The unwanted princess - H.o.D.

Old egg

It was the princess' sixth nameday and she had not received a single word about it from her father. Alicent had been kind enough to send a new dress to her chambers and some of her personal maids had wished her a happy day but other than that, it was a normal day. No big feast for her like there would've been for Rhaenyra or even Aegon, no balls on her name or celebrations around town. If Velora didn't know any better, she would say the small-folk did not even know the day she had been born. But they knew. Velora knew they knew. Not because they cared much for her in particular, but small-folk or not everyone knew the day lovely Queen Aemma died; the day their Heir for a day died as well. The day King Viserys was left with yet another baby girl. The princess who survived, they called her. The unwanted princess, she knew.

Which was why she was not surprised when the whole day passed and nothing changed. Velora had breakfast accompanied by her governess and watched by her guards, attended her classes in the morning, had her lunch and went to spend her afternoon in her chambers. It was almost time for dinner when one of her guards, Ser Dalt, stepped into the room, his hand over his sword and his posture as relaxed as a royal guard could be.

"My princess." He bowed when she lifted her eyes from the tapestry she had been working on and nodded at him. "Princess Rhaenyra is outside. She is waiting outside."

"She may come in." Velora nodded, putting her handiwork down as she sat up a little straighter by the end of her bed.

Ser Dalt slipped out of the chambers and, a second later, Rhaenyra stepped in. Velora grew a little tense when her older sister turned to look at her, as she always did. Rhaenyra smiled, unsurprised by that reaction. She could tell, it was easy to - the way her little sister always did whatever she was present. She could see the shine of admiration in her eyes and it pleased Rhaenyra that Velora held her up to such high regards, but she knew part of it stemmed from the fact that no one in the castle seemed to care for her. Her father hated her, Alicent did not care and Rhaenyra... Rhaenyra did try, but each day more Velora looked more and more like their mother and sometimes... Sometimes it hurt.

But today, Rhaenyra would make an effort. Today was the day she lost her mother and brother, but today was also the day she had gained a sister. And if no one else would celebrate their little princess Velora, Rhaenyra decided she would.

"Did you think I would forget to give you a present?" Rhaenyra smirked, amused at the way Velora perked up even more at the idea.

"A present?" She gasped. "For me?"

"Unless you know any other princesses around who are turning six today?"

"What is it?" Velora asked, a wide smile stretching across her face as she finally stood up from her bed.

"Come with me, sister." She said, nodding her head toward Velora's chamber's doors and walking out.

Rhaenyra could tell Velora was following her, her little legs carrying her as fast as they could to keep up with her pace and even if her sister said nothing, Rhaenyra could almost feel the anxious energy oozing off of the little girl. Along with their guards, Rhaenyra crossed the castle and out the grounds to make her way into the dragon pit and it wasn't until she stopped by the gates that Velora finally caught up with her and widened her eyes.

"What are we doing here?" She asked.

"We came to collect your present." Rhaenyra said, as as she looked at her sister from the corner of her eyes, she could swear she saw the moment it all connected in her little head.

"Does father..."

"You were supposed to be given an egg for yourself when you were born." Rhaenyra interrupted the question she knew Velora would be asking. "Since no one's bothered to do that, I am doing it myself."

Velora gasped again, looking away from her sister and toward the dragon pit again. Her mouth opened and closed once as if there was something she wanted to say, but that she could not find the words to do it. So, instead, she looked back at her sister and smiled, hoping to hide the tears in her eyes.

"Does that mean I'll get a dragon of my own?" She asked. "Like you?"

"Well, we'll have to see if the egg you pick will hatch but... Yes, maybe." She said, shrugging when the younger girl squealed. "Probably."

Thank you, Rhaenyra." She jumped up and down, as Rhaenyra laughed and motioned for the guards to open the gates.

"Do not thank me yet, little sister." She said as the two of them walked inside and past the guards. "I just brought you to the pit. Now, to have your dragon, the work must be done by you."

Still, as Valora walked into the pit, she realized Rhaenyra had done much more for her than just bringing her there. She could tell she had people prepare the place for them when, standing in the middle of the pit were four dragonkeepers, two on each end of a long table where some of the most beautiful dragon eggs were exposed.

"Princess Rhaenyra." They bowed to her older sister even though she had entered the pit after Velora. "Princess Velora."

"See, sister? Those are some of the eggs we have that haven't yet hatched." Rhaenyra said, standing regal as always with her hands behind her back as she followed her sister with her eyes as Velora walked up and down the pit, analyzing all the eggs before her rather hastily. "Pick yours and if it hatches, the dragon will be yours to keep."

"Whichever one I want?" Velora asked, her voice sounding a lot more childish than it usually would, reminding everyone around them just how young the princess actually was.

"Pick the one that speaks to you the most, my princess." One of the dragonkeepers said, to which Velora smiled brightly. "Whichever one you desire."

"Even that one?" She asked, and when Velora pointed at the only egg that was not exposed to her and, instead, laid by itself in a dark corner of the pit, the whole place fell silent.

"My princess..." Another one of the keepers said, carefully picking his words. "I would advise against choosing that particular egg."

"Why?" She asked, walking around the table and toward the lone egg instead.

"This is an old egg." The man said. "It came from the same dragon who laid princess Rhaenyra's dragon, but unlike hers and lord Laenor's, this one hasn't hatched."

"So it won't?" Velora asked, leaning up on her tiptoes so she could see the old egg better since it was being kept on a quite tall shelf. "Ever?"

"It is not impossible, my princess, for the egg to hatch, given the right conditions." The dragonkeeper said.

"What conditions?"

"Well..." The man gulped, turning to look at Rhaenyra but the older princess just smiled at the interaction. "Dragon eggs must be kept warm to hatch."

"I can keep it warm." She said, turning around to look at the man behind her instead of the egg. "I can!"

"I am certain, my princess." Another dragonkeeper stepped up to her. "But even if you do keep it warm, there is no certainty an egg this old will hatch at all. Or if it does..."

"What could happen if the old egg hatches?" She asked.

"We do not- We do not know, my princess." The man admitted.

Velora paused for a second, her little face scrunching up in concentration as she thought. Turning to Rhaenyra, she was pleased to see her sister seemed not to be judging her, even if there was a slight glimmer of worry in her eyes. She too worried that egg would not hatch. And if it didn't, Velora would, most likely, be left with no dragon. She understood that. But she also understood she had been instructed to pick the egg that spoke to her and the only one that had, had been the old one.

So, without another second of hesitation, Velora pointed at the egg behind her.

"I want that one." She said.

"My princess, it would be wiser to..." The men around her tried to convince her otherwise but she had made up her mind.

"I'll see that it hatches myself, even if it is the last thing I do."