Silver Princess || House of the Dragon

Chapter XI ''The Princess and The Heiress''

She wasn't in the capital for three years, she missed it. The same day she returned to the city, she ordered her horse to be saddled to ride around the city, to see if anything had changed. Of course she couldn't go alone, and here came someone she didn't miss. Ser Criston Cole, the Queen's most trusted guard, whom she could not bear. She hated that her every move was watched and reported to Alicent. That's why she made Criston's life difficult in the past, and she will do the same now.

"You've got to speed up, Ser!" she shouted over her shoulder, hurrying her horse.

The citizens didn't like the races she organized in the city - especially those who had their stalls set up on the streets. Of course, she tried not to destroy anything, but sometimes... You know, accidents happened.
Just like now, when suddenly a cart full of wheat came out of a side street and the horse didn't have time to pass it or jump over it. It slowed down suddenly, practically stopping, and she went over the horse's head and rolled over the bags, losing most of her speed, and then fell to the ground.

It wasn't the most painful fall in her life, the destruction of her clothes would have hurt her more if she had been interested in how much it cost and not just went to the tailor and had him make her dream thing.

"Princess?" Criston's voice was worried at first, after all, he would be the one answering to the King if something happened to her. But when he saw Val getting up from the ground without his help and dusting off her clothes, his tone immediately changed. "Can we go back to the Red Keep now, or the Princess still doesn't have enough excitements?" she hated that biting tone of his, when something went wrong.

Once, when she was younger, she would have been ready to sigh for this handsome knight. In fact, she could do it even now if he weren't on the side of Alicent Hightower.
It wasn't that she wasn't loyal to Daemon, it was just... She could see that they weren't getting along like she thought they would. She couldn't complain about her married life, Daemon was good to her and she repaid him with the same kindness, sometimes they were really passionate, although they had been arguing a lot lately, about returning to Westeros, but... He finally gave in and didn't let her go back alone with their daughter.

She might not have much feelings for him, no undeniable love, but she liked being around him, he could make her heart race.
Besides, she hasn't even met a man in her life for whom she would be willing to give up everything.

"I didn't want to interfere the Small Council meeting." she muttered, and walked over to her horse, which Criston held by the reins, still sitting on his own. She wanted to see her family as the first thing after returning, but when she found out that there was a meeting, she didn't want to barge in, she would just wait. Sure, she has the right to go in there and participate in the sittings, but Rhaenyra was there, she will get the word about everything from her.

"And it would seem that you haven't softened up in these three years, Princess." she rolled her eyes, took reins from Criston and got back on the horse.

"You're certainly lacking excitement, Ser." she pointed out the bruises on his face and the bandage covering part of his right eyebrow. "Or maybe you need a kiss to make it stop hurting and your nasty character will improve?" despite the pain caused by the fall, she squeezed her calves and turned back, this time heading towards the Red Keep.

"Such a sharp tongue certainly does not give pleasant kisses."

She didn't miss their exchanges, or rather their hidden insults. It was enough for her to talk back, suggesting that he was the one lacking excitement - because he was clearly beaten on the face, which meant he had to be beaten by someone, so she questioned his skills - and irritated him a bit with his vows of chastity. This was supposed to be the end of this conversation, she wanted to have the last word, and meanwhile he had to answer her by suggesting that she didn't know how to kiss.