The Dragon Awakens.
The Dragon Princess
It had been so long since she had seen King's Landing, for a long time she had thought that she would never see the city again and tears had come to her eyes when she had seen it from the prow of the ship that had carried them back from Dragonstone, for a time she thought that she would hate the city when she had been trapped at Dragonstone, hate it for what it had done to Rhaenerya, hate for it being the nest where the treason that had caused so much blood to be spilled had hatched.
The place where the man who had killed Moondancer had ruled for so long, the thought of her dragon caused tears to spring to her eyes, and she held that much tighter on to the reins of her horse.
I must not cry, I mustn't. I am a princess and a dragon; a little girl can cry but not those things. I am not going to cry.
For the first time in a long time she wished that her sister was here, it had been so since she had seen her and when she had been trapped in the dungeons of Dragonstone she had dreamed that a snow storm had fallen on the Vale and the Eyrie had frozen into a giant crystal of ice and her sister had frozen as well and when she had reached out to touch her, she had shattered into a thousand, thousand pieces.
She knew that it was just a nightmare, but it had disquieted her all the same and she had felt like a little girl again for the first time in a long time and she had wanted nothing more than to be with her father again,
It had been so long since she had seen him, all she wanted was to curl into his lap and forget all of this horror.
The cheering of the crowd brought her out of her thoughts, it was odd to see as all her time at Dragonstone, both before and after her uncle had stolen it like a thief in the night the news from the capital had always seemed so dire. The smallfolk had been unhappy, speaking treason as easily as they would comment on the weather or the price of bread and the comments that had spoken about the queen her cousin had been so vile that she had been so angry for her, a part of her had wanted to fly on Moondancer herself and turn them to ash.
How quick they were to change their tune when the wind of war changed, a part of her hated them for that. But she was a princess and did not let it show on her face, her eyes kept straight ahead as the Red Keep grew closer, it seemed like an eternity since she had seen the castle. Such misery had occurred within those walls that she might have been happier if she'd never seen it again.
But just like the city it ruled over, the sight of it warmed her heart and when they rode through the gates of the castle tears that she tried so hard to stop rolled down her cheeks, she leapt from the back of her horse, even though her bones were still aching from the wounds she had suffered from her last flight, and for the first time in a long time she felt something that was close to happy.
Her happiness only grew when the man who killed her dragon and kept her a prisoner hobbled through the gates, Aegon was naked and covered in blood, rotten fruit and nightsoil and never had a sight brought her such joy. Rhaenerya was behind him on her horse, the smile on her face was brighter than the sun and it was good to it on her face after so long a time, the last time that Baela had seen her on Dragonstone the Queen had been caught between dark rages or deep sadness that threatened to drown her.
There was still sorrow in her, Baela could see it. But she had lost three of her sons, her only daughter but now that her greatest enemy was humbled before her the weight of it seemed to have lightened at least a little. Baela wondered what she would want if the choice was given to her, children or a crown?
The Queen had her brother dragged inside and also had servants take Baela to her new chambers, they were light and airy compared to her chambers on Dragonstone and Baela was grateful for that as she had felt half a prisoner within the gloomy old fortress even before her cousin had made her one in truth. Here, with the sunlight streaming through the window and the gentle breeze brushing the back of her neck, she felt happier than she had in a long time.
Food was brought to her later on in the day, bread still hot from the ovens with butter and preserves made from blackberries and lemons, cheese and bacon and fish were brought to her as well along with some cakes, and jugs of wine and water and milk and considering the gruel that she had been forced to eat in Dragonstone's dungeons she devoured all of it readily.
Once she had eaten her fill she stumbled over to her bed and crawled under the covers and shut her eyes, when she slept, she dreamt of flying on the back of Moondancer with her father and her sister on their own mounts.
A knocking on the door woke her from her dreams and with a sigh she pushed her covers off of her and walked over to the door and pulled it open to see a servant on the other side of it. "A thousand pardons Princess, the Queen had commanded that the court be assembled and demanded your presence. She said that you were to come at once."
Baela sighed again but nodded all the same. "Give me a moment to dress." She shut her door then and walked over to where her trunks had been placed, she had always preferred wearing shirts and trousers while her twin had preferred the silks and velvets, they were meant to wear but Baela had no issue wearing them when she had to and she knew that the Queen would want her to wear a dress for this.
She found a black dress, trimmed with Myrish lace at the sleeves that had been dyed blood red, and pulled it on before she left the chamber, and the servant escorted her to the throne room, it was already filled with hundreds of lords and ladies and more and more were flowing in to hear what their Queen would do to her brother, one of the greatest traitors the realm had ever known.
Rhaenyra was sat atop the Iron Throne; she was still dressed in the armour that she had worn when she came to take Dragonstone back from her brother with her crown decorating her brow and her white gold curls flowing over her shoulders. She looked everything a Queen should be in Baela's eyes and looking at her now she wondered how anyone could ever doubt her claim, why anyone would want to war against her.
Sat before the throne was Rhaenyra's Hand and Baela's Grandfather, all she wanted to do in that moment was ignore everything else and run to Lord Corlys but she knew that she could not do so. All the same she smiled when her grandsire's eyes landed on her, and he gave her a nod.
Also standing before the throne, dressed in green and gold and decorated with emeralds when by rights she should have been dressed in rags and decorated by sheep dung, was Alicent Hightower. Baela hated her more than she even hated Aegon, and if Moondancer was still alive then she would feed the old witch to her dragon. There were tears in the woman's eyes, as she had any right to cry over the ruin that she had brought on herself by her own choices.
Though in truth no doubt she was crying more for the sight of Aegon, kneeling on the floor of the throne room and he was a pathetic sight to be sure. Still naked, still covered in the filth of the streets. It was good that he was seen this way, good that all the lords and ladies could see what the price of treason truly was.
"My lords and ladies," Rhaenyra spoke from her seat, her voice sounded younger than it had done in years and there was a smile on her lips when she spoke. "Dragonstone had been recaptured and I have captured the false king who was unworthily given the name of the founder of my house, this man is no conqueror, this man is no dragon, this man is not even worthy of being called a snake."
Cheering went up then, those lords who had worn the green and sworn themselves to Aegon were the ones to cheer the loudest, no doubt trying to earn a bit of clemency when they were judged for their treason, Baela thought. The Queen held up her hand then and when the cheering halted, she spoke again. "Now, my good-mother would like to confess something, something I have just heard from her own lips that has truly shocked me. You may speak Alicent."
Alicent Hightower strode forward, and her tears were streaming down her face now but when she spoke her voice was clear. "My lords and ladies of Westeros, I am guilty. I am guilty of treason, vile and vicious, not just against," the old queen hesitated then, but only for a moment before she continued one. "Not just against the rightful Queen, Rhaenerya of House Targaryen, her father's trueborn and rightful heir but against King Viserys, whom I did love but not enough to remain faithful to him."
Muttering went up around the court then, like a thousand bees had been unleashed within the throne room and Aegon was staring at his mother in confusion but said confusion morphed into horror. "I confess, none of my children were born from the seed of my husband, King Viserys. They were born from the seed of Vaemond Velaryon, nephew to our good hand, Lord Corlys, thus they are bastard."
"No!" Aegon roared and tried to stand from where he kneeled but his wounds, the greatest of them which had been caused by herself and Moondancer Baela was pleased to note, caused him to fall to the ground with a scream of pain. There were tears on his face as he crawled towards the dais, his eyes locked on to his mother. "It's a lie, Mother. It's a lie, why are you saying this?"
"It is the truth, that is all it is. I am so sorry Aegon, so sorry." Alicent said and brought her hands up to cover her face, her shoulders were shaking from the force of the sobs that were rocking her body now, the sound was like nothing Baela thought a human could make.
"A truly shocking confession," The Queen as she rose from the throne and began to descend the steps, Joffery was standing there then waiting her and handing his mother a sword of silver which his mother took with an easy grace, Baela found herself wondering where Dark Sister was, and began to walk towards the false king. "Made even more so when you remember all the times that Queen Alicent spread slanderous rumours about my own sons being baseborn."
"But then, isn't that always the way of it?" Rhaenyra had crossed the distance quickly and was now standing in front of Aegon, the point of her sword resting just under his eye, pressing it deep to draw blood. "The guilty accuse the innocent in order to deflect suspicion from themselves? You are a bastard Aegon, born of treason, you are no brother of mine, no blood of royalty, no dragon and certainly no king. How does that make you feel?"
Aegon said nothing, he simply spat up at Rhaenrya, the spit dripping down from her face. Rhaenyra only laughed, used her free hand to wipe the spit away before using her sword to open Aegon's throat.
As his blood stained the marble Alicent collapsed to the ground, screaming and sobbing. Rhaenerya looked back at her with a look on her face, Baela wasn't quite sure what it was. There was anger in it, to be sure, but there might have been something that was a shadow of pity, but only for a moment. "Take her to the Black Cells, oh, and burn her clothes. I am sick of green."
With that the court was called to an end and Baela was summoned to the Queen's solar, she was made to wait outside until the Queen was ready for her and when Baela was summoned inside, she found that the Queen had traded her armour for silks and velvets. When Rhaenerya looked at her, her gaze was kind and she held out her arms for her. "Oh, my brave girl."
Baela ran to her, throwing herself into her arms. There had not been time on Dragonstone to properly reunite, eyes had been everywhere and Rhaenerya had wanted to return to King's Landing as quickly as possible. Baela buried her face into the Queen's shoulder and closed her eyes, taking comfort in her familiar scent. "I'm glad that you are alright, when I was in the dungeons, they told me about the riots on in the city, they were laughing about it. They said that you were just like Maegor!"
"They said much the same here," Rhaenerya hummed and used a finger to trace one of the burns on Baela's face. "But the worst of the war is over now, I should be able to slowly start lowering taxes now. I am not Maegor, I do not want to be. I'll show them that I can be a good queen, I will show all of them."
"But that can wait dear girl, you must miss your sister." Rhaenerya cupped her cheek and smiled down at her. "I will have word sent to the Vale, as soon as the roads are safe, we will have Rhaena brought here, would you like that?"
"Oh yes," the sooner her twin was away from the Eyrie the less likely her dream was to come true after all. "And my father, will you summon him back as well? Is he in the Riverlands still fighting?"
The Queen's eyes hardened then, but only for a moment before they were replaced with sorrow. "Baela, sweetling, I am so sorry. Your father is dead, he died bringing down that one-eyed monster who murdered my son."
Baela fell, and some little girl was sobbing so loudly, and the sobbing only grow louder as strong arms wrapped around her and held her close.
End of Chapter
If you missed the writing on the wall before Rhaenerya summoned the court she had a private conversation with Alicent and gave her a choice, she could either confess her "treason" for all the lords and ladies to hear and she would give Aegon a quick death, or she could keep quiet and Rhaenerya would give Aegon the slow death she had promised that she would in Alicent's point of view chapter.
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
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With a ton of love,
DiscordantSymphony
