A Shift in Pace
Flushed, sore, and exhausted… Helena pulled herself from Robert's sweaty frame, leaving the King to his slumber, Helena wrapped the blanket around her nude frame and with light steps moved to the basin of thick water before sinking within…
After some time, Helena pulled herself from the water and began to dry herself after pulling her wet hair into a tight bun, before dressing herself and gathering her things… She then moved to a wall, her fingers drifting across one of the many stones yet this one shifted backwards, and a section of the wall seemed to fall slack upon a pair of hinges. Pushing it open Helena disappeared into the dark passageway…
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Robert awoke with a grunt, and as he sat up he found the bedspread sticking to his back, and as it fell he found the cloth littered with blood… His gaze washed through the room finding the woman who had most definitely left him with wounds that would scar, a dull pain in his groin, and a pair of empty balls was nowhere to be found… His eyes fell to his front, finding indentations of teeth marking his flesh, long cuts caused by the nails of the woman who wasn't present. Large circular bruises littered his frame, and his brows furrowed as he found himself clean shaven… When had Helena shaved his groin—A shudder ran down his spine, as he once again recalled a nightmare he had so long ago…
Her items were gone, and as he left the room, he learned that Helena hadn't left through the door. So, where did she go, how did she leave…?
With the sun yet to rise, Robert had the whole castle awaken from the Kingsguard, his Household Knights, and Men—At—Arms scouring the castle. Yet, even as midday came, Helena was nowhere to be found…
Robert couldn't help but be frustrated, vexed, confused. Angry…
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As Helena moved through the dark passageways, she couldn't help the more independent thoughts that arose within her mind… That she was no better than a whore in a brothel, that she had lost the weight of her word, that not even her own thoughts could trust her…
It was oddly painful, even for Helena who had grown used to a torrent of thoughts ravaging her mind, and the pain wasn't of the physical kind that Helena had learned spurred her loins… No this was a pain if the mind, or the heart. A pain that sank deep, and ate away at her being… Almost in a manner akin to the ascension of her parents, yet far darker and far less impactful.
Helena could help but ask herself…
Was it worth it…? Especially when Robert had quickly given her a chance to leave the Red Keep, if only for a few days… Regret began to fill her mind, as the realization that her 'sacrifice' was naught but a product of her impulsiveness, a trait she rarely showed but inhabited her all the same.
With a long sigh, she turned back intent on returning to her room in hopes that the pressure of regret would lessen… She slowly began to realize that her sacrifice was pointless…
Pushing open the secret door to her room, Helena stiffened as she met eyes with Robert who was literally throwing everything in the room… The bed had been torn down, and its pieces scattered, the tables broken, the wardrobe thrown to the side…
Helena found anger in his eyes, followed by confusion, realization, then…relief…? Through her eyes lingered on his frame, and all the damage she had done to his body during their shared night—
Robert immediately called out, and a number of Men—At—Arms stormed the room, all bearing the banners of the Stormlands, the Crowned Stag roared, "I WANT THAT PASSAGE SEARCHED!"
"AYE!" The Men—At—Arms roared back before they gently funneled past Helena, and into the dark passageway, as Robert slowly approached his expression softening, "I had grown worried that you wouldn't return."
Helena stifled a scowl, causing a faint pout to form on her face, "I hadn't intended to…"
A silence was through the duo, as the Kingsguard who kept their distance watched as Robert relaxed, "I see… The castle must truly be suffocating you if you seek forgotten passages to leave it… Haa… I'll inform the men at the gates to allow you free passage in and out of the Castle, and even Kings Landing if you wish… A homestead could be built in Kingswood if it pleases you… All I ask is that you find me before you truly leave, when you truly don't intend to return…" Robert felt like a lost puppy as he finished his words, and he began to wonder when he had grown so attached to this woman…
Yet, she only gave a nod…
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Robert sat before Theobald, as the Old Maester drawled, "I had warned you to be careful around my Ungrateful Apprentice. Perhaps she had a softness left in her body, but you shouldn't have been surprised that she had left… I think the only reason she returned—"
"Theobald, I'm not in the mood to listen to you dissect every little thing about Helena, and what she had done. She had killed Lannister Men, The Mountain—"
"Which would only serve to ease the transition when she becomes your Queen—"
"It wouldn't work. I was too blinded by her beauty, by her ferocity that I had been ignorant of how desperately she sought an escape—"
"I had suspected such a thing, but it was inconsequential—"
"Theobald…" Robert narrowed his eyes, and Theobald wiggled in his seat as he fell silent.
"Robert, I pulled you from the womb. I studied every waking moment of your life up until you could walk on your own… Trust me when I say this… Helena is much like a lowborn child, who just only experienced having meat in their bowls of gruel. It is something you would never understand, having lived in stone walls all your life. As infuriating as it is for me to admit… I believe that the raid upon her village changed her in a manner that both contradicts, and solidifies my life work. All my studies, and my experience states that she had to have been terribly sheltered, or mentally underdeveloped…"
Robert stiffened, "You mean to say she was a dullard before the attack…?"
Theobald gave a shallow nod, "It's the only reason I could think of that even those from her village didn't recognize her…Unless she lied, yet her heart remained steady and her eyes focused… Perhaps she was hidden away due to her mental incapacity, though her parents must have spent much of their time teaching her their trades, as that is the only reason I see Helena having such competency in Blacksmithing and what she's done pertaining to tailoring… She has the knowledge she needs, but it's as if her mind doesn't allow her to use such knowledge as anyone else would… Helena operates on a different level than us all, she sees the world in a different manner. One that I have repeatedly failed to understand—"
"Yet, none of that matters."
Theobald sighed with a shake of his head… It seems Robert wouldn't understand…
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[2 Moons Later]
Ned Stark had returned, and brought solemnity to the whole of the Red Keep as Robert grieved the loss of his betrothed. Though, the Northman had only stayed long enough to pass along the information and to return the cloaks of the Kingsguard who had been felled at the Tower of Joy… Which Robert had commanded to be brought down, and its rubble cast into the Narrow Sea, forever to be forgotten…
As for Helena, she was currently laying amongst the trees of the Kingswood, enjoying a roasted rabbit leg as she stared up through the brushing leaves enjoying the sounds of wildlife as they filtered through the sounds of the rushing winds and swaying flora… It would be her 17th time doing such a thing since Helena had been allowed free passage through the Red Keep, and King's Landing…
Though, what worried her the most was the fact that she had missed her bleed twice in a row, and every finger in her being told she was carrying a child, despite her mind refusing to acknowledge such a thing.
Helena was pregnant… She was to give birth to a bastard, unless she married the Kings and became his Queen, as they had decided when she had first arrived in the Red Keep.
Could she raise a child in that suffocating place…?! Could she curse a child with a label such as Bastard, as her own parents had done…?! Was she even worthy of bearing a child, one that was born from a pointless sacrifice…?
Helena's mind spiraled as a number of Men—At—Arms lingered in the distance having given Helena her space yet kept a loose encirclement… Helena didn't have a choice… She couldn't bring herself to snuff out the life that was budding inside of her, and she wished to see it bloom…
Thus, she had decided… Her child wouldn't be raised in the Red Keep, she didn't care if she had to commit regicide to make sure of such a thing… Her child would be brought up among the trees, would learn how to live off the land and the bounty it provides… They would learn how to blacksmith, tailor, hunt, forage…
Even if they would be Crown Prince, or the First Princess… They will never be forced to rely upon a crown, they will have their own strengths, their own thoughts… They would be their own person, and not what those around them wish them to be… and when they have grown enough to care for themselves without Helena having to worry, Helena would leave this land infested with sickening ambition…
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Helena began to stagnate, no longer was she joining the Men—At—Arms in the Yard, nor was she beating away at steel in the forges, instead she had hidden herself away in the Library of the Red Keep during the days she spent with in King's Landing. Intent on absorbing as much knowledge available before HER child was born… Helena couldn't—wouldn't trust any of these foul, corrupted individuals in the presence of HER kin…
Perhaps, she shouldn't have returned that fateful night… Helena couldn't help but ponder, What If…?
Yet, such thoughts were pointless and distracted Helena from the goals she had set for herself. First, she'd become Queen… Then give birth to the Crown Prince…
Helena swore that she'd raise her child far from these filthy walls, and if they wished to bear the crown when he came of age… She'd respect that decision, and even go as far as to support them, even if they wished to live out in the mountains in a small homestead.
Helena would give them every available opportunity… Even if it meant leaving a trail of bodies in her wake, and soiling rivers with decades of blood if that is what it would come to…
SHE WOULD LAY DOWN HER LIFE.
That sensation echoed through her body, an instinctual maternal sensation that flooded her body and mind with a strength of Will that should never be underestimated…
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"In the sight of the Seven, I hereby see you these two souls, binding them as one for eternity. Look upon one another and say the words—"
Helena stood across from Robert, a thin white silk veil covering her face as the mantle which draped her body fell. Those perceptive enough, saw a faint barely noticeable mound bulging from Helena's lower stomach through the wedding gown. As the duo spoke their vows, a Kingsguard approached from the side with a mantle bearing the Baratheon colors and sigils that Robert took them mounted upon Helena's shoulders.
It was a small affair when taking account that it was a Royal Wedding, with it having taken place in the Red Keep's garden. Though, that didn't mean that the vast majority of the major powers within the Seven Kingdoms weren't present… It was simply without all the gaudy fanfare that normally was associated with Royal Weddings, which brought a heavy impact to Robert's prestige. Though, the tourney that would follow; courtesy of Lord Arryn, would do well in uplifting the small folk and spreading wealth throughout Kings Landing which swayed the Commonfolk and furthering consolidation of Robert's hold on the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms…
As the day progressed, and the newly wed King and Queen retired to the King's chambers, Robert couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief as he fell into his bed… Not at all in the mood to warm his bed with his pregnant queen, as the stress of the day slowly began to leak from his body and mind. As for Helena, she was slowly getting undressed, as a maid filled a basin in the corner of the room while the Queen flipped through a few sheets of parchment. Having recently took up studies pertaining to the intricacies of childbirth; yet another work provided by Theobald, who had taken the place of a Midwife no small number of times in his early years as a Maester…
Her diet had changed dramatically, as she purposely filled her body with a faint excess of various nutrients and calories intent on making sure the child in her womb would be carefully developed. As she smacked on unsalted cubes of roasted rabbit, wrapped in lettuce and stuffed with an assortment of crushed nuts and berries.
Despite the foul taste, it provided the vast majority of the nutrients and calories Helena had missed throughout the day due to the wedding ceremony. Before she carefully tested the temperature of the water, finding it just above the limit she was comfortable exposing the underdeveloped child she carried to… Which led her to a seat where she continued to silently sift through an assortment of parchment. Unaware of Robert's gaze which lingered…
Robert was lost in thought… He knew his affections for Helena were born from Lust, rather than Love… How could he not…? The sheer casualness of the nude woman who sat in his chambers was always a sight to see, much like her the faint curves of her body, and it's warmth in his hands which he could still vividly remember… That night was unlike any other moment of passion, as it lingered in his mind and even just recalling his experiences that night caused his groin to harden…
Had he begun to fall for the beauty, who cared naught for the crown upon his head… Who would have left it all behind, if not for wanting to fulfill her promise… In truth, he didn't want an heir so soon as it would lessen his time with the beauty sitting before him… He wished, and prayed for their first child to be a young girl whom he could spoil… So, he'd have reason to keep this diligent woman by his side… In hopes that she'd fall for him, as he had begun to fall for her…
Sadly… Such a thing wasn't meant to be…
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(A/N: [25?? Words] Timeskip Incoming {6 Months}
Until next time,
White_Dog
)