𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐒

sīkuda

Jenny of Oldstones

     "I never told you, but Ser Barristan Selmy recognized me" Rhaella told Maester Luwin, Robb and Theon, who were going over some things.

     "What? How did he know who you were?" Robb asked.

     "What did he say to you?" Theon also asked.

     "He said I looked like my mother, and that he was sorry" Rhaella told them.

     "You need to go somewhere, disappear for a while" Maester Luwin said.

     "There is no need, I don't think he will say anything, besides, it has been over a month, if he was going to do something he would have done already" the girl told them.

     "How do you know?" Theon asked, the boy kept a straight face but deep down he was scared for his friend.

     "He seemed really sorry for what happened to my family, especially my mother, he said he was supposed to protect her too." the girl told them.

     "Ser Barristan was always an honored man," Maester Luwin said. The older man turned to Robb and said "do you know anything about your mother? Bran has been asking for her."

     "She should be on her way back to Winterfell" Robb told them, and with that everyone went back to their normal tasks. Rhaella couldn't focus on helping Robb on that day, all she could think about was the raven she received from her brother Viserys the other day, she hadn't told anyone about it, not even Robb or Theon, the girl had to think about it first.

     She did not want to marry her brother Viserys, but she did want to go live with her sister Daenerys, even though she had never met her sister she felt a connection to her, Rhaella felt like she knew Dany all her life, and because of her dreams she felt like she had been there with Dany for important moments of her life.

     But on the other hand, leaving Winterfell would be one of the most difficult decisions she would ever make. Not because she would miss the place, or the weather, but because leaving would mean leaving Robb and Theon, her closest friends, and also leaving the good people that had alway helped her. Rhaella always knew that she would have to make that decision sooner or later, and she thought she was ready for it, but now she knew she wasn't.

     After they were done Rhaella parted ways with the men, she decided to walk to the edge of the forest and sit by a tree trunk. She loved the forest that surrounded Wintefell, it was beautiful and peaceful, the girl especially liked the flowers that grew in it, they were so rare yet so beautiful.

     "Are you alright?" Bran asked, she hadn't even noticed him and Hodor approaching, Bran asked Hodor to put him by the tree trunk by Rhaella's side.

     "Yes," the girl answered, not taking her eyes out of the small flowers by her feet, "I'm just thinking."

     "About what?" He asked.

     "Have you ever heard of the story of Jenny of Oldstones?" the girl asked Bran, and he shook his head, nodding for her to continue, Bran loved stories. "Jenny was a peasant, they said she was a strange girl, who wore flowers in her hair. She said he was a descendant of long-lost kings of the First Men, and they ruled the castle of Oldstones. She met Prince Duncan Targaryen, who was prince of Dragonstone and the heir to the Iron Throne, while Jenny was traveling to the Riverlands. It is said the prince loved her so much he went against his family just to marry her, he renounced his title just to be with her, they even called him the Prince of Dragonflies. His younger brother Jaehaerys Targaryen became the heir to the Iron Throne. One of Jenny's friends, who was thought to be one of the children of the forest, made a prophecy that the prince that it was promised would be born from Aerys and Rhaella's lineage, and of course he married them," at this point Bran's eyes' were fixed in Rhaella wanting to know the rest of the story. "Did you know in Valyrian the word prince has no gender, so it could be a prince of princess? But back to the story, Prince Duncan and King Aegon were killed in the fire that consumed Summerhall, after that no one knows what really happened to Jenny, but they say, and even sing, that she lived the rest of her life in Oldstones, dancing with her ghosts" and that was the first time she took her eyes of the flowers and turned to Bran. "Sometimes I wonder if I am the princess who was promised, or if I am just going to a Jenny of Oldstones, dancing with the ghosts of what I could have been" she finished and looked at the flowers again. The truth is the Targaryen girl was tired, she was tired of pretending to be someone who she wasn't, tired of hiding herself.

     "Why would you be the princess who was promised?" Bran asked.

     Rhaella turned to Bran again and smiled at him, "can you keep a secret?" She asked with a playful smile.

...

     Robb Stark walked with Grey Wind towards Rhaella's room, when they got there the boy knocked on her door, after hearing a faint 'come in' he opened the door. He walked into the room and Grey Wind walked instantly towards Rhaella and laid by her feet.

     "How are you?" Robb asked.

     "I'm alright" she said petting the wolf's head, "why do you ask?"

     "Since you got the raven from your family you have been acting strange" Robb stated.

     "It was from Viserys," the girl told Robb.

     "Did he say something that upset you?" The Stark boy asked, preoccupied.

     The girl gave him a small smile and said "no, but he got me thinking" she explained, and Robb nodded, silently asking her to continue. "I want to go to my siblings, I love you Robb, you are the brother I have never had, the brother Viserys could never be. But I can't be myself here, I have to hide who I am, even my name, and I'm tired of it" the girl explained, and Robb had an understanding look on his face.

     The boy touched Rhaella's cheek and caressed it, he smiled at her "I'm sorry you feel that way Rhae, and if it makes you feel better, I want you to wash your hair and take the dye off, I want you to be who you are, and I want you to be happy. I know you want to meet your siblings, but I'm going to tell you the truth, I don't want you to leave, but I will support you in any decision you make" Robb said and the two friends hugged.

     This made her decision more difficult, how could she leave such a great friend, the brother who she had known all her life. And Rhaella didn't tell anyone but she was scared, even though she didn't let it show, the girl was terrified going to the other side of the world to meet her siblings for the first time made her wonder, what if things with her siblings were how she imagined it? That thought scared the youngest Targaryen like no other thought.

Author's note:

I apologize this chapter is a little bit shorter, I have been working a lot and I have a block right now. I thought it would be interest to introduce the story of Jenny of Oldstones and relate it to Rhaella somehow. I hope you guys enjoy.