Chapter 12: Spicetown

Eighth Moon, 87 AC

Viserra

The morning after their arrival at High Tide, Viserra met Corlys at the gatehouse of High Tide. He was wearing a silver-blue doublet and sea-green cloak. A squadron of his household guard were protecting him. Their plate was ocean-blue, trimmed in silver and they wore mail hauberks and bright sea-green shirts beneath it. The same sea green proudly adorned their shoulders as long flowing cloaks. House Velaryon's elite Tide Guard wore its colors with pride.

Sea green was not the only cloak color she saw. Ser Clement Crabb's white cloak was visible from countless yards away. He and her sister and three others of their guards from King's Landing were waiting with their horses for Viserra to arrive.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting for long," Viserra said as she mounted her horse, a gentle white mare loaned to her from Corlys's stables.

"Worry not Princess, you are just in time," Ser Clement said, pointing at the clock tower.

"We should be off now that everyone has arrived," Corlys announced once he saw that she was ready. He led their party down the paved road on the cliff leading down from High Tide to the causeway. The tide was low, the sea had receded, come in, and receded again since her arrival yesterday afternoon, revealing a gorgeous beach with white sands and crystal clear waters illuminated by the light of the morning sun.

Viserra had little time to appreciate the spectacle unfortunately, and resolved to herself to visit the beach at a later date as she turned her attention back to keeping her horse on the causeway's trail. She idly wondered how her dragon was occupying herself before catching sight of her flying over the sea in the distance, likely preying on some unfortunate schools of fish.

Soon they had reached the main island of Driftmark, and the road forked. Splitting off to the right was a path to Castle Driftmark and Hull, both of whom, being toward the northwest of the island, were almost two day's ride from High Tide, though they were easily reachable within a day by sea.

To the left, the gates of Spicetown were but a few hundred yards away, already open for travelers and traders. Spicetown looked even more impressive from the ground then the sky in some ways. From the sky, things often appeared small, but Viserra truly saw how rich and vast Spicetown was when she walked in its streets. It was no King's Landing, but it was no fishing village either. By now it had eclipsed Maidenpool and Duskendale and rivaled Gulltown or White Harbor in population.

It seemed that their coming was not unknown, for a crowd had gathered to greet them as they entered the town. The townspeople called out to them, with blessings for House Velaryon, for Lord Corlys, and even some for Viserra and her sister Alyssa.

"Praise be to House Velaryon!"

"Long live Lord Corlys!"

"The Old, the True, the Brave!"

"Welcome to the Princesses!"

Viserra had been afraid that the crowd would hinder their movement, but they moved out of the way respectfully to the seahorse banner carried by Corlys's Tide Guard. The Spicetown Watch, easily recognizable with their chainmail and grey doublets adorned with the Velaryon seahorse, helped to keep order in the streets as they passed.

Spicetown was the opposite of her home city in almost every way. It's cobblestone streets were wide and neatly spaced in a grid, so unlike the messy winding roads of the capital. A layout designed with street names on the intersections, traffic rules, addresses for each building, and even an advanced mail system.

There was no stench in the air either, only a pleasant sea breeze. Viserra noted water fountains, statues, and other similar decorations, providing clean water and giving the city a rich aesthetic and cultural motif King's Landing simply lacked.

They were not in Spicetown simply to ride in its streets though, their first major destination was the markets by the port. They had left their horses with some of the guards at the entrance and soon they had entered the markets.

Viserra's senses were assaulted from all directions by a myriad of sounds, smells, and sights. Busier even then the port and markets of King's Landing, Spicetown had truly earned its name. The smell of every spice Viserra could think of filled her nose. Peppers, chilis, cassias, cardamoms, cinnamons, gingers, nutmeg, star anise, clove, turmeric, thyme, dill, basil, and more she couldn't recognize. Numerous in both their raw uncooked form and their scents emanating from roasting and grilling street foods that made her almost salivate, making her rather sad that Ser Clement had forbidden her from eating anything from the streets, citing concerns of poisoning.

Rolls of more silk then she had ever seen in her life hung from stalls and shops. Carpets, pots, toys, weapons, tea, grains, and rice, were but a few of the goods she noticed. Rich shades of color and excited debate and auction surrounded the countless exotic luxury goods from the faraway ports of Sarnor, Ibben, Slaver's Bay, Qarth, Yi Ti, Asshai, the Summer Isles, and the Free Cities. Spicetown truly was the bridge between east and west. To the Essosi, it was the gateway to the untapped Westerosi market, and for Westeros, it was the merchant that brought them exotic treasures from the east and south.

This was reflected even in the city's architecture, which for all it reminded her a little of the usual building styles of Westeros, had a clearly Essosi design and motif. It made sense after all, the Velaryons had built Spicetown with the best materials and people they could get from both sides of the Narrow Sea. Half of Spicetown's souls were not Westerosi in origin, being freeborn merchants, scholars, artisans, and more immigrating from lands beyond, or slaves and their descendants, freed by the Velaryons.

As Corlys led them on a tour of the market, he surprised Viserra at just how popular he was. He knew many of the shopkeepers and merchants by name, and was treated with respect and almost reverence by those he did not know personally. Everywhere they went, she noted how everyone took note of their presence, the iconic blue cloaks of the Tide Guard telling the people that Lord Velaryon had come.

As they moved closer to the port, Viserra found her attention caught by a stall selling jewelry. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and other such adornments, made not of gold or silver or precious gems, but of things Viserra had never considered might look beautiful as jewelry, polished whalebones, and even seashells.

And it was not just the usual, though beautiful looking sea shells that drew Viserra's attention, but rather shells made of such resplendent colors she found it hard to believe they were shells at all. Paua shells, they were called by the shopkeeper, coming from the Summer Isles. They came in all the shades of the rainbow, the colours melding together and forming endless shades seamlessly, vivid and bright, and immensely beautiful.

There were pearls too, all white and cream, smooth and almost perfectly round. Viserra's eyes were drawn to a particular necklace with paua shell and pearl beads.

As she was gushing over the necklace, Ser Clement informed her that their party had dispersed across the market. Viserra looked up and noticed that he spoke true, Alyssa was nowhere to be seen, having run off somewhere with the rest of their guards. Corlys and his own guards were two stalls away, the former in a lengthy conversation with a shopkeeper.

As she made to pay for her necklace, Corlys arrived, heard the price she was paying, and shook his head vehemently. He then spoke a little with the shopkeeper, bargaining the price lower then Viserra thought possible, before insisting on paying for it for her. Viserra remembered trying to hide the blush on her face when Corlys had hung the necklace on her neck for her.

She asked Corlys how he managed to lower the prices so much as they left the market.

"The merchant was a cunning man. He saw the Kingsguard next to you, and realized that you were a princess, thinking you to have lots of money and little sense. He purposely set the price as high as he dared, and you were just about to pay him upfront for it almost double its true value."

"Isn't that fraudulent though?" Viserra asked, aghast at the lengths some would go to make money.

"Not really, there isn't any specific law forbidding merchants from setting any price they wish on their goods save for a few exceptions. And it is a natural part of trade, one man sets the price that he wishes to sell the good for, another sets the price they wish to purchase it for, and they bargain and negotiate until a compromise is reached.

"The merchants have long since learned that they could get away with gouging the nobles of Westeros because they just don't follow that process. You certainly won't find most of our peers bargaining in the markets like this. Many nobles disdain trade and look down upon it as 'counting coppers'. Well, the merchants count their coppers well indeed, and the lords have too little sense and too much money to care," Corlys explained.

"But not you?" she asked.

"House Velaryon has never been a typical noble house." He smirked. "Unlike many of our brethren, we understand that trade is the true source of wealth, and where others disdain it, we relish in it, achieving deals and prices most nobles never could. More than just my voyages, that is the real reason we have grown so wealthy, and now no one dares to look down on us. We have all the pride, martial prowess, and prestige of any traditional noble house, and wealth enough to rival the great magisters of the Free Cities."

"A powerful combination," Viserra observed, mounting her horse.

"Indeed, and one that you will have to learn to master," Corly said, as they rode toward their next destination.

"…Me?" she asked, surprised.

Corlys nodded his head. "Did you think I intended for you to be a mere trophy wife my dear Viserra?"

"Well no, but trade?"

"Trade, war, diplomacy, politics, economics. House Velaryon dabbles in many such fields, and a careful balance is needed to maintain our fortune. It is not a job for one person alone, at present my brothers and I are handling the running of our house well, but an extra pair of eyes and hands would lessen all of our loads. As my wife and the lady of our house, you will command an authority that rivals if not exceeds both of my brothers in many ways, and you will also be the eventual mother of our children and heirs. It is vital that you understand at least some of these tasks and duties."

Viserra wasn't sure what to think of that. She had hoped to be more than just the usual noble lady, but this had been far more than her expectations. Viserra had expected to be given the running of the household, like most noble ladies were, like she had been trained to do. This though? It sounded more like what Rhaenys was being trained for! She told Corlys as much, confiding in him her concerns, that she knew little of these matters.

He chuckled slightly. "Did you think I was going to throw you into the deep end of the sea and expect you to swim? Worry not, I will teach you all you need to know. You have a brilliant and very observant mind Viserra, I should think you would have little issue picking it up with my tutelage."

"If you say so…" Viserra trailed off, unsure still, but feeling more confident now with Corlys's reassurance.

Before she had even realized it, they had arrived at their next destination, the University of Spicetown, the center of Driftmark's learning. It was an almost palatial complex, surrounded by a high brick wall and iron fence, enclosing within its grounds great buildings and wings resembling the manses of the Free Cities and adjoined botanical gardens that put the godswood of the Red Keep to shame. Similar to the gardens in High Tide's own godswood, the gardens on and adjoined to the campus grounds were filled with many beautiful fountains, streams, trees, shrubs, and flowers, neatly arranged and designed.

They had lunch in those gardens, a picnic of sorts, just the two of them (and Alyssa technically she supposed). Corlys had ordered High Tide's chefs to prepare food similar to what had been sold in the market, so that she could experience them still. Ser Clement and the others stood guard around them protectively as they ate and were merry.

After their lunch, which Viserra would fully admit was delicious and full of the flavor she had come to expect from Driftmark's spiced foods, they visited the university library. Part of the library was open to the perusal of the general public, and it was the largest in Westeros save the Citadel. Bookshelves stacked up high to the roof on each floor with printed books, ladders needed to reach the higher shelves. Viserra had thought she might spend her whole life in that library and never finish reading every book.

Viserra was eventually begrudgingly corralled away from the library by Corlys, who as promised, introduced her to the engineers and architects who had designed High Tide and its water systems. She was excited to indulge her curiosity… and soon found that just like Pina, she could barely understand their explanations. Still, she left satisfied, having gained a little more understanding and thanked them for their time, on Corlys's reminder.

As they toured the university, Corlys explained that a key reason for Driftmark's success was its educated populace. In Corlys's words, 'An educated populace, is a skilled populace. A vital resource for any ruler.' Driftmark utilized a system of public schooling unheard of even in Essos, and certainly in Westeros. Yet despite the expense, it had proven its worth by giving the Velaryons a loyal core of skilled workers who could be put to use productively furthering the development of the island.

It was through the university, that many of Driftmark's more fantastical inventions and new methods had been developed and pioneered, Corlys having played minimal, if any role in much of them. He spoke rather lowly of the Citadel, whose past monopoly of knowledge he said, had inadvertently stifled innovation for centuries, innovation that was speeding up once more with the advent of universities like Spicetown's across Westeros.

Suddenly, Corlys stopped. In the distance, Viserra could hear loud bells ringing. "It's three in the afternoon, we best be getting to our next stop for today. Spicetown is safe, but I would prefer to not be out at night."

Viserra was a little confused. "Wait, how do you know it's three o'clock?"

Corlys pointed at a tall tower towards the centre of the city, near the large Sept of the Waves. "That's Big Ben, it's a clock tower much like the one up in High Tide, but even bigger, and louder. Its bells are tolled every hour much the same as the other clock tower. That way, even though most of the townspeople cannot afford a clock, they can still tell the time easily."

"That… that's amazing." Viserra was amazed yet again. Driftmark seemed so advanced beyond anything Viserra had ever seen before.

Corlys had a proud smile. "It is."

"Anyway, we must be going, I had hoped to show you one last place in the town before we head back to High Tide," he said as he led their party to their horses once again.

As they followed Corlys back out into the town's streets, Viserra idly wondered where Corlys was taking her next. He had promised to show her every location of note in Spicetown at least once by the end of her two-week trip and he had so far shown her but two.

They arrived at their next destination after a half hour ride. Yet another palatial complex like the University, though far smaller, and its design and architecture was even more pronounced, almost like it had been made as a work of art.

"Welcome to the Spicetown Museum," Corlys announced as the guards opened the gates for them to enter the newly identified musem.

"This place looks newer then the university," Alyssa observed as they entered the building.

"That's because it is, very much so in fact. The university was one of the very first things built in Spicetown, it's over twenty years old at this point. This museum finished construction barely three years ago, and has yet to open to the public."

"Why's it so much younger?" Viserra asked curiously.

"Well, my grandfather was not so much of a patron of the arts as I am and prioritized the building of our university. It was a wise decision to make, our need for the technical skills trained in our university was much greater," Corlys explained as he led them past exhibits of treasures and curiosities from faraway foreign lands.

"Then why build this museum at all?"

"Well, the sciences are important, inarguably so. Yet the arts are just as important in many other ways. I feel that the sciences are how we survive and thrive, but the arts are how we live. Just think about it, how dull would our lives be, without tales to entertain us, music to soothe our ears, or fine jewelry and architecture to look pleasing to our eyes? All of those things traditionally fall under the category known as the 'arts' and I had decided that it was time to give the arts the focus they deserved."

Viserra noticed her sister Alyssa looking thoughtful at Corlys's words. For her own part, Viserra thought that it made much sense, certainly there was no way Spicetown would look as beautiful as it did with its fine architecture, had the arts been ignored.

"Of course, it is early days yet, I hope to attract more artists and the like to Driftmark, and cultivate more artistic talent. Most of all of this museum's current exhibits have been donated from the treasures collected on my voyages and all the pieces in the art gallery were commissioned by me. I'm hoping a more natural growth could occur in the future that doesn't require me constantly funneling money into it."

"Could we see those art pieces?" Viserra asked, curious.

"Certainly," Corlys said, always happy to show off his trinkets.

With a slight spring in his step, Corlys led them past some musical instruments, which he identified as a piano and violin, "prototypes for now, they don't sound right quite yet," by his words.

Finally, they arrived in the wing of the museum that housed the art gallery, and Viserra understood what it meant by 'early days'. There wasn't much of anything in the gallery, but what there was, drew her attention. There was a single half-sized sculpture of a Tide Guardsman in one corner that looked quite impressive, though Viserra could tell that it was no masterpiece. There was a painting of Corlys's famous ship the Sea Snake during a storm hanging beside a portrait of the city of Spicetown and High Tide during a concurrent high tide and sunset. Both looked very impressive indeed, but Viserra's thoughts were occupied by the painting that was front and centre, clearly intended to be the focus of the exhibit when it opened.

A large rainbow illuminated the scene, each of its seven colours lovingly painted to perfection. The sky beneath it was that of the rising sun, while the sky above it was that of the starry skies of the heavens at night. A blonde man knelt upon the hill, seven figures standing before him, intentionally painted larger than the man in all ways.

Of the seven figures, the one directly in front of the blond man was dressed like a ruler, his hand was stretched up to the heavens and summoning down seven stars that were fashioned into a crown and placed upon the man's brow.

The other six figures were not idle. To the left of the ruler-like figure, two of them, one a young maid and the other a motherly woman, had their hands placed on a young girl supple as a willow with eyes deep blue like pools. Around the young willow girl, were many small boys, and though she did not count, Viserra knew there to be forty-four in total scattered around the hill. Beside the young maid of the seven figures, was an old crone carrying a book with the number forty-four engraved on it. One the other side of the ruler, a blacksmith forged great suits of armor for the young boys, even as a knight trained them how to fight. A hooded stranger was slightly off to the distance, watching the whole scene with cold eyes.

Viserra did not even need to look at the caption to recognize the scene the painting portrayed. She did not think anyone who grew up in the Faith of the Seven would need to either, to recognize the founding moment of their faith.

Speaking aloud the words they all thought, Corlys confirmed it. "The Crowning of Hugor," he said proudly.

"It's beautiful," Viserra said. She would not call herself very pious or devout, not by what her sister Maegelle would consider at least, but believe she still did, and she wasn't sure what emotions she felt seeing the single most important scene in their religion's history so lovingly brought to life in this masterpiece of a painting.

"It is. The painter was a former slave if you would believe it, one that had a talent he could never have explored under his former masters. He painted the other two paintings in this gallery as well, and quite a few others before that which he claimed to not be worth displaying.

"He was one of the few we were able to save in Velos, and he converted to the Faith shortly after arriving on Driftmark. This painting is his finest work, his thanks to the gods who led us to him and brought him to salvation," Corlys explained proudly.

"I should like to meet him, if that is possible," Viserra said, wanting to meet the artist who had created such works of art.

"He is sadly no longer with us, he died not a year ago, after completing this. It was an illness we found difficult to cure, suspected to be caused by his terrible upbringing as a slave. But his memory will be honored and remembered for all time with this painting," Corlys said with melancholy in his eyes.

Viserra felt a deep pang of sadness then, at the reminder of the cruelties of slavery. The world held such beauty in it, and yet it was also a cruel and savage place. That contrast she feared, would exist for all time.

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Her time on Driftmark seemed to fly by in a flash. Viserra had but blinked her eyes and now it was the second to last day before her departure. A farewell feast had already been planned for her and her sister the following night, and Viserra knew that she would be missing Driftmark in the months to come until her wedding, having fallen deeply in love with the island.

In the past two weeks, she had seen all the major landmarks of Spicetown, such as the Velaryon Bank or the famed Globe Theatre, and had visited many of its guilds and factories, like the glassworks and ironworks, the papermaking guild and the printing presses, and the distilleries where the Velaryons made their liquors such as brandy.

She had visited villages in the interior of the island, seen the fields of crops more prosperous and yielding far more then she'd have thought possible for a small island. Apparently some new means and techniques and rotations of planting, plowing, and sowing, had done much to improve Driftmark's agricultural productions.

She had finally gotten her trip to the beach near High Tide, and visited many other iconic places on the island too. Corlys had showed it to her all with a passion, seeming to genuinely love his home island, being as excited to see many of the places as Viserra herself was, confessing that his duties and voyages had meant he had been unable to visit many of them in years. He had promised to show her even more of the island once they wed, reminding her that they had yet to see Castle Driftmark and Hull, leaving Viserra with a feeling of excitement.

Yet all things came to an end, and Viserra woke up in a room that was now familiar to her after two weeks, a room that was to be hers for the rest of her life, for what would be the second-last time for almost six months.

After washing up and breaking her fast, Viserra met Corlys at the gates like she had the past twelve days, Ser Clement was present, but she found that her sister was not present, having bowed out yet again. Viserra wondered how much their mother would scold her for that once Ser Clement reported that to her parents.

Corlys had remained very tight-lipped about what today's destination was, refusing to tell her even as they trotted toward Spicetown. It was only when they were in front of the building itself, a modest though large house, had Viserra found out, reading the sign on the gate wall.

"Breezehome Orphanage?" she asked, confused.

"Yes, a humble visit, after all the places I showed you previously, but one I felt was necessary."

As they entered the orphanage, they were greeted by a beautiful woman who looked to be around Corlys's age. She had the classic Valyrian looks, with silver-gold hair and purple eyes. Viserra felt the stirrings of jealousy, jealousy she didn't know she had, rising in her stomach as Corlys greeted the woman with a warm embrace and a kiss to her cheek, trying her best to suppress it but half-failing.

"Corlys, who is this woman?" Viserra asked, not unkindly, though remaining the picture of politeness.

"Honestly Corlys, you greet a beautiful woman like me in front of your betrothed like that, without even telling her who I am? You gave her a fright," the woman lectured Corlys.

Corlys looked almost… sheepish? "You are right of course. My apologies Viserra, this is my aunt, Lady Laena Velaryon."

Laena? Viserra was quite fond of that name, it was after all the name of her best friend. Her thoughts were soon occupied by another realization.

"Your aunt? But she's so young?" she asked, confused.

Laena Velaryon laughed. "You flatter me dear, I am in fact but two years older than our dear Corlys, but then your own sister Gael is of age with your nieces and nephews no? It's hardly unheard of."

Viserra nodded her head in understanding, now wondering why the daughter of Lord Daemon Velaryon, someone who by all rights should have been a worthy match for most any lord, was the spinster matron of an orphanage.

As they entered the house, Viserra found herself face to face with no less than thirty young children, all of whom were excitedly running up to Corlys and greeting him, and to her shock, calling him by name. Suddenly, Viserra heard herself being called to the children by Corlys and she was introduced to them.

"Now children, there is someone I'd like to introduce to you. You must treat her with respect understand? This is Princess Viserra," Corlys said, and the children went wild. Suddenly they were all over her, asking her the same incessant question.

"Wow a princess! Are you really a princess?"

Corlys lectured them then, and told them off for crowding her. He then ordered them to assemble in a line and introduce themselves to her by their name and age and allowed them each to ask her one question, though he specified that the questions had to be different.

The questions were, well, what'd you expect. One asked her what it was like being a princess, some asked her questions about King's Landing, and her family. A particularly bold boy asked her if it was true that she was marrying Lord Corlys and started cheering and telling his friends 'I told you so' when she said she was.

The one that made the most impression on her though, was a small young girl. She introduced herself as Mysaria and said that she was eight years old. Alone out of the children in the orphanage, she had the Valyrian look that Viserra, Laena, and Corlys had. But she was very shy and withdrawn, full of crippling self-doubt.

She asked a question that stuck with Viserra, asking, "You are beautiful Princess, the others say I am also. Is beauty all that matters in life?"

Viserra froze. It hadn't been long ago at all that she had clung onto her beauty as a shield for her own crippling feelings of self-inadequacy. Corlys had told her otherwise, that she was more than just a pretty girl, but she hadn't truly believed him until she had gotten her Dreamfyre.

"No one's worth should be judged solely by their beauty. Be proud of your beauty, nurture and cherish it, but it is not the sum of who you are," she said finally. She wondered if her mother would be proud to hear her say something like that at long last.

After that, Viserra sat at the table with Laena Velaryon, watching as Corlys entertained the children. "He coddles them," Laena said at last, breaking the awkward silence.

"I can tell. The orphanage is a good cause, but I can't help but wonder, why – "

"Why does Corlys pay so much attention to it? I asked him about it once. He told me that he had a soft spot for cripples, bastards, and broken things."

"But, they're not any of those?" Viserra was confused.

"Aren't they? In the eyes of our society, orphans are often pitied, yet rarely truly cared for. People make a big show of donating to orphanages, but how much do they actually care? The children that grow up in orphanages have no parents, no family. When they come of age at 16, and sometimes sooner if the orphanage isn't well-funded, they're basically kicked out into a world they are little prepared to live in. Corlys might not understand everything these children feel, but he understands enough to care."

Corlys had told her once that both his parents had died in the Shivers. His grandfather had raised him well after that and he had loved him much, but nothing could truly replace that loss. It made Viserra reconsider if she was truly satisfied with her relationship with her parents. They had hurt her very much, and she them, but perhaps she should try at least, even if only to say she did, try to mend things with them? It was something she needed to consider carefully.

"So how about you then?" Viserra asked, "Why are you – "

"The matron of an orphanage instead of the wife of some lofty lord?"

She nodded.

"I was married, and to a man I thought loved me. We were wed for six years, and we had not a single child I did not miscarry."

She looked at Viserra's solemn face for a while, before continuing her story. "I was set aside, for giving my husband no heirs. The Faith annulled our marriage, and I had to watch as he married another. He had a son within the year with his new wife."

"I'm so sorry."

"Bah, don't be. I couldn't have any children of my own womb, but children I have nonetheless. Twenty-nine of them, and I wouldn't give them up for anything."

Despite her words, Viserra sensed that Laena was still hurt, but she respected her decision to find solace in the orphans she now cared for. Her story however, had made her feel a little insecure for herself. "Do you think that Corlys – "

"Is the kind to do something like that? It's hard to say girl, Corlys was the pride of my father, the consummate politician my father raised would certainly do that, but Corlys is not, never has been simply what his grandfather raised him to be. All of eight years old and we all knew he was going to be something greater.

"As for you my dear Princess, the political ramifications of setting you aside, no matter if you give him an heir or not, will keep him from doing so. You are the King's daughter, a dragonrider, it would be a slight of immeasurable proportions to set you aside, and that would endanger House Velaryon, and that is something he will never do."

While she felt comforted by Laena's words, Viserra wasn't sure what to feel at the idea that politics was the sole reason Corlys would not set her aside.

Somehow sensing what she was thinking, like she had three times already, Laena continued. "It's more than just politics girl. Corlys likes you, in a way I don't think he's liked any other woman before. He'll hardly admit it, but he's a romantic at heart. The kind of man who has always wanted a wife that could be his equal and trusted partner. That ideology was the whole reason the queen was created as the most powerful piece in his little game.

"Whether you actually are or not, he thinks that you could be his queen, so you can be sure that when he says he will be yours until his last day, he damn well means it."

Viserra smiled, though she remained unsure. "How do you always know what I am thinking Lady Laena?"

"I just do, call it a natural gift. And don't call me lady, I'm not a lady anymore, I'm a matron."

And yet more lady-like then half the ladies in the Seven Kingdoms.

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The sun was setting by the time they returned to High Tide, Corlys had asked Viserra to speak with him in private atop High Tide's highest tower, a tower jestingly called 'the Highest Tide' by the castle denizens.

She had ordered Ser Clement to wait at the bottom of the staircase after much cajoling, leaving her and Corlys alone at the top of the tower, a conical roof all that remained above them.

Viserra looked out from the tower. If she had thought the view from her room was good, the view she saw now was nothing but phenomenal. Atop the round platform at the tower peak, Viserra could see it all, all of Spicetown, all of Driftmark up to the horizon, the sea stretching for what seemed to be forever beyond the island's shores. And in the distance, a small glimpse of a mountain.

"Is that?" Viserra asked, surprised.

"The Dragonmont yes. On a clear day, you can see it from here, the easternmost point of Driftmark. Our two houses have always been close, and never has that been more apparent. Geography, nature itself, seems to want us close."

They remained there for a while, watching as the orange rays of the sun continued to recede from the world before Corlys spoke.

"Today was the thirteenth morning you woke up on Driftmark. Thirteen full days spent on this island I call home. How has it been?"

"It's been incredible. I will miss it when I leave the day after tomorrow," she said, before gushing about the parts she had liked the most and hoped to visit again.

Corlys smiled softly, and Viserra thought that he looked more handsome when he smiled like that, rather than the dashing smile full of bravado and confidence he put on for court. It felt more genuine, more real.

"Do you know why I brought you to the orphanage?" he asked then, his eyes remaining fixed on the ocean.

"It was a test wasn't it? You wanted to see how I would treat the children, how I would deal with them."

"Yes. I showed you much of Driftmark and Spicetown, all of our great buildings and exotic treasures, but I wanted to know if you had realized what was the most important part of all. You had showed some signs of realizing it, but I needed to be sure."

"It's the people. More than your navy, more than your trade or university or bank, it is the people who live on Driftmark that have made this all possible."

Corlys's smile grew ever more. "An educated populace, is a skilled populace."

"A vital resource for any leader," Viserra finished, before frowning. "Don't sell yourself short, people are nothing without someone to lead them, and it is you who leads Driftmark, you the visionary responsible for much of this, for all that you claim to have done only a small part. That is what everyone says, what your family saw in you since you were a small boy. There is a limit to humility."

Corlys laughed. "That is not what the Faith says."

"You're right. It's a good thing I'm not Maegelle then, because that's what I, Viserra Targaryen say. Humility, like all things, is not good in too great an amount. At some point it ceases to be humility and turns into self-doubt."

They looked at each other for a while, the understanding implicit between them that she was speaking from experience. A girl who had been told to be humble, when she found nothing special in herself but her beauty, beauty she clung to like a cloak, a shroud of vanity in the hopes that it would protect her from the world outside.

Corlys turned to her then, and Viserra could see that he was a little nervous, choosing his words wisely. "I told you once, that there was something special about you that I could not put into words."

"Oh? And have you found those words?" Viserra teased, while secretly becoming immensely curious but also apprehensive of what he had to say.

"I do not think I could ever find all the words to describe what makes Viserra Targaryen special," he announced then, making her blush, "but I think, that I have found some."

She waited attentively for Corlys to continue, but what he said shocked her.

"You care. You pretend that you don't, show the world the mask of a vain and haughty princess, but deep down you care deeply."

Viserra was shaking her head in denial. Her? A caring person? Someone who manipulated her own niece to get a dragon out of her own selfishness? Who took pride in her own vanity despite being told to stop? "I'm not a caring person," she denied.

"Yes, you are. I thought so before, but I know now for sure. You were saddened by the story of the painter who was once a slave weren't you? Do you know that there are countless nobles in Westeros who can't give a damn for all that they claim to follow the teachings of the Faith?

"You sympathized with my aunt, you took the care to teach the young girl in the orphanage an important lesson. Few are the nobles who give a single thought about the feelings of a 'useless' barren woman and the peasant orphan girl she raises."

Viserra felt herself filled with an emotion she couldn't understand, she didn't know if she wanted to cry or laugh, if she wanted to slap Corlys or embrace him.

"Did you know? Rhaekar and I are mending our relationship now," Corlys said wistfully.

Viserra looked at him. "Surprised? Yes, I am too. It was just a little thing, just that little offhand comment you made on the day you arrived. I've told him myself so many times before, but it seems hearing it from a stranger finally made him realize that I do love and acknowledge him."

"We're not suddenly close by any means, we are too different and too much time has passed for him and I to have the kind of relationship I have with Aurane. But we have come to an understanding and I like to think we can have a different kind of brotherly bond in the future one day. And that's possible because of you Viserra. Because you cared. You knew my relationship with him was tense, and you did the little that you could to try and mend it, and I am grateful for that."

Viserra wasn't sure to believe him, but she knew now that she could believe Laena's words. Yet doubt, once it had taken root, was a terrible thing to behold. She made to ask him what he would do if she proved barren like his aunt, would he set her aside? But fear had her ask another question instead.

"The book you had the maid put on my dresser. The Mariner's Wife. Why did you give me that story in particular to read?"

She had been thinking on it for a while, the parallels between her and Corlys and Aldarion and Erendis might be superficial, but they still existed.

"That story… That story was the explanation I gave to my family as the reason I never wed until now. I gave that book to you, so that you might better understand that, and understand that… I am serious about our marriage. I am not Aldarion. For all that we are six and ten years apart, that we are so different in many ways, I want to make this work. The sea I have put aside, my appetite for her filled. All my attention now is to be devoted to Driftmark, and to its future lady. This is my promise."

Erendis was a fool in Viserra's honest opinion. For all that her husband's heart was torn between the sea and her, she refused all his attempts to reconcile, even when it was not his choice to stay away for so long, even when he had done what he could to help her understand why it was that he loved his voyages so. She had remained stubborn and obstinate, until the moment regret had filled her in her old age and she had drowned trying to see him one last time.

"I am not Erendis," she said.

"And I am not Aldarion," he agreed.

The sun had set over the course of their conversation, and the stars filled the sky. No matter how good the painting of the crowning of Hugor was, nothing could compare to the real thing.

"Viserra."

"Yes Corlys?"

"Do you think, that you will be happy living on Driftmark, and being its Lady?"

"Yes, I think I will be very much happy as Driftmark's lady."

They continued watching the stars for a while, hearing the clock towers of both High Tide and Spicetown sound as the hour changed.

"Viserra."

"Yes Corlys?"

"Do you think that you will be happy as my wife?"

"Yes."