𝑨 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 // 𝑨𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝑰 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒚𝒆𝒏

7. "Dear Niece"

Alicent rushed through the castle with Ser Criston Cole by her side, following her around like a tail. She hadn't seen the girl in years, not since driftmark and since she wanted a good relationship with her future daughter-in-law, everything had to go as planned.

Servants also ran back and forth, cleaning the entire castle and preparing the chamber for Princess Alyssa's arrival. But where were her sons? Thought the stressed queen.

She asked servant after servant if any of the princes had been seen. But no one gave her the answer she wanted.

Soon enough she spotted her daughter walking through the hall. She sighed in relief and made his way to the princess.

"Dear Helaena, have you seen any of your brothers? " She held her daughter's hands and waited for her answer. But Helaena wasn't present, she looked out the window and totally ignored her mother.

She sighed, gave her sweet Helaena a kiss on the forehead and moved on. She hurried to Aegon's room, her dark locks falling to her shoulders in the rush.

Ser Criston stayed outside as Alicent opened the door to the prince's chambers, angered by the sight.

Aegon stood shirtless with a servant he was kissing lazily. They both jumped when they saw the angry queen rush into the room. The servant bowed to the queen and hurried away before Alicent could say anything to her. Aegon just stood and stared with a lazy expression, as if his betrothed wasn't there soon and he was with someone else.

"Aegon, your wife-to-be is coming soon and you're doing this!" she shouted as she picked up a tunic and threw it at him. "Get dressed!"

In response, he laughed and pulled on his shirt in an amused manner.

"It was just harmless fun, you don't have to go and get upset about it. For the record, Alyssa doesn't care."

Alicent let out a humorless laugh and shook her head in frustration. She went over and fixed his shirt, spiffing him up as fast as she could. His face fell between her hands "I don't want trouble today, Aegon. She will be your wife, I will finally make peace with Rhaenyra. Make it work"

It knocked on the door. "enter" ser Arryk entered the room and bowed in respect. "Princess Alyssa is on her way to the castle, Your Grace"

Alicent's face lit up with joy "Thank you ser Arryk, you may go" But the happy look fell as she turned to Aegon and straightened his hair one last time before lifting his chin to look at her. "Make It Work"

She desperately wanted this to work, she cared for the girl and hoped to the seven that Aegon would treat her with respect and dignity. She hoped, but did she belive it? No.

_______________________________________

"Open the gates!"

The gates were opened and the carriage rolled into the court yard where knights stood (for whatever reason)

Alyssa's heart was beating so fast it felt like it would jump out of her chest. She was not in the least eager to come back here, not to the queen, not to Aegon, not to anybody. Next to her sat Tanya with a sympathetic look on her face. Her hand landed gently on the very nervous princess's hand in a way of trying to calm her down.

"It'll be alright" She assured me with a small smile.

Alyssa took a deep breath and nodded. Tanya knew she didn't want to marry the prince, but there was only so much a simple servant could do. So she would be there and help her with what she could instead, like she had done all these years.

Alyssa looked at her friend, admiring the brown platinum hair and dark eyes. There was something about them that made her calm and safe.

The carriage stopped, so did the princess's thoughts and heart. It thumped even faster than before and the face reddened with nervousness. She didn't even understand why, but there was something about being back that screamed that this was the end of the little dream bubble she created during her time at Dragonstone with her family. The dream that she would live there forever, without a single thought of marrige.