Strange Ways - Draco X Astoria
“It could kill you.”
“And it might not.” Astoria answers quietly.
Beside her, Daphne tries to keep her tears at bay, hands clenched tightly in her lap. Astoria kept her eyes trained on the china dish set between them, steam pooling from the top of the tea kettle.
“Does he demand it?” Daphne asks, and when she goes to grab her teacup, her hands shake. Astoria pretends not to notice, taking a sip from her own cup.
“Of course he does,” she replies, holding the saucer level with her chin. “He is the king. A king needs heirs.”
Daphne takes a sip of her drink, placing it atop of the table. “Can’t he get one of his common day whores to do it?”
Astoria shot Daphne a glare but said nothing, glancing around at their ladies in waitings.
“Luna, you may leave. Wait outside,” Astoria says cooley, and when Daphne is quiet, she raises a brow. “Ask your lady to leave.”
“Pansy, you may go.” Daphne says softly. Her lady in waiting, a thin girl with a sleek bob nods and follows Luna, the thick wooden doors closing behind them. Daphne gives Astoria an exasperated look. “Was that really necessary?”
“You’re the one who brought up his playthings,” Astoria shot back, with so much venom in her tone Daphne’s eyes went wide with shame. Astoria sighs, relenting. “One of them is with child.”
At this news, Daphne nearly drops her teacup. “With child? How?”
“I assume the way all babies are made, through procreation.” Astoria replies dryly and Daphne waves her hand at her slant.
“I mean how did it keep? Surely…does Draco know?” daphne asks, and Astoria nods, lifting the teacup to her mouth.
“He informed me several moon cycles ago. Do not worry, she is hidden away, very little are aware of her current…” Astoria pauses, searching for the right word. “Condition.”
Daphne lets out a scoff, shaking her head. “I always knew mother and father were out of their wits for marrying you off to him.”
“They wanted us within the royal family and look, we are,” Astoria rebuffs. “Now I am only telling you because you are indeed family, but I need something of you.”
Placing her cup down completely, Daphne nods, leaning forward. “Anything.”
“There is an herb that can help with keeping a pregnancy, allowing her a healthy babe,” Astoria says, repeating the lines she had rehearsed days before her sister had arrived at the castle. “I need you to find a way to procure it for me. It would be looked down on by the maesters and townsfolk alike if they knew the queen could not deliver a healthy babe on her own, however a babe is to be born soon within this castle, and it can be seen as mine.”
Daphne looks taken aback, her dark blonde browns pinched. She picks at her nail bed, looking down at the glass dishes before them. “I suppose I could…”
“Thank you.” Astoria says hurriedly, before her younger sister has the option to change her mind.
-
Sitting straight, Astoria is silent as she watches Luna slowly remove her jewelry. The girl is wispy, a little airheaded but she worked without complaint and never had a negative word to say of anyone.
“I hope your visit with Lady Daphne was pleasant m’lady?” Luna says sweetly as she begins to twirl Astorias hair into the sleeping style she wore so that her hair was perfectly curled and shined in the morning.
“It was,” Astoria says with a sigh, shifting. “They’re always pleasant, she is wonderful company.”
“I always wished for a sister,” Luna says, slender hands working quickly. “But it wasn’t in the gods' plans I suppose. Are they lovely creatures?”
“They are,” Astoria says with a light laugh. Luna finishes with her hair, and grabs a glass jar of ointment, beginning to smooth it over Astorias hands. “Sisters are lovely. She's the loveliest, the happiest.”
“But are you the happiest?” Luna asks, and Astoria is taken aback. She looks into the mirror, looking at Luna through the reflection.
“I beg your pardon?” Astoria says, raising a brow. Luna shrugs, dropping Astoria’s hands and returning the jar to its rightful place.
“I just mean, you don't seem very happy, unless you're with your sister,” Luna says quietly, looking over Astoria’s form to see if she forgot anything, and seeming satisfied, she took a step back, holding her hands in front of her. “Does the queen require anything to be happier here in the palace?”
Astoria smiles thinly. “I’m happier here, because he told me I should be.”