My Father's Wife (GXG)

Chapter 11

"All bow down to the King Viserys Targaryen!" The man announced. All heads turned behind as they all watched the King make its way to the altar along with Rhaenyra clinging on to her father's arm. They bowed down at the presence of the royalty before them. The king and princess are slowly walking while surrounded by the sound of applause and music, as they walked she saw a glimpse of Dorcas clapping and smiling at her from the third row along with her family. Then there is Julius and Daemon on the side of the altar, standing manly and giving the King's daughter a single nod. She escorted her father to the front before walking to the first row of the seats beside her uncle Ector.

"The lady Alicent Hightower!" The man announced once again. The woman walked forward with her father, clinging to their arms as well as Otto delivers her through the aisle. Rhaenyra, on the other hand, did not bother to look from the front row and kept her gaze on her father. She clenches her jaw as she observes him. Clapping and smiling at Alicent. When she felt as if someone was watching her, she turned her head to the left to see Alaric and Caspain looking at her. Alaric with a genuine smile and Caspain with a pleased look while he claps. Both are, too, standing in the front row. The Hightowers finally made it to the altar and Otto walked and stood beside the princess at the front row with a smile, admiring the couple to be wedded.

She gave Alicent's father a glance beside her before averting her eyes to the lady Alicent who wears the robe she chose for her. She couldn't help but admit to herself that she wore it in a remarkable way. She applauds the lady Alicent's ladies for the hair they styled for her.

King Viserys held both of Alicent's hands with a grin, "You wore the traditional Valyria marital robe."

Alicent's lips parted a bit in surprise. Not knowing at first what it was and then learning that this is what Rhaenyra chose for her, her heart inevitably warmed inside. She looked at the white haired girl at the front row whose breath just hitched at the sudden look from the lady Alicent. She tried to calm her heart from beating rapidly for being caught staring at her soon step mother after this ceremony, the ginger head finally looked back to its soon husband with a faint smile.

"Rhaenyra picked it for me.." She claimed proudly to Viserys. The king looked surprised at the statement, amused rather, then he gave her a nod.

The priest began to speak as the ceremony started, he recited his words and made the king and Alicent say their vows. A man handed them a dagger to cut open their palms and mixed their blood together.

"The king and queen!" The priest announced, causing the people to uproar a round of applause and cheers. Rhaenyra only gave them a clap with no excitement nor energy. People congratulated the wedded king and queen with smiles and applause. They hear heartful comments about how they wish the gods would bless them with a child and their marriage, and how Alicent would make a good queen to the kingdom. All this Rhaenyra heard so she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"A lovely day, isn't it?" A man approached her. She turned her head towards the person and found the oceanic blue eyes staring directly at her.

"I beg to differ." She plainly said.

"And why is that?" Caspain smiled as he watched the princess beside him.

Rhaenyra sighed, "Let's see, my mother died, my father remarried days after her death, and the person he just married was my mother's friend." She huffed.

Caspain looked at her in amusement, "My princess is in distress." He smirked faintly, the princess glared at him by turning her head slightly towards him. This caused Caspain to chuckle. "Would you like to have a walk with me then?"

Rhaenyra sighed with a straight face, "Yeah, I think it's best to." She moved her dress and they made their way out of the ceremony by sneaking to the other side, giggling as they lowered their heads so that no one would be able to spot them. Once they made it to the end, they stifled a little laugh but little did they know that the ginger had caught sight of them walking away from the altar where she is currently standing.

As both Caspain and Rhaenyra walked away, they found themselves in front of the garden, walking naturally and silently, without a rush, and nothing to worry except for Rhaenyra. Yes, Rhaenyra is still devastated about her mother's death and her father's marriage. What should they expect? It hasn't been a month yet since her mother's death. She looked down, not realizing that the blonde was observing her quietly.

"Why does my princess think so badly of the queen?" He spoke beside her after a long walk of silence. They entered the garden and were met with beautiful flowers on each bushes and trees.

"I do not think badly of her, I just.." She thought for a moment, "I'm just not happy."

"Well, don't you think that she too did not wish for this?" He asked. He was right, did Alicent wish to marry someone years older than her as well? Does she really care about Esther as a dear friend? Rhaenyra couldn't prevent the guilt that washed over her after the words that slipped out from Caspain. She felt bad. She thought of the times when Alicent was the one initiating and trying to befriend her, even as just a friend and not a daughter. She inhaled sharply and regained her composure before speaking,

"Anyway, I am trying too, to be fair."

Caspain chuckled, "I believe that." Rhaenyra couldn't help but smile at the sound that he made and looked at him with it. He smiled back at the purple eyed princess and gave her a wink causing Rhaenyra to look away with a crimsoned face. How stupid of him, she thought.

"My father thinks he's making the best out of it by making the queen and I spend time with each other. I don't know if it's even spending time with each other when all he ordered me to do was help the woman and assist her as if I were like a lady-in-waiting." the princess huffed.

"Don't think too bad about it, princess. Maybe you and her grace will come along."

"Princess Rhaenyra." A man spoke from behind, making the white haired girl and Caspain turn around to look at the entrance of the garden. "It was quite surprising to see you leave the ceremony." Alaric slowly glanced at Caspain beside the princess, "With Ser Julius' son."

Rhaenyra heard a hint of wariness in his voice but didn't pay no attention to it. The two men stared at each other with Caspain smirking at him while Alaric's face plastered seriousness. "What is it?" she spoke.

This caused Alaric to slowly avert his eyes away to Caspain and switch to the purple ones, "The queen is requesting for your presence. She would like you to do the honor of bearing her and the king's cup."

"And now she wants me to be her cup-bearer." She raised her eyebrows in an unamused way. Caspain chuckled beside her before they started walking towards the entrance to leave and come back once again to the ceremony. Alaric walked behind them, eyeing Caspain suspiciously.