Breakbones and the Dragonrider

Chapter 13

"It's not too late, Rhaenyra," Laenor said, his head propped on his hand as he laid on his side. Rhaenyra mirrored Laenor's position on the other side of the bed.

"But the second day, Laenor," Rhaenyra argued quietly. "I was nearly killed on the second day of the tour. I was feeling hopeful that first night, but what a terrible mess this has turned into."

Laenor smiled down at the bed for a moment, and then looked back up at his wife. "You can still do so much good on this tour. The party will press on. Tours are always a tricky affair anyway."

Rhaenyra thought a moment, and then nodded. She softened a bit. "I have enjoyed parts of it."

Laenor stifled a satisfied smirk. "The people love you. Let them see what I and so many others see, and this can still work in our favor."

Rhaenyra nodded, and looked from the bed back up to Laenor.

"And you, dear husband..." Rhaenyra smiled as she placed emphasis on the words. "Can the tour work in your favor? Are you terribly bored?"

She had been concerned that Laenor would hate the tour. Laenor was a warrior who had ridden his dragon into war. How could any of this compare?

Laenor's face brightened, much to Rhaenyra's surprise. "This tour far outmeasures languishing in a castle, getting soft in the middle." Laenor thought a moment. "The company of other knights, who fight for the realm, who have seen things I've seen... I don't mind the tour, Rhaenyra."

Rhaenyra surveyed Laenor's expression, wondering if he had seen another kind of solace on the road. She considered for a moment what Laenor must have been feeling, less than two weeks since the loss of Joffrey. No, it was too soon to have found that in another person. Perhaps he never would again. But Rhaenyra wanted for Laenor what she had found in Harwin.

"I suppose there can be fulfillment, even outside King's Landing," Rhaenyra said. "If one gives it enough time," she added gently.

Laenor nodded. He thought for a moment. The night he returned to King's Landing, he had started to ask whether Harwin understood what Rhaenyra was asking of him. To give up openly being a father to his own children was a sacrifice he knew he himself would have trouble making.

"I'm grateful for Ser Harwin," Laenor said at length. "That he was there to save you."

"He... thought he had failed me, somehow," Rhaenyra said. "I've never seen him so shaken."

"If he had failed, you wouldn't be here right now," Laenor said.

Rhaenyra had said the same thing to Harwin the night before. He had held her like she was a wisp of smoke that would blow away should the winds turn against his favor. The phantom memory of his touch, and the confession they shared, stirred a tension in her. She looked to the dying light in the sky, eager for nightfall.

---

The sound of music filled the great hall of the north tower, mixing with laughter and conversation. Rhaenyra felt the shadow of the attempt on her life growing smaller. The Goldcloaks and Kingsguard off duty had been served ale in the expansive garrison, and the mood of all seem to have lifted.

Rhaenyra watched the dances in the middle of the hall, drinking a rich burgundy wine that came from the Riverlands. Laenor danced with a few of the ladies in the tour party. Harwin watched from the far side of the room. Rhaenyra had waited for him to accept the invitation to dance that many a lady had given, but he politely declined each one.

"He should dance with one of them," a voice said from beside Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra looked up and saw Lyssa standing beside her.

"Who?" Rhaenyra asked, looking down at the crowd.