Tied For Life (A Song of Ice and Fire/Exo Crossover)
Title: Tied For Life
Rating: G
Word Count: 993
Genre: Drama
Summary: He was too young for this, but it wasn't his age that was the real problem - it was her.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
The silence in the room was overwhelming. Standing in his father’s solar, his father gazing at him expectantly from behind his desk, Sehun could barely believe what he’d just been told - let alone string together a response.
“Well?” demanded his father eventually. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Sehun honestly didn’t know what to say. Did he pretend to be pleased? But then, how could his father possibly expect him to have a good reaction to a bombshell like this?
In the end, he settled for a quiet response of, “But I’m only fifteen,” staring at the rich Myrish carpets as he spoke.
Lord Harbert Baratheon just scoffed at that. “Plenty of noble lads have been married younger than fifteen - King Tommen was only nine, if I remember right. And the Lady Alerie Royce is said to have grown into a very comely young woman.”
At that, Sehun felt his blood run completely cold. His father hadn’t previously mentioned the name of his future bride, but he had assumed it would be some girl he had never met before - a fair assumption, given that he had never paid any attention to the majority of the noble young ladies he had previously met at tourneys and the like. That was the one name he remembered, and the one name he dreaded.
“-one of the noblest Houses in the Vale, she’ll make you a fine match.” Lord Baratheon was actually smiling as he described all of Lady Alerie’s finer qualities, but all Sehun could feel was a growing sense of horror.
It was bad enough, he thought, that within a month, one event would take place that would define the course of the rest of his life, tying him to a girl he barely knew.
But he could have dealt with that, if that were all this wedding entailed. He’d always known that one day his father would make him a match with some well-born girl; he just hadn’t expected it to be this soon. He would have got his head around it eventually, even if it didn’t exactly please him.
On the other hand, this wasn’t just any highborn lady. This was the one girl in all of Westeros who absolutely despised him - and unchivalrous as it may be, he couldn’t help but return her hate.
And now he would be tied to her for life.
Sehun’s mind whirled. He would try to be a good husband, and not let the past ruin all chance of a happy future, but if that past was any indication... all those efforts would be futile.
The very first time they met, he had accidentally broken her doll. Despite him saying sorry about twenty times, she’d held a grudge ever since. Her first reaction had been to burst into tears and to tell her father, very loudly and in front of almost 200 observers, that he was a “bad, bad boy” and she wanted him hanged. Then, she had gone out of her way to steal or break anything of his that she happened to come across, until her family had departed back to the Vale.
He could have forgiven that - he had only been seven at the time, and she a year younger. It could have passed for the mischief of youth.
But when they met again three years later at the tourney of Honeyholt, it wasn’t simple spite that drove the escalating war between them, but utter hatred. There had been a mini-joust for all the younger boys at that particular tourney, but he had been unable to take part because all of the gear he needed had been mysteriously left out in the rain to rust.
Most of it had been brand new, a gift from his parents on his last name day, so he had been angry enough to confront her, but she had simply laughed, told him he deserved it, and walked away. Spurred on by a boy he’d made friends with from the Iron Islands, he had swapped her cup of berry juice for one filled with real wine at the feast that night, hoping she would make a fool out of herself because of the alcohol.
She certainly had, even going so far as to corner him and try to kiss him. His rejection had been more violent than he’d intended, and when she looked up at him from where she’d fallen on the floor, an even greater rage had burned in her eyes.
He’d never tried to prank her again, and even went out of his way to avoid her, but after that she had stepped up her own efforts - one of which had left him with a nasty scar on his left arm. Needless to say, he had been glad to get away from her.
And now, his father was determined to make her his lady wife. No matter what, Sehun knew that this marriage would be doomed to failure, misery and lovelessness.
“Why her? Why must we be married so soon?” he asked in a whisper, knowing it was hopeless to even question it - there was no way his father could be swayed after making a decision. The man was too stubborn for his own good.
Lord Baratheon clenched his fist. “I’ve told you the story often enough. That Sothoryosi crone predicted your birth, not to mention the fact I’d have no more sons.” Sehun did know that story well - the old woman’s word had practically become an obsession to the old man. “She predicted you would have no children of your own; well, I’m going to do everything in my power to prove her wrong, and Alerie Royce is a fine match. I’ll hear no arguing on the subject, you understand me?”
Sehun did understand, all too well. Forcing his chin up and a smile onto his face, he gritted his teeth and replied, “Well then. I guess I’d better prepare to meet my bride.”
END
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