a mare who is between four and seven years old. Not older, not younger."
He knows a younger horse could be difficult, and he wants it to be a part of Aylis's life for a long time. The horse seller bows again:
"As I see, you are a connoisseur, Lord Stannis."
He smiles and leaves to the stables, and takes three horses out. Immediately, Stannis points at the buckskin one. The horse seller exclaims:
"Don't you want to try her first, my Lord?"
"She is not for me, she is for my future wife", Stannis explains, hating to have to discuss his private life with people he does not know. He hates enough talking about this with people close to him. He walks closer from the mare: she is gorgeous, long black mane, the bottom of her legs black as coal and the rest of her coat looking like cream. Her chest is muscled, her legs look strong, and she stares back at Stannis almost defiantly. He likes her. He turns to the seller:
"Make her walk", he orders.
"Rightaway", he retorts. He walks around them with her. She is very gracious, curving her head as she walks.
"What's her name?" Stannis asks, not looking away from her a single second.
"River, my Lord".
Stannis smiles slightly:
"Perfect. I take her. A servant will come fetch her whenever she will be ready. I leave in a week for Riverrun, so I need to have her before that."
The horse seller nods, and Stannis pays the price of the horse.
Before they all leave, he buys her some jewels and some dresses, not having the slightest idea of what she likes, if all these gifts are too much, or not enough. He refuses to ask his advice to Robert, and Renly encourages him to buy things. It is like the boy has never known poverty and depravation: Renly spends a lot of money on pointless things, but, then, Stannis thinks it is for his wife, and not for him.
Riverrun, a few weeks later
She is standing behind the curtain, with her handmaids behind her. She has been staring at the landscape for a while now, and her heart has beaten faster when she has seen the procession arriving to her castle. She turns to her handmaids, and points at Stannis on his horse:
"It's him..."
They giggle:
"He is so tall!" one says
"I heard his brother is taller than anyone in the realm", another one does.
They suddenly stop giggling and gasp: Aylis turns away and gasps too when she sees her father, staring at them. The handmaids quickly leave and Hoster walks to his daughter with a smile.
"Will you welcome him with me?" he asks.
"I heard it brings misfortune if the man sees the maid before the marriage", she says softly.
Hoster smiles and hugs her:
"My little girl... how did you grow up so fast?"
She hugs back, tightly and closes her eyes: Hoster has never been demonstrative with her, and she enjoys even more those little moments, knowing that, soon, she will leave for her new life of a married woman.
"I will see him", Hoster says, pulling back gently and smiling at her before leaving the room.
On this night, before the wedding, she hardly manages to sleep, fidgeting a lot, thinking about the worst things that could happen on this day. Her sisters have arrived weeks before Stannis, and she has been so happy to see them again. She had insisted that Jon, Ned's bastard, should be here, and obviously, her sister has listened to her last time they talked, as she had a little girl called Sansa. She has been so astonished to see Robb, now a little boy, and swooned in front of the beautiful baby her sister was carrying. She also noticed how Lysa was staring ferociously at Catelyn, clearly jealous of her sister's happiness. Lysa has miscarried several times these last years, and she is getting desperate to be pregnant again. Aylis thinks also about Stannis and his family: Robert has obviously come, with Queen Cersei and Prince Joffrey, born several weeks only before Sansa. Renly will be here too, as well as Ser Davos and Maester Cressen, the two men she has seen during the feast of Robert, where he has officially betrothed them. Aylis manages to fall asleep around the middle of the night, and she clearly knows she will not get enough sleep.
"Wake up, my Lady! Today is your big day!"
The sudden rays of sunshine makes her whimper with disapproval and she hides herself under the sheets, but a handmaid rips them off.
"It is too early!" Aylis moans, tired.
"Will you miss your own wedding?" the handmaid chuckles.
Aylis sits up straight and checks on her bed sheets: she has not bled. She sighs with relief and quickly eats what the handmaid has brought for breakfast. She has had her moons twice more, but very irregularly, and that has scared her about her wedding day. She would have been so desperate if she has been having her moons: the bleeding was pretty important, and her belly pangs were very painful. Once she has eaten, she takes her bath, washing carefully, and lets the handmaids do her hair: she glances at her wedding dress, standing there, waiting for her. Her stomach is painfully knotted, and she feels like she is going to be sick or something. she swallows hard and breathes slowly to make the nausea go away. What if Stannis isn't here? What if he refuses to marry her once he has seen her? A million different thoughts rush in her mind and suddenly, she finds herself ready. The handmaids beam at her, telling her how gorgeous she is but she finds herself pale and looking sick. She walks out of her room and heads to the Sept, where her father waits for her. He kisses her cheek and offers her his arm:
"Are you ready?"
She bites her lip:
"I am so nervous..."
"I was too, when I married your mother. Everything will be alright, I swear."
She leans her brow against his, and nods at him. They both walk in, despite the shaking of her legs.
Stannis has been waiting in the Sept for what seemed an eternity for him. He has chosen simple but smart clothes for his wedding: a leather tunic, black breeches and boots. The Baratheon's sigil sewed on the leather, and he is of course wearing the traditional cloak he will later wrap around Aylis's daughter. The guests are whispering between themselves waiting for the bride, and, as the door opens, the assembly remains silent. Stannis stares at the two people slowly walking in, Lord Tully, all smiles, and his future wife by his side. The young groom gasps pretty noisily, without controlling it, when he sees Aylis. She is definitely not the little girl she used to be. She has grown up, from everywhere, he notices as his eyes wander on her body. He holds his breath, blowing up his cheeks, and a sigh escapes his lip. By him, he sees Ser Davos looking down, his shoulders shaking as if he was crying. Stannis frown first, and then rolls his eyes when he hears the little stifled cries: Davos is laughing, not crying. His wife nudges him and Stannis keeps scowling at him. Davos rubs his face and looks up straight, his face red and his eyes shining with tears. The groom focuses again on his future wife, walking closer and closer of him. Her father leaves her before the stairs, and she walks up to Stannis alone: he holds his hand at her, and she takes it with a smile. They turn to listen to the septon, and the ceremony begins. When the septon tells him so, he takes off the cloak embroidered with the trout sigil, and carefully wraps the stag's cloak around her shoulders. She turns again to him, they kiss, and here they are married.
The feast occurs right after, and Aylis dances the first dance with her father, according, here again, to the tradition. The second dance is for Stannis and he joins her, a bit ashamed, not even knowing if he would be a good dancer. He wraps his arm around her waist, and takes her hand in his free one. The musicians start playing, and he follows her rhythm. She is silent, but smiles widely, her eyes shining with happiness. He would like to say something, but is scared of ruining it. He chooses his words carefully:
"You are very beautiful, my Lady", he says, smiling slightly.
She really is, he thinks as she blushes and thanks him with a nod. Her skin is white as milk, her blue eyes piercing. Her lips are well curved and always smiling, and he can feel the smooth of her hair as it tinkles his hand, resting on her kidneys. The dress she is wearing highlights her curves, perfect: round and rather big breasts, flat stomach, round hips and well-rounded butt. He cannot see her legs but he is sure they are as beautiful as the rest. He keeps dancing with her, enjoying the moment, finding it nice to talk with her, but, as the song finishes, he goes back to his seat, by Lord Hoster's, and watches her dance successively with her brother in law Ned, her brother in law Jon, Robert, Renly, and even Robb and Jon Snow, Ned Stark's bastard. He notices Catelyn pales a bit when she sees them, but no one seems to care.
He gets bored after a moment, and Aylis looks tired to dance. She comes back to him, red and her hair messed up, but her smile enlightens her face. She swallows a cup of water and leans over him:
"Shall we go to bed, my Lord?"
He freezes slightly but nods, and they both stand up.
"Lord Stannis expressed his wish to not have a bedding ceremony", Hoster says and most men express their disapproval, half laughing, half serious. "Let's wish our young married couple a good night."
"Good night!" the assembly raise their cups and, above everyone else, Robert's voice rings out:
"Enjoy your night, brother!"
Stannis reddens and quickly leads Aylis out.
They don't speak as they walk through the corridors, Stannis feeling Aylis's nails digging into his arm. She takes the lead, opening the door of her room slowly. Stannis gets in, swallowing hard with apprehension, and looks around. The room is nice, with two windows from where he can see the rivers, and the entrance of the castle. A bed is standing against the wall, a carpet in front of a fireplace, and a wooden desk is near the windows. It is clean and tidy, he notices. He hears Aylis locking the door and turns to her. She walks to him, her heart racing in her chest, and, without a word, makes him take his tunic off. He feels the fabric of the cloth brushing his face and he folds it before laying it on the table. Underneath, he is wearing another leather tunic, laced up and Aylis's fingers unlace it slowly. He stares at her, wishing to say something but what? He does not know. Soon, he feels the cold air on his naked chest and Aylis's sweet hands stroking him makes him shiver even more.
"I will light a fire", she whispers and walks to the fireplace. He watches her put wood in it, setting them in fire, and walking back to him. He still does not know what to say to her. Aylis shyly kisses his cheek, and turns around, grabs her long braid and moves it away from her dress, turning her face to Stannis. He gets closer, brushes the back of her neck, and proceeds to unlace it in turn. His heart beats so fast he feels it is going to explode. Aylis slides the straps off her shoulders, and steps away from it as it falls on the carpet. Instinctively, Stannis bends down to take it and place it with his tunic. It's only when he stands back straight that he realizes she is almost naked in front of him, wearing only a petticoat. Not even knowing why, he looks away, and takes a step back. He tries to remember what Cressen has told him to do, but he has forgotten everything. Aylis chuckles, but not mockingly, and strokes his hands:
"I am your wife, Stannis. Look at me..."
He gives her a shy look, cursing himself but unable to do otherwise. She wraps her arms around him and he feels her warm breasts against his chest. He closes his eyes, and dares touch her, his hands running slowly on her back and her shoulders. They remain embraced for a moment, before Stannis becomes bolder and walks behind her. He slowly undoes the ribbon that was keeping her braid, and lets her hair run freely on her back. He gets back in front of her, and runs his hand through her hair. She cups his face and pulls him close, kisses his lips softly. He kisses back, and raises an eyebrow when her tongue tries to find its way into his mouth. He parts his lips, and she strokes his tongue with hers. He tries to follow her rhythm and to not look to inexperienced, but he soon needs to breathe and he moves a bit away. Aylis smiles at him and kisses down, feeling the warmth of his neck, his jugular pulsing violently against his skin, his parted lips letting escape a sigh. Her hands quickly unlace his breeches and she leans on him, her palms groping his naked butt as she pushes the breeches down. He gasps with surprise and discomfort and closes his eyes when her lips reach his chest, lick his nipples. He stays here, dangling arms, not knowing what to do, where to stroke her. He is ten years older, and she looks more sure than he would ever be. Suddenly, she kneels down and smothers his belly with kisses. He is not very hairy, she notices, just a bit of hair around his nipples and a dark line of hair from his navel to his sex. Aylis glances at it, resting against thick pubic hair. With every kisses, she gets closer from it, and Stannis takes her hands. She looks up and he reddens:
"Hold on..."
He quickly walks to a bucket with water and washes this area. Aylis stays on the carpet and watches him, before holding her hand at him so he joins her again. She runs her lips on his groin and he gasps.
"Is it pleasant, my Lord?" she asks, looking up. He nods and closes his eyes, swallowing hard. He is about to make her stand up when she suddenly licks his shaft. He gasps louder, biting his lower lip right after. How does she have the idea of doing this? Before he can react, she does it again, and again, and again, and he feels his sex stiffing.
"My Lady", he starts, "I am not sure you..."
She wraps her lips around his shaft and bobs her head up and down. He knows he should stop her, for this is not what a lady should do, but he is unable to, pleasure making him shiver. It is beyond compare with what he could feel when he was stroking himself.
Aylis stares at him, watching his reactions, knowing that his body enjoys her strokes. The woman from the brothel has been right: this is quite pleasant, his skin tastes fresh and like water. She helps herself with her hand, wrapping her fingers around him, moving up and down with the rhythm of her mouth. Soon, he is completely hard, and his foreskin pulled back. She knows it is a sensitive area for men and focuses there for a moment, making Stannis gasps again, and recoiling when she licks his fraenulum, tasting something salty. She pulls back, his size hurting her mouth slightly, but she keeps stroking, looking up and smiling at him.
Stannis makes her stand up again, and imitates her as he kisses her neck. She tilts her head and sighs with pleasure. He slides her petticoat down and she moves away from it, pushing it away with her foot. Stannis takes her to the bed, and she lies down on her back, revealing her naked body to his eyes. She is truly beautiful, he thinks, his hand exploring the smooth skin, white and flawless, the big and round breasts, white as milk, and the pink nipples contrasting with them. He lies next to her, his hand resting on her hips, his lips laying sweet kisses on her breasts. She arches her back and sighs again, and he sticks out his tongue to lick the pink nipples. They immediately react to his strokes, and harden, Aylis's hands grabbing his hair. He feels his own sex jolting slightly and holds back a chuckle. He moves to get upper her, licks and sucks on the other nipples, and Aylis sighs his name, in such an erotic way he reddens. He keeps tasting her diaphanous skin, going down as she has done with him, reaching her stomach, her navel. She moans loudly as he kisses her inner thighs, and he stares at her sex for a moment, stroking it gently. It is already wet, and she protests but he quickly pulls his face closer and the tip of his tongue brushes the length of her slit.
Aylis moans, half with discomfort, half with pleasure. She stands on her elbows: "Please, I need to..." She cannot finish, his tongue exploring her flesh fully and she spreads her leg in a totally inconvenient way, but unable to restrain herself. The pleasure burns her, makes her legs shake violently and her back arch against his face. "Gods", she mutters, clenching her fists on his hair, then stroking it gently. It is so different than when she stroked herself, so much better. She never thought it would be that good, even if she has always been sure he would know how to pleasure her. She feels him sucking her clitoris and she moans loudly, unable to hold it back. Does it excite him more? She does not know but his tongue licks her very quicker suddenly, the tip of it rubbing her clitoris so fast her moans turn constant. She hardly can get her breath back and pleasure becomes soon unbearable. She feels how close she already is, and encourages him to go on, leaning on his head, and watching him do. He never looks at her, she does not know why, and stops wondering when her climax overwhelms her and makes her cry out his name. She lays back on the sheets, her brow sweating a bit. She quickly wipes it off and he crawls back to her, puts some pillows against the hard wood of the bed, and sits there.
Stannis looks at her, discreetly wiping his lips away, not sure she would enjoy the taste of her on his lips. Aylis crawls to him in turn and straddles him, kissing his brow and his cheeks, and, as she takes his lips in a passionate kiss, she grinds her sex on his. He groans with the pleasure of feeling her smooth and her wetness, but gives her time to decide when he should penetrate her. He does not have to wait for long. He feels her hand firmly grabbing his cock, and she rubs it on her clitoris and places it at her entrance. The very tip of it finds its way in, and she gasps, but not with pain. He stares at her, moving the locks of hair from her face, pushing them behind her shoulders, and he cups her breasts in his hands, slowly licks and sucks them. She sits down, hesitantly and he feels immediately the resistance Cressen has told him about. She cries out, stops moving, and he strokes her back, trembling under his strokes. He never thought it would be that resisting to his. He was imagining it as a very thin membrane that could easily be ripped.
Aylis leans her brow against her husband's one, breathing slowly, trying to ease the pain the best she can. As it feels better, she goes down again and cries louder, feeling tears in her eyes. The soothing hands and lips of Stannis don't do much, and she bites her lip, her body shaking with the pain that rips her body apart. Now she understands what Lysa meant when she was talking about her first time. She feels like a burning sword has been shoved in her sex. Her arms tightly wrapped around Stannis's neck, she waits, not moving from a single inch, for her sex to allows him to get in, for her body to stop refusing him access. She could stay here forever, with his hands running all along her back, stroking her hips and her hair, and his lips gently trying to ease the pain with sweet kisses. She looks at him, strokes his face and unites her lips with his. She can feel how wet she is, how excited, and moves back down again, until her groin touch Stannis's. She whimpers with pain and shivers more violently than ever, but, at least, he is as deep as he could be now. For a moment, she is unable to move, as if she was anchylotic, paralyzed by the pain that radiates her body.
Stannis has felt how it sounded awfully painful for her and truly feels sorry that she would remember this night as a chore. But, now he is deep inside her, he cannot help but thinking how good it feels. It is all warm and wet, like a comfy refuge. He does not know how long she stays still against him, but she starts grinding slowly, and the first painful moans turn into pleasured ones. Her hands on his shoulders stroke his skin and he bends down on each of her arms to kiss the flawless skin. He feels the top of her feet on his thighs, just above his knees, and he strokes the hips, holding onto them to feel them move. He wonders if he should move with her and, placing his feet on the sheets, folding his legs slightly, he gives a thrust. She yelps, and moans an approving "yes". He does it again, and she moves with him, moaning louder and louder. Gaining self confidence, he runs his hands to her shoulders, and leans slightly on them as he now thrusts pretty fast in her. She stops grinding, wraps her arms around his neck, buries her face in the crook of it, and moans his name. Stannis closes his eyes, hearing the bed noisily creaking, his body slapping against hers. He does not know if it is terribly exciting or terribly embarrassing. But the pleasure he feels makes him forget everything, even that she is a virgin. He speeds up again, his breath shortening, and she now grabs the headboard and stops moving suddenly, letting him thrusts faster and harder in her. He stares at her though, watching her reactions but he sees no pain, pure ecstasy in her eyes and her moans. His hands try to keep the grip but her hips are now sweaty and he chooses to grab her shoulders. The bed makes terribly noisy sounds, and he feels he should slow down but he cannot. He looks down on her breasts, bouncing so violently with his thrusts he wonders how this cannot be painful, and leans down to devours them eagerly. Aylis yelps and her body shakes violently, she tightens a lot around his sex, and Stannis abandons her breasts to leans his head back and lets his climax overwhelming him.
Aylis feels him come in her, his body jolting and shaking, and she holds him tightly, leaning his face on her sweaty chest. She leans her head back, a marvelled laugh escapes her mouth and she strokes his hair, rubs the sweaty back of his neck. Her own sex is deliciously sore, and pulses violently around his cock. She soon pushes it out, and they tenderly kiss before she moves away. "Oh", she does, biting her lip, when she feels the blood that has stained the sheets but also Stannis's thighs. He does not look shocked or surprised, simply tells her to wash herself. As she does so, he takes the sheets off and puts them on the cold slabs, before making the bed again with fresh sheets. Aylis is now clean and lies down, and Stannis wipes her blood away with water and soap. He notices with surprise that the fire is almost dead, and puts two more logs to get the fire going again. Aylis is watching him with a smile and he soon joins her in bed. He lies down, wrapping an arm around her, and she immediately leans her face on his chest, playing with the hair around his nipples, her legs leaning on his thigh. He strokes her hair and kisses her brow, whispering:
"I am sorry you have ached..."
Aylis turns to him and strokes his cheek:
"I wouldn't trade my place with any woman's in this world. I love you, Stannis."
He looks down at her, pulling her closer, wishing to thank her, but no words come. The tips of his fingers brush her shoulder and her arm and, as she gets heavier on him, he knows she has fallen asleep. Slowly, he arches his back to blow the candle by her bed, and snuggles closer to her, adjusting the sheets on her body so she is not cold, and falls asleep in turn.