#heireign

RHAENYRA TARGARYEN & AURANE TARGARYEN , dynamic

@heireign sent a raven : ❛  say no more, i know that i'm ready.  ❜

❛  and yet, overconfidence in one’s own ability is the very mark of unreadiness, i have found.  ❜

otto regards the princess with a cool neutrality, expression betraying nothing, though his thumb rubbing against the band he wears on the ring finger of his left hand is a sure sign of the unruly tangle of thoughts plaguing him. in truth, he does not dislike the girl  —  she is kind, unfailingly, and charming, but there is a sincerity to her that few at court possess. it has served her well thus far, though there are those he knows, the more cynical courtiers, that mistake her earnesty for empty flattery. he wonders, on occasion, whether her sweetness and fairness remind lords of his age of their young daughters, the more doting of them endeared without conscious effort on her part, drawn in by her gentle words and winsome smiles. otto himself would not count himself amongst their number, but, truly, there is little to dislike about the girl… though that certainly does not equate to readiness for the responsibility of bearing the title of heir for her father the king, of course. she is not inept, in the ways of politicking, having learned at viserys’s knee from girlhood, and she is educated to an appropriate standard, seems hungry, in fact, for always more knowledge. 

it is a shame all her preparation will come to naught, in the end.

it is surely only a matter of time before viserys sees sense and names aegon his heir, even without otto near to act as guiding hand, steering him down the correct path. the boy’s sixth nameday has only recently passed, and in his letters he has been urging alicent to suggest that he might serve as the king’s cupbearer, learn the ways of the small council at his father’s side, perhaps begin to approach his lessons with a more studious attitude. he is young, still, is his daughter’s constant refrain, but they cannot afford to delay in this, not when rhaenyra works so tirelessly to ingratiate herself with the lords of the realm, even as she seemingly spurns their sons in droves on these progresses of hers, returning each time without a suitor in tow. or so says alicent, when she writes. it is truly coincidence, only, that his visit to the capital coincides with the princess's own. ostensibly, he is here to spend time with his grandchildren and see to the health and wellbeing of his daughter in person; in reality it is to ensure she continues their campaign to see either aegon alone sat on the throne, or rhaenyra ruling beside him… as queen consort, of course. from all reports, viserys grows increasingly frustrated with his daughter’s stubborn refusal to settle on a suitor, and with careful manoeuvring from alicent, they may see victory after all… 

the thought makes him smile, though he cannot claim it reaches his eyes, and he inclines his head, as though in concession.

arryn blue suited everyone, but none so much as her little girl, she thinks. it was her twenty-first name day and she had just learned that she was with child again a fortnight before, so viserys ordered that all the festivities should be changed to her liking. aemma's only wish was that she and rhaenyra would dress in the colors of her house — and that her husband not spend even more of the crown's coin on the celebration. viserys hasn't said anything but she knew that he would be announcing her new pregnancy alongside his well wishes for her. and she knew that he would say the child was ( finally ) going to be a son.

aemma shakes the thought out of her head when rhaenyra asks her a question, a fond smile easing its way onto her face as though nothing was troubling her at all. "i like all of your dresses, my sweet. but this one is especially lovely on you. it looks just like something my own mother once had, long ago."

runestone is not so large to compare to the seven kingdom, of course - but it is her family's, and until the ground welcomes her back, she will see to it that none would threaten her ancestor's keep. regardless, the matter at hand is not so much about the state of her ruling, no. it is the petition she has heard going about. what a brave, dashing woman she's become. there is pride as rhea approaches the princess, there is longing too.

( where has the time gone ? )

❝  i heard you have been asking your father for the annulment between your uncle and i,  ❞  as if daemon himself had not asked, as if rhea had not signed with him the papers to prove that she would agree. but it all had been rejected. though those were years ago. ages. they have tried. they have tried. ❝  princess, did my lord husband ask for this ?  ❞