King's Landing, 292 AC
Aylis is sitting with the other ladies of the court, by Cersei's side. The weather has been very bad today, so they had to stay locked up inside. Aylis does not really care: she loves being outside, but lately; she does not feel up to any activities such as horse riding and strolls. The ladies are chatting joyfully, but Aylis is sewing, a smile roving on her lips, completely lost in mind. Even though he lives at court, Stannis has never taken a liking into fancy clothes. He would never go out and try new clothes in shops in the capital, unlike Renly for example. Is it because he lacked so much when the Rebellion occurred that the young boy has become so trivial about such things? No one knows, but Aylis knows Stannis disapproves this. The Lord of Dragonstone is not stingy, but he knows the value of money. So, today, Aylis is sewing a new shirt for him: she is very gifted, and loves more than anything trying his new clothes on. And Stannis loves wearing what she makes for him. A belly pang makes the young lady wince slightly, and she looks up to notice Cersei's look upon her. The queen does not sew. She does not talk either. She mostly sits here, watching her ladies, drinking wine. Her last child, Tommen, is one year old, and she is still breastfeeding him, but it does not bother her to drink at the same time. Her beautiful emerald eyes narrow when she locks eyes with Aylis, and the young lady swallows hard. Something about Cersei terrifies her, and she does not know how to explain it. The Queen is not mean to her or particularly nice either, but she has never been cruel like Aylis could have witnessed with other ladies. Cersei's eyes slowly look down on Aylis's body and she says:
"Since when do you know?"
"Your Grace?" Aylis asks, confused, stopping sewing for a moment.
All the other ladies turn to her and she feels embarrassed, her cheeks turning pink.
"You're with child", Cersei narrows her eyes again. "It is obvious."
She stands up and walks to Aylis, grabs quite roughly one of her breasts. She gasps with pain when she does so and Cersei laughs:
"Look how sensitive you are!"
The other ladies laugh and Lysa, Aylis's sister, who is with them all, turns to her:
"Really?"
Her lips tremble and Aylis realizes she is about to cry. Why would she cry?
Aylis looks at her sister and smiles nodding:
"I am with child indeed. But my husband does not know yet."
Lysa stares at her and suddenly hugs her tight, thing she has not done for years. It's when she notices the shaking of her body Aylis realizes her sister is crying.
"Lysa… What's wrong?" she asks softly.
"Nothing! Nothing is wrong! I will have a baby too Aylis! Our children will be born at the same moment! Is it not wonderful?" Lysa exclaims.
Some ladies beam and obviously think the scene is moving, but Cersei glares at them and huffs:
"You are pathetic, both of you."
She pours another glass of wine and downs it quickly. Aylis would like to glare at her but she is way too happy for Lysa: Jon and she have been trying for years to have a child, she had many miscarriages and they had kind of lost hope about it. It's a miracle, a true miracle. She keeps hugging her, until Lysa sits back down with the brightest smile Aylis has seen on her face for years.
She gets back to her chambers after dinner and lies in a cold and empty bed. Stannis is having business to do with Jon Arryn, as usual lately, and Aylis wonders why he spends so much time with him. But, well, Jon is pretty old, and he is the Hand of the King. Her heart hammers at the thought that maybe he is training Stannis to be the next Hand. How proud she would be… Jon would surely be an excellent teacher: he is a great Hand, especially with Robert as the King. Robert does not care about ruling, he never sits at his own councils and never gets worried about the future of the realm. Aylis loves her brother in law, he makes her laugh so hard, but she faces it easily: Robert is a bad king. Not the worst they could have, of course, but they could have so much better. Lost in thoughts, she is about to drift off to sleep when the door of her chambers open and Stannis comes in. She turns to him, sits up and smiles:
"My Lord", she nods at him. "You're late."
Stannis takes off his coat and places it on a chair, before stroking the fabric of the newly made shirt.
"Forgive me, my Lady… Is it done?" he asks, pointing at the shirt.
Aylis nods nibbling her lower lip:
"Try it on."
He smiles and swiftly takes his shirt off and passes the new one on. He turns to Aylis:
"How am I?"
"You are perfect", she honestly says, and she can see him reddening a bit. He undresses completely, and comes lay by her side. She immediately snuggles against his hot body, and strokes his spine.
"Is there a rebellion starting somewhere?" she asks after a long moment of silence.
Stannis shifts a bit and looks at her frowning:
"No… Why do you ask?"
"Any threat you will have to go and fight?" she asks again, stroking his ill-shaved cheeks.
He shakes his head:
"What is it Aylis?" he asks, frowning even more.
She stares at his eyes and smiles:
"I want you by my side when I'll give birth. I don't want to be alone, as I was with Shireen…."
Her eyes fill up with tears when she remembers that night. How desperate she had been to see him walking in and holding her hand, reassuring her. Cressen was here of course, but Cressen was not her husband. Stannis understands immediately and smiles hugely, leaning his hand against her stomach, still flat.
"I will be here. I would not miss this for all the gold of the Lannisters", he smirks.
She laughs and kisses him, happily, and, as she holds her close and strokes her hair, she wonders which woman in the realm could be happier than her at this instant.