aeternus | tywin lannister

VIII

"Laena, you are no longer a child. Just get on the horse," Tywin Lannister enunciated every word calmly, trying not to lose his patience that early in the morning.

"I won't," she walked away from the beast as her betrothed followed her looking as impatient as ever, "Why do I need to learn how to ride? Carriages still exist."

"I'm not marrying someone who doesn't know how to ride," he grabbed her forearm to bring her closer to his horse again.

She laughed, "Oh, really? So much waiting to just call the wedding off like that?"

He looked at her unimpressed, "We will marry and you will learn how to ride. When you become the lady of the Rock, you can't be incapable of anything, especially riding a horse."

"A proper lady doesn't ride, for your information. How many times have you seen my sister on a horse?"

He ignored her, "Are you scared?"

"No, I just don't want to kill myself before I see my brother burning to death."

"Be quiet, someone might hear you," he warned her, "Now, get on the horse. You have done it before."

"Not alone."

"It's the same. I will help you."

"Why does it have to be your horse? He's huge."

"Because he's the only one I trust." She looked at the black horse unconvinced and he finally lost his patience, "You have sixty seconds to straddle that horse. If you don't do it, you will ride on horseback the whole journey to Casterly Rock."

She snapped her head to look at him, but she noticed he wasn't joking she finally thought about how was she supposed to mount the horse.

"Fine, but help me."

He stood close to his horse and grabbed the reins, so the horse couldn't walk away, "Put your foot in the stirrup. The other one. Now I need you to shift the weight of your body onto your foot. Exactly. Place your hands in the saddle. And now pull yourself up," he shook his head slowly when he watched her look in fear at the size of the horse and helped to pull herself up, "There you go," he smiled when he saw her swinging her led over the top of the horse, "Put your other foot on the stirrup."

"He's too high."

"Straighten your back and grab the reins properly," he handed her the reins and kept his hand on the horse's mane as he examined her position, "Was it that hard?"

Halaena noticed how pleased and proud he seemed to be, "Can I get down now?"

"You're learning how to ride, not how to mount."

"That's a step for another day, maybe."

"Another day you will perfect it. Now, make sure you are in the proper position for balance and keep your back straight, don't forget."

She knew his eyes were on her as the horse finally took its first steps and she did her best to keep her back straight and not to look scared. Tywin Lannister was evaluating her, he was always evaluating her.

They had been engaged for more than a year now. Things changed significantly between them, especially when it came to her attitude toward him.

Everyone noticed how much time Halaena spent in the Hand's Tower. She was there even when Tywin was working somewhere else. She would rarely leave his side and he didn't seem to mind it either. When he spent more than a day away from King's Landing, she would always wait for him at the gates of the Red Keep.

Above all else, something really strange was happening. Lord Tywin Lannister, one of the most feared men in the Realm, was smiling. He smiled when he saw her enter a room and he smiled when they had their meals together, but those smiles were still extremely rare and only directed at her.