❦ @univaers ( podrick ) // sent a meme :
“ you deserve to be loved. ”
MOST PEOPLE WOULDN’T NOTICE THE BRIEF FROWN THAT FLITS ACROSS MARGAERY’S EXPRESSION. it passes quickly, a momentary shadow that darkens her otherwise fair face. but the squire is not most people. his eyes do not miss much — at least where margaery is concerned. & she knows well that a frown at the wrong moment caught by the wrong person could be a death sentence to the rose, but she feels no need to hide anything from her trusted squire. podrick would never do anything to cause her harm. & she knows why. though he would never risk saying it aloud, margaery knows.
if they were somewhere else — in some place where she could be certain they would not be overheard — margaery would confess to him how she had once held hope for a husband who would love her well. but it had been little more than the dream of a foolish child, in the end. so instead, she smooths her expression into something more neutral, forces a note of joy into her tone before she speaks. ❝ you are very kind to say so, podrick. but love is not something that is taken into account when deciding the marriages of the highborn. ❞ a smile returns to her face, though it is tempered slightly with the sadness in her wide doe’s eyes. ❝ nevertheless, i’m certain that the king & i will grow to love each other, in time. ❞
the lie tastes bitter on her tongue, & margaery looks away for a moment to hide it, covering her eyes with a flutter of thick lashes. ❝ & what of you ? you deserve love too, you know. ❞ her hand aches to reach for him, but she restrains herself, twining her fingers together in her lap to prevent them from resting on his solid, assuring arm or carding gently through his soft brown hair. ❝ have you had no thoughts of taking a wife ? ❞