Breakbones and the Dragonrider

Chapter 8

[A/N: If a particular TikTok brought you here, just know the text got cut off on the video, so you're actually looking for Chapter 18! But I hope you decide to read the whole thing anyway.]

Sheaf after sheaf of parchment littered the desk. Harwin and Rhaenyra had been poring over Valyrian words and their conjugations for over an hour. When Harwin came through the hidden passageway that night, Rhaenyra was already at her desk, and insisted they sit and work on Valyrian. That's not to say the hour was not without its distractions.

Harwin repeated the verb conjugations to himself, immersed in the parchment, and Rhaenyra watched him pensively. Taking note of the way his dark curls fell on his forehead and temples, Rhaenyra had to make the effort not to run her fingers through them.

When Rhaenyra had taken out a new sheaf of parchment, and scratched a new verb and its conjugations with her quill, Harwin stared at her neck, exposed by the single braid Rhaenyra had draped over her other shoulder.

Harwin propped his hand on the seat of Rhaenyra's chair, peering over her shoulder as she wrote. Rhaenyra's quill stilled a moment, and she stared off to the opposite direction of the common room before continuing. She knew what he was trying to do.

"What's the Valyrian word for 'neck'?" Harwin asked absently, bringing his free hand up to Rhaenyra's neck, running the back of a finger along the delicate skin of Rhaenyra's neck.

Rhaenyra shivered involuntarily, and fought against closing her eyes.

"Behave," she said, and turned the parchment over.

Harwin smiled to himself. "Have you forgotten it, princess?"

Rhaenyra shook her head at her table and smiled through the distraction. "Ȳrgos," she said reluctantly.

Harwin murmured the word slowly. Once, tracing his finger down her skin. The second time, leaning into her, his lips ghosting against her skin. Third, placing a small kiss there, his tongue barely making contact through the kiss.

"Behave," Rhaenyra repeated, turning toward Harwin, who held his ground. He held her gaze, and her heart beat faster.

"I have thus far," he said.

Rhaenyra sighed, and looked back at her desk. Harwin wouldn't learn Valyrian in a single night. She put her quill down, and looked back at Harwin.

"How did your Septas get you to do any work?" Rhaenyra challenged with a smirk.

Harwin chuckled. "They didn't look like you," Harwin said, placing a slow, deep kiss on her neck. "Or taste like you..."

Rhaenyra closed her eyes a moment while Harwin tilted her chin up with his knuckles. "So what did they taste like?" Rhaenyra challenged smartly, her eyebrows knitting in false confusion.

Harwin's laugh came in a low rumble. "Brat," he murmured, kissing Rhaenyra gently.

Rhaenyra smiled into their kiss, and relented, draping her arms lazily around Harwin's shoulders. She sighed and pulled away after a moment.

"I suppose that's enough Valyrian for the night," Rhaenyra said, peering into Harwin's blue gaze.

"I think I might be able to get some Valyrian out of you yet," Harwin muttered, and before Rhaenyra could deliver any kind of witty response, Harwin stood, taking Rhaenyra's arm in his hand and pulling her to stand. He gave her no time to react, and quickly put his shoulder into her stomach, picking her up as he stood.

He held her waist firmly and walked her easily into her bedroom. When he reached her bed, he set her down gently, his hands firmly bracing her back as he set her down onto her bed. Rhaenyra grabbed his quilted tunic that bore the Strong crest and pulled him down to meet her.