𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝...

Chapter Forty Two

Both I and Rhaenys arrived at Dragonstone within one and a half hours after our escape from the Dragonpit in Kings Landing. We landed on the shores near the stairs leading to the castle, we did not have time to leave the dragons with the dragonkeepers.

After our landing, a member of Rhaenyra's guard approached us. "Princess Visenya and Princess Rhaenys... it is always a pleasure to see friendly faces coming from Kings Landing" Ser Lorent Marbrand welcomed us, "how may I help you? Should I call the Dragonkeepers?" Ser Lorent asked. Rhaenys looked at me and I froze, I did not want to be the person who informs Rhaenyra of her father's passing, that would break her heart, I could not do it so I froze in my place... realizing that what the Hightowers did is a cause of war. "We request an audience with Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon... Ser Lorent? It is very urgent" Rhaenys stated and the look on her face worried Ser Lorent so he rushed back into the castle with us behind him.

Rhaenys and I stood behind the heavy red doors of Dragonstone's Great Hall, waiting until Daemon and Rhaenyra are ready for us. "I can't tell her" I whispered as I stared into the ground. "Tell who what?" Rhaenys turned to me. "Tell Nyra' about her father's passing, her childhood companion's betrayal, her brother's betrayal, and the usurping of her birthright... it's just too much and I cannot handle me being the one telling her all this" I sighed and my hands were visibly shaking. Rhaenys put her hand on top of mine and nodded.

"The Princesses Visenya Targaryen and Rhaenys Targaryen" Ser Lorent announced as we entered the Great Hall. "Thank you, Ser Lorent" Rhaenyra asked. We started approaching the painted table, a long table that is carved to depict the continent of Westeros. It's where Aegon the Conqueror planned his invasion of the continent. Daemon stood by the fire place as Rhaenyra approached us and stood at the opposite side of the table. "Vee!... Princess Rhaenys? might we hope for news of Lord Corlys's recovery?" Rhaenyra smiled at the sight of me then turned to Rhaenys.

"Viserys is dead" Rhaenys blurted out, not replying to Nyra's question. Without realizing tears started to build up in my eyes. Rhaenyra's face went from happiness to see me and Rhaenys visiting to a complete blank face, shocked. Daemon went from looking at the fire then to us with the same shocked face Nyra's has. "I grieve this loss with you, Rhaenyra. My cousin, your father, ... possessed a kind heart" Rhaenys spoke softly. Rhaenyra blinked three times and turned to me with an open mouth, she knitted her eyebrows, not fully realizing what happened. She saw my red eyes and shook her head slightly and it broke me. Rhaenys stepped forward to her, "there is more" she stated. Daemon slowly approached his wife while staring at his cousin, while I stood far away from them trying my best to hold myself.

"Aegon has been crowned as his successor" Rhaenys informed them, and Rhaenyra turned away from my gaze and looked at her father's cousin. Out of the blue, Nyra grunts and holds her stomach. She was lost and looked between her husband and Rhaenys. "They crowned him?" she asked, quietly. Daemon was leaning on the table, "how did Viserys die?" he asked quietly, looking at his cousin. "I could not say" Rhaenys answered him. "How long ago?" Rhaenyra asked in pain from her stomach. "A day passed perhaps two. Me and Visenya were made prisoners in our quarters while the Queen made her preparations" Rhaenys stated. "Viserys has been slain" Daemon spoke to his wife. "Alicent demanded you declare for Aegon?" Rhaenyra questioned Rhaenys shakingly. "She did" Rhaenys spoke the truth. Rhaenyra's head shot back and tears rolled from her eyes. "I refused her" Rhaenys clarified. "And yet you are alive!" Daemon spoke, in an angry full of suspicion tone. Rhaenys was not happy with Daemon's accusations but she understood that he was in grief. "The High Septon crowned Aegon in the Dragonpit. I witnessed it myself just before I fled on Meleys" she stated as Nyra grunts in pain once again. "They crowned him before the masses?" Rhaenys asked. "So that the masses see him as their rightful king" Rhaenys explained the Greens' motive. "That whore of a Queen murdered my brother and stole his throne and you could've burned them for it" Daemon angrily spat. "A war is like to be fought off this treachery to be sure... but that war is not mine to begin.... I only rushed this warning out of loyalty to my husband and to my house... The Greens are coming for you Rhaenyra... and for your children. You should leave Dragonstone at once" Rhaenys spat back and then warned her cousin's daughter.