The Passion of a Thousand Suns | Aemond Targaryen

Five: the untamed

DRAGONSTONE 

126 AC

Hira tapped the parchment against her palm, eyeing the red and gold seal warily. It arrived this morning and solely the cause of her worry.

"Isn't it good news to receive a letter from the king?" Linh chimed from Hira's bed, sprawled across with Ming resting her head on her lap, threading intricate braids on the brown haired girl.

"That entirely depends on what the king wants from Hira," Ming answered, closing the book and tossing it to the side. Linh groaned in disappointment as the braid undid itself, whilst yanking the girl back in place.

"What does it say?" Jade asked, perched on the sofa next to Pilak.

The Lengii Princess smiled at her basilisk demanding treats. Jade happily fed him pieces of red meat. 

Despite the cold conditions of Dragonstone which made it difficult for basilisks to thrive, Hira's fierce protector had grown over the last two years. Almost the same size as a small horse, much to her pride. 

Hira cast her eyes over her ladies. Over the years of living away from home, all three have become her close, trusted friends. Whilst hidden in her chambers, the ladies would act more familiar with each other. Silly sometimes, like children who spent all day out in the sun playing. Outside in the public eye however, they were the epitome of respectable, well mannered court ladies befitting their station.

Her smile grew as she watched Ming and Linh. She didn't question the growing romance between her cousin and friend, in fact she encouraged it, but the girls were far too oblivious. Jade on the other hand teased them until they were red in the face.

Hira gnawed at her button lip, fiddling with the paper once more. "I am being summoned to the capital. The king says it would do me good to be brought up with my cousins."

Linh queried, "He does know you're a grown woman now? What more growing up do you need to do?"

"From the growing whispers, I've heard that the king's condition is slowly deteriorating. He must want his niece close by."

"Has he extended the invitation to Daemon's other daughters?" Linh received a pinch from Ming, who caught the expression on her cousin's face.

Hira shrugged, mood dampening. "How am I to know? Rhaena hasn't spoken a word to me in the last two years."

The product of their fallout. The rift was too large for Hira to mend, although part of her didn't know if she wanted to mend it. She stood by her actions and words, even if Rhaena thought her a cruel monster for influencing Aemond that night. 

Life in Dragonstone was lonely. Despite having her court ladies and Sapphire Guards close by, Hira knew she was regarded as the outsider by the Targarygens and Velaryons who graced its halls. 

Jacaerys and Lucerys only spoke to her when needed, too busy in the training yard to pay her any attention. Rhaena avoided her at all costs, whilst Baela was sent to Driftmark as a ward of Rhaenys, a token of Rhaenyra and Daemon's goodwill, or rather to placate the mother of the son whose murder they orchestrated. 

Her stepmother was awkward with her, not knowing how to deal with a grown woman in her household, who was just as wild and petulant as her husband.

It was those moments that Hira wished she was back home in Leng. Sometimes she would catch the smell of pinewood, or hear her mother's laughter in the air. She thought herself half mad with yearning for a home that was seas away. Not even one of her cousin's hugs could heal her, or any of Jade's calming drought. Linh often attempted to lighten the mood with a song and dance, but Hira's heart belonged to Leng. It yearned for her empire still to this day.