Hope deferred makes the heart sick
It is days later that Daenys wakes up, with a head that feels like it's going to explode, but she wakes up. The sun is calmly shining through the window, the wind softly blowing through the curtains.
'My Queen.' she hears a voice sigh, her friend sitting next to her bed. 'Argella? What happened?' she asks, voice scratchy from not being used in days. 'What do you remember, Your Grace? Do you want some water?' Argella asks, taking the jug on the nightstand and pouring some water into a cup. Daenys nods and sits a bit straighter up, taking the water with a grateful smile and sipping from it. 'I ran into the fields and there was a storm?' Daenys whispers, wrecking her brain for memories. It is blurry but it comes back. Yellow eyes. Argella nods.
'You were found in the dragonpit, the morning after the storm, hidden under Meraxes' wings. You were wet and had such a high fever that everyone thought you were dying. King Aegon...King Aegon had already sent a letter to your parents you were ill and you were probably not going to make it. Your mother was very distressed when she arrived.' Argella offers, Daenys looking on in confusion. 'My mother? My mother is here?'
Argella helps her sit up a bit more, arranging the cushions so that she feels more comfortable. 'Your father and mother arrived two days ago. Your mother has finally gone to get some rest. Up until tonight, everyone thought you were going to die. It is only this morning your fever broke.' Daenys coughs, shuddering. 'Yes, I feel gross. Can you run a bath? I'll feel a bit better once I have cleaned up.' Argella nods and snaps her fingers, one of Daenys' ladies going towards the bedroom.
'I want them gone.' she whispers, her disgust for the women growing. It is them that drove her so far. 'Your bath is ready, Your Grace.' One of her ladies answers, but Daenys slaps her hands away when she tries to help her up from the bed. Daenys stumbles to the bathroom, and it takes ages before she is there and gets into the tub, but she wants them gone. She is fuming, her anxiety, sleepless nights and stress not forgotten, and maybe she is petty, but she wants them to suffer.
She takes a long time to get dressed, but she manages. She puts a simple purple dress on, braids her hair so there is a braided bun construction on the top of her head, puts a simple tiara on and she is ready. She leaves the rest of her hair lose, softly blowing in the wind.
Daenys is fuming and angry, and her angers reaches it's boiling point when she sees the five ladies are still present. 'Get out of my sight.' she hisses, and later on when she thinks about it, she will admit she overreacted. The ladies share an unsettled glance with each other. 'GET OUT!' she screams, throwing the first thing she can find (a vase) in their general direction. The ladies gasp and turn around. 'She is crazy. Absolutely crazy!' they whisper in fear, door opening and running out. Lady Eleonora than comes in, followed by Rhaenys and Visenya. Another vase is thrown in the direction of the door and misses Eleonora by a few centimeters. She stumbles back into Rhaenys, who stumbles into Visenya. 'What the?' Visenya murmurs.
'Queen Daenys, are you allright?!' 'GO AWAY YOU DUMB BITCH! GO SEDUCE MY BROTHER A BIT MORE SO YOU CAN TAKE MY PLACE!' Daenys screams right in Eleonora's face, throwing a book at the lady. It is Visenya that grabs it out of the air, and throws it to the side.
'Daenys what is going on?' she asks, the disapproving tone back in her voice. 'GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! YOU TOO!' Daenys screams at her sisters, pushing Visenya and Rhaenys also out of the door. The door is slammed shut so hard that the walls tremble.
'We need to talk to Aegon, right now. It seems to me Daenys has lost her mind.' Visenya mutters, Rhaenys feeling worry for the first time in long. They have heard the tales about Targaryens that have gone mad. It is the curse they carry alongside their name.
The day is fading into night, the setting sun bading the room into a red light. Daenys is left alone in her room, hands bleeding, every vase or thing she could throw smashed on the ground. She is finally calm, having let anger and other repugnant feelings out, things she has felt for years.
She feels...empty. The door cracks open, a welcome sight in the opening. 'Daenys?' her mother asks, Daenys starting to bawl again. Lady Valaena is quick to shush her daughter, remembering the tantrums Daenys would throw when she was little. She was all in all a gentle child, but when she lost it, she really did. Than came the screaming, throwing and crying. Daenys calms down after a while, her mother binding her hands.
'I do not belong here.' Daenys whispers. 'I want to go back to Dragonstone. I'm tired of having to defend myself to the entire court and my own family. I'm tired of hearing people jeer and mock me behind my back, feeling stressed and anxious and losing sleep over it.' She whispers again, eyes red from crying, her mother a reassuring presence next to her. Daenys puts her head in her mother's lap like she used to do when she was little, Valaena combing through her daughter's hair with her fingers.
'I am not...I am not made to be queen.' she finally admits, the thought that has been plaguing her for months finally spoken out loud. 'Hush, my darling. Everything will be clearer in the morning.' Valaena mutters, Daenys' breath evening out.
Behind the door stands Rhaenys, thoughts a jumbled mess. Their sister's mental condition is worse than she thought, never haven given much thought about the remarks her youngest sister has endured these last months. Rhaenys walks away, jaw set in determination.
I am not made to be queen.
She has a sister and a marriage to save.