𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍²~𝐀𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐄𝐍

-A Dʀᴀɢᴏɴ ɪs Bᴏʀɴ-

'You aren't a maid, this isn't your first child. There isn't anything you haven't experienced before with this that you didn't experience with Orsya.' She thought sternly as the minutes dwindled down to seconds.

'Only Wiliam isn't here. He isn't here and you are alone.' 

Naerys wanted to say she was above the metallic-like pang that crossed her heart at the cruel thought that danced through her mind, that it didn't hurt as badly as it had, and that the loss of Wiliam had healed completely. But that would have made the noble lady of Dragons Hall a liar and she was anything but a liar.

It had been almost a year since she had lost her dearly beloved to one of the battles of the Step Stones, losing him in a surprise attack on the beaches of a small island near Drift Mark. Only dying after destroying the final dregs of the enemy and getting his men to safety with the rest of the Velaryon fleet and Greywood troops.

'He was a brave and true man.' Corlys Verlaryon would tell her, his regal features marred by the hands of sorrow. Words dripped with unconcealed grief as he would go on to pass on the only remaining thing of Wiliam that hadn’t been soaked through with blood and burned by fire. 

Which had been her token of favor that he had carried with him since the days of their wistful youth, a simple purple ribbon trimmed in rich gold. To them, it morphed from just the promised affection of foolish youth to one of serious devotion in adulthood, to the vowed promise to only belong to one another until the end of their days. 

"I am hers, she is mine."

"I am his, he is mine."

Whispers of youth echoed through her inner mind, the brush of lips like secrets passed in the dark, and a passion hotter than blue flames passed over them. Oh how young they had been, so unsure of what the future offered them and if they would ever make it over the obstacles that stood in their way. Yet with time, with patience, they had grown and persevered through it together. They had passed through each hoop of fire the gods had sent toward them, from her becoming heir of the Isle to the birth of their first child Orsya. They had done it all together, watching the other grow older, wiser, and more sure-footed of who they were.

Then in the blink of an eye, they had gone from a green lad and unsure lady to the knight of Valor and Lady of Dragons Hall they were now…or had been.

Youth faded their faces, she could remember the last time she had seen her Wiliam. Tan skin aged with small fine lines of the past etched on his face that she didn't remember being there before, eyes dark and alluring like they had been the first time she had seen them; looked down upon her with barely contained love and affection as he had traced her features to remember them. Cropped hair that at one time had been a shocking shade of black, was streaked with streaks of white. She had loved his dark hair the most, running her hands any chance she could through his sable locks.

'If I didn't know any better I would say you love my hair, more than me.' He laughed heartily, it’s warm sound echoed boisterously through their chamber.

Naerys had smiled to hide the pain at him leaving, putting on the facade of humor for his benefit as she knew he was detest to leave her side but his duty and iron strong honor kept him from staying.

"You've caught me, I have only kept you here at my whim so I can be with my one true love. Your hair."

Wiliam had laughed, pulling her closer to him as he press a searing and lingering kiss to her lips. A kiss that sent tremors of pleasure down to her knees and threatened to make them buckle at any moment, a kiss that painted wonderful and delicious pictures of burning embers and dark nights wrapped in the delightful embrace of the other. Youth immortalized even when skin sagged and strength faded, it was the kiss of love unyielding and hearts devoted.