Ruin Me

Chapter Thirty Seven

The tunnel was dark and narrow as many tunnels were inside Harrenhal. This one was also carved in stone as they walked into the Godswood where the Riverlords were gathered before the great tree, their guards beside them. Ser Simon was already waiting as the crowd parted for the two Targaryen royals who were accompanied by the Riverland Lord.

"In the deepest darkness comes the dawn, a new lord, a new beginning," Daemon proclaimed loudly.

"It is why we are all gathered here on this day," Daenyra continued. "Not just to welcome all of you, but so that you could all have the opportunity to welcome your new Lord Paramount, Lord Oscar Tully."

All eyes fell to the young boy who straightened his spine in his leather armour, a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Be welcome, my lords," he began. "And you have my thanks for answering my summons. I know I am not the man my grandsire was, but I hope to begin well, and go on from there."

"Make no mistake, good people, Lord Oscar is young, but he is not to be underestimated. Not by us and most certainly not by you. Your people have abided by law and tradition for many centuries, I have no doubt that you will hold to your word as those before you have done. I have no doubt that you will swear fealty to your new lord as you will to the rightful Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men. And you will answer the call that your lord has put forth," Daenyra spoke with such conviction as she faced down the group of assembled men.

"And what call would that be?" asked one of the Riverlords.

"In his wisdom, he has pledged his house and yours, to Princess Daenyra, Lady Commander of Queen's armies," Daemon answered, a cunning smirk on his lips. That look often glittered his face and it was always reserved for his wife. For the woman who was a complete enigma to him.

He would never understand what she ever saw in him. Part of him presumed that she would have seen things the way Rhaenyra did that night – that she was nothing more than a child who was manipulated by the Rogue Prince and the King's evil brother in order for him to make a play for the Throne. He had done nothing of the sort. She had always been more intelligent than many others her age, part of the reason why she enjoyed the games she played with Daemon so much like that night on the Street of Silk. No one else matched him so thoroughly. Rhea had been strong of body and of mind, but she was not kind at heart. She and Daemon clashed too much, their opinions too strong to allow for compromise. Laena had been kind of heart and was living fire, but in the end, she was a touch too submissive. She still bent to the whims of her husband, like on the matter of where their family would reside when the Prince of Pentos offered to house them. Perhaps the only thing Laena did for herself was choosing the way she wished to die simply because Daemon had refused to choose between her and their daughter; where his brother had not hesitated to make that choice and condemn his own lady wife for the chance at having a son.

Daenyra was...is, perfect, in every sense of the word; for lack of a better word. Their difference in age never once mattered to him when he had been unknowingly courting her. He had always felt a strange pull towards his brother's youngest child, and he used to think himself a fool for it. He was already married, and he had no business in the affairs of young court ladies whose virtue was sold to the highest bidding lord. Yet he could not stop himself. Not when he found a trinket made in the same Steel she yearned for. Not when he sought to comfort her after she fled her mother's funeral. Not when she saved his life and fought by his side in the Stepstones. Not when they danced together at Rhaenyra's engagement feast or on the Street of Silk beneath the cloak of the moon's shadows. There were a million moments like that where he considered leaving her be, but just could not stop himself. And there were a million more moments where he did leave her be and believed her to be better off; Rhaenyra's engagement feast, the night they spent together after their return from the Stepstones, and more recently, their argument with Rhaenyra. Yet, she had never strayed from him. Never, not once. Not with all the things he would dare to do or think of. Gods only knew why, and he wasn't about to question those who would bless him with such a person.