Chapter Text
Rhaenys
“Your grandfather is angry again, sweetling. I’m afraid we shouldn’t bother him now.”
Rhaenys glanced up at her nursemaid. Jeyne had never been fun to be around, but in recent days she had grown even less so. The skin near her eyes had grown darker, and her hair was more frayed than normal. For someone who prided themselves on her appearance, Jeyne looked a mess. She’s not alone in that. Everyone has been that way, since word came from the Trident.
Everyone was acting different, since word came to Ser Willem Darry from his kin in the riverlands. People were crying, men and women, or walking around in a grim silence. The princess wasn't sure why, only that it had something to do with her father and the bad men he went to fight. The king was angrier than normal, which Rhaenys knew was strange. She was always turned away when she wanted to see him. The only ones he seemed to want to talk to were the men in the strange clothes the servants called "pyromancers." Rhaenys didn't know what that was, but she thought it had something to do with fire.
Still, she wanted some help, and the king might if Jeyne would stop trying to make the princess wait. Rhaenys scowled. “I want someone to see to Balerion. You said you’d take care of him, but you didn’t! No one will do anything. Not you, not Ser Jaime, not even Mother! Maybe Grandfather could have someone-”
“Don’t count on it, child,” A silky voice called from down the hall. “His Grace is hard at work, fighting to keep the realm together. Leave him to his work.”
A bald man dressed in silk was walking towards them from the direction of the small council chambers. Jeyne tensed beside Rhaenys and stepped in front of the princess, putting herself between the Spider and the little dragon. Why, though? Lord Varys is kind, and always has sweets for me. Rhaenys knew that people feared the master of whisperers, but she did not. After all, his duty was to sow dissent among and hunt down traitors, and she wasn’t a traitor. Neither were Jeyne or Mother, but they were always warning her about the people at court, especially Varys and the pyromancer Rossart.
Jeyne was addressing Lord Varys now. “My lord, the princess should be abed at this hour. Perhaps you could find someone to escort us back to her chambers.”
“Oh, I think I’m suited for such a task as that.” Varys giggled. “In times like these, one must find things to do, or else they may go mad. May I ask what do you do to stay the madness, princess?”
Rhaenys thought about it. She had never felt mad, except when Aegon cried too loudly in their mother’s chambers. What did she do when he was wailing? “I see to Balerion, and remember that I’m a princess, and being mad is not a thing for a princess to be.”
Varys smiled down at her. “Indeed not. Come, let us head back to your chambers. I'll have a sweet for you and a mouse to help little Balerion feel better.”
Rhaenys beamed up at him and took the hand he had stretched around Jeyne to her. They began walking down the hall, Jeyne making a face as she followed them out and away from Maegor’s Holdfast.
“Varys, what made the king so mad today?” Rhaenys asked as they walked. “And yesterday? And the day before that? Is it what Father did? Was it the stag-?
She trailed off as she saw his face then. It wasn’t the impassive or sly face he usually held in court. No, for once Lord Varys looked sad. That looked remained for a moment and then vanished when he shook his head, as if it had never been. But it had, Rhaenys knew it had.
“I think the prince’s actions may have upset the king, child,” Varys said with a small smile. “But more of his anger is for the lords who he thinks led the prince astray. The northern wolves and the stags and falcons. It is a great crime to trick a prince, and an even greater one to anger the king.”
The Holdfast was behind them now, and they were entering the tower where Rhaenys' family made their home. This tower was one of the closest to the sea, and Rhaenys loved it when the breeze came from across the waters. It chased the bad smells from the city away, and the bad sounds from the courtyard too.
Rhaenys scowled again, this time at the Spider. “No one can trick Father! Everyone says he is the wisest prince that ever was,” She loudly declared, “and the bravest too!”
“Of course he is, princess,” Jeyne cooed. “Why, I think your Father is playing a clever trick on the rebels, leading them into a trap for King Aerys.”
Varys glanced at the nursemaid with a thoughtful look on his face. “You are more right than you know, dear lady. The king does have a surprise in store for the rebels. More than one, if I may be so bold to say.”
Rhaenys stared at Varys. “What’s the surprise? Is it Uncle Oberyn? He always liked surprises, like when I put some eggs under the cushion he was sitting on when he visited Mother-"
“No, child. But I assure you, the surprise will be all the more satisfying if it stays just that- a surprise.” Varys turned to look ahead. “I believe we have reached our quest’s end.”
By now, they had arrived at her chambers. Mother's were next door, but Rhaenys was five, and she couldn’t stand sleeping in the room next to the nursery. Aegon’s sweet in the day, but when the sun goes down he turns into a monster.
“I’m afraid this is where I leave you, little dragon,” Varys gazed at her sadly, “but I think you have earned your sweet, and Balerion’s as well.”
Rhaenys stuck out her hand as Varys reached into his robes. Before he could take anything out, though, a soft voice called from inside her chambers. “Rhaenys has had enough sweets, Lord Varys.”
The door opened, and Mother stepped out. She looked even more tired than Jeyne did, but there was something hard in her gaze as she looked at the Spider “Now please be on your way. There is much to do, even at this hour.”
“Of course, Princess Elia,” Varys said as he bowed deeply, "though I do think the little dragon was asking on behalf of mighty Baler-“
“The kitten is being seen to, though I appreciate your diligence.” Mother smiled at Varys then, though that hardness remained. “Your duties, my lord?”
Varys bowed to Mother, and then turned and bowed to Rhaenys. “Until we meet again, sweet princess.” With that he turned and walked down the hall and around the corner, back towards the Holdfast most like.
“Come along, Rhaenys,” Mother turned to smile at her, any hardness leaving with the Spider. “Your brother and I have been waiting for you.”
Rhaenys walked into her chambers where she saw that Aegon was indeed resting on her bed. The infant prince was swaddled in cloth, obscuring the wispy silver-gold hair on his head. The light purple eyes he had were closed as he slept. Rhaenys didn’t see much else as Mother decided to envelop her in an embrace that threatened to squeeze her breath out of her chest. She gasped out, “Mother, too tight.”
Elia released her then, an adoring look on her face. “I’m sorry, little one. It’s just that I’ve missed you so much since last we spoke.”
“That was this morning,” Rhaenys pointed out, “and Aegon was sleeping then too-"
She gasped as she looked as her brother again. Curled next to his face was a ball of black fur, which grew slightly larger and smaller as it breathed. She walked towards her bed in a huff. “Balerion, I told you that Aegon would get his own kitten if he wanted one.” She picked him up as the pet sleepily blinked up at her. “You are mine and Aegon—“
At that moment, her brother revealed his true colors by opening his eyes and mouth and wailing. Rhaenys dropped Balerion back onto the bed and clapped her hands over her ears. “Argh! I just got here Aegon! Why do you hat me?!”
“He doesn’t hate you, Rhaenys,” Mother chided over Aegon’s wails from her seat a few feet away, “he just misses the warmth. Look, he’s already calming.”
Rhaenys looked back down where to her annoyance Balerion had resumed his place at Aegon’s side. The baby had ceased his crying and was now doing his best to cuddle with the kitten.
“Traitor.” Rhaenys walked over to her Mother and sat on her lap, glaring at her kitten and brother. “Why does everyone love him more?”
“No one loves him more or you less, sweetling,” Jeyne said soothingly from her place near the corner, “it’s just that he’s still a baby, so he needs extra attention and help. You were the same way at his age.”
“I was not! Take that back!”
“Oh you were, sweetling.” Rhaenys glanced backwards, where her mother was smiling down at her. “And if I had my way, you’d go back to being that small and stay that way forever.”
Rhaenys made a face at that. “But then I couldn’t do anything fun. I’d never get to be like the first Rhaenys, with her music and dancing and flying.”
Mother laughed at that. “No one will get to be like that Rhaenys ever again, I’m afraid.” She glanced out the window, where the sun had just finished sinking under the horizon in the west. “Now, it’s time for bed and some sleep.”
“I can’t do that when Aegon has stolen my bed and my kitten.”
Jeyne moved to carefully pick up her brother. He didn’t stir as Balerion was replaced by the nursemaid’s bosom. She bowed to Mother, then slowly walked out of the room. Rhaenys flung her sheets back and crawled into her bed, glancing at Mother as she did. “Can you sleep with me tonight, please?”
“Sorry sweetling, but Aegon still needs me close by.”
Rhaenys pouted as Mother tucked her under the sheets. The pout melted as Elia kissed her warmly on the forehead and smiled down at her. “Good night, my little dragon.”
“Good night, Mother.”
As her mother walked across the chamber and closed the door, Rhaenys felt the need to sleep rise irresistibly within her. In a few moments, sleep had taken her.
She was walking in the woods. It was morning or afternoon, the sunlight golden as it filtered through the trees. There was no wind, but it wasn't quiet. She could hear the cries of other animals, birds and beasts of all kinds. They sounded hungry. It scared her a little, but Rhaenys kept walking. She had to find them. They were here.
Rhaenys couldn't tell how much time passed before she heard the cry. It was like nothing she'd ever heard, but somehow she knew what it was. She began to run, hurrying to reach them.
And there they were, in a clearing ahead of her. The dragons.
The red was in the center, crying out as it stood on its legs, wings spread out in a display of power. Not far the black was growling, smoke rising from its mouth and from the many wounds inflicted upon it. Two others danced above the trees. White and gold, they shrieked and blew flames as they danced, circling and then diving towards each other, crashing with cries of pain and fury. Beneath them, the red roared before flapping its wings. It would join the others fight soon.
Rhaenys was scared. Scared and sad. They weren't supposed to fight. They couldn't. For all the fire and smoke, the air was getting colder, and the light was fading. The cries of the creatures in the woods were vanishing as well. She screamed to draw the dragons gazes, but they paid her no mind. She ran into the clearing, trying to flee the dark and the cold. But if followed her, and the dragons only seemed to grow more distant as she ran towards them.
And then she couldn't see them. It was just cold and dark, and she was alone.
The next thing Rhaenys knew, a hand was tearing her out of sleep, shaking her roughly. “Princess, rise! We need to move, now!”
“Wha-?” Rhaenys sat up and blinked rapidly, shaking herself in an effort to awaken. She peered up at the figure who had roused her. A golden man, save for the skin on his face and the white cloak that hung from his shoulders. “Ser Jaime, what are-?
“Quickly, Rhaenys,” The knight snarled at her, making her gasp at his tone, “We don’t have time for your questions! We must get to your mother and brother and be on our way!”
Rhaenys had never heard him speak like that before. He sounded angry and hurried and scared. But Kingsguard aren’t supposed to ever be scared. They are the bravest men alive, besides the dragons.
She shook herself one last time and threw the sheets back. She scooped up Balerion and got off the bed. Ser Jaime grabbed her hand and began striding towards the door, Rhaenys hurrying to keep pace rather than be dragged along.
They didn’t go far. Ser Jaime walked to the door to her mother’s chambers and pushed it open. “Princess, we need to go now!”
Mother was already up. But she didn’t look normal. She was dressed plainly, with no jewels or orange and red silks that she favored. A simple gown with a scarf wrapped around her head. In her hands she clutched Aegon, who watched them all with wide eyes, but for once did not cry.
“Ser Jaime.” Mother moved to his side. “Has everything been prepared?”
“Far from it,” Jaime growled, “some fuck has either slipped up or sold us to the king- doesn’t matter much either way, they’re coming and we need to be gone when they get here!”
With that he turned and began dragging Rhaenys again. Mother hurried along right behind him.
Ser Jaime was still speaking. “My father’s host arrived outside the walls in the last hour. Rhaegar isn’t far behind. If we can get to the stables and grab horses then we can get to the gates. Even now, no man of the City Watch will refuse a Kingsguard’s order.”
They were down the stairs and heading for the tower entrance when Rhaenys heard shouts coming from outside. Ser Jaime heard them too and stopped, cursing under his breath. “Back up the stairs, now!”
They had just begun the climb when a shout came from behind them. She glanced backwards to see a group of men coming to the foot of the stairs, led by a slim knight in armor with black hair and a thin face. His expression was one of the coldest she'd ever seen. “Ser Jaime, halt! Bring the woman and her children now, or face the king’s justice!”
“Go to hell!” Jaime shoved them behind him and drew his sword, the steel reflecting the torchlight dancing off his armor and hair. “The second level. The storage room, beside the wine casks. Look for the loose stone. Eunuch's orders.”
He didn’t wait for a response, slowly walking towards the entrance, where the slim knight waited with a drawn blade. Alongside him was a goldcloak, and behind them Rhaenys could make out more men with steel in hand.
Rhaenys felt her mother grab her hand and begin pulling her up the steps. She didn’t fight, but her gaze stayed on Ser Jaime, catching the way his sword rose and fell as it met the slim man’s strike. His other hand thrust his torch at the goldcloak’s face, making him curse and back away. Then the stone arch of the stairs blocked her view and Rhaenys could no longer see, only listen as the sound of combat followed them up.
At the second level, Mother pulled her to the hall where Ser Jaime said to go. She was quick to fling open the door and push Rhaenys inside. She followed her in only to put Aegon in her arms and begin searching the ground. Rhaenys just stood there, shivering with cold and fear, listening for the sound of footsteps, praying that they belonged to the Kingsguard they’d left behind.
“Rhaenys, here!” She turned to see Mother had pried a stone loose from the ground. She was motioning towards it. “Quickly, get inside, now!”
Rhaenys came over and peered down. There wasn’t more stone like there was supposed to be, but a dirt hole big enough for a grown-up to squeeze into. For her, it would have been comfortable if it wasn’t so cold and damp. She grimaced as her Mother lowered her into the gap.
Looking around, it became even stranger. There was no stone to her left, under the room- in fact, she could feel a breeze coming from that direction. She stopped gazing down when Mother lowered Aegon into her arms. But as she held her brother, she realized some of his wrappings were gone. Rhaenys glanced up to see Mother holding the missing linen, wrapping it around a bottle of wine that she had taken from one of the stands.
Rhaenys sense of wrong was growing by leaps and bounds. “Mother, what are you doing? Where are-?”
“Rhaenys, listen to me,” Mother interrupted, kneeling down so that she could cup her cheek in her hand, “I want you to go where the wind lives. Take your brother and follow the wind. Don’t stop for anyone, do you understand? No one!”
Tears were glistening under Mother’s lashes. “I love you, my little dragon.”
She released Rhaenys’ cheek, and began returning the stone to its old place in the ground- on top of Rhaenys and Aegon.
Rhaenys cried out as darkness flooded around her. Aegon’s cries joined her, echoing down the passage the breeze was coming from. Above her, Rhaenys thought she could hear weeping, but then the sound came of a door opening and then closing, and there was silence, save for her crying brother’s wails.