A few weeks passed with not much happening - except that Visenya and her maid were finding it increasingly difficult to hide the dragon from everyone. They stopped letting other servants into the chamber, Selaria took care of everything.

Oh, and Vis also received a letter. In an interesting way, because a raven with a letter tied to its leg landed on Visenya's balcony while she was repeating High Valyrian to herself using a book of poetry in that language.

The letter stated that a ship would arrive in two months to take her from Westeros. All she has to do is sneak through the gardens in the evening to the edge of the sea and go down the scarp.

Nothing could be simpler, right?

But she will think about that later, she couldn't prepare for it in advance. And what she had to do was find a way to even get out of her chamber into the garden late at night, unnoticed by the guards.

For this purpose - despite Selaria's not very strong support for these actions - during these two months Visenya often went to talk to Jaime, keeping him company even when he was on duty. Her behavior of such shy conversation, combined with stoking his ego, was bringing results. The silver-haired girl was convinced that she had him wrapped around her finger - ever since he started stationing mainly at her door - and they would be able to leave the castle in the evening without any problems, she just had to come up with a good excuse for it.

But they were yet to find out everything... It was the decisive evening, and the biggest problem so far turned out to be hiding the little dragon.

"Be careful her...!" Vis hissed, covering the dragon cuddled to Selaria's chest with her cloak.

"Me with her? She'll probably start biting me and trying to get away as soon as we leave. It listens only to-!"

"Shh!" she silenced her, buttoning the last button of her maid's coat. "We're leaving. Everything as we planned, remember."

Selaria didn't say anything anymore, she just nodded. The silver-haired woman left the room, holding her cloak with one hand as she lowered her head slightly.
Now or never.

"Could we go for a walk in the gardens?" she asked, gaining Jaime's attention. "I had a terrible dream and... I need to get some air, get it out of my head."

It wasn't the first time she had asked to go for a walk at a similar time, just to find out in advance how easy it would be to convince him to do so. At first, he remained skeptical about this idea, but over time it stopped bothering him, and he even seemed to enjoy such walks where the only person nearby was Selaria, walking a dozen steps behind them, or a guard passing by.

"Of course." he smiled at her gently, which she returned.

Without a moment's delay, they moved through the corridors of the Red Keep, straight to the entrance to the gardens, and as usual, Visenya's maid walked silently behind them. Everything as usual.

"What did you dream of?" he asked when they were outside and slowly heading towards the sea.

" My father... I've never seen him, but somehow I know it was him."

"And it was such a terrible dream?" he chuckled, shaking his head.

"Okay, I'm a bad liar..." she admitted, sticking to what she had planned for this conversation. "I couldn't sleep, and part of me... wanted to go for a walk in the moonlight with you again."

Once they were at the seaside, she directed her steps towards going down to something like an observation deck that had no railings. Here there was only a low wall that did nothing to protect you from falling into the water. Guess the only thing you could do with it was sit on it and admire the view.

"You're such a romantic." he replied, standing with his back to the mentioned wall.

"What about you?" she asked, coming closer. "Late in the evening you walk with me through the beautiful gardens to the edge of the sea, and only the moonlight illuminates us. And I know you enjoy it very much."

"More than you?" she was a little surprised by this question, as well as by the fact that he gently rested his hand on her hip.

"Is... Is this some kind of trick?" no, she didn't plan on stuttering like that. "No matter what I say, it will be the wrong answer."

"You don't have to answer anything." she almost panicked, not moving from her spot when he leaned over her and pressed his lips to hers.

Not much, just a light brush of the lips, and for a moment she stopped thinking about what she wanted to do. Luckily, a cool wind was blowing, rustling her coat and hitting her ankles, keeping her committed to her plans.

She returned the kiss gently and hesitantly, resting her hands on his torso. A stressed Selaria watched from a safe distance, feeling the dragon on her breast begin to fidget more and more. Hurry up, I'm begging you...

The moment was impossibly long for Visenya when she finally found the strength to take this brave step and burn the bridges behind her, to put everything on one card.

She pulled away, pushing the unsuspecting Jaime over the wall and into the water.

Without paying attention to anything else, she grabbed her dress at the sides, lifting it so that she could quickly run up the stairs and join Selaria. Jaime's screams could already be heard behind them, and he would probably be able to get out of the water soon.

And the loud splash certainly alerted someone, as did the screams.

They ran through the bushes all the time down to a place where a lantern was shining faintly near the water, pointing to the place of a small boat that would take them to a ship that will take them far away from King's Landing.

But suddenly Selaria stopped.

"Take her and run." she said out of breath, unbuttoning her coat and giving Visenya a dragon.

"But... Selaria..."

"You'll be fine without me, I know that." she looked back quickly before continuing. "I'll draw the guards to another part of the gardens so they don't catch up with you. And even if I tell them something, once they catch me... You'll be far away, safe."

"You have served me since I was born, you cannot leave me now, at the most important moment..."

"The world is cruel, Visenya." she squeezed the girl's hand tightly. "You will lose many people who will serve you, but it will be their choice. Following you and protecting you even at the cost of their own life." Visenya shook her head, tears already in her eyes. She didn't want to let go of her only friend's hand. "If you ever come back here and need help, ask Christer Renel - that's my brother's name. He saved your life and if necessary, I trust he will guide you to your goal." she pulled her hand away and ran in a direction known only to her.

She knew she couldn't add that she loved her as much as she loved her mother, that would only make things worse for Visenya. However, she knew from the beginning that only that girl would be able to escape from here, and she would have to stay to secure this escape.

And Visenya... Still with tears in her eyes, she pulled her cloak closer to cover the dragon that was now clinging to her and moved on.

She carefully climbed down the last rocks that separated her from the boat. The man inside it stood up, offering his hand and helping her to sit down before he grabbed the oars and turned off the lantern, steering with only the moonlight towards the larger ship hiding behind the cliff.

Selaria said her brother saved her... What did she mean? After all, he couldn't have influenced what was happening in the Red Keep during the sack of the capital right after Tywin Lannister's troops entered it...

Or maybe he had?

Never mind... Only now did she understand how much this woman meant to her, who first served her mother, and then protected and helped her all her life. Now she understood how much love they had for each other and how faithful Selaria was to her.

If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have learned even High Valyrian in her life, no one would have secretly brought her books to learn, and she wouldn't have been able to get them herself. No one would tell her stories about her parents, about the greatness of her house...

And now he will never see her again... She had no doubt that they will kill her for helping a princess from an overthrown dynasty escape.

It's all because of her...

She felt strange aboard the ship. Strange and alone, completely unaware of what to do with herself, who she is dealing with and what she can say. Additionally, she was terrified by the fact that there was no turning back and she had no plan for what to do next. And she still had a dragon in her arms that no one knew about except her and Selaria, and - most likely - Ser Barristan.

Despite everything, the crew was... Nice towards her. They even smiled slightly at her, showing her to go down to her cabin, where she could go to sleep.
She went down there, almost falling over, because the only light was provided by a weakly burning lamp hanging on one of the beams. She was supposed to come down here to rest and stay out of the cold, but what difference did it make to her if she was so tense that she felt hot all the time?

Ser Barristan wrote to her that unfortunately he can't keep her company on the journey, but she will not be alone, that his old friend will accompany her. She had no idea who it could be, no name even came to her mind.

"Your Grace?" she heard unexpectedly behind her as she looked around the cabin. She slowly turned towards the direction the voice came from. She tightened her hand on the clasp of the coat out of stress, feeling the dragon move slightly under it.

"Who are you?" she asked with a slightly trembling voice, trying to calm her heartbeat and strain her eyes to take a closer look at the face of the man who was quite far from the lantern.

Her first instinct was to retreat to the wall when the man took a step towards her, but she restrained herself. She was supposed to be safe, she was definitely in no danger, it was probably that Ser Barristan's friend...

The man stopped in front of her and knelt on one knee, only then speaking again.

"Ser Arthur Dayne, my Queen."