Sweeter Than Evil ||| Cregan Stark

forty-one

It took time for Daenys to heal to an acceptable level and for her to convince Rhaenyra to allow her to fly to Pentos with her brothers. But when she brought up the attack from Ser Arryk and the fact that the Lannister host was demolished by her forces in the West, which meant things were beginning to get much more serious, she knew her sons would be safer farther away from Dragonstone. They would be protected across the sea.

During the time that Daenys pled her case, Ser Erryk made it a point to be by her side or no more than two paces behind her at all times. They even seemed to have altered the arrangement of the outside watches so Daenys and Rhaenyra always had their sworn shields next to them and the hedge knights took care of outside security.

She'd spoken to Ser Erryk again and being more coherent, apologized to him for what she'd done to his brother in a more sincere manner. Daenys also brought up the option of having someone else be her sworn shield if he did not want to even lay eyes on her after he'd had to find the body of the twin brother that Daenys killed in self-defence. Killing Ser Arryk was required but I didn't mean his grief would evaporate. That was his brother and Daenys understood perfectly well why he may not want to look at her.

"Do not apologize, Princess," said Ser Erryk. "I swore oaths to you and to Queen Rhaenyra. My brother was on the wrong side of this conflict and he disgraced the Gods by doing what he did. You are not to be blamed for the likely result of what he attempted to do."

Daenys would have had to agree that Ser Arryk would have died one way or another. Even if he happened upon someone other than Daenys, he couldn't hide forever. Let alone if he accidentally happened upon his own twin. It was the inevitable result.

The bruises that bloomed on Daenys shoulder and her stomach were some of the worst she had ever received. They were all shades of black and blue days after the incident and Daenys could admit that she looked much worse than she felt, especially when she was naked and all of her cuts were visible.

She took the time to heal to the point that it didn't hurt to live and that was when she brought up taking her brothers to Pentos.

"It is the least strenuous thing I can do. It's a full day flight there and back and I can rest for a day in Pentos," Daenys argued. "It allows the boys to get there sooner and not face what might be danger in the Narrow Sea. Then we know they are safe and do not have to worry about them when we don't know where they are."

It took some convincing for Rhaenyra to consider it and even more to let it happen. Daenys was safer on the back of her dragon than she was anywhere else and Rhaenyra wanted all of her sons to be safe. But eventually, Rhaenyra agreed. She knew how long the trip by ship was and would rather have had her boys in Pentos in a day than the weeks a ship would take.

With that settled, it was early one crisp morning that Daenys found herself on the Dragonmont with her brothers and her family saying goodbye to them. It was a heart-wrenching display having to watch Rhaenyra, Jace, and Baela bid farewell to the young boys.

There were tears shed, as well as heartfelt words, and it felt worse, somehow, since the boys didn't seem to understand what was happening. They were excited by the prospect of riding Ēdrurys, who was standing next to them. Aegon had his hatchling, which he'd adeptly named Stormcloud, but they'd never ridden dragons. They were truly Daemon's children by how excited they were at the chance to ride a dragon.

When it was time for Daenys to mount her dragon, she had Viserys tied to her back with some fabric to hold him close and Aegon sitting in front of her in the saddle. His hatchling was resting in his lap and Viserys' egg was in Daenys' satchel so he could keep it with him in Pentos. The boys were snug and secure, obedient even if they were excited.