The True and The Brave

𝔉𝔦𝔳𝔢: ℑ ℭ𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔪 𝔜𝔬𝔲

[No Ghost Reading!] (please)

Aemma Velaryon was dressed in the finest ivory silk. Her immediate arrival at King's Landing had spurred the news of a royal wedding. Another one. Her eyes stared at the mirror longly, there wasn't a trace of her. There wasn't a single jewel that seemed to make her happy. She was marrying a man that despised her for unknown reasons. 

It had been so good before. She remember their laughs of thrill as she helped him claim his dragon. How his soft hand would trace patterns in the back of her hand. How Aemma could have easily willed herself to love him. Could have given all to be with him. But Aemond was not the same boy. Just as she wasn't the same girl. 

Alicent was with the fabricators inspecting the gown on her body, just like she had done with Haelena. She kept on adding the final touches to the dress. It was a beautiful dress. Just not for the exact bride. 

"What if you drape this ivory velvet on her waist? Yes, that is stunning", the queen spoke, softly watching Aemma's eyes glaze over. She gulped, with a hand motion dismissing the tailors that were doing her dress at the very last minute. 

The ceremony and feast would be at the break of the night. Yet it was mid-afternoon and Aemma already wanted to rip the fabrics on her skin and leave back to her call at the stepstones. 

"What is it, Aemma? Are you not happy? This was supposed to be your day", Alicent sits beside Aemma whose breaths only seemed to sharpen. 

"This is what I was given since I was born. A broken doll tragedy. A husband who hates me. A dead father who isn't here to give me away. No one is here for me", Aemma let out. She refused to shed tears. She was strong. She had faced her mother and was here. 

Queen Alicent's face fell. She felt guilty that Aemond had changed. But Aemma too changed. It wasn't because of harbored hate. She felt guilty that she had let this happen under her nose. There were no words of comfort she could offer her. She had a duty to them. And duty trumps over fallen tears and doll dreams. 

There was a knock on the door, announcing Haelena. She smiled gently at Aemma, who blinked her eyes to rid herself of her unshed tears.

"My, you look beautiful, Aemma. Mother, may I have a word with my future good sister?"

Alicent nodded and closed the door of her chambers lightly. As the queen left, Haelena looked at her with a sympathetic smile. And that was all it took for Aemma to finally give in to the tears. 

Haelena reached for her, wiping away her tears. Instead, from her robe, she unsheathed a linen sack. The woman gently removed the velvet that made her body look regal and almost too much. Started to take the pins that held her hair together. 

Aemma let out her first audible sob when Haelena brandished aventurine-clad embroideries, placing the soft velvet on her shoulders, and bringing the cloth to the floor, like a shawl or strap. A reminder of her home. Then, Haelena smiled at Aemma's confused frown, there was a small pouch with the same aventurine and sea green crystals that Ser Qarl had gifted her father and her. 

Aemma gasped for air as another sob pushed through her mouth. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, but Haelena brought it down to cover it with her own. The jewels were encased in a silver necklace that was big enough to cover her collarbones. Haelena completed her feat by slowly ripping the bodice which almost seem to choke Aemma as it traveled almost to her jaw, then turned Aemma to the mirror.