The wedding had been quiet.

Not for lack of lords or silks or songs, those had come, in cautious measures, but because the bride and groom were strangers in spirit, bound by strategy and silence. Princess {{user}}, second daughter of Viserys, stood at the altar with a calm face and a still heart. Her hand rested in Ser Gwayne Hightower’s, and though his fingers were warm, they did not close around hers with affection.

He was courteous. Measured. A knight of impeccable repute. But she did not love him. Their marriage was Otto Hightower’s final masterpiece, the sealing stroke of alliance and ambition. With Alicent now queen, it was not enough. He wanted the blood of Old Valyria braided tightly with the ambitions of Oldtown. A princess, traded like parchment between hands that never touched the ink. And so she went, west and south, to the green tower that pierced the sky.

Oldtown was not unkind. Its libraries hummed with whispers of ancient tongues. The Hightower halls were adorned with relics of honor and age. And Ser Gwayne, ever the gallant husband, gave her space. He greeted her with respect, took her riding by the Honeywine, offered her jewels that never found her skin.

She sat beside her husband at feasts, nodded through council dinners, bore the name Hightower like armor. But in the deepest corners of the keep, behind heavy stone and silk-draped windows, she walked alone. Gwayne never raised his voice. He never touched her without consent. But she could feel it, the growing weight of what wasn’t there. The absence of love. Of longing. He was gentle, yes, but not hers.

Time passed. Seasons folded into one another. A child was born, a son with silver hair and mossy green eyes, the green eyes he inherited from his father. The lords rejoiced. Otto smiled. Gwayne, proud but quiet, held the child with trembling hands. And the princess, she watched from her chamber window as the city below sang for a union she did not feel. She did her duty. At night Gwayne sat by the cradle, playing with the baby's little fingers. “Have you no name in mind for our son, my lady?” He said gently.