HOTD SI: The Bloody Prince (OC x Rhaenyra)(OC x Alicent)

Part 24

Chapter 24

ALICENT HIGHTOWER

Today, Alicent Hightower had woken up with none of the heaviness and sadness from the previous days. Her mind was at ease as she was dressed up for her morning prayer, and though there could be many reasons for it, she found her mind drifting to Rhaenyra's words from yesterday.

And as she stared at her face in the mirror, she found her eyes tracing the features of her face, trying to discern the difference her firm had so easily discovered. And yet she found none, but could she really have found them. After all, it was often said that those in love were often blind to it.

'Was she really in love with Aegon Targaryen?'

She found in him a great friend, someone who cared deeply for her given everything she had seen from him, and though his politics and ambition remained a mystery to her, she did not think him to as callous as both their fathers. He was comely enough that nearly all the ladies at court were consistently vying for his favor, trying to ensnare the young Prince who had just become second in line to the Iron Throne with their guiles.

Not that it mattered much. Despite his father's blood running through his veins, the Prince had none of his vices for flesh and was polite enough in his declines, and she had yet to hear about him frequenting a brothel, for if she had done so, her father would have spread it around rather quickly.

She did look forward to their talks, their little ramblings about subjects ranging from the sept's architecture to the little gossip at court. In the days of their falling out, she had missed him, her heart taken by a dull ache which only now lifted as they both made up.

Was this love? And if so, how unfortunate was she to love a man she could never really have?

For all her beauty and influence, Alicent was not blind to her station. She was but a daughter to a second son, one who had little to his name except the title of the King's Hand, something which could be taken away at any time at the King's behest.

And yet, in this situation, her status was not even what concerned her the most; it was their heritage and the bad blood between them, the animosity of their fathers. A match between them was simply impossible, or at least she thought so as she walked out of her chambers, dressed in one of her mother's finest gowns. For today, she was to accompany the Princess in opening soup kitchens throughout Kingslanding in memory of the Queen.

As she moved through the Halls, she found many eyes turning towards her, eyes that she had ignored in the last few weeks. Yet only now did she know the reason behind such scathing gazes.

Rumors were a lady's worst enemy. These had been her mother's words. While men waged war, through swords and politics, women at court had their own battles, battles fought with dresses, friends, parties, and rumors.

Because of her status and closeness to the Princess, Alicent had never really been involved in any such thing, not that there was anything noteworthy to malign her with in the first place.

At least until this week. Rhaenyra's words had made her alarm bells ring, for though Alicent Hightower tended to avoid this game of words, she was not oblivious to it, and so after some probing, she had found out that a certain rumor was circulating around her.

A rumor that painted her a spoilt woman, who had lost her virtue to the Rogue Prince. The very thought of that scenario made her gut twist, and yet the there were many stories as to how such a thing had happened, but that was not important. What was important was that the rumors painted her as a spoilt woman, one who had done the deed either willingly or Seven forbid unwillingly with the Rogue Prince.