Lady Arianwyn Targaryen, Lady of Runestone, was not born of love. Nor passion. Nor even a sense of duty. She was seeded by her father, the Rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen, in an act of unbridled hatred, and borne of her mother, the late Lady Rhea Royc...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The king was true to his word. The same day Arianwyn received her message from Ser Gerold, another raven arrived from King's Landing. She watched with a soaring heart as the bird disappeared into the rookery from the window of her tower. Over the past month, the stone ledge where she so often read had become her refuge. But now, she could return to her true sanctuary—the skies. Hopefully soon.
If Daemon chose to obey his brother's orders.
Her heart continued to race, no longer from her excitement at the prospect of finally seeing Emrys again. It now came from the creeping fear of how her father would react to the command.
Though her skin nearly ached with the desire to don her riding leathers and run to her beloved dragon, Arianwyn stayed by the window. She could hardly focus on the words Gerold had written, her mind racing as she imagined what Daemon might do.
She was sure he would burst through the door at any moment, eyes blazing with anger. He would scream at her, berate her. He would swear to make her life on Dragonstone as miserable as he could. He would insult her mother and perhaps even boast about how he had raped and killed her and escaped all punishment.
Arianwyn's only consolation was that he could not hurt her. He knew the Vale was willing to go to war for her—he would not risk that. At least, she hoped he would not.
Her hands began to shake with fearful anticipation as she sat in her window. Long minutes passed, then hours, but still, Daemon did not come.
If only that soothed her fears—but she knew that the longer a dragon's fire burned, the hotter it grew.
When the guards came to escort her to dinner, she wanted so badly to refuse them. But she had promised to be strong for Aemond and the memory of her mother. She would not hide.
So, clasping her hands behind her back to stop their trembling, she followed the armored men through the dark stone corridors to the dining hall. On Aemond's advice, she had begun drawing maps of the immense castle so that she would not have to rely on Daemon and Rhaenyra's servants to find her way around. While she did not bring a map with her to meals – she did not want to give her siblings such fodder to ridicule her—she now took greater care in observing the route they followed.
Arianwyn was fairly confident that if she needed to flee the dinner that night, she could make it back to her rooms by herself.
The rest of her family—though she remained hesitant to use the word – was already seated when she arrived. After more than a month, she had become accustomed to the silence that descended on them whenever she appeared. But at least it did not last long anymore.
As soon as she took her seat, the family resumed their conversation. Arianwyn stayed silent, keeping her head down as she ate. While she never looked at him, she could feel Daemon's eyes on her and his fiery rage. But she did not look back at him. If he were going to spew his anger at her, she would not let him do it with an audience.
