Chapter Text
Valaena
From as young as I can remember, my mother always told me I had failed my sole purpose in life. She would cast her hardened lavender eyes towards my mismatched purple ones, run her soft hands down the soft curve of my face, tuck away the seemingly untamable silver waves, and sigh with hardly concealed disappointment before looking away. She had never fully explained her reasoning for her tender resignation and soft, unending disappointment at my existence. My older uncles, Aegon and Aemond, however, never had the same problem with me. Their taunts followed me down the halls, echoing off the rough red stone walls; sneers mocking my strange eyes and unnaturally willowy frame, gibes towards my brothers and their rumored dubious parentage, but the worst insults came when Aegon found me alone. Alone, Aegon is free to hunt me down, cornering me so that I have to listen to his true thoughts, his cruel words about my failings not as a girl but as a Targaryen. As if it mattered that my egg did not hatch in cradle, Helaena and Aemond’s had not, Rhaenys had not, and Daemon’s had not. Yet Helaena bonded Dreamfyre, the fourth largest tamed dragon alive, Rhaenys claimed Meleys, the Red Queen, the swiftest dragon yet, and Daemon rides the battle-hardened Blood Wyrm, Caraxes.
The dragon eggs in recent generations had been failing to hatch, the maesters had told me, it was nothing against my blood or my claim as a Targaryen. Father told me not to fret, my time as a dragon rider would come when the gods deemed it time. So, when I became old enough to venture into the Dragon Pit with my older brothers to see the unclaimed dragons, I could barely contain my excitement, but when I had been barred from exiting the Keep due to my mother forbidding me from entering the Dragon Pit, Father had come to find me. His soft words coaxed me out of the small crevasse I had shoved my small frame into: “My sweet daughter, the fiercest dragon riders claimed the untamable.” That night, the whole Keep could hear my parents as they fought.
Even still, with my mother’s barely concealed dislike and my uncles' taunts, I had the love and support of my father and the friendship of Helaena whom I often sought out after a run-in with her brothers. Helaena was a quiet girl who loved her dragon and the peculiarities of small creatures, as such it made it easy to sit in her presence as no words needed to be said; where we could simply enjoy each other in silence.
My brothers, Jacaerys and Lucerys, faced worse; all the love of our mother and father did not change the fact that the entire court whispered about their parentage. Years of horrific, treasonous rumors followed them as they grew up. Everywhere they went, whispers followed, spats of ‘bastard’ chased their heels, and when my mother became pregnant with her fourth child, whispers arose of what the child would look like; would it share the Targaryen features of my mother and father, or would they share the dark features of my brothers. To the court and my mother’s half-brothers, it did not matter that both Jacaerys and Lucerys bonded their dragons, Vermax and Arrax, that hatched in cradle and when the dragons were large flew over King's Landing officially and publicly declaring them the Heir to the Iron Throne after our mother and the Heir to Driftmark after our father, Laenor. To the people, it only mattered that my older brothers had honey eyes, brawny builds, and dark hair, forgetting that our paternal grandmother, Rhaenys, also has dark hair.
It was these rumors that followed us to our aunt’s funeral at the Smoking Sea, home of our father’s line since the Doom of Valyria. Our father’s sister, Laena Velaryon, had met her end during her second childbirth, choosing to meet the gods through dragon breath rather than on her back in the birthing bed. Vhagar, Aunt Laena’s bonded dragon, had done the honors of giving her a Targaryen death; a simple dracarys, and Aunt Laena was no more. I doubted there was even a body left to be placed in the massive stone sarcophagus that the maesters said the final rites over.
Childbirth was always a danger for Targaryen and Velaryon women. More than most ended in the death of both the mother and the baby, with many of these deaths having been caused by a deformed dragon-like child ripping the mother apart during her labors. To me, it was a wonder that the women in my life chose to bear so many children when the risk never outweighed the reward, at least in my opinion. I had been told little about the births that ended in such disaster, only that this was our price to pay to have such powerful bonds with our dragons, and without the dragons, House Targaryen was nothing. It never seemed fair that the women should bear the brunt of this burden while our male counterparts faced no repercussions for their dragon bonds.
The funeral was a dreary affair and my first. Mother had ordered the servants to dress us in our finest house colors of black and red, and as such, I had been fitted in a dress of the deepest black I had ever seen, the skirt moved when I did revealing dark red undertones, it was lovely and matched what my older brothers wore. My mother’s half-siblings, however, chose not to honor their Targaryen side, the side that had given them their power and dragons, instead donning their mother’s colors of green and white, a familiar sight but not a welcome one.
Daemon, my mother’s uncle, stood next to his in-laws, Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys, his twin daughters, Baela and Rhaena, stood in front of him. While Daemon wore Targaryen colors, his daughters and in-laws honored their mother’s maiden house of Velaryon in the colors of sea green and light blue. Together, they watched with misty eyes as Vaemond Velaryon spoke in High Valyrian over the coffin one final time as the maesters of High Tide pushed the coffin into the sea to rest eternally with the ancestors of their mighty house. After everyone had had their moment with the dead, everyone moved inside, hoping to escape the chill of the air and the haunting presence of the resting dead as they greeted the newest member.
It was my first visit to Driftmark, the home of my father, and while I was excited to see what the Keep had to offer, I was hesitant. While everyone seemed to relax in the comfort of the stone walls, eager to catch up and possibly even forge alliances with distant relatives and powerful househeads, I didn’t find the inside of the Keep doing much more than putting me on edge. The tall, dark stone walls seemed to have a constant wetness to them that infected the stiff and moldy air, the ancient walls mimicked a constant echo of a strange rumble that could have been a number of things: ocean surge, thunder, or dragons perching on the crumbling stone walls. Driftmark’s unsettling presence made it easy to spot glimpses of monsters in the shadows, hiding in corridors and in the rafters, hanging above or lurking around the somber festivities. It made me all the happier that Luce would inherit the Keep and not me, as I did not ever want to permanently live in the haunted halls of this dreadful Keep. Alas, I was a curious child, and no shadow monster could stop me from exploring this new space, however, I did not want to go alone, just in case a shadow monster did indeed snatch me up. Jacaerys and Lucerys were speaking to our cousins, Baela and Rhaena, and judging by everyone’s blushing cheeks, I did not want to interrupt them and face getting cooties. Usually, Mother would have me directly by her side, as I tended to get myself into situations a princess should never have even dreamed of getting into, but with the arrival of my newest and youngest brother, Joffrey, I had been assigned to others for safekeeping. As the unwanted child of Rhaenyra Targaryen, I had a few more perks than my two brothers who were currently under the watchful gaze of several servants and knights, one such being that I had no knights in command of my wellbeing and only two servants in charge of making sure I didn’t cause a fuss. Two servants were currently flirting with whatever lord was giving them the slightest bit of attention, which made it incredibly easy to slip away from their semi-watchful eyes. Gliding past the layered skirts of noble ladies and the puffy, ugly trousers of the Lords, I scoured the large room in search of Helaena. The young princess was only a few years my elder, but I rather thought she enjoyed my presence as she always made space for me whenever I came knocking; although her fondness might have simply been because we were the only two girls in the Keep aside from the Nobles children, but if Helaena was anything like me, she found them most annoying. Ducking beneath a servant who held a tray of fishy-smelling food, I spotted the princess, eager to convince her to wander the halls in search of mysteries, I almost didn’t notice Aegon standing next to her, sneering at everyone and everything. His presence made me pause, surely, he wouldn’t make a fuss about me in a room full of family and nobles, but if I asked Helaena to join me, he would insist on tagging along, and alone with only Helaena and me, he could do and say whatever he pleased.
Scowling, I turned away from my friend. Aegon was the worst, I hated him and his stupid mom, they always got in the way of Helaena and I’s friendship. Angry, I wandered away from the whispering looks of the strange nobles and judgmental remarks from my family and slipped into the darkest hall.
While the Keep as a whole was dreadfully scary, I couldn’t help but marvel at the architecture as I slinked further down the hall and further away from the abysmal conversations. The stones were so large that it only made sense that a giant had placed them, the doors so tall that it made me question if this Keep was even for humans and not the giants that it must have been made by. As my hands ran over the rough stones, passing over ridges and grooves, the stones left a slimy dampness on the soft pads, perks of living so close to the ocean and not having enough staff to keep everything spotless like at the Red Keep. Some of the older and less traveled halls at Dragonstone had the same dampness to them.
Driftmark was terribly old, just like Dragonstone and the Red Keep. As my hand wandered over the ancient stones, I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering, curious about the history these walls could tell if only it had a mouth to speak. My ancestors had walked these halls for generations, battles had been won in these halls, evident by the few spear gouges in the otherwise soft stone. It made me wonder if I had a relative somewhere in the past who faced the same hardships I faced. If there was someone deep in the past who too followed this wall as they escaped their family and the never-ending politics.
Entranced by the wild fantasies and curiosity at the thought that there was someone who shared in my troubles, even if it was in the long past, I almost missed the strange, sudden pattern in the stones. The pattern was softer than the large, gravelly stones, a small, intricate design that at its center had a small loose stone. There was no torch next to the design, so I couldn’t quite make out what the symbol was, prodding at the small loose stone, something clicked, followed by a soft grinding noise, and the stones next to the pattern slowly pulled away from the wall, revealing a dark hallway that led down.
A gust of cool, damp air rushed past, moving the escaped loose waves slightly. While this was exactly what I had been looking for, a strange feeling washed over me as I moved to step into the uncovered hall. I thought that maybe I should leave this for next time, when I had Helaena or my brothers at my side. Yes, that would be best. Turning away from the door, ready to make a quick escape back to the festivities, I almost smacked right into Aemond, his cool blue eyes watching me with mild interest.
“What has the princess gotten herself into this time?” His cool voice washed over me, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms. He was trying to frighten me with his silent act, but I knew he was not going to do anything to harm me, physically. Aemond and I had some sort of strange arrangement. Unlike his brother, when Aemond picked on me, he left certain touchy subjects out of his taunts, and he only seemed to spit cruel things when his brother was around. When our paths had crossed accidentally in the Red Keep, he was cold, yes, but not cruel; he didn’t speak much and allowed me to exist in peace and quiet when we were alone. But when Aegon would seek him out, the ruse would be up, and the cruel taunts would begin.
Seeing as Aegon was nowhere in sight, I knew Aemond was also trying to find reprieve from our family and perhaps might join me as I went into the depths of Driftmark. “Hello, Aemond,” I whispered, trying to calm my racing heart at the thought of an adult coming out of the shadows, ready to punish me for being where I shouldn’t. “I think I found a secret passage!”
“I can see that.” His voice was nonchalant, but I could see his eyes light up as he inspected the passage and its cobwebs.
“Want to explore it with me?” Aemond cast a glance at me, finishing his inspection of the crumbled stairs that we could see descending into the dark.
“You just didn’t want to go down there alone.” He gestured to the dark passage with his green-covered arm, a reminder that his true loyalties were to his mother, not to House Targaryen. Memories of Mother’s warnings flooded my mind about how Alicent’s children were not to be trusted, but in my experience only, Aegon was not to be trusted, and well, Aemond when Aegon was around. Shrugging noncommittally, Aemond sighed with vague annoyance. “I suppose it would be more fun than playing nice with your boring brothers.” With that, he stepped through the door, only looking back once to make sure I was following.
The few times Aemond and I had been alone together, it had never been for long. Either Aegon would come along to disturb the peace and throw hurtful things at me, or my brothers would come looking for me on orders of our parents. It was a known fact that if I was out of sight for too long, mischief and mayhem tended to find me. Aemond was two years older than I, a year younger than Helaena. Despite the age gap between us, I had found that I shared the same mental capabilities as him. We both preferred the quiet and solitude, but when others were around, we blended into what they were doing. For him it was being an ass, for me it was whatever my brothers were doing so long as my mother wasn’t watching. Our understanding of each other went deeper than our liking for peace, as both of our dragon eggs had not hatched, and neither of us had claimed one, and although we never spoke of it, it was one line of taunting he never crossed. Whenever I came across him or he came across me, I wondered if he felt the same tentative bond towards me. I was too afraid to ask, but I liked to think the understanding was mutual.
I had always thought that just like me, there was an underlying sadness to him, and that perhaps it was because he lacked a dragon bond, that he too felt the emptiness in his mind. Jacaerys once explained that the bond between a dragon and rider was a real thing, that he could feel Vermax in his mind, and they could both convey their wants and needs to each other. I had always thought not having a dragon made him just as sad as it made me, if not more, as I knew he was required to attend the Dragon Pit with his siblings. When I had asked Father why Aemond could go, and I could not, he had only shaken his head and looked at Mother with slight disappointment and told me, “Dragon riders need to be comfortable around dragons if they are to claim one.” Even such, I was not allowed to attend the lessons with Jacaerys and Lucerys, for a reason unknown, as the years went on became more and more unfair. Being as I was not allowed near the unclaimed dragons, the only ones I had ever interacted with were Syrax, my mother’s golden dragon, and sometimes Vermax and Arrax when our family was supposed to show that we were the ‘Blood of the Dragon and Old Valyria.’ I wondered if Aemond had faced the same rules with his siblings’ dragons, Sunfyre, Dreamfyre, and little Tessarion.
“Where do you think this leads?” I asked, filling the silence of the tight space. My voice echoed off the stones surrounding us for a second before fading, shrinking back at the noise I cringed in fear that someone at the top of the steps might hear, but no other sound came aside from Aemond and I’s footfalls. His only answer was shushing me.
I couldn’t see anything aside from the dim light of the opening glinting off Aemond’s white hair, but as we went deeper into the small tunnel, I could see less and less of him. The damp wall was my only guide the deeper into the Keep we went, but even that was not enough to stop me from occasionally tripping on the loose or uneven step. With each misstep, Aemond faded further and further away from me, and soon my heart was pounding in my throat as he disappeared in front of me completely.
“Aemond?” I whispered, stopping to listen for any sound he might make as he moved away from me, only there were no sounds, not even his footfalls as he traveled down. Calling his name again, I took a small step deeper, maybe it would be best if I turned around, especially if he had left me alone. Only as I looked back to see how far I had made it from the door, the light was so dim and far away, I didn’t know if it was better to continue or turn back. Trying one more time, I spoke into the void, “Aemond, I can’t see anything.” Nothing. “Are you still there?” Despite the quietness of my voice, it still sounded too harsh in the small space.
Before I could turn around to run back, a hand grabbed mine and pulled me forward, causing me to stumble on the steps and into Aemond’s chest. “I’m here, now be quiet.” Shoving me out of his chest, he held fast to my hand, his harsh voice was so at odds with his caring gesture as he led me deeper into the tunnel.
Several times when I lagged, he would yank me forward, carefully make sure I hadn’t fallen, then continue; the tunnel seemed to be never-ending. Until it did, rather suddenly, I might add. The stairs came to an abrupt end at a sharp turn, the turn led to another immediate turn in the opposite direction before opening up into a large cavern and cave mouth. The mouth of the cave revealed sandy hills and tall, sparse grasses, lit only by the light of the moon.
Mother was going to be furious about my disappearance when I came back to the festivities, but now was not the time to worry about her wrath. Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to turn back, especially since Aemond had yet to release my hand. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, urging me to explore more, to go further to see all that this abandoned space had to offer. I was known for doing this in the Red Keep and the occasional times we ventured to Dragonstone, to find hidden passages and tunnels, oftentimes I would show them to my brothers, but most of the time I kept the knowledge to myself.
“Vhagar is out there,” Aemond reverently whispered, looking through the cave mouth at the beast of a dragon that lay in the dunes, so large I would have mistaken her for another one of the large sandy hills that dotted the beach.
Aemond moved to get closer to her, pulling me along with him, but I pulled back, feet digging into the sand. “I don’t think that is a good idea.” Peaking around Aemond’s larger form at the slumbering beast.
“Don’t tell me you are scared, Valaena? It’s merely a dragon.” He taunted, before pulling me once more, almost like he was scared to do this alone.
Scoffing, I dug my heels into the sand further, white sand got in my shoes, spotting the hem of my black dress, and tried to pull my hand from his, no longer grateful for the reassuring comfort I previously thought it was for. “Of course, I’m scared!” I nearly screeched. “That’s Vhagar! She’s going to eat us for a snack, mistaking us as Dornish soldiers!” Tugging again, I got him to turn and look at me, finally ceasing his movement toward the dragon. “No way, Aemond, I chose my little life.”
His eyes hardened, and he dropped my hand, no longer pulling me to a certain doom that was shaped like a slumbering giant, a giant that had killed its previous rider, even if it was consensual, there was no way I was going to test my luck and took a menacing step towards me. “Your life is not little, little niece. You are a princess and a Targaryen, for gods’ sake! For once, act like it.” He snapped at me, sounding annoyed at my accidental pity party.
Scoffing, I made a face at him, “’ A Targaryen princess with no dragon is no better than a brothel worker!’” I quoted his brother’s words back at me. I hadn’t taken the words to heart; they were true in the smallest sense. Without a dragon, I was nothing more than a card to be traded for whatever my mother needed at the time.
Aemond rolled his eyes, “Aegon talks out of his ass, ignore him.” Aemond turned to look at the sleeping beast, “This is your time to prove them all wrong and claim a dragon.” He shook his head, “Not just a dragon. The dragon! Vhagar the Queen of Dragons.” Turning, he looked back at me, a slight madness in his eyes, “Imagine your mother’s pride when she wakes up to you with the Queen of Dragons under your command.”
I couldn’t lie, it was tempting, but then Rhaena’s face popped up in my mind; she had just lost her mother, this was her mother’s dragon, and she had the right to try and claim it before Aemond and I tried. “Aemond, that would be wrong of us, Vhagar is already claimed, she belongs to Rhaena.”
He shook his head, the slight madness still in his eyes, “Not officially.” Looking back at the slumbering beast, he let his head drop. “But fine, we shall see if Rhaena has the balls to claim such a dragon; if not, I will stake my claim.” With a remorseful sigh, he cast one last glance at the beast before turning back to the cave entrance. “Let’s get back before the King’s Guard has a hernia at our disappearances.”
The first trek into the tunnel was silent, he didn’t reach for my hand to lead me back to the secret door and he didn’t strike up any conversations. It was exactly what I was expecting, but still, it bugged me. I was itching to get to know my quiet mysterious uncle.
“Why does your brother hate me and my brothers?” Cringing at my choice for a silence breaker, I continued on, “We are family and Mother says, ‘Family is supposed to tolerate each other.’”
Aemond scoffed, “Your mother sure does tolerate you.” The harsh, but true words echoed off the walls, chasing me up the steps. Aemond was silent for a long moment after, and I was not eager to try and fill the silence again. “We are family in the loosest sense, your mother is my half-sister, but we did not grow up together.” He paused again before continuing for Aegon’s sake, “And Aegon’s 'hate,' as you call it, is tolerance. I have seen him try to have servants killed for breathing wrong around him.”
It was strange to me that he was technically my mother’s half-brother and that Aegon, Helaena, and little Daeron were her half-siblings and while we lived in the same Keep, they were not close Alicent did an excellent job at turning her sons against their elder sister. “Oh,” Was my only response as I thought off all the cruel things Aegon has said and done to me. “That is not very nice of him.” I finally say.
“Princess, you’ll find that not many Targaryens are nice.” The young prince scoffed at my nativity.
“That’s not true. Helaena is nice, and so are my brothers and you. Aegon is the only mean one.”
I could see Aemond shake his head, “There are more Targaryens in the world than just us.”
Silence once again stretched between us, the door’s light was now looming closer, “What is it like not having a dragon?” The question was out before I could even think of a kinder way to say it, or actually think not to ask the prince such a touchy subject.
At this question, Aemond did have a reaction other than a scoff, a visceral one. He stopped his tireless march up the stairs and whirled on me, facing away from the light. I could only make out the shadows of his form, but still, he seemed to grow as tall as the giants that placed the stones of this Keep. “Wouldn’t you know, little princess? Being dragon-less as well?” He took a step towards me, and I shrank back, “At least I have the courage to approach Vhagar, something you are too much of a coward to do.” His words were meant to slice, but I had heard more or less the same from his brother and my mother my whole life.
“I know what it is like for me, but not you.” I paused, trying to relieve some of the tension from his form and find the right words. “Mother won’t let me into the Dragon Pit; that is why I have a fear of them.” At this, his body released some of the tension, and he turned back around, resuming his pace up the steps.
“It can be unbearable.” He said at last. “Aegon and even little Daeron can be relentless with their teasing, and poor Helaena tries to stop them, but she can barely get a sentence out without becoming distracted by something Dreamfyre has done.” He pauses as if he has revealed too much about his family dynamic and his relationship with his siblings.
Not wanting him to stop talking, I share with him, “Sometimes Jace and Luce can be mean about their dragons, too. Mother thinks I am worthless and says as much because I don’t have a dragon. She says I am a disgrace to my Targaryen features.” I reached out to touch his arm to get him to slow down for what I wanted to say next. “I think they think of us as other, not quite Targaryen, and not quite commonfolk, but if we let it get to us, then we are proving them right.” His arm tensed before he shook me off, once again resuming his pace, only this time slightly faster, like she was done with me as a whole.
“You are awfully wise for a child.” He replied thoughtfully before leaving me in the darkness.
~
Driftmark was rather large, and I had not been shown to my chambers before the funeral started; as such, I was found late at night wandering the halls, lost out of my wits by a frantic guard. As he whisked me to my mother’s chambers, I couldn’t help but notice the other guards and servants running the halls, some with tears in their eyes, others with looks of determination on their faces. When the guard reached my mother’s chambers, he did not bother to knock only opened the door and deposited me at my mother’s feet. As I looked to face her, I realized she was not the only one in her room, Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys were also there, along with Prince Daemon, everyone had a somber look on their face, and Rhaenys had tears in her eyes.
Before I could ask any questions, my mother scooped me into her arms in a brutal hug. She rarely showed me affection, “Where were you?” She cried as she clutched me, before releasing me to set me in a chair so she could question me, Daemon rounded the chair, standing behind my mother as she looked at me. Confused I shrugged my shoulders. “Now is not the time to be coy Valaena!” She shouted harshly at me, causing me to flinch slightly.
Daemon put a hand on my mother’s shoulder and moved her out of the way before crouching in front of me. “Something has happened, and your disappearance scared your mother.” His words were soft, but firm as he vaguely explained why everyone was in a fuss. With their eyes on me, I wanted to disappear into the soft velvet of the chair, but I couldn’t.
“I went exploring,” I whispered timidly, ready for them to yell and scold me.
Daemon nodded, and my mother scoffed, but Rhaenys held her hand offering comfort as they both looked at me, one with hard unrelenting eyes, the other with the care my mother’s eyes should have held. “Were you alone?” Daemon asked drawing my eyes from my mother and grandmother.
I knew they would be angry if I told them I had run off with Aemond, but they would also be angry if I said I was alone. It was a lose-lose situation, and as such, I wanted to remain silent but knew that would also end poorly, so instead I diverted. “What happened?”
Daemon sighed ready to ask me the question more firmly, but surprisingly Corlys spoke, “Perhaps you should tell the girl, she is frightened enough, a little light could be helpful.”
My mother scoffed and turned away, a hand on her chest as she looked away from me. Rhaenys left my mother, moving Daemon out of the way as she settled on the floor in front of me. “Something has happened to your father.” She stated, and my heart sank. The guards in full armor with swords out in the halls, and the maids and servants frantically search the halls and rooms, something bad had happened.
I nodded slowly, “Your father was killed hours ago, and we don’t know who has done it.” Rhaenys sniffled, closing her eyes briefly as she regained her composure. “That is why you need to tell us who you were with and if you saw anything out of the ordinary.” My grandmother had just lost both her children in the span of a week, her heir and only son hours ago, and still she held fast and strong.
“I was exploring and found a secret tunnel,” I started my mother turned to listen rolling her eyes at what I said, it was something I did quite a lot. “And when I was about to go through it Aemond came around the corner.”
Daemon, this time, scoffed angrily, standing up to move next to my mother. “So as your father was being murdered, you were with the Green Prince Aemond doing gods know what?” He scolded me.
“Now don’t be crass, she is a child.” Rhaenys scolded her son-in-law. “Exploring is all you did, child?”
Confused as to what they were asking, I nodded, “The passage led to a beach, and then we went back, and he left me, and I got lost, and then a guard took me here.” My father was dead, one of the few people in my life who actually loved and supported me was gone, and they wanted to know what I was doing. “I didn’t kill him.” I cried. “I love my father!” My cries turned into sobs, and when my mother didn’t reach out to comfort me, my grandmother wrapped me in her arms, in an embrace that was filled with more love and attention than my mother had ever given me.
“We know you did not kill your father,” she soothed me, petting my hair back, “We just needed to be sure you were safe and didn’t see anyone suspicious.” Rhaenys pulled back to look at me, wiping my tears from my cheeks with her thumbs. The woman who was more of a mother to me than my own, kissed my cheeks before helping me out of the chair, “Now why don’t you go to bed while we sort this out, sweet girl.” With that, she called in a guard from the doors and sent me with him to bed.
My mother did not look at me, nor did she wish me goodnight as my grandmother did.
Sleep did not find me easy and when it did, my dreams were not pleasant, hosting images of fire, scales, and blood.