TBoLD VISUAL'S ⋆˙⟡🪞୧ ‧₊˚🕯️⋅
The Maidenvault is a keep within the Red Keep, located behind the royal sept. After dissolving his marriage with his sister-wife, Daena Targaryen, King Baelor the Blessed confined Daena and her younger sisters, Rhaena and Elaena, into their own "Court of Beauty" to avoid them tempting him with carnal thoughts.
The thick stone walls of Maidenvault form a closed rectangle, at the heart of which lies a beautiful garden. This small floral paradise features fountains and stone benches for enjoying the outdoors.
It is common for residents to organise tea parties or small gatherings of ladies.
The tiny fortress has two floors. The lower floor with its gardens contains several rooms for guests, a dining room and a small music room. In addition to a kitchen and service apartments, whose door (next to the large oak gate) is the only one in the entire place.
Lady Alerie and Lady Nymara's rooms are on this floor.
A spiral staircase leads to the upper floor, which houses what were once the chambers of the Targaryen princesses.
Lady Serenna Dondarrion and Lady Maelle Velaryon reside in what a century ago were the chambers of Princess Elaena and Septa Rhaena.
The grandest wing is the one that once belonged to King Baelor's sister-wife, Daena Targaryen. In the southeast corner of the rectangle, the rooms contain an antechamber connecting the dressing tower to the bedroom.
The master bedroom is the largest in the Maidenvault with a balcony facing the gardens.This is where Princess Margellyn Baratheon now resides.
"It is known from history that Daena the Defiant managed to escape her confinement three times. Dressed in rags or as a servant, her scandalous escapades would lead the kingdom to war when she conceived the great bastard, Daemon Blackfyre."
- as recorded by Grand Maester Kaeth. "Baelor I, The Blessed. In: The Lives of Four Kings.
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The night is dark even in Maidenvault. Not even the purest hall or the cleanest sept is spared from the gloom in this city. The princess could not sleep, though no stranger to rain, not even the storm could lull her to sleep. Her ladies had already retired, as had the maids, but Margellyn was wide awake.
There was a whistling sound that prevented her from resting. It was not the wind against the window panes, but something else. A sea breeze that seeped through the stones of the walls. Margie could not take it anymore, not even the most soporific tea could help her. She got out of bed in search of the sound.
Candle in hand and barefoot, Margellyn walked through her large rooms, feeling the walls, looking for cracks to complain about tomorrow to her brother, the king. He would have it fixed in a jiffy; nothing could keep his beloved sister from sleeping. The small step leading to the bathroom almost made her trip in her nightgown.
‘Damn it,’ she muttered. Her bare feet almost jumped when they touched the cold tiles. The bathchamber was circular, like a small tower. There was not much mystery to it, just a large, empty bathtub and shelves overflowing with oils, soaps, and now-unlit candles. In the darkness, moonlight streamed in through a porthole, the only window facing the sea or the world outside in the entire Maidenvault.
The window was a little too high for her, so she had to jump to close it properly. When she let go of the handle, Margie breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could go back to bed and get some bloody sleep. But then, the sound returned. The whistling sounded very close.
Margie cursed. Her feet were freezing and the candle barely lit the room. She felt like she was in one of the horror stories her cousin Loomas used to tell her to scare her when she was a child. She found herself back in the middle of the bathroom, the whistling sound grew louder, just after a blinding flash of lightning lit up the room for a moment.
The room was beautifully upholstered. Scenes of women in lagoons with mythological creatures surrounded Margie. There were even dragons.
Robert had ordered that all decorations and symbols of the old dynasty be removed. From the skulls in the throne room to the tiniest candlestick with the three-headed beast. I suppose Robert hadn't bothered to inspect the entire palace himself, Margellyn thought, let alone the baths in a wing that had been abandoned until Margie arrived.
A gentle breeze cooled her ankles, just below the tapestry with the dragon. A dragon sewn with black thread seemed to coil around a naked lady. Margie pressed her palm against the dragon, a little. A little more. The stone behind the dragon was so cold and damp.
The young Baratheon pulled the tapestry aside. Just a stone wall. At her feet, the breeze cooled her again. A small crack was visible below, perhaps less than a finger's width. Margie pushed again where the dragon had been. Just a little, just a push.
Frustrated and somewhat cold, Margellyn let out a grunt. The whistle sounded with a thunderous roar. If she had Robert's strength, she would punch the rock and open a hole in the wall. Perhaps it would be best to go back to bed and wake up a maid to make her some tea to help her sleep. Margellyn left the tapestry as it was, looking again at the embroidered woman.
It must be a woman, she had long washed hair and a pair of breasts, although she couldn't see her cunt, as it was covered by a dragon's claw. It could be Daena the Defiant, she thought, who had lived here more than a century ago. Were they related? That would be quite ironic. Surely they were, only Daena went out and Margie let it in.
The thought brought a blush to her cheeks, and Margellyn left the bathchamber, closing the door to her room and deciding to call for tea.
The whistle sounded again, and the stone in the wall sank a little.
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Lady Margellyn Baratheon's childhood room in Storm's End
