BOUND BY DUTY | daella targaryen | hotd fanfiction

V. personified chaos

10th day of the 10th moon, 117AC

"If you stay quiet like this in your marriage to Gwayne, he'll make all the decisions for both of you, Daella."
"Everything I want to say, I swallow, Nyra." she said after the silence she hadn't broken since getting dressed in the morning.
"You're a Targaryen, not him, Daella. You're a dragon and he's just one of a million men of the realm." she whispered as she stroked her belly with her hands full of rings on her fingers.
"If I am a dragon from a dragon family, why is our father being strangled by the snakes of Oldtown?" she stopped walking and gave her sister a stern look.
"You forget that I am the heir to the throne, and as long as I have the right to it, no snake will strangle anyone of our family."
Daella decided to end the conversation without her reply and continue their walk to the courtyard of the Red Keep in silence, lost in her own thoughts about her impending introduction to her future husband.
The royal nobility stood in front of the gates of the red fortress, waiting for the long-awaited knight who was supposed to become the husband of the king's daughter, but Daella was not impressed at all.
She thought endlessly about a way out of this marriage thing, about some escape, but even her own family did not give her the keys to the lock of her prison.
Her uncle ignored her plea for help that she sent so a lifetime ago, but in reality it was just two weeks.
The ruby ​​ring adorned her index finger from that day on, accompanying her every step, knowing even the pounding of her heart, which no man from Westeros had known.
The royal procession with green flags marched in their direction, there might have been a hundred and fifty of them including the servants.
At the beginning of the procession marched three large black horses, beautiful beasts with rich saddles, carrying important men dressed in various doublets of velvet, satin and other rich fabrics. They sped up their march by leaving their royal retinue, quickly approaching their destination without waiting for the other nobles in the carriages.
The man who was the first to be clearly seen had long auburn hair, with a wide smile and confidence that he left as his recognizable mark. Daella recognized in him the suitor of her dearest Lady in Waiting, Ser Blackbar. The Princess didn't know him well as a person, she knew very little about him and it had been making her anxious ever since Candace had told her of his intentions to propose to her.
Following him, a man of about the same age was trying to catch up with him.
He was a man with a prominent nose, but it didn't spoil his charm at all. On the contrary, he had very exceptional facial features, in some ways he looked mysterious, his dark blue doublet only added to his mystery appearance.
His dark brown hair was up to his shoulders, pulled back into a rubber band. He gave her a soft smile from a distance, but after that, he immediately turned his gaze to the man behind them, who did not at all consider it necessary to follow them at the same pace.
The last rider didn't allow himself to be sped up, instead he looked around, trying to take in every corner of the Red Keep with his hazel eyes, while a light breeze blew his auburn hair.
She immediately knew he was the one who came for her hand, with his resemblance with The Queen, it could be none other than Ser Gwayne Hightower.
Her nightmare that was finally infront of her.
Daella felt many things inside of her. Her insides began to twist around her lungs, trying to reach her heart so that they could slowly strangle it with great joy and squeeze out all the hatred, anger and resentment she had towards his family, while he was slowly approaching the gates to her life.
Rhaenyra, standing right next to her, knew exactly what her little sister was feeling and that's why she preferred to let her fight her battles in her head in peace and quiet. Instead, she approached Leanor and whispered something to him.
'You have no idea what you had started with this, father.' Daella whispered unconsciously to herself as she watched the arrival of the nobles.
She then shifted her gaze to her father, who was standing in the middle of the courtyard, watching contentedly the arrival of his future son-in-law with Alicent Hightower by his side.
'You threw me into the abyss without a single hesitation.' she thought after he noticed her watching him. He only gave her a small smile, with which he probably thought he had corrected all the mistakes he had made since her mother's death.
After a moment, Ser Gwayne Hightower was only a few paces away from her, dismounting his black horse with great ease.
As his feet touched the ground, his full form could finally be seen, he was almost two heads taller than his bride, with a body that so many maidens have dreamed of since their first blooming.
The Queen immediately greeted him with a genuine joy that Daella only saw in her when she was with her children. She hadn't seen her brother in years, letters really didn't have the power to make the comfort of a hug available. Daella knew the feeling all too well.
Anxiety had dogged her ever since she had arrived at the courtyard with Rhaenyra, but now that he was in front of her eyes, it was unbearable.
Her breathing was irregular, the red ring was twirling on her finger with unusual speed.
Daella closed her eyes for a moment, engulfed in darkness, finally feeling invisible for few seconds.
Her eyelids were heavy, almost as if they didn't want to open for the world to see her true self with her true emotions that weren't hidden behind the curtains of a perfect royal life.
But the second of peace was interrupted by a quiet voice calling her back to mortal life.
"Daella!" Rhaenyra rubbed her shoulder, trying to wake her from her delusions.
Daella blinked twice, straightened her figure, standing like a lifeless statue, ready to face the fate that the Gods had chosen for her.
Ser Gwayne was suddenly in front of her making eye contact with her as all the nobility looked on.
'Gods, is this your plan for me?' she asked the Gods without saying it loud.
His hazel eyes observed her, and every detail on her face.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess." he said determinedly, waiting for her hand, to give a kiss on it.
Daella gave him her hand after a quick realization and the next thing she remembered was the warm touch of his fingertips.
The Princess bowed, though she didn't really mean to, and gave a gentle look.
"The pleasure is on my side, Ser." she pulled her hand away immediately, but her purple eyes didn't.
Now she was dominating the gaze, watching him from head to toe.
She was curious what he thought about her first appearance.
She hoped that she had disgusted him, that he would avoid her as much as possible.
She hoped she was making him feel sick.
However, she was anything but disgust for the young knight.
Gwayne saw porcelain in her, fragility from head to toe.
Something that breaks easily and sticks back together again and again and again, until the broken pieces are nothing but dust.
It was that moment, that brief moment, when their eyes met, and Daella knew that she was not going to get away from this man unless death will part them away.
That the blood in her veins will enter his blood and they will form one whole until the end of times.
That she will be his property.
That her uncle didn't keep his promise.
That he was so far from her problem, that he, as the only one from their family was willing to solve.
The ring twisted from her index finger and fell onto the stone path.
Young Hightower immediately spotted it and bowed to it as a gesture in front of the entire nobility.
She was so angry that he touched something so valuable that had been guarding her for the past weeks, even if it was just a simple ring of her uncle's.
"There you go." he gave her a gentle smile, accompanied with his hazel eyes full of something so uncertain to the Princess.
She saw in them hunger, obsession, and hunger again.
Like she was some meat for his empty stomach.
Daella quickly put the ring back on, before her father had a chance to see that it was his brother's.
Her father and Alicent welcomed her brother's companions and with direct words sent them off to rest for the dinner that should be the very 'dinner of the new achievements of Westeros' as her father said in a determined voice.
'Well, that will only be if my future husband accidentally chokes on wine.' she thought.
She fixed her purple eyes once more on Gwayne, who bid her a polite farewell before leaving for his chambers.
"We will speak later when we eat dinner, Princess." he reached for the hand on which Daella put the ring back and gave her one more kiss, without breaking his gaze on her.
Daella nodded and let him pass to the Red Keep.
Rhaenyra approached her sister, trying to somehow reassure her that the situation was not so bad.
"I need to be alone." she cut her off before she could offer her younger sister any sympathy.
The young Princess left the courtyard as well, and rushed to her chambers with anger coursing through her veins.
As soon as she stepped into the room, she took off her earrings and necklace and angrily threw them on the round table that was placed in the middle of the room.
Flustered, she walked up and down the room, and up and down again, rubbing her hands together in the hope that she would forget about her situation.
After Daella forgot the passage of time, the door to her chambers opened and her royal father entered.
Daella glanced at his arrival out of the corner of her eye but did not stop her walk around the room or bow to him.
With a quick glance, she only saw how her father sat down on one of the four couches she had around the table and poured wine into a goblet.
"How do you like Ser Gwayne?" he asked her, watching her every move.
Daella stopped and stared at him in disbelief.
"My opinion doesn't matter, does it?" she smirked with anger in her eyes.
Viserys turned his whole body towards her and said:
"Your opinion matters more than anyone else's, Daella.
Daella walked over to him with a quick step and looked down at him sarcastically.
"If so, you would have let this one thing be chosen by me, not by yourself and your Lords in the Small Council, father. Not by Alicent Hightower."
Viserys quickly stood up and approached his second-born daughter.
"Alicent had no say in it. The decision fell on me, and only me, sweet child."
'How dare you call me like that, after all the things you caused in my life?' a voice shouted in her head.
"Tell that to anyone but me. I cannot give voice to my emotions and opinions while your mind is clouded by people who don't belong to our family." her voice rose by a large margin, her body stiff with anger.
But Viserys didn't say anything, he just looked at the ground.
"You have revolted your brother as much as you have me now, and don't expect me and Daemon to ever feel happy in this family again as long as the Hightower's are in it, Your Grace." she tried not to scream, but she didn't even want to be silently agreeing to the mistakes he made.
The word father was rotting in her mouth, so much so that she could not pronounce it.
"Your view of the family will change as soon as you create your own with Ser Gwayne. And Daemon can think what he wants, he is not the head of the family. On the contrary, he should also create his own family and forget his hatred for the Hightowers that is so useless and childish."
Daella stared out the window, ignoring his words.
After a short silence, Viserys reached for the goblet and drank the rest of the wine he had poured earlier.
"Get ready for dinner and don't dare to think of something to spoil the feast." and with those words he marched to the door, leaving her alone with her emotions.
Anger haunted her even more, and as soon as he left the chambers, Daella threw her goblet against the wall, letting the wine run down the stone reliefs onto the cold marble floor.
She then walked over to the round table and dropped all the glasses, the wine in the jug and the flowers in the vase on the floor until everything shattered into a million pieces.