𝙺𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽 ° aemond targaryen

Act One, Scene Three

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"𝙼𝚢 𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕"
𝟷𝟸𝟺 𝙰𝙲 - 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙
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NOTHING ELSE WAS TRULY HEARD from Daemon after that day he had met his daughter. Aside from his appearance at the princess's wedding, the only word they had received of him was through the letters Laena Velaryon sent to her brother and his wife. It had seemed he ran off, avoiding the responsibility of raising a child.

But growing up without her father around didn't seem to effect the young girl. She had never met the man, or at least as far as her memory serves her. Instead, Vaella found parental figures in her uncle and his wife, Alicent.

The Hightower woman was infatuated with her good-niece. Her confidence and intelligence shown through early on in her life, and it was everything that the queen had aspired to be at her age. Maybe that was made her take the natural born girl in so easily.

Or maybe it was because she knew Vaella would need a motherly figure in her life.

The dark haired woman glanced over at the girl of ten and two years, who sat cuddled up into an arm chair was her nose in a book that was almost as large as her. She could never understand how she could go through so many books that large so quickly, as this had been the second one she had seen her reading in the past fortnight.

     Alicent's eldest and only true-born daughter was across from the younger girl. Some insect that the woman couldn't name crawled along her hand while the white haired girl mumbled things under her breath.

    "Did you know that the shadow Balerion's wingspan was said to engulf whole towns into darkness?" The younger of the two girls spoke up, causing the queen to once again return her gaze to the girl. Brown eyes met violet as the young girl was already looking at her, awaiting her response.

     The woman hummed softly. "I don't believe I did." She answered, glancing down at her sewing as she repaired one of her son's training tunics. "You are far too intelligent for your years, my sweet girl. What else is there to know about Balerion?"

     "Well, his teeth were said to be as long as great swords, and his face could open so wide that he could swallow aurochs whole." Vaella continued on rambling off facts about the great winged beast, her eyes filled with wonder and excitement as she read off the words in her book.

     All the while she spoke, Alicent listened on with a small smile on her face. It was a wonder this girl hadn't read every book in the castle library by now, though no doubt she was getting quite close.

     "And uncle got to ride him!" She said with a smile on her face, looking at the queen with wide eyes before turning back to her book. "I wish he hadn't died so soon. I would've loved to have met him."

     Her words caused a light laugh to fall from the Hightower woman's lips, gaining the girl's gaze once again. "I'm sure he would've been a sight to behold. But you have Meraxes, and I'm sure she is just as wondrous as the Black Dread."

    Vaella thought for a moment before humming softly and turning her eyes back to the book in her hands, knowing that the queen was right.

     It was truly a sight to behold; seeing a young girl of merely nine flying over the rocky shores of Dragonstone on a dragon that all believed to be dead. But there she was, the large, silver scaled dragon with a small Vaella Targaryen clinging to her spines.

     Viserys was far too proud of his niece to scold her after that.

     A soft knock on the door echoed throughout the nearly silent room. "Enter," The queen called, causing the food to be pushed open and one of the Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole, entered a few steps into the room.

     "Your Grace," He said with a bow of his head towards the woman, turning to the two girls and repeated the movement. "Princesses."

     "What is it, Criston?" The dark haired woman questioned, momentarily setting her stitching down and turning her attention to the knight.

     "I just came to inform you that the Princess Rhaenyra has finished with her labors. Shall I send word for her?"

     Alicent sat straighter at the words coming from the man's mouth. Rising from her seat, she made her way across the room, putting the supplies she was using away as she spoke to her guard. "Yes, of course. Right away."

     "Yes, my queen," And with another nod, he was gone.

     "Girls," The woman called, turning to face them once more. "Why don't you both go on and start preparing for your lessons."

     Helaena was quick the rise out of her chair, putting the insect she had been playing with back in its box and saying a mumbled goodbye to her mother before exiting the room.

     The younger girl, however, took her time in gathering herself. As soon as her cousin had gone from the room, she took careful steps over to Alicent, giving a small smile to the woman she viewed as a mother.

     "I'm sure Rhaenyra's child is healthy," She said in a voice as soft as silk. "Another strong babe."

     Alicent couldn't help but be shocked by the girl's words, her mouth opening slightly as if trying to find the right words. But she, like everyone else, wasn't blind to the fact that the princess's children were not that of full Valerian blood.

     Before the queen could muster any words, Vaella lifted her skirts, bidding a quick goodbye to the woman and leaving the room with an air of confidence.

𖤍

𝑉𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝑠𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑦. 𝑖 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟.

𝑆𝑜, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜, 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐷𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦. 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡.

𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑜𝑘？