The Dragon Whispers

Chapter 3; Dragonstone

Life on Dragon Stone wasn't too bad. Daella had a room slightly smaller than her old one, although she didn't have to share it with her twin anymore. Everything seemed empty without the company of her old family. No longer would she be able to follow Alicent around, or listen to Helena tell her riddles.

What hurt most of all was the lack of Aemond. Sometimes she would wake up wanting to talk to him, only to realize that she would potentially never be his friend again. And for the first few years, it hurt so very badly.

Her brothers on the other hand missed Aegon the most. They wouldn't admit it but she could tell in the way they looked sometimes. Life without their other family seemed dim.

Another massive change was her stepfather. He was different from her actual father, much more serious and brooding. Then came her step-siblings, she hated them at first; they were the reason they had to leave The Red Keep. If they hadn't attacked Aemond for claiming their mother's dragon then they never would have left.

Eventually, they grew to love each other though.

Nobody on Dragonstone treated them the same as they had back home. Nobody really talked to her, most of the time they just ignored her presence altogether.

Even when years had passed, she still sometimes cried alone in her room, watching the clouds pass outside of her window. Some days she cried because she was alone, some days she cried because she didn't have a dragon, most days she cried over the fact that she couldn't remember what her Uncles and Aunt looked like.

Then, after she had finished crying Daella would remind herself of all the bad things they did. Aemond had called her brothers bastards, he had attacked them even when she begged him to stop and he had threatened to bring a rock down upon their heads.

Once she started to mature her mother started telling the truth. She told her that the Queen was plotting to usurp her throne, and she told her that Aegon would attempt to rule as king. At first, Daella didn't want to believe it, but the words still seeped into her head like poison.

When she turned 9 she had forgotten what her other family looked like, and she didn't care. She wanted nothing more than to watch them suffer. They would die before they threatened them with the words bastard again. They would burn before they stole her mother's throne.

What she enjoyed about Dragonstone was the lack of judgment. Nobody truly talked about anybody else. She could train in the yard while nobody was around, and nobody would truly bat an eye.

She had started training with a sword at the age of eight, and although she still wasn't as fluent as her brothers, she was still quicker than the average lady of court.

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She was sitting alone one night, in the yard. Daella had discovered a secret passage beneath a tapestry in her room which allowed her to get away without guards constantly following her around.

She was ten at the time, still wearing her training clothes.

"Hello." A boy had said to her.

She scrambled to her feet, looking at where he stood near the entrance. The child wasn't much older than her, maybe twelve or so. He was wearing rags and had dirt streaking through his raven-black hair.

"Greetings." She had said in return, straightening her posture.

He began walking in her direction, an easygoing breezy vibe radiating from his skin. "Are you princess Daella?" He asked, pausing a few steps away from where she stood.

Daella began picking at her fingernails, giving a slight dip of her head.

"I am, what's your name?" She asked.

"Ian." He smiled, taking a seat next to where she was sitting before.

She felt safe in front of Ian, he reminded her of her childhood home. Of the maids who used to take care of her.

"Can we be friends Ian?" She had asked with a smile of her own.

"I think I would like that very much." When he grinned Daella noticed that he had a few crooked teeth, well, not crooked but jagged in a way that was hard to describe.

They talked until the sun was beginning to rise above the mountains. Ian had eventually escorted her back through the passage where they talked some more.

"Meet me here at nightfall." She smiled, giving him a hug farewell.

He smiled before he left.

Daella had only a few moments to dress into her nightgown and slip into bed before her maids would come to wake her up.

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Every day Daella would wake excited to see him again, and every night he would return to her chambers and they would trade hushed words. Sometimes they opened board games in the dim candlelight, sometimes he would sneak pastries from the kitchens and they would eat them together in secret.

One night Daella discovered he didn't know how to read, so she began to teach him. They both quickly learned that she wasn't the best of teachers, sometimes they would make some progress, and sometimes they would give up halfway through and decide to play a game instead.

Ian had become her new best friend. He cheered her up when she was alone, and he understood her anger when she pictured The Red Keep. He had been raised there, serving under a wealthy man that she hadn't heard of. His parents had been murdered one night during a break in and upon their death he had been sold to the keepers of Dragonstone. Now he served in the stables.

Sometimes she felt bad for him, Ian had been through a lot more than she ever would.

Some days he reminded her of Aemond, he was extremely handsome even at twelve, and had golden eyes which reminded her of planets. He was intelligent when it came to the real world, and she was smart when it came to books and words.

Together they seemed to balance each other out.

Some mornings her maids would enter and Kath would look at her funny. It's like she knew what was happening behind closed doors.

"Are you hiding anything?" She had asked one morning.

"Not at all." Daella squeaked, her voice high-pitched and uncertain.

Kath had taken one glance at her, before she decided to drop the topic and never bring it up again.