The Emancipation of Rhaegar

Chapter 18

Eighteen

Crownlands - Kingsroad

Arianne woke to the sound of heavy rain and a silent carriage. Once she had rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she saw the Queen, Princess and Ashara Dayne asleep; their breaths almost synched as when one inhaled another would exhale. Sighing she played with the dirty ends of her sleeve. If only she had kept her foolish hands to her self. Her father was right. One wrong move and she had sealed her fate. Not that she was angered by the fate of marrying the future King, no she could not complain about that. She was sure that the more that she spent time with Rhaegar, the more she had fallen in love with him. Though her perception of love was not one that was cemented, she had an idea of it.

Looking out of the carriage window and onto the murky ground underneath it, Arianne wondered if her family had received any of the letters she had sent in the past month. Apologies to her siblings for leaving without notice, to her father of how much she had already missed him and how excited she was to be reunited. To Lilian, who had not sent a letter since her first, asking after her health and if she would be coming to Kingslanding to visit. 

She thought back to the first night in her tent. Rhaegar had ridden beside their carriage for three days saying that his fathers' demands for a faster journey were wearing him down.

"How long do we have?" Arianne asked, sitting at the table that had been propped up in the middle of the room for her meals. She wanted to spend as long as she could with the Prince before he had to return to his formal tent with Elia. Their engagement was one that was still very much kept secret between the royal family.

"A month, at the latest. It takes a lot to get a party of this size through the Kingsroad," he responded, unbuttoning his leather jacket.

Arianne could not help but admire the many rings that adorned his fingers, something she would never grow tired of with Rhaegar.

Biting her lip she looked away from him and he looked towards her. "What is it? Why the long face dear guest of mine?" He smirked reaching over to grab her hand.

"I do beg pardon if this question offends you but did you see my brothers and sister? Are they alright?" She asked, her stomach fluttering as he sighed.

Rhaegar looked at her apologetically. "I had no chance to see them, I'm sorry. I can bring you ink and scrolls to write to Harrenhal-"

"You think Brandon would stay there after what happened. They're probably on their way to Riverrun, or home by now." She said.

"I'll let the servants know to bring it to you first thing in the morning. Once you're done, give them to me and I will have the Maester send them, alright?"

"Okay," she smiled back nodding her head. "Have you checked on Elia? Or Oberyn? She mentioned that many Dornishmen were killed during the attack-"

Before she could continue, however, he cut her off. "The Prince refuses to speak to me and Elia the same."

"How odd."

Arianne also knew what the princess had thought of her as of late. She had sent many distasteful glances her way when she would converse with Rhaegar. It had seemed that he had placed his efforts in talking to his new guest, rather than his wife. Coming to her as soon as the party stopped, spending nights in her tent and asking for breakfast and dinner to be brought to them rather than eating with the rest of the family. She wondered if that was what her life in Kingslanding would be like. She couldn't deny that his company was amazing, but if she would be barred from seeing the public for so long, she didn't know if she could handle that.