Visenya looked around in her chambers, taking in the last night she'll sleep there and in the castle. Although her mother arranged for them to spend the night in the guest quarters, Visenya strongly insisted on spending her wedding night in her chambers and had to remind her that Jaenyx was now also family. At the morrow, she and fifty swords assigned by her father would move to a modest but comfortable keep in the northeast part of Dragonstone, which was previously used by her grandfather Lord Daemion as a place from which to sail across the Blackwater Bay to the Cracklaw Point, where he would indulge his love for hunting in the relative lawlessness of the Point's forests despite the Point belonging to House Hoare.
The servants had spared no effort in making her chambers as comfy as possible for the newly-weds, with a pitcher of Arbor gold, refreshments, a roaring fire, and clean red and black sheets mixed with blue. There was also a small light-green flask and two tiny cups set upon the small table next to the hearth, mostly likely prepared by the Yi-Tish men that came with Jaenyx. Visenya fought to urge to sigh when she saw flower petals all over the bed, undoubtedly put there by Rhaenys in order to add to the supposed magic of a romantic night. She can be quite grating sometimes, but it is Rhae.
Visenya turned around to see Jaenyx, now her husband. She got to know him better over the last four days, spending what time she had with him in the training yard and in the castle's library. With the sword, he had the perfect balance of strength, speed, and agility, his lean body allowing him to move faster than most men his age while hiding the power held within his form of solid muscle. What's more, he never said a word while wielding a sword, instead giving her and Aegon a cold, piercing gaze as he fought them dispassionately. Although he did well with the practice swords, nothing could compare when he would bring the bokkens, or Yi-Tish wooden swords, to the yard. When he wielded them, his speed, strength, and agility were enhanced and some of the training swords snapped under the pressure given by Jaenyx's momentum. Visenya held the bokken, immediately seeing its slenderness and feeling its lightness, easier for her to handle and requiring less strength than she needed with a longsword. She wondered if she could get a set similar to Jaenyx's Yi-Tish swords, called a katana and wakizashi, to use alongside Dark Sister.
Visenya and Jaenyx talked much in the library, although the extent of his understanding of the common tongue did not include reading. She read with him and translated many of the books that she grew up reading, such as the histories and legends related to Westeros' Age of Heroes and the rituals rooted in Valyria's blood magic. Jaenyx stopped her many times when they read about the rituals, saying that most of what the books said was either inaccurate or an exaggeration. Along with her enjoying the long conversations they held in the library, she became more comfortable speaking High Valyrian, but she could not undo the many years she spent speaking the common tongue as her mother tongue, along with the ways of thinking that could not be understood by one speaking High Valyrian. I'll have to teach him the common tongue, or I might lose him when I say certain words that can't be explained by High Valyrian.
On the topic of tongues, Jaenyx could speak two Yi-Tish tongues besides High Valyrian: nihongo and goryeomal. He learned them both from his Yi-Tish teacher, whose name Visenya learned was Konno Haru, although he had to learn goryeomal by himself since Haru did not speak it well. Nihongo sounded strong at times and there was more emphasis on certain words than others, while goryeomal had more consistent sounds and had a smoother flow than nihongo. Although she felt strong emotions from both, she felt more melancholic emotions from hearing Jaenyx speak goryeomal, which he said was reflective of the sad and violent history from whence it came between the two larger lands of Yi-Ti. She had only heard about Yi-Ti in passing, with her meeting Haru and he and Jaenyx speaking those Yi-Ti tongues being the first real experiences she had with Yi-Tish ways and people. Hearing his stories about his travels in Yi-Ti, which he visited only once when Haru gifted him his swords, added to her fascination of a land she hoped to see one day.
Most women would feel a sense of achievement upon marrying a man whose physical strength matched that of his familiarity with the world, which Visenya also felt to a degree. However, besides knowing that Jaenyx understood struggle and had more maturity than most men his age, Visenya noticed that he never boasted or say he was better than everyone because of what he had and knew. First assuming that his sufferings quieted the ostentatiousness that was so annoyingly common in young men, she learned that Haru strongly imparted onto Jaenyx the virtues of the Yi-Tish warrior, which included strict adherence to courage, politeness, benevolence, and humility. Whenever he was about to stray, Jaenyx said that "Sensei Haru" would have him go on all four limbs while he struck his buttocks, back, legs, and feet with a wooden staff. Jaenys said that sometimes, Haru struck so hard that lacerations sometimes appeared on where the wooden staff made contact with his skin.
Visenya was quite confused as to why Jaenyx would allow himself to be so brutalized by Haru, especially since it started when he was a boy of six. Jaenyx confessed that he wanted to kill Haru at the very first chance whenever he finished beating him, coming up with many ways of how he would do it whenever Haru hit him. However, he said that Haru never took pleasure when he did so and only struck him because he believed that the world would not be so merciful should he go down a wrong path. Jaenyx remembered one time when Haru actually explained why he was hitting him: "With every strike, every cut, every bruise that forms on your skin, remember what happens when you allow yourself to be led adrift in the world's darkness. There is darkness all over and the demons will leap at their chance to consume you alive." This Haru seems to have reasonable intentions, but as hard as I am, I would never bash my children like that.
And here was Jaenyx standing right in front of her, his blue-green and black tunic and black trousers hiding a form she longed to dig into, a form that she would allow entry into herself.
"Quite a day, right?" Jaenyx began to break the silence between them in her chambers.
"Kessa," Visenya answered to allow them both to ease into what would happen soon.
Jaenyx reached for the green flask and poured its contents into the small cups nearby. Grabbing both, he handed one to Visenya. "Drink, wife?"
Visenya gave a small smile as she took the cup, happy that Jaenyx was going to do his part in making their wedding night a night to remember but somewhat frustrated that he was using drink to numb his senses before the plunge.
"What is this?" Visenya eyed the clear liquid in the cup.
"This is called arakju, from the Yi-Ti land where goryeomal is spoken. It is one drink out of many varieties in Yi-Ti and they drink this since it takes a less amount than wine to loosen your senses."
Visenya nodded her head, curious as to what this drink could do. "I see."
Jaenyx held out his cup. "Gunbae." Visenya raised her eyebrow. "It is essentially you raising your cups when someone else does it."
Visenya clinked her cup with Jaenyx's. "Gunbae," she managed before they both poured their contents down their throats. Immediately, Visenya felt a burn in her insides and coughed, with Jaenyx chuckling in amusement. "That is some strong stuff, husband. What is in that?"
"They brew it from rice, which is a long process before the arakju. It is all the rage back in Yi-Ti, as many would rather drink a small cup of that rather than large cups of wine or ale to loosen themselves."
Visenya was not bothered by the burning feeling in her insides, probably her dragonblood making her more welcome to heat than others. However, she felt a little tingle in her hands, which would not happen until after a few cups of ale. And she could handle her drink better than most men could. Maybe I should drink this more often with him.
However, while she would have liked to continue their conversation and enjoy a few drinks, Visenya was not going to let her night be further delayed. She grabbed both of their cups and set them back on the small table. Turning around, she walked slowly towards her husband, eyes focused on his own while everything slowed down for the both of them. Cupping his cheek, she tiptoed up to his face and melded her lips on his in a deep kiss. Like the kiss they had after exchanging their vows, the kiss they had in their chambers was exhilarating, warming her wonderfully. Their tongues engaging in a fierce battle for dominance, she pulled him closer and ran her hands all over his back. She felt her husband put his arms pull her closer to him, his hands feeling all over her backside while she felt his hands squeeze her ass.
Letting a moan, Visenya pulled from the kiss, staring at Jaenyx with a desire that burned brighter than when he first used his dragonhorn. She reached for his tunic, pulling it off over his head and exposing his bare torso to her. Seeing his toned midsection and strong chests, she was shocked to see him so riddled with scars. She recognized the cuts from the swords and holes where arrows pierced his skin, but the scars that got her attention were larger and made his skin look like ripped parchment.
Seeing her eyes widen, Jaenyx straightened up. "I was infected with the red death while I was in the Basilisk Isles. One of the symptoms was turning the skin as thin as parchment, making it easier to rip whenever one tried to grab it. My father died from the red death and I would have died too if it weren't for my mother."
Visenya knew that his mother was a sore subject for him. "You don't have to talk about her if you want, Jaenyx."
"Daor," Jaenyx responded. "You are my wife, so you should know." He kept his gaze on her. "Every Valyrian ritual requires a blood sacrifice, for it is said that 'only death can pay for life'. So she entered the flames and turned into ashes, but I was immediately healed. I see her smile in my dreams, the woman who gave birth to me, the woman who sang me to sleep whenever the bats came by, the woman who made living in the jungle easier for a child like me... no longer here. Everytime I think of her, it is… you are fortunate to still have your mother, because I feel that my heart was ripped out when she walked into the flames. And I just ask myself everyday why am I alive. No matter how many people answer that question, it is… hard cannot describe the pain that I carry everyday."
Visenya listened closely, seeing the hard exterior of Jaenyx cracking. "You may think I'm strong, Visenya, and in some ways I became that because of what happened in my life. However, I am fucked up and the memories of my family leaving before their time will always be with me no matter how far I go or how much time will pass. In more simple terms, I am damaged goods and I don't think anything or anyone can change that."
Visenya continued to listen, but she felt her intense gaze softening. "We may be married, but I now you told some of the most important things about myself. If you want to continue to do what you were about to do just now, do it."
Visenya knew that the scars on Jaenyx's body and his moment of vulnerability would repulse any other woman, as they would not want to be with a man with so much external and internal damage. However, she was not most women. If anything, seeing his scars and seeing him take a chance with her, admitting his true self and offering her a choice before they proceeded, made her want him more. She did not admit this to anyone, but she was also damaged. She may have looked strong and her skill with the sword may have scared many men from approaching her, but she could not deny the loneliness and anger at people treating her bad because she was different. She loved Aegon, Rhaenys, and Orys, but they could not fully understand how she felt because they were mostly accepted their entire lives. And now, she finally found someone who understood what it was to be damaged, and it was her husband.
Visenya pulled him into another deep kiss, running her hands all over him and feeling his hands doing the same. Pulling away, she turned around and offered him her back. "Help me, husband?"
Visenya felt Jaenyx untie the laces in the back of her gown. He was rather quick about it, but still kept gentle. She felt his kiss on her neck and along her back as more of it was exposed to him. With a strong yank on her dress, she was suddenly bare to the world as her gown pooled down to the floor around her feet. She always had a good opinion of her body, if the words of her father, mother, and Rhaenys were anything to go on. But to see the storm of lust in Jaenyx's eyes as he gazed up and down her body filled her with glee. Looking back at him with a look of equal intensity, she unfastened his breeches and shoved them down, her breath hitching at his now nude self.
Visenya pushed him onto the bed, the flower petals spreading out as she straddled his hips and pinned him down. She leaned down to kiss him while she guided his cock to her entrance, moaning in his mouth as she felt him go deeper inside her. She felt Jaenyx's breath hitch and she leaned back up and further impaled herself on him. Her eyes were closed tightly and she bit her lip, as ecstasy flowed through her and her husband.
Wanting more, Visenya took Jaenyx's hands and put them over her breasts, happily exhaling as she felt his hands squeeze them and seeing his eyes nearly roll in pleasure. The wet slaps of skin, heavy moans, and the creaking of the bed soon filled her chambers, newlyweds lost in each other's bodies. What felt like hours had passed and Visenya could feel herself approaching the brink. Before she went over it, she pulled Jaenyx up to her, hugging him tightly and wanting to take him with her.
Then, Visenya felt Jaenyx gush inside her with a sharp inhale, pleasure spreading throughout her body before collapsing onto him, her silver hair spread all over his chest. Pecking his neck and lips, she slid off him before snuggling against him on his right side. She smiled when Jaenyx kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms wrapped around her tightly, hearing his sigh of happiness. Minutes passed before she had the strength to lean up to look at him.
Visenya saw Jaenyx smiling, but she also saw tears forming from his eyes. "What is the matter, Jaenyx?"
Jaenyx looked to her, his smile still on his face. "That was probably the most love I got in years and I am only remembering the last time that happened. I only wish my mother was here."
Visenya put her head on his chest. "She is here, Jaenyx. She's always here. And I am sure she's happy you have found love."
"Is that what it is between us, Visenya?"
Visenya nodded. "Kessa, and I know you said that you're damaged goods, but so am I. Let's be strong together, Jae."
Visenya saw his smile grew smaller before it returned. "Jae… can't remember the last time I heard that." He pulled her closer to him. "Yes, let's be strong together, Vis."
Visenya liked the sound of her nickname on his lips. They remained that way in each other's arms as they fell into a deep sleep, their first as man and wife.