Part Two - The Princess Paramount's Wedding (8)
Rhaenyra sank into the pool of hot bathwater as her newest lady in waiting, young Wen Junhee (that is, until Bethany Mallister and Megara Bar Emmon accepted her offer) carefully poured soap water over her. Vaelaena, off for the evening, sat on the chair by the bathtub, chattering about what happened that afternoon in Aunt Rhaella’s solar.
“-hogged all of the Matarys laces and yet she’s the one scolding Lady Fell’s niece for avarice when she asked Lady Fell if the flower printed silk suits her or not!” Vaelaena mocked Queen Alicent mercilessly.
“Lady Fell?” Rhaenyra asked in confusion.
“Lady Alora Fell of House Felwood. She is currently the head of House Fell and formerly was one of Queen Aemma’s lady in waiting. According to what Layla gathered, she is quite vocal about Queen Alicent’s ascendancy to the throne.” Vaelaena reported. “Her current heir is her son, Ser Albin Fell. She has two nieces of age, Lady Allara Fell and Lady Larissa Fell.”
“I hope there were no hard feelings?”
“Princess Rhaella handled the matter. In fact, Lady Fell asked if she could meet you and reminisce about your late Lady Mother.”
“I’ll see if I can meet with her for tea this week, it would be nice to hear some new stories about my mother.” The princess shook her head in disbelief. “Remind me to thank aunt Rhaella for sacrificing her time to entertain my stepmother. I believe she has plans for the rest of the week?”
Rowena, who came in with the beautiful kaftan robe for Rhaenyra to wear for dinner, answered. “Yes, the Princess plans on bringing the Queen on a charity tour, visiting the orphanages and sick houses to play on her piety.”
Vaelaena, taking over Junhee’s duties and massaging the rose oil into Rhaenyra’s scalp, giggled. “Master Vaegon already grumbling about wasted time but he already planned some arduous tours of Pryr and the Institute of Industrial Studies for the King and the Small Council. I heard muttering about losing the King in the Tessarion Archive.” The archive was named after the Valyrian Goddess of Knowledge, housed several collections of rare and exotic valyrian books of numerous subjects, a painstaking project Prunella once oversaw as part of her hobby.
Rhaenyra tipped her head back and let the ladies sluiced off the soap from her body with warm water. “That’s great.” She hummed as she climbed out of the bathtub. Plans were made the moment they realized Viserys was seeking Rhaenyra’s companionship, leaving her barely enough time to do the work she needed to finish before her wedding. (The council adamantly told the princess and made Harwin promise to make sure that she would not be working at all for an entire month to enjoy their new lives as newlyweds.) “Just make sure uncle Vaegon or uncle Daemon aren’t tempted to feed anyone to their dragons, we don’t have time to deal with draconic indigestion.”
Thankfully the dinner that night was private one (or as private as it can be, what it was invaded by Hightowers and its ilks. The children however were spared from the drama as they were having their own small dinner party in the nursery as a treat.)
Rhaenyra did noticed that the King (even in her mind she couldn’t refer him as her father) was eyeing her weirdly from time to time, with Otto whispering in his ears but she was quickly distracted by Lord Beesbury’s question about Stepstone’s food production and forgot about that odd moment.
For the next three days Rhaenyra didn’t see or hear from her father or from the royal entourage, thanks to everyone’s hard work in distracting them as she sloughed through the last of the paperworks that needed her urgent attention before the wedding.
Pushing away the revised land agreement for the new addition to the Royal Farm in Golden Haven, Rhaenyra stressed her aching back. “And that is the last of it?” She asked Rowena.
“Unless there are new changes, yes, Nyra, that would be the last of your work.” Her Vale cousin grinned back. “Congratulations on finishing everything!”
The two bounced up and down in joy, finally free from the paperwork hell. Accepting the mug of mead from her lady in waiting, Rhaenyra enjoyed the cold drink as Rowena perused the rest of her schedule. “You have tea with Mother and Lady Fell this afternoon and meet with the ambassadors from Essos the entire day tomorrow but other than that, you should be free till the wedding festivities kicks off next week.”
The princess looked longingly at the bright blue skies outside. “Do you think I have time for a flight before the tea?”
Rowena giggled. “Go Nyra, you deserved it, and if you happened to be late, I’ll make excuses to Mother and Lady Fell.”
Nyra hugged her cousin tightly before grabbing her riding jacket, mentally calling for Syrax to her balcony.
Alicent couldn’t help the sneer in her face as she stepped down from the quaint looking carriage that stopped in front of a plain building. Princess Rhaella dismounted from the carriage, watching as the ladies helping her that day unload the baskets full of supplies from the pony cart that followed them.
The matron (for the building is an orphanage) welcomed the group, the children cheerfully greeting the guests that even the Queen's sour-faced ladies were charmed by their youth.
Not Alicent though, she was tired of being dragged to see the so-called charities named in the brat’s name and how the lowly populace were singing praises for the heretical wench.
And to find out during the visits that the brat had sought to waste her time educating the peasants by opening school rooms and letting heretical priests preach their foreign gods to them, no septons and septas at sight to safeguard their mortal souls!!
(Her father was very interested in hearing this when she reported to them after the visits, and in return had shared how unorthodox the texts were available in the institutes they had visited.)
She stood far from the crowd, accompanied only by the handsome Ser Criston Cole, waiting for the visit to be over already.
Otto watched with calculating eyes as one of the scholars at the Pryr’s Institute of Industrial Studies took them around the so-called campus, Viserys gaping around unkingly.
It was stupid of them trying to distract them from the Princess (who was currently hiding somewhere, doing goodness knows what) by making them visit Pryr. Now he can see with his own eyes the richness the islands had managed to garnered under the brat’s rule, making it easier for him to adjust his next moves.
Yes, Stepstones will be under his rule soon, just like Kingslanding.
Viserys was in awe.
Oh, he had seen the Healing Institute Daemon had bragged on and on in Veiled Island but medicine had never interested him.
But this?
Watching the magnificent inventions and the studies conducted at the institute, Viserys couldn’t help but feel proud over Stepstones accomplishments.
Oh, of course Otto was still whispering how wrong this all was, how it was an insult to the Citadel especially with their heretical studies.
But!
The Observatory of the Celestial Heavens was a wonder beyond what he had ever seen. The beautiful map of the night skies itself along with the superb instrument that allowed them to observe the heavens and predict the weather had captured his interest so much that he had told Otto one must be made in replication in Kingslanding.
And perhaps another one in Oldtown.
Westeros must benefit from this.
And the libraries!!
How grand it was!!
They even have books of Valyrian origins he had never heard before!
(Never had Viserys felt so envious in his whole life.)
Inviting the ladies Mallister, Mooton, Bar Emmon and Clement to the tea was a success. The ladies were excited that their respective children and niece were given an offer to join her household and exclaimed over the generous contracts she had set on them.
Vaelaena, with a mischievous grin, along with Rowena, who delighted with new friends, immediately whisked Bethany Mallister and Megara Bar Emmon from their guardians away.
She does hope they don’t corrupt her new ladies much just yet.
Leaving the ladies chattering about their good fortune, Lady Fell turned to the princess, nodding approvingly at her. “You did well. If my nieces weren’t attached, I would ask if there’s space in your household for them.”
Rhaenyra smiled, liking the blunt speaking lady already. “Most of my ladies have their own responsibilities now and if I can offer the children better prospects by moving to Stepstones, oh course I would help.”
“Just like your mother, Queen Aemma.” Lady Fell smiled. “She couldn’t do much since your father the King had treated her like a broodmare and kept her in her chambers, but she did try her best to take care of the people under her protection.”
Rhaenyra reached for her hand and asked softly, “Will you tell me about my lady mother the Queen?”
Lady Fell smiled back and patted her hand comfortingly. “Of course my dear.”
Pity all of it went into Seven Hells the very next day.