BOUND BY DUTY | daella targaryen | hotd fanfiction

VIII. "whatever may come"

14th day of the 10th moon month, 117AC King's Landing

"Can we open, Princess?" a distant voice asked her a thousand miles away.
I'm a stupid child." she had been saying to herself for the last almost twenty hours since the events in her chambers.
If she had to be honest with herself, she had never thought of doing anything like that.
And why should she?
She had never thought of her uncle, the dangerous Targaryen prince, as anything other than her own blood, the brother of her Royal father.
Although her family takes their own blood really differently than anyone else in Westeros.
They are unique, there is no one with purer blood than the rulers of Westeros.
Without the marriage of Aegon the Conqueror to his sisters, Queen Visenya and Queen Rhaenys, they would not exist.
But that she would have ever imagined having the same path in life with him as they had?
Not at all.
He was known for his history and stories that circulated throughout the whole realm, being the dream of almost every young maiden, admired for his body and Valyrian beauty.
He himself favored Valyrian beauty, Lady Mysaria herself had features similar to them because of her ancestors who decided to mix their blood with the antient houses of the Old Valyria.
Until now, she couldn't explain the hunger she felt for him when he stood next to her, breathing the same air as she did, touching her hands and putting his ring on her fingers.
In a closeness which was so sinful!
And what after sins?
On the contrary, she felt well-being, she was sent to the seven heavens, not caring who she was at that moment.
Whether an animal that was hungry for food, or a whore who would do anything for more time with him.
And yet, now she was standing in front of the old door of the throne room where over three hundred pairs of eyes were waiting for her.
Will his eyes be among them?
She didn't know.
And of course the ring remained on her finger, the cursed ring that she had tossed around the chambers several times after he left her and put it back on every time she bent down to pick it up.
In a moment there will be a ring with a blue diamond next to it, laughing at it with the same pride as Gwayne had in himself.
Princess Daella nodded her head gently and the door opened wide in a moment.
The attention of the whole room was only on her, on her white dress standing at the entrance.
The beautiful dress deserved those looks, it had an embroidered corset on which a dragon was depicted with silver threads and pale blue crystals. Each hem was decorated with lace, which added to her innocence. At last, snow-white Lys pearls hung from her shoulder.
It was an unusual dress for a Targaryen Princess, with not even a hint of black or red from their coat of arms.
And that's what she intended.
Daella's hair was in a light braid, ending below her waist with small blue stones inserted between the braids.
A necklace encrusted with blue moonstones adorned her pale neck.
She made quite an impression with the colors of her mother's coat of arms, but surely even the King himself could not deny that in that color she looked like a goddess from the most magical corner of the world.
Attention was never something that avoided her, whether she liked it or not.
There were times when she would prefer to bury herself underground, but there were also times when Daella searched for it in various ways.
Today she wanted to be the diamond of the attention of every person in the room.
Several mouths were open, speechless looking at their Princess.
Those who came only on the King's orders realized how lucky they were to be here the moment they laid eyes on her.
She was everything a man could want. Her beauty, knowledge and heritage drove them crazy.
Although she also everything that could destroy a person if they would made her feel less important.
From dark magic in which she had her fingers in, to fighting with sword and bow.
Her father stood over a huge table across from her, with Queen Alicent to his right, dressed in dark green as usual.
Wearing the same color for almost four years was slowly becoming embarrassing, the worst part was that she started dressing her children in the same color without their preferences.
They were children who would definitely rather wear blue or pink, not green.
Of course, Daella also liked the pale blue, red and black more than the any other color, but she didn't make it her whole personality.
To the left of the King was a place for Daella and her betrothed, who could not take his eyes off his bride.
Beside him stood Sir Otto Hightower, the long-awaited guest for his children, but also the least welcomed by the King.
He was worried by the current Hand of The King, Lord Lyonell Strong, one of the few Lords that Daella liked, sitting next to him.
The seating order was really very chaotic, the table was more full of tension than food.
From the Queen's right on the other side of the table stood Rhaenyra, caressing her pregnant belly and watching her younger sister with a smile on her lips from her appearance.
She spent the whole afternoon with her getting ready, but she never once mentioned to her older sister what happened last night in the same chamber.
She could not get such a thing out of herself.
Rhaenyra was accompanied by Daella's brother in law, Sir Laenor who had a similar smile on his face as his wife.
Laena sat right next to him, watching every face in the room as closely as the Princess did.
She was beautiful, dressed in a navy blue dress that perfectly shaped her slim figure.
In a few months she will be standing in the same place, in the same situation, forced to marry the Sealord from Braavos as her father, The Seasnake, could not longer extend the wedding that he did not wished for his daughter.
He looked quite flustrated as Daella looked at him, standing next to Laena and his wife,
Princess Rhaenys, The Queen who never was.
The most powerful lineup of Westeros was rounded out by Prince Daemon, standing at the end of the table, watching his niece as intently as the other three hundred people.
He was wearing a black velvet doublet with sleeves decorated with leather. His hair was half up, with a small braid.
He looked unusually well-groomed.
Daella focused on where she was headed, next to Gwayne, keeping her eyes on it.
"Thank you." she whispered as her betrothed helped her sit down a moment later.
Gwayne wore a black and green doublet, richly decorated with silver chains on his chest and sleeves that were finished with silver embroidery.
He praised her beauty several times, before King Viserys began his speech.
"I'm sure you will agree with me when I say that we are honored to be at the another wedding of House Targaryen and House Hightower, as lovely as mine was."
At the memory that her husband reminded her of, Alicent looked at her father as if she still hadn't forgiven him for it, even after almost eleven years.
"The alliance of these two great houses dates back to the beginning of the Targaryen rule in Westeros, almost a century ago."
'An forced alliance formed between a child and a grown woman.' Daella thought.
King Maegor was only three and ten when he had to bed Lady Ceryse Hightower, a four and twenty old maiden.
Daella listened to her father praising this new alliance in big words while she played with the ruby ​​ring under the table.
Not once did she look at her uncle from whom she was separated by a total of seven people.
Now it was up to her whether she would deal the cards or shuffle them for the rest of her days.
"It is our duty to form such obligations to the entire empire, to our ancestors, and especially to the future." he looked down at his daughter for a moment, as if he were speaking the words rather to her than to the guests.
"I wish both to my daughter and my soon to be son in law, much happiness, love, and hopefully lots of childrens cry. To House Targaryen and Hightower!" he raised his cup as did three hundred other hands, laughing at the last remark.
Daella glanced at Daemon for the first time since yesterday.
And they eyes met.
He acted and looked so calm.
As if nothing had happened.
When he realized what they were doing, his gaze left her and returned to his brother.
Of course, Viserys was their barrier, the river over which they could not build a bridge.
Daella sipped a little of wine and the feast began.
When the time comes, he will decide.
The actual decision depended only on him.
"Are you alright?" Gwayne asked her, clinging to her.
"There's too much tension." she whispered to him so that her father on her right could not hear.
Gwayne looked at her with a great understanding. Or manipulation.
Who knows what it was.
"We will leave this nest of vipers in a moment." he answered.
Nest of vipers, she remembered the same words of the person with whom she committed the sin yesterday.
"I hope so." she replied to her betrothed, erasing those thoughts from her mind.
"Can you dance well?"