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Helaena Targaryen has always been different.
While the court sees a quiet princess with strange interests and stranger words, Helaena finds comfort in the things others overlook-insects hidden beneath leaves, patterns no one else notices, and the small corners of the Red Keep where she can simply be herself.
Then she meets Aelyr Maeryn Laemarys
Heir to an old Valyrian house of healers, merchants, and scholars, Aelyr comes to King's Landing to study medicine beneath the maesters. Clever, curious, and stubborn enough to question nearly anyone, he has little interest in crowns or courtly games. What he does have is an unusual talent for paying attention and Helaena quickly becomes one of his favorite people to notice.
What begins as an innocent childhood friendship slowly grows into something deeper as the two grow alongside one another. But in the Targaryen family, even love cannot escape politics.
With marriage alliances looming, old resentments sharpening, and the Iron Throne threatening to divide a family already beginning to fracture, Helaena and Aelyr must find a way to build a life of their own amid dragons, duty, ambitious men, and a court determined to decide their futures for them.
A story of growing up, finding understanding, family, healing, and a love that begins long before either of them knows what to call it.