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THE TARGARYEN FAMILY gathered for dinner after the funeral of Alicent Hightower. All of the children, the cousins, were seated together at one table, while the adults were at a different table. Despite the day starting off with a funeral, the dining hall was filled with warmth, laughter, and love. Aemond loved being able to catch up with Aegon and Helaena. Both he and Visenya were happy to see their marriage was doing much better, and the two seemed genuinely content with each other. All three of them had complicated feelings about their mother, but they were grateful to Rhaenyra for giving her a funeral so they could let those feelings go and let Alicent go along with them.
Rhaenyra stood from her seat and gently tapped her glass which brought everyone's silence and attention toward her. "I would like to propose a toast. To the dowager Queen Alicent Hightower. I am only grateful to her for two things. The first was that she did stand by my father and take care of him as his health was failing and I was on Dragonstone. The second thing I must thank her for is my siblings. Aegon, Aemond, and Helaena. I know that in our youth, things were not well between us, but I am glad that since then we have been able to reconcile and be the family that our father always wanted us to be." Rhaenyra said. Everyone lifted their glasses and took a drink and then Visenya stood up.
"I would like to propose a toast to our Queen. Rhaenyra Targaryen. You have kept our family together for years, you have kept the Kingdom in peace and prosperity, and you have carried yourself with grace by planning and hosting a funeral for the woman who nearly destroyed your entire life. It is my biggest hope that I can be as gracious and merciful as you when I become Queen, a very, very long time from now," Visenya added in and everyone laughed. "The best honor of my life has been being your daughter," She said. Rhaenyra's eyes were starting to water as she looked at her daughter and Visenya smiled. "To Her Grace, Queen Rhaenyra!" Visenya said. Everyone enthusiastically raised their glasses.
"Queen Rhaenyra!" The dining hall echoed. When Visenya sat down, Rhaenyra leaned over and kissed her temple since Visenya was seated on her left side, while Daemon was on her right.
"I love you, my beautiful girl," Rhaenyra said and then Visenya noticed that her mother slightly shivered.
"Are you cold, mother? Are we sitting in a draft?" Visenya asked as she looked at her. Rhaenyra shook her head.
"No, I do not believe so, I am alright, love. How is Viserys? I noticed he did not come down for dinner," Rhaenyra asked. Visenya sighed as she shook her head.
"It's not good. I asked him once, why didn't he go back to Lys with Larra. He knew she wasn't happy here in Westeros, and he knew that people believed her to be some kind of witch and thought her cats were spies... but he said he didn't want to leave us after being separated for so long and us presuming he was dead," Visenya said.
"My poor boy... How are the children?" She asked.
"They miss their mother and ask about her. They used to write letters to her, but after months of them going unanswered, they stopped. I know that life was not easy for her here, but I wish she wouldn't have left. She had our full support," Visenya said.
