Chapter 57. Portraits and Spider-ravens

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'Good morning, Adrian, Ashy' Diane asked, walking into their room.

'Good morning, Diane,' Ashy smiled from the armchair she was sitting on while knitting a piece of clothing.

It had been a month since Adrian and she arrived at Dragonstone and they were still adjusting to the changes. Ashy had been seen by the healer from Dragontemple and even though they couldn't offer her a cure, there were a few remedies offered to her to help her manage her condition. Ashy was a good patient, doing everything that she was told and trying not to overburden herself which mostly meant staying inside the castle. She busied herself with knitting warm clothes that were in rather high demand, considering that the people were warming up for the winter. Winters at Dragonstone were nothing like winters in the north but it could still get rather cold if the north winds reached their territory.

'What can we do for you?' Adrian asked, getting up from his desk where he was sketching something. He had a bit of a harder time finding work than his wife. Dragonstone wasn't in dire need of unskilled labor at the moment and the only "skilled" thing Adrian truly knew how to do was paint and it wasn't in that high of a demand either. He did a few projects for Jamaya, painting her girls and boys for advertisement, but she had her needs met for now and probably wouldn't require Adrian's services for at least a few more months (Diane had a sneaking suspicion Jamaya hadn't budgeted for it beforehand because it was surprisingly hard find a skilled artist who could paint sex and nudity without getting uncomfortable, weird or downright creepy towards the models so she needed some time to have some more profit and be able to afford to hire Adrian again).

'I might have a project for you,' Diane said, and Adrian's eyes visibly lightened up at that. 'With good payment, of course.'

'I am all ears.'

'Do you still do portraits?'

'Yes. I actually do them best. Other things... they are decent but people's faces are my favorite,' he said and then added, 'No matter how weird it might sound.'

Diane chuckled and then asked, 'Can you, perhaps, paint someone's portrait from the description only? It will be a very good description but no other reference for you to go by.'

Adrian frowned, thinking. 'Perhaps it might be worth a try. What is it? One of these "wanted dead or alive" portraits?'

'No. I wish to have a picture of a woman who was once very dear to me. She is... no longer walks the Known World,' Diane explained, tugging on her dragon bracelet, 'and I am afraid I am starting to forget her face. I wish to have something to remember her by.'

'Oh,' Adrian made a sound, only now realizing that they had a serious kind of conversation, and then said, 'I will do what I can.'

***

'Come on, Visenya, you can do it,' Rhaenyra encouraged, pointing at Bianca who was holding a toy horse nearby. Visenya was lying on her back on the blanket, her face rather determined. 'Come on, my sweet girl, the horse is right there, come on!' the princess continued and after some rocking, Visenya rolled over on her belly all on her own, triumphantly grabbing the horse toy a second later with her right hand. 'Yes, you did! Good job, my darling girl,' Rhaenyra said excitedly, leaning down to kiss her daughter's head and earning an appreciative "ah!" from her.

Alicent almost scowled as she looked through the window at how Rhaenyra was playing with her daughter in the inner yard, trying to make the best of the last warm days before autumn and then winter fully took over. Princess Visenya was a happy baby. At least, that was what Alicent was told. So unlike Helaena who constantly cried and was hard to console.

Alicent loved her daughter, she truly did, but being near her was hard sometimes. When Helaena kept crying and crying, it made her feel totally helpless, utterly useless, completely inept. And Rhaenyra made it look so easy. As if she hadn't struggled with motherhood a day in her life. She even breastfed! Still! Visenya had reached six months and Rhaenyra still fed her herself which was unusual for the royal woman to begin with.

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