Storm Approaching

Chapter 05; Blood

"I promise we will see each other again..."

Harwin Strong lied.

He would never see her again, and she would never see him again. Worse, she couldn't publically mourn him. She had to hold her tongue, stop her lips from trembling, keep her eyes from watering. She had to continue to smile and be her usual gentle self and ignore the guilt eating at her. She should've accepted the rumors were true earlier...

Then more tragedy struck. Another raven came, carrying the message that Laena Velaryon, the sister of her second father, had died. She was beginning to hate ravens. They hardly ever carried good news.

And now she stood hand in hand with Laenor as a man she never met gave a speech to even more people she never met. She looked up at Laenor, and the sorrow in his eyes made her heart squeeze. What made her feel worse is that she didn't know how to make him feel better.
"I love you" she whispered to him. He didn't verbally respond, but he squeezed her hand. That would do.

She forced her eyes off of him. She held his hand throughout the speech and even when everyone started to scatter away, she continued to hold his hand. If Laenor had been a painting, she would've thought the scene was beautiful. She'd praise the artist for being able to paint such emotion on their subject.

But Laenor wasn't a painting. Laenor was a real human that was in mourning and Vaelora didn't know how to heal his pain.

"Father" she grabbed his other hand and moved into his line of sight. His eyes looked right through her. "We are both in mourning, this you know. You are not alone. You can lean on me in your time of need". He still hadn't spoken. "You are surrounded by family that know your grief. You have support in everyone here. You must be aware of this". Still no response. "I love you. Do not think my recent knowledge has stopped this. I have always loved you and I always will. I may have not ever met Laena, but I'm sure she was just as amazing as you". Yet still, no response. Her heart started thumping and her eyes started to water. "Father please say something".

Laenor kissed her hands. "You're wrong..." he whispered. "She was so much better than me..." he let her hands fall from his and walked away. Her eyes continued following him and they only moved when she heard Jaces voice behind her.

"Mother wants us to comfort our cousins".

Her cousins. The children of Laena. Of course they needed comfort aswell.
"Alright then. Where-" her voice caught in her throat when her eyes finally landed on the girls. She only briefly saw them before, but now she could truly see their beauty when they were sat still. Though they were both stunning, one in particular caught her eye. She hadn't stopped looking at her as they approached and her voice hadn't come back until they were in front of them.

Jace hadn't said anything. He just held her hand. Jealousy surged though- no! Jealousy? No. She was betrothed to Aegon. She couldn't be jealous that she wasn't holding either of their hands! Ridiculous.

"I'm Vaelora. This is Jacaerys" she forced herself to say. "What are your names?".

The other girl answered. "I'm Rhaena. She's Baela".

"Baela and Rhaena. Beautiful names" she doubted compliments could help either of them feel better, but it was worth a shot. Vaelora tried to think of something else to say, but an older woman approached. Rhaenys Targaryen. The mother of Laena and Laenor. Wife to Corlys Velaryon. The Queen Who Never Was. Vaelora knew all about her and her dragon Meleys, and though they never met, she admired her.

She curtsied. "My deepest condolences Princess Rhaenys. I have no words for your loss. All I can say is that we are here for your side of the family".

She actually responded! The Queen Who Never Was - and based on how Viserys handled situations, The Queen Who Should've Been - responded to her!
"Thank you Princess Vaelora".