To Take What Is Rightfully Ours

Chapter 33. Sharing The Big News

Rhaenyra blamed the fact that she was extremely busy the last few months with worry for Diane, and caring for Aemond, and the meetings of the Small Council, and the charity project Daemon and she started in the city which basically meant ensuring that people had clean water. Because she always paid attention to this kind of stuff, even more so since she got married, so it was rather out of character for her to miss something like this. But she did.

She didn't have moonblood for a while now and Rhaenyra only realized that when Elinda complained about her cramps. The princess absently advised her to put a hot compress on her stomach while trying to figure out when was the last time she bled. She definitely bled after Diane left which was almost five months ago. Maybe even a few times. But then Aemond started teething, Daemon and she were extremely sleep deprived, days blended together...

Oh Gods, she didn't bleed for at least two months. And even one missed moonblood was enough to indicate she was with a child, right? She missed two. Three, maybe, the few weeks during which Aemond was teething were no more than a blur in her memory. But at the same time, Rhaenyra didn't notice any other signs that could indicate pregnancy.

The princess remembered her mother struggling with pregnancy from very early on so she knew the usual signs. And she didn't have any. No morning sickness, no fatigue, no food aversions, no weird cravings, no... Rhaenyra touched her breasts. Well, they felt slightly tender but not enough to be really uncomfortable. Hmm...

In the end, the princess decided that the best course of action was to consult someone who was actually an expert in such things. So visiting Haisa it was.

***

It was an early evening when Rhaenyra walked into their bedchamber and saw Daemon near the window, just standing there and staring into the distance. An opened letter was on the table nearby, and Rhaenyra didn't have to look closer to know what it was.

'You opened it, didn't you?' she asked. Diane was gone for almost five months but Rhaenyra clearly remembered that she had asked them to open this particular letter only if she was gone for over a year.

Daemon sighed, still staring at the sky, 'Yes.'

'And?'

'And it started with the words "Caught you, father. I knew you wouldn't be able to wait the whole year".'

Rhaenyra smiled a little. It was so like Diane to start her own will with a joke in an attempt to cheer Daemon up. Then she glanced at the letter. She was not ready to read it, not yet, so she went to her husband and put her head on his shoulder as a way to comfort him.

'She will come back,' Rhaenyra said, trying to sound like she had no doubts about that. 'After all, she came back in time. One might argue it's harder and less likely.'

'Yes... but she was bitten in half by the dragon first.'

Rhaenyra squinted her nose. Yeah, it was best if Diane did not repeat that. Daemon sighed again. 'I just wish we could have... at least some clue that she was alright. I'm not even asking for a letter, a simple note with "I'm fine" will suffice.'

'She might not have ravens there...' Rhaenyra offered. 'Or... I don't even know, I have a hard time imagining what Valyria looks like now.'

'It's full of horrors,' Daemon said. 'At least, that's what Septon Barth believed.'

Rhaenyra frowned, 'Who?'

'The septon who tended to Aerea.'

'That's uh- that's the girl that disappeared with Balerion for more than a year? The one that mysteriously died?' the princess asked. She studied their family, of course, but she couldn't possibly remember everyone.