#maiden's fancy

[stromuprisahat]

Rhaena Targaryen was the blood of the dragon, and far too proud to linger long where she was not wanted. She departed Fair Isle that very night, taking wing for Casterly Rock upon Dreamfyre after instructing her husband and companions to follow her by ship, “with all those who might love me.” When Androw, flushed with anger, offered to face his brother in single combat, the queen quickly dissuaded him. “He would cut you to pieces, my love,” she told him, “and were I to be thrice widowed, men would name me a witch or worse and hound me from Westeros.” Lyman Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, had sheltered her before, she reminded him. Queen Rhaena was confidant that he would welcome her again.

Androw Farman, Samantha Stokeworth, and Alayne Royce set out to follow the next morning, together with more than forty of the queen’s friends, servants, and hangers-on, for Her Grace had gathered a sizable coterie about her as the Queen in the West. Lady Elissa was with them as well, for she had no intention of remaining behind; her ship, the Maiden’s Fancy, had been made ready for the crossing. When the queen’s party reached the docks, however, they found Ser Franklyn waiting for them. The rest of them could go, and good riddance, he announced, but his sister would remain on Fair Isle to be wed.

The new lord had brought only half a dozen men with him, however, and he had seriously misjudged the love the smallfolk bore his sister, particularly the sailors, shipwrights, fisherfolk, porters, and other denizens of the dockside districts, many of whom had known her since she was a small girl. As Lady Elissa confronted her brother, spitting defiance at him and demanding that he get out of her way, a crowd gathered around them, growing angrier by the moment. Oblivious to their mood, his lordship attempted to seize his sister…whereupon the onlookers rushed forward, overwhelming his men before they could draw their blades. Three of them were shoved off the docks into the water, whilst Lord Franklyn himself was thrown into a ship’s hold full of fresh-caught cod. Elissa Farman and the rest of the queen’s friends boarded Maiden’s Fancy untouched and set sail for Lannisport.

Fire and Blood (George R. R. Martin)

[encryptedlunacy]

Yeah these are the only ferns in my possession - that's a lie, I have a blue star fern in another pot, but it's not looking too hot rn so I'll correct myself and say the only HEALTHY ferns - and they just sit in a jar. I don't have to do anything; they ignore me, I ignore them, we have and arrangement.

[softquietsteadylove]

Another drama for the runaway bride? Maybe Eros really comes over and tries to get Thena back? And it comes to the point where Gil has to intervene 😃

Gil cracked the reins on the horse again, forcing the poor creature onward. But he knew where he needed to go, and he needed to get there before Eros did. "Come on!"

The horse voiced its concern but sped through the trees and towards the higher roads. He was heading in almost the opposite direction really. But the road for horses spiralled down the mountain. He needed to get to the steepest part, where he could cut him off.

He had Thena.

Gil had been out on his usual day. He was meeting his quotas. He had actually been staying out a little longer than necessary. Everyday, after he had fulfilled the work he needed to do for payment, he would find some good trees and work on getting boards and beams from them.

He wanted to expand the cabin. He wanted it to feel like a home for Thena as much as him. And while she was quite at home, he wanted to make more of a house than his open bodied bachelor hut. He would add onto the cabin's end and make a real, proper bedchamber for them. Maybe he could even add a bath room, if the winter was late this year.

He was just heading home when he heard it--the sound of hooves. He had taken off in a sprint towards home. He didn't hear the loud rattling of a carriage on the road, and there wasn't a whole infantry this time either. But the running of a horse was unmistakable.

When he did get home, he had found the door open, Thena's berry basket on the porch and its contents spilled everywhere, as if she had been dragged away by the ankles. The tracks of the horse were fresh. He knew what he had to do. Her captor being on horse was a good thing. No one could navigate the woods well enough to run a creature through it. He had moved around the side of the house. The guard sent with the prince - and to apprehend Gil, no doubt - was waiting in the garden for him.

Gil didn't like violence. He was a peaceful man. But he picked up the shovel and struck the man with such force that the metal against his helmet sounded like canon fire. The man went down and Gil had taken his horse without a second thought.

He was no rider, but he knew what he had to do.

Now, he was barrelling towards a cliffside, waiting for their paths to align. He had to time it right. And he couldn't risk Thena getting seriously hurt in the process. His timing had to be perfect.

As he began to see the road laid out below, curving along with the shape of the mountain, he heard it. He craned his head backwards. A horse was speeding down the road, right in the middle of it. The prince was riding with one hand on his reins and another over his shoulder.

Thena was slung over it, bound like a wild boar he had captured (disgraceful treatment of a lady).

Either he couldn't hear her over the two horses unknowingly racing each other, or she was gagged as well as bound. For a prince, he had truly treated Thena the way a barbarian would.

Gil pulled back on his reins, only slightly. He had to get this right. He patted the horse's neck, muttering his apologies to it. Poor thing didn't deserve what was about to happen. But it was for a good cause.

Eros rounded the bend swiftly, Thena in hand. Of course, with such a sharp curve, and at the speed he was travelling, he had to take it as widely as possible. Gil watched until he was at the thinnest part of the road, closest to the edge.

He cracked the reins.

The horse brayed, screaming as it leapt over the edge of the elevation and plummeted over the edge, legs flailing. Gil reached out, plowing into the prince from behind and wrapping his arms around Thena. It was chaos, everything hurt and his eyes were barely open. But he wrapped his arms around her and kept rolling.

The two horses lay in the road, crying out in distress and probably pain. Gil dragged him and Thena both off the edge and below the road. Somehow, they managed to slither into the trunk of a tree. It was a very familiar tree, with a base large and hollow enough for someone to use as shelter. It was tight with both of them.

"Thena?!"

Gil held her head against his shoulder as Eros wailed for her. He had thought the prince a spoiled and perhaps delicate creature. But listening to him bellow her name with rage in his bones, perhaps he was a man of drive after all.

"Thena!!!"

Gil worked on the rope around Thena's wrists. He would let Eros tire himself out up there. If he didn't fully know what happened, all the better. He could scream his head right off his shoulders. He pulled the cloth from within her mouth like a horse's bridle. He whispered, "Thena?"

She winced, but her sparkling green eyes opened. Her mouth opened but he pressed it against his chest again.

"I know you're there, lumberjack!"

Thena's newly unbound hands clutched at him. He held her tightly. They could keep running as long as they needed, as far as he was concerned. He would sooner burn down the cabin - his life's work - and start anew somewhere than hand Thena over to that cretin.

"Your highness!"

It was harder to hear as the new voice joined them. The two men spoke amongst themselves, the guard no doubt explaining how he had been assailed and woken up to his horse missing. Eros knew he had something to do with it, but there was no substantial evidence that he had. Right now, it just seemed that a horse had gotten spooked and run right over the edge in its panic.

"Another day, Thena dear!" Eros promised in a menacing tone (at least Gil found it very menacing). He was hovering close to the edge, looking into the woods below for evidence of his escaped prey.

"Your highness, what of the horse?"

There was a long pause, and then Eros was yelling again. "Put it down! And next time you see the lumberjack, do exactly the same!"

Thena clutched at him again but he rubbed her back. He was quite sure Eros didn't have that kind of mettle to him. Even if he did, that would have to be addressed at a later date. He held her still, waiting until there no sounds of distressed horses, or the clatter of armour and swords. He waited much longer than that.

Eventually he shifted. His legs were all pins and needles. Even if they had laid a trap for them, he doubted they were going to wait all night. He shifted Thena in his arms, pressing his finger to her lips. Even if they were waiting, they couldn't know she was with him.

Gil crawled out of the tree, looking around furtively as a fawn with every movement. He peeked up the hill, trying to determine if their hunters were lying in wait. He crawled on his belly, through the pine needles and twigs. He made it to the road's edge.

The horse was gone. Perhaps Eros was more bluster than substance after all. Gil had to admit he hoped the horse would not be put down for what he had demanded of it. He slid back down to their tree shelter.

Thena looked at him, tears in her eyes.

He just nodded, holding out his hand for her. It was a long walk if they took the roads. Her feet were bare, proving that they had broken into the cabin and snatched her away.

She crawled out to join him, collapsing into his chest. He rubbed her back, letting her sob into his shirt. What a fright for his runaway bride to have. And he had failed to protect her, yet again.

They made it back to the road, at least. He looked at Thena, who seemed completely in a daze. Her feet were covered in mud from the road, probably scratched and wounded all over again. He would prepare one of her favourite foot baths when they got home.

Would it still feel like home to her? After having been taken from its very steps?

Gil moved deftly, sweeping her up into his arms so she wouldn't have to walk a single more step. She didn't say anything as he looped her arm around the back of his neck. He didn't say anything either, although he looked at her as her fingers touched his cheek.

"Are you hurt?"

He smiled faintly. Her voice was steady, if a little raw. "No, I'm not hurt. Are you?"

She shook her head, looking at him like she had never seen him before he had fallen from the sky. "I tried to call for you, but he put that cloth in my mouth. I scratched him."

Gil examined the mix of blood an dirt under her delicate fingernails. He chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple, "that's my girl."

She let out something resembling a laugh as well, resting her head more comfortably on his shoulder. "What will we do, Gil? Will they keep coming after us?"

"I don't know, sweetheart." It was a pitiful offering. But it was his most honest one.

"I don't want to leave our home."

"I know." He didn't particularly want to either. But perhaps that would be best for his runaway bride.

"I'm surprised claiming we were married had no effect. I thought surely if Eros thought you'd already had me that he would no longer have any interest."

Gil blushed. He would also assume something like that, honestly. But clearly Eros either didn't believe her or didn't care even if it was true. But surely if they were married, there was nothing he nor her father could do.

They had to find a way to wed.

[brittlebutch]

tbh Zelda's "I think I just need to freak out for a little bit" line in Belles of the Baronies might be one of my favorite lines from her; peak "I'm not fine but it's fine" phrasing

[curiousfancy]

Imagine you’re a forest witch in the winter woods 🌲

My tiktok ✨ Support my work

[heartofsurgingflame]

made a design for mira because they never gave us one and i'm obsessed with her and gallerian's loveless marriage

[kaurwreck]

THIS HAS THIRSTING OVER U SO LOOK AWAY IF YOU WANT

your opinions are so hot. mommy. idk you’re girlarousing the lesbian in me thx

My passions, concentrated on a single point, resemble the sun's rays as collected by a magnifying glass: they immediately set fire to whatever object they find in their way.

[elenielheron]

I made a knife! Phile's knife. An ugly knife. A knife of many tales. Behold the hideous stabby!

[maidensfancy]

i think the biggest irony of hotd is that when i read fire and blood i was so unabashedly pro rhaenyra bc i found her atrocities hilarious but with the tv show purity washing all of team blacks behaviour i just find them boring now

[peachxxxmoon]

lord this boy and the way he sat me down on his bed after the easter festivities, lifted my skirts, and kissed all up and down my legs just to eat me out like a starving man has got me weak

[cryptiddeer]

I am slowly beginning to realize that for some people it's not that they don't have reading comprehension, they actually didn't read at all, AND refuse to pick up the most obvious of context clues.

[space--butterflies]

Shionne better get a group hug at the end of all of this or so help me

[eyes-of-rock]

<3

[ventureawaybitches]

Summer arc is fun, yeah emotionally devastating, but i'm having a great time; there's world building and i can get my conspiracy board out.

[apertures-angel-archive]

yagobot called me maiden again and it sure is giving me some sort of euphoria idk if gender or what but it is sooooo so so so nice

[namira]

I love traditional unicorns so so much. They mean a lot to me ngl