King's Landing, 294 AC
Aylis wakes up with the sound of a knock on the door and groans with discontent. Robert has decided to organize a tourney in the capital, and she needs to get up early to get ready to watch it. She knows Stannis is going to be very moody all day long but she needs to support him. Robert has wanted to participate in the Tourney, but his advisors warned him not to. Aylis stands up when the servants come in and lets them dress her up. Half asleep, she does not react to their gestures. Stannis gets in their room: he has woken up early in the morning, as usual, and has wished to let her sleep as much as she needed. He smiles slightly at her, holding Shireen and Aistan by the hands. She looks at them with a smile:
"Hello children" and they rush to her. Aistan is as big as Shireen now, she notices with emotion, and she kisses his head gently.
"I need to talk to you", Stannis announces, and the servants soon leave, taking the children with them.
"Nothing bad?" she inquires worried.
He pours a cup of water and turns to her:
"I have talked with Lord Tywin and he has agreed to foster Aistan, when he will be old enough, of course, in Casterly Rock."
Aylis stares at him, her mouth dropping with surprise:
"He is two, Stannis."
"And he will be Lord of Dragonstone, one day. Being fostered by Tywin Lannister is a unique chance for him", he insists. "He will teach him a lot of things; he is used to rule over a kingdom and a land."
Aylis shakes her head: Stannis already sees him as a young Lord, when he is just a baby. Her baby. She stands bravely in front of him:
"I refuse", she asserts.
Stannis scowls at her:
"I am not asking your opinion. I have decided to be this way, and it will be this way."
"He is my son", she starts shaking and her voice trembles. "I think I have my word to say about the way he will be raised."
"You are his mother, it is true. I am his father. I decide if, where and whom he will be fostered by", Stannis calmly but firmly says.
She cannot stop tears from running down on her cheeks now, and she goes to him, grabs his clothes, knowing he will hate this but unable to restrain herself:
"Please… don't send him here… If you want him to be fostered, send him to Winterfell, or to the Eyrie, send him to my family, or to yours! Send him to Renly!"
He pushes her off, a bit brutally:
"He needs to learn from the best, and Lord Tywin is a better ruler than Lord Stark, or your sister, or my brother. Renly does not care about his duties; he only does what pleases him, and forgets about the rest! Now, I have enough of your whining. Aistan will leave to Casterly Rock on his seventh name day, and nothing you could do will change this."
She is surprised by his "violence", and looks at him, still crying:
"Why are you so cruel? Why… Why do you always have to push me away, as if I did not mean anything to you?"
He stares at her, and grabs a handkerchief, places it in her hand:
"Dry your tears and smile. People are waiting for us."
With these words, he walks out, and Aylis cries a bit more before following him. She knows, deep inside her, he is right, that it will be good that Aistan would be fostered by a great Lord of a great house, but why thinking about it so soon? To her, it almost sounds as if he wanted to get rid of him. She tries to understand why, but Stannis would never confide in her, she knows it very well. Does he fear Aistan is not his son? Does he think she has cheated on him with Robert? She could not know. As she walks behind him, the children hold their hands, and, for a moment, Stannis and her looks at each other, a real loving look. Her husband opens his mouth, and she almost thinks he is going to apologize for his rudeness, but he stares back at the path and they keep walking silently. As they reach their seats to watch the tourney, Aylis notices Tywin Lannister is here. His son is going to participate, and he probably came to watch him. He nods and smiles when he sees her, and she stands up and walks to him. She curtseys in front of him:
"Lord Tywin", she greets him.
"Lady Aylis", he bows. "How are you doing?"
"I am good, my Lord, thank you. When did you arrive in the Capital?" she asks, staring at him.
He is impressive, he has always been. She has rarely seen him, but she respects him a lot. Still, she remembers the story of Elia Martell and her children, and she cannot forget who is rumored to have given the order of killing them. This is what Tywin achieves the best, she thinks: to be feared and respected, so no one would dare attack him. He gives her a warm smile, but she knows it is fake.
"Last night only."
Her heart skips a beat: if he arrived last night, it means Stannis has talked to him only this morning. So he has thought about the fosterling a while ago. As if he is reading in her mind, Tywin smiles again:
"I have seen your husband this morning. I am eager to foster your sweet child."
He says that in a way that sends electric shocks all along her spine, and she swallows hard, feeling nauseous suddenly. She stares at him, wants to say something, wants to threaten him that if he does anything to her son, she will kill him herself, but it would be folly. He frowns silently, on the contrary:
"Are you alright, my Lady? You are very pale."
She fakes a smile:
"I am fine. I just did not have time to eat this morning."
He slips his arm under hers, and walks her back to Stannis. He stands up when he sees them:
"Lord Stannis, you should not let your wife starve. Poor thing almost fainted."
Tywin Lannister reprimanding Stannis Baratheon as if he was a little boy. Aylis would cry laughing if she was not about to throw up on the two men standing by her side. Stannis holds her firmly and helps her sitting down:
"Thank you, Lord Tywin. I will make her eat right now."
He grabs a piece of bread and hands it to Aylis. She watches Tywin walking away and sitting down by his grandchildren. She sees Shireen walking to them and playing with little Tommen, the sweetest of the Queen's children. Joffrey, the eldest one, stares at them with a disgusted pout, and Aylis wonder if it is because of Shireen's grayscale, or the fact that Tommen is holding a doll in his hands. Myrcella is chatting with her servants, and does not care about Shireen, because she is not as beautiful as her. Aylis feels suddenly weirdly jealous, jealous that the Queen's children are so perfect, so handsome and blond, their eyes shining and piercing. She tries to chase those bad thoughts and Stannis commands her to eat. She chews on bread, still watching at her daughter, now standing and talking with Lord Tywin. He raises his hand to touch her stained cheek, and Shireen looks down shyly, her hands nervously fidgeting behind her back so he does not notice. Exactly like her father. A man announces the start of the tourney, and the King gives the signal. Aylis calls at Shireen and she waves at her cousin before joining her seat between her parents. Tywin stares at the Baratheons, and half smiles before watching his son jousting.