Game of Survival { A House of the Dragon Fanfiction}

Chapter 2

Gael had a mix of white and blond hair and her deep lilac eyes contrasted with her hair. She was a kind, curious, and passionate young lady. Gael would easily catch the eyes of young knights and lords, even if she didn’t notice.

She would spend her time running from her Septa Lyra and liked to spend her time with her nieces and nephews, as they were close in age. However, she would spend most of her time in her private garden, where she would take care of it and read there.

Celya Waters, the rumored Targaryen bastard, was a girl of one and ten that kept company with Princess Gael. But Celya wasn’t only a companion to Gael; both of them held a deep care for each other, as Gael saw Celya as her equal. Celya grew up in the Red Keep and was raised by one of the cooks, Ilda.

She knew that Ilda wasn’t her mother, but she was the caring and compassionate mother every child should have.

Queen Alysanne chose Celya as her daughter's "principal handmaid," as every time she would lay eyes on Celya, it would remind her of Saera. And guilt sometimes could take over a person.

As she grew up in the Keep, she learned that there were times that being a "second citizen class" inside those walls was a powerful thing, as she would often notice small things that others wouldn’t be able to notice. And that was how Celya noticed that Gael changed her behavior after the arrival of Otto Hightower in Kings Landing.

Otto Hightower, a young man of three-and-twenty, was the youngest brother of Lord Edmund Hightower.

At that age, he was already an ambitious and cruel man.

One of his goals was to get closer to the royal family; as the second son, he had to make a name for himself, and, being only seven years older than Prince Viserys, he started to befriend him.

"Green fits you well, Princess." He said it to Gael for the first time.

"Thank you, Ser..." Gael replied, unsure of who he was.

"I beg your pardon, M’Lady." He started.  "I am Otto Hightower."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Ser Otto."

At three and ten, Gael was still an innocent girl, and being sheltered from the darkness of the world, she didn’t know what would happen to her.

For Otto, him being married wasn’t an issue as he still would accomplish what he had to.

"Would you like to have a late tea with me?" Otto asked her in hopes of making his deep desire a reality.

"I would love too."

In the following morning, Celya found Gael hiding in her bedchamber, crying. At first, Celya didn’t know what happened, and still unsure, she held her dearest friend in a warm embrace while the oldest cried.

"What happened?"  Celya asked, worried for her friend. Celya wasn’t sure if she would have asked that, but she had so many thoughts going through her small head.

"I-I….  We were having tea; I thought it was only tea." Gael paused as she tried not to cry harder. "But then, he... He started to touch me  and..."

Gael couldn’t even finish speaking, as every time the flashback went through her head, she would start crying.

Celya was still young, as Gael was, and she didn’t know what to do, so she kept embracing her friend.

As the moon passed, Gael would isolate herself from her family.

She started to miss her family dinners, stopped sleeping with her mother as she would do, and only allowed Celya near her.

She didn’t know if it was the right thing to do, but she didn't know how to express what she was feeling. Isolating herself from questions was the best she could do.

Gael started to notice some changes in herself, as her dresses were more tight than usual.
Her slim figure started to be more swollen, and her emotions were very unstable. Confused about what was happening to her, she turned to books for answers, as she didn’t trust her Septa to keep it a secret.

How would her parents, the King and Queen, react?

She knew what happened to her older sister, Saera, and, even if she was only a baby, she could still hear some gossip about it. So she tried to keep things as secret as possible.

Loosen dresses became her go-to, and she started to spend more time in Dragonstone, where her mother was, and in the guest bedchamber.

With time passing and her belly growing bigger, it was harder to hide it from her mother.

Alysanne started to notice the changes in her daughter, and having had thirteen children herself, she knew how a woman's body would change with pregnancy.

Alysanne, being a caring mother, even though some disagree with it, felt the need to comfort and try to talk with her daughter.

Alysanne had enough of her daughter's isolation and invited her to break fast with her, which Gael agreed to.

"You know that you can speak freely with me." Alysanne broke the silence that was present during the meal.

"I know," Gael simply said.

"I have questioned myself on why you became more distant from everyone."

"I suppose I am afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"Of being a disappointment to you, to your father, and to everyone." Gael couldn’t take any longer and confessed what she had been feeling lately.

"I will never be disappointed in you, my sweet girl."

Alysanne was wordless; she felt as if she had failed, and that made her question a few actions in her life.

"I am with a child." And with that, her secret was out, and it was the first time she had the strength to say it out loud.

Alysanne was socked; her youngest daughter was with child, and she could feel that Gael was being honest with her. It would have been almost  twelve years since Saera had a similar conversation with her, and this time, she did what she hadn’t done with Saera.

Although, the truth was that Alysanne was also afraid; she couldn’t lose another child.

Three moons passed, and on the 10th day of the 1st moon of 94 AC, Princess Gael gave birth to a sweet blue-eyed boy with a few blond hairs.

"It is a boy, my lady." The midwife informed Princess Gael.

"Gaevon."  She said she looked tired from the 18 hours of labor. "His name will be Gaevon, my Prince Gaevon."

What Gael didn’t know was that King Jaehaerys knew about the situation, as one of the servants had informed the Hand of the King.

After giving the baby boy to a maid so that Gael could clean herself, she noticed one maid leaving the birthing chamber.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "No, no, no, he stays here with me."

Unfortunately, it was too late, as the woman was already out of the chamber, and Gaevon was never seen again.