ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[019] midnight cakes

FOOTSTEPS ECHOED THROUGHOUT the castle thanks to the high ceilings of the Dragonstone corridors. Servants walking in rows each carried a different dish on a tray, its smell spread and attracted people from all over the castle to come to see and ask what kind of miracle it is and if they are lucky they might have a chance to taste it.

However, it was only servants, cooks and a few exceptional nobles who perceived every meal as a work of art. Mostly rich people, especially those from the royal family, wasted food, tasted a bit and did not worry about what would happen to the rest.

So you could tell that when the servants finally came to the dining room and placed the trays on the dark wooden table in front of the family members, they had to try hard to hide the gloominess on their faces.

Rhaenyra Targaryen was not one of those nobles. She ate her every meal, complimented the cook and expected the same from her children (even though Luke, Aemma and Joffrey had to force themselves to eat a sheep's stomach.)

The fact still remained that there was too much food on the table and few people who would eat it. However, food waste has apparently become a normal thing, especially among the royal family in King's Landing, despite the famine that reigned in many lands.

"Joffrey, honey, don't play with your food," Rhaenyra sent her third son a disapproving look.

Rhaena reached out and wiped a piece of chocolate from Joffrey's cheek with a napkin and pushed away the plate on which Joffrey began to build a tower of food.

Joffrey looked up from his plate and huffed. "But I'm hungry."

Jace, who was sitting across from Rhaenyra and Daemon on the opposite side of the table, looked away from Joffrey and Rhaena who was sitting to his right and looked at the two empty seats to his left. Both places had plates of food prepared and the most sweets were also placed in front of the place right next to Jace.

The boy nervously looked out the window at the raging storm and wondered if his siblings got home safely or had to stay somewhere else because of the storm because it was too dangerous to fly.

He only had to hope that Aemma had foreseen the storm and that her and Luke had arrived before it started.

Rhaenyra pursed her lips, watching the empty chairs. "Well, in that case, we won't wait."

"I'm sure they will show up soon," Rhaena said soothingly and Rhaenyra nodded.

The sound of clinking cutlery filled the room and Jace thoughtfully began cutting the fish on his plate, muttering High Valyrian phrases under his breath. It wasn't until Rhaena cleared her throat that Jace realized he'd forgotten to put the food in his mouth and was just staring into space and quickly started eating, trying to look normal.

Daemon and Rhaenyra had their own side of the table, leaning towards each other as always, talking quietly. After a while, Joffrey gave up struggling with the cutlery and started eating with his hands, but when Daemon gently shook his head at him and nodded towards Rhaenyra, Joffrey slowly took the cutlery back.

But otherwise it was a quiet evening like any other, and as usual, Aemma and Luke arrived ten minutes later.

The door swung open and Luke was the first to enter, immediately taking a seat on the edge avoiding Rhaenyra's gaze followed by Aemma who seemed unbothered and slowly sat down on the empty chair between Jace and Luke.

Apparently, she was not bothered that Rhaenyra was looking at her coldly, and she ignored the nervous looks of Rhaena or Jace, who when he kicked her in the leg under the table, she only kicked him back. She stretched out her hand and started eating one potato that was on her plate.