Lady Arianwyn Targaryen, Lady of Runestone, was not born of love. Nor passion. Nor even a sense of duty. She was seeded by her father, the Rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen, in an act of unbridled hatred, and borne of her mother, the late Lady Rhea Royc...
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The first time Arianwyn called someone 'papa,' it was not Prince Daemon Targaryen.
King Viserys had come to the nursery to see her dragon. He'd made a habit of doing so about once per week. Arianwyn and Aemond loved when he came, for they would get to sit on his big, soft lap and listen to him tell stories.
Aemond fell asleep halfway through the first story. It was about a beautiful Valyrian princess who lived her life confined in a tower, who only escaped when a handsome Valyrian prince fell in love with her without even seeing her and rescued her on his great dragon. That story was a particular favorite of hers.
She snuggled closer to the king, holding her dragon – who was also asleep – in her arms. "Read another one, papa?"
The king frowned, his face crinkling. "Oh, little Aria, I'm not your papa."
How could that be? Aegon and Aemond called him 'father,' and Helaena called him 'papa.' Why was it different for her? "Why not?"
"Because someone else is your father," the king said. "Your father is my brother – he is your papa. I am your uncle, your kepa."
She considered for a moment. Aunt was her aunt, not her mother, and Aunt was married to the king. She supposed it made sense. "Where is my papa?"
"He is..." the king, Uncle, looked away from her, out the window to the sea. "He is far away."
"When is he coming back?"
"I don't know, my sweet." He looked sad. Very sad.
Arianwyn did not want him to be sad. If he was sad, he wouldn't read to her more. "Which story is your favorite, Uncle Kepa?"
He laughed, but she didn't know why. But he began reading again, so it was fine.
That evening, once Aegon and Helaena had returned from wherever they went during the day, Arianwyn explained what she had learned to Helaena and Aemond. But Aegon laughed at her when she mentioned her father and how she couldn't wait for him to come back.
"Why would he come back?" he asked.
It seemed like a silly question to her. "To see me."
Aegon shook his head. "He doesn't want to or need to. He has a new family across the sea – two new daughters. Besides, he's had more than ten years to see you. If he wanted to, he would have done it already."
Aemond started to yell at him and threw a stuffed velvet rabbit at him. But Arianwyn said nothing.
What Aegon said felt like the truth. She could feel it in her chest like the weight of half a dozen books. Her father stayed across the sea because she did not want to see her – he did not want to be her father.
She never called anyone 'papa' again.
-
The main dining room at High Tide was as lavish as the rest of the castle. A great table, some twenty feet long, ran through the center of the room. From the uneven grain and sun-bleached color of the wood itself, it was clear to all who laid eyes on it that it had been constructed of driftwood – Lord Corlys was many things, but subtle he was not. The twenty-two chairs set around the table were made of the same wood, backboards reaching up in points shaped by the sea.
