DISASTROUS ( Jon Snow )

01

i'm a little in love with falling in love / i'm a little in love with falling apart.

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When Amaris Baratheon was born, joy was spread throughout all the lands, reaching even the furthest corners of the Seven Kingdoms. Women wept. Men drank boisterous toasts. Children giggled with glee. The gods shook the grounds, letting everyone know, from royals to peasants, that this child was a gift.

At least, that's what Amaris had been told by her parents. Stannis Baratheon, her lord father, was a practical man without much fancy. To most he seemed stone faced and cold, and perhaps he was but his actions weren't without reason. Amaris' mother, Lady Alyss Baratheon, once Martell, had been a beautiful woman full of grace and light. The stories Amaris heard came from the brain of Alyss.

The day Lady Alyss died, everything living had wilted. Nights grew longer. Perhaps it was mere coincidence, but winter came. Amaris had been five years old when she watched her mother die. Amaris, even now at sixteen, didn't believe that the yearlong winter was ill timing. She knew in her heart and soul that when her mother died, so did the light of summer.

Her father had remarried quickly. Still not even six years old Amaris couldn't understand why her father had married another woman while her mother was barely in her grave. Selyse Florent, the new wife of Stannis, was much less than Alyss had been. Selyse was sullen and flat and was awkward with Amaris.

Neither Stannis nor Amaris liked Stannis' new wife very much.

One year after the new marriage, a new Baratheon was born. Shireen Baratheon was Stannis' second daughter. This meant that Amaris was still set to be the heir to Dragonstone. When, ten years later, Selyse could bear no sons to Stannis, Amaris knew that she would be taking on the role her father had. All she needed was a husband.

Despite this, Amaris was rarely in Dragonstone. As she grew older, she took on more and more of her mother's looks. She had olive skin and dark hair and almond eyes and dusty rose lips, none of which she acquired from her father. She looked too much like Alyss. It hurt Stannis, Amaris had once been told, to look at her. Much of Amaris' time was spent in King's Landing with her uncle, King Robert.

Where her uncle and his family went, she went which is why she was stuffed in a carriage on her way to Winterfell. Amaris really had no interest in going to the cold, gray land that was Winterfell, but she figured it would still be nicer than the smelly, crapped streets of King's Landing. In the distance, from her carriage's windows, she could see Winterfell Castle where Lord Eddard Stark, typically referred to as Ned, lived with his family.

Though she had her inhibitions, Amaris was hopeful she would have a pleasant time in Winterfell. The air smelled much cleaner and fresher up north than it did where she lived. So, she was already feeling good.

Sometime later, the carriage came to a fumbling stop. Curiously, she poked her head out the window, despite the protests of her handmaiden, Myra. The whole of the king's party was stopped and waiting for the gates to open. It was quite the ordeal. Soldiers and guards yelled orders to each other. Amaris was growing impatient and she was ready to scale the walls of the gates by the time the carriage slowly began to move once more.

Myra helped Amaris out of the carriage, holding her slim, dark hand out for Amaris to take. Amaris had known Myra since she was a child. Myra was Dornish, as Amaris' mother had been, and was the daughter of Alyss' handmaiden. Myra, though six years older than Amaris, was Amaris' closest and dearest friend.

Breathing in all the fresh, clean air, Amaris smoothed her hands down over the front of her billowing dress the color of cream.

"Amaris," Myrcella, her younger cousin, chirped, "isn't it lovely here?"

"Yes," Amaris agreed, smiling as her eyes took in the sights of the people.

The commoners appeared peaceful and happy, even the poorest of them. That was something she had never seen in King's Landing.

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so here's what you gotta know, amaris is a god damn sweetheart with bones made of steel and gold in her heart

also, baby amaris up top

-bleuseys