Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken [Aegon Targaryen]

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - A PROMISE

SARELLA WOKE TO A BROAD CHEST UNDERNEATH HER HEAD RISING AND FALLING CAREFULLY. She glanced up to see a pair of indigo eyes staring down at her. She became aware of everything that had happened all at once in that moment.

"Happy Name Day, Your Grace," she said, teasing him before he even had the chance to say good morning.

"Stop that," he muttered, closing his eyes sleepily.

She pressed a kiss to his lips, then let out a light laugh and sat up, pulling the sheets over her chest. "I should go."

"Stay," he said suddenly, "just for a while."

"Well, if the King commands it, I suppose I cannot refuse." She laid her head back down on his chest and settled in.

A moment of silence passed before he spoke. "Will they be looking for you?"

"I don't think so. Jayne wakes at first light, but then she goes to train. And Lena can sleep half the day away." His hand began stroking her hair, and she smiled. "Will they be looking for you?"

"It is quite likely." He shrugged as best as he could lying down. "But they can survive without me for a few hours."

"But can you survive without them? Without people to command, orders to give. . ."

"Yes," he replied immediately. "I could do without all of them. All but you."

"Well, I know that is not true." She glanced up at him, calling his bluff. "You have your wives, Orys. You need them, don't you?"

"I suppose." He tensed at the mention of his wives. His relationship with them had been strained as of late, and more so each day. "I hope that you know I do not love them, Sarella."

"I suspected you did not love Visenya from the start, but Rhaenys? You wed her of your own free will."

"I thought I loved her," he admitted. "I wanted to love her. And I do, but in a brotherly way. She spends most of her nights with other men in her own bedchambers, receiving the pleasure I could never give her. She simply was not the right person for me."

"And who would be the right person for you?"

He seemed to ponder this for a while, before answering carefully. "A woman who was strong and intelligent, and with a quick wit. She would be more than a match for me in combat, and probably stubborn as a goat. She would love her people more than herself, and would give her life for theirs if need be. She would be beautiful and sweet, but deadly and dangerous at the same time. She would have soft brunette hair, and chocolate brown eyes. Her smile would be sweet, and her smirk would be infuriatingly seductive. She would be more than worthy of my respect, and perfect in every way."

Their eyes met, and she smiled, then laughed and shook her head. "You are so full of shit."

"What?" He looked at her slightly confused as she sat up in the bed beside him.