[ embry alone can be gifted this closeness, flouting decorum and propriety. alicent allows herself to be led, laugh helpless. she hitches up on her elbow in turn, shaking loose strands of hair from her eyes. a flicker of irritation, at the mention of hawk, for all he kept from them even as danny tormented alina. there and gone. this isn’t about hawk, however much he shares the hard line of embry’s jaw or tousle of his hair. for alicent, it’s been about embry from the start, even as the other deaths began and multiplied. she drew the parallel between alina’s attack and embry’s death swiftly, even when no-one listened to her. (why would they? a woman’s word is worth little and less, compared to that of the men who keeping secrets from her.)

an assessing glance, then, for embry will not show the pain of his lot; he’ll simply stomach it, bile corroding his insides.

she would do the same. ]

I told the Lady Greer you would have hated it.

[ a knowing arch of her brows. embry hadn’t mentioned her, but the girl’s love for him had been obvious from her endless tears and familiar words. her hand flattens again his covered chest, feeling the heartbeat surging into her palm. even viserys hadn’t felt so alive, the last few years of his life. her composure falters, lashes fluttering. ]

And I assured her she looked beautiful, on your behalf. [ she lifts her hand higher, fingers featherlight as they trace the mark at his throat. the same wound alina suffered, though embry’s feels scarred where hers had ached in its freshness, tender to her touch. absentmindedly — ] Perhaps with less vulgarity than you’d like.