BASED ON HOUSE OF THE DRAGON ON HBO &
FIRE AND BLOOD BY GEORGE R.R. MARTIN.
"In a family of gods, they were ordinary men."
"Apart, they were bitter and cold, a lone speck
against an infinite darkness, but together, they
burned as bright as the st...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter seven !
Dear Aemond,
I can now say that horseback riding is my favorite thing in the world, besides reading or archery. Or sunsets, or the color orange. Or sapphires. Or playing with baby Kyle. I cannot believe that he is sitting up already! Well, we have to hold him upright or he falls backward.
Myranda has written to us, and she is expecting a child! Gunthor is positively ecstatic, and Josslyn is eager for Kyle to have a cousin his age. I am eager to have another baby in the family! Kyle has grown much too quickly.
Runestone is buzzing with activity for my nameday celebration tomorrow. I have requested a sweet cream cake so that it feels like you are here.
How is everyone in King's Landing? It has been a while since I last asked about them. Rhaenyra writes that she is doing well even though she feels as large as an elephant.
Willam has been distant lately. I am not sure what I've done to offend him. He and Robar had formed an alliance against Josslyn and me, especially in our weekly night of parlor games, but in the past three weeks, he hasn't shown up. And every time I walk into the room, he finds some excuse to leave. I shall have to investigate and let you know at once.
Yesterday, Gunthor took me to visit Runestone's crypt, where my mother is buried. The crypt is within the hill that Runestone was built upon, right on the edge of the sea and underneath the godswood and its weirwood tree. It was strange to see where Rhea lay, the bronze statue at the head of her tomb. Gunthor says that it doesn't look like her, but it is not as if I would know the difference.
Sometimes I wonder if I look like Rhea at all. Everyone here says that there are similarities, as if Rhea were of Valyrian descent, but that doesn't make any sense to me at all. If my eyes are more purple and hers brown, how can I have her eyes? I can only assume that I am a blend of her and my father, and some mannerisms from each. Gerold said that when I get angry, my nose scrunches up just like hers did.
Gunthor told me that Rhea had loved me dearly. He reminds me of that almost every day. It makes me sad that I never got to know her. I would've liked to know her, to truly know her as a mother. But I suppose that if she'd lived longer, I wouldn't love Laena as a mother in the way that I do now. I can't imagine a life without her.
Enough melancholy. I should stop while I'm ahead.
Onto another subject, how is your Valyrian? Do you still need my tutelage, or have you impressed the Dragonkeepers?
