ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[018] the rogue princess

TAPPING ONE FINGER on the polished table surface and the other hand caressing her pregnant belly, Rhaenyra stared intently at the book in front of her, as though the book held the answers to all her questions. After a moment she raised her hand to turn the page and almost immediately went back to tapping her finger on the table.

With a sigh, she stood up from her chair, supporting herself as even walking was becoming difficult for her, and slowly began to walk around her room. She tried to occupy herself by looking at every single object in her room, then she tried to count all the jewelry on her desk, and finally she looked out the window.

"What is taking them so long," she muttered under her breath.

Without further thought, Rhaenyra opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, walking slowly past the servants who bowed to her each time. Dragonstone was silent, the only sound she heard was Jace's voice coming from his room, clearly he was learning something.

Rhaenyra, however, did not stop to greet him or find out what exactly he was studying, she headed straight for the room next to him and entered with a small knock.

When she looked into the room, she found only a maid there.

"Hello, Gwyn," she greeted the maid and went inside.

Gwyn, Aemma's only maid, was younger than the woman she served to, had long dark hair and brown eyes, and was dressed a little too carefully for a maid (as Aemma liked to give her clothes she didn't want.)

The maid dropped the pillows from the bed that she had just changed and looked at her in surprise. "Princess! You should be resting!"

She immediately ran over to her and helped her into one of the chairs, causing Rhaenyra to smile.

"I always find a way to relax in my own way," she waved her hand, "I wanted to talk to Aemma about how her meeting with Lord Blackwood went."

Even though the dark-haired girl had her back turned to her and was dusting off the shelf where Aemma's books were kept, Rhaenyra saw that she froze.

"Oh," Gwyn said after a moment, her voice slightly high-pitched. "They haven't returned yet."

Rhaenyra's eyes darted to Aemma's red dress that she was supposed to be wearing to the meeting (and that Rhaenyra had to argue with her daughter to get Aemma to wear them), which was discarded under the table littered with maps.

Which meant that she had already returned.

"In that case, the meeting must have gone better than I expected," Rhaenyra stated sarcastically, already sensing the truth.

Gwyn was still not looking at her, busily trying to polish the perfectly clean window. "Yes, yes, Princess Aemma was thrilled. She said that Lord Blackwood is very charming, intelligent, interesting--"

"Gwyn," Rhaenyra said warningly and the girl paled. Her eyes softened. "You don't have to lie to me just because Aemma told you to."

"I have to fulfill every wish of our Princess," Gwyn bowed her head.

"Not if I tell you that you don't have to," Rhaenyra shook her head and sighed, "Now, tell me when the meeting ended."

"About two hours ago, Princess."

Rhaenyra clicked her tongue but remained calm. "And what did my daughter say about Lord Blackwood?"

Gwyn looked at her nervously and started playing with the end of her skirt. "Forgive me, Princess, but my mother forbade me to say such words out loud. "

Rhaenyra sighed and settled back in her chair. Massaging her temples, she looked at the flames in the hearth that warmed the room while Aemma was gone. Gwyn only tried to keep the fire when Aemma wasn't there, as it seemed to her that the princess looked a bit uneasy every time she sees it . . .