Sunrise and Moonlight | Bastard&Usurper Rhaenyra AU | House of the Dragon |

Rhaenyra I

AN: Hello.

So here we have our first Rhaenyra POV.

It is a little bit shorter than usual, mostly because it does not have a lot of dialogue and I use dialogue as my crutch. Anyway, we should get back to longer chapters next one.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Feedback is always welcome.

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110 A.C.

"Viserys, my love"

Those had been the last feverish words of her mother. Or at least, the last words Rhaenyra had heard. She had run out of the room then, knowing what was coming and not bearing to see it.

Now, a day after her death, the words rang in her head as her feet swayed up and down, unable to touch the floor. Even at the age of thirteen, the bench in the Maester's tower was still too high up for her to sit comfortably, so her legs were forced to dangle off it.

She fixed Maester Clemon with tired, questioning eyes as he opened another small parchment carried by a raven.

He gave her a sad smile and shook his head. No word from King's Landing. No word from her father.

Rhaenyra had never needed to hear a word from her father before. There had always been a desire, of course, but not the visceral need she had today. She needed him to say something. To acknowledge the death of her mother.

"Viserys, my love"

The words rang again, taunting her.

"Something will come, sweet one," consoled Maester Clemon.

The Maester of the Eyrie was one of her only friends. Rhaenyra knew that just like her mother, she was beloved in The Vale. But she was also keenly aware that they did not love her like someone would love a friend, a daughter, or a sister. They loved her as "The Vale's Delight," a symbol rather than a person.  It had left her a lonely girl. Maester Clemon, separated from the politics and mores of the Realm, was one of the only people who would offer her true companionship.

This was not the first time she had spent hours on the tower. In happier times, she would sit with the Maester and tear through all the messages and news coming to the Vale. The practice had been borne out of curiosity for any news of her older sister, for the happenings of her family in King's Landing. But with time, it had become much larger than that. Rhaenyra had grown a hunger for knowledge of the outside world, and the missives carried by the ravens into the Eyrie had been the only thing to sate it.

But today, there was no appetite for knowledge, only the search for respite and an expectation of word from the King. The Maester had allowed her to stay with him in the seclusion of the Maester's Tower. He had given her refuge from the whispers, from the bitterness of Lady Jeyne Arryn. Clemon had constructed a haven, however inadequate. And now, he helped her sort through the ravens coming to The Eyrie, waiting on word from the King.

He had tried to stop her at first, stating that such expectations would only bring heartbreak, but Rhaenyra had not relented.

Rhaenyra noticed the Maester flinch as he read another of the parchments brought by a raven.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice hoarse from the hours of intermittent weeping.

The Maester looked almost startled at her intrusion. He gave her an uncomfortable smile and rolled up the piece of parchment once again.