mourningblood

[mourningblood]

How strange it was to be in the Westerlands, and stranger still to be there with her family. Aerea misliked the place and misliked the pageantry, but no one asked her opinion of these things. No one except for her brother, perhaps, at the dinner she had planned with just the two of them. It was past time she caught up with her brother. There were Velaryon household matters to attend to. And it might be nice simply to... catch up. So much had happened over the past few weeks that she had not told him about. There were things she could not say, except obliquely, but even that might relieve the burden from her shoulders. 

With a modest but well-cooked spread before them, Aerea settled in a chair across from Deimos. While she wanted to relax, her guard was up too high. This was an unpredictible place and not friendly to them politically. Or had her brother softened now? 

"How do you find the Westerlands, brother? As unfriendly as they were during the war?" She could trust none of them.  @deimos-velaryon

[mourningblood]

Why was she being called to the Tower of the Hand now? Though this was not the dungeons, Aerea felt the opposite of comforted; the interrogation that she was so sure was going to come felt more personal this way. Intimate. It could only be about prince Viserys, which meant it was possible that king Jaehaerys had changed his mind and decided she needed to be sent away forever, if not executed. 

Made nervous by her own thoughts, Aerea worried some of her jewelry and her eyes darted around the room, from the scribe back to Lord Swann. 

But then, when he spoke, his statement spoke of the queen and his question was about the west. Taken aback, Aerea blinked hard once, twice. What was he speaking about? It could only be the attempted poisoning of the Queen. The pressure came off her shoulders instantly; she had nothing to do with that, and had genuinely no idea whose attempt it had been. There were so many political tensions in Westeros that the list of people willing to take such an action had to be long. 

[b]"With Westeros as fractured as it is, any alliance is a useful one." [/b] She spoke carefully; Aerea had opinions, but they were both less and more than what many expected. 

[b]"So long as it is only for economic benefit and we do not take on the customs of the Westerlands, I see the sense in it. But I am a mere woman. I thought we were not supposed to be political creatures." [/b] She could not resist the last statement; her frustration at her own gender only grew as she rediscovered herself slowly. 

who: @mourningblood what: questioning, in reaction to this post.

gods, had she not already done enough? surely she would not involve herself in such a thing too?

there was an open window in the corner of the room of the tower of the hand, the breeze and the wind causing the curtains to waft as the hand of the king walked into the room. the questioning took place within the tower of the hand, precisely because wylliam did not want people to feel as though they were guilty of anything. there was a time and place for settings like dungeons, and as of this moment, wylliam needed to gather what facts he had - and what facts he still needed to know of.

there was an attendant who sat to the left of him who was responsible for writing down the answers given. word for word, no paraphrasing.

"his grace is thankful for your time and your cooperation." wylliam spoke, his tone remaining courteous as he took his seat, both of his arms coming to rest upon the solid wooden oak table. his opening statement was picked carefully though; for it showed that the king was wholly involved in this matter. four questions, four answers; and that was all - no doubt there would be times where wylliam would have extra questions, and they would be addressed then and there.

"i have some questions for you, and it would provide much clarity to the wrong done in this court." he cleared his throat slightly, taking a sip of the sweet wine in his cup, if not to stop his own heart from beating. "it is imperative you answer truthfully, with as much detail as you can remember. you are the main witness to all that took place, for you were with her grace in the stormlands. your answers are being recorded, and you may need to clarify, or follow up." he paused, as though to let his words sink in.

"what, if any, are your thoughts on the alliance between king jaehaerys targaryen and king tyland lannister?

[mourningblood]

Aerea misliked the Westerlands immediately, just as she thought she might. The thrill of being somewhere new quickly wore off; she found the nobles boring and the very air itself repressive, as if it angered at the fact she dared to be there and exist as a woman. What a strange place, so gaudy in all its drippings but so empty in the eyes of all its people. Nothing compared to home, she supposed, though this was worst than most .

Another endless dinner where people expected her to laugh at things so that her teeth showed, but not too much, to eat food that was too rich, to dress in something not her style and to stick herself neatly in a box marked 'woman' when she found herself increasingly dissatisified with the label. Had her attendance not been mandatory, she would have stayed back in King's Landing with the dragons and her own increasing strangeness, with the hostility and ire that she had found to replace the numbness and sadness. 

No longer able to take it, she excused herself hastily from speaking with some gaudy noble and took in some air outside, where at least it was cooler. Servants came to her anxiously but she waved them off, looking for a glimpse of anything familiar- Valyrian hair and features. Not someone she knew well, but maybe familiar. 

"Do you think they realize they piss the same color as the rest of Westeros, or do they think it's a stream of pure gold?" Hardly polite conversation, but her fight with Minthara had awakened something in Aerea that lay dormant for years. 

@blocdinthewater

[mourningblood]

We must break the will of our enemy.

(original trailer screenshot from x)

[mourningblood]

Aerea's cheek stung, a blaze of red that was almost hot as the anger that overtook her. It had been years since she had felt anything other than numbness; this reminded her of who she had been, in the time before, and it was glorious as it threatened to burn down everthing in its wake. 

There was an upper path to take, one that led to something righteous and almost holy. Then there was the lower. It twisted into darkness and madness, filled with wolves and ravens ready to feast on the corpses of dignity and decorum. And yet. 

Aerea was quick to grab Minthara's wrist, to try and squeeze the other woman's hand just slightly above that, at the base of her thumb. Press hard enough and all those delicate little bones would snap in an instant, and though she did not think she was using that much force, she hoped it hurt. She hoped Minthara felt every single delicate phalanx shift in response, as they cried out to be accomodated even as they were pressed closer together. 

"I don't give a fuck about your grief. Do you want the truth? Is that what you are so desperate to find? You've opened a vein that will bleed, Minthara Estermont." A deep inhalation; fire and blood and madness. 

"My grief, the grief of my family, are all that matter to me. I am a hypocrite and I no longer care. You were not there for me, and I was not there for you. And I will never be again." 

The temptation to laugh was something Aerea had to tamp down hard on; even if Minthara's reply had been pointed, it hadn't been wrong. King's Landing was a nest of vipers with no manners whatsoever and they both knew it. Had the circumstances been anything other than awkward, they could have laughed about it together. Instead, she kept her lips pressed together as she regarded her former friend, this ghost of the person she once had been come to remind her of all her missteps. 

And Minthara did not hold back. At all. 

Maybe she deserved it. Maybe not. Either way, Aerea was tired of constantly holding her tongue. That was all she had done the entire coronation, and she could no longer find that reserve of polite detachment that propelled her forward. 

"What do you expect, Minthara Estermont? Do you want me to grovel? Do you want apologies? I'm sorry I could not be the person you wanted me to be while I lost the entirety of myself. I'm sorry I did not think of you when my mother died, and my father, my dragon, my oldest brother. I'm sorry that I was too sad." 

The words were a torrent and she would regret it later, but for now they needed to spill out. 

[mourningblood]

reverse make the 8! choose one person in each region to push off a cliff

The Vale: Norbie Grafton, I suppose. He's too clever. 

The Stormlands: Minthara. She knows what she did. 

The West: All those damn Lannisters. All of them. 

Dorne: I've only met a few, so between the two I know by name... Sorry, Lord Wyl. 

The Riverlands: Declan Frey, because while Sabitha Frey was bold, the Frey men are ferrets. 

The Crownlands: I distrust Lord Celtigar. 

The North: On the whole, I like Northerners, though they lack imagination. It would be difficult for me to choose one, but I suppose the Manderlys simply have ... vibes. 

[mourningblood]

truth serum; do you believe you are at fault with your falling out with lady estermont? do you believe her to be making herself a victim in any way?

"Minthara has always liked to play the victim. The drama puts all eyes on her in a way she finds most pleasing. That she creates other victims in the process is not her concern. Do I think I'm at fault? No, not at all. I think she's a selfish child whose beloved pet has run away for somewhere nicer, and she is unable to see that they are better without her in their life."  Aerea took a deep breath. 

"Fuck the Lady Estermont. Whatever friendship we had is dead and I'm glad to have thrown the last soil on its grave." 

[mourningblood]

What is your least favorite trait in yourself?

"I don't want to be so sad. I don't want to be so closed to the world and so unwilling to see some light in the darkness. But how does one change that? How does one seek the light when it's proven again and again that there is only the dark? Misery is a familiar company, and I've grown too comfortable with it to change." 

[mourningblood]

TRUTH SERUM: It's time to make the 8! What one person would you bed from all the different regions of Westeros?

"None of them. I have yet to find one worth my time and effort, so why should I offer them my body as a gift? A man must earn that, and thus far none of them have." 

[mourningblood]

TRUTH SERUM

feel free to ask anything, in character or anonymously, and my character will be forced to answer truthfully.

maggie - zahra - katherine - ayca - morgan - laena - mariela aslan - fiona - saella - lysano - kieran - rhys - ravi - matilda

[mourningblood]

You're my new dragonkeeper. Threats to her brothers vanished from Aerea's mind in an instant, and she didn't even have the grace to feel guilty about it. It was not without complications though; how would she find out how Viserys had managed to rebirth the dragons without him? He was dead at her hand and could answer nothing now, and her biggest fear was that he had some inherent Targaryen magic that she did not have. It had always been a fear of hers, but now it was manifest larger than ever, held under scrutiny of the king. 

It was easier to speak of the blue liquid, even though the memories and the visions were muddled in her head. "Death. Blood. The destruction of not only house Targaryen, but many others. Certain doom. But nothing... I can't remember the exact details. There were just flashes." It could be made of lies just as easily as truths. Prophecy was not a certain thing, and who knew what they actually saw when they drank it in far off Essos? 

"I wish I knew more than that. It feels like lies slipped into my head now, but then..." Then it had been truths. Her fists clenched and she could once again feel the flaking blood on her hands. No weakness. Not now. Not ever again. 

cont. from here. || @mourningblood

"You murdered my brother. You drank some potion and drove a dagger through his heart. I, quite frankly, should have you fed to the dragon. I should have you watch me kill one of your brothers and it's a wonder for you that I love my cousins too much." And that no voice in the depths of his mind said it was a wise idea. It would be a foolish choice at the beginning of a realm. There were options. he could marry her. Had a Velaryon babe and keep her in her place. Of that he was uncertain. He would need to watch her before doing something like that.

"My brother rebirthed the dragons. You need to find out how. You're my new dragon keeper. Your life depends on you making yourself useful. No more of this fucking moping about. No more of this longing for days past. Those days are gone. The dragons are dead. Our parents are dead. And the dance is over. Do you realize that people of civil war? Again?"

They could have waited for rescue. he fused to believe some wizards showed up to fuck with him and his coronation. No. It was the Gods. The ghosts of those who walked his grandfathers court making a mockery of him and he was getting sick of it. "Use your voice, cousin. What did you see when you drank the liquid?"

[mourningblood]

Aerea wished she could do more for Brandon, but she lacked the connections he needed. Maybe if she asked her sister; Vhae knew far more people, and probably heard more gossip than Aerea could even dream of. But that assumed that Brandon would be okay with sharing the information, for surely her sister would want to know why Aerea was asking strange questions about a Northerner. Another perhaps: if she knew Alysanne better, she could tell what her frame of mind might be, and where her curious mind led her. But alas, she had nothing more than the subject they very carefully did not speak directly of, and even of that she was scarcely an expert. There had been a period in her life where she dabbled in looking things up, things that all of Westeros agreed were taboo, in the hopes that it could bring her kin back to her. No answers lay in books. Only more questions. 

While Brandon spoke carefully, so carefully, she fidgeted with some of her jewelry, a ring around her finger, a bracelet around a wrist. The ground they covered now was a cliff eroded by wind and sea. It could all too easily crash into the waters below. 

"Knowing better is different from wanting to believe. If you desire something with enough power, it can blind you to reason, even if you're the most sensible person in the world." Another lesson she had learned through personal experience. Was Alysanne sensible? Brandon seemed to think she was. It was still an easy path to find yourself wandering though. There had to be more in the world than the normal gods. 

"It did not work for me. Nothing could bring back what was already gone," Aerea replied bluntly. "There are many who say that the magic that comes from our veins is the strongest of all. It's all just words, meant to bleed you dry." And how easy would it be to convince a noble woman to come along, that you held the answers she could find nowhere else? Too easy. 

Another twist of her ring. "Do you know what she might want or crave? That could help."

♞

regardless of how much he tried to recall, he could not think of an instance in which alysanne had mentioned the lady velaryon in recent times: regardless of whatever close association they may have had once, that had not held up with the recent events of the chapter of westerosi history they were all forced to live through. or perhaps he were recalling wrong, or simply was forgetting something of great importance - that would not be unheard of considering the amount of time that had passed.

"and that is all one can ask of you, lady velaryon." brandon responded, feeling his shoulders drop slightly; there was no need to be defensive, despite the ache that was growing to the very front of his mind. she would do what she could, if she heard anything: but she was no spy mistress, as far as she admitted. if she were a spy mistress, then surely she would be wanting to try and figure out what happened, if not to completely remove the responsibility from their own hands.

there was a slight veil to the words that were being uttered by the woman who sat before him: as though they were both dancing on a subject that was being briefly addressed, but never entirely, for fear of the consequences of what such a topic could cause if they were overheard. the dragon king was apparently a pious man, and there were certain things he would not have in his court. what was valyria built upon, if not that very thing?

"she was no stranger to what you are alluding to." brandon spoke, his tone upfront now: she dabbled in such practices, she did more than dabbled in it. "i thought her more learned, but perhaps there was some mistake…" his voice trailed, his mind trailing back to that night in the woods he had remained silent about. "the north is an ancient place, my lady. we are aware of some things being beyond our explanation, and control." there were many who did not believe in such things such as magic in this day and age. brandon had seen it himself, time and time again.

"why do you think it would not have worked?"

[mourningblood]

Who was it that spoke to her? Another unfamiliar face, just the latest Aerea had seen. After today, they would no longer be such a problem. For now, she had to entertain this strange man or risk her own status within the court. It already hung too precariously for her to give the kind of arch replies she may have given in the past. 

"Such is the way of a king's home." Spoken as if Aerea had any true knowledge, when she had not visited King's Landing in years, and never lived there full time. It was better to sound as if she had some knowledge than it was to reveal herself to be ignorant. 

And what of this stranger? He looked Dornish, maybe. It was another place Aerea had never been because Dorne maintained independence and not been much involved in the war. "And you, mystery lord? Do you stay to fill the halls, or leave for a better clime? There are warmer places than this." Physically, politically. 

No, she had no name for him. Would he give one? 

Ryon knew they were only here because it was time for them to have their conversations, they were looking for the sister of the Princess Dowager and there was something else he needed to do. He really wanted to learn the faces of everyone around them. That way, if war ever came to them then he would know who to take, who would come with the biggest purse for their return.

The Valyrian he saw was either the sister of the King or she was related to the Velaryons, though he thought they were darker because of the Baratheon mother. Then again, Baratheon and Velaryon genes seemed to fight one another until there was a winner and the Velaryon genes lost more times than not.

He weighed out his options, he could speak to her. Ryon sighed as he looked toward the sky muttering something in his mother tongue because he walked by and paused, offering a smile. "It seems the court empties and refills by the hour."

[mourningblood]

The temptation to laugh was something Aerea had to tamp down hard on; even if Minthara's reply had been pointed, it hadn't been wrong. King's Landing was a nest of vipers with no manners whatsoever and they both knew it. Had the circumstances been anything other than awkward, they could have laughed about it together. Instead, she kept her lips pressed together as she regarded her former friend, this ghost of the person she once had been come to remind her of all her missteps. 

And Minthara did not hold back. At all. 

Maybe she deserved it. Maybe not. Either way, Aerea was tired of constantly holding her tongue. That was all she had done the entire coronation, and she could no longer find that reserve of polite detachment that propelled her forward. 

"What do you expect, Minthara Estermont? Do you want me to grovel? Do you want apologies? I'm sorry I could not be the person you wanted me to be while I lost the entirety of myself. I'm sorry I did not think of you when my mother died, and my father, my dragon, my oldest brother. I'm sorry that I was too sad." 

The words were a torrent and she would regret it later, but for now they needed to spill out. 

she couldn't have expected this to go well - and yet, aerea's words, her tone, her very demeanour had minthara bristling with indignation. she knew she wasn't the easiest to get along with, but she knew, in this circumstance, she had done little to draw ire from aerea. but perhaps, she was about to.

"no." she answered the question shortly, brusquely. "the people are rude." it was a pointed shot, but one she had taken nonetheless. despite everything, though, it was still tamer than the jabs she could have taken, would have taken, if she were talking to anybody else but a person she had once been a friend to, someone who had earned her loyalty in the past, even if she had decided that she no longer had need of it.

"so that's it, then?" if minthara was holding back before, she wasn't now. "hello minthara, hope you had a lovely trip, please piss off?" the last part hadn't been said out loud, but minthara had felt it right in her core. she had always been more sensitive at heart than she first appeared to be. "that's cold, aerea velaryon. even for you."

[mourningblood]

Loyalty. A curious word. Aerea was loyal to her family, to her immediate flesh and blood. She had been loyal to her Queen, however brief the time, and in her heart she was still loyal. But her friends from before, girlhood and teenage companions? It was not a lack of loyalty that separated her from them, but the enormity of loss. Over time, it became easier to let those friendships wilt away. The work to maintain them became too much; to smile and joke when she felt like doing nothing of the sort was too much work. Sometimes she thought of those friends and felt the sting of something she could not name. 

It was inevitable that Aerea would run into some of them during the coronation. Half of Westeros had come, and she could not hide within her room forever. Though she had hoped her own Valyrian features would be unremarkable enough during the gathering, she was still able to be found, if one cared to look. And someone had. 

"Minthara. Lady Estermont." Did her words sound slightly mocking? No, though they could have. She knew it was rude to copy the other woman's form of address, but this was a confrontation Aerea never wanted to have. They had lasted so long without running into each other, and Aerea still had no words for Minthara to explain why she had so suddenly ghosted their friendship all those years ago. 

What was Aerea expected to say in response? Did Minthara want her to grovel in apology? Her knees would remain undirtied. "I hope you had a very pleasant time in King's Landing. Was everything as you expected?" The words of a near stranger, tone light but eyes blank. 

closed starter for @mourningblood context: prior to the estermont's departure from the crownlands for the coronation, minthara reaches out to an old friend.

to the surprise of many who had drawn her ire, minthara estermont possessed many good qualities. for the right people, she was kind and generous, honest and brave, and above all, loyal until the end.

she did not know if the latter was a trait aerea velaryon shared.

but she did, once. minthara did not know why her old friend had withdrawn from her. it happens, she had been told, when girls became women and those who had once been a companion in youth became a memory, but she did not like it.

"aerea," she greeted her, and then she paused. "or lady velaryon. whichever you'd prefer." she should see the distance that had sprung up between them and pushed them further and further apart as a betrayal, doubtless would had it happened with anybody else, but somehow, she didn't. she had yet to decide just how angry she was about it all and where the fault lay.

"we're leaving soon." the words came out blunt. "i thought i'd give you the chance to say goodbye." despite the fact they had not said hello.

[mourningblood]

King Jaehaerys got his heirs but rumor has it he doesn't want his current queen for anything else other than birthing some babes. Looks like he'll be looking to marry a Valyrian next to have his true queen to rule at his side. Aerea Velaryon, perhaps?

| @jaehaerysiitargaryen @lencra @mourningblood |

[mourningblood]

There was no blade to her neck. Somehow, Aerea found this frustrating. On the walk over, she became resigned to the fact of her death, even welcomed it. It felt... right that she should die now, on some cosmic level, in the way the world sometimes had a sense of humor more cruel and twisted than any human could think of. But still he did not order her death, and there was only so long Aerea could stare at the stone floor and wait, only so long her shoulders could hold their tension before they would begin to shake. It meant nothing that she liked Viserys and had no ill-will towards him. His blood was on her hands in a way that would never wash off. It stained past the skin into her muscles and into her memory.

Look at me. She did not want to, but Aerea had never shied away from a challenge. The same Targaryen heritage in her eyes as in his, and finally she tore them upward to look at him. Should she cry? Should she feel anything other than numb? The smallfolk knew that one day, another of the dragon's blood would crack. Aerea knew it would always be her.

"Your grace?" Too tired to argue, too heartsick to comment on her own siblings except to silently wish they could be insulated from her actions. Everything was so tiring all of the time, and there was very little room left for new scar tissue to form.

Wait, and wait, and wait, and hope that maybe Deimos would scatter her ashes to the sea when he was done. Her face was too blank; vitality gone, mind apart from body so she would not have to feel what came next.

"Don't be flippant with me, Aerea Velaryon. You stabbed my brother in the chest." He didn't want to hear about the Gods and their coin. He spoke with his hand. Told about the house of the undying and the viscous blue liquid, some shade of the evening read about in some book by one of the women in the room. Of them all who survived the dance he was perhaps as innocent as Jaehaera herself. And he would have cried if the King had any tears left in him.

But she wasn't what he was thinking, there was no defiance or flippancy in her words. He furrowed his brow as she awaited her sentencing and he should have killed her. He should call for Silverwing, old girl that she was, to spew her flame over the Velaryon before him. But he did not think it would be wise to kill her, to burn her to death before her brothers and sister.

"Your brothers are important to me. And your sister is there as well." And he supposed the sisters loved each other. "Viserys was good. He was not perfect. Even once upon a time some could say he was cruel but he was good. He stayed in that pit and hurt not a soul."

"Look at me."