amongthevipers

[amongthevipers]

›   FIRST   TOUCH   PROMPTS    →    receiver   to   sender.

brushing   hair   behind   their   ear

hands   grazing   while   reaching   for   the   same   object

catching   them   by   the   waist

helping   them   up   and   not   letting   go

fixing   their   collar   or   necklace

knees   bumping   under   the   table

tucking   something   off   their   face

draping   a   coat   over   their   shoulders

pinkies   brushing

falling   asleep   on   their   shoulder

touching   their   wrist

hand   falling   over   theirs   mid-laugh

fixing   their   tie   or   jewelry

whispering   with   a   hand   on   their   knee

lingering   touch   while   passing   an   object

playful   hand   to   the   chest

hands   meeting   in   the   dark

wiping   away   a   tear

stopping   them   by   the   wrist

buttoning   their   shirt   or   jacket

dancing   for   the   first   time

hands   meeting   over   a   shared   item

tending   to   a   wound

shoulder   bump   turning   into   leaning

touching   their   heart

cleaning   a   cut

brushing   hands   at   an   event

tripping   into   their   arms

untying   them   from   restraints

fastening   a   necklace

shoulders   brushing   in   a   crowd

helping   with   a   coat

adjusting   their   posture

guiding   with   a   hand   on   the   back

brushing   something   off   their   shoulder

carrying   them

hiding   in   a   tight   space

dabbing   a   cut   on   the   lip

steadying   them   over   a   step

holding   their   hand   while   dazed

falling   into   each   other

cupping   their   face

pulling   them   into   a   protective   hold

holding   hands   after   a   nightmare

sharing   a   coat   pocket

removing   something   from   their   face

helping   unzip   a   dress

brushing   hair   off   their   forehead

touching   their   cheek   while   laughing

tracing   a   faint   scar   or   mark

pressing   a   palm   to   their   back

resting   their   chin   on   their   shoulder

reaching   out   to   stop   them   mid-step

straightening   their   glasses   or   hat

helping   them   into   a   seat

lifting   them   over   a   puddle   or   obstacle

touching   their   jaw   while   talking

fixing   a   loose   button   or   strap

cleaning   something   off   their   lip

giving   their   hand   a   reassuring   squeeze

resting   their   hand   on   the   small   of   their   back

brushing   snow   or   dust   from   their   hair

holding   their   hand   during   a   scary   moment

steadying   them   as   they   climb   or   balance

touching   their   arm   to   get   their   attention

pulling   them   close   for   a   photo

grabbing   their   hand   to   run   together

placing   their   hand   over   theirs

pinning   a   flower   or   corsage   on   their   outfit

sliding   fingers   into   theirs   during   silence

wiping   a   smudge   off   their   face

catching   them   as   they   faint

brushing   dirt   from   their   cheek

pulling   them   into   shelter   from   rain

slipping   their   hand   into   a   pocket   for   warmth

leaning   against   their   shoulder   while   laughing

reaching   for   them   in   the   dark

resting   a   head   on   their   lap

catching   their   face   before   a   fall

holding   them   upright   while   tipsy

brushing   fingers   along   their   sleeve

guiding   their   hand   while   drawing   or   writing

removing   an   eyelash   from   their   cheek

helping   them   zip   up   a   coat

pulling   a   twig   from   their   hair

offering   their   hand   to   dance

cradling   their   hand   during   a   tense   moment

brushing   past   them   in   a   narrow   hallway

clasping   their   arm   to   steady   them

pressing   their   forehead   to   theirs

leaning   in   to   whisper   against   their   ear

holding   onto   their   sleeve

resting   a   hand   on   their   thigh

smoothing   their   hair   gently

tracing   a   line   across   their   palm

gently   lifting   their   chin

bumping   into   them   and   staying   close

catching   their   hand   mid-gesture

brushing   crumbs   off   their   lips

squeezing   their   arm   for   comfort

[amongthevipers]

the loss of her son weighed heavily on her. she had been so proud when he had risen to king, proud when he had wed aemma whom he had loved and proud as well when rhaenyra was born. viserys wasn't much like herself. he had been much more even tempered and intellectual that she had often struggled to understand him in a way that she did not with daemon. she knew though that he had been right for the realm, and that one day rhaenyra would be as well.

that day had come and she was right, rhaenyra was proving she would be very good for the realm. the cost of seeing her granddaughter in such a position came at an immense cost. she was lucky, she supposed that rhaenyra had taken residence in her father's chambers or alyssa may have tried to find meaning in the loss within them. there was no meaning to be found. death would come for them all, only every mother wished it would come for her before her sons. as she walked through the room to reach her on the balcony, alyssa swore she could feel the emptiness visery's left behind. his things covered up by rhaenyra's but some still there. she knew how he had loved this room. she kept her gaze ahead, at the glowing sunlight warming her granddaughter. her laughter lit up the space, pushing ghosts into the corners. "if you think i can do it, so can you," she chided her chuckling a little.

"anything," rhaenyra could ask her for anything and she would happily oblige or do her best to offer suitable advice. she listened as she laid out her concerns about the spot on the open spot on the council and the repairs needed. she understood the younger's worry she might pick the wrong thing to focus on. everyone was always so worried about doing the right thing at the right time and pleasing everyone. "there will always be more to do." she turned around, leaning against the balcony and looking up at the walls. "once you fill lord beesbury's spot, listen to your coucil. bring the matter to them. they will all have their opinions and may make good arguments as to what needs to be done first you may not have thought of." she was right to be worried about the repairs needed. for too long the needs of the keep had gone unanswered while coin went elsewhere. "and if you don't like their answer it is probably for good reason. once you have heard their argument and your own, you will know what path is best to take." with age she had learned to listen to advisors, but who might say she listened well. some would hope rhaenyra was more restrained as queen than alyssa had ever been, but alyssa only hoped rhaenyra did not allow herself to be trodden on by everyone who would come to expect things from her.

a spark lit, and caught, only growing as the hour grew late and blossoming into licks of orange and yellow and pink and bits of red, threading through one another as they danced acrossed the evening sky — stretching along the horizontal expanse of sea, divided by the still clinging pale blue of a relatively clear summer's day, the clouds remaining no longer streaks of white, infused now with deep pinks, and purples, standing stark against it. the sun, the burning heart at the direct center of any flame, big, or small, hearth or taper, fueling the vivid array as it fell gradually. colors glittered within the trough of waves as the water rose, and fell. smaller ones rose, and crashed into one another, the sea smoothing momentarily flat before it began anew. the woman's fingers curl lightly around the slightly warm stone of the balcony railing, her face uptilted, both to welcome the breeze that was little more then a featherlit brush as it kissed ( a coolness that was more then welcome, for at least it ebbed the unease that simmered seemingly ever consistently in her gut - a warmth that often left her chest tight, and her breathing uncomfortably short ) and so she might take in the view in its entirety. as a little girl she had spent so many sunsets in these rooms, for she had always come to wish her father goodnight before she retired to bed, and always begged the king that she might stay up for a few minutes more, so she could watch. he had needed assist her in seeing over the thick stone of the balcony for the longest time. and she had remembered how excited she had been, when she had grown tall enough that she had not needed it. it is odd, to stand here, within her father's chambers. hers, now, she reminds herself, and to live within was merely to occupy the regnant's apartments. t'was as it had been when her father had claimed them after the death of the old king. it was no different then it was to claim his crown, and sit his throne, and yet it feels different. it feels disjointed, somehow. she feels no more then a guest in these chambers, even still, even though, it had been she who had lit her father's funeral pyre with the fires of her own mount. he would not return to claim these rooms. he could not. and yet no matter how much her belongings had changed them, no matter how much the imprint of her became ever more pronounced as the days passed, her presence there, every morn and every evening - no matter how long she dwelt, or whether she woke, dressed and departed; it did not seem to stick the way it should.

she felt as she had upon her first progress. every castle at which she had guested had had fine rooms prepared, that suited a lady of her station, yes, but they were not hers — they had brought with them the necessity of moving on when her time at that particular keep had ran its course. these rooms befit the ruler of westeros, yes, but part of her could not settle. the ceiling was higher then hers had been in sea dragon tower, the space large, and open, and the silence swept in those instances when she had found herself alone among them, and that uneasy feeling had returned. so many things had been planned upon that progress, some of which she had brought before her father once she had returned, and others, had unfortunately needed wait until her own ascension ( repairs that needed done, whether extensive or mere material adjustments. there were things that needed built. and yet her coronation had came and gone, and here she remains ) she is more then aware of the necessity that has prevented her from the starting of it. she knows that she need make sure that all was more then a deceptive calm. that peace was not an illusion, and that she could feel secure that naught would stir in her absence. she needed mend the bridges she had burned between herself and her half siblings, for her own sake, and that of the realm. she had never wanted for the enmity that existed between she and their mother to spiral as it had, and to dig its hooks into their children, too, and yet it had, despite. rivalry traveling through blood and down, extending and flooding from mother to son thrice over. stoking the fires of resentment from embers that had been stirred when she was far too young to realize just what she had done. ties that bound fraying to cords of thread that had begun to fall apart at the seams as the years had worn - she did not know if there would ever, in truth, be a way in which she might fix things between them, between all of them, so that they might be siblings in more then in name — more then a connection that was grudgingly acknowledged by her half brothers to adhere to customary societal courtesies. but that did not mean that she did not need try. all she could do was try, and hope that perhaps it might prove enough. that they might be satisfied with the honors that she had bestowed, and that it would be enough that they would not play a willing part in any rise of dissent against her ( that might hope to use them as a figurehead behind which they might gather ) she loathed this, the necessity of the consideration. that rhaenyra needed to look at them even now as a source of potential complication for whatever peace that she might hope to forge at court. and yet they have ever been, and it has never once before effected her desire for closeness between them.

perhaps she had hoped, perhaps indeed rather foolishly, that the never ending political warring might cease in causing fissures within the foundations of their house. perhaps she had hoped that they might instead begin the long process of the repairs together. perhaps she was weary, so incredibly weary. the want for peace drug at her bones, bearing ever persistently down, leaving limbs leaden in its wake, and every step that she took seemed to get slower, and slower then the last on the journey toward. and yet she would not dare step off that path. she owed her siblings that much, at the least. she owed her children that much - so that one day they might inherit seamlessly. an inhalation of breath is taken through her nose, and loosed, near inaudibly as her shoulders slump the slightest bit. the low creak as the heavy wooden door opens, and shuts reaches her ears and she does not move, does not turn, only takes in another breath, and looses it. a steadying, comforting motion. her grandmother's footfall approaches, and she takes in another breath - soft, and even, loosing it before she turns to face the older woman. though she has never felt the need to remain on guard in the presence of her grandmother, she sees no reason that she need worry her with all the rest. the corners of her lips lift in a welcoming smile- wide and warm, and a step is taken forward to greet her properly as she spoke, her voice light, laughter underlining the rise and fall of every word, " be as we may the blood of the dragon, i fear i do not think such a thing is possible, " it had not been long at all since she had seen her, and yet, she missed her terribly. her grandmother had always been a daring woman. wild, to some. never one to submit so readily to what had been expected, she had always had a way of phrasing things that made everything feel as though it were possible. and that had always made her feel brave whenever she had begun to falter as a girl, " though if it were, grandmother, of the two of us, i shall be placing all of my coin upon you. "

her smile doesn't so much as twitch where it sits upon her lips, yet the joy freezes with amethyst and cornflower eyes — her gaze strays, catching and holding up a cobblestone beneath their feet with a split from the mid left corner to the upper right, a momentary distraction so that she might think, that she might come up with the proper words that might adequately explain without burdening her grandmother too much. not now. not so soon after she had lost her eldest son. a heartbeat passes, and it raises, " i was hoping that i might ask for your thoughts on a matter of the upmost import, " she says, the words even, straightforward as she continues, " there is much that i have hoped to accomplish, and more that i have done, thus far. but there is still more that needs doing, here, and elsewhere, and on that i have not even begun to plan for, " that needed to be put before her council before she acted, upon any of it. that needed resources allocated, and workers hired for labor, and time, and effort put into the task that needed be singular, on her part. she could delegate command, and place it in the hands of a trusted ally, and yet, now that lord beesbury had returned to honeyholt, she was in a need of a new master of coin, and before such time as she found a reliable one... she did not want to consider what sort of complaint might be made should she spend so excessively before such appointment was found and the seat was filled. no matter what it might have been for, " lord beesbury's return to the reach has left an unfortunate gap in my small council. to fill it shall be my first priority, and yet after... i do not know which way to turn, grandmother. all of it is of import. my attention has remained fixed upon the red keep since the day of my ascent. but there is no way of knowing, for a certainty, that dissent will ever be truly quelled, or how long that it might take. yet disrepair and disorder shall worsen, and worsen, " she did not wish to turn her back to a viper's nest, yet neither did she want to reign in fear of the day that they might perhaps do more then hiss.

@amongthevipers

[amongthevipers]

drusilla considered her mother's offer. she was clearly trying to make her feel better, and she did. she felt seen by her in a way she did not feel seen by her father and brothers. she didn't even really want to go hunting with her brothers, just be included by them when they were doing something she might be interested in. still, she was heartened by her mother's offer and nodded. "i would like that very much." she sighed and felt her frustration lifting just that important little bit. "thank you, mother," she stood and stepped over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her shoulders in a hug. "thank you." it meant so much to be listened to and understood. not having sisters was difficult, but it was not impossible for drusilla to endure when moments like this happened.

it made cassana's heart ache to see her daughter so ⸺ feeling abandoned by the brothers that were meant to look after and protect her. the feeling was all too familiar, after her elder brother had matured he wanted little to do with his irksome baby sister. and though her sister had been many years her junior, cassana had still sought out her companionship, eager to have someone that would follow her around when she had been so used to trailing her brother's coattails. she sighs softly, fingers squeezing once again before her hand returns to her lap, resigned to know that drusilla's was right, if their lady mother's word held any merit at all. ❝ there is still plenty that you can do, ❞ she begins, though the thought flutters lifelessly as soon as it slips past her lips. ❝ perhaps tomorrow afternoon we can go hawking ? it may not be as exhilarating as a hunt with your brothers, but there is excitement to be found in the sport nonetheless. ❞

[amongthevipers]

"in a better world, you would be caring for me when i am good and old." rhaenyra would have been queen until she grew old enough to abdicate and could pass the crown onto her son knowing full well that he would be the best king he could be. they did not live in a better world though, they lived in one in which her son had been stolen from her and their own family saw fit to wage war rather than accept a woman as protector of the realm. she gave him a gentle squeeze and then let go of him, but stayed close. "we might be beyond my protecting you, but that does not mean that i cannot try." she hated to hear that he worried about her, he wasn't meant to carry so much. "what do you worry about?" she wondered, brows creasing.

"I think we're beyond the point of you protecting me from everything, mother." He does not pull away from her touch, still finds comfort in her embrace. There is a war brewing on the horizon - already, lives have been lost. His little brother was gone, and Daemon had retaliated from the Riverlands by having his cousin killed, sending assassins in the night, and that had been followed by the same in return for his mother. Back and forth. It would not end until either his mother was dead, or her half-brothers were. With his own brother dead, he could not feel pity for those who had been responsible for their deaths. "I cannot help but worry. Just because I am your child does not mean I am not responsible to care for you as well, Mother."

[amongthevipers]

helaena nodded a thank you. she knew she and her mother had been friends before she had come along and now she was grateful for that. she knew that her might heed her requests not only as helaena's lady but as a trusted advisor as well. "i did not know you had children of your own," she mused. perhaps it had been mentioned and it had simply slipped her mind, but it did explain why ilithyia was so good with them. "where are they now?"

"I will speak with Queen Alicent." Ilithyia said. "She and I are still close." She had been the Dowager Queen's lady in waiting before she had become Helaena's. And she liked to think she was still a confidant for her. "Thank you, but I don't know if that is the case." There wasn't anyone that had been unkind to her. "Maybe it because I miss my own." She said softly. "But I think it is more that I want you and your children to be happy."

[amongthevipers]

"some people just cannot be pleased." she was thinking of her mother and brother as well as some of the septas she had. they experienced so many expectations as women, and despite the glaring difference between them, they had both experienced the same feeling of something that made them equal not being enough for someone else. they both did their crafts and they had both struggled to please with them. it was such a relief to discuss that. "yes it is," kat nodded. "i've never understood why it matters if my stitches are pretty or straight. who am i sewing for? who is looking at my sampler except for me?" the questions were rhetorical, she did not expect iren to know because there was no answer.

"i was with a friend once and she was advised that pretty stitches would earn her a good husband," she rolled her eyes. "have you ever met a man who cares about such things? i certainly haven't and find it frankly insulting that is what matters. wouldn't you rather do something you like because you like it?" whether it was sewing, or playing music or writing poetry, kat would rather enjoy what she did.

"Of course, your ... Kat," she nodded, offering the girl a shy smile. She spoke her name softly, as though it were a secret just between them. A part of her told her it was a trap, a way to lure her into being too comfortable, but she did her best to will those thoughts away. It was nice, at least in theory, to just be with another. In that moment, Iren was not a lady and Kat was not a princess in that moment.

Iren could not help but laugh slightly at the other's confession. Her laugh was not unkind, but rather because she understood all too well. "I eventually just stopped trying to impress my Septa," she admitted. It was not like anyone else in the Keep cared about any crafts she successfully created and she felt like nothing was ever good enough for the woman. "It is interesting to think about how we are told what we should and should not be good at."

@amongthevipers

[amongthevipers]

maris nodded, considering. "i'm sure if asked, many people would love to claim our name. certainly not all of them can be our true family." maris understood the curiosity, and certainly she too had an inkling desire to know who out there may be their blood. however, she was not about to go out of her way to find them. it would only cause undo problems for their families. "sister, can you not see the effects seeking out potential siblings might have on our family?" she couldn't help but find her sister's clear boredom amusing. of course they had half siblings, she was sure there was no noble family without bastards, but they were bastards for a reason. they couldn't seek them out for their own amusement and destabilize everything. "can you imagine the chaos? do you really wish to be at the center of that because you are bored?"

there were many a fantasies that floated throughout the youngest baratheon's mind most hours of the day ⸺ of a world outside of their own, far away from storm's end in the great vast openness of westeros. as much as she'd loved her family, she wanted so desperately to experience whatever it was that society had to offer. ❝ i believe we have, they are obviously men of noble blood; perhaps we've not been singularly alone with one of them to reveal their true nature. ❞ floris sighs and leans back in her seat, arms crossing over her chest as she rolls her eyes at @amongthevipers. ❝ what's so wrong with being curious about possible half-siblings out in the world ? ❞ she had known better, of course; it was not her place to go out of her way to seek out any illegitimate children from their father's youth. still, that did not quell her interest in the topic. she tilts her head and furrows her brow with a huff. ❝ it seems much too difficult a task to accomplish, anyways. ❞

[amongthevipers]

i have done all but one draft here so it's time for a fresh . . .

STARTER CALL ! specify muse(s) of mine and yours if you're also a multi! starters will vary in length.

[amongthevipers]

she might want her children to have siblings, but if the gods would not have it that way she would be glad to have a husband who knew what it was like to be an only child. he might prevent her from worrying that her child was miserable. "i'm sure you will be." she replied. emeline sought to see the best in people, and while she might not know andrei's father, she hoped that if he saw his father as one to mirror, then he was to be trusted.

"yes!," emeline gushed. she had not had the most consistent of maternal figures, but she wanted to be a good one. she'd loved most of those women that minded her growing up and hoped to follow their lead when it came to raising her children. "i would like to be a mother very much, gods willing, of course." she feared being with child admittedly, but wanted very much to have children running around her future home. "i look forward to many aspects of mother hood and to being a wife, if i might say so it seems like fun. don't you think? being a parent at all i mean."

He wasn't entirely sure why he had been so worried about her asking questions, not when they were so simple to answer to him. Maybe it was because he was being honest, something he preferred to be when in talks with other people. Andrei wasn't one who liked to play the game of whispered words behind others, stabbing them in the back when it was least expected. No, he preferred to do his business face to face. It seemed to be something she appreciated as they seemed to continue to get along.

There's a nod, glad to see the two of them were on the same page about something. There's a nod to it, her opinion strong and something he at least appreciated. "It had its moments of being lonely but then that just make your friends your brothers." He shrugs. That was how he went about life anyway. Shifting slightly in his seat, he looks at her for a moment of silence as he takes a sip. Her question then settling between them. "I only hope to be as good of a father as the one I have. To live up to that, well, it's a pressure I hope to succeed in. So, yes I am looking forward to being one." A small pause. "And you a mother?"

[amongthevipers]

i have done all but one draft here so it's time for a fresh . . .

STARTER CALL ! specify muse(s) of mine and yours if you're also a multi! starters will vary in length.

[amongthevipers]

hiding. that was certainly the word to use. viserra had dressed, finished breakfast and immediately gone off to read in the library. she hadn't thought that anyone had noticed that she was missing. admittedly, that was usually how she felt when she disappeared for hours into the books, in her mind her books. she watched as maeyra slid down the wall and sat next to her with a soft smile. "since this morning," viserra admitted. "i started this volume last night before bed, and very nearly had to be pulled away from it so i might actually sleep and mother could use the room." she had made significant headway today and she was thoroughly engulfed in the text. when she began to experience a dull ache at the back of her head from reading so much, she'd moved to the window seat and taken a nap right there.

❝ rhaena told me that this is where i'd find you, ❞ voice is soft, the only sounds preceding her words the clicking of her boots against the stone floor. maeyra had admittedly been an infrequent visitor to dragonstone's library, though she could not deny the intrigue that she'd felt towards the histories to be read in the compendiums within. she had made the attempt once ⸺ on a quiet night where sleep would not come, she found herself with an old volume of an index of valyrian customs, and embarrassingly read naught but a page before she had given up in a confused anger. maeyra finds a space beside @amongthevipers, sliding herself down the wall with her legs crossed over one another. hand finds the leather binding of the closest book, carefully lifting it to her lap to inspect the cover. gaze lingers over the words embossed there before turning to viserra. ❝ how long have you been hiding in here ? ❞

[amongthevipers]

›       TENSION   LINER   PROMPTS     

"I   dare   you   to   try."

"Do   you   always   get   close?"

"You’re   pushing   my   limits."

"Stop   looking   at   me   like   that."

"I’m   losing   control   here."

"You   have   no   idea,   do   you?"

"I   can’t   resist   you   anymore."

"Stay   back,   or   don’t."

"I   know   what   you   want."

"This   is   getting   dangerous   now."

"You’re   too   tempting   for   me."

"I   shouldn’t   want   this,   but…"

"I   don’t   play   fair,   remember?"

"Careful,   you’re   testing   me."

"You’re   just   making   it   worse."

"You’re   too   close   for   comfort."

"Do   you   always   push   buttons?"

"Stop   before   I   kiss   you."

"You’re   making   it   too   hard."

"I   can’t   stop   thinking   about   you."

"I   want   you   too   much."

"You   know   exactly   what   you’re   doing."

"I’m   not   playing   games   here."

"You’ve   crossed   the   line   now."

"Keep   pushing,   and   you’ll   regret   it."

"This   is   dangerous,   isn’t   it?"

"I’m   trying   not   to   care."

"Don’t   make   me   regret   this."

"You’re   playing   with   fire."

"You   don’t   know   what’s   coming."

"I   shouldn’t   be   this   close."

"We’re   getting   dangerously   close   now."

"I   can   feel   the   heat."

"Don’t   test   me   right   now."

"I   want   you   too   badly."

"Don’t   make   me   chase   you."

"You’re   distracting   me,   you   know."

"I   won’t   fall   for   this."

"I   want   you,   but…"

"What   do   you   want   from   me?"

"I’ll   never   give   in."

"I’m   trying   not   to   care."

"You’re   playing   with   my   patience."

"Don’t   make   this   harder,   please."

"I   can’t   stop   this   feeling."

"I’m   already   in   too   deep."

"You   won’t   walk   away   unscathed."

"You’re   walking   a   fine   line."

"I’m   trying   to   stay   calm."

"What   are   you   doing   to   me?"

[amongthevipers]

monthly sign of life check to say this blog isn't dead !

i've had a lot of anxiety about the amount of shit that seems to be constantly happening in this rpc so i've been hiding out on my other blogs! hoping to be back soon cause i really do love this place and my muses!

as per usual you can always hmu on disco to chat @ kastledevils

[amongthevipers]

having a sister might have made her life easier, but only in the sense that she would have another girl to spend time with when her brothers all spent time together without her. she did not blame her mother for not giving birth to another girl, the mother had chosen that drusilla be strong in the face of not being respected for her womanhood in stead. her mother's gentle touch did calm her, it dulled the fire of her anger. "you do not have to, it will only work for so long and then they will be back to their same routine." her mother may be right about robert, she heard a few terrible stories she wished she could unhear. "i just wish it felt equal, i wish my friends and i could go on hunts or the like. they do whatever they want." she was whinging and she knew it.

how desperately cassana had wished once upon a time to give them just one more sibling ⸺ one more daughter, if she were lucky, to even out the masculine energy within their family and offer companionship to drusilla. but her last pregnancy proved difficult, the maester suggesting that another could prove to be fatal, and so she had come to terms with being satisfied with four healthy children. ❝ that is the unfortunate nature of boys their age, ❞ with a sigh she leans forward, arm outstretched to place a hand on drusilla's knee. ❝ as much as you wish to spend time with them, they do not want their little sister towing in their wake. and with the mischief that robert finds himself in . . . ❞ voice trails off, finding it better to not voice her approval that she had not been involved in his antics. ❝ i will talk with them, if you'd like; ask them to be more considerate of your feelings when excluding you. ❞

[amongthevipers]

beautiful, she wanted to say her name to hear how it rolled off the tongue so she did. "orri from essos," kat repeated, interest piqued. she could imagine her mother's fears; that this would be the perfect way to have kat killed, that anyone who had found out about her interest in the lands beyond westeros or her proclivities could send a beautiful woman from essos and kill her. that was a risk she was willing to take in order to learn more about her. "come with me," kat waved her forward. "we will find you a dress." she was not sure how that was to be done yet, but it was certainly possible. she had an abundance of her own, or they could have one made for her, or send someone out to buy her one. she looked back at her family, seeing her mother's pursed lips, and then gestured to one of their guards to follow her as well. "accompany us."

she could hear people whisper in the background – of those who have yet their turn to speak. this is no market mixed in with claims of savage and she does not belong. dark gaze is unmoving from the girl in the pretty dress. gaze is set hard, though not entirely unfriendly. (she simply has lived such hard times and her weeks in this city far from a land and culture she has known has proved to be harder.) a nod given to the first question. orri has seen plenty of clothes out in the market, but only here in the keep has she seen any as pretty as the one worn by the one who addresses her. she's never known such luxury – could she be blamed for asking? the other approaches and eyes remain trained on her. most others haven't the means to regard her with anything other than angry gazes and curses under their breath. ❝ orri, ❞ she murmurs at last, feet rooted where she stands. ❝ from essos, ❞ she points a finger at her own chest as though to make it clear. that same finger once more points to the dress and she dips her head at an angle, silently asking once more.

[amongthevipers]

helaena was certain that wasn't what was going to happen with her father's funeral. they wouldn't be inviting anyone back home. likely they would have a very quiet, depressing meal where none of them spoke. helaena had enough trouble speaking now, she likely wouldn't be the one breaking silences at dinner if she even went. "if mother allows i think i will take my meal in my room after the funeral." she and her children would eat here. "they must have been kind nannies...you are." ilithyia was not technically speaking a nanny, but she played a similar role.

"Anything for you your grace." She had originally been placed with Alicent, but once Helaena had gotten older she shifted. She had come to care about her. And had learned the quirks and tells of her very quickly. "At my mother's funeral?" She asked. "My father had invited other magisters back to our home for a meal." She said. "But I got sleepy eventually and my nanny took me to bed." Ilithyia said. "After I was mostly raised by nannies."

[amongthevipers]

while she saw tessa's expression flicker, her smile returned just as quickly and she returned it. "those are wonderful names and i would love to help!" daisy understood her sister's father's inclination towards not naming them as well though. it seemed sad to get so attached to something they would have to slaughter. however, she did not see the difference between naming a piglet and a knight naming a horse he intended to ride into battle. while a piglet was always destined for slaughter, there was a risk the horse might die as well. "yes, i hope so! i would love for you to visit! i'll show you around and introduce you to my friends." she hoped tessa's father picked a good husband for her, one that was kind and treated her well.

❝ father doesn't like me to name them . . . he says i will get too attached to them when it comes time for their slaughter. ❞ the word, even as it slips off of her tongue, has a vile taste to it. she keeps the dour look in her eyes brief, passing over in a blink as she revels in her sister's company. ❝ but i have, of course, ❞ spoken with a wide smile and a certain gleam in her eye. ❝ there's ollie, elora, shela, and rody, and . . . well, i've not gotten to all of them yet. oh ! you must help me⸺ ❞ she gives daisy's forearm a gentle squeeze and attempts to stifle her excitedness. tessa listens to @amongthevipers's tales with undivided attention, pigs all but forgotten as her mind fills with images of the grandness that she describes. ❝ i am of an age for father to find me a husband, perhaps i can use that to convince him to allow me to visit you, when you return. ❞ though the thought sends a shiver down her spine, if it meant seeing the capital with her own eyes, it may well be worth it.