Ruin Me

Chapter Twelve

"Dae?! Daenyra!" bellowed a voice as Rhaenyra burst into her twin's chambers.

Daenyra was brushing her hair before a looking glass as she sighed, dressed in a fresh gown of pink but her bed was still a mess. She hated how disheartened she'd been by the fact that she'd woken to an empty bed that morning. She knew he couldn't stay. She knew that what they had done could never be repeated. But still, it saddened her, especially after they had fallen asleep together, wrapped in each other's arms and Daemon's seed still warm on her thighs. Yet, it hadn't stopped her from leaving the bloody sheets on display, her maidenhead no more. Solena would simply think she'd started her monthly cycle, and even if she did question it, Solena had always been rather adept at keeping the secrets of the Princess.

"Must we go over the importance of knocking again, Rhae?" Daenyra asked boredly as she fiddled with knots that weren't there.

"What did you and Daemon do last night?"

Daenyra stilled. She kept her composure as she set down her comb and turned towards her sister. "What are you going on about?"

"Alicent called me into the Godswood. She said that her father had you followed. They thought that you were me. They saw what you did with Daemon in that whorehouse."

"I did nothing with him in that whorehouse! We simply went out to celebrate our return home and our victory," she reasoned.

"Dae," Rhaenyra said softly, earnestly. "I am the other half of you. Please do not insult me by feeding me half-truths."

Daenyra's sigh was gentler and less tormented. It was almost defeated. "We only kissed at the pleasure house. He wanted to come back here and...ruin me."

"Daenyra –"

"Rhaenyra, please do not give me your pity. I am not some innocent lady of the court to be tempted by the allure of Daemon's darkness. I knew exactly what I was doing. I wanted to ruin him just as he wanted to ruin me!" she blurted, already hearing the pity in Rhaenyra's voice as she turned away from her, as she looked towards the bed that held a memory that would forever be precious to her heart. "I do not regret it and I would do it again. If Otto fucking Hightower has a problem with who I lay with, he can –"

"Dae," Rhaenyra said as she took a step closer to her sister, her hands clasped at the front of her golden dress. "I do not pity you. I only wanted to tell you that despite the snake-like nature of Otto Hightower, his rumours about my actions were not entirely untrue."

Her head lifted up, taken by surprise. If she were honest, she did not expect this reaction from her sister. "What do you mean?"

"It would seem that we are more alike than we thought. Whilst I would never dare set foot in a pleasure house, much less engage in pleasure on the Street of Silk, you are not the only one who laid with a man in the hours of the night," Rhaenyra confessed.

"Who?!" Daenyra asked with eagerly wide eyes.

"Ser Criston," she whispered with a sheepish smile and Daenyra couldn't help but laugh as she took her sister's hands. It was relief like no other to know that her twin did not judge her for her actions or think lesser of her, but that she shared the same vision about their purity and saving it until marriage whilst men sullied themselves prior and were beholden to no punishment as they would be.

"Oh, but of course, that makes sense. He is rather easy on the eyes with his Dornish looks."

"And here I was believing that you had a particular inclination towards men with silver hair," Rhaenyra teased. "What was our uncle like? Was there any truth to the rumours about his prowess in bed?"