dancing with our hands tied | r. targaryen

xxiv.

116 A.C.
KING'S LANDING
•••

ALAYNE WATCHED AS HER NIECE RAN AROUND THE GARDEN, CHASING AFTER BUTTERFLIES. She let out a laugh as Helaena jumped up to catch a butterfly, but it flew higher, evading her only a little. Helaena ran over to her aunt, launching herself into Alayne's lap with a frown on her lips.

"It won't let me catch it," Helaena says.

Alayne laughs as she brushes Helaena's hair out of her face, "And why would it let you catch it?"

"Because I want to be friends," Helaena responds.

"He doesn't know that, sweet girl," Alayne informs her.

"Well how do I let it know I want to be friends?" Helaena asks. Alayne looks at her niece and picks her up as she heads over to the butterfly her niece had been chasing. She holds a finger out near the butterfly, and it flutters away before flying back and landing on Alayne's finger.

Helaena lets out a gasp as she looks at the finger, "It wants to be your friend!"

Alayne smiles, "It wants to be your friend as well. Go on, hold your finger out."

Helaena obeys her aunt's request and watches as the butterfly jumps from Alayne's finger over to Helaena's. The young girl gasps and looks up at her aunt and then back at the butterfly. The butterfly spreads its wings and Helaena looks at the colors in awe.

"Green and black," Helaena says with a smile as she looks over at her aunt, "Like you."

Alayne lets out a laugh, "I am not green and black."

"You are!" Helaena insists, "I saw it."

"And how did you see it?" Alayne asks her niece amused.

"I saw it," Helaena says as she transfers the butterfly from one finger to another, "In a dream."

Alayne looks at her niece curiously, "In a dream?"

"I see things," Helaena tells her, "I see things when I sleep. Sometimes they happen."

Alayne watches her niece, "And what else have you seen, besides me being green and black?"

Helaena looks away from the butterfly thoughtfully and then a smile spreads on her little lips as she looks up at her aunt, "A dragon!"

"A dragon?" Alayne asks with a smile.

"A blue one," Helaena answers. There was only one dragon that came to mind for Alayne and that was Dreamfyre who currently nested in the Dragon Pit. Alayne had not been near the Dragon Pit in some time since she and Rhaenyra would visit Syrax. She missed the dragon.

"Princess Rhaena rode a blue dragon. Do you know what she is called?" Alayne asks and her niece shakes her head at the question, "She is called Dreamfyre."

"Dreamfyre," Helaena tests on her tongue, "Pretty."

"Very," Alayne says as she observes her niece. She'd heard of prophetic dreams. Should her niece bond with Dreamfyre then perhaps she had the gift. However, Alayne had no idea what her being green and black meant.

"Will you fly a dragon?" Helaena asks.

Alayne shakes her head, "I will not. I am not a Targaryen."

"Do you want to fly?" Helaena asks.

"I used to," Alayne tells her niece, "But not anymore."

Helaena frowns, "Why not?"

Alayne shrugs her shoulders as she watches the butterfly linger around Helaena with a small smile. The young girl was so gentle and sweet, "I do not know."