ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[029] sometimes you have to accept the help of the enemy

"AND THEN I told her: 'You can't wear silver and gold rings on your fingers at the same time' ," Lady Lythene said wide-eyed to the surrounding women as if she was talking about some historical battle. "And you know what she did?"

Oh, please tell us, Aemma looked up from her book with unamused expression.

"What did she do?" asked the woman next to her, stopping her embroidery for a moment.

The woman, obviously pleased with the attention, leaned dramatically closer to the girls sitting on the armchairs and lowered her voice to a whisper. "She came to my family's feast in a yellow dress and put on rings, bracelets and necklaces. Everything in gold and silver!"

Disgusted sighs and whispers of the women around filled the room, except for Helaena, who continued to embroider, apparently not even noticing that the woman had said anything.

Embroidery had been Helaena's daily activity since she was a child, Aemma knew that. She also knew that Helaena needed to have complete silence and peace in order to concentrate and be able to create something perfectly. And that's why it didn't make sense to her why Helaena had to have six other women with her who joined her in this activity.

It was then explained to her that after she left King's Landing, Alicent tried to force Helaena to go out and talk to people, but failed and Helaena stayed in her chambers, so she had to send someone to her. So Helaena was obliged to spend every day sewing with other women of the court, usually wives or daughters of lords.

And despite Helaena allowing Baela and Aemma to escape, the women apparently had other plans and sat them together while Baela got a needle and a thread and Aemma could at least read.

She had to admit that watching bored Baela just repeatedly stick a needle into the fabric in front of her was amusing as well as sad.

"Princess Aemma," one of the women addressed her and Aemma looked away from her cousin. "Would you like to join us? You look so bored with that book."

"Thank you for your kindness, Lady Morya. But this book is actually very interesting, I was just deep in thought," Aemma said in the sweetest voice she could bring herself to use. "Embroidery is not my forte."

"This is indeed unusual," the woman hummed. "Didn't you have a septa to teach you that?"

"I did. But I think she gave up trying to teach me anything after a while," Aemma shrugged and turned her attention back to a book.

"I have never heard of a woman who could not embroider," said Lady Tanda, although young, she was a very ugly woman who looked as if she pursed her lips on purpose and her head was big and red like a tomato.

Helaena noticed that Aemma didn't even bother to say anything (a clear sign that she was about to explode.) "Princess Aemma has other qualities."

For a moment it seemed that they were satisfied. "Dancing? Singing?"

"Fencing," Aemma said, the corner of her mouth lifted as she heard shocked exclaims.

"I have never heard of a woman who fences," Lady Lythene shook her head. "Such a barbaric activity!"

"Don't exaggerate, Lady Lythene," Lady Faye shook her head, calmly embroidering the tree with pink thread. "It is merely unusual." 

Good argument. Too bad you use it in a place where the word 'unusual' is a synonym for the word 'cursed.'

"I think it's great that Princess Aemma is trying to promote this activity among women as well."

All eyes focused on the shy looking girl with light brown hair who hadn't spoken once since the beginning, but now her brown eyes hesitantly jumped from the women to Aemma.