𝐋𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐒
_________

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It was noted by many that attended the wedding of Lord Boros Baratheons heir and only son, that the boys wife, Princess Aelora Targaryen, was possibly the most miserable bride they had ever seen.She was visibly smaller and younger than the Baratheon lad, the wedding dress had to have been adjusted to fit her smaller size and the cloak embroidered with the dragon symbol of house Targaryen, soon replaced with the stag of house Baratheon, looked as if it could cover and consume her body entirely.

There was no bedding ceremony, much to the girls relief, not one that could be observed by spectators anyways as the Baratheon boy was strictly told by his father that if he wanted many heirs he'd need to wait, wait till Aelora had fully "blossomed" (as he put it) and could give him plently of healthy children.He listened to his father, out of fear mostly, and it seems his advice payed off.

Painful cries rattled the windows of Stormsend the night Borrow Baratheon's first grandchild was born."The future Lord of Stormsend" he had declared.
Meanwhile, the mother of said future lord lay sobbing and unable to move her weak body in bed, not even being allowed the chance to name her own child that she had just gone through excruciating pain to birth.Yet, despite the circumstances of his birth and who the other half his dna belonged to, Aelora loved and treasured her baby boy more than anything and anyone else.She may have been a child herself when she gave birth to little Robert—or Rob as she called him—nothing could sever the motherly love she felt, the relief of finally having something, somebody to keep her lonesome self sane in Stormends, to give her a reason to keep wake up in the mornings.Something they finally couldn't take away from her, no matter what, unless they wished to do so over her dead body.

The marriage was barely three years old when Borros Baratheons only son, and heir, heart simply...stopped beating.He was a perfectly strong and healthy young man so it certainly stirred some worry and rumours of foul play.But nobody dared question the ever-sorrowful wife, forced by tradition to adorn only black, grey or depressingly dull lavender to represent her mourning as a widow.Truly, you couldn't tell if the Targaryen girl felt even the tiniest but of sadness over her husbands sudden death, her face always seeming to hold a subtle frown since she was wed.The ghost of the cheerful, optimistic, naive girl she was once long gone and forgotten by those who knew her.

Only few would know the true circumstances of the Baratheon heirs death, and that did not include the Lord Baratheon himself.Only few—payed to keep quiet—servants would know of the pillow that held the boys last breath, as it was pressed over his face till his struggling body went limp.Even fewer would know, and agree, that he had it coming.

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When the soil hit the coffin and Borros Baratheon's heir was (finally) nothing but a cold body, rotting in the ground, Aelora was allowed to return home.Lord Baratheon had been against his now heir being raised in any place that wasn't Stormsend, but he had no say or power over the Queen Alicent when she summoned her daughter and grandson to Kings Landing.The only favour Alicent had done for Aelora, in the last few, slow and torturous, years.

Aelora hadn't stepped foot inside the Red Keep for nearly five years, since she was only eleven years old, so it certainly took time to adjust and get back into her normal "routine".The Red Keep had changed, she didn't know how or why or what exactly had changed, but it had, something in the air just felt off, almost tense and suffocating.

The Hightower's seemed to linger everywhere, to have taken over everything, whether it was in the seven star point windows now dotted about The Keep or clear lack of Valyrian tradition and culture.It was clear, that with Viserys declining condition, the Hightowers took great pleasure and advantage in being the ones to warm his throne.While Rhaenyra and her family peacefully sat across the bay, oblivious to all that happened behind the red brick walls.

Aelora tried to keep her son out of any political games, out of reach from her grandsires claws, but she was no longer a naive, hopeful girl and knew the impending doom of what was to come.Aelora could only pray to the mother that her son would not be the next sacrifice, used and thrown away as if only a collateral of war, or other innocents like Heleana and her own children.Faith was all she truly had in the end to hold onto.

"No, no, no" Aelora tusked, shaking her head disapprovingly as she removed the toy from her son's hand, that he had thought a good idea to begin chewing, replacing it with a wooden dragon toy his teeth could not penetrate so easily.

It was tiring sometimes, having a terribly curios and vocal child at only sixteen, but no matter how many nights Aelora spent fighting to keep her eyes open, as she bounced the crying babe on her knee, the last thing she wanted was for her son to feel alone, to hand him off to the wet nurses and never take the time to be with him herself.Rob was the only constant company Aeloea had, even if she got nothing but giggles and nonsense babbles in response to her words.

Her head whipped up when the sound of her chamber door opening could be heard, Aemond soon striding in, dressed head to toe in black leather.Rob didn't take much notice of his uncle, to engrossed in his make believe battle as he crashed his toy dragons together, to which Aelora smiled before turning her attention to her brother.

She nearly hadn't recognised him when she first returned from Kings Landing, only a year or so ago, he was a fighter now, tall and slim, and scarcely spoke to anyone without a cold wall of defensive up at all times.He now covered his eye with a leather eyepatch, and his wavy, frizzy hair was no more, something Aelora couldn't help but sorely miss as she always thought Aemond perfect the way he was, wether he had two eyes or one.

"Mother says the bastards have arrived" He mumbled, the corner of his lip subtly curling into a snarl as he fidgeted with his leather gloves, clearly on edge and nervous deep down.No matter how he tried to hide it, to bury the "old him", with harsh comments and a cold-stone face, Aelora could always tell, could always see right through him.

"Aemond!" Aelora hissed, subtly gesturing to her son as if he could understand a word they were saying, when, truly, she herself didn't have the heart to say such a thing about Rhaenyra's children.

Aemond only rolled his eyes at his sisters attempt to scold him for his words, striding over to the open window, to peer out onto the balcony, as he scoffed: "You're sounding more and more like mother every day"

Aelora didn't respond to that, gulping back and shaking his comment from her already troubled mind before getting up and joining Aemond on the balcony, that looked over the Red Keeps court yard.

"...-Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her consort, Prince Daemon Targaryen"

Aelora just about heard the announcement over the wind whipping through her hair, watching in slight anticipation as the carriage door opened and their half sister ascended the steps.She was too high up to see any faces clearly or hear any conversation between the family but her heart stopped when she spotted him.

Jaehaerys.

She knew it was him immediately, just from the sight of his curly hair going crazy in the wind, and also the fact that he was clearly the tallest of the dark haired boys that stud in the courtyard, along with their parents and sisters.

Aemond only hummed, and not in a good way, almost as if he was plotting something, judging them, as he always did, and plotting.Aelora side-glanced at her brother worryingly, a silent plea for him not to cause any trouble for the few days that they were in Kings Landing, but he never even looked in her direction as he whipped around and swiftly left her chambers.

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Aelora was, unfortunately, still bound to wearing only mourning colour dresses.Her wardrobe was full of nothing remotely colourful or cheerful, no blues or even greens like she often preferred, a light lavender grey shade at best.But, she couldn't stand to be cooped up in her chambers any longer, clearly avoiding the recently arrived guests, so she put on the the least dull dress she could find in her wardrobe and opted for a peaceful, lone walk in the gardens.For once, without Rob in tow or attached to her hip.

She didn't have much knowledge on flowers or any thing to do with plants, but she enjoyed simply admiring them bloom and embroidering little floral patterns into her dresses or blankets for Rob.It was quiet, a nice, peaceful kind of quiet, where even the thoughts in Aeloras mind hushed and she could finally let herself relax, even if just for a moment.

"Princess" The voice she recognised as Larsy Strong came from behind her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she turned around with her usual, forced, polite smile.

"Lord" Aelora quietly cleared her throat and politely nodded in greeting to the man as he limped over to a bush of dark pink—almost maroon—flowers.

Aelora always thought the man's presence brought a rather unsettling and eerie feeling, but she never voiced such a thing out loud as she felt rather sorry for the great loss that had brought Larys his title, not to mention the suffering and mistreatment his foot must bring him.

"I have meant to say, Princess, I'm very sorry for the loss of your husband, he was only young and...a great man, I'm sure" Larys eyes slowly scanned Aelora up and down, whilst holding one of the flowers delicately, as if trying to read her or...suspected something of her?

"Thank you, Lord" Aelora spoke barely above a whisper, she was close to loosing her mind with how many times she had to "thank" people for simply being "sorry" that she was a widow so young.Not that she cared anymore than they pretended too, in-fact, she was more relieved.

"The garden is always fine this time of year, yet I find these flowers especially seem...unsettled"

Aelora furrowed her brows, both confused and curious about what Larys words could possibly mean.He was right, she supposed, the flowers he currently held stud out from the rest of the more plain coloured plants and flowers in the garden, but how on earth could a plant be unsettled?

"Almost like they do not belong here, they certainly don't look it, but they have no other place which they...well, they don't have the answers to know where it is they truly belong...do they?"

Gods, this was worse than trying to decipher Helena's riddles, Aelora thought.It was a flower for gods sake, pretty and vibrant sure, but it wasn't a person, it couldn't move or feel, couldn't question its life, where it's seed truly came from or-...oh.

"I-...I do not know what you speak of, Lord, I fear I'm not familiar with any flowers of the sort" Aelora shook her head, lips turned into a thin line as the clogs in her head turned.

She gulped back, quickly growing unsettled under the man's gaze as he didn't even glance at the flower in his hand and instead continued to stare intensely at her, like he was trying to tell her something, to make her understand, without using any (direct) words.Aelora could feel it, that the words had a deeper meaning, perhaps trying to discreetly tell her something, but for the life of her just couldn't think what.She felt her breath slipping from her grasp as her thoughts only spiralled.

"Aelora" The much more softer voice of Heleana brought a great wave of relief over Aelora, as she turned her attention to her elder sister. "The twins apparently have a new game they wish for Rob to join-...oh, is he elsewhere?"

Aelora shook off that strange, heavy feeling and forced a smile at Heleana as she shook her head. "No, no, he's with the wet nurses...we shall fetch him together"

She worryingly glanced back at Larys, one more time, before rushing to her sisters side, linking their arms and leading them both far from the garden, away from whatever just happened and the strange encounter that would (hopefully) be easy for her to forget.

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(A/N)
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This was going to be longer but I got lazy and wanted to publish before I go back to the hell hole that is my school, pray for me😔I'll try updates as often as I can but might disappear every so often to focus on work etc.

Aelora and Jaehaerys will actually interact next chapter I swear, this is chapter is more or less just to fill in what happened to my girl in that time skip.Im gonna let u all interrupt her ratty husbands death however u want🫢

Swear the next chapters will be longer then these last two, but I hope u enjoyed them anyways 🤞

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