Pawn to Queen (A House of the Dragon Fanfic)

Chapter 16

Sandy had been a maid in the Red-keep for twelve years. She began working under Queen Helaena right after she was crowned and she adored the young strange royal. 

How someone so sweet could be married to such an awful man, Sandy would never know. She herself had been touched by the foul man in his youth. Though everyone knew he only had eyes for one person. 

None of the maids ever had a bad word to say about Queen Daenyra. They understood why the new king was so infatuated with her but it still broke their hearts to see Helaena in such misery. The only light in the young Queen's life was her twin children.

The past few days the Queen had been muttering again. The same words over and over, "The towers will fall. A fall from the tower. Two pawns and a queen fall off the golden board."

Again and again, the words seemed to haunt Helaena. 

Like always Sandy walked behind the Queen as they entered the nursery. They were startled to see a man in black running towards an opened wall. A hidden passage that they never knew existed. Helaena ran towards the children's cribs. 

Her screams filled the castle as she sobbed in horror. 

Upon closer inspection, Sandy found the two babes, blue-covered in their own blood. Their throats were cut viciously. 

"GUARDS!!!" Sandy sobbed, racing out the door as they came in. She directed them to the wall that opened and the alarms were sounded as she tried to comfort the Queen. 

Helaena's cries had ceased, unnervingly quickly as Sandy tried to comfort her. 

She watched as Helaena stood she looked in a daze as she opened the windows and stepped onto the ledge. The maid didn't even have time to scream as the young Queen threw herself from the nursery tower.

Tears of joy filled Aegon's eyes as he held the letter tightly in his grasp. The words echoed through his head like a clap of rolling thunder. Daenyra was pregnant with his child. 

A warmth filled his stomach at the thought of her swelled with his heir. He had never felt the absolute pride he did at that moment. Sure he had the twins with his sister-wife, Helaena. But he never wanted them, he never cared for them. In all honesty, they never felt like his children at all. 

He did not feel the same ache for Helaena as he did for Daenyra. Every moment of the day his mind drifted to the love of his life, his Daeny. 

Aegon called on his mother in his chambers. 

As he waited, the smile would not wipe from his face. For the first time when Daeny wasn't there, Aegon was stone-cold sober. 

Alicent entered the room, highly concerned as to what her young son could possibly want. 

"Queen Daenyra is with child..." Were the first words out of the young king's mouth. 

Confusion filtered through Alicent. Aegon was always furious when Daenyra fell pregnant. He had strangled a maid to death the first time he heard she was pregnant with Rhaegar. So why was he sitting there smiling as if he had just won the war?

"We shall send our congratulations, but... why did you call on me for this?" Alicent asked. 

"The child is mine..."