True to their word Rhaenyra and Daemon marry before the end of the moon cycle. Annerys had only ever witnessed a handful of weddings before and they always took place in a sept under the faith of the seven so she had never seen a Valyrian marriage ceremony before. From her very limited knowledge of weddings she had decided that weddings in a sept were meant for duty and Valyrians were meant for love. Anne was quite sure that even in all of their talk of duty her mother was marrying Daemon for love. She also knew she would marry Aegon in a Sept.
Thankfully Valyrian ceremonies are much quicker than Westorosi ones so they are off the beach and around the dinner table in half the time that they would have been if it was a wedding held under the faith of the seven.
Jace and their mother seem to have made up and Luke had warmed up to the idea of Daemon being his step-father when he had allowed him to hold Dark Sister, which had left Anne still quietly fuming because how is anyone supposed to make peace with someone who they don't know is angry with them. Anne supposes that the problem with being pliant is that nothing will ever resolve itself if you spend all your time in the pursuit of pleasing others. How are you expecting to please yourself?
Anne had helped her mother ready for the wedding that morning and when she was twisting her mothers hair back of her face she had asked her mother "Do you love him?"
"Yes, I suppose I do." She tells her with a smile.
The two sit in what Rhaenyra thinks is comfortable silence but is really Annerys building up courage, which she finally does, to say "Please do not make me marry Aegon. Can you not say anything to the king, please."
"Anne, I can't tell the king no, not after he announced it to so many people." Her mother tells her "I am sorry that you do not get a choice in this. I had thought that you would, when you were first born I thought to myself and I told your father that you would marry someone you loved no matter who it ended up being. I decided that day that if Jace got to have the crown you would get to have love and I'm so sorry my darling girl that you will not have that."
That is what Anne thinks of that evening as they are sitting around the dinner table it's piled high with decadence, all sorts of foods that her brothers were making quick work off. As well as these fragile crystal goblets that had been brought back from Pentos which Daemon had permitted them all to drink out of in celebration of the wedding. Which was a novelty for Luke being someone who was quite accident prone and therefore not trusted with things that easily break. Annerys is pushing honeyed pork around her plate when Baela asks "Will someone pass me the peas please."
"I can't see them." Rhaena replies.
"I don't think there is any." Jace says.
"There always is." Anne replies always prepared to argue with Jace.
"Not today, there will be nothing green on this table to besmirch this joyous occasion." he says happily at it's supposed to be humorous something to endear him to Rhaenyra's children yet to a quietly furious Annerys its like kindling to a spark so she says "well I will be a green in not time so perhaps I should leave" and she stands.
"Sit down." Daemon tells her leaving no room for argument.
She thinks about defying him but thinks twice before she sinks down into her chair. They all begin their conversations again and it seems as if there will be no further disagreements and that they might all have a pleasant dinner as the servants bring in the desserts before she hears Luke ask "Why isn't Grandfather here? Did he not want to come?" Annerys knows it's because he's worried that the King had refused to come because he's angry at him for what he had done to Aemond she knows how guilty he feels and yet she can't focus on Luke as she watches her mother shift in her seat and Daemon take a large drink of his wine before he says "The King does not know that we have been married."
Jaecerys quickly says "But will he not be angered that you have not asked for permission?"
Annerys doesn't hear anymore as the room grows soundless and all she can hear is blood rushing through them, she squeezes hold of her delicate wine glass as she attempts to keep her anger hidden as she concludes why her mother won't do anything to stop her marriage. She feels Jace's hand on her shoulders as faintly hears him calling her name as she regains clarity "Anne! Anne your hand. Anne, you're bleeding." She hears him say so she looks down at her hand and see's the shattered glass on the table and in her hand, coated in blood. It isn't until she sees it that she feels the warm blood trickling down her fingers or the sharp pain across her palm but once she does she lets go of the remaining glass still clutched tightly in her hands and it clatters against the shattered glass as it lands on the table.
She can hear Joffrey crying across from her as her mother crutches down beside her and gently pulls her hand into hers so she can look at it "Gods. Anne, how has this happened. Luke quickly go fetch a maester."
She looks up from her bleeding hand and stares into her Mothers eyse "You are selling me to my Uncle so that you may marry yours unencumbered by Grandfather's ire." She says coolly.
"Annie, no..." Her mother begins to argue.
Annerys pulls her hand from her mothers "I won't do it. Perhaps I shall follow your lead and marry someone without anyone's permission; you'll have a hard time profiting from my misery then."
"Annie doesn't mean that she's just mad." Jaecerys intercedes.
"I can speak for myself, Jace."
"Well maybe you shouldn't." he replies.
"Oh you can shove your self inflated ego right up..."
"Annerys please enough." her mother says and there is a hint of desperation to her voice." Her mother pulls her napkin from the table beside her and begins to wrap it tightly around Annes hand to stop the steady flow of blood that's beginning to darken the already red silk of Anneys' dress. Still furious and therefore unable to be in her mothers presence any longer, Anne pulls her hand out of her mothers and storms out of the room.
Even after her mother had wrapped her hand in a napkin she was still bleeding quite heavily and in a lot of pain so she makes her way to the maester where she finds Luke frantically telling him about her injury.
"I'm here, you can go back to dinner Luke." she says as she sits down on one of the chairs in the Maesters room.
"No, I'll stay with you." He tells her as he grabs a hold of her uninjured hand.
The maester tells her altogether she will need three stitches across her palm and that she still had glass lodged in the skin that would need removing. Luke stays there through the entire procedure and holds her hand tightly the whole way through. Although she isn't sure whose benefit that is for as she watches as Luke squeezes his eyes shut.
The maester is just about to bandage her hand when Daemons figure blocks the door "Annerys may i speak to you."
She nods and Daemon steps into the room, takes the bandage from the maester, tells him to leave and tells Luke to return to his mother.
Daemon knees on the ground and gently takes Anne's injured hand in his. "You have quite the grip. Those were very rare and very expensive cups that you just broke."
She goes to apologise before she realises that she's not sorry at least not yet so she silences herself and only speaks up once Daemon begins to wrap her hand in the bandage "What are you doing?"
"I was at war for three years and have two daughters. I'm sure I can be trusted with bandaging a scrape." he says and then smiles at her.
"You're clever. I doubt your brother would have realised as quickly as you did. And it is what is happening even if your mother doesn't want to realise it, we are exchanging your marriage for ours." He tells her as simply as if he was telling the time.
"Am I supposed to just accept this?"
"No. Your mother has indulged you and it has made you willful and spoiled but you are nearly a woman grown now so you must make a choice Annerys. If you continue in this manner your mother will undo your betrothal and it will weaken her but if you allow for this marriage to take place and you play your part it will strengthen her."
"So I have to choose between love and duty?"
"Love and duty go hand in hand, you can't have one without the other because what is duty without love? Why be dutiful if not for the sake of love? And what is love if not a duty? The love you feel for your family and your blood is a duty to each other and the duty you have for your family is borne from love." He tells her and it sounds a bit too fanciful coming from him but perhaps he is right.
"And what if I love my husband then where does duty lie for me?" She asks him.
"That's up to you, Annerys. But I think you already know where your loyalty lies." He says as he finishes off her bandage.
He stands and is about to leave before Annerys asks "Do you love my mother then."
He smiles at her before he leaves the room.
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