✶|𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺|✶ 𝘈𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘐𝘐 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘦𝘯

✶𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 32✶

――✴✯✴――

He Remembers

――✴✯✴――

✯Serena's Pov ✯

Year 133 A.C

Westeros

Red Keep, King's Landing

The air outside the walls of King's Landing was heavy with silence, broken only by the distant sound of crashing waves against the cliffs below. 

Around forty people stood gathered near the edge of the bluff, where the wind tugged gently at dark cloaks and veils. It was a small gathering, quiet, somber, and fittingly grim.

The High Septon stood before the wooden pyre, murmuring ancient prayers as the body of Queen Jaehaera lay still atop the stacked logs. 

She looked more like a wax figure than a once-living girl. Almost mummified. Fragile. It sent a cold shiver down Serena's spine. 

The image of a child, not much older than herself, thrown from the window of the Red Keep, onto the same spikes her mother had once fallen upon, was a thought that made her stomach turn.

Suicide? 

It made no sense. And from what Elyara and Lidia had whispered, the halls of the castle were already buzzing with rumors of something far worse... 

Murder...

Serena stood beside her father, trying not to fidget, her fingers curled around the soft black fabric of her borrowed cloak. 

She hadn't come prepared for mourning, but Elyara had found something appropriate in the wardrobe. A traditional Kingslander dress, dark and stiff, far from the breezy silks of Dorne.

She let her gaze drift, observing the others from beneath lowered lashes. 

No sign of the king. No white cloaks. No dragons. 

Only the Grand Maester and a man with the Hand's pin fastened to his cloak stood closest to the body. 

The absence of Aegon was hardly a surprise, he rarely made public appearances, and from what Serena had heard, he and the queen were hardly close. Just two children forced into marriage by the consequences of war.

She hadn't seen Aegon once since arriving at the capital. Sometimes, she wondered if he still stared out his window at night instead of sleeping, searching the stars for answers no one could give. 

Maybe he'd found some peace by now... Or maybe he was just better at pretending...

Serena sighed softly, drawing her father's attention.

"You all right, little star?" Lord Dayne leaned closer, speaking just loud enough for her to hear over the wind.

"Mhm... Just thinking." She muttered, then added with a small grimace. "And trying to breathe in these clothes..."

Her father chuckled under his breath, brushing his hand gently over her hair in a gesture of comfort. 

"They're not made for comfort, I'll admit."