𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖉𝖞𝖓𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖞, 𝐚. 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐞𝐧¹

intermission; part three

 ⊱❀⊰

      THE GODS chose to be especially cruel the year of Alysanne's twelfth nameday. Late in night many moons ago, the Stranger had claimed the soul of Cerenna Lannister, ushering her from this world into the next, leaving behind only the cold, blue husk of her body. 

      Alysanne recalled that night that she had snuck into her mother's chamber, hoping to share one last memory with her mother. Instead, she found Cerenna lying deathly still, her pale eyes unfocused, the blue shrouded with grey.

      The horror that had taken hold of Alysanne that evening was one she'd never forget.

      Her heart ached for the young Valyrians who stood across the courtyard, their faces downcast as the crowd milled about. It wasn't only the Lannisters that had been greeted by the Stranger. The Velaryons had endured quite a loss when Lady Laena Velaryon and her unborn babe perished in a blaze of dragonfire.

      Her gaze slid from Daemon Targaryen's daughters to their cousins, who stood beneath the shadow of their mother, sadness lingering in their eyes. Little Lucerys wasn't quite old enough to understand what had happened, but Jacaerys knew.

      Grief swam in his eyes as he hovered next to his mother, for his own father had been taken as well. 

      Alysanne had had enough of funerals and sorrow and grief to last a lifetime, and yet, she found herself attending yet another funeral, this time, at Driftmark, the ancestral seat of House Velaryon. The funeral had been a tense affair marred but quiet accusations of the Princess's supposed infidelity with her guard, Ser Harwin Strong.

      Jace absently kicked at a rock, his cheeks and nose glowing red from the tears he had shed. With a sigh, she turned around and leaned against the stone barrier, her cheek resting against her forearms as she gazed over the tumultuous waves of the Narrow Sea.

      A shadow fell over her body, prompting her to drag her eyes away from the raging sea. Jace stood next to her, his expression somber as he, too, peered over the waves. Alysanne had never seen the prince so melancholic before... "I am so sorry for your loss, Prince Jacaerys. Though I never had the pleasure of meeting Lady Laena, I heard such wonderful things about her."

      Jace's gaze cut to Alysanne, who offered the prince a smile, which he returned in full, though it didn't quite reach his eyes... "Thank you, Aly."

      Alysanne blushed. He was the only person to ever call her Aly.

      "How are you faring?" She turned to gaze down at the prince, who, in his two years junior to Alysanne, was still a little bit shorter than the girl.

      Jace offered a simple shrug. "I am well," he said with a sigh, though Alysanne saw the darkness glimmering in his eyes. With a tight-lipped smile, Alysanne pulled the prince away from the crowd and down a narrow set of stairs, where they stepped over the drunken Prince Aegon.