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Naenya had awoken in a haze that day. There was a heavy feeling in her chest and a pain in her stomach. It was only when she left her bed did she realise why.
Blood.
She had bled that very night. The night her mother died was the night the Gods decided she was to become a woman. What a sick joke.
The handmaidens had come in, each one noticing the stain on her dress and her bed and each one had congratulated her on her womanhood. A womanhood she had begun without her mother.
She stared intensely at the dress she had discarded, the dress that was painted with a stark warning of what her future held. A future all women were subjected to at some time. A future that not all women got to live through.
She was only broken from her trance by the knock on her bedroom door. As she placed her rings and jewels on, finishing her first outfit as a woman, Ser Loren entered with a bow.
"Princess, The King wishes to see you in his chambers," Ser Loren said, averting his eyes as her bloodied dress and sheets were taken away, "Um, congratulations..."
"Thank you, Ser Loren," Naenya said, rolling her eyes at his discomfort as he hurried out, "Honestly, that man,"
Stepping away from her handmaidens, she began her walk through the halls of the Red Keep to her father's chambers. The Keep had become much quieter, more solemn, since her mother's death. She hardly even noticed the maids and knights that walked the halls with her. She almost hated it.
"Your Grace," Naeyna announced her arrival, pushing the door open.
Viserys Targaryen was seated near his Old Valeryia model, toying with a piece in his hand.
"Naenya, good, come in," Viserys stood up, making his way over to a chess table, "Would you like to play?"
Naenya paused, watching her father closely.
"You don't play chess," Naenya said, tentivitely taking a seat.
"I play a bit of chess, and you can teach me the rest," Viserys said, choosing the white chess pieces for his side, "Now tell me, which piece is the most powerful piece?"
Naenya watched her father tentatively, unsure of what sort of game her father was trying to play. He had hardly uttered a word to her since Aemma's death. Not even at the funeral had he bothered to bestow some sort of support onto her. If anything, Naenya had been completely shut out by her father. But now, all of a sudden, he was wanting to play the game she always played with her mother.
"Well, that depends on what you mean. You need the King to continue the game, without him you have lost, so he is mighty in that way," Naenya explained, knowing she couldn't ignore her father, since he was King, "But he can't move very well. The Queen has the best range of movements, making her the most powerful in that aspect. And, of course, the pawn can change into a Queen if you get them to the other side of the chess set, and the pawn can be utilised to help your other pieces. He's sometimes an unnoticed power,"
