ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ꜱɪꜱᴛᴇʀ - House of the Dragon

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

A kiss to my brow always made me feel at peace, specially if it was my mother's.

Rhaenyra's thumb gently stroked my cheek, leaning her forehead into mine and smiling in a way that her dimple could barely be noticed. Her red gown matched with my black one in our House's colors, and her hair, braided as a flower, a silver rose, in the back of her head looked like the bright stars I loved to navigate through at night.

Rhaena, Baela and I had spent at least an hour to braid it. And, despite the clear pain in her stomach as she constantly patted it, my mother had sat as still as she could, chuckling and smiling and chatting with us as we complained and gossiped about everything and everyone.

"Swear to me you'll behave."

Helaena, standing next to me with Maelor on her hip, almost scoffed. Jaehaera and Jaehaerys were there too, clutching to their mother's skirts with those six toes of them and their violet eyes bright with tears as they watched their cousin Aegon leaving the capital.

The Greens had clearly been forced to say their good byes to the Heir to the Iron Throne and her family. All of them were trying too hard not to purse their lips nor roll their eyes nor scoff, ignoring my mother's presence and Daemon's hand around his sword's pommel.

He had not bought my excuse to remain in the Keep, and had tried to make me change my mind claiming that both Stormbreaker and I would enjoy Dragonstone's skies more than we did with the capital's. He had also said I needed to train, day and night giving the case, and that his eyes should've been the only ones staring at me, correcting me and teaching me. It was clearly a hint, since his brow had flown to his forehead in a mockery grimace when Otto had said Ser Criston shall continue my training during the time I was to spend there.

Cole had flinched when two sets of violet eyes had stared at him with a twin rogue glow, though he had tried to hide it as best as he could. Alicent didn't seemed to like the idea of her sworn protector near me either, and Aemond had smirked as if he had remembered what could happen to the Lord Commander of the City's Watch if he didn't hold his tongue.

Daemon's eyes had stared into my soul after a brief kiss to my temple, and it took everything within me to not bite my lip nor show any sign of weakness before his insightful vision. He had probably asked my grandsire whether it was true that Helaena had asked me to stay or not. And that he had an entire plan ready in case he found out she did not, where he would fight Alicent and Otto and everyone else before throwing me over his shoulder and saddling me on the back of my own dragon, holding into me as we flew back home with the  threatening whisper of the wild wind crashing against our ears.

The truth was, Helaena did asked me to stay. But it was not her the reason I had decided to. It wasn't Aemond either though.

My dear aunt had came to my chambers right when Emory and I had decided to stop gossiping around and began to prepare my belongings, and Jaehaera had clutch to my skirt, weeping and begging me to stay just a little longer, to take her flying with me and make shell bracelets with Jaehaerys and sing to Maelor and make her mama happy. And Helaena had contained a sob, cleaning away her tears and pinching the skin around her nails when I had turned to look at her.

"It felt nice, to have someone here that doesn't look at me with pity." She had whispered.

Would it be bad, if I stayed a little longer? A week, Aemond had said. And Daemon had confirmed it when I innocently asked him. With the right winds (and as I had predicted) they would be in Dragonstone in seven days, if not less. With the wrong ones, they would have spent on that ship at least a moon. I knew there was no way I could survive spending a moon with the Greens by myself, it didn't matter that Aemond and I were in really good terms or how much I loved Helaena and her children. But a week would hurt no one.