Aerea Reborn

gods, had she not already done enough? surely she would not involve herself in such a thing too?

there was an open window in the corner of the room of the tower of the hand, the breeze and the wind causing the curtains to waft as the hand of the king walked into the room. the questioning took place within the tower of the hand, precisely because wylliam did not want people to feel as though they were guilty of anything. there was a time and place for settings like dungeons, and as of this moment, wylliam needed to gather what facts he had - and what facts he still needed to know of.

there was an attendant who sat to the left of him who was responsible for writing down the answers given. word for word, no paraphrasing.

"his grace is thankful for your time and your cooperation." wylliam spoke, his tone remaining courteous as he took his seat, both of his arms coming to rest upon the solid wooden oak table. his opening statement was picked carefully though; for it showed that the king was wholly involved in this matter. four questions, four answers; and that was all - no doubt there would be times where wylliam would have extra questions, and they would be addressed then and there.

"i have some questions for you, and it would provide much clarity to the wrong done in this court." he cleared his throat slightly, taking a sip of the sweet wine in his cup, if not to stop his own heart from beating. "it is imperative you answer truthfully, with as much detail as you can remember. you are the main witness to all that took place, for you were with her grace in the stormlands. your answers are being recorded, and you may need to clarify, or follow up." he paused, as though to let his words sink in.

Made nervous by her own thoughts, Aerea worried some of her jewelry and her eyes darted around the room, from the scribe back to Lord Swann. 

But then, when he spoke, his statement spoke of the queen and his question was about the west. Taken aback, Aerea blinked hard once, twice. What was he speaking about? It could only be the attempted poisoning of the Queen. The pressure came off her shoulders instantly; she had nothing to do with that, and had genuinely no idea whose attempt it had been. There were so many political tensions in Westeros that the list of people willing to take such an action had to be long. 

[b]"With Westeros as fractured as it is, any alliance is a useful one." [/b] She spoke carefully; Aerea had opinions, but they were both less and more than what many expected. 

We must break the will of our enemy.

And Minthara did not hold back. At all. 

Maybe she deserved it. Maybe not. Either way, Aerea was tired of constantly holding her tongue. That was all she had done the entire coronation, and she could no longer find that reserve of polite detachment that propelled her forward. 

"What do you expect, Minthara Estermont? Do you want me to grovel? Do you want apologies? I'm sorry I could not be the person you wanted me to be while I lost the entirety of myself. I'm sorry I did not think of you when my mother died, and my father, my dragon, my oldest brother. I'm sorry that I was too sad." 

but it lasted only a moment, before aerea spoke, and minthara saw red.

minthara raised her hand and swang, the back connecting with aerea's cheek. "get the fuck over yourself." her voice was growing louder the more she spoke. "what about when my father died, my brother died, my twin sister? i don't have dragons, but an old sea turtle i was fond of passed away last summer. or do you think your grief is all that matters?"

There was an upper path to take, one that led to something righteous and almost holy. Then there was the lower. It twisted into darkness and madness, filled with wolves and ravens ready to feast on the corpses of dignity and decorum. And yet. 

Aerea was quick to grab Minthara's wrist, to try and squeeze the other woman's hand just slightly above that, at the base of her thumb. Press hard enough and all those delicate little bones would snap in an instant, and though she did not think she was using that much force, she hoped it hurt. She hoped Minthara felt every single delicate phalanx shift in response, as they cried out to be accomodated even as they were pressed closer together. 

"I don't give a fuck about your grief. Do you want the truth? Is that what you are so desperate to find? You've opened a vein that will bleed, Minthara Estermont." A deep inhalation; fire and blood and madness. 

feel free to ask anything, in character or anonymously, and my character will be forced to answer truthfully.

"You murdered my brother. You drank some potion and drove a dagger through his heart. I, quite frankly, should have you fed to the dragon. I should have you watch me kill one of your brothers and it's a wonder for you that I love my cousins too much." And that no voice in the depths of his mind said it was a wise idea. It would be a foolish choice at the beginning of a realm. There were options. he could marry her. Had a Velaryon babe and keep her in her place. Of that he was uncertain. He would need to watch her before doing something like that.

"My brother rebirthed the dragons. You need to find out how. You're my new dragon keeper. Your life depends on you making yourself useful. No more of this fucking moping about. No more of this longing for days past. Those days are gone. The dragons are dead. Our parents are dead. And the dance is over. Do you realize that people of civil war? Again?"

It was easier to speak of the blue liquid, even though the memories and the visions were muddled in her head. "Death. Blood. The destruction of not only house Targaryen, but many others. Certain doom. But nothing... I can't remember the exact details. There were just flashes." It could be made of lies just as easily as truths. Prophecy was not a certain thing, and who knew what they actually saw when they drank it in far off Essos? 

regardless of how much he tried to recall, he could not think of an instance in which alysanne had mentioned the lady velaryon in recent times: regardless of whatever close association they may have had once, that had not held up with the recent events of the chapter of westerosi history they were all forced to live through. or perhaps he were recalling wrong, or simply was forgetting something of great importance - that would not be unheard of considering the amount of time that had passed.

"and that is all one can ask of you, lady velaryon." brandon responded, feeling his shoulders drop slightly; there was no need to be defensive, despite the ache that was growing to the very front of his mind. she would do what she could, if she heard anything: but she was no spy mistress, as far as she admitted. if she were a spy mistress, then surely she would be wanting to try and figure out what happened, if not to completely remove the responsibility from their own hands.

there was a slight veil to the words that were being uttered by the woman who sat before him: as though they were both dancing on a subject that was being briefly addressed, but never entirely, for fear of the consequences of what such a topic could cause if they were overheard. the dragon king was apparently a pious man, and there were certain things he would not have in his court. what was valyria built upon, if not that very thing?

"she was no stranger to what you are alluding to." brandon spoke, his tone upfront now: she dabbled in such practices, she did more than dabbled in it. "i thought her more learned, but perhaps there was some mistake…" his voice trailed, his mind trailing back to that night in the woods he had remained silent about. "the north is an ancient place, my lady. we are aware of some things being beyond our explanation, and control." there were many who did not believe in such things such as magic in this day and age. brandon had seen it himself, time and time again.

While Brandon spoke carefully, so carefully, she fidgeted with some of her jewelry, a ring around her finger, a bracelet around a wrist. The ground they covered now was a cliff eroded by wind and sea. It could all too easily crash into the waters below. 

"Knowing better is different from wanting to believe. If you desire something with enough power, it can blind you to reason, even if you're the most sensible person in the world." Another lesson she had learned through personal experience. Was Alysanne sensible? Brandon seemed to think she was. It was still an easy path to find yourself wandering though. There had to be more in the world than the normal gods. 

"It did not work for me. Nothing could bring back what was already gone," Aerea replied bluntly. "There are many who say that the magic that comes from our veins is the strongest of all. It's all just words, meant to bleed you dry." And how easy would it be to convince a noble woman to come along, that you held the answers she could find nowhere else? Too easy. 

The Valyrian he saw was either the sister of the King or she was related to the Velaryons, though he thought they were darker because of the Baratheon mother. Then again, Baratheon and Velaryon genes seemed to fight one another until there was a winner and the Velaryon genes lost more times than not.

"Such is the way of a king's home." Spoken as if Aerea had any true knowledge, when she had not visited King's Landing in years, and never lived there full time. It was better to sound as if she had some knowledge than it was to reveal herself to be ignorant. 

And what of this stranger? He looked Dornish, maybe. It was another place Aerea had never been because Dorne maintained independence and not been much involved in the war. "And you, mystery lord? Do you stay to fill the halls, or leave for a better clime? There are warmer places than this." Physically, politically. 

"no." she answered the question shortly, brusquely. "the people are rude." it was a pointed shot, but one she had taken nonetheless. despite everything, though, it was still tamer than the jabs she could have taken, would have taken, if she were talking to anybody else but a person she had once been a friend to, someone who had earned her loyalty in the past, even if she had decided that she no longer had need of it.

"so that's it, then?" if minthara was holding back before, she wasn't now. "hello minthara, hope you had a lovely trip, please piss off?" the last part hadn't been said out loud, but minthara had felt it right in her core. she had always been more sensitive at heart than she first appeared to be. "that's cold, aerea velaryon. even for you."

And Minthara did not hold back. At all. 

Maybe she deserved it. Maybe not. Either way, Aerea was tired of constantly holding her tongue. That was all she had done the entire coronation, and she could no longer find that reserve of polite detachment that propelled her forward. 

"What do you expect, Minthara Estermont? Do you want me to grovel? Do you want apologies? I'm sorry I could not be the person you wanted me to be while I lost the entirety of myself. I'm sorry I did not think of you when my mother died, and my father, my dragon, my oldest brother. I'm sorry that I was too sad." 

to the surprise of many who had drawn her ire, minthara estermont possessed many good qualities. for the right people, she was kind and generous, honest and brave, and above all, loyal until the end.

she did not know if the latter was a trait aerea velaryon shared.

but she did, once. minthara did not know why her old friend had withdrawn from her. it happens, she had been told, when girls became women and those who had once been a companion in youth became a memory, but she did not like it.

"aerea," she greeted her, and then she paused. "or lady velaryon. whichever you'd prefer." she should see the distance that had sprung up between them and pushed them further and further apart as a betrayal, doubtless would had it happened with anybody else, but somehow, she didn't. she had yet to decide just how angry she was about it all and where the fault lay.

"we're leaving soon." the words came out blunt. "i thought i'd give you the chance to say goodbye." despite the fact they had not said hello.

It was inevitable that Aerea would run into some of them during the coronation. Half of Westeros had come, and she could not hide within her room forever. Though she had hoped her own Valyrian features would be unremarkable enough during the gathering, she was still able to be found, if one cared to look. And someone had. 

"Minthara. Lady Estermont." Did her words sound slightly mocking? No, though they could have. She knew it was rude to copy the other woman's form of address, but this was a confrontation Aerea never wanted to have. They had lasted so long without running into each other, and Aerea still had no words for Minthara to explain why she had so suddenly ghosted their friendship all those years ago. 

What was Aerea expected to say in response? Did Minthara want her to grovel in apology? Her knees would remain undirtied. "I hope you had a very pleasant time in King's Landing. Was everything as you expected?" The words of a near stranger, tone light but eyes blank.