"What a trio we make," says Laenor as they sit before the fire. Their time together winds down, and they know it. They are at the point of their goodbye and none of them wishes to speak the words for then it will be real.

"I wish we had been friends," begins Qarl, "all those years in King's Landing."

"Friendships rarely last," replies Rhaenyra, "especially in King's Landing." But then she adds: "I shall miss you both dearly."

Laenor watches his lady wife smile at his lover in the firelight. He never thought he'd see the day where such warmth would live between them. It makes him long for a world in which they all could persist – where the four of them could raise all their children together, as they have done for the past three months since Laena's death. Yet Laenor knows such a world does not exist. It is better not to dwell on the what-ifs and could-beens. He shall think of Rhaenyra often. He knows she will look over the three boys with the fierceness of a dragon, and that thought gives him peace. "There is one more thing," begins Laenor, "that I wish to request."

Rhaenyra turns from Qarl to look at him.

"Let not the children be a witness," says the lord. "Take them with you to Dragonstone. Be gone before it happens. I do not wish," he begins, his voice breaking, "for them to live with that image in their mind's eye. My parents. Must see what they must see but the children. Are innocent."

Rhaenyra takes his hand, a look of tenderness upon her face.

"I swear it," she says. "When Daemon arrives, I shall find him alone and tell him of our plan. Do not act," she begins, "until we are discovered missing. I will make sure the children are with us."

Laenor nods in gratitude, tears rolling down his face.

Rhaenyra embraces him then. "I am glad," she begins, "to have been your lady wife. We have clashed swords at times, but you stood by my side through all of it. You have saved me from a life of being married to another who would chain me. It was what we agreed to all those years ago. I could not have wished for more."

Laenor weeps against her chest as she continues.

"You are the boys' father. They will not forget you. We shall speak of you often and with fondness," she says. "And when they are old enough. Old enough to understand, we shall find you."

Laenor pulls away and shakes his head. "You know it cannot be so," he begins. "Should word get out, it would ruin all you have."

Rhaenyra says nothing. She knows the truth of his words in her heart.

"It is the price we must pay," says Laenor, "for our freedom."

A tear falls from Rhaenyra's own eye.

Qarl rises from his seat beside the fire. "Then let us raise a glass," he says, refilling their goblets, "to our freedom."

"To freedom," says Laenor, lifting his cup.

"To love," says Rhaenyra, and the three of them drink.

They sit together there until the fire burns to embers and the morning light can be seen through the window of Laenor's bedchamber.

"Now," says the princess. "let us return to our posts. The three of us must not be discovered in the dark together."

"Aye," says Qarl.

"For now, let us play our roles, for we have learned to play them masterfully. Wait until we are gone," instructs Rhaenyra. "And then be free."