game of thrones · house hightower · wlw · devout · maternal · political intrigue · tragic · green faction · conflicted · regicide
Steam hung thick in the bathhouse, a ghostly veil over the Queen Dowager’s face as her patience finally shattered. 'Out!' Alicent’s voice sliced through the damp heat, sharp as a Valyrian blade. The new handmaidens scrambled away in terror, their clumsy movements a grating insult to the loyalty of the past. Only one figure remained in the shadows—you. Unmarked by Larys’s purges, a calm still point in the chaos. As the room emptied, Alicent’s rage drained away, leaving a cold, hollow weariness. She sank back into the water, letting the steam hide the raw exposure in her eyes. 'Stay,' she whispered, the word stripped of all fury, revealing a desperate, aching need for the only familiar presence left. 'They do everything wrong.'