𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐀 ── house of the dragon

v | all-consuming grief

ACT I — CHAPTER V
Aʟʟ-Cᴏɴsᴜᴍɪɴɢ Gʀɪᴇꜰ

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Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The day that Aemond left Driftmark, Myra locked herself in her bedchambers. She had never felt this kind of emptiness before. Aemond, Aegon, and Helaena had always been staples in her life. Now, she was faced with the future of never truly knowing them again.

Halfway through the day, there was a knock on her door. She ignored it, her gaze never leaving the window she sat by.

"Myra? May I come in?"

It was Laenor. She bounded up from her seat and ran to the door. When she opened it, Myra immediately flung her arms around her father.

"I'm so sorry, my darling," he sighed, rubbing her back. Gently, he guided her into the room and closed the door behind him. He kneeled on the ground in front of her, and Myra buried her face into his shoulder as she cried.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there," he whispered into her hair as he softly ran his hand over Myra's hair, careful not to mess up her curls.

"It was all my fault!" Myra cried, her hands clutching his shoulders, "I brought the blade! It was all my fault!"

"None of this is your fault, Myra," Laenor said calmly, "You were just trying to protect your brothers. You couldn't have known."

"I should have! All Aemond has ever wanted is a dragon! I should have known that it was him, that there wasn't real danger!"

Laenor pulled back, looking his crying daughter in the eyes, "Listen to me closely, Myra. None of what happened is your fault. You could not have known that it would be Aemond, and there was danger. Your mother told me what you said. How Aemond held a rock over Jace's head. The events that unfolded are — they are regrettable. But things could have been worse."

"Aemond, he's — I'm scared — we will never speak again!" Myra managed to choke out between her sobs. Laenor sighed, wiping the tears off her face.

"I will not lie to you, Myra. You may not speak again," he began, "But the world will not end. Life will go on. The pain will cease. One day, when you think of Aemond, the pain will only feel like a prick on the finger. It may be years from now but the day will come."

He gently cradled her face in his hands, "You will not be alone in this. Together, as life goes on, you will move past the pain of losing Aemond, and I will move past the pain of losing my sister. Together, you and I will learn to live again."

A small smile formed on Myra's face. They would learn to live again.

She hugged her father again, burying her head into the crook of his neck. Laenor held her tightly, tracing circles on her back.

•⋅•⋅•

By that night, Rhaenyra entered her daughter's chambers and told her that Laenor was dead, murdered by one of his sworn knights.

"No. You're — you're lying," Myra said, frozen where she stood.

Rhaenyra sighed, slowly walking towards her daughter and placing a hand on her arm, "It is, my darling. I am so, so sorry —"

"No!" Myra shouted, pulling away from her, "It cannot be! I just — I just spoke to him! He said we would do it together! I — I need him!"

And then Myra began to cry. She cried so hard that she could not breathe. She fell to the floor, crying, screaming for a father who would not come.