Chapter Text
He had enjoyed a few things in the past few months after his father announced their engagement.
Definitely, choosing the dessert that would be served at the engagement banquet was one of those few things that he liked.
Take a close look at each of the desserts, meticulously prepared and served, making them look so delicious to the naked eye.
“Ser Criston”
"Yes, my princess.”
If he looked up from the different desserts, he gently moved his head, indicating to his sworn shield that he would approach.
“I need a second opinion on this extremely important decision.”
She said, faking the tone that her stepmother used with her when she suggested to the king that Rhaenyra would only be in charge of choosing the dessert and that she, as a queen and as a good stepmother, would take care of the rest.
Even thinking about that gave her chills—thinking that that bitter tower chose the decoration, the music, the entertainment and not to mention that she also chose her dress. May the gods have mercy, was the first thing the princess thought when she heard that decision. The last thing she wanted to do was wear green.
“Of course, princess, choosing the dessert for your banquet is as dangerous and important as any war, if not worse.”
He had to suppress a smile when he heard how his shield followed suit.
“I have two options.”
"Pumpkin cake.”
"What? Not Ser Criston"
"Pumpkin Cake."
The princess playfully touched the shoulder of the knight standing next to her upon hearing his stubbornness about the pumpkin pie.
“You are lucky to be a friend and to be amused by Ser Criston; otherwise, I would be forced to banish you for having such bad tastes.”
The gentleman put his hand on his chest, making a face and feigning indignation at the subtle insult towards his favorite dessert.
“Listen, I"m between berry pie and lemon pie.”
"What do you like?"
“Actually, I like both.”
He paused as he played with his rings.
“According to the cooks, red fruit cake is my fiancé"s favorite…”
The knight nodded slowly, listening carefully to his princess"s every word.
“Maybe I heard that Lord Jason doesn"t like lemon cake… it would certainly be a disgrace if he tried the dessert on the day of the banquet and got an unpleasant surprise.”
Almost immediately she understood the meaning of the princess"s words, no doubt the slight playful smile and the fire that reflected in her eyes only meant that she wanted to give her fiancé a hard time.
“I think it"s an excellent choice, princess.”
He let out a sigh, closing his eyes, defeated before his princess.
Your princess….
“Your ladies told me you would be here, princess.”
Damn traitors…
He thought as he heard the irritating voice of the cocky and arrogant Lannister.
"Oh, I"m sorry"
The Lannister tried to suppress his disappointed look. It was no secret to anyone that the princess did not tolerate her fiancé, either in person or in a simple painting. Of course, the princess did not hesitate to demonstrate her contempt directly to her fiancé.
“Can I sit down, princess?”
Rhaenyra only raised an eyebrow, making a grimace with her mouth and clearly showing her displeasure at the question.
He smiled nervously, and without waiting for a response from his fiancée, he sat down in the chair in front of her.
"How was your day?"
“Since when do you care about how I am?”
The head of the Lannister house looked down at the attitude of his fiancée, according to his twin brother, it was a stage of the princess, Tyland said that it was just a tantrum of the princess, that she was always pampered by the king and was never demanded of him. Nothing up to this moment.
Whether it was a stage or not, it was starting to tire and irritate him.
“Well, we are engaged, and she is my wife, of course I have to worry about you.”
“I wish you had thought of that before suggesting our engagement.”
Under the table, Jason closed his hands into fists, squeezing them so hard that his knuckles were starting to turn white and red from the force he was using, while he tried to put on the best smile he could.
“Princess… I promise to take care of you and support you-”
He was interrupted by the princess"s irritated and furious tone.
“Support me how? Using me as a mare destined to give birth to your children?”
"I-"
“Or supporting me while you only seek to be with me to put your blood on the iron throne? My throne, my blood. Is this how you seek to support me?”
“Not my princess-”
The princess stood up abruptly, pushing her chair back forcefully.
“I think our talk has come to an end, Lord Jason.”
Without waiting for an answer, the princess turned around and left with her disgusted face as far as she could from her fiancé, her father, her stepmother and the court. I just wanted to be alone.
Lord Jason watched intently as the princess stomped away, cursing everything.
"Bitch…"
It was the only thing he could murmur when he saw such an attitude.
He didn"t know if he was going to marry the lovely princess he was promised or an untamable beast, like... Like...
“Like a dragon”
“Shut up, Tyland.”
“This gives me a bad feeling,”
The queen said as she cradled her firstborn in her arms.
“The princess got the support of the Lannisters, now Aegon is at a disadvantage.”
She looked at her father with a disgusted face. She was still not used to having these kinds of conversations; mostly, a daughter talks to her father about other topics such as the weather, food, family, etc., not about how to make your stepdaughter desperate in favor of your son.
“The king still lies to me about Rhaenyra as his heir.”
Rhaenyra... thinking about her still made her melancholic. They were great friends; they were inseparable; they had a connection that could not be explained.
Or that was before she married the King, her friend"s father.
At first she felt bad; she felt like she was the worst scum in the world; she felt like a whore, a traitor.
“Then make the King listen to you.”
But after his father opened his eyes, showing him that there was nothing left of their old friendship.
That Rhaenyra had become bitter and that she viewed her half-brothers with contempt showed the clear disgust she felt towards them for the simple fact of being children of The King and Alicent.
"Yes father…"
His father had shown him that Rhaenyra would be capable of hurting her children for the throne.
And she wouldn"t allow it—she wouldn"t allow her children to be hurt or even killed for her old friend"s ambitions.
There was only one way to stop them from hurting their babies.
“I… will make sure the king listens to me.”
And that way, the throne of her old friend was usurped.