Eclipse AU where Edward still refuses to turn Bella which leaves Alice to turn her, but in order to prepare, she has to drink small amounts of Bella's blood to get used to it, which naturally makes Edward jealous and also, frustratingly enough, turns him on for some reason
charlie swan i don’t want to have to kill you with my mind but what do you mean that 17 year old bella gets home from school every day, cooks elaborate dinners, DOES THE DISHES ON HER OWN, and THEN does her homework all while you drink a beer and watch tv? and on the weekend she cleans the house by herself? i’m shooting you with lasers and dark magic spells
[Obligatory “smeyer sucks but she made some fun decisions” disclaimer] but it would have been super easy for smeyer to go “lol yeah the Cullens are behind with tech because they’re Old and their minds are frozen” but instead she went “You know what? These rich pricks never sleep and they have unlimited funds. They are ahead of the curve when it comes to technology and modern amenities”. That took chutzpah
Meanwhile, Actual Millennial Bella Swan is content with a computer that’s been wheezing its last since 1995, and expresses zero desire for a cell phone. And it fits her character just fine. Love to see a good trope subversion
Honestly, Edward Cullen could have crashed out much worse than he did when he realized he was falling in love. I don’t think he gets enough credit for that.
I think if after a century of not feeling any romantic attraction to anyone, I would have the mother of all existential crises if I suddenly fell face-first into a pit of Being In Love like he did. I’d be writing so many strongly worded letters to the powers that be. How dare you change this fundamental part of me so late in the game?
For how inflexible vampires are as a whole, and how Edward is shown to be particularly self-assured, I’m impressed by how smoothly he rolled with this huge change. If you ignore the fact that the person he fell in love with was specifically designed to stress him out, Edward’s reaction to the idea itself of falling in love was basically “oh, okay, this is who I am now. I am love’s bitch. I will adjust my fretting accordingly”
edward likes taking bella to the meadow because she gets eaten up by mosquitos who then become flying little snackies that edward doubles back for. edward leaps about the meadow snatching them up like a bass jumping from a lake
Tags:
slow burn, unrequited love, emotional infidelity, past infidelity, canon-typical violence, alternate universe - canon divergence, sex, explicit sexual content, angst, smut, age difference, masturbation, nnresolved emotional tension, hurt/comfort, oral sex, minor character death, emotional manipulation, implied/referenced abuse
Summary:
Lady Dorea Martens and Lyonel Baratheon, the Laughing Storm, have known one another since their youth. She was younger—charming, fiercely independent, sharp-witted, and beautiful. He was drawn to her warmth, her honesty, and the restless spark she carried within herself at all times. Despite his best intentions, Lyonel fell in love with her—and she with him.
There was only one problem: Lyonel was already married.
At the time their feelings took root, Dorea served Lady Elia Baratheon as a lady-in-waiting. To spare them both, Lyonel sent Dorea away to Horn Hill to wed Ser Harlan Tarly, a nobleman of the Reach. She became his wife and bore him two healthy children—Edwyn and Bryanna. Though Harlan was once kind and gentle, over the years he grew distant, spending his days drinking, gambling, and whoring, leaving Dorea increasingly alone.
Six years later, at the Tourney of Ashford, Lady Dorea Tarly accompanies her husband—only to learn that the recently widowed Lyonel Baratheon intends to strike Harlan down in the lists, and in doing so, set her free.
Chapter 1.
Dunk POV
The music had died down a bit. Just as well. Dunk wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to stand on his feet after the amount of wine he had poured into himself, let alone keep dancing. Even the Laughing Storm himself, Lyonel Baratheon, had settled down and finally sat. He did not stop drinking, though.
They kept talking long into the night. Lyonel spoke of his sailing adventures, and Dunk listened. There was something incredibly magnetic about this man. He was threatening, yes, but it was impossible to turn away from him once he began speaking to you. Dunk asked for advice about what to do. Not because he expected an actual answer, even if he hoped for one, but because he felt like he could.
Lyonel responded only with:
“I don’t know. I am really quite drunk,” and slapped him on his back.
Dunk sighed.
“I supposed it’s back to agonising, then.”
Lyonel chuckled.
“Why would you want to do it anyway?” he asked, “You don’t care about glory, you don’t care about titles… what do you want then?”
Dunk smiled nervously.
“I am looking for work, m’lord. I was thinkin’… maybe if I win, some great house could take me into service.”
Lyonel blinked. Then he chuckled again.
“Well… that’s as honourable a reason as any.”
“Why did you enter, m’lord?” Dunk asked before he could stop himself.
Lyonel shrugged and turned away from Dunk to fill his cup again.
“Why does any man ride? One that does not have an honourable reason, of course. For glory, for entertainment… women.”
“Women?” Dunk asked in surprise.
“Yes, hedge knight, women. Even you, wherever you come from, must have run into one,” he joked and emptied his cup in the same breath.
“Yes… no… of course,” Dunk said, a bit defensively. “I just meant… I never imagined you, of all people… I mean… you can probably get any woman you want already.”
“Ahh…” Lyonel raised a finger, “Not any woman, no.”
“Really?” Dunk asked, genuinely surprised.
Lyonel laughed at his confused expression and grabbed him by the shoulder, trying to look straight despite the wine in his system making it harder for him.
“Have you met lady Dorea Tarly?” he asked.
Something shifted in his eyes as he said her name. A spark of madness that both frightened Dunk and further intrigued him. He did not wish to say the wrong thing, so he just said:
“No, m’lord.”
Lyonel nodded.
“Yes, I thought as much. Well, she is a woman worth knowing, I’ll tell you that.”
Before continuing, he reached over to fill his cup again, as if he suddenly needed it more than before. Dunk said nothing and just observed him, and he emptied the cup and then filled it again. As Dunk watched him empty it again, he could not stop himself from interrupting:
“Does she feel you are worth knowing, ser?” he asked.
Lyonel stopped his drinking to laugh. Loudly and darkly. As if a storm cloud had appeared over him.
“I don’t know!” he laughed out. “She did once, I think. We have known each other for a long time, you see? Back when she was still lady Martens. Have you heard of the Martens house?”
Dunk shook his head. But Lyonel did not actually expect an answer from him anyway.
“Good people,” he continued, “Loyal. Her father, ser Davos, is one of the few actually respectful people in the sea of ambitious and smug cunts that surround me. Her mother is a good woman too. And lady Dorea… well… as I said, she is worth knowing.”
He emptied the cup again and threw it away. He got into Dunk’s face now, so close Dunk could smell the wine on his breath.
“There are two issues, however.”
“What are those, m’lord?” Dunk asked.
“Well, firstly, and most obviously should I add – she’s married, hedge knight. She married a man I chose for her, as well. At the time I thought it was the right thing… to send her away. Not somewhere interesting, you see? She begged me. She asked me to at least send her somewhere North. To give her a wild, bearded Northman who smelled of snow, so she may forget all about me. Those were her exact words. Or to give her away to a mad Dornishman so she is too exhausted to remember. She cried on my chest all night. She called me cruel. She said if I send her to a perfumed lord of the Reach she will curse my name until the end of time. You know what I said to her? I said – as long as my name is on your lips.”
He interrupted himself with another booming laugh. But there was no joy in it.
“So… you sent her to the Reach?” Dunk asked.
“I sent her to the Reach,” Lyonel nodded. “A prison for someone like her. She is a Stormlander, through and through. But I couldn’t have her nearby. I couldn't simply send her home. She needed to be away from me. I needed to be away from her. I might not be a good man, but I had to do right by her… and by my wife.”
Then after a hiccup, he added:
“My late wife”.
Then he leaned away from Dunk and fell deeper into his seat. He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. This conversation had exhausted him, Dunk realised.
“And the second?” Dunk asked.
Lyonel lifted his eyebrows.
“Second?” he asked.
Dunk stuttered:
“The second issue? With her… you said there were two…”
“Ah, yes!” Lyonel exclaimed. “Right, the second! Well, it should be easy enough for you to make a conclusion, should it not?”
Dunk blinked in confusion. Lyonel snorted.
“You really have been punched in the face a lot, haven’t you?”
He sighed and continued, with a quieter, more serious voice than before.
“After what I told you I did to her… do you think she would give herself to me willingly? Even if she weren’t married? I broke her heart, back when she was a maiden. That sort of thing sticks with a woman. I have no way of knowing for certain, but I can guess she probably despises me by now.”
They sat together for a few moments in complete silence, with only the sounds of gentle instrumental music and soft voices still murmuring around them. Dunk finally broke the silence by asking:
“So what will you do? I mean… how does attending the tourney help you in this situation?”
Lyonel smirked, mostly to himself. But there was something dangerous in his voice when he next spoke:
“Well that, my man, is quite simple. I shall face her lord husband in the lists,” he began.
“And?” Dunk asked.
“And,” Lyonel chuckled, “I will kill him.”
Then he patted Dunk on the back one more time and slowly got up, leaving him alone. Shocked and confused
next chapter coming soon, for now it's all on AO3 if you'd like to read it there :D
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