𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐘𝐒
𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃
Until they are.
In the times before the Conquest, Old Valyria thrives. Dragonlords grace the skies and rule much of the known world, an empire with no equal. Little do...
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THREE moons pass, yet the grief of Maegon's untimely death still has its claws deep into House Paethorys. Lord Vaeron painstakingly quarreled everyday with the other ruling lords, making his best efforts to enact justice on those responsible for the death of Maegon. Vaella knew her father was trying his best, yet she felt that nothing would truly come to fruition. The lords that ruled alongside and below her father had more pressing matters to attend to, it seemed, than to support Lord Vaeron in his efforts. Therefore, nothing truly justifying would come to pass.
Vaella was not the only one who struggled. Her mother, Daevera, isolated herself the majority of any day all but to make an appearance at supper. The grief was always visible in her violet eyes and sullen expression but she still managed to treat them with the gentle kindness she was known for.
Maelys and Aelyx would soon see the appearance of their first child in the short moons to come, for now she carried a prominent belly underneath her dress. Though they grieved over Maegon, they luckily had a form of a distraction that Vaella didn't. She envied them, thinking of what she was supposed to have with Maegon.
The young woman thought on the impending birth of her niece or nephew and everything else that clouded her mind any given day while basking in a steaming bath submerged within the floor of her bathing room. She lied against the stone, her head level to the floor. Marlaena poured scented oil into the water, causing the sweet smell to permeate throughout the room.
"Another gift from your father," Marlaena told Vaella, gesturing to the pitcher of oil. Already, her father had given her jewels, pieces of art and even a beautiful bird. It was his way of trying to soothe her bottomless pit of grief.
The young Valyrian woman sighed. "I know he is trying to soothe my grief, but it will not change what happened. Gifts will not bring Maegon back."
The servant set the pitcher of oil down on the table nearby. "He might not know how to help you, m'lady. At least he is trying in some way."
Vaella had to remind herself that her parents were grieving as well. Her mother was nearly not present since Maegon's death, while her father fought with the other houses every single day to ensure justice was enacted on the lords who'd challenged Maegon to the race on dragonback that had turned to a deadly airborne battle. It appeared even the law was dragging its feet in serving justice.
She might have lost the one she'd loved, but her parents lost their child. Her father was making the best effort he could.
"I suppose you're right," Vaella told the younger girl.
Seemingly out of nowhere appeared Vaella's cat, a beautiful silver tabby with azure eyes. The feline comes to the edge of the in-ground tub that the girl lied in, nudging her head against the Paethorys girl.
