Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lord Tully rarely involved himself in the disputes between the Blackwoods and Brackens anymore, having long since given up like many before him. These families were too stubborn for their own good, perpetuating a conflict that had stretched into the present for hundreds of years. They poisoned their children with hatred and thwarted any possibility of peace. One by one, the Lords had to accept that they could not change this pitiable state of affairs. However, as a Lord, it was still his duty to ensure that no massacre occurred. But in the name of the gods, he was so close to killing these idiots himself.

"Silence, my Lords. Silence!"

For the last twenty minutes, Lord Blackwood and Lord Bracken had hurled every conceivable insult at each other. This enraged not only Lord Tully but also the poor women married to these Manchildren.

While Lady Blackwood admonished her husband sternly, "William, darling, please pull yourself together," Lady Bracken had long since run out of patience. "Amos! Sit. Down. Immediately!"

But before Lord Tully or the respective ladies could finally silence the two men, the doors to the council chamber burst open, and the lords' shouting was replaced by the ear-piercing wailing of a small child.

Amos Bracken, at ones, turned towards the source of the screaming, recognizing it instantly, as only one child he knew could reach such a shrill pitch.
"Aeron?!"

The child, however, ignored him completely, hiding his small face in his aunt's skirts.
She stroked the troubled child's hair gently. "Darling, my sweet angel, what happened?" If anyone had hurt her little nephew, heads would roll!

Slowly, he lifted his tiny hand and pointed towards the door, where, a few seconds later, a disheveled head appeared.

"You little monster, what have you done to my nephew?" Amos approached the young boy with alarming steps.

"I dare you to touch my nephew!" bellowed William, grabbing Amos's wrist. The men glared at each other furiously.

"It's not Davos's fault that your nephew is a pus—"
"William!" His wife interrupted with a growl.
"—a crybaby!"

Before Lord Bracken could respond, Lady Bracken intervened.

"Aeron, my dear, what happened? Please, it's all okay. Did you hurt yourself, sweetheart?" She couldn't bear the pain-filled tears of her little one. Oh, please, let this be a misunderstanding.

"He- he," Aeron sobbed, pointing again in Davos's direction, "He says he wants to- to m- m- marry me, and I don't want that!"

The boy's crying seemed even louder in the complete silence of the room.

"What?" shouted Lord Bracken and Lord Blackwood in unison.

"I don't want to get married, Auntie!" Aeron exclaimed. "Roewen s- said that if you get married, you have to kiss and hold hands and make- make babies. I don't want to make babies!” The final part almost came out in a shout.

Elayne Bracken was speechless as she stroked her little nephew's head. Of all the things he could have said to her, this was the last thing she expected in a hundred years. What she also didn't expect were the tears in the little Blackwood boy's eyes, glinting and ready to roll down his cheeks.

"But," his voice stern despite the slight tremor.

"Davos, you can't marry him! What nonsense is this?" William burst out.

And this finally made Davos cry, prompting his aunt into action as she shot her husband a death glare. She knelt down to hug her nephew. "Don't cry, my little knight."

Davos pressed his face into his aunt Luciya's hair. "But he's so pretty! And small, so cute like the fawn we saw on our way here. And his hair is as soft as yours, no, even softer." He sobbed. "Why doesn't he want to marry me, Aunt Luciya?"

Before she could reply, a high-pitched voice chimed in, "Do you really think I'm as cute as a fawn?" His chubby cheeks gave away his blush.

Davos looked up and nodded sincerely before abruptly shaking his head. But before Aeron's small smile could falter, Davos quickly said, "You're cute and pretty, even prettier than my aunt and my cousin!" Davos glanced nervously at his aunt to see if he might have hurt her feelings. She, however, looked only surprised.

As Davos turned back to Aeron, the latter smiled broadly.

The uncles of both boys watched the scene in horror. When Amos looked at his nephew, a nearly prophetic expression of anguish appeared on his face as he observed Aeron's change in behavior.

"No," he whispered, pain evident in his voice. "Please no."

"If you keep giving me nice compliments like that, maybe we can get married after all.”

Chapter Text

Davos's face began to shine, and he abruptly stood up. However, when he tried to approach Aeron, a hand stopped him by the shoulder. Davos struggled against his uncle's increasingly firm grip.

"Davos, that's enough! Where is Benjicot? Go to him and wait until we return to Raventree Hall, I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense. We've already wasted too much time here." Lord Blackwood attempted to push his nephew towards the door, but Davos wouldn't budge. In fact, he looked like he was about to cry again.

"That's enough, William! Let the child go!"

Luciya was astonished. Davos, like his late father and his uncle, wasn't the emotional type. Usually, the boy had only three expressions: angry, stubborn, and 'Auntie, help! What should I do now?'—which most people interpreted as a look of madness (which she had to admit was quite understandable). But tears were rare. He didn't cry when he got hurt playing, he didn't cry when other children didn't want to play with him because they were afraid, and he didn't cry when he didn't get what he wanted. So seeing him on the verge of tears over something like this pained Luciya. She pried her husband's hand from her nephew’s shoulder, took his smaller hand, and slowly and carefully approached the little boy peeking out from behind his aunt's skirts.

"Luciya, what do you think you're doing? You should not support this farce. Wife, I order you to come back!" The look she gave him in response could have melted the flesh off an army of knights. William reflexively flinched. He would be sleeping on the floor tonight.
Or perhaps for the rest of the week.

But the most bizarre part of this dreadful day wasn't even his nephew's marriage proposal, but the look of pity from the Bracken bastard. When Lord Blackwood turned back to the children and women, he saw the expression on the Bracken woman’s face. If his wife's glare could melt flesh, this woman’s glare could destroy a dragon’s soul. And Bracken hadn't even said anything yet.

The men's terror was once again interrupted by the children's voices.

"You really want to marry me? If you promise, you must do it. My uncle says breaking a promise is dishonorable." Though his voice was calm and strong, the pressure around his aunt's hand increased. Luciya was charmed by the sheer sweetness of this moment. And oh, the Bracken boy truly was adorable. At first glance, she herself had thought he was a girl, but he was just an exceptionally pretty boy.

Aeron hesitated, making Davos fret even more, only to then look up at his aunt and ask, "Auntie, can I marry him?" It was so cute that both Davos and Luciya almost swooned. But, of course, the overgrown children to whom these poor women were married had to interrupt.

"No!"

Which of the two men said it was unclear, as both took a step back in fear of their wives' angry expressions, unintentionally moving closer to each other.

"No," came a surer voice from Amos this time. "You are both boys, both on your way to becoming knights. And most importantly, that beast is a Blackwood!"

"As if my nephew would marry your Bracken princess," William growled back, and the men glared at each other again.

Aeron's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "I am not a princess!" His high-pitched voice and the stamping of his foot ruined the effect. Gods, this child is adorable.

Davos growled at his uncle, "I. Will. Marry. Him!"

Before either of the idiots could make the children cry again, Lord Tully intervened. "Of course, you can marry him! Who are we to forbid young love?" The shock on Lord Blackwood and Lord Bracken's faces was nothing compared to the expression of pure joy on Lord Tully's. The women were bewildered by the Lord's sheer delight.

"You know, actually," he said, pulling out some papers, "we can make your engagement official right now." He smiled at the children, who mirrored his joy.

(No one would ever know where or why Lord Tully had those documents on hand.)

Both women were quite unsure. They would never forbid their boys from loving whom they chose, but they were so young and from such feuding families. Arranged marriages between Brackens and Blackwoods were not new, but the deep hatred between the families often led to pain and despair in these unions. And children's opinions change so frequently and quickly.

Lord Tully saw the women's concern and added, "By signing this contract, all Blackwoods and Brackens are forbidden from speaking ill of the other family in front of these children. I task Lady Bracken and Lady Blackwood with overseeing this and organizing weekly playdates for the future."

"But my lord, they are-"
"Silence." Lord Tully raised his hand, an amused smile on his lips. "Things change, my lords. We will not be the first . And they are the sons of second sons; they are not in need of heirs as you know."

"Now, children, come. Has anyone explained to you how such things are signed?"

Davos answered with a short nod, while Aeron shook his head. So Davos turned to Aeron and explained, "Our lords must sign with the names of our houses, and we give our blood as a signature." Aeron flinched.

"You don’t need to be scared. I can hold your hand. You only need a small prick; we just need one drop."

"I'm not scared! I will be a knight; knights are not scared." He hesitated a moment and whispered the last part, "But can you hold my hand anyway?"

Davos beamed. "Of course!"

Lord Blackwood wanted to object but was silenced by the anger of the ladies and Lord Tully.

"Just sign. In two weeks, they'll be begging us to tear up this ridiculous contract," Amos Bracken hissed in William's ear.

"Don't come near me, you filthy piece of shit."

Amos simply rolled his eyes as he signed. "Blackwood bitch."

"Bracken whore," William muttered in response.

They stepped aside for the boys to sign. Davos held out his hand so that Lord Tully could make a small prick in his finger with his dagger. Davos, always resistant to pain, took it in stride without reacting.

Aeron, however, took his hand and examined it thoroughly. "Is everything alright? Does it hurt?" Davos wanted to deny it, as always unwilling to show weakness, but Aeron asked, "Do you want me to kiss it better? My auntie always does that and-"

"Yes!" came the quick, over-eager response from Davos. "Yes, please," he added, embarrassed.

Aeron lifted Davos's hand to his lips and placed a feather-light kiss on the wound.

While the women were enchanted, the two men were turning green.

"Little Bracken, now it's your turn." Aeron stretched out his finger and gripped Davos's hand tightly with his other. His eyes were fixed on the dagger. After his blood sealed the contract, Davos kissed his wound too, making both boys blush furiously.

Chapter Text

The first tears did not come from the women or the children, but, to everyone's surprise, from Lord Tully. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he looked up as if in prayer, “Father, I will end it, just wait, I, Hector Tully, will end it!” He pricked his finger and pressed the blood onto the contract.

“His name is Hector?” Amos asked.
“Forget the name, you idiot! My lord, what are you doing?” How the fuck were they supposed to annul the contract now with Lord Tully's signature? This fucking contract is binding.

Amos' mouth fell open when he realised what lord Blackwood had meant,he collapsed to his knees, face in his hands. “No! No, why would you do such a thing? It was supposed to be a joke to silence the children. I don't want a Blackwood as a son-in-law. NO!” Now he too was crying.

“Why, Davos? Why? Wasn't I always a good uncle to you? Anyone, anyone but him.” William sobbed. Suddenly, he turned to Amos. “You!” He pointed his finger. “You planned this! I never wanted to sign, but no, ‘sign it, we'll tear it up later,’ my ass!” He dissolved into tears.

—-

Elayne loved her husband, but sometimes she wondered why. This was one of those moments.

As she glanced down to ensure that the foolish actions of the men had not startled the children, worry gripped her heart once again.

"Aeron, my darling, what’s wrong?" she asked, kneeling beside him and cupping his face in her hands.

Aeron had always been an emotional child, swinging from anger to joy, from fear to worry. He felt everything deeply and showed it all. Many thought that, combined with his delicate, almost girlish appearance, he was unsuitable for the role of a knight. But Elayne disagreed wholeheartedly. What made a good knight if not the desire and ability to help and protect others?

“Come now, sweet boy, what is it? Is it your uncle? Don’t listen to him; he’s a fool!”

She loved her husband, but at this moment, she could slap him.

Aeron shook his head. "When we marry, does it mean one of us has to leave? I don’t want to go away!" He threw himself into Elayne’s arms, hugging her tightly.

Both Davos and his aunt approached, wanting to comfort the little boy.

"Darling, I don’t understand. Who has to go where?" she asked gently.

“Like you and Meli. When you got married, you had to leave your families.” His small body trembled with the effort of not crying.

“EXACTLY!” Amos bellowed. “When you marry him, you’ll have to leave us, leave me, your cousins, and most importantly, your beloved aunt, just to live with the filthy Blackwoods who despise the Brackens!”

Elayne was furious that her husband was using Aeron’s love for her against him. Her look of pure wrath made Amos snap his mouth shut so quickly that his teeth clattered. She would make sure he regretted this.

Aeron recoiled at the thought.

“I won’t let anyone be mean to you. And—and we can always visit your aunt, and—and we have the best cakes!” Davos said, trying to cheer Aeron up.

“Even strawberry cake?” Aeron asked cautiously.

Lady Bracken was speechless. Had her nephew really preferred cake over her? And so quickly, too. She loved him so she wished he had at least pretended to think about it for a moment.

“Cake! Aeron, you’d leave me for CAKE?” Amos cried out indignantly.

Lady Blackwood leaned over to Elayne and whispered in her ear, “Right now, I’d leave my husband for a piece of cake, too.” Both women looked at the sorry state their husbands presented.

“Run before they drag us into this,” Elayne said, grabbing Luciya’s hand with her left and Aeron’s with her right, while Luciya took Davos’s hand, and they left the hall, leaving the pitiful men behind.