. Elaenya was yet to recover from the rush she'd felt. But that morning had been warm, which made Ashara Dayne drag the rather weary girl out of her room and bask under the sun with the Dornish Princess by their sides.
"I fail to understand the need for this-" Elaenya said motioning to the assortment of food that was laid infront of them on the grass.
The gardens of the Red Keep were a sight to behold, it was exceptionally well maintained. Some said that it was the Hand's doing. Tywin Lannister was not the kindest man, but a patron of gardens, something he'd picked up from his late wife.
"Oh, loosen up! The weather is beautiful and the sun shines bright, what a better day to excuse ourselves from our humdrum routines?" Ashara chirped, her face held a huge smile as she continued to peel the fruits.
"Easy for you to say. I have been sulking around ever since I stepped foot in the capital" Elaenya scoffed. The princess was hacked off her mind, palace life had it perks but it sure was uneventful. She fell onto the grass as the leaves rustled under her hair, letting out a sigh, the girl closed he eyes to feel the sun's heat radiate on her delicate skin.
"Enjoy this while it lasts, Elaenya. Once your brother finds a suitable husband for you, gods know, where you'll go and how lonely you'll feel" Elia commented, earning a small hum from the princess in response. Elaenya wished to marry out of love, but it was so very rare. She was to marry the greatest lord, who was capable enough for a princess. It didn't matter whether she loved him or not, if he was eligible, she'd be sold off like a mare.
The princess didn't wish to dwell on such dull topics on a beautiful day.
"Where is Mina? I haven't seen her since my name day celebration" Elaenya thought out loud, trying to divert their mode of conversation.
Ashara shrugged.
"She's been really busy from last few weeks, especially since Highgarden has been turning barren, how I wish spring arrived quickly and relieve us of these problems!" The handmaiden said.
"I pray that the Tyrells survive this famine for their loss can affect our smallfolk as well" Elia stated, spreading clothes for food.
"What do you mean?" Elaenya asked, remembering a similar conversation Rhaegar had with See Lewyn Martell.
"According to the Citadel, spring is near but only gods know how long it shall take for spring to arrive. Till then, we must be strong, the seasons are fickle. We can only hope for winter to arrive late or else doom is upon this kingdom" Elia sighed.
Elaenya had never experienced winter but she'd heard stories, and they weren't pleasant.
Elia and Ashara went on to talk about various things that didn't seem to catch the Targaryen girl's interest, they seemed far too trivial for her. Her mind drifted to the previous night, when she'd made a fool out of herself infront of the sword of the morning, ser Arthur Dayne. She hoped to see the knight soon, so that she could clear up the supposed terrible impression he had of her, but she was glad that her brief breakdown had a positive impact and she was able to communicate with everyone through the evening. She was indebted to Arthur, in one way or the other and she wanted to extend her gratitude towards the man, the next time they met.
"Your Grace, Lady Ashara" a voice said snapping the princess out of her daydream. She turned to her side with the support of her elbow to find a tall Kingsguard standing by their sides.
"Ser Barristan! What a sight for sore eyes you are, do sit and have some grapes with us" Ashara smirked, making the knight blush as he shook his head, and Elaenya giggled at his shyness. Ashara had her way with men, and ser Barristan was clearly smitten by her.
"Not today Lady Ashara" he said, making her frown.
"Shame on you for refusing such a delicious offering, and wasting such a rare weather" Ashara placed her hand on her heart and pretended to be annoyed. Both Elaenya and Elia hid their giggles as ser Barristan failed to understand her antics and was awefully flustered. He tried to explain himself to the Dornishwoman but she wouldn't take any of his excuses.
"Let the poor man be Ashara" Elia commented, nudging the young lady as she turned to face the knight again. "Set Barristan, do tell us the nature of your rather drastic arrival?"
The kinight cleared his throat and turned to face Elaenya. "The queen has requested your presence" he said, as a small smile formed on his previously serious face. Elaenya blinked, trying to comprehend the words that were spoken. Her mother had finally called for her. This filled the young girl with great joy as she jumped up and quickly fixed her dress, a large smile was plastered on her face.
It was a misfortune for a child to never see their mother, and it had been Elaenya's grave misfortune aswell. Rahaella Targaryen had birthed her, and not in eighteen years had she seen her once. This meant the world to Elaenya who looked at her two friends radiating the same happinesses. She was speechless, so she quietly followed the Kingsguard, with her head ducked as she giggled to herself.
The journey to her mother's room felt like eternity as Elaenya felt herself melting into a puddle with fear as the proximity reduced. Barristan Selmy wasn't helping either, his stoic face made it worse for the girl.
When they did arrive Elaenya was ushered into the room by the knight. The princess stumbled on her feet and almost broke in through the door, with a loud thud. Infront of her was a massive room. Twice the size of her chambers, it was beautifully decorated with red and white velvet but epicenter of it's beauty had been the woman standing in the center. She had long silver locks similar to Elaenya's and rather vibrant violet eyes.
Rahaella's mouth parted at the sight of her long lost daughter as tears of joy formed in her eyes. She quickly wiped her eyes and dismissed Barristan with a swish of her hand. Elaenya marvelled at her mother's authority.
She'd been more of a royalty than her father could ever dream of being.
"My Elaenya" she breathed out. "How have you-" before Rahaella could complete, she was engulfed into an warm hug by her petite daughter. The two stayed there for sometime before Elaenya let go and smiled sleepishly, it was like one of her dreams but this time it was real.
"I have missed you so much" she said, rubbing her bare arm. Rahaella cupped her daughter's face and kissed her temple.
"Believe me Elaenya, I have even more. To see you all grown up and healthy makes my heart sore with happiness. A moonturn after your birth, he'd taken you away from me, away from us. Now that we're together again, I pray that this lasts long" she said, her deep violet eyes boring into Elaenya's.
"I pray so too mother" She whispered.
Tapping of feet was heard from the tall curtains that hid away the windows. The sound was loud enough to make Rahaella roll her eyes.
"Viserys" she called out.
A small figure emerged from the same curtains. It was a boy, with similar features as that of Elaenya's and her mother's. The boy named Viserys was fidgeting at the sight of his older sister. Elaenya's eye's softened as she moved towards the young prince, who was scared by her sudden presence, so he tried to back away until he was gestured not to do so by his dear mother. Elaenya sat down on her knees to reach Viserys's height.
"Hello" she whispered and the boy looked at her with great wonder. She looked so much like his mother. He touched her face with his fingers and traced her features making Elaenya giggle. He wanted to know whether she was real.
"I am your sister" Elaenya said and Viserys paused. He looked at her again. "I'm Elaenya" she added.
"Ella" Viserys repeated with a giggle, which was a sign of his approval.
"Yes, you may call me that" she winked playfully making young Viserys laugh and jump on her lap. The princess giggled as she picked him up. The Targaryen was only four but an extremely playful child.
"Ella and me are friends!" He exclaimed to Rahaella while jumping on Elaenya's lap.
The queen chuckled at the sight infront of her and she hoped that her children would remain this happy.
"You didn't have to do this" Elaenya said as her mother placed a large box infront of her. They had spend the morning talking about various things and when the issue of her name day came up, Rahaella retrieved a long hidden gift for her daughter.
Elaenya was in haste, but since it was from her mother she opened the box slowly while Viserys played with it's wrappings beside them. She placed the lid on her lap and peeked into her gift.
To the princess's surprise the contents of the box weren't as lofty as she'd expected. There was a extremely large book. When Elaenya took it out and read through it's cover, she realised that it was no ordinary book. It was 'the history of dragons and dragonriders'.
It was strange how Rahaella knew about her affinity towards history. Perhaps it had been the intuition of a mother.
"This is wonderful" she breathed out, clutching the book to her chest.
"I am glad you like it"
"Absolutely. I love anything related to history!" She giggled. Rahaella clasped Elaenya's hand, tightly.
"I am really happy you're back Elaenya, I really am and I want you to know this, that even if your father doesn't accept you, I will. You are my daughter and I'll always love you" she said, rubbing circles onto the girl's palm. Elaenya nodded.
She looked outside the window to see the afternoon draw near, she remembered how she'd abandoned Elia and Ashara. Elaenya quickly withdrew from her mother.
"Mother I must go I promised Ashara and Elia that I'd have my lunch with them" she said with apologetic eyes, making Rahaella chuckle.
"Of course, go quickly. I'll tell Barristan to deliver the book to your room" Elaenya nodded. Kissing her mother on her cheek, she rushed out of her chambers and walked to the gardens.
It was a long way so the princess decided to take a short cut. She made way to the abandoned stairways behind the tower of the Hand, hoping that her journey would be short. As she was walking down the stairs she heard soft whispers. They sounded like the whispers of a man and a woman, Elaenya stopped on her tracks. She sighed. She would now have to take a different path to avoid running into two lovers.
She turned to leave but it was the voices that made her stop.
"You must come with me to Highgarden, Arthur"
"Mina-"
Elaenya's breath was caught in her throat when she realised that she'd walked into Ser Arthur and Mina. As much as she hated listening to them, she couldn't help herself but peek further to get a better look.
The princes felt cheap, like a lowly gossip monger but her curiosity got the best of her, but at the same time the girl could not deny the sudden tug she felt in her chest.
"You must know that this cannot happen. How much longer should I keep on reminding you" Arthur sighed. Elaenya saw him rubbing his temples in worry.
"Keep telling yourself that!" Mina spat as tears rolled down her eyes.
"I care for you deeply, you know that. We've known each other for so long, you're like my own" Arthur said, making Elaenya gasp.
They were lovers afterall. It all made sense, how Mina blushed at the slightest mention of his name, how they stole glaces. It was indeed a forbidden love.
As much as Elaenya admired Arthur, she mentally cursed herself to think that a man like him would take no lovers. The Dayne siblings were blessed with hypnotic beauty and Arthur Dayne had earned his fair share in it as well.
"And so do I"
"Mina, listen to me-"
"No!" She screamed.
"Tell me Arthur Dayne. Do you love me? Or is it just another stupid game?" Mina added. Elaenya waited for his reply as she saw the knight running his hand through his dark disheveled hair.
Before she could hear the knight's reply, Elaenya was distracted by the sudden clearing of throat. She was turned around to see Mace Tyrell standing behind her, with a large smile on his face.
Elaenya cursed under her breath. She felt like a child who'd just been caught after her shenanigans, but this was far worse. She doubted that she could have a decent conversation with the oaf, he was as morose as he was thick.
"Lord Tyrell" she said with a tight lipped smile, trying to convey her discomfort, praying that the man would leave soon, so she continue eavesdropping, a task she had sinfully been doing.
"Your grace, may I have a word" he said, offering his hand.
Elaenya wanted to scream and shove the man away from her face, but like a dutiful princess she quietly took the Lord's hand as he lead her away from her much desired spot.
"I shall be returning to Highgarden tomorrow, and I was hoping that I could visit the capital anytime soon" he stated, trying to deepen his voice to sound authoritative infront of the Targaryen.
"It's your free will my lord. We're not chaining you up with Highgarden" Elaenya smirked, earning a laughter from the man.
"Oh you have a good sense of humour my princess! What I am saying is that, I need a reason to return to this damned capital" he sighed making Elaenya scoff under her breath. She didn't understand the reason for Mace Tyrell to speak in such complex metaphors.
"I'm sure you'll receive plenty of them in the future" she shrugged.
Mace chuckled and with a deep breath he said"I was hoping my reason to be you, princess"
Elaenya felt like throwing up at his confession. Her worst fears were becoming reality.
"I have already asked for your brother's permission and now here I am asking for your hand in marriage" He said proud, making Elaenya shake her head in denial.
"No" she whispered, but the man didn't stop.
"Elaenya Targaryen, do you wish to be my bride-"
"GET DOWN!"
A voice shouted.
Elaenya screamed as she was thrown down on the floor by a large body, covering her from a mass of arrows that flew in through the window. The arrows embedded themselves on thell behind Elaenya, clearly missing the shot.
Elaenya shrieked with fear as her face was buried in the man's chest. She looked up to see the same pair of violet eyes on her saviour. The ones that'd been her salvation, the previous night. Their breath mingled as the princess saw the concern on his face. He cupped her cheek seeking for sings of injury.
He'd saved her yet again.
"You're alright. You're alright" Arthur whispered soothing, cradling her shaking form in his arms. His voice seems like the only savings grace the princess would receive. It worked like an elixir for her in that dire moment.
"Go get Ser Gerold!" He ordered Mace Tyrell who was shaken up by the incident, as well. Arthur Dayne's fury didn't make things any better as he shivered at the mere anger formed in the kinight's deep violet eyes. So the oaf lord did run to call for help.
"Ser Arthur" Elaenya managed to whisper, making the knight turn to the princess in his arms.
Her eyes were weary but she didn't cry. Not this time. The knight was surprised how well she'd held herself for a woman.
"Are they coming back?" She asked quietly, still unable to get up due to the shock. Gods, knew what came of the sword of morning that moment, as he kissed her forehead and pulled her close to him. Elaenya blushed furiously. Perhaps it had been the whole rush of the situation, or his hightened concern for the girl. Especially after she revealed her vulnerable side to him only a night ago.
"They shouldn't dare to, and if they do, I'll see to it that they don't leave the castle alive" the knight said, as his eyes darkened. Elaenya swallowed hard. She'd never seen the man so angry, his once calm violet eyes had rage in them and it scared the princess even more. It was a side to him, she never wanted to see.
They who tested his fury, were to be damned in the deepest pits of hell, if not by the gods then surely by the tip of his Dawn.
Elaenya heard a grunt which looked behind Arthur, only to see Mina standing. Her hands were balled into fists by her side, and her gaze seemed to throw daggers at the princess. Elaenya's face fell as she realised the misunderstandings that would pursue in their relationship. The girl didn't wish to make enemies in the capital. Little did she know, westeros was not a place to make allies.
A/N
please leave a review, letting me know how you feel about this chapter. thank you for reading.
