Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for the great response to the last chapter! I know things have been moving a bit slow, but there's been a lot of ground work to be laid down before we could get to all the action! And trust me, there's plenty of action of all kinds to be had in this chapter...like the last one, this chapter will be split back and forth between Rhaena and Elaena's points of views. It's definitely a bit of a fluffy chapter, but it's been a hot minute since we've had one like that, and it might be another minute until one can happen without it feeling too forced...

As always I hope you enjoy reading, and can't wait to read what you guys think about it. ❤️

THE DRAGON & THE ROSE - SEASON'S END/PART ONE

Elaena Targaryen

Following the news of Luke's death, as well as the number of houses that had confirmed their alleigance to Rhaenyra, Elaena and Daemon were sent to take back Harrenhal from the Greens so that they could use it as a rallying ground for all the men. As well as that, the location of the cursed castle was crucial in being able to block off the west from having access to King's Landing.

Thankfully, neither Daemon or Elaena expected much fight from the people holding it, against dragons anyway.

It was exhilarating for Elaena to be on Vermax's back again, riding into war. While she had cherished the times that were peaceful, and wished for them to remain, she couldn't help but remember the excitement of what it was like to hold this amount of power in a warzone like she had felt in the Stepstones two decades ago. The wind rushing through her hair and the adrenaline pumping in her veins was intoxicatingly thrilling.

And as she looked to her left at her husband dragonback on Caraxes approaching Harrenhal, that feeling only grew. The last time she was in this position she was going to save him, not fight by his side. This time they were in it together, a powerful force united in every way to get what they desperately needed and wanted.

"Take the left!" Daemon shouted, nodding his head to the side as Harrenhal came into view.

"Naejot se geptot, Vermax," Elaena instructed, gently pulling the reigns to steer her dragon. Completely in tune with her rider, the dragon dipped down and to the left, gliding through the pitch black night to inflict her damage.

Elaena looked to Daemon again, seeing only a flash of scarlet red scales reflecting the light of the city before it disappeared behind one of the castle walls. She could quickly hear shouting from the men below, each of them terrified as they prepared for what was about to happen. When they saw that it wasn't just the Rogue Prince and the Bloodwyrm there to attack, the sounds amplified.

Elaena landed Vermax on the top of the greatest spire on the west side of the castle, while Caraxes perched himself on the one in the east. Both her and Daemon waited a moment for the people's reactions, trying to see if they would immediately surrender or if they would protect their own for the Greens.

She could feel her heart pounding loudly in her chest as she watched the men scramble on the ground, but it was a feeling she craved. To have fear was to know that she had something to lose, and knowing that she did not plan to lose today only made these feelings sweeter.

"Fire!" one of the men below shouted, a large batallion of men suddenly releasing their arrows.

The arrows weren't large enough to even scratch Vermax's thick and tough scales, but they were large enough to kill Elaena. She quickly ducked down to a flattened position and closed her eyes, hearing the arrows sail closely through the air above and around her.

She then sat up and tugged on the reigns silently, knowing that she had received her answer. If they wanted to do this the hard way she had no problem doing that, she had no reservation in killing every last man that resided in Harrenhal if it meant her and Daemon could claim it for their Queen.

Caraxes also flew from his perch on the great tower in the east, the two dragons flying out. The shouting quieted at this sight, the men behind the walls of Harrenhal confused to see the dragons leave so quickly. But they were not retreating so easily, they were planning their next move.

Caraxes and Vermax circled the perimeter of the wall around Harrenhal, their jaws unhinging to reveal two glowing orbs of warmth in the distance.

"Dracarys," Elaena commanded, her voice not wavering in the slightest. Vermax immediately unleashed a massive jet of orange fire from her mouth, burning the ground below her. Both Caraxes and Vermax continued to do this as they flew around Harrenhal, their smoldering fires lighting up a large burning ring that encompassed the castle.

They only left one place untouched, an opening for the men of the Riverlands they had on the ground to move through. Once this was completed they flew back into the city. Only this time when they flew towards their opposite towers to land, they heard one voice ringing clear from below.

"WE YIELD!" the man bellowed, looking up at Elaena and her dragon with terror. "WE YIELD!"

Elaena couldn't help but smirk a little at how easy this had been, how only a small display of fire was enough of a threat to scare them back into their place. She then guided Vermax down to the ground, landing with a large thud onto the stone courtyard before the main entrance of the castle.

Daemon and Caraxes landed soon after, the weight of their two beasts cracking the stone below them. Elaena's eyes flitted around her to make sure this wasn't a trap, only to see every man in eyesight kneeling with their weapons on the ground beside them. The two Targaryens slowly dismounted from their dragons, then walked forward only far enough to where they stood a few feet in front of them.

Elaena looked up to Vermax, then rested her hand on her scaly cheek to praise her for a job well done. "Sȳrī gaomagon."

She then looked back to the very old man standing before them, her eyes dancing with the reflection of fire and triumph.

"I assume we are speaking with the castellan of Harrenhal, Ser Simon Strong," Daemon said, his voice echoing a smile.

"Indeed Your Grace," the man said, bowing his head a little nervously, "I rule this castle in stead of my grand-nephew, Larys Strong, who serves on the small council to King Aegon-"

"The false King Aegon," Elaena interrupted, her words sharp as the valyrian steel blade she held in hand.

"Yes, Your Grace," the man nodded weakly, looking down and away from her gaze.

All of a sudden the sound of marching slowly approached, filling the air with even more tension than was already present. Elaena and Daemon stood still as their troops from the Riverlands came in, watching the reaction on the old man's face as he realized he had made the right choice.

"You were wise to surrender when you did Ser Simon," Elaena continued, her smile remaining, "If you hadn't I'm not sure any of your house would have survived."

"The tales of Aegon the Conqueror unleashing dragonfire upon Harrenhal and House Hoare is a story that I have not ever forgotten," the man said, trying to muster a sense of courage as he spoke to her. "I will not see the same thing happen to House Strong if I can help it."

"Take Ser Simon and the rest of his house into the dungeons," Elaena said, turning to the commander of the Tully guard. "See to it that they aren't maimed or brutalized. We're taking them prisoners and giving them mercy despite supporting a traitor's cause because of their surrender."

The commander nodded once, then turned around to relay this information the rest of the men surrounding him. One by one they collected each of the men that belonged to House Strong, as well as those who fought for it, to be taken below under lock and key.

"Come," Daemon said, holding his hand out for his wife. "Let's go get some rest."

"We should start making an account of everything here at Harrenhal before we even think of sleeping," Elaena refuted, "We need to requisition all the men, weapons, coin, and grain back to our own-"

"All of that can at least wait until the morning, my love," Daemon responded, cutting her off. "Let's just take this moment to celebrate the fact that we won the first battle."

"Well it was hardly a battle," Elaena said with a small smile, finally taking his hand to walk with him into the castle. "All it took was practically a puff of smoke for them to break."

"Can you blame them, a fearsome thing like you riding in and threatening them?" he asked.

She couldn't help but laugh a little at this, her smile wide. "Don't tease me, Daemon."

"I'm not teasing you," he responded a bit more seriously now. "I mean it. Watching you ride Vermax as she rained fire on the ground reminded me of when you came to the Stepstones. It felt like I was being transported back in time tonight."

Elaena only smiled at this, remembering that day so clearly. Not only was it the first time she showed real strength in terms of fighting power, it had been the first time she was truly intimate with him, the first time that both of them finally admitted out loud and through touch how much they loved each other.

The memory made her cheeks flush a bit warmer as they walked to a room to rest for the night. The Tyrell guards walking around them stopped in front of the door to stand watch and make sure no danger would happen to them during the night, leaving them to go inside alone together.

A fire was already roaring in the corner of the room, likely lit for another who had just been dragged to the cells below them, but Elaena didn't care. All she cared about was her victory and the man she achieved it with.

The warmth from the fire radiated in the room as they stood in front of each other, each of them with a look they both recognized all too well in each other's eyes.

"I've missed our adventures together," Daemon said softly, "I've missed it being just you and me."

"Me too," Elaena whispered, feeling a small pang of sadness in her heart. "It was so much simpler when all we had to fight for was each other...do you think I'm terribly changed?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, not quite understanding what she meant by this.

"Am I still the girl you fell in love with all those years ago in the Stepstones? Or has time changed me?" she asked, her breathing tight with fear for his answer.

He slowly took her face into his hands and then pressed a kiss on her lips, causing the tension in her body to relax a little. His lips then hovered above hers as he spoke, his voice and touch gentle. "Of course time has changed you, as its changed me. We're not the same people as we were when we were young. But I'm glad for it."

"You are?" she asked, keeping her eyes closed as she listened.

"Of course I am," he said with a small smile, "For that change is the effect of a life spent together, which was all I ever wanted...why are you asking me this Elaena?"

"I don't want you to wake up one day and realize you loved the person I was twenty years ago more than the person I am today," she responded quietly, her nose brushing against his.

"I told you then and I'll tell you again now," he responded, lacing his fingers in between hers to hold her hands. "I'm yours and yours alone."

"And I am yours."

She then lifted herself up a little on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck, her lips finding his own with a sense of relief and true content that she hadn't felt in months. Despite all the horror and loss that surrounded them in this life, there was also beauty and fulfillment of the heart. Other than her children, Daemon was the greatest source of it for her.

And since they were both feeling the loss and grief of this world they lived in, they quickly moved to try and attain that fulfillment they could bring each other.

Daemon's lips started moving more fiercely on hers, a hunger for her love and touch taking over him just as it was taking over her. Elaena quickly stumbled backwards towards the bed, laughing a little against his lips as her back of her legs bumped into the edge of it. Neither of them were as graceful as they were in their youth in taking each other's clothes off, but it didn't matter to either of them.

Neither one of them needed rose petals or a thousand candles surrounding them, or perfectly thought out touches that moved smoothly; for the intimacy that grew between them over time made it so that there was no possibility for embarrassment between them. Being able to laugh with each other in a setting like this was perhaps all the assurance that Elaena needed to know that Daemon still loved her the same as he did all those years ago.

Rhaena Targaryen

"Come on, you can do better than that, Rhae," Viseryn said, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched his little sister spar with Ser Cley.

Rhaena grunted as she tried to fight off Cley's attacks, then let out a loud sigh of frustration when he knocked the sword from her hand. She brought her hands to her forehead and closed her eyes, trying to quell the anger in her that she couldn't be better than she was.

"Come on, pick up your sword, we'll go again," Cley said, wiping the sweat off of his brow.

"What's the point?" she asked, dropping her hands to rest on her hips as she breathed. "Ever since you stopped going easy on me it's like having a dragon fight a fly."

"The only way you can change that is to keep practicing," Viseryn said, leaning down to pick up his sister's sword for her.

She begrudgingly took it but stared at him with sharp eyes, "You weren't there when Aemond disarmed me, I didn't stand a chance for even a second. And even though we've been practicing all week there hasn't even been the slightest change of improvement."

"You just said it yourself, you've only gotten back into training for a week, it's going to take more time than that," Aemon said, trying to give her a bit of encouragement.

"We don't have time," Rhaena mumbled, turning away from her brothers.

"You could practice all day every day for a year and it wouldn't make much of a difference, Princess," Cley said, stabbing his sword into the sand.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her eyebrows raised a bit now.

"You're too small, too weak physically to go up against someone like Aemond who's twice your size," he continued, "Your arm is so thin I could snap it in half with my bare hands if I wanted to."

"But-"

"And even if you were bigger and stronger," he shook his head. "You still wouldn't win."

"And why is that?" she asked, scoffing a little as anger boiled within.

"Your mind is too clouded. Even though you're standing right here with me you're somewhere else. You can't win a fight with anyone if you're not present in that very moment."

"Forgive me, Ser Cley, but I have a lot on my mind right now," Rhaena said hotly. "Not only was my cousin Luke just brutally killed before my eyes, but only a day after my parents rode to Harrenhal leaving me with the news that in a few weeks time I'll have my wedding with Jace."

She then paused, knowing that she couldn't add her confused feelings toward Aemond, or the worry of her father's involvement of Rhea Royce's death to the mix of it all. Those were problems she truly couldn't share with anyone beside herself. And yet they weighed on her most heavily of all.

"I understand that you're overwhelmed," he said a bit more kindly now, his voice less combative. "But when it comes to war everyone is dealing with loss. It's the person that's able to set it aside and focus on the present that comes out on top."

"I'm not sure if I can put what's on my mind aside," Rhanea said honestly.

"Then should the time come where you're in battle I'm sure we'll all be thankful that you'll be seeing it from the sky while dragonback."

"So my only source of strength is from Onyx," Rhaena replied, biting her tongue a little.

"Of course that's not your only source of strength," Cley said a gently, seeing that this whole topic was defeating her. "You know that, as do we all."

Rhaena stood silently as she took these words in, then looked to her brothers who seemed to be in agreement with Cley. Rhaena was fiercer than either of them in attitude, but it didn't matter if that fire couldn't be matched with focus and strength. And they had been noticing over the last two weeks since news of Luke's death that she was being more and more unwraveled. They wanted her to come out on top, but they knew that Cley was right in saying that would never happen until she was able to pull herself together.

"Then let's go again," she said quietly, lifting her sword up and positioning herself.

"We've done enough for the day, you'll hardly be able to use your arms tomorrow if you keep at it."

"Well this whole time I was focused on fighting with my body, not my mind," Rhaena said frustratedly, "Let me try again, just one more time-"

"I said no," Cley said more firmly, putting his sword back into the sheath. "Your parents are expected to arrive home from Harrenhal any minute now, you should go greet them. We can pick back up tomorrow once you've had a full night's rest."

"Fine," she grumbled, doing the same. "But since we're ending sooner than I wanted, we start tomorrow sooner than you want. Sunrise?"

"As you wish, Princess," Cley nodded, a small smile on his lips. Rhaena returned the smile as best she could, for she knew that through this whole conversation he had been coming from a good place; he wanted to see her succeed in this, they all did. It wasn't their faults that she felt drowned in conflicting thoughts and emotion.

As Rhaena turned from Cley to walk back, her brothers followed suit, walking on either side of her.

"Don't be discouraged, Rhae," Viseryn said, giving her a sad smile, "You'll get better in no time."

"And at least you have two functioning hands to practice with," Aemon said, knowing what it felt like to be at disadvantage with a sword. "If you get your head in the right space and really put all your effort in, you'll be just as amazing as mother and father one day."

"I suppose," she muttered quietly, watching the sand sink below her with each step she took. While her brother's maimed hand made him weak with a sword, he was stronger in other ways. He was smarter than either of his siblings put together, and for a boy of only 17 he had a way about him that demanded respect. Viseryn on the other hand was not as sharp a thinker, but he had taken after his parents in his ability to defeat any foe one on one with a sword in hand.

Rhaena was jealous that they both seemed to have grown into their strengths, leaving her behind as their little sister who wasn't particularly great at any one thing...the little sister constantly floundering in what she should do or think.

She wished Baella was here with her and not on Driftmark, for the only person she wanted to talk to about any of it was her. As well as that Rhaena felt horrible not having been able to comfort her over the loss of Luke. Out of both of their arranged marriages with Rhaenyra's sons she knew that Baella actually had the potential to love Luke the way a husband and wife should love each other. She'd always been soft on him, and him on her. Rhaena knew this loss would be devastating to her.

And yet another part of Rhaena was thankful that she didn't have to face her closest friend, thankful that there was one less face around her to increase the guilt she already felt over Luke's death. Every minute of every day, the memory of watching his mangled body fall from the sky flashed across her mind, and with it came a sea of shame and regret towards herself. Not only did she feel that she was weak physically, she was weak mentally and emotionally too.

It was her poorly made decision led by impulse that caused the entire chain reaction of this event. The only other culpable people were Aegon and Alicent for crowning him King and then ordering her capture back to King's Landing. She tried her best to convince herself that it was their fault in the end and not hers, but the nagging feeligs of guilt wouldn't go away.

Once back inside Dragonstone her and her brothers walked to their chambers to await their parent's arrival, only to find them already inside.

"There you three are," Elaena said, walking towards the table in the center of the room that was set for five. "Come sit."

"Why aren't we eating with everyone else?" Aemon asked, walking slowly to pull the chair out for his mother so she could sit.

"Because," Daemon responded, doing the same for his daughter as Viseryn sat down. "It's been a long time since we've had a supper just us, and there's a lot to talk about."

Rhaena walked stiffly over to her father, avoiding his eyes as she sat down. On top of everything else on her mind, she hadn't forgotten what she heard about him. Jeyne Arryn had told her in the Vale of the rumors accusing him of murdering his first wife so that he could marry her mother, and then when she got back from Storm's End it was revealed that he knew the assassin by the name of 'Blood' that Harwin had mentioned.

While she loved and trusted her father, the thought that Rhaena only existed on this earth because he had murdered someone made her sick. If it was true, there was no wonder that they were involved in so much death and tragedy. House Targaryen was a family that couldn't help itself but continue the cyclical bloodshed of its own.

"So tell us," Aemon said, ignoring the vast amount of food before them and looking at his parents. "What happened at Harrenhal?"

"Well they had to have been successful," Viseryn said with a shrug as he reached for a roll of bread, "They wouldn't have been gone nearly a fortnight if they hadn't been."

"Harrenhal is ours, it's true," Elaena nodded, holding her cup up to be filled with wine by one of the servants, "They surrendered without any bloodshed to either side very quickly. Since then we've spent the last two weeks assessing and redistributing the wealth and weapons held there for our own."

"And what of Ser Simon and the rest of his house?" Aemon asked, "Where the Blackwoods there as well?"

"The Strongs are being held in prisons right now," Daemon responded, "The Tullys and Blackwoods hold Harrenhal now."

"You're not going to kill them are you?" Rhaena asked, her face white as a sheet as she looked to father. "They're Harwins family after all, traitors or not."

"Of course we're not going to kill them, they surrendered," he shook his head, his eye narrowed on his daughter. "Unlike Borros Baratheon I respect the traditions of old such as guest right and waving a white flag."

Rhaena nodded and looked down to her empty plate, feeling the eyes of all her family on her for asking such a thing. The tension was thick between her and them, but for the life of them they didn't know why it was there at all. They had always a been united family no matter what, but something had obviously changed.

"Are you alright, Rhaena?" Elaena asked, concern filling her voice as she looked at her.

"I'm fine," Rhaena said quietly, leaning back in her chair with her eyes down.

"Then why aren't you eating?" Elaena asked, looking at the array before them. "I had the kitchens make potatoes two different ways just for you-"

"I'm just not hungry," Rhaena interrupted, her voice a bit more snippy than she had intended it to be. She quickly closed her mouth after this and exhaled, not knowing how to be around her family right now. There was too much on her mind, too many things weighing on her conscious for her to continue idle chatter.

"She's just upset about Luke still," Aemon said softly to his mother, "We all are."

"May I be excused?" Rhaena asked impatiently, tossing her napkin on her plate to stand. She couldn't stand another moment of this.

"No, you may not," Elaena responded a bit more strongly now, "Sit down now and talk to us, Rhaena. Let us help you through whatever it is that is so obviously bothering you."

Rhaena slowly sat back down, feeling hot tears burn behind her eyes. She didn't know how to tell them what was bothering her, for she knew once she did she would cause a rift between herself and her father. From there sides would be taken and the dynamic that they all shared would be ruined.

"Whatever it is, we can help you through it-" Daemon said softly, leaning to the side to put his hand on hers. She instinctively pulled it away before he could do this though, recoiling back from him in her chair. His face fell as he saw this, his eyes filling with hurt. "Are you afraid me, Rhaena?"

A singular tear fell from her eye as he said this, her exact fear coming true. Her eyes flitted around to the rest of the table, seeing each one of her family's shocked faces. Her brothers both looked to each other, not understanding why their sister could possibly feel this way, but her mother and father's faces just seemed filled with heartbreak.

"I know that the past few weeks have been filled with the fear and cruelty of war, Rhaena," Elaena said quietly, her voice cracking a little. "But you know your father would never hurt you, that none of us would."

"I know that," Rhaena nodded, pressing her lips together tightly to keep from crying as she paused. "It's just-"

"It's just what?" Daemon asked, desperation in his voice for the answer. He thought he knew pain in this world, but the realization that his own daughter was afraid for him to touch her hurt more than anything else in this world.

"When I was in the Vale, Jeyne Arryn told me something," Rhaena said, her voice barely above a whisper. "She said that the reason why House Royce won't pledge fealty to Rhaenyra is because of you...because there are rumours that you had Rhea Royce murdered so you could marry mother."

The whole room fell to death-like silence at this, each person around the table not expecting this to be the reason for her strange and hurtful behavior. Both of her brothers knew this was not a conversation for them to insert themselves into, so they looked to their parents to see who would be the first to respond to this.

"It was no secret that I wished to marry your mother. There was no lost love between Rhea Royce and I, in the years after our marriage we only spoke a handful of times with each other," Daemon said slowly, his voice low. "But Rhea Royce committed suicide in front of a dozen witnesses through the moon door of the Eyrie."

"I was with your father when we received the raven of this news," Elaena continued, defending her husband without question. "Neither one of us had anything to do with her death, it was a tragedy of its own right...and that's the truth of it."

"Then why does half the Vale still continue to think that you do have something to do with it?" Rhaena asked, shaking her head with confusion. "I don't understand how nearly twenty years later a rumor such as this is still alive if it has no truth to it."

"Perhaps they blame me for her taking her own life," Daemon responded, leaning forward in his chair with a solemn look. "I was less than a dutiful husband to her...it was an insult to both her and her family...but I couldn't live a lie with her, I couldn't pretend-"

"Why not?" Rhaena asked, feeling her heart sink a bit.

"Because I was in love with your mother," Daemon said quietly, looking to Elaena as she slowly put her hand on his. "I always had been and knew I always would be. Long before we ever got married I felt that my true duty in life was not to Rhea or anyone else for that matter...it was to her."

Rhaena bowed her head down, feeling her tears come forward at full force now. She covered her mouth to try and quiet the sounds of them, but once the gates opened there was no stopping them. She couldn't believe she had been so quick to turn on her family, to believe a rumor told by those she didn't even know over her own parents. But she had been so confused, her mind filled with too many conflicting emotions to make sense of it all on her own.

"I'm sorry," Rhaena whispered, keeping her eyes down and away from them all in shame. "It's just with everything that's happened- and the conversation about the assassin after that- I just thought-"

"Come here," Daemon said, standing from his chair. Rhaena slowly stood as well, walking into her father's arms and pressing her face against his chest. As he wrapped his arms around her to hold her closely, he looked to Elaena, neither one of them knowing how to comfort her in any way besides this right now.

"I shouldn't have doubted you," Rhaena cried, holding onto him as tightly as she could. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me-"

"It's all too much, I know," Daemon nodded, placing a kiss on her head. "I don't need you don't need to apologize, I just need you to know that I would never hurt you."

"I know that," she whispered, sniffling a little to try and reign in her tears. "I do."

Daemon gave his daughter one last kiss on the top of her head, closing his eyes as he did so before slowly letting her go. The two sat down at the table again, and everyone's eyes turned to him as he spoke again.

"I know that I have blood on my hands from actions of the past, and I know that there be more blood on them as this war progresses," he continued, joining hands with daughter and wife on either side of him. "But everything I have ever done and ever will do will be in service to you four. You're all that matters in this world to me."

The rest of the children all slowly linked hands with each other until the five of them all sat connected to one another, each of them sharing bittersweet looks with one another. For while the nature of the conversation was brought about in a painful way, they were ending it knowing that they all stood together no matter what. There was no one else on this earth that they trusted or loved more than each other.

"Forever and always," Elaena said softly, the smallest of sad smiles rising on her lips.

Rhaena nodded a little, squeezing her father and brother's hands a bit tighter now. "Forever and always."

Author's Note: Okie dokie friends, you know what's coming next... Rhaena's wedding...and their just might be a suprise guest that makes a special appearance too. The next chapter will be uploaded in the next two or three days so keep an eye out for it!

Hope you all had a very fun and safe Halloween night! 🎃 👻