𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 | Jacaerys Velaryon

11○ 130 AC: WINTER IS COMING

Nock. Draw. Breathe. Loose.

That was all that Vaeras's life consisted of for the past days of being with the Estrela siblings.

Alden was driving her nuts with his constant need to look over her shoulder whenever he was around.

She realized that she much preferred the company of Alana, but she had to learn how to fight if she was planning to stay with them for the foreseeable future.

Nock. Draw. Breathe. Loose.

She felt the back of an arrow against her cheek as she aimed for a nearby tree, Alden standing a fair distance behind her.

Loose.

The arrow zoomed past her ear, missing the tree entirely. "I missed," Vaera spoke, causing a breathy chuckle to leave Alden.

"Did you now? I barely noticed." Vaera rolled her eyes as she walked through the snow to find her arrow.

After looking for a while, she rolled her eyes when she was unable to find it, so she returned to Alden, who gave her a cheeky smile. "Is little Princess upset?" Vaera stared up at Alden with fury in her eyes.

"You might want to refrain from calling me that. Why would Alana have done this to my hair, and given me a new name if I was still planning to be a Princess?" Vaera spoke, referring to her hair which was now stained brown.

Anastasia was her new name. She was not someone who existed, or at least not in Vaera's time. She was Alden and Alana's mother and she passed before Vaera was even born, but she was her namesake, or at least the person she was supposed to be's namesake.

"Right, Ana..." Alden corrected himself, smiling down at Vaera. "If I were still a princess, I'd have you beheaded."

Another breathy chuckle. This time Vaera could see his breath because of the cold.

Alden was, for the better sake of the word, annoying, but he felt like family even though he wasn't and even though she hadn't known him that long.

They both heard footsteps echoing from inside, causing them to turn and look at Alana, who had a raven in her hand.

"What's that?" Alden asked as Alana handed him the piece of parchment. "Stark." He simply spoke as he read through the raven.

"He needs us." Vaera frowned at Alden's words. "Cregan Stark?" Alden nodded giving the raven back to Alana. "What does he need?" Vaera asked.

"Men."

☆☆☆

Vaera sat on the bed of her empty chamber, staring outside at the snow that had fallen, covering the ground like a white blanket.

If she was being honest, she missed King's Landing terribly. She missed her family. She missed Helaena. She missed... Jace.

She even missed Aemond despite what he had done. She missed the person he was and not the person he'd become.

She couldn't blame him for becoming a monster, however. If she did, she was a hypocrite, because she considered herself a monster too.

What happened to Luke was her fault as much as it was his. If she had tried something else... if she hadn't left, maybe Aemond would never have lashed out.

She was convinced that Aemond did what he did because of her.

"What's troubling you?" Vaera jumped at the voice behind her but calmed down as soon as she saw Alana's smiling face.