"Loyalty is no loyalty when it wavers."
- Lady Alerie of Houses Tyrell and Hightower.
The Tyrells have always been deceitful, even their spouses.
Lady Alerie of Houses Tyrell and Hightower has her alliances elsewhere..
By the Targaryens, and her d...
)chapter 31.( ) warnings: talk of miscarriage and mother hating own children. Do not proceed if sensitive for these things. (
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The king and his uncle found the abandoned doors to the cellar. Apparently the guards have given up as well and quickly fled before anyone noticed. The two kick the doors in, causing a few ladies to scream in fright. Tommen looks around and his green eyes fall on them.
His sister was seated on a bench with Trystane Martell by her side, caressing her swollen stomach. Next to them on another bench lays Laeherys. She was asleep, but her gown was drenched in dried blood, her hair sticks to her sweaty skin and her skin looks sickly pale. His heart drops to his stomach, especially when Trystane notices him and draws his sword.
"We are not here to harm anyone, Prince Martell." Tommen explains with hands raised high to show he has no weapon besides the sword on his swordbelt. "Besides, the war is over," Jaime snarls to his former captor. Trystane pricks his sword into the chest of the King. "I will die protecting my wife and my people, no matter if the war is over or not," the prince proclaims in his Dornish accent. "Your courage and loyalty are praise worthy, Prince Trystane, but I would do the same. Now, will you step aside and let me see my wife or do I need to use force?"
The Martell man narrows his chocolate brown eyes at the Boy King. He was at least a head taller, but the boy had changed since the last time Trystane had seen him. He was no boy anymore, he was a man who fought battles and made a family of his own. The prince feels a tug on his sleeve and looks down at his own wife. One of her hands still caressed her swollen belly while she stares at him with pleading eyes.
"He is still my brother, my love. Let it be peace. The Targaryens lost and we all must return to normal life." Trystane growls lowly but sits down next to his wife. Never did his hawk like eyes leave the King or his uncle, but Tommen didn't care.
He kneels down by his wife's side and grasps her hand. "Laella?" He gently shakes her shoulder to encourage her to wake up. Her eyes flutter and the pale lilac meets emerald green. "Tom..men?" "Yes, it's me. I am here now." The King kisses her hand while Laeherys was slowly coming to the realisation that this was not a fever dream. "Tommen," she gasps breathily and her arms wrap around his shoulders in surprising strength.
"I'm so sorry- I am a stupid, awful girl who never learns and who is never grateful. Please fo-" She could not continue her rant because of the lips that were pressed against hers. Tommen takes her face into his hands and draws circles with his thumb on her cheekbone. "You are not to blame for any of this. You could never have known what you were signing up for. All you wanted was to have your family back.. and that I understand."
The two embrace each other once more and Tommen looks around eagerly. Laeherys notices his glance and smiles at him. "Do you want to meet our son?" The King nods eagerly and Laella turns to one of the servants. "Bring my son, please." The woman bows and leaves to fetch the young prince while Laeherys takes her husband's hands into hers.
"Where is Daenerys, is she safe? What about Viserys?" Tommen notices how tired she truly was and grabs a goblet of water. "First you need to drink. I've heard what happened to you and your baby. I'm very sorry-" Laella gulps the water into her throat and wipes her mouth. "It feels bad to say this as a mother, but I have never wanted him or her to be Viserys' child. He is the reason that I began to.. loathe my own unborn babe," she cries. The emotional burden of it all was finally coming down on her.
"I'm a horrible mother," she cries out as she buries her head into his shoulder. Tommen caresses her back gently and shakes his head. "You're not. Circumstances made you feel this way, but you are not a bad mother. If it ever had the chance of living you would have loved him or her with all your heart, I'm certain of it." The King kisses his wife on the lips.
The two missed the arrival of the servant with the sleeping babe in her arms because of their kissing. She scratches her throat, causing the King and his Queen to look up. Laeherys immediately smiles at seeing her beloved child in her hands. "Thank you," she says as she takes the young boy from the female's arms. The servant bows and leaves the chambers once more.
Laella reaches out to give Tommen their child, but he leans back. An uncertain look fills his eyes as he looks at his wife, holding their son so naturally. Why did that seem so strange to him? What would be the correct way to hold his son, to swaddle him, to feed him? Laeherys sees her husband's hesitation and places a hand on his hand, her arm clutching her child to her chest.
"What is it you are afraid of? You have just conquered a war against dragons and Dothraki to find me back and you will not hold our son?" "I just.. don't know how," he mutters. Laeherys grins and kisses his cheek. "It is an instinct, Tommen. Every parents has that instinct one way or another. Just holds your arms how you think you have to hold them." Tommen follows her example and holds his arms as he has seen court women and men hold them when they have their children in their arms.
Laeherys grins at him, laying their son in his hands. "See, it is not hard at all. You're a natural." She kisses his cheek, but Tommen did not notice. All he could see was his son in his arms. His son who had grown so much without him, yet still looks like a little babe. "What have you named him?" The princess shakes her head. "I could not name him without you. What would you like for your firstborn, your heir to the Iron Throne, to be called?"
He looks his wife in the eye and smiles. What to name the new prince of the Seven Kingdoms? "Aegen.. Prince Aegen Baratheon." Laeherys frowns. "Never has a Targaryen been named Aegen, neither a Baratheon or Lannister. Why did you choose this name?" Tommen leans in to his wife, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "To his mother's legacy, who has known many Aegon's, and his father.. Tommen." She rolls her eyes, but the delightful smile remains on her lips.
"You are just too adorable sometimes." She strokes his arm and her smile fades when she speaks her next words. "Though I have seen that the war has changed you in a way that can not be restored. I feel so terrible for causing you to loose that innocence and youth-" Tommen shakes his head and continues to caress her cheek but now with his whole hand. "I would have lost that innocence soon enough after becoming King. There are always enemies. Unfortunately, now the enemy was your family.."
"What happened to my family, Tommen? Where are Viserys and Daenerys," she asks, her eyes glancing off to Rhaego for a moment. If something were to happen to Dany.. The king lays their son in the hands of a servant and cups his wife's jaw. "Your brother has surrendered himself, your sister is fine. My allies in the North have found her on the battlefield, mourning one of her dragons. She was wounded but now taken care of." Laeherys releases a deep sigh. "Thank the Seven for that.."
Tommen smiles at his wife and son Aegen. "Come, let us fix the mess here and go back to King's Landing. It is time for this agony to be left behind."
