Sneak Peak for chapter XIV (Rookswest)
Alicent set her tea down on the saucer after a while, her fingers partially covered in butter from picking the bread and putting butter on it using the butter knife, though putting the pieces of bread in her mouth with her bare hands. She stared at her daughter with those big round brown eyes, her expression worried as it always was.
Helaena started scratching the side of her teacup, chipping the paint off. Alicent inhaled sharply and began, “Ser Criston and the troops are heading out in nine days' time. To Rosby, to Rook’s Rest. I thought we might light a candle for their safe return.”
Helaena didn’t seem to be listening. Alicent sighed and gazed down at her coffee until—
“I was happy before I was queen,” Helaena said, finally looking her mother in the eyes.
That caught Alicent off guard—a fleeting feeling in her chest. Helaena spoke, and her words, her quiet confession, struck deep. Alicent understood. She agreed. She related wholeheartedly.
Almost reductively, Alicent started nodding.
“As was I.”