Come Back To Me

Chapter 4

Daena gently knocked on her father's door and was quickly face to face with Ser Qarl to her surprise. He was essentially her father's best friend, always taking care of Laenor. But he never quite spent time with her or her siblings, which she always found odd.

"Ser Qarl, might I come? I only wish to see my father before I go to bed." Daena asked sweetly, but Qarl's face slightly grim.

"Apologies, princess, but...your father is not well." Qarl sighed, but Daena simply rolled her eyes and strutted right past him into his chambers.

"I am well aware he is drunk, Ser Qarl. I may be a child, but I am not stupid." She chuckled as she approached her father, passed out on the couch with a snore that could easily wake any of the neighboring chambers. She brushed a lock from his face, which apparently was enough for him to snap back awake. His arms flung up, smacking Daena right across her face.

"Wh-what, who is th...Daena! Gods, I am so sorry!" Laenor slurred as he sat up to check on her, but she simply held her breath and let the pain pass. Her hand clutched over her cheek to smother the burning sensation from the blow. "L-let me see, my dear."

"It is alright, father." She squeezed her eyes tightly before finally opening them, removing her hand from her cheek when the pain subsided. "Are you alright? I saw earlier outside."

"Oh...that." Laenor sarcastically laughed to himself, obviously still drunk. He let out a sigh and slumped back down with his arm resting on his forehead. "The gods do nothing, but take from me."

"Rhaena told me stories of the late Lady Laena. The gods certainly were cruel in taking such a wonderful woman." She smiled sympathetically.

"My sister...my love...my life...ha!" Laenor chuckled.

Qarl stepped forward when he felt the conversation shifting into darker territory. "Princess, perhaps you must let your father rest."

Laenor let out a bellowing laugh, looking back to Qarl with disgust in his eyes. "Father. Ha! I could never be a father to her."

"Laenor, that's enough!" Qarl hissed, ignoring all formalities of his station by grabbing the princess' arm and leading her to the door. She was too stunned to even protest after what she had just heard. His words made her insides feel like they were caving in. Her eyes were bloodshot with what she couldn't decide was rage or heartbreak. "Princess, I think it best you go straight to your chambers. Your father will speak with you on the morrow when he is sound of mind."

Qarl glared back at Laenor, who fell back to sleep judging by the faint snores. He closed the doors behind her, leaving her frozen in the darkened halls.

A small part of her clung to the hope it was her being a girl that simply disappointed her father. It was the only thing keeping her to continue to prove to be better than she ever could be as a man. It was the reason she was so oddly optimistic most of her life in fact. Because choosing to believe in the light was better than to be swallowed by the darkness the truth held.

The truth that she would always be a disappointment to her father regardless of what she did or said. He didn't want to be a part of her life or to be her father at all.

She hadn't even noticed her feet carried her throughout the empty halls until she heard shouting. Familiar high toned voices growing louder and louder from a nearby door. The distraction was enough to lure her to its direction where chaos was unfolding before her.

"You will die screaming in flames just as your father did! Bastards!" Aemond spat, clutching Luke's throat tightly with one hand with a large rock in the other.