Vaera Targaryen, the Dragon Bound

Living with a mask

Vaera did not want to leave Vermithor alone in the dragon pit, he felt a prisoner. He had been alone for so many years he had gotten used to have no other dragon around and now he was jailed again and she felt his sorrow.

"The royal carriage is almost here, Princess" said ser Criston walking towards her, he was eager to go as far as possible from dragons, one day like that had been enough for him. She patted Vermithor strongly one last time and walked towards the gates with the knight. Cole seemed to have understood how scared she was of the days to come, especially after she had procrastinated instead of flying right back to King's Landing once they had left Driftmark, "Your life won't change completely, Princess" he said warmly, she snorted, "I believe we see my future very differently, ser Criston" she said with a long sigh.

He slowed his pace and uttered, "You don't have to bed anyone, unless you want to. I'll protect you even from your lord husband if need be". She felt a little warmth growing inside her, a soft spot towards the knight perhaps, "Thank you, having you to protect me is a relief" she admitted, he cracked into a smile, "Besides, nothing's guaranteed yet, it may still be a year before you find anyone" he added. That was true and she hoped for it to be the case, at least she could have a mere consolation.

They walked down all the steps in front of the pit where the carriage awaited. Cole opened the door for her and offered her his hand to step in.

The trip back was rather long, the streets of the capital were full of life at night, she enjoyed hearing the people from every corner shout, yell, laugh. She despised the smell though, it wasn't a nice one.

Once back, she asked whether the Queen was still awake to tell her about the Sea Snake and the Princess Rhaenys. Her new sworn sword, a middle aged tall and sturdy man, greeted her and told her that the Queen was about to go to bed. "Is that Vaera?" she heard Alicent ask from inside her chambers, "It is, your grace" said her knight, "Let the Princess in" said the Queen. The knight turned towards the door and opened it for her, "In you go, Princess" he said, "Thank you" said Vaera with a small smile and she entered the Queen's chambers where she found Alicent standing before three beautiful dresses. "Vaera!" said the woman warmly, "Your grace" she answered, the two women walked towards each other and held hands, "What news from Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys?" asked Alicent apprehensively, "They did not see me, understandably, but at least we sent our condolences" "Of course. I do hope they'll get through it" said the Queen gravely but she did not ask anything about Rhaenyra and Daemon nor about Rhaenyra's children, she simply smiled and pointed to the dresses, "They're stunning. Helaena's? For the next three days?" assumed Vaera, "The white one, yes. The green one is mine and the red one yours" said Alicent with a smile, "So us women can have something nice" she added, Vaera smiled genuinely, "Thank you, it's beautiful!" she said truthfully, "I'm glad you like it".

Vaera was aware that her sister and the Queen had been good friends in the past, she did not know what had happened to their friendship but she was sure that, since Vaera was similar to her older sister, the Queen thought her to be a projection of the friendship she had had with Rhaenyra. Her grace was not ill versed towards her, on the contrary, sometimes she felt truly loved by the Queen; Vaera had grown up with her children after all and had always gotten along well with them for the better part of the past years. "

Can I help braid Helaena's hair tomorrow" asked Vaera hoping she could do something nice for her sister, "Oh, sweet girl" said the Queen walking to kiss her on the forehead, "Of course" said Alicent and she sent called her back to her. "Ser Criston?" continued the Queen as Vaera was leaving her rooms, "Yes, your grace" said Cole stepping inside, "Take this dress to the Princess's chambers" said Alicent handing him her red dress for the ceremonies, "Your grace" he nodded holding the Targaryen red silk dress. They were off.