inconvenient flame | HOTD

o.

The boy was very quiet.

That was Rosetta's first impression of Alexander Arryn, or Alec, as he told Princess Rhaenyra and her sons he preferred to be called.

They had been told that it was very important that they be as kind as possible to Alec. His mother had died in childbirth only weeks before, and the boy had come to live at the Keep under Princess Rhaenyra's care. Apparently she had been quite close with Alec's mother. She had been married to the princess's cousin, and Princess Rhaenyra collapsed when the raven came to announce Lady Penelope's untimely death.

Rosetta wasn't sure where Alec's father was, but his aunt, Lady Jeyne had sent Alec to live with the princess and her family. If Rosetta hadn't known Jace and Luke beforehand, she would have thought Alec was their brother. They had the same shade of hair and eyes and similar features. Alec was seven years old, right in between the ages of the two young princes, the same as Rosetta. She thought that meant that they would get along immediately but that hadn't been the case.

Rosetta had barely exchanged a dozen words with the boy since he arrived at the Red Keep three days past, which was impressive. Rosetta was often in Princess Rhaenyra's rooms, having been assigned the very important job of being the personal playmate of Princes Jacaerys and Lucerys while her mother tended to her duties as one of the Princess's attendants.

Rosetta liked her job. She got to follow the princes around all day, to the Dragonpit, to their training in the yard, to their lessons. Jace said that she was his best friend and glowered at everyone who looked at her oddly as she skipped along beside him, talking animatedly about whatever came to mind.

She had been worried at first that Alec was there to replace her, to become Jace and Luke's new friend and that she'd be forgotten.

Rosetta hadn't been sent away though, thankfully. And Alec stayed silent, with his wide fearful eyes as he stared at everyone who passed by. He would make a remarkable statue, Rosetta believed.

Today, Alec had been forced from his confinement as Rhaenyra sent him to the training grounds with Jace, Luke and Rosetta. She told him that it would be good for him to meet the other princes in the castle, maybe make friends. Alec did not seem impressed with that idea. He shuffled his feet while he walked, avoiding eye contact with everyone who looked at him as he kept his eyes firmly on the ground. Rosetta was a little concerned that he'd run into a wall or a person at this rate.

When they reached their destination, Rosetta clambered up to her place on the small stone wall and folded her hands in her lap, watching as Jace and Luke tied up their padded armor with practiced fingers despite only being eight and six. Alec wasn't so lucky, looking like a lost puppy as he stared at the pads that Ser Criston had tossed at him.

Sighing, Rosetta hopped off the wall and gestured for Alec to come toward her. He hesitated for a moment before shyly approaching, handing Rosetta the armor and letting her help him get it on.

"Ignore them," she told him when she saw how he blushed at how most of the knights in the yard were looking at him and snickering at how lost he looked. "You're new to this, it takes time to learn this sort of thing."

Alec looked at her with a small smile as she tugged on the buckles of the side of his pads. "Thank you."

Rosetta grinned back at him, spinning him by the shoulders and tugging to make sure everything was secure. "Of course! I've been helping Jace and Luke since they started training. I'm better at this than anyone."

Alec's smile widened, turning into a slight grin. "Perhaps you should be the one in the armor then, my lady. I'd be happy to watch you instead."

Rosetta bit her lip, shaking her head. "I'm not a lady. Just a bastard."