The Princess and the Knight

Chapter 7

Rhaenyra and Visenya have a talk. Second part of this chapter will be from Jaehaera's point of view. I hope you guys like it. 🥰

                                                            Visenya Targaryen (16 years old.)

Rhaenyra watched as her daughter entered the chambers without noticing her. She had heard from her husband what had happened between Visenya and Rhaegon, but Daemon had not told her what caused the issue. Her husband told her that he would take care of it. He should have known she would not leave it alone. Rhaenyra loved her children, they were her pride and joy, but she was also aware of their shortcomings. She knew Visenya would not have reacted that way unless something really bad had happened. Daemon had also been really angry and when Rhaenyra visited Rhaegon she had noticed his bruises. He had admitted Daemon had hit him and at first Rhaenyra had been angry, but then she had stopped to think. Daemon had never hit their children, not even when they deserved it. The fact that he had hit Rhaegon made her think this was more serious than she originally believed.
"You have been gone for a long while." Visenya jumped and turned to her. Rhaenyra noticed her wet clothes and frowned. "I will have the maids prepare your bath, you will catch a chill if you stay that way."
Visenya did not say anything, just nodded. Rhaenyra instructed the maids and waited until the bath was ready. Once her daughter was inside the bathtub, Rhaenyra walked behind her.
"I will wash your hair. I have not done it since you were a small child." Her daughter nodded once more, while Rhaenyra started her task. After a few minutes of silence, she could not hold it in any longer. "Your father told me what happened between you and Rhaegon. I was surprised, I do not think I have ever seen or heard about you hitting anyone. Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"Is it possible to hate someone and love them at the same time?"
"I believe so." Rhaenyra massaged her daughter's scalp, thinking over her words carefully. "Love and hate are very strong and similar emotions."
"Similar?" Visenya turned to her, a confused look on her face. "I would think they are the opposite."
"Most people believe that, but love and hate are both strong emotions." Rhaenyra rinsed Visenya's hair. "They are two sides of the same coin. The deeper you love someone, the deeper you can come to hate them. Most of the time the person you come to hate is someone you used to love and care for, and is usually because that person hurt you."
"That makes sense."
"Do you hate Rahegon?" Visenya turned to her once more and Rhaenyra gave her a gentle smile. "I know you are angry with him and possibly hurt by whatever he did. But I want you to think about it, really look inside yourself and think about it. Do you truly hate your brother?"
"I do not know." A tear ran down Visenya's face. "I just know I do not like him very much right now."
"I am sorry for whatever he did to cause you pain."
"It is not your doing, not your fault. You should not apologize for my brother's actions." Visenya looked forward once more. "He did nothing to me."
"But he did something to someone you care for." It was not a question. Rhaenyra knew all her children and Visenya was not someone prone to violence. Unless it was to defend someone she cared for. Her daughter tensed and Rhaenyra moved, sitting beside the bathtub and smiling at her daughter. "Who did he hurt Visenya?"
"I cannot." Her poor daughter looked heartbroken and at the same time stubborn. "I made a promise."
"I understand." Rhaenyra kissed her daughter's forehead. "Get some rest, my love."
It was almost the hour of the bat and Rhaenyra did not want to bother her other children. They had already gone to bed a few hours ago, she knew Rhaegon was the only one not in his chambers. Rhaenyra entered her chambers, finding her husband sitting at the table, a cup of wine in his hands. He was lost in thought and did not seem to have heard her enter.
"Daemon." His eyes jumped to her. Rhaenyra moved closer to him. "What happened between Rhaegon and Jaehaera?"
"What makes you think something happened between them?"
"Do not lie to me husband, I am not stupid." His eyes were guarded, which made her believe what she was thinking was right. "If it had been any of our other children they would have beat Rhaegon themselves. The only person that would cause Visenya to react that way is Jaehaera. I have barely seen her in the past few days and then you told me about what happened between our children. I do not need to read minds to know something happened between them."
"I said I would handle it." Daemon stood up, walked to her, and kissed her softly. "You already have many things to worry about, between the kingdom, my brother, and our children. Let me help you with this."
"He deflowered her, did he not?"
"Rhaenyra." He let out a groan.
"Why is he not wedding her?" Now she was the one upset. Her husband and children had kept the situation from her, while Rhaegon spent his time in the pleasure houses and Jaehaera was probably in her chamber crying. "What exactly are his plans? Because I am perfectly aware he is not in the castle right now."
"He refuses to wed her, says he does not love her, and will not condemn her to a life of suffering at his side."
"He should have thought about that before fucking her." Rhaenyra narrowed her eyes, glaring at her husband. "I do not care if he does not wish to. We have made sure our children would not be traded for political alliances, or made to wed someone they do not wish to. But all of them know that the moment they start getting involved with the lords and ladies of the seven kingdoms they will have to wed them."
"I know, but..."
"There are no buts." She glared harder at her husband. "There is no other choice. Rhaegon will marry Jaehaera, I will not have my niece shamed."
"There is another choice." Rhaenyra gave him a questioning look. "Baelon has offered to marry her."
"Baelon?" Daemon nodded. "Is he aware of what Rhaegon did?"
"Yes, he was there when I spoke with Rhaegon." Daemon ran a hand over his face and Rhaenyra could see how tired he was. "Rhaegon said he did not want to wed Jaehaera and Baelon just offered."
"What was your answer?"
"I told him we would have to speak with you. We were going to speak in the morning and let you know Baleon wanted to wed her and ask for your blessing."
"Without telling me the reason as to why this decision had been made." Rhaenyra shook her head. "I do not even know what to say. Let us go to sleep, I will think on this, and tomorrow we will speak with Baelon."
Baelon had slept with other women, he was not a saint. But he had always been more discreet and less reckless than his twin. Rhaenyra would not condemn her son and niece to an unhappy life. Rhaegon would also not be allowed to get out of this issue unscathed. He was the one that made the mistake and made an innocent girl suffer. He would have to make amends, whether he liked it or not.
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Jaehaera could see her mother was worried, but she could not force herself to eat. She was not hungry and eating just to pacify her parents would give her a stomach ache later on. She pushed the food around the plate and ignored everyone sitting at the table. Jaehaera had been in love with Rhaegon for as long as she could remember. He was tall, handsome, and fearless. She had always felt safe with him, she remembered all those times he had protected her when she was a child. Jaehaera was well aware that Rhaegon did not feel the same way about her as she felt about him, but she thought he would always protect her. The moons she had spent taking care of him something had changed, he had started to look at her differently. Jaehaera believed that would be her opportunity, that his feelings would change and then he would start to see her as a woman. The night they had been together had felt magical, she believed he finally realized his feelings had changed. She had left during the night to stop people from talking, then the next morning had made everything turn into a nightmare.
Rhaegon had barely been able to look at her or spend more than a few minutes in her presence. She heard the next night that he was back in the pleasure houses and he had never mentioned what had happened that night. Jaehaera had waited for him to talk to her about his intentions, or at least to ask her parents if he could court her, after all, he had ruined her. If anyone found out she would be the one disgraced. Three days later Jaehaera understood he had no intention of wedding her. He had satiated his lust and moved on to someone else. Jaehaera had been crushed, it felt like her heart was in a tight grip she could not escape from. She had kept silent for a fortnight until Visenya had asked her. Jaehaera and Visenya had never kept secrets from each other and Jaehaera desperately needed someone to talk to. Her mother knew something was wrong but did not know exactly what and Jaehaera refused to tell her. She did not want to hurt her mother or cause any rifts between the family.
The chamber doors opened and all four of them turned to see Baelon enter. He was dressed in comfortable clothing, apparently, he would be skipping training this morning.
"Uncle, aunt." He bowed his head respectfully to her parents. "I would like to speak with you in private if possible. Is a matter of great importance."
Jaehaera saw her parents frown at each other before nodding and walking away from the table. The three of them moved to the private part of the apartments, leaving her and Jaehaerys alone. Her brother did not look worried, but then again, he had no reason to. He did not know what had happened between her and Rhaegon. Her brother was close with his cousins and Jaehaera would not be the reason that changed. Thirty minutes had passed when her brother left the chambers, heading for his daily training. A few minutes later her parents and Baelon appeared, her mother and father had a puzzled look on their faces, while Baelon looked calm.
"Jaehaera?" Her mother moved closer to her. "Baelon has spoken with us and asked for our permission to court you. We will not make a decision without speaking to you."
"Uhm.." Jaehaera's eyes were wide as she looked at her cousin. As soon as their eyes met she could tell he was aware of what had happened between her and his twin. Shame filled her chest and her cheeks flushed. She would die of shame. Her parents were still waiting expectantly for her answer. She needed to speak with Baelon before she could agree to anything. "Is it all right if I speak with Baelon before giving my answer?"
"Of course." Her mother gave her a bright smile. "You both could go for a walk and decide if this is something you will want."
Jaehaera and Baelon nodded, walking out of the room. She knew they could not go to the gardens, there would be too many people there for them to be able to speak. They could not go to their chambers, she would never put herself in that kind of position again. Jaehaera lead him towards the caves and to the sea, she appreciated Baelon following quietly and waiting for her to speak. Once she made sure they were alone, Jaehaera turned to look at her cousin.
"I can tell you are aware of what took place between Rhaegon and I."
"Yes." His voice was soft and he still looked calm.
"And knowing this you still asked my parents to court me?" Baelon nodded, making her frown. "Why?"
"Why not? You are a princess of the blood, you are sweet and kind." Baelong tucked one of her curls behind her ear, giving her a soft smile. "You are also very pretty."
"Thank you." She knew she was blushing, but attempted to ignore her embarrassment and get her point across. "But you also know I am no longer a maid."
"That does not matter to me." His eyes were kind and she could see he was telling the truth. "I know what you did with my brother was an act of love, there is no shame in that. You are still the same kind, sweet and beautiful girl I grew up with. None of those qualities have changed. I believe we could be happy together."
"Baelon, I do not want you to sacrifice yourself to save me from shame." He had always been good to her, he did not deserve an unhappy life. "This is not your doing."
"Not yours."
"Yes, it is my doing." Tears filled her eyes, but she stopped them from falling. She had cried so much in the past few weeks that she did not believe she had tears left. "We can blame Rhaegon all we want, but I was also present and he did not force me to do anything. He gave me every chance to leave. It is my fault as much as his."
"No, it is not. You are in love with my brother and he was aware of this." Baelon's hand caressed the side of her face. "What you did was an act of love, his was an act of lust. Your misdeeds are easier to forgive."
"I do not want you to be unhappy."
"I do not plan to be unhappy, princess." His smile was more mischievous. "No one ever wants to be unhappy if they can help it. I have not asked you to wed me tomorrow. I simply ask that we get to know each other as more than cousins. I believe that with time you can come to love me and I can love you. We can be happy together."
Jaehaera thought about it and decided he was right. Baelon always let his brother take the lead, but he was just as impressive as his twin. He just did not feel the need to let everyone know it every time they saw him. They could get to know each other and spend some time together. Maybe they would grow to love each other and create a happy life together. Her mother and father had not been in love when they first married. Her father had been awful, but now they were in love and happy together. Her father took care of her mother and treated her well. Maybe she could have the same with Baelon, or at least she could try. Jaehaera nodded her consent and Baelon's answering smile was bright. Maybe things would change for the better.

                                                             Baelon Targaryen (18 years old.)

                                                        Jaehaera Targaryen (17 years old.)