dancing with our hands tied | r. targaryen

ix.

SIX MOONS LATER
111 A.C.
KING'S LANDING
•••

WIND WHISTLED THROUGH ALAYNE'S HAIR AS SHE RODE THROUGH THE KINGSWOOD. She looked over her shoulder with a smile as she heard the faint horse galloping in the distance. She smiled to herself as she urged her horse to go faster. As of late, Alayne found King's Landing to be suffocating. Rhaenyra was busy with council meetings and Alicent seemed to disappear halfway through the day, so Alayne had to find a way to entertain herself.

She reaches a clearing in the woods and orders her horse to slow down before coming to a complete stop. She climbed off of her horse, Maiden, keeping the reins of the mare in her hand as she heard the faint galloping grow louder.

Two horses entered the clearing and Alayne smiled as she looked up at the owners.

"Bested by a girl again, Borros?" Alayne asks as she looks at the taller teen with a smile, "How's that ego of yours?"

"Perfectly fine," Borros responds as he climbs off his horse, "Brandon here lost to a girl and his big brother. He's the one who is hurting."

"I am not," Brandon insists as he slides off of his horse. He looks at Alayne with a smile, "A race well won, my lady."

"Thank you," Alayne tells him.

Borros makes his way over, taking the reins to Alayne's horse from her hands as the two of them begin walking through the clearing.

"How is a lady of your position able to sneak out of the castle so easily?" Borros asks as he looks at Alayne.

"Believe it or not, I am someone that not many people miss," Alayne says as she looks up at Borros, "Moving in the shadows is like second nature to me."

"I certainly do find that hard to believe," Borros responds, "How anyone wouldn't notice you is beyond me."

Alayne lets out a laugh at the comment. With the Kingswood not being too far away from Storm's End, she'd send letters to the Baratheon boys, drawing them away from their castle whenever she wanted to play. And each time they were there at her beck and call.

She knew Brandon was charmed by her, but it seemed that Borros was as well. His leering had turned into something of admiration as they spent time in the Kingswood. The two brothers were competing for her attention and Alayne would be lying if she didn't say that she loved every moment of it.

"Well believe it," Alayne says as she looks at the path ahead, "I am practically invisible these days."

"Marry me," Borros offers, "I'd never let you get missing in Storm's End."

Alayne smirks, "I'm certain I'd get lost in the sea of your many lovers, Borros." She looks over her shoulder at Brandon who was walking quietly behind him, "I'd much rather marry Brandon. At least with him I know I'd be the only one."

She meets Brandon's eyes, and he smiles shyly at her. She looks over at Borros to find him rolling his eyes and she laughs softly as she nudges the older Baratheon brother.

"Come on Borros, wouldn't you find marriage restrictive?" Alayne asks, "One woman for the rest of your life?"

"Not if that woman was you," Borros tells her, and Alayne's smile slips away at the honesty in his voice, "The maidens my father has brought to me - they are nothing like you. They fear getting their dresses dirty. If I marry one I know that I'd never remain faithful."

"Not really what a woman wants to hear when you're proposing marriage to her," Alayne says with a laugh.

"I would be faithful to you," Borros says as he looks at her with a smile, she can tell by looking into his blue eyes that he's being honest. There was much to be gained in marrying the heir to Storm's End.