Father

Kingslanding – The Royal Sept

She had seen the room far too many times to be surprised now at its beauty. The decorations that had been placed sparingly around the Sept brought out its natural grandeur, with the seven status of the father, smith, warrior, mother, maiden, crone and strangers standing tall over those stood waiting for her entrance.

Aerys was waiting for her as well, just by the doors. He didn't say anything to her but merely waited for Rhaegar's blessing with the High Septon to end. Rhaella had explained that wedding ceremonies of the faith can last a while but would be quick once the bride arrived, so it would be Rhaegar who endured the most of it.

Arianne, who had a full view now of the crowd, could make some of them out. She noticed however that the tall and slim figure that would have stood next to Oberyn in the form of Elia was not there. Perhaps it was law. But Aerys had managed to have the marriage of Elia and Rhaegar annulled, on grounds that Elia was forced into the marriage at a young age. The Septon's were smart enough to know that asking questions only meant trouble, so they accepted the grounds and annulled the marriage.

The High Septon stopped talking, and there was small muttering and shuffling within the room. Nymella, Penelope and Lyanna entered the room first, all parting ways into their own family's positions in the crowd. Lyanna slid in next to her father, who looked longingly behind his shoulder.

"You look like a girl," Ned whispered to Lyanna.

"I am a girl," Lyanna whispered back pinching his thigh in the process.

That should be me walking her down the aisle, Rickard thought to himself, turning back around to scold his children for drawing attention to themselves. "Are you finished acting like children?" Ned and Lyanna sent him apologetic looks and stood still.

Aerys took Arianne's hand into his, sending chills down her spine as he did so. His hand was cold, and his nails both scratched and repulsed her. Silence fell over the room as they walked down the middle of the two sides. Rhaegar tried his best to keep from turning, knowing he could only do so once they had reached him, but he knew from the tension in the room that Arianne was slowly making her way towards him.

"Now that's one way to spit in your face," Brandon muttered to his father, who in turn shushed him. He was referring to the cloak that Arianne was wearing, it had no sign of her Stark background – even if it was just by name.

He looked at the High Septon, and then to the Mother, hoping her statue would keep him grounded.

The High Septon shuffled, and Rhaegar assumed that meant that they had reached him. He turned, to find his father and Arianne stood behind him. She wore a veil, and a dress he knew she knew would excite him. Aerys passed her hand over to Rhaegar, who took it and led her up the two steps. Aerys moved over to the side and sat down next to a standing Rhaella, on a seat that had been brought for him.

Rhaegar pulled the veil from the bottom and flipped it over Arianne's head, revealing her nervous face. "You look beautiful."

She gave him a thankful look as the High Septon cleared his throat. "You may now cloak the bride and bring her under your protection."

Rhaegar unclipped her cloak, giving the specially made one she had previously worn and handed it to Julian, who was stood a few steps behind him. He then unclipped his own and placed it over her shoulders.

"Your grace, your grace, my lords and ladies. We now stand here in the sight of the gods and men to witness the union of man and wife. One flesh, one soul, now and forever." The High Septon instructed them to move their hands closer and proceeded to tie with a cloth from his open book, tying it loosely. "Let it be known that Prince Rhaegar of House Targaryen and Arianne Sand of House Stark are one heart, one flesh and one soul. Cursed be he who should seek to tear them asunder. In the sight of the seven, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity."

The High Septon then took a tiara that Otto had been holding out on a pillow and called Arianne closer. The tiara, which was similar in colour to Rhaegar's black one, had one big red ruby in the middle, and smaller ones scattered across it. It reminded Arianne of the necklace that Rhaella had gifted her. The necklace! She had forgotten to put it on.

"I now pronounce you, Princess Arianne of House Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone. Officiated by your father, his grace, King Aerys Targaryen the second."

Aerys stood from his seat, took the tiara from the High Septon and placed it onto Arianne's head. "Welcome, daughter," he whispered, his smile eery.

The High Septon waited for Aerys to sit back down and then spoke some words from the book, but neither Arianne nor Rhaegar heard him, too fixated on each other to care for him.

"It suits you," Rhaegar whispered to her, making her go red. She had to admit, having a tiara on made her feel surprisingly ... different.

"Say the words," that brought them back down to life.

"Father, smith, warrior, mother, maiden, crone, strangers, I am his and he is mine, from this day until the end of my days."

"Father, smith, warrior, mother, maiden, crone, strangers, I am hers and she is mine, from this day until the end of my days."

The High Septon untied the cloth and placed it back into the book gently. "With this kiss, I pledge my love," Rhaegar spoke loudly, taking Arianne's face into his hands and kissing her. Arianne smiled, holding onto his arms as he did so.

There was applause and cheering from the crowd that had watched the ceremony so diligently. Julian patted Rhaegar on the back, "let's get piss drunk now, please. I'm begging someone wine, now."

Rhaegar laughed, taking Arianne's hand into his own and giving her another kiss. "Finally."

...

They had cut the wedding pigeon pie, though Arianne was far too happy and excited to stomach any of it, and now they were being presented gifts.

Arianne couldn't fathom what they were going to do with all the gifts that the seven leading families had sent them. Her old home, the North and the Stark's had gifted pelts and livestock – both of which Arianne knew was dearly sacrificed by the Stark's and other families. Brandon had regifted the crown of Queen of Love and Beauty, except now it had pearled flowers; something she assumed he had done whilst at Riverrun.

"As a vision of your marriage," Brandon smiled, placing the crown on the table.

Rhaegar picked it up, "how very thoughtful," he said, placing it on Arianne's lap. "I'm happy I went with my intuition, aren't you?" He smiled, remembering the Tourney of Harrenhal when he had placed the flower crown on her lap.

"Of course, I am," Arianne smiled back, taking his hand and kissing it. "Thank you, Brandon," Arianne said, nodding at him.

She was far too comfortable in her seat to leave and was glad when Brandon leant over the table and kissed her cheek. "Write to us if ever you want to come home, even if it is for a break." Arianne was sure Rhaegar had overheard for when she had turned slightly to face him, his jaw was clenched and his hand was at his lip.

Lyanna had gifted her a dog, of which Arianne knew she had found on the road, but it was adorable none the less.

"Vaella, that's a nice name," Rhaegar said, watching as the small dog was taken from Arianne's hands by Nymella and passed to a maid.

"It's a boy," Lyanna pointed out, stood in front of their dining table in her borrowed southern dress. "I was thinking Ric, after father."

Arianne gazed between the two, knowing that the name she chose would not just be a name for the dog but a sign of her identity – even if she thought that was a reach it was somewhat true to her. "How about mops?" Arianne smiled, "he has long hair anyway. He does sort of look a mop." She turned to the dog, who had shaggy and matter hair.

"Mops Stark, I like it."

"Mops Targaryen, he does live in Kingslanding after all and we would consider him somewhat our son," Rhaegar said, letting his pride get the best of him.

"You consider a dog ... your son?" Lyanna queered, giving him a quizzical look. Rhaegar moved in his seat in discomfort, unsure of how to respond.

"Come now don't put dear Mops in the middle of your spats," Otto said, nudging Lyanna away from the table and giving Rhaegar a pointed look. "It's a dog."

Rhaegar clicked his tongue as Otto sat back down, "it's the principle of it."

"The principle is it's a dog," Otto repeated, watching as the next gift was presented.

The Mountain and the Vale, presented by House Arryn gifted materials and fabrics for clothes making, the Isles and River, the Riverland's, presented by Lysa and her father gifted fourteen boxes of pearls. The Rock and it's House Lannister presented by Cersei and her cousins Edwina and Edward Lannister gave boxes of diamonds, Arianne found it hard to find comfort in the gifts - especially when they were excessive. She supposed the crown could sell them or barter with them, still, they were excessive.

Arianne gave Nymella an approving nod when the blonde Edward Lannister walked away. Nymella shook her head in disapproval and Arianne gave her a look that said beggars can't be choosers.

The Stormlands, gifted by both Stannis and Robert, gifted armour and sword making materials, something that pleased Rhaegar greatly. Arianne didn't know if it was iron or metal, she just knew it made swords and made Rhaegar smile. The Reach and House Tyrell presented carts of grain and a companion for Arianne.

"Might I present my niece, Mimi Tyrell, she is Julian's sister. Though I struggle to see both intellect and physical resemblances," Olenna smiled, placing her hand on the shy girls back as she pushed her forward. "We hope her to be a companion and confidant for you, Princess Arianne."

"Charming," Julian whispered from next to Arianne.

Arianne sent Olenna a short smile, unsure of why she would gift her a person. "Thank you Olenna, I'm sure we will spend many good times together. I can't wait to be properly acquainted."

Ashara had cut in before Oberyn could present his gift, pushing past the Prince with a box in her hand. "From Arthur and me," Ashara said, waiting for Arianne to open the box. Arianne pushed the delicate box open to find the butt of a sword inside. "It belonged to a great Dayne Knight," Ashara smiled, taking the tool in her small hand and passing it to Arianne. "I know your sons will inherit the Dayne swordsmanship." She offended Rhaegar, whether she knew it or not. Though he could not deny the Dayne's, particularly Arthur, were skilled swordsmen. Rhaegar looked at it, it seemed large in Arianne's hand but when she passed it to him he saw that it had a good grip. It had a purple jewel at the centre of it, with stars surrounding it in the form of white diamonds. Rhaegar knew it meant a lot to the Dayne's and that Ashara should have kept it to herself, but seeing as Arthur would never wield it, Rhaegar could see why she had given it away. Perhaps she did want the next Targaryen King after him to represent House Dayne in one form or another.

Arianne felt guilty, she had convinced herself she was not of House Dayne but here she was accepting a treasured gift. "Thank you Ashara, it's beautiful. I can't wait to see it in action."

Dorne and House Martell were next, gifting the newly married couple wine. Oberyn motioning to his glass of wine, "our last free ten barrels of wine, that should see you through until next week whereby we will discuss how much you will pay us."

"Oberyn you are too good to us," Rhaegar said, raising his glass to the Prince.

"I know, it's a weakness of mine. You have yourself a good time, I'm leaving now," Oberyn smiled.

"Where are you going?" Arianne asked, waving Oberyn back to their table.

"Home. Dorne. I'm taking Merida with me as well," that last part came out as a whisper. "She came with Lysa and Catelyn Tully, dressed as a maid. Can you believe it? I cannot fault her; I am to blame for her pregnancy as well. It does take two to fuck. She found me I guess."

Arianne frowned and from the corner of her eye, noticed Arthur whispering something to Rhaegar. Rhaegar's face turned sour, but he nodded, nonetheless. His mood turned irritable from then on, and Arianne, unsure of how to address him, ignored it.

After a while, three people Arianne could not name stepped forward – each holding glittering boxes in their hands.

Rhaegar shot up from his seat in interest, "Arianne, these are the Sene's – Lady Milan, Lord Sagar and Seer Vesta. They are our friends from the Free Cities and their cousin Princess Mathina Yosaf is to take my younger brother Viserys as a ward."

Arianne stood up as well, bowing to those in front of her. "A pleasure."

"No, the pleasure is all ours," the woman stepped forward. She placed her box in front of Arianne. "From the city of Qarth in Essos and our family."

"Mathina sends her congratulations," the taller bald man said. "She couldn't leave, her father is ailing, and she is to become Queen of Silk soon."

Rhaegar nodded in understanding, "I'm just happy you're here Vesta, we have a lot to discuss."

Arianne was too caught in their outfits to care for what Rhaegar meant, the girl, Milan, wore a bright pink dress that was cut in an interesting manner and had a large golden belt, her shoes were bright yellow and wrapped around her feet. Vesta, the seer as Rhaegar had described him as wore a black jacket with golden trousers and his brother, Sagar, wore a military-looking jacket with dark trousers and laced boots.

She looked to Rhaegar, who thanked the two brothers when they put their own boxes down and followed his steps as he opened a box. Inside were varying jewels Arianne had never see the colours of, she looked over to Rhaegar's box – gold in nuggets. Rhaegar pushed for her to open the last box, it was a flower.

"Fertility flower, as a good omen for your new marriage," Sagar smiled, picking the flower up from the box and handing it to Arianne.

Rhaegar laughed, touching her stomach lightly. "We can't take too many chances."

...