Sitting in front of the mirror in her new chamber in the evening, waiting for her maid Selaria, she looked at herself. Throughout her life, she hadn't been able to shake off the feeling that she was always standing out from the rest. But there was nothing to wonder about here, after all, how often in your life in the Seven Kingdoms do you find someone who has truly purple eyes and hair so fair that it is almost white?
She had been washing her hair with an oak bark extract for as long as she remembered to color it a little, but it still stood out from the crowd.
So how was she not to feel like a stranger wherever she went?
"You've been pensive a lot lately, my Lady." She turned to the maid when she returned to wash her hair.
"That's not true." She said, watching Selaria put two bowls of water on the table top. "I'll take care of my hair today, you better go and get me some herbs for my headache." It was obviously an excuse, because her head didn't hurt at all.
"Of course, my Lady." The woman smiled slightly and curtsied in front of Maegelle, then left the room, leaving her alone.
The girl immediately poured the entire contents of the bowl of oak bark extract into the first larger plant, and began washing her hair in plain water using soap.
Visenya. Her real name is Visenya Targaryen, she was given to by Aegon the Conqueror's wife, this warrior.
Washing her hair with warm water, she hummed some old melody under her breath, which she knew she didn't even know from where.
She was born when the capital was chaotic and the flames raged.
She washed them long and persistently and washed them with soap until she began to notice a light shade emerging.
She was born in flames, they are a natural part of her.
When she was done and somehow dried them with a towel, she spread them evenly on her shoulders and looked at herself again in the mirror. Maybe they didn't have their original shade yet, but they were much closer to him and stood out even more in the crowd.
Now it was enough to change into a dress made especially for the occasion and she was ready to go.
She was about to leave the chamber when her door swung open and her servant appeared with a mug of hot infusion in her hands.
"My Lady..." She was looking at the girl, and more precisely at her hair with a slightly open mouth.
:Something is wrong?" The blonde asked, frowning slightly.
"No, my Lady, it's just... I don't remember that I have ever seen you with your hair like that." Selaria was once the maid of Visenya's mother, but after the war she became Vis' maid, saving her life. And it has stayed that way to this day.
"You'll have plenty of time to get used to them now." She declared with a smile and left the room, Selaria had no choice whatsoever, so she followed her Lady.
Neither of them knew the castle corridors by heart, but Visenya knew the way from her chamber to the throne room perfectly well, because that was where she was most often lucky to be. When she got there, not all of the guests were there yet, actually, most of them weren't. Therefore, she could easily take her place by one of the benches, not worrying about anything.
The whole room was decorated especially for the occasion and a lot of benches were brought in so that more important guests could be seated. And a lot of flowers are too much for her taste...
"I think the capital is good for you." She felt someone tossing her loose hair over her right shoulder.
"Let's say like that..." she replied, noting that her new interlocutors were none other than Jaime. Not that she didn't like talking to him, she never really wanted to talk to him, especially after hearing a lot of rumors about him and his sister.
"You look beautiful with that hair."
"Thank you, ser, but you should keep these compliments for the Lady of your heart." She replied politely, looking ahead.
"Every gentleman should say such things to a Lady when it is true - or not." She laughed shortly under her breath, but still did not turn her eyes to him. She just wanted to sit at this ceremony and... In fact, she didn't know how it would be when it all ends, she would like to even go out to the garden. "Besides, I'm in the King's Guard."
"You mean you don't have a Lady of your heart because of that?" She asked, pretending a little surprise and finally turned her purple eyes towards him.
He has.
"No." He replied, smiling slightly at the same time. "My Lady." He nodded at her and walked away to the other guards.
"My Lady?" Her maid approached Visenya. The girl looked at her questioningly and gestured for her to continue. "Don't you think that ser Jaime has been talking to you a lot lately?"
"Seems he liked to do it from the time he had the opportunity to do it at Casterly Rock. He was just pulling my hair then, if I remember correctly... " She said, looking away from Selaria. "I guess the old habits have come back to him."
"I think he grew out of it a long time ago. As he puts it himself, he is a 'gentleman'. " The fair-haired girl laughed.
"Idle talk, We've heard a lot of things about him, like he's a charming boy who fucks his own sister." She said it more quietly, leaning slightly towards the maid. "That they also spend money on such ceremonies, they say they have a war with rebels to be won..." she started another topic, watching the people gathering in the room.
"Everything is funded by the Lannisters, so that's not a surprise, my Lady." Selaria said with a shrug. Although honestly, it was sheer extravagance for her too ...
"I wonder what they will do when this beautiful gold runs out for them... Maybe they will sell me to whoever gives the most?" She asked a little jokingly, but at the back of her head she was a little afraid that it could actually be like that... After all, why are they holding her for so long? Why are they taking care of her?
"What they will do isn't our problem, my Lady. Because it's not our family." Selaria grabbed Vis' hand for a moment, encouraging her a little.
It didn't help much, but the fair-haired girl was grateful in her soul for this small gesture.
She did not pay much attention to the course of the entire ceremony. She tried to imagine someone else sitting on the iron throne, but she couldn't tell herself. So instead she tried to ignore what was happening before her eyes.
She felt that she was acting on the principle of imitating others: When they clapped, so did she. When they smiled, she did the same. When they left the throne room to go to another room where they would all sit down at the feast, she too did. She ate, drank, laughed, smiled, talked, joked - thus fitting the pattern.
By the time.
"Maegelle Targaryen!" Joffrey, King Joffrey cried suddenly. Many of the guests were already drunk, but fortunately she wasn't, so she immediately noticed him. "This must be a tough day for you, my Lady..." he began, coming closer to her and standing next to her, but Visenya didn't get up, looked straight ahead, well aware that most of the guests' eyes were on her. "There are strangers in 'your home', a strange family is in power, you have to smile at the murderers of your family..."
She took a deep breath, loosening her grip on the knife with which she wanted to calmly eat the roast, but it seemed that she would not be able to do so.
She wondered what would have happened if she had tightened her hand on the knife even tighter and stabbed the blade in the kid's throat. He deserved it, she had no doubts about it ... But in the end she stopped herself.
For now, at least.
"I'm not complaining about my life, your grace..." She replied politely, but knew Joffrey wouldn't relinquish that easily. She has heard rumors from servants that the current king is no more than a spoiled, cowardly kid who loves to bully others.
"But I do." She wanted to roll her eyes, but somehow she stopped herself and just closed them for a moment. "You have lovely hair, but I don't remember them having that shade..." He grabbed a loose strand of her hair and lifted it a little to get a better look. "I would have cut some of them as a souvenir, or better." He tugged at the strand."Pulled out."
"Do it again, and..." she began angrily, grasping his hand firmly. This little bastard was definitely allowing himself too much, pushing all boundaries.
"And what?! You have no power and it seems that your lovely, light hair reminds you too much of who you are supposed to be... You still don't get it? Your family is dead, you have no support, nothing! But I think the problem is in the hair, without it there won't be any problems." How much she wanted to stick that knife in his throat... "We will check whether the fire does not actually harm the Targaryens?" He asked her that question, speaking straight into her ear.
"Do you dare to try?" She asked defiantly, only then turning her face towards him and giving him a determined look.
"Bring me a torch!"
"That's enough!" Tyrion intervened, rising from his chair which was not far from Visenya. "She is your guest, the good king doesn't treat his guests like that!"
"She is a weed, a weed to be weeded out!" Joffrey protested, finally releasing Vis' hair and walking over to his uncle.
"No, she's human just like you. A member of a great house, just like you. She is a guest at your castle and she has done nothing wrong."
"She is...!"
"An orphaned child and as you can see you have already drunk too much and you should go rest." Tyrion said calmly.
"I am not tired!"
"You are, only wine confuses you." He skipped him, patting him on the hand, which Joffrey had stretched out towards him earlier, to threaten him more bluntly. "My Lady?" He extended his hand towards Vis, which she almost immediately took, allowing her to lead her out of the feast. Of course, from somewhere behind, Selaria followed her like a shadow. "It's hard for me to say it, but you can't just talk to this child. If you want to somehow live with him under one roof, then you will either learn to avoid him effectively or to reduce him to a vertical position."
"I'm not his family to allow myself to do such things." She said, quickening her pace a little. The whole nonsensical situation just stressed her unnecessarily. "And you are mistaken. I do not belong to a great house anymore."
"Of course you do." Tyrion replied, a little surprised. "If I remember the Maester's teachings many years ago, House Targaryen is among the great houses of Westeros, even if the last king of the house has been overthrown." Even if there are only three of its members left in the world and they have no land or property, the story remains the same: Aegon the Conqueror conquered Westeros and established a dynasty for nearly three centuries. "She stopped and looked away, a little ashamed. "I may not know what you feel, but I know that you should not be afraid of who you really are."
While Visenya paused, pondering Tyrion's words, Tyrion passed her by and went somewhere further, in a direction he only knew. He was right? She thought everything was long overdue, but maybe still...?
"My Lady?" She turned towards Selaria, who was for some reason, holding a rolled-up piece of paper.
"Selaria? Why are you so tired, where have you been?" She frowned, surprised even more when the maid held out a rolled-up piece of paper towards her.
"Ser Barristan... stopped me... He asked... I would pass it on to you..." she said, pausing to take a bigger breath.
With her surprise still unmistakable, Visenya took the letter from the maid and immediately began to read its contents.