VALYRIA

XI

129 AC               DRAGONSTONE

"Bantis zōbrie issa se ossȳngnoti lēdys."

"The night is dark, and full of — spiders?" Jace guessed.

"Terrors." Valyria corrected, with a laugh.

"Lēdys, lēdys, lēdys —" He repeated again and and again.

He walked circles around the hall, as he tried to remember everything. He quickly glanced at Valyria, only to see her already looking at him. He glanced at her again, with confusion and a small smirk.

"What?"

"Nothing." She after a while.

Jace let out a grin, before continuing on his pacing around the space.

"Uēpa valyrio istan nykeā rōvēgrie oktion isse essos." The maester said.

"Old Valyria was a — great city in Essos!" He smiled.

"Good." Valyria grinned.

Rhaenyra walked the steps over to the hall, where she heard them talk.

"The Conqueror and his sisters sailed with a great army."

The maester spoke in high Valyrian.

"And landed at the Blackwater Rush."

Rhaenyra spoke a word to him in high Valyrian. Jace thought for a moment, before talking.

"At the end?"

Valyria grinned at him, which told Jace the answer.

"The mouth." Valyria corrected him.

"Mouth! Oh, come on, Jace, you knew that." He brought his palm to his forehead in frustration.

He kept repeating the word, trying to remember it.

Valyria groaned, as she was tired.

"You will learn." She couraged him.

"Come on, Jace." He talked to himself.

"Perhaps that's enough for this morning." Rhaenyra tried.

"No, no. I want to keep going. Maester."

He said something in high Valyrian.

"Aegon — ordered that the trees should be — killed." He smiled.

"Felled. It is a related word. I don't expect you to learn High Valyrian in a day, Jace." She tried to comfort him.

He sighed as he thought about something.

"A king should honor the traditions of his forbears."

"Well — unless you're planning to depose your own mother, you have plenty of time to study." She joked, as the door slammed open.

She saw Daemon walking in.

"Leave us."

"Joffrey — come." Jace said as they both left.

Valyria was making her way towards the door, but Daemon ordered her to stay.

As Daemon went over to Rhaenyra, he gave her a letter.

After she read it, Daemon gave it to Valyria.

Rhaenyra looked shocked by the letter, which worried Val.

"He means to call into question Luke's legitimacy. And by extension, Jace, and by extension, my own claim to the throne." Rhaenyra speculated.

"If he calls into question the future queen's claim, or that of her children's, that will not end well for him. The king supports your claim, does he not? His word is the truth." Valyria reasoned.

"Yes, but I suspect the Hightowers have taken over his seat, as the years have passed." Rhaenyra answered, giving her a soft smile.

"Vaemond cares only about Driftmark and the Velaryon line. Not about our politics. Has he made common cause with Otto Hightower yet?" He questioned.

"Mmm. This is what I fear. Rhaenys has flown to court. Surely, she cannot be planning to back him."

"No. Whatever disagreements we may have had, she's not cruel... or stupid enough to do that."

Valyria looked surprised at the use of his words.

"Disagreements? She believes we had her son killed so that we might marry." Rhaenyra whispered.

"Yes — and yet, she's taken Baela to ward."

Two years ago, Baela was sent to Driftmark, over to her grandmother. From there, she writes to Daemon often, telling him what happens around the castle.

"Yes. It is Laena's memory she honors. She has no love for us."

Daemon groaned heavily.

"Has the vipers' venom spread so far" Daemon joked.

"Those vipers rule in my father's name. And my father — What choice do I have?"

"To King's Landing, then."

...