Unintended

Epilogue Part One

Rhaenyra was irritated with Harwin, more so than she had been in years. He had promised her, many times, that she would not be made to sit in a tent with all of the other women during any sort of celebrations. He had promised that he would always ensure she was able to ride out on the hunt with him. And, every hunt that they had attended, he had stayed true to his word. They would ride along with the hunting party until they grew bored, then sneak off for the night, just the pair of them camping out under the stars.

But today, in celebration of her father's twenty-third year of his reign, he had broken his promise and insisted she remain at camp while he accompanied the other men out on the hunt. Truth be told, she could hardly see her toes and could scarcely walk without waddling and surely could not mount a horse in her state– not that she would admit it– but she was annoyed nonetheless.

They had shared a fairly blissful four years together, just the two of them at Dragonstone. Her father had commanded them to take up a different residence after the first few months in the Keep when they had been unable to keep their hands off of one another. It had not taken long for her father to grow tired of overhearing their activities or turning a corner and catching them stealing kisses or doing something far more inappropriate in an alcove.

Rhaenyra had been happy to be away from King's Landing, to have Harwin all to herself. It had proven good for them to spend that interrupted time together, learning everything about one another, arguing and making up, working together to build a happy life with each other. Harwin was content to do whatever Rhaenyra wanted, escorting her all over the Seven Kingdoms and across the Narrow Sea where they did, in fact, consummate their union in every lord and prince's castle.

Although her father hated that she was constantly disappearing to far corners of the world on dragonback, he had to acknowledge that there was no one better to accompany her than her devoted husband, who would sooner lose his head than let any harm come to her. It turned out that Harwin was a very powerful diplomatic asset, much to her father's liking, and had strengthened the bonds with their allies overseas and helped solidify Rhaenyra's position as heir. Her father was so pleased that he had insisted on including Harwin in small council meetings whenever he was at the Keep in order to best prepare him to be Rhaenyra's prince consort.

Rhaenyra had loved the excitement of seeing the world with Harwin, attending feasts and balls in foreign cities where she would watch him charm everyone in sight before dragging him off into an empty room to turn his full attention to her. Rhaenyra was so content with their life together, but after years of being completely happy with just Harwin, she suddenly began to imagine how lovely it would be if the halls of Dragonstone were filled with the sounds of their children's laughter and tiny footsteps racing about.

Luckily, Harwin had been laying next to her in bed when finally came to the conclusion that she was ready for a babe and she wasted no time in telling him her desires. Harwin had been all too delighted after years of carefully preventing it, his eagerness ensuring that it only took two short months for her to become with child.

As with everything, he had been the perfect husband, doting on her and taking care of her every need, even when she was stubborn in insisting she did not want his help. The past week had been the most tiresome for Rhaenyra by far. It was nearly time for her to begin her labors, her stomach had swelled beyond what she thought was possible and a few days prior it had begun to drop. It was unimaginable for a person to be as rounded as she was and she hated every minute of it, but Harwin only seemed to love her more and more as her stomach grew.