The Gentle Queen: HOTD

Leaving|20|

It had been a month since aid was sent to the Stepstones, and now Rhaenyra was leaving for her tour to find a husband.

"I will miss you terribly. Do write to me," Lilly said, making Rhaenyra smile. "Of course I will." Rhaenyra reassured the girl, hugging her tight, before something caught her eye.

"Why are Alicent's trunks being brought to the ship?" she asked, pulling away and looking to see her sister walking up, looking nervous.

"Um Alicent will be coming with me. I did not wish to be alone, so I asked, and my father agreed." Rhaenyra said, and Alicent smiled happily, linking arms with the Targaryen princess.

"I am excited that I get to travel around the world." Alicent said it as if she always wanted to, even though she never once mentioned that she wanted to. It was always Lilly who expressed how she wanted to travel the world.

"But, um, I will be going into labor soon. You promised you would be there with me, sister." Lilly said softly as she felt like she was going to vomit, realizing she would be giving birth alone, one of her greatest fears, especially after what happened with the late queen.

"Well, you gave birth to Aegon. You know what to expect, sister. You cannot expect me to always be there." Alicent said they were not seeing anything wrong with what they were doing.

"You are a woman, married, and a mother, as well as the queen. You need to grow up. You can't rely on us anymore, Lilly. Do you want me to be alone all those months with random men?" Rhaenyra said, frowning.

"No, of course not. I understand. I hope you enjoy your travels, and I hope you find a good, honorable husband, Rhaenyra. I will miss you and you, sister." Lilly said, her lip quivering slightly.

"I must go queenly business to attend to," she muttered, rushing back to the castle, trying not to cry. Her sister and friend would be leaving; she would have to give birth alone, then be bred again like some cow, and she would not have anyone to help her.

"Your grace, are you alright?" Ser Criston asked as he saw the queen walking through the hall, looking upset. He realized he did not like seeing the girl upset.

"Ser Criston," Lilly gasped, not expecting to see him or for him to speak with her.

"Um, I am fine. Thank you for asking."

"With all due respect, my queen, you look like you are rather upset; whatever you speak of will stay between you and me," Criston swore, making her smile at his kindness.

"My emotions are everywhere due to the baby. I just found out that my sister will not be staying here, and I will be alone through birth. It just saddened me for a moment, but I am queen. I should not rely on others; they should rely on me." Lilly expressed fearing that she had upset the handsome Dornish knight when she saw the pinched look on his face.

"I am sorry, Ser. I did not mean to upset you; of course I have upset you. No man would wish to hear about my problems."

"No, no, your grace is not it; you have not upset me; it's just that you have a right to feel upset, my queen, and it is ok to rely on others; it would be bad not to." Ser Criston said, gently wiping the tear that fell down her cheek.

The gentle movement made her gasp in shock, as she had never been touched by a man with such gentleness unless it was Daemon comforting her.

"I apologize, my queen; that was completely inappropriate of me. I must go. Good day, your grace," he said, bowing to her before rushing off before she could say anything.

So she smiled gently and watched him leave before scolding herself, as she was married and should not be looking at another unless her husband

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"I have a letter for you, Your Grace, from Prince Daemon," a maid said, handing the letter to Lilly, who sat on her balcony that looked over the water. It had been a week since Rhaenyra and Alicent's departure, and she felt very lonely.

"Thank you, Clare," she said, opening the letter when she was left alone once again.

"Hello, my dearest Lilly, I am happy you and Aegon are doing well I hope for you to have a safe delivery with the new babe I also wished to tell you how grateful myself and the men and women who are here fighting are for your help, they know their queen helped and not their king we are forever in your dept, I expect the war to end in nearly a year I will admit we have underestimated this so called crab king but I am confident with the new men and resources we will win but I have to admit some things have been brought to light things you have hidden from me like the kings mistreatment towards you if I knew he would of hurt you I would of never left please Lilly if his anger and abuse continues and worsens send word and I will do all that I can

sincerely, Daemon

Lilly wanted to cry reading his letter because, even if he wanted to, there was nothing he could do to help her. She was his wife, and he was the king. He was free to do whatever he pleased.

She set the letter down, taking a few deep breaths before wincing in pain as she felt a sharp pain in her lower back.

She took another deep breath as she felt another sharp pain, only this time in her stomach, before she felt her inner legs become wet.

"Claire!" she yelled, her voice showing the pain she felt, making the maid rush to the balcony in a panic.

"My queen, what is it?" Clare said as she kneeled beside the lounge chair she sat on.

"My baby is coming," Lilly whispered through another pain.

"Oh, dear gods, this is exciting. Let us get you to bed, my queen," Claire said, clapping her hands and making her giggle before whimpering in pain.