the blind knight - rhaenyra targaryen

x

Jessica stood outside of the dragon pit, watching as Rhaenyra touched down from a ride.

The princess dismounted her dragon, and allowed the keepers to take Syrax away as she practically skipped toward the knight. "See? I am alive and well." She smirks.

"I'm glad. I'd hate to die when I get back to the Keep." Rhaenyra walks closer, pulling off her gloves with her teeth and placing them in Jessica's hand.

"Your father has announced a council meeting, and you are late. But what's new?" The princess smiles, following after Jessica. They make it back to the Red Keep, and Rhaenyra runs off to where court was held, and Jessica went another way.

When Jessica found time to sneak off, she would find herself overlooking Blackwater Bay near the cliffs. It was the small breeze she felt that made her calm.

The day she arrived at King's Landing, she wanted to leave. The stench of the Blackwater and the city itself was enough to scare off anyone, but it's been almost two years, so she had gotten used to it. The prince had offered her a spot on his City Watch, but she was glad she passed because she enjoyed her work in the castle.

A few of her colleagues believed her to be too calm and endearing to work for the King. Most used this reasoning to justify why she shouldn't have a high status in the Kingsguard, but as long as the princess and the King vouched for her, their opinion didn't matter.

In later years, Jessica never became wiser. She was blindly loyal to those she loved, and all the princess had to do was bat her eyelids to get her way. Brianne and Daemon believed it pathetic, and even Rhaenyra voiced this once. But she never stopped believing in the good.

She loved her times of solitude and usually enjoyed it when Rhaenyra interrupted it as she did now. Jessica doesn't notice her tears and smiles as she sits beside her. The princess' hand slides up Jessica's forearm, and she connects their hands.

The older girl turns, noticing her tears, and wipes them from her face with cold but soft hands. "What's wrong?" Rhaenyra squints, letting more tears fall before she looks at Jessica.

"Where were you?" Jessica frowns in confusion. "Where was I?"

"You were supposed to be at court. You weren't there."

"What happened?" Rhaenyra sniffles and wipes her face. "My father is getting married." Jessica's eyes widen slightly. "Oh, that's-"

"To Alicent." Her eyes get wider, and she turns to Rhaenyra fully. "What?!" The princess nods and begins to sob.

"They've been seeing each other for many moons, and she never told me. Right after my mother died." Jessica scoffs in disbelief and recalls when Alicent told her about someone she was entertaining while sending letters to Brianne.

She couldn't believe the man she was entertaining was Viserys.

"I'm sorry, Rhaenyra." Instead of responding, Rhaenyra pounces on her, and Jessica pulls her into a deep hug. "I wish I could fix everything for you."

The girl sobs into her shoulder, and they sit that way for a while. Jessica rubs her back, and Rhaenyra cries for a while. "You should've been there."

"I'll never leave your side again. I will attend every court meeting until my last breath." Rhaenyra chuckles as they celebrate.

For the rest of the day, she keeps her promise when Rhaenyra drags her to the dragon pit. The princess sends away the dragon keepers after they bring out Syrax, and leads Jessica toward her.

"I wish I had introduced you sooner." She whispers. Jessica had seen dragons up close but never touched one like Rhaenyra wanted her to now. "Will she hurt me if I come close?"