Burn Together ❖ Daemon Targaryen

Chapter 40

Rhaenyra had been displeased with her sister's decision to go to Harrenhal without telling anybody, and she took Jacaerys without permission. However, when she heard that Daemon was now actually forming the army he was supposed to have been creating from the beginning, she was happier with them.

While at Harrenhal, Jace had felt powerful. He had beheaded a man and commanded the river lords to form an army, and for once he had really felt like the heir to the Iron Throne.

However, when he returned to Dragonstone and was forced to see Ulf, Hugh, and Adam again, he felt more diminished than ever. His entire life people had pointed at him and called him a bastard for his dark hair and resemblance to Ser Harwin Strong, but when his dragon egg had hatched in his cradle and he had begun to ride Vermax, he could prove that he was a true Targaryen and a worthy heir to the Iron Throne.

But to have these men, two of whom had more resemblance to Targaryens than him, also have dragons made his own claim to the throne feel weak.

Ulf was a drunk who was disrespectful to everybody, including the Queen herself, and Hugh could not have cared less about this war. Adam was the only one of them he tolerated since he seemed genuinely dedicated to Rhaenyra and his dragon.

Consequently the Prince avoided suppers and any time he would have to spend with them and his only form of comfort at the moment was Baela.

She often found him in the library in his isolation, just as he was now.

He sat at a table in the corner, eyes not on the book before him and pouted at nothing.

"It does not befit a prince to pout." she joked as she walked over.

Jace glared at her. "I'm not pouting."

"What would you call it, then?" she asked, taking a seat beside him.

He gestured to the open book on the table, "I'm reading."

"While your mother waits?" she asked, and Jacaerys rolled his eyes "You're angry."

"Aren't you?" he replied.

Baela shook her head "I don't see what good it would do."

He scoffed, "They are an insult to us. To what makes us Targaryens. If any common lout can ride a dragon, then-"

"-That does not make me common. Or you." she argued.

Jace sighed sadly "You know what I am."

Baela reached over to take one of his hands in her own "I don't care. You are the crown prince, the son of the rightful queen, and here you are sulking because you believe that if not for the dragon or the trappings of your station, that you are nothing." she laughed slightly, which made him frown "Do you believe that you are the first noble heir who was not sired by his noble father? Such is the way of the world, Jace, and in resenting it, you only diminish yourself."

"Easy enough to say." he muttered "I've heard the whispers the whole of my life."

"Then prove to them that you are worthy." she replied, squeezing his hand "Get up and take your place by your mother's side. Be the heir to the Iron Throne that we all know you are and can be."

Jace nodded "I will. But I don't know how"

She smiled sadly "Then be a man your brothers would be proud of. Joffrey looks up to you, and Luke did too. They admired your courage and strength, and you need to fight for their futures as well as your own. Do it for them if no one else"

"And if I do it for you?" he asked boldly.

Baela blushed nervously "Then you should know that I am already proud of you"