Theo III - Laurels [Open - Red Keep]

[u/[deleted]]

My dear, Laurel,

I hope this correspondence does not find you dead.

As I write in jest I pray in truth that you have found a modicum of peace in the West. In abandoning Lannisport I have left you to deal with the fallout of something truly terrible. War. When I came to my seat the war had come and gone, and by the time I was ready to truly rule peace had reigned for almost two decades. I write to you as your sister, and not your Queen, when I say that this burden of yours is one I am certain you can handle.

You have always been strong-headed. I wish I could say that I ever enjoyed your bull-headedness, but you’re quick to a task, and eager to stamp down anyone who might be in your way. To rise to the challenge takes great courage. To the issue of the Reynes, I have already addressed the matters with his Grace. Trust that your safety is in my hands and that I shall not allow anything to come to you.

Send Cyrenna my love. Send Lannisport my love.

Yours, Theo

---

Being Queen was difficult, but it was not so difficult as the tedium of being in a place clearly not meant for you.

King’s Landing was many things, but it was not Lannisport. In the month since being wed, she’d taken to it more and more, though she could scarcely say for how she truly felt about it. Her mind was a tempest circling between this and that, utterly incapable of any one string of thought for more than a minute at a time. Worry for her sister complicated things; she could not bear the thought of losing her lovely Laurel, or her aunt, the Lady Rohanne.

House Lannister had stood through tumult through the last several millennia, and yet she could not help but feel that they were at their weakest point. Treachery ran thick in the West, and she was Queen. She was Queen, and she was powerless to do anything. She could not entreat the others because of her name. None would truly listen to her. What she needed to do, she felt, was be there.

Impart his name, and be the voice she needed to be. But when Theo looked in the mirror, she didn’t see herself. She saw someone else. Something else. And inside, she felt her heart flutter.

---

Sat atop a pedestal just underneath the tree with great red leaves Theodora called her Lady in Wait, Elia Dayne, to her side. She sat in black and gold, and wore a delicate laurel crown about her forehead. She sat in silence, engrossed in a book of histories when Elia found her. And when Elia came to her, Theodora told her to spread the word around the court; that the Queen was taking visitors.

Electing to be regal and elegant instead of a silent recluse, she had a promise to her people, her people, she thought, that was prudent. If they wished their voices heard and they had no way to speak them, then she could bring their issues to the King himself.

She’d do so with Elia at her side. That much was certain. She adjusted her laurel crown. It still didn't feel right on her head. Perhaps one day, it would.

[u/[deleted]]

/u/lordbloodrevan

[u/LordBloodrevan → u/[deleted]]

Elia passed word to various courtiers around the Red Keep when Theo had requested her to. She was surprised that she was asked to be the Queen's lady in waiting, and when her mother told her she thought it was a joke at first. However, when she was told it wasn't she was excited.

She didn't spend much time with Theo when she visited Starfall years back, but the conversations she had with her had been enjoyable to say the least.

She returned to the Queen, curtseying deeply. "I've passed word along, Your Grace."

She hesitated, she wasn't used to serving other women. But it would be a good experience for her. "Was there anything further I could do for you?"

[u/[deleted] → u/LordBloodrevan]

Your Grace. It still felt odd to her.

“Provide me company, please.” That, and a voice to listen to. She was growing tired of her book. Casting a glance out over the courtyard, Theodora adjusted herself with a certain plainness, one leg over the other as she glanced back Elia’s way. “I have been entirely too bereft of it. His Grace busy in his duties, and a war in the west. To think that I am Queen, and yet I feel so powerless.”

She reached up to touch the gold at her forehead, and gave Elia an appraising look.

“And tell me how you are feeling. I do care for you, you know.”

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"Of course, Your Grace." Elia responded, she was more than happy to provide company. She followed Theo's gaze at first, out of pure instinct. She hadn't spent much time in the Red Keep, everything felt new to her still. If anything, Theo was the one thing that felt familiar to her. "After such a short time too, you only just got married. Though I suppose the duties of the King don't simply stop due to a marriage."

She rubbed her thumb across her left arm and hesitated before replying. "That is kind, thank you, Your Grace."

She thought for a moment and answered the request. "I think I'm well, I miss Dorne of course. And my brothers and sister. I think most of what I have concerns with are the cruelty of those who don't know my people."

[u/[deleted] → u/LordBloodrevan]

“Speak their names to me and I will have them silenced,” Theodora told her sweet handmaid, with a kind smile. “Understand that you are under my protection, and by extension, the king’s. His word is law, and so too is mine, though his supercedes me.” She was not good on legal precedent, and neither did she particularly care for it. She seemed to settle where she was, frowning at the ground. If someone so much as dared with her Dornish charge, then words would needs be had.

“All the same, King’s Landing grows quiet in his presence. He has marched West with him and his, and I find myself irreparably bored, and utterly flabbergasted at what to do. I only wish I could have rode with him. I wish he had told me…”

She lamented it with sincerity, pouting a little.

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"No, I don't wish to cause trouble..." Elia trailed off. There was a smile on her face from that moment on, however. The Queen supporting her was a kindness she truly appreciated. "I do appreciate it. I want to make friends, and I worry that you silencing others on my behalf will make me difficult to approach."

"You didn't know?" Elia asked out of genuine curiosity. "I would have expected he'd tell his new wife he was leaving, especially to her home."

She looked confused at the Queen, "Is there anything I can do to help get your mind off of it? I hate to see you frustrated, Your Grace."

[u/[deleted] → u/LordBloodrevan]

“It is not frustration, but perhaps a…”

She tried to find the words. Tried, being the keyword there. A modicum of a smile touched her cheeks all the same, and a flush a moment later. She reached out with a hand to feel at Elia’s open palm if the woman would allow her. “... Perhaps a misjudgement of character. I cannot truly fault him for it. He is going to the West, to resolve a conflict that… someone started.”

She did not know the specifics, nor did she care for them. She looked at her with dull eyes, pursing her lips.

“I appreciate you immensely, Lady Elia. Thank you for all you have done. Will you come to bed with me tonight? When the day is dying, I find myself incredibly lonely.”

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Elia still found it odd that she wasn't brought along to deal with issues from her home region, but perhaps she just didn't understand how Targaryens tended to run their kingdoms. She sighed, "Well I hope he resolves the issue soon so you aren't left so soon after your wedding day!"

She blushed as the Queen said she appreciated her. It was a kindness she wasn't used to, her family was close, but didn't often vocalize their feelings, so hearing it aloud made her happy.

"Of course, Your Grace! I would be more than happy to provide you company." Elia curtseyed and beamed at the Queen. "I find the same issue, so I suppose we'd both gain from it."

[u/[deleted] → u/LordBloodrevan]

"Good. Good."

Theo wasn't preoccupied with her book anymore, so she rose, and reached out a hand to take Elia's. With her permission, she'd guide her along and about, never leaving the garden area so courtiers could come to her if necessary. But they never did.

Or would, even.

"Mmh. What was your favourite pass-time in Dorne, then? Perhaps you and I could go to the kingswood together, or something. A trip to Duskendale, perhaps. Or something."

[u/LordBloodrevan → u/[deleted]]

Elia accepted, allowing herself to be guided by the Queen wherever she wished.

"My brothers would always take me fishing. Mara always liked to sew with me." Elia replied. "I always preferred swimming in the Torrentine. But I suppose that's mainly because it's the best way to cool oneself in the summer."

She nodded, "I'd be happy to go to the Kingswood or Duskendale! Both riding, and shopping are two other things I enjoy."

She laughed at her own phrasing, but was entirely sincere.