"We come from pure strength Daenerys." Her brother told her as he flipped through the old tome. "Viserra Velaryon. As untamable as the sea itself. Her brother Aemar. A greenseer and a mighty warrior. Aemond Targaryen. Rider of Vhagar, the largest dr...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
For the next nine months Maela lived in the capitol doing her best to simply stay out of the way. She knew what this place was under the guise of extravagant towers and luxurious rooms. She knew the ways of the vipers at court and wanted to stay as far away from all that nonsense as possible. Though in the back of her mind she knew it was fruitless. The only result of such action would be her turning into an empty headed wife of a prince, oblivious to the real goings on, a woman who would need to rely on her husband's power and reputation for safety. And something inside her did not wish for that, regardless of her desire to maintain her gentle nature. She did not want the capitol to corrupt her. Did not want to in any way resemble her terrible father.
So she tried to toe the line, as it were.
She did spend ample time with Helaena and tended to her the same way she tended to her own mother when Laena was pregnant. Alicent was also often nearby to help, and expressed privately to Maela how nice it was that her daughter's pregnancy finally gave them something in common to bond over. Maela was happy for her. The lines in the queen's forehead revealed how many years she had spent worrying and fretting about one thing or another. To Maela's mind the woman deserved some joy in her life, and seemed to be finally getting it.
Aemond even would stop by, more often then she thought he would, to check up on his sister each and every day. After his visits he would steal Maela away thus leaving the mother and daughter alone. It was then the courting couple would find some peace themselves. Aemond had amended his usual routine and instead of taking his midday meal alone in his chambers they would eat together in the garden – or one of the towers if the weather was poor. Then they would either stroll the grounds and converse or read silently in the library side by side. Aemond had cut out his afternoon training, now only doing so in the morning and cutting back on his dragonriding – which he said Vhagar did not seem to mind as it allowed her to sleep more. Then every night they would go together to the Sept and pray. Sometimes they would kneel at the same altar, like the Father or the Crone, though many times they prayed separately.
She never asked him about his choice of who he prayed to, but she had visited the royal library and done her own research whilst he was training one day. What she found broke her heart. The Stranger is neither male nor female, yet both at the same time. He is the outcast, the wanderer from far places, less and more than human, unknown and unknowable. His face is the face of death. He leads the newly deceased to the other world. Those who feel like outcasts might light a candle for the Stranger. Her poor Aemond, suffering in silence, sharing that pain with no one, not even her.
She wanted to help him, but knew he would deny any sort of weakness. He would tell her not to fret, he would try and shield her from any and all negativity. Helaena was unlikely to help her, even if she gave her aid it would be in riddles Maela could not decipher. And Alicent was busy tending to her daughter. Maela was on her own.
