❦ HEADCANON // margaery + her first marriage
after the death of king robert baratheon & the disintegration of her first betrothal, margaery found herself at storm’s end with his younger brother, renly baratheon, her brothers loras & garlan, & a tyrell host. the intention had been to march on king’s landing, but with the death of the king, everything was suddenly very uncertain. & it was again renly who planned their next steps.
although renly was king robert’s youngest brother & by law, his brother stannis should be the king if his own children were not his true heirs, renly believed that the people would never rally around stannis. but if renly hoped to take the throne, he would need a queen & an army. & so in one fell swoop, margaery was rapidly wed to renly baratheon & crowned queen.
renly was several years her senior, but he was a kind & courteous & handsome, & he was also very close to her youngest brother, loras, & anyone who loras trusted, margaery knew must be a good man. & so she wanted nothing more than to be a good wife to him & a good queen to her new subjects. this was what she had been raised to do.
but it was soon obvious that her husband was not interested in cultivating a close relationship with his wife. he was faithfully at her side, taking her arm or kissing her hand when they were in public or amongst their men, but never once did the king visit her tent. indeed, he scarcely ever spoke to her when they were in private. & she had no idea what she had done to displease him so. loras, on the other hand, was nearly always at renly’s side as a member of his kingsguard. far from her home & surrounded by soldiers & strangers, margaery had never felt so alone.
they marched to bitterbridge, building the strength of their host to march on king’s landing & take the throne. thanks to the tyrells, theirs was among the largest armies in the seven kingdoms. & there were a great many forming in the chaos following robert baratheon’s death. all along the march, margaery tried desperately to connect honestly with her husband, always to no avail. it wasn’t until she confided her dismay in her brother loras that he confessed the true reason that renly had spurned her — renly was already in love with loras himself.
margaery loved her brother deeply, & she held no ill will for her husband, but the situation left her feeling entirely hopeless. how could she be happy with a man who was in love with her brother & therefore could scarcely look at her ? how could she be a proper wife or a proper queen ? she did not cast judgement on them, only lamented her seemingly hopeless position. margaery found herself desperate, praying for a way out of her first marriage.
& once again, margaery found her prayers were answered in a way that she could never have forseen. renly’s older brother, stannis, spurned by his brother’s usurping of his claim, moved to attack storm’s end in renly’s absence. renly returns to storm’s end to defend it, but while there, he is slain by a shadow. margaery was made a widow for the first time. & although she did not truly ever get the chance to know her husband, she still grieved for him, & for her brother as well. a part of her even felt as though she was somehow guilty of his death. she had wished for a way out, but had never intended anyone to be hurt.
in the chaos that followed renly’s death, margaery was quickly taken back to highgarden for her own safety. secretly, she was glad for the chance to return home. for she had missed her family & friends & the land she loved so much. & then, she felt a bit guilty for feeling glad in the midst of such a tragedy. but what margaery did not know at the time was that she was to continue to be a key element to her family’s plans for influence & power.
◄ pt. 1 — margaery’s first betrothal
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