BOUND BY DUTY | daella targaryen | hotd fanfiction

X. trails of blood

27th day of the 10th moon month, 117AC

Rumors of the planned marriage of Prince Daemon and Lady Laena spread throughout The Seven Kingdoms just ten days after the wedding of his niece, Princess Daella to Ser Gwayne.
The news had mixed reactions from the royal family. While The King raged silently in his chambers, The Queen and her father, Lord Otto Hightower, who still lingered in the capital city, reportedly breathed a sigh of relief at the terror that Daemon had brought to the Small Council all these years. Viserys granted the position of Commander of The City Watch to young Ser Harwin Strong, the sworn protector of his daughters, ending his opinion of this news.
Princess Daella took the news of her uncle's marriage in her own way, with a bow in her hand, trying to calm her rage down.
The target she was shooting at without a pause for the last two hours, fell to the dry ground of the yard, on which many knights were training with spectators from different noble houses, that were still accommodated on the castle, despite the fact that the wedding celebrations were already over.
"To be honest, something like that was to be expected of him," she pulled another arrow from the holder, "they danced together more than once at the wedding." she added.
Candace was leaning against a wooden post, with her hands busy sewing a small piece of embroidery onto a handkerchief she wanted to give to her future husband, Ser Blackbar.
She looked incredibly in love.
She was no longer the Candace who shared all her thoughts with her, who studied the history of every bit of Westeros with her at afternoons, who was sipping wine with her on Dragonstone while her hands explored the Princess's body. She was to be the future Lady Blackbar, wife to Henry Blackbar and mother to his children.
"What do you think of Lady Laena?" Candace asked in return.
Daella held a long pause, focused on her new target, that was flying around the old stable.
"She has the blood of Old Valyria."
She shot the arrow, however it didn't hit the little black crow.
Her hands immediately reached for another arrow, hoping that there was still a chance to shoot the crow, but Candace was faster with her gentle touch on her left shoulder.
"I'm not asking about her blood, Daella."
"Apparently that was the first thing that attracted my uncle's attention to my sister's friend. I have no doubt about it and I don't blame him. While he shares his blood with his equal, I am forced to mix mine with an Andal. No offense." she looked away after her answer. Candace had the purest of Andal blood in her veins, as the first people of this kind landed in the Vale, almost six thousand moon years ago.
"But what about your feelings, your desires for him?" she whispered so that no one would hear those sinful words.
It didn't take long for Daella to share her secret with her friend. She knew she could trust her and in the end it didn't even shock her the way Daella thought it would.
"What happened, happened. My words obviously did not convince him to help me."
"Nonsense, Princess. You repeated to me all the words he told you. I can't believe he doesn't care about your fate. Maybe there's something behind his silence."
Daella sighed. She fired one more shot, but to no avail. The crow was gone for good.
"Even the bow knows that my judgment is true." she whispered in her squeaky voice.
"What am I supposed to do, Candace? Go to their wedding and steal him from her hands? There's nothing to be done. Not anymore."
Candace could tell she was frustrated by this, though she tried her best to hide it.
"I'm going to take this to Ser Henry." she pointed to a green satin handkerchief.
Daella didn't even turn to her, there were too many tears in her eyes.
The view of the courtyard gradually became more and more blurred, until she saw nothing but her own wretchedness in front of her.
She couldn't pinpoint the day of Daemon's departure from King's Landing as well as his attitude toward her.
He hadn't come to see her after her poisoning, or to the first official dinner that she and Gwayne hold as a married couple, or to his last two meetings before Viserys stripped him of his Commander's title, as Rhaenyra told her yesterday.
He left again without saying a word, but this time not alone and that broke her the most.
But what could she expect? He definitely wants his legacy to live on for hundreds of years after his death, and it didn't matter who would grant him that wish.
She vaguely remembered the first days of her marriage to The Tower Knight.
Gwayne kept her company for four nights in a row, then allowed her two days of restful sleep, before which Daella could finally indulge in a cleansing bath full of herbs and pure blood of white pigeon. For the next four days he visited her again and again, at the same time as before, two hours after the dinner.
"Looks like your uncle wants to outshine our wedding with the Seasnake's daughter." he noted in the evening of the same day, rolled out after fulfilling their marital duty.
"Their ceremony will certainly not have the same ending as ours." she anwered.
'Their ceremony will be much more beautiful. True and loving. A traditional Valyrian wedding with all the customs that the ceremony of two dragon riders contains. Arranged outside under a clear sky, dressed in the colors of true royalty- black and red, in the circle of the closest, not in front of three hundred pairs of eyes.' she thought.
"This alone makes us different from others, dear." he chuckled as he lay next to her with a grape in her hand.
"You don't know when it will be held?" she asked as she watched the ornaments on the canopy above the bed.
"If they want to respect our marriage, his courting will last another three moons."
"Daemon doesn't pay attention to such things." she replied in a dreamy voice.
So many things were going on in her head, from the dreams that haunted her all days, to observing her own body while constantly consuming her potions and moon tea.
She will have to find another recipe, the moon tea cannot be consumed as often as Daella is drinking it.
"Perhaps she is already heavy with his child. Desperation can lead people to make difficult decisions. Her father is an important person, she can't afford to have a bastard. Neither Prince Daemon with a Lady like she is."
"Perhaps." she hoped he was wrong.