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CHAPTER ONE. ━━━━━━━━━ What is honour compared to a woman's love?
GEORGE R. R. MARTIN, A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE ━━━━━━━━━
THE LETTER OF HER FRIEND arrives in the morrow. Elia Martell and she had grown up together like sisters and to this day she still loves her with all her heart, even from a distance. Even with the Summer Sea between them.
So when Astoria Lhazar receives a letter filled with words of pain and sorrow, she immediately orders her servants to pack her finest jewelry and richest silks, for she would sail to King's Landing the coming day. When she retires to her chambers that night, the paper still sits on her desk unfolded.
My dearest friend,
I pray that your life is as good as you deserve. That I haven't seen you in many moons makes me want to weep and the truth is that there is nothing I wish more than having a true friend in the dragon's pit. Ashara has left a fortnight ago and will return soon enough but then it will still only be me and her.
When I took Rhaegar's hand in marriage I was certain that it would mean days spent in bliss and joy. Yet my husband is rarely joyful and would rather not leave his chambers, buried in books or dreaming of tales I do not care for. Sometimes he whispers of unfulfilled prophecies but should I dare ask, he never answers.
While this life is not what I hoped for it has brought me my children. You would adore Aegon and Rhaenys very much, that I am sure of. It is selfish of me to ask for your company in the Keep and truthfully a part of me wishes that you stay where you are, with your family and out of danger. But the other part yearns for a friend to stroll around the gardens once more.
Whatever you decide, my heart stays the same and you will forever be my dearest friend.
Send your family my love, Elia.
Elia had sent her a letter a moon or so ago with the news of what her husband had done to bury her pride. Back then the Dornish woman had still been pregnant with Aegon and yet Rhaegar had looked elsewhere to find his Queen of Love and Beauty. Astoria would never forgive him for that, though she knows that her friend will. Elia's heart is too good for the cruel world she had been born into and the royal marriage that had been chosen for her.
The paper feels soft under her skin, yet the words on it make her sick to the stomach. Her anger rises within seconds and with long fingers she rips the letter apart, shred for shred it falls onto the ground beneath her. Dark wings, dark words, indeed.
