Bejeweled • Aegon Targaryen & Jacaerys Velaryon

Ch 3: Sparks Fly

"And you stood there in front of me just, close enough to touch"

I laid in bed, staring at the opened window. It didn't feel right not having Brandon here. Every day I woke up knowing he wasn't here, it always put a damper in my day.

I eventually got up as one of the maidens fixed a bath for me. I put one foot after another into the tub, sliding my body in as I took deep breaths. I sat in there for nearly ten minutes until a knock was heard.

"Would you please see who it is?" I asked.

The maiden nodded, rushing towards the door. I heard talking, not being able to figure out who was at the door. She left the door open, walking back towards me.

"It's Prince Jacaerys" she said.

"Oh" I said. "Tell him I can meet him out in the courtyard?"

She quickly walked back to the door, talking before closing it. I relaxed again for a few minutes before getting out. I smiled as Illyana walked into the room.

"It's good to see you" I said.

"I missed you, Princess" she said.

She went to work right away at my hair as I fixed my sleeves of my dress.

"Tell me all about Winterfell" she said.

Illyana was the closest thing I had to a friend, the only other girl that lived here was Helaena and she was a bit odd, but she was sweet and kind. Truthfully I liked Helaena a lot, she was the only other sibling besides Rhaenyra that she liked. 

"It was gloomy since my grandfather died. Everybody whispered anytime I walked by, especially when my mother did" I said. "I do not miss it there."

She finished my hair as I listened to her babble on about everything I had missed. Illyana was sly and sneaky, she heard about every droplet of gossip and brought it back to me. She never admitted it, but I always thought she had a knick for Rickon. I knew he did, anybody with eyes could see the way he looked at her when she was not looking.

"So, have you seen Rickon?" I asked.

"O-oh.. no, of course not" she said.

I tried to hide my smile as I went to get a necklace. I went to put it on when Illyana got a closer look at it.

"Where did you get that?" She asked.

I rubbed my thumb over the small dragon pendant. If I told her who it was from she'd only scold me like my mother. The castle was very clearly divided when it came to the Iron Throne. My mother supported my grandfathers decision when he crowned Rhaenyra as his heir, along with Brandon who is Head of House Stark now.

Then there was the other side, who believed Aegon was the rightful heir. Alicent never spoke it aloud, or at least in the presence of me, but there were whispers of the legitimacy of Jace, Luc and Joffrey's parentage. They believed Jace had no right to the Iron Throne as he was in their words a 'bastard'.

Illyana tapped her fingers on the wooden table as I jumped. She pointed to my necklace as I smiled. I decided to lie but I knew she would see right through it anyway. 

"It was from a friend" I said.

"A friend?" She said. "You don't have any of those."

"What are you then?" I asked.

"Who gave you that necklace, Lyanna?" She asked. "And do not tell me it was Aegon."

I pursed my lips together as she rolled her eyes.