Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thanks for continuing to read my story. Now that the last episode has officially been aired, we all know that it will likely be around 2 more years until we get to see a season two for House of the Dragon 😭 With that said, it will NOT be 2 years that you have to wait for more chapters of this story. Because I've read the book and because this story is filled with my own original characters, I will continue to write and release chapters as often as I can (likely 2-3 a week) from here on out until we come to my ending of the story... I predict that after this chapter I will release 10-15 more to conclude this story. So buckle in, we're still got a long way to go!
This chapter will start by returning back to Elaena's POV on dragonstone when she's talking to Daemon about news from their spies in King's Landing (the conversation that Rhaena overheard that prompted her to go on her own), and will remain in her POV for a hot minute as we work our way through the episode's events. With that said I will be rearranging the timeline of the episode a bit to better fit this story.
Without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 25...happy reading everyone ❤️
THE DRAGON & THE ROSE - EPISODE TEN/PART ONE
Daemon stood in front of his wife, his head bowed down and resting on her shoulder as she held him. They had been this way for a long time now, silently trying to comfort each other as they processed the news they had received.
Elaena knew that her husband's relationship with Viserys had always been a complicated one, a relationship that never seemed to satisfy either of them at any given point in time. But despite the rockiness between them Viserys was still his brother, and because of all these things combined together she knew that Daemon's heart was filled with torment.
She hated to see him battling so hard with himself, to see him this guilt-ridden, this devastated, and yet also relieved. For while she felt all of these things herself she knew that her own feelings were miniscule in comparison to his.
What hurt them both most of all was knowing that in face of this horrible heartache, they couldn't afford the time needed to tend to it. They couldn't lock themselves in their room and mourn as they wanted to; they had to act. For not only was Viserys dead, his widow was plotting at this very moment to install her son on the iron throne.
"My love," Elaena whispered, placing the gentlest of kisses on the top of his head. He remained in his place as he listened to her, breathing her in to try and find some facet of calm. "I know we only just found out... but we need to tell Rhaenyra."
"I know," he muttered, sniffling once. He slowly lifted his head up, but his eyes remained glued to the floor. "Give me a moment and I'll be ready."
He tried to turn away but Elaena stopped him by lifting her hand to his cheek, using her thumb to brush the tears from under his eye, "We're going to get through this, Daemon. I promise."
He nodded a little then placed his hand over hers so that it remained pressed against his cheek. He held it there for a moment as he built the courage to look in her eye. "We should go then."
He pulled her hand down now and laced his fingers into hers, holding on as if her touch was the only thing giving him the strength to keep going.
The two walked silently through the halls of Dragonstone towards Rhaenyra's chambers, each of them dreading the thought of having to give her this news. Not only was it her father who had passed, but it was her throne being usurped. They knew her reaction would be catastrophic.
As Daemon and Elaena got closer to their destination, they started to hear the faint and muffled sounds of wailing. Both of them walked slower now, feeling their skin light afire with goosebumps at the chilling sound. As they got closer their worst suspicions were made right, for they both knew now that the echoing cries were coming from Rhaenyra. She must have had spies herself in King's Landing that told her of the news, just like Daemon and Elaena.
The couple stopped outside of the doors, then looked to each other with mouths slightly agape and red eyes. Neither of them knew what they would say to her, or if they should even go inside since she already knew. Before they could make a decision the door bursted open, revealing a servant girl with wide eyes. She stopped before Daemon and Elaena and frantically curtsied, obviously looking like she had somewhere else to go.
"Your Graces," she said nervously, "Excuse me, but I must go fetch the maester."
"The maester?" Elaena asked, her heart sinking at the idea that Rhaenyra was so inconsolable that she needed him. "To get milk of the poppy, perhaps?"
"No, Your Grace," the girl shook her head, "You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?" Daemon asked, trying to get a look into Rhaenyra's room through the thin crack of the open door.
"Princess Rhaenyra was so distressed by the news from King's Landing that she went into labor," the girl responded, seeming entirely distressed by this notion herself.
"But it's much too soon for her to be in labor," Elaena responded, her face falling completely at this news. "The baby can't be born yet."
"This is why I have been sent to go fetch the maester, Your Graces," the girl said, looking to the side urgently to plead them to let her go.
"Yes- of course- please, go-" Elaena stuttered, looking to Daemon in shock as the girl immediately ran away. "Daemon, I-"
"Go be with her," Daemon nodded, mustering up his own courage to let her go. "I'll go gather all the children. Someone has to tell them the news."
"I don't want you to have to do that alone," Elaena shook her head. "I should be there too, I don't want you to be alone-"
"Rhaenyra needs you more than I do right now, more than the children need you," he said insistently, taking her hands into his own. "I'll be alright, I promise. Have them send word to me when the labors are finished, when Rhaenyra and the baby are alright."
"I will," she said softly, standing up on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Daemon."
He slowly let her hands go, watching as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. Once inside Elaena saw Rhaenyra on all fours, screaming in pain. One of her servants was knelt beside her, trying to give her small words of encouragement that the maester was coming.
"No!" Rhaenyra screamed, clutching her stomach with one of her hands as another pain ripped through her.
"Rhaenyra," Elaena said breathlessly, running to her side and falling to the floor. "Rhaenyra, it's going to be alright, I'm here-"
"It's not going to be alright," Rhaenyra wailed deliriously, her chest shaking with thick sobs. "Something's wrong, I can feel it-"
"I know it's early but-"
"No, no, no, it's not that-" Rhaenyra cried, "It's something else- this isn't like it was the first three times!"
"You're in distress," Elaena said softly, using every ounce of her willpower not to cry at the sight of her sister in this state. She slowly began to rub small circles on Rhaenyra's back to soothe her, and tried to give the best words of encouragement she could come up with. "It doesn't feel like the other times because it isn't. You've had horrible news, we all have. No mother wants to bring her child into such turmoil. But it's going to be alright-"
"You're not listening, its something else! I feel like it's dying inside of me!" Rhaenyra screamed, pushing Elaena's arm away as she stood. Elaena sat silently as she watched Rhaenyra find her balance, then felt her heart sink to her stomach as she saw the large pool of blood on the ground underneath her.
Elaena's eyes slowly drifted up to Rhaenyra now, seeing that the lower half of her shift was covered in this blood too. Flashes of her own miscarriage played in her mind: the blood on the floor, on the dress...the innate feeling that something was wrong, that the child inside of you would not get to draw breath from this world.
While these past emotions and memories being drawn to the surface were easily paralyzing, Elaena knew that she couldn't allow herself to drown in it. She had to be here for Rhaenyra, who she now feared was experiencing the same exact trauma she had gone through nearly eighteen years ago.
So Elaena stood shakily from her place on the floor, then sat on the edge of the bed where Rhaenyra now lay. She slowly wrapped her hands around Rhaenyra's, knowing that if what she thought was happening actually was, all she needed was support. She didn't need to be told that it was alright, she just needed to know that those who loved her would help her through the fact that it wasn't.
"I'm here," Elaena whispered through her tears as she looked at Rhaenyra. "I'm right here."
Rhaenyra nodded, her lips pressed together as she cried. Only a second after this Rhaenyra let out another gut-wrenching wail, just as the maester and a group of midwives entered the room. He quickly went to work, looking under Rhaenyra's skirt to examine how much longer it might be until the babe could be born.
For hours on end all Elaena could do was sit there and hold her sister's hand, the dark memories of her past slowly creeping until they clouded her mind completely. The first time she had given birth it had at least been a quick loss, this one dragged on for so long that Elaena lost track of time. Every now and then she made sure one of the servants updated Daemon on the status of things, but each time the update was the same: Rhaenyra was in pain, and no child had come yet.
It wasn't until the very first moment of dawn the next day that it was finally time for Rhaenyra to push, and by this time Elaena felt like she was sleep-walking. All of the grief, the trauma resurfaced, and the lack of sleep or food made it hard for her to stay present in this moment, but the second she saw Rhaenyra yanking the fetus from her body she felt herself snap back to reality.
Rhaenyra screamed as she pulled on the head, much to the shock and distress of everyone else in the room. Elaena wanted to stop her from this violent-feeling method of birth, but could only stand frozen next to Rhaenyra as she watched. More liquid splattered onto the floor as Rhaenyra exhaled, the child dropping to the floor right on top of it. Elaena gasped a little at this, then her mouth remained slightly ajar as she looked at the baby.
It was a stillborn girl, just like her Emylie had been, but this child looked nothing like Elaena's departed daughter had. This child was so deformed that if she hadn't seen Rhaenyra pull the child out herself Elaena wouldn't have believed that it was a human child at all. Though some of its features were masked by the dark blood covering it, Elaena swore that the child almost resembled a dragon.
The skin was not pale pink and smooth, it was covered in what appeared to scales, and its limbs were all twisted up and bent backwards like wings. Rhaenyra didn't seem fazed by this though, only holding the deformed girl in her arms to rock back and forth. Elaena slowly crouched to the ground next to her, fighting the disturbance in her heart to try and be there for her.
"They stole my only daughter from me," Rhaenyra muttered incoherently, her eyes deadened as she continued to rock back and forth. "I don't know how you did it, sister."
"Did what?" Elaena asked softly, her eyebrows knitted together as she looked to Rhaenyra.
"Live all these years with this pain in your heart," she continued, her voice cracking as she finally met Elaena's gaze. "I don't know how you've walked the same earth as those who stole your daughter from you."
Elaena didn't know how to respond this, feeling a twinge in her heart. She sat silently for a moment as she thought, finally responding with a teary filled voice. "I don't know how I have either...perhaps it's knowing that the day will come when I can have my vengeance. A day that I fear will be coming soon."
"Yes," Rhaenyra sniffled, nodding to herself. "Yes it will come soon."
Elaena sat with her silently, her eyes flitting back and forth from the baby to Rhaenyra. It took a long time for Rhaenyra to be done holding her child, for her to be ready to let her go. But using the same argument that Rhaenyra had used against her so many years ago, Elaena convinced her that she shouldn't remember her child this way. She should let the midwives take the child to be cleaned up before wrapping.
But Rhaenyra refused to let anyone beside herself touch the girl, insisting that she herself apply the dressings over her daughter for the funeral. Elaena didn't try to fight this, only nodding as she went with Rhaenyra and the Silent Sisters to do this. Before she began though Rhaenyra asked for the room, saying that she wanted another moment with her child.
So Elaena returned to her chambers where Daemon waited, relieved that she had been given leave. She wanted to be there for Rhaenyra, and she was glad that she had been, but she couldn't help but feel the emotional toll on herself. She couldn't help but feel drowned by her own memories and grief. She was thankful for every step away from the stillborn girl she could get.
Exhausted in every way, she slowly closed the door behind her and leaned against it, exhaling deeply. When she opened her eyes she saw Daemon standing by the fire, a terrible look of stress and worry on his face. She knew the moment saw him that these feelings in his eyes it wasn't for the loss of his brother, and it wasn't for the news of the loss of Rhaenyra's child, it was something else.
But before she could ask him he spoke, his tone only confirming that there was more bad news to be shared. "Are you alright?"
"No," Elaena said quietly, shaking her head. "And I'm afraid I'm going to be even less so after you tell me what it is you have to say."
He swallowed roughly, his lips parting ever so slightly to speak. But he closed them just as quickly as they had opened, at a loss for words. "Elaena-"
"Just tell me what's happened," she interrupted, moving to go stand with him. "It can't be any worse than what I've just seen."
"Rhaena is gone."
"What do you mean gone?" she asked, frozen in place now. Of all the things she had been expecting to hear this wasn't one of them, and yet it was the most distressing thing he could say.
"After you left yesterday morning to go help Rhaenyra, I went to gather the children to tell them of the news of my brother's death. Only, Rhaena wasn't in her room. It was soon after revealed to me by the dragonkeepers that Onyx was gone too," he continued, his jaw clenched to keep from crying. "Neither of them have returned from wherever they went."
"You knew about this yesterday?" Elaena asked, taking a step away from him in betrayal. "Why wasn't I told as soon as this was found out?"
"Rhaenyra needed you, I didn't want you to worry until we found her-"
"Rhaena needed me!" Elaena shouted, shaking her head with disbelief. "She's my daughter, Rhaenyra would have understood-"
"She's my daughter, too!" Daemon yelled back at her, breathing heavily with pain in his heart. "I wanted to do something but the truth is that there is nothing either of us can do, not when we don't even know where she went, or why for that matter!"
"I don't care, you should have told me," Elaena said bitterly, tears falling down her face.
"I was hoping that she'd be back by now," Daemon said more weakly. He leaned forward onto the mantel of the fireplace, seeming completely lost as to what to do. "I don't know how to help her, Elaena...how either of us can help her."
"Did she tell Viseryn or Aemon where she was going?"
"She didn't tell a soul, no one knows where she is," Daemon responded, sniffling once.
"Well we have to figure it out ourselves then, where could she have gone?" Elaena asked exasperatedly, "What could have made her leave like this, she knows how dangerous it is!"
Both Elaena and Daemon stood in silence now, both of them trying to come up with a reason why she could have left so rashly without a word to anyone where she was going. Neither one of them could imagine what had possessed her to act like this. It only drove them both to think of the worst scenario possible: that she might be dead. Elaena knew that neither her or her husband could survive the death of another child, especially of one that they had known and loved for the past 14 years. And with what just happened to Rhaenyra, Elaena's mind couldn't push this horrible fear away.
"What are we going to do if she's gone, truly gone?" Elaena asked, her voice small and hushed as she broke the painful silence.
"She's not, she can't be," Daemon shook his head, unable to speak this possibility into the world.
"But what if she is?" Elaena whispered weakly, feeling her body to start to crumble. "What if she doesn't come back, what if we can't find her-"
"She'll come back to us," Daemon said, trying to be the strength his wife needed as he wrapped his arms around her. "And if she doesn't come back on her own I promise I will scour every inch of the earth for her until she's found."
Elaena held onto him tightly, crying into his chest at these words. For while she was angry at him for keeping this from her she also knew he was the only one who truly understood how she felt. He was the only person in the world that could give her any sense of comfort in this situation.
"We're going to find her," Daemon murmured, an assurance for both himself and his wife. "We're going to find her."
Later That Evening
While Elaena had wanted to go on Vermax to try and find her daughter, she knew that she had no idea where to look. Neither her or Daemon did. No thought made of sound reason was found by either of them to explain where Rhaena had flown to, or why she hadn't come back yet. For all they knew she could be half way around the world by now...because of that any search they could make now seemed to be futile.
So they stayed on Dragonstone for the funeral of Rhaenyra's stillborn, clinging only to each other and their sons in the hope that she might come back.
Aemon and Viseryn stood on either side of their mother in the rocky grass, while Daemon stood behind her, all three a shield of protection and support for her. All the inhabitants of Dragonstone were clustered behind them to also pay their respects and mourn for Rhaenyra's child. And while this was their purpose in being there, everyone knew that this funeral was not just for the loss Rhaenyra faced now as a mother; but also for news of the loss of her father, their King; and for the news of the loss of the iron throne. It was a dark day for everyone in attendance.
Elaena watched as Rhaenyra set the small bundle onto the pyre built before her. While it would have been customary for Rhaenyra to say a few words in honor of the dead, she remained with her back to everyone there to say goodbye to the only daughter she would ever know. After a few moments of everyone watching, she gave a final command to Syrax who set the bundle ablaze.
Tears fell down Elaena's cheeks as the fire burned, for she was only able to think of the possibility that it may be her own daughter that would soon require a funeral like this. But just as this thought entered her mind, the deafening screech of a dragon sounded overhead. Elaena's head jolted upwards to the sky to locate the sound, her heart thundering with hope that it would be her daughter's.
"It's Onyx!" Viseryn said quickly, watching as his sister's dragon flew downwards to land. Everyone watched the massive dragon with smiles of relief, but each one quickly faded as they saw that the dragon carried no rider on her back.
"Where's Rhaena?" Aemon asked, turning to his father with wide eyes. "Why isn't she with Onyx?"
Elaena's heart sank as she watched Onyx land by herself onto the stony cliffside, every worst fear of hers seemed to have come true in this very moment. Elaena fell to her knees on the ground, her body unable to hold her up through this grief as she began to cry. Elaena's cries soon became loud wails of grief, a sound that chilled everyone around them to the bone. After a long few days of nothing but anguish and despair, this was the final thing to bring her to her knees, she couldn't bear any more pain in her heart.
Daemon knelt to her side, he himself crying as he wrapped his arm around her, "She could still be alive-"
"Onyx wouldn't have left her if she was," Elaena cried, her voice cracking as she spoke. "She wouldn't have come home without her-"
"We don't know that, mother," Aemon said softly, trying to remain strong for her by fighting his own tears. "She could still be out there."
Just as he said this, a second dragon screeched above them, filling them all with fear that it might be one of the Greens'. But as they looked into the sky they saw a great wave of red, revealing to them that it indeed wasn't Vhagar or Sunfyre, it was Meleys. Elaena scrambled up to her feet as she narrowed her eyes on the Red Queen, for she saw that the dragon had more than one rider on her.
Sobs of relief racked through her chest as she saw her daughter's face slowly approach behind Rhaenys. She began to run forward as Meleys landed beside Onyx on the cliff, the need to hold her daughter in her own arms overwhelming her.
"Rhaena!" Elaena shouted, watching as her own daughter's face crumpled with tears of relief. Rhaena quickly dismounted the dragon and ran forward, crashing into her mother's arms.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" Rhaena cried, burying her face in her mother's neck.
"It doesn't matter- nothing matters except that you're safe-" Elaena said frantically, clutching Rhaena against her as closely as she could.
Daemon, Viseryn, and Aemon all approached right behind them, each of them wrapping their arms around the two so that they all stood in one large embrace of love and relief. Even though Rhaena had only been gone a day and a half, it had been too long for any of them to bear. So now that they were all together again, where they belonged, it felt like they could all breathe again.
Once the boys stepped back Elaena took Rhaena's face into her hands, examining her for any damage done. Rhaena stood still as her mother's eyes searched her, and her heart fell once they landed on her blood soaked wrist.
"What happened?" Elaena asked, quickly grabbing her arm and pushing back the sleeve to get a better look at it.
"It's a long story," Rhaena said quietly, the shame seeping into her voice now. "One that I should tell you once we're all inside."
"No, we're not going to wait another moment," Daemon shook his head, the relief that his daughter was safe now replaced by anger that she had ever left in the first place. "We thought you were gone, lost to us forever. You owe us an explanation of where you went, now."
But before she could say anything, her parents' eyes fell onto Rhaenys and Ser Cley, who seemed afraid to approach them. Daemon immediately withdrew his sword and walked towards Cley, fury taking over now. But Cley kept his sword at his hip, not drawing up arms as Daemon lifted his sword towards him.
"Father no!" Rhaena shouted, pulling herself away from her mother to stop him. She quickly darted in front of her father, standing as a shield between him and Cley. Elaena ran forward after them all, then grabbed her husband's hand to try and stop him.
"Daemon, please, don't-"
"It's not his fault!" Rhaena said loudly, shaking her head as she pleaded with her father.
"Listen to your daughter, cousin," Rhaenys said sharply, "Allow us to explain before any blood is spilled."
"Lower your sword, Prince Daemon," Rhaenyra finally interjected, approaching them all to see what all this commotion was about. "I will not have any more death, not this day. Especially when we don't even know what happened-"
"We might not know the full truth of it but we know that Ser Cley had a hand in our daughter's disappearance," Daemon said angrily, keeping his sword up. "The man who swore himself to protect her allowed her to wander into danger-"
"He tried to stop me, many times for that matter!" Rhaena shouted, trying to get everyone to listen to her. "I was going to King's Landing one way or another, he only came to protect me, to uphold his vow."
"What did you just say?" Elaena asked, turning to Rhaena with wide and shocked eyes. Daemon finally lowered his sword at this, equally shocked.
"You went to King's Landing?" Daemon asked, his voice more serious towards Rhaena than she had ever heard it.
"She went to save me," Rhaenys said. "After she heard of Viserys' death and my imprisonment, she wanted to rescue me, for Baella's sake."
"How did you even know that he had died?" Elaena asked, shaking her head with confusion.
"I overheard you and father in your room," Rhaena responded, inhaling slowly for courage. "I also heard that Alicent was planning to have Aegon crowned over Rhaenyra...I couldn't let that happen."
"And what made you think that you had the ability to stop it on your own? With only Cley there to protect you?" Elaena asked.
"I wasn't thinking, not in the slightest. All I knew was that I couldn't see Aegon wear Viserys' crown, and I couldn't see Baella loose the last person in her family," Rhaena explained, "I was overcome by emotion, it was stupid of me, I know. Rhaenys already made sure I understood that."
"And you managed to free her completely undetected?" Daemon asked, his voice filled with disbelief as he looked to his cousin now.
"No," Rhaena said slowly, "Aemond found me and they held me prisoner. It was Cley who rescued Rhaenys on his own, and then together they saved me at Aegon's coronation."
Daemon turned back to Cley silently now, breathing heavily with anger. While he was grateful for what he did for his daughter, he was still furious that he had ever allowed her to go in the firstplace, that he hadn't stopped her ahead of time. "I suppose you think this clears your name."
"Not in the slightest, Your Grace," Cley finally spoke, his eyes heavy with guilt and sadness. But he wasn't speaking to Daemon, or even looking at him. Each of his words were directed to Elaena, the woman he had sworn his oath to. "Despite being able to return her home, I know I failed to uphold my oath. I shouldn't have let her ever leave in the first place."
"But you didn't let me leave," Rhaena said defiantly, knowing that none of what happened to put her in danger was his fault. She turned back to her parents now, pleading them to believe her. "I left on my own accord and I was ready to go by myself even if it meant my death. Ser Cley did nothing but uphold his oath to me and our family. He's the only reason I'm standing here alive right now."
Everyone stood in silence, each person set on their opinions of the matter and not wanting to budge. So Elaena stepped forward, wrapping her arm around Rhaena as she looked to Daemon. "The only thing that matters is that Rhaena is safe, and home. We can discuss matters further later."
Daemon nodded, only willing to concede to his wife, then put his sword back into its sheath.
"Thank you," Elaena said. She then looked behind her to Cley, "And thank you for bringing my daughter home to me."
Cley bowed his head down a little with gratitude, but didn't say anything.
Rhaenyra then spoke again, each of them turning to her to listen. "Why don't we all go back inside since this is settled for now."
"There is one more thing, Your Grace," Rhaena said, pulling away from her mother to walk towards Cley. Everyone watched silently as he handed her a golden crown that they all recognized far too well. Rhaena took the crown into hand and walked back to her mother's side, looking at it as she explained. "I loved King Viserys...he was like a grandfather to me. Out of respect for his memory I couldn't let Aegon keep this crown when I knew that Viserys had spent his whole life guarding it for you."
Rhaena then extended her arm to hand the crown to Rhaenyra, but their Queen only stood in shock, looking at the golden symbol of her father with tears in her eyes. Elaena placed a kiss on her daughter's cheek, then took the crown into her own hands before walking to Rhaenyra. She stood in front of her and lifted the crown, placing it gently on her sister's head.
"My Queen," Elaena said softly before bowing before her. The rest of her family knelt as well, followed by the rest of the onlookers behind them. Each and every person on the cliffside remained in this position of allegiance to Rhaenyra, each of their hearts beating with Black blood.
While this coronation was certainly unexpected, and nothing like Aegon's coronation that had been filled with pomp and a thousand watching eyes, each person that knelt on Dragonstone knew that his cause was built on a lie, built on the blood of those the Blacks had lost. Here and now they all knew that the war had finally begun, that it was finally time to rally behind the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
Author's Note: Well, here we are my friends, the end of the beginning. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and want to tell you all a few things to expect from those to come.
First of all, I promise this won't be the end of the repurcussions Rhaena faces from what she did. Her family might be glad that she came back safe & that she delivered the crown to Rhaenyra, but they certainly don't trust her judgement anymore because of it. They're still angry that she would ever jeapordize herself...
As well as that, the scenes from around the war table at Dragonstone where they are discussing their next move will all be sort of compiled/meshed together in my own way. They will include (and not include) things from the show/books. The biggest change will likely be Daemon's portrayal in these scenes, as I have changed his role in the dynamic of the story drastically. And you can bet your butts that Elaena is going to have a big hand in the events of the war to come... wink wink.
And finally, we certainly will be seeing POVS of Rhaena & more specifically her interactions with Aemond. How those interactions will come to fruition are to be kept secret for now, but I promise they will come.
I plan to have at least two more chapters after this one following the events of the tenth episode, but like I said in the author's note at the beginning of this chapter, there will be many more to follow that follow along the book's events very soon. Until then my friends ❤️