𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖼𝗈𝗅𝗈𝗋 𝖾𝗒𝖾𝗌 | 𝑡. 𝑎𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑛 𝐼𝐼

I.

song of the chapter; dear arkansas daughter,

the beginning.

"do you understand that, visenya?" my mother asked with a sigh as i put my lyre down, i grimaced as i stared at the floor, refusing to stare at her. i refused to answer, i wished i could also refuse the proposal, but my parents thought it could boost us back up the line of succession. "prince aegon's a cassanova." i replied, sucking on my bottom lip nervously, chewing it nervously out of habit.

"so? visenya, you know this. you worked so hard for this, to gain the king's approval and favour.. why are you throwing it all away?" she asked disapprovingly, as i just glared down at my red dress's embroidery, a three headed dragon. a sign of being a trueborn targaryen, wasn't it enough? why did my mother have to be so ambitious..?

"i didn't work hard for this, i didn't do it to gain their approval, i didn't do this for the favour. i performed and jested because i wanted to." i stated as i crossed my arms, my breathing was manual, my lips pursed into a thin line of nervousness.

"pathetic." she spat out bitterly as i winced, "whatever, mother.." i said in a quiet tone, my will of not marrying the prince was wavering, that small word made my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach. her disapproval was always something that easily manipulated me into doing what she thought was best for me.. well her and her reputation.

she thought that maybe, just maybe, if she was the mother of the future queen, she'd be able to flaunt it to her highborn friends. wanting to tangle the branch of visenya targaryen back with the branch of rhaenys targaryen, to be regarded with highness again.

i picked up the lyre and got up, walking out of the room, and towards godswood. i needed to clear my mind, i needed to understand her point. i wanted to make her proud, my mother was a bitter old woman, yes.. but she was still my mother. she wanted the best for me.. maybe it wasn't just for me, but i knew she had a plan for me.

i soon left godswood and joined the crowd of highborns, cheers and hoots of joy echoing within the party. my thoughts muted them, almost. i could only muffle their voices, requests of a song to be sung by me, their laughter, the joy in their tone as i stood infront of them, my lyre in my hand as i smiled at them.

their pleas of songs made me feel suffocated, alone in this crowded room. i sighed as i began playing a small tune, my voice harmonising with the melody, as my body moved to my own rhythm. it was as if the world stopped for me everytime my mouth opened to sing, but never stopped when i tried to speak, almost as if i was only heard through jests and songs.

the song finished, i smiled proudly as i curtsied in front of the people, my eyes meeting his for a moment before breaking away to bow to the king, i bowed gracefully, lifting my head with a cheeky little smile, staring at the king as he motioned for me to rise.

the party went on, i felt like i was still out of it, but kept a bright smile and calm nature to my aura, soon that cheery attitude and views really did come true, i joked and laughed with the crowd, often being called over to be introduced to bachelors of other houses.

seems like the king still hasn't announced it. i knew my mother had already told him that i accepted the marriage, but he probably wanted to hear it from me. just the thought of it made my head hurt and my eyes roll. a pair of eyes seemed to always follow me around, observing me. i never seem to pinpoint who it was, as i was pulled left and right.

soon, the party ended and i was pulled into the private hearing room of the house targaryen, i sighed as my mother urged me to come over. i curstied before the king viserys and his wife, queen alicent. who nodded to acknowledge me, i stared at the other princesses and princes who sat and stood around.

princess rhaenyra's children watched intently, as did the other princess and princes. i bared my teeth, clenching my jaw tightly as my mother stared up at me as she sat on a chair, my hands balling at my side. she saw my hostility to what was gonna happen, she grabbed my hand tightly with a glare.

i sighed as i stood standoffish at her side, avoiding any eyecontact with anyone. "well, what's going on?" i asked in a jokey way, hoping to ease the tension in my body, it was as if i only said that to assure myself.

i stared awkwardly back and forth between my mother and the king, who coughed awkwardly before flashing me a smile. "so, princess visenya, i believe your mother has already told you about the arangement." the king said in a tired way, clearly a bit tired of today and wanted to end it early.

"arangement? pfftt... you mean engagement!" i said in a nervous tone, my smile faltering every few seconds that passed as they just kept staring at me. "what?.." i asked as i looked around, before looking down at my mother, my jaw dropping as i realised the reason the king hadn't mentioned or stopped any marriage proposals wasn't because he wanted to hear my acceptance from my own mouth.

but because the marriage was already official, no take backs. they had decided this behind my back? "what?? har har, very funny. what's actually going on?" i asked in a more serious tone, pulling my hand away from my mother's. turns out, he didn't say anything because even he didn't want me to know yet, the king wanted to hide my own marriage from me.

knowing the king, he probably wasn't the one who planned it.