The Dragon's Legacy

Chapter Ninty-Three

Daemion could feel the warmth of the sun on his face.

This was the closest he could get to the sunrise he had dreamt of a thousand times.

Yet none of the sunrises ever matched the one that kept visiting him.

None.

But it was the opening door of their chamber and her voice that brought his wandering mind back to his head.

"I need to have a word with you, husband." it was Rhaena's voice as she addressed him.

Husband. She never called him by such formality.

"You may have more than just a word, my eternal beloved." Daemion said calmly as he kept his eyes close as he only enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

In the flickering light of the hearth, Rhaena sat down on the edge of their bed, her eyes dark with unspoken thoughts. The silence between them stretched, broken only by the crackling of firewood. Finally, she spoke.

"I am hearing whispers, Daemion. I've been hearing them for months but now more than ever." Rhaena began, her voice steady but tinged with a hint of weariness. "Whispers about Vallar and Visenya."

Daemion shifted in his chair, his violet eyes meeting hers calmly, though there was a heaviness in his gaze. "What have you heard?" His tone was careful, as though he already knew the answer.

Rhaena's brow furrowed slightly. "Some say that in the dead of night, they can hear screams and sounds of coupling at night. Another says that the two of them wander out of the castle to the beach and do not return until the morning and..."

A long pause followed, and Daemion exhaled, running a hand through his raven-black hair. He did not deny it. Rhaena knew he wouldn't. "And?" Daemion asked calmly as he finally opened his deep violet eyes and looked at the sky.

"...And that you know," she said softly, her voice no longer a question. "That all this time, you knew. From the very beginning."

Daemion calmly turned around, his broad shoulders casting a long shadow against the floor as his long greying raven hair fell over his long black leather coat's shoulders. "Yes. I knew," he admitted, turning to face her. "A what of it? What would you have me do, Rhaena? Lock them away? Enforce it upon them to never see one another again? Condemn them for a bond they cannot help? That they have never helped? Something that they were born with? Just as our forebears were? They are the blood of the dragon. Unruly and unpredictable. They would find their way toward each other no matter how much you oppose it. Don't forget. It is only you who oppose their love, none other."

Rhaena's lips tightened, and for a moment, she looked as though she might snap, might rage at him. But instead, she sighed, a mixture of frustration and understanding crossing her face. "They are our children, Daemion. And they are children. And I love them... but it is not right. What happens when the wrong ears hear of this? Nothing will come to Vallar. But these people-nay, animals will never be kind to us women. What will they say of Visenya?! The court, the realm? Visenya is deflowered! No Lord will marry her!"

"Fuck those Lords or animals if you prefer to call them. Fuck anyone who is not you and I or that of our blood. Let them talk for that is all they have ever possessed. Words are powerful but it's one's resolve that is stronger than words. They are the same lords who will cut their wives open for a child that they will be bride of before they are grown. The words of such people hold the little value to me." Daemion said simply as he looked the other way calmly once again."

Rhaena knew he was correct. Those same Lords's mouth knew not of a limit. It was easier to shut the gates of a city, but not the mouth of those people.

But her heart still shook in her chest.