@zobrizys from [X]
Though the pretenders refused to acknowledge her true station - as she had expected - they had at least deigned to treat her as a lady of high birth; rather than a cell in the Red Keep's dark dungeons, they had secured her in the Maidenvault that had once held her great-grandmother captive. A cage built for royalty, but a cage nonetheless. And at least she had the option of a bath, hot enough to have scalded one of the servants assigned to attend her - to spy on her, she was certain. Visenya, however, had simply relaxed into it, steam curling 'round her face. She nearly fell asleep, and thus nearly missed the door to her elegant cell opening. Sitting upright, she fixed a sharp gaze on Brynden Rivers, feeling the cold air bite at her bare breasts. She expected terror when she laid her eyes on this man, but instead she was... angry. Real anger, not the mask for fear that she had worn thus far. The first time she had truly relaxed in weeks, and Lord Bloodraven had to arrive to ruin it. She knew those servants were spying on her; they must have sent word so he could harass her. Pushing herself upright, she almost gasped at the sudden chill, goosebumps rising all over her skin in the wake of rolling water droplets. "If you must interrupt my bath, you can at least help me out of it. That fool of a girl ran off when the water scalded her, so you may take her place."
Optics were never Brynden’s strongest suit - he was a pragmatic man, and did what he saw needed to be done. How it looked to others had never bothered him. Men assumed the worst of him regardless.
But he had been overruled in the Council; it was hard for them to see a woman as a threat, and they had been unwilling to see a lady of high birth imprisoned harshly. Thus, the Maidenvault.
The girl - indeed, one of his - had come crying to him at once.
Stepping inside, he was surprised to find her still in the bath. The gaze of a single eye dragged over her - assessing, understanding, before he stepped forward without a word, until he stood beside the bath.
He offered his hand to help her out of the bath - her lack of fear intrigued him.
“She is unused to tending to dragon queens.” An amused twitch of his lips. “I will have her replaced.”
