Familiarity ||| Jacaerys Velaryon

eight

Their stay at High Tide was nice. And though Alyssa was glad to be back in Pentos with her father, she did kind of miss Westeros. Even just the history, how happy Laena looked there.

Especially seeing how bored her father was becoming. No longer did he seem ignited with any passion there. Instead of exploring the city or spending hours with his daughters, he found himself reading histories of dragon lords.

Rhaena's egg never would hatch. And as she grew, four, five, and six, she realized it. That was something that hurt her greatly. Everyone else in her family was special, everyone else had dragons, but she didn't.

Especially since Daemon was a bit more distant from his daughters; even Alyssa. He was teaching them Valyrian but was less active with them. Only working with the dragons seemed to inspire him. And Rhaena couldn't participate in that.

Alyssa was still the best sister she could be. She protected her sisters from much; the Prince of Pentos' attention, hurt. She often kept them entertained, especially since they were getting older.

Of course, she wasn't really reading her sisters to sleep anymore. But Alyssa was helping Laena teach them the ways of life.

Says she was beginning to understand more. Especially as she began to grow into her features. Servants who paid more attention to her, complimented her. Alyssa was a little vain, she knew that. But it was only for boys.

It was the world she lived in. Especially in Pentos. That's the only reason she was given attention, why she held any sort of value to those outside of her family. Because she was pretty and she was a princess.

Still, they'd sort of lacked in her education surrounding her duties as a woman. Without a Septa to teach her, they... forgot, per se.

But when Alyssa was twelve, her sisters seven, they were told by their parents that Laena was pregnant again. Maybe another baby would make them happy. Like Rhaena and Baela made them happy. Another dragon egg too when the babe was born.

Alyssa was elated at the prospect of another sibling, Baela too. But Rhaena felt a little dejected. Because a new baby and a dragon egg meant another child with a dragon to take her place.

Always had both Laena and Alyssa instilled in her that she was just as important without a dragon. And her egg not hatching didn't mean she'd never get one. It would just be harder.

Daemon wasn't the best at assuring Rhaena of that. Because she wasn't interested in the things he was interested in and it was a bit hard for them to connect. Alyssa always tried to make up for that with her sister, a constant presence for both of them.

Especially since Laena was pregnant and shouldn't have been stressed about taking care of her daughters. And with Alyssa being a bit older, 12, she understood more.

But not everything.

In fact, Alyssa went through a bit of a crisis a couple of moons after her twelfth nameday. She'd been feeling a bit sick, a bit sore. But it wasn't unusual.

Until she woke up one morning and found her linens and nightgown stained scarlet. It made Alyssa woozy, to see blood in her bed and on her nightgown.

She didn't know where it was coming from until she found it on herself. And then Alyssa was terrified. That she was bleeding and she didn't know why. Blood wasn't normal, especially coming from her.