The runaway bride | Cregan Stark

Prologue

"Princess, open the door! You can't run from this!"

But this was exactly what Dealla hoped to achieve as she barricaded her door and pushed every heavy object she could find and push in front of it. She would not leave this room, at least not without a fair fight. But nothing about this situation was fair, starting with the fact that she was a woman in a man's world. "Don't let us bring the Queen!" the guards shouted from the other side of the door, while Dealla wholeheartedly thought how the Queen could go fuck herself. This was probably her doing. A cruel plan to get rid of her by marrying her off to some Lord she had never ever met before.

No, Dealla would not marry. She had seen enough crumbling marriages in her life and the Queen's Regent marriage itself was example enough. She would not end up like her mother Aemma dying while giving birth. She would not give away the remaining piece of freedom she had left for a man she didn't even know.

"Princess Dealla open the fucking door!"

"No!" She was trapped and the door wouldn't hold off the guards for long. She had to flee, away from the Red Keep, somewhere where her stepmother's guards wouldn't find her. Dealla knew that as soon the guards would get her they would drag her towards the throne room where she would be betrothed to a man she didn't even know the name of. She wasn't even supposed to know about her own marriage but she had overheard some servants and this gave her enough time to lock herself in her room.

"Princes-"

"Fuck off!" Dealla screamed back while she ran over to her window. It was far too high for a jump but it was also the only way out of her room. No one would help her. Neither of her brothers or her sweet little sister Helaena. The only ones who would help her were her sister Rhaenyra and her uncle Daemon. But both of them were on Dragonstone with Dealla's nephews. She had to escape to Dragonstone but for this she had to get to her dragon Nagendra. Her dragon was in the dragon pit and she was up high in the Red Keep. But the thought that her future husband could be just as cruel as her brothers made Princess Dealla almost throw herself out the window by choice. Almost, she wouldn't die for a man but she also wouldn't marry one.

In the distance Dealla could hear her dragon roar, feeling her fear through their bound. The pounding on her door didnt stop as Dealla climbed onto her window sill and stared straight down to what could be her death. "Nagendra! Māzigon!" (Come!) It was stupid to hope that her dragon would hear her command or rather plea for help and actually come to her rescue but what more did she had left? What would she do when her dragon wouldn't come to her aid? Her fingers bore into the stone of her window frame.

"Kostilus!" (Please)!

Would she jump when it came down to it or would she give Queen Alicent the power to torment her further? The Queen detested her for many reasons, staring with Dealla being not her own daughter but a further loved reminder for King Viserys of his passed wife Aemma. The princess had been young when her mother died during childbirth, only five years old. But even she could tell that her father had never loved Alicent as he had loved her mother. Dealla also knew that Alicent resented the fact that Viserys loved his children that Aemma had given him more than he had ever loved one of hers. It was cruel but it was not Dealla's fault.

"There is no way for you to run, princess!" she heard her stepmother's lapdog Ser Criston Cole shout which made her bare her teeth. How she loathed that man. It made her want to jump just to spite him. Her death would benefit Alicent more though which let Dealla hope for a better way out. One that would only profit her. So, when she saw the black scales of her dragon in the distance she nearly cried out in joy. She would get out of her and she would gain her freedom. A loud crack let her turn around on the small window pane and almost lose her footing. Storming in where Ser Criston Cole and several other Queen guards.

"Don't come near me or I jump!" threatened the princess and made a promising step backwards. She couldn't see her dragon behind her, couldn't guess when it was time to jump. "Princess, don't move" warned Ser Criston Cole and stepped towards her despite of her warning which made Daella made another step backwards until her heels weren't standing an the frame anymore. "Princess!" several guards shouted terrified as the young princess almost lost her footing. "Don't dare to come near me" she threatened the guards again with more fire than she ever had mustered in her 7 and 10 years of life.

"You won't jump" Ser Criston Cole replied with a smug look on his face. He knew the princess was many things but she was not brave enough to actually jump. So he didn't listen to her and ran towards her but before he could grab onto her Dealla stumbled terrified backwards until there was nothing under her feet. Dealla could hear the screams of the guards, she could feel the wind around her and the gravity pulling her down towards the ground as the closed her eyes and told herself that she would be brave. Above all she would be free.

She heard the familiar roar of her dragon and then felt her warm familiar scales as the landed on the back of her dragon that swept her off towards the sky. "Ao māzigon!" (You came!) screamed the princess excitedly while catching the reigns of her dragon and pulling herself up into the saddle and into a sitting position. Under her she could see the Red Keep but it got smaller with every beat of her heart and Nagendra's wings. "Yes!" the princess allowed herself to shout while she tasted sweet freedom on her lips and in her hair.

"Naejot Dragonstone. Lenton." (To Dragonstone. Home) the princess whispered towards her dragon as she caressed the black scales of her dragon's neck. Dragonstone had been more of a home for her in in the last years than King's Landing ever was. Her family, her true family, resided on the old island and if it hadn't been for Queen Alicent's refusal Dealla could have moved to Dragonstone and her older sister Rhaenyra a long time ago. The Queen Regent did everything to separate and isolate the two sisters but Dealla was done with letting herself be tormented by her and be a pawn in the games of thrones. She would not marry. The Lord of the Queen's or King's choosing had first to find her and haul her towards the altar and that was exactly what he planned to do as he figured out that his future wife had rather jumped out a window than coming to face him.

Let the chase begin.