ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[011] benjen stark

BENJEN STARK HAS always been a gifted boy. Even as a child he showed almost exceptional signs of intelligence and as he grew up he did many things better than his older brother.

His first successes were mostly registered by his teachers of literature, history and philosophy, and it was not only his quick understanding of the subject but also his interest. Benjen spent most of his childhood studying books, a fate that many people thought was cruel for the children of nobles, but Benjen's parents could proudly state that the boy's interest was purely voluntary.

Although he was the pride of his parents, he was not the first born son and he was not as good a warrior as Cregan Stark. This was not surprising since the unwritten rule of every family was that the parents must have a first-born perfect child and a second-born child who would not be willing to accept their sibling's inheritance. And so fights have always been used in every family.

Not in House Stark though.

Benjen and Cregan had been close since childhood and surprisingly the older boy had never seen his younger 'softer' brother as inadequate. On the contrary, Cregan and Benjen spent their entire childhood together and learned to ride horses, fight, and hunt.

Both of them tried to excel in everything, but at the same time they were able to accept their differences, strengths and weaknesses and use them to achieve everything together.

While Cregan Stark was a warrior, he could think and listen, but not like his brother. He much preferred to be on the battlefield than analyzing and devising strategies, so he left this task to his brother, as he knew that Benjen liked to do it.

Benjen Stark was able to fight with a sword, but much preferred to rely on the power that lay in his mind. Thanks to the fact that he liked to read, he had a huge imagination that helped him create plans and he was also a good observer.

When the boys were small, they spent a lot of time in the company of rich people, and thanks to his mother's support, Benjen quickly learned to read them like books. He saw many unspoken words or the truth of their personalities in their body language, tone of voice and even in their eyes.

That's why Benjen, even as a teenager, preferred to spend time in his brother's shadow, from where he had a perfect view of all the guests, while his brother entertained them to buy him time.

Books could be fun and boring, and so were people. There were times when someone caught Benjen's attention and his story interested him, and he even enjoyed uncovering the truth about that person. There were also times when Benjen had to force himself and convince himself that he had to study the person further.

Fortunately, humans were fascinating and unique creatures, so this rarely happened.

Nevertheless, Aemma Velaryon intrigued him in a way that no one had ever captivated him before.

He didn't even know what it was exactly, but he assumed that it must have been something that was an essential part of her and one didn't have to think too much to find it, because Benjen had never spoken to Aemma in his life.

Maybe it was because Aemma, like her mother, was exceptionally beautiful, despite the fact that she did not meet the requirements of most men in the kingdom, Benjen was fascinated by all those things that others did not like about her.

He liked how Aemma's white hair had strands that were darker than the rest, he liked how her pink lips contrasted with her pale skin, and he liked the intelligence and mystery in her eyes. According to him, these were all things that completed the impression he had of her, and that was that Aemma Velaryon is perfect precisely because of how imperfect she is.