thestormlioness:

Relena didn’t even believe his suggestion to be worth an answer, she simply raised an eyebrow. After all she was wearing a long gown, riding was already hard enough, but sitting upon a giant lizard seemed like an even worse idea. Therefore, the young queen just kept staring at Viserys, waiting for him to finally come down from that thing. She could not help but sigh and roll with her eyes upon hearing his rant. This was far beyond ridiculous, she had asked him to stay within the boundaries of his role at court and not pretend to be a woman.

“You don’t understand it, do you?”, Relena questioned, a fury within her eyes, the words leaving her lips with any hint of calmness as she shouted them. “I am surrounded by a world of men, created by men, for men, who seek to tear my down because I am a woman and there is nothing worse for them than bowing to a woman they cannot control.” Did Viserys truly believe that he was the only man she had to fear? Ever since Lord Stark had read out her father’s will she had to be afraid at ever turn she took, while never being allowed to show the slightest hint of nervousness or anxiety. “You have no idea how it feels, being expected to save a country daintily.”

Her father’s body hadn’t even been cold when the first people spoke up against a woman ruling Seven Kingdoms, even worse members of her family were quick to follow, with every step she took she had to prove herself to those that would use the smallest of matters to prove that a woman was unworthy of the tiltle of a ruler, every breath she took was battle.

Relena’s eyes widened, and she took a step forward, when she saw Viserys fall down his dragon. This was the exact reason why she would never climb up one of these things. She left out a soft sigh of relief when his was back on his feet, for she was certain that he had not planned this, no matter how serene he tried to seem. “And can’t you see how dangerous this if for me?”, the raven haired woman asked. “This game is much worse for women than for men. At every turn I take I could be looking at my demise. The moment my father’s will become public I have been pushed by all sides to marry, to find a man to rule for me, to return to being a piece in someone else’s game. If they see that there is a man that can take care of the real in my stead, they will do what they can to reduce my role until it is gone completely. If my firstborn child is a boy, I will have to fear for my life even more because there are people out there who would rather bow to an infant boy than an adult woman, if my second or third born child is a boy and my first a girl, I will have to fear for their lives as well, because they would be in line before a male heir, shall I go on?”, the queen asked, her voice slightly raised as she spoke.

“Tell me.”, Relena said, taking a small step towards Viserys. “When you were king in Yunkai, did you have to worry about this kind of things? Because I have been, ever since the moment I found out what my father had planned for me, without ever telling me! So besides taking care of all the duties a king has to care about, besides all the things a king has to worry about, I have those things too and even more!”, while she spoke, her words turned more and more into a hiss. “I was thrust upon a throne I never wanted and now I have to somehow try and keep it, while every breath I take is a reason for almost every single man in this country to attack me one way or another, because neither my father nor my mother ever considered that they should raise the actual heir to the throne properly. 

Because I am paying for their sins there is not a single person in this world I can fully trust, there hasn’t been in years and now there is no turning back from that now. I can try to give you mind kindness and my hospitality, my friendship, perhaps even my love but there will never be a single man that I can trust.

I am sorry, this is probably not the kind of marriage or life you wanted but believe me, I feel the same.“

“You’re right. I don’t understand how you feel and your position as Queen, as a woman in power. But I understand looking behind you fearing the worst from people. It’s not the same, obviously.” He stated as he tried to keep his voice level and easy. “I do see that Relena. Don’t think i’ve forgotten the attempted coupe.” He replied back as he stood in place as she stepped closer to him and the realization of his situation in Yunkai compared to hers seeped in. “No…I mean, I had slavers to worry about and almost civil war in Yunkai.” His voice slowly faded as she kept speaking and he was enraptured with her words, hearing about how she felt towards her parents and situation.

Viserys wasn’t quite sure what to say to her now as his eyes wondered from her face to his own feet and back. Silence came between them and he gave a heavy sigh. “I don’t want you to force any feelings of love towards me, Relena. I’ve never expected a well rounded marriage like Eddard and his wife seem to have. My own parents did a shit job at that and I being of a noble and royal…ex-royal house I expected arrangements and it to be loveless.” Viserys’s shoulders rolled as he looked back to see where his Dragon had gone and gave a small frown that the beast had decided to leave. “Joffrey is not the actual heir. You are. Robert wanted you, for good reason and damned the people’s thoughts. If he were still alive but unable to be King, do you think he would let people speak and think of you the way others are?” He asked.

Viserys stepped closer to her, one small step not quite sure what to do or say now. He wanted to comfort her, tell her he understood completely but he knew he could never ever understand her plight as a woman and now as Queen. But he understood her fear of trust. He understood her concerns. His hands started to reach out to hug her, to offer something to her but they dropped to his sides as he reminded himself how she felt about such things and he came to her side. “I know you can’t trust me, we’ve both got trust issues. But we do have time to work on it. All of it. A long winter.” He gave a soft half hearted chuckle hoping to make her smile, even a bit. “I’m sorry, Relena. Uh, would you like me to accompany you anywhere? It is starting to get a bit cold out” He asked, ready for her rejection.