Familiarity ||| Jacaerys Velaryon

nine

Alyssa left dinner quickly when it was done. She was regretting the games she'd played with that old and desperate Prince. Because the older she got, the more he would push for it. And if her father wanted to stay permanently Alyssa wouldn't be able to get away from him.

There was someone else who left that dinner feeling dejected, though. Rhaena. She didn't speak much when she left and she went straight to her chambers. Unlike Baela and Daemon, who went to the study, or Laena, who went to go clean herself up in her rooms.

She'd always been there for her sisters. And Alyssa knew Rhaena had a tougher time. So with nothing else to do and feeling badly for her sister, Alyssa went to Rhaena's chambers.

They'd never had a need to knock on each other's doors. The girls hadn't gotten to that point yet, of needing much privacy from one another. So Alyssa walked in quietly, leaving the door a crack as she looked for her sister.

Rhaena was sitting in front of the fireplace holding her dragon egg. Alyssa knew how it pained her, that it had been eight years and it never hatched. It made Rhaena think something was wrong with her.

"Are you alright?" Alyssa asked, announcing herself into the room and startling Rhaena.

She jumped from where she was sitting and held her egg closer. Rhaena glanced at Alyssa before turning back to the fore. "Yes," she lied, eyes staring at the fire that was supposed to have hatched her dragon.

It had given Baela her dragon. Why couldn't it give Rhaena one?

"No. You're not," Alyssa said, sighing as she approached Rhaena and sat on the ground next to her sister. "I've been around you since you were born, Rhaena. What's the matter?"

The younger girl sighed, fingers playing with the scales of the unhatched dragon egg. "What if he doesn't want me? And doesn't let me stay because I don't have a dragon like everybody else?"

That was her fear, Alyssa realized. If Daemon agreed and they stayed, she was afraid she would have to go because she didn't have a dragon like everybody else.

"You want to know something?" Alyssa asked, looking over at Rhaena.

She nodded.

"I don't want to stay. It's nice here but I don't like the Prince."

For a moment, Rhaena looked hopeful. More hopeful than she'd seemed at the dinner and moments prior.

"So, if father decides we should stay and the Prince is so simple that he doesn't include you, we'll fly away on Cannibal together. How does that sound?"

Rhaena's eyes lit up. "Really?" She asked, clutching the egg closer.

"Mhm," Alyssa assured, wrapping her arm around Rhaena's shoulder and pulling her close.

They stayed like that for a while, heads pressed together. Alyssa wasn't lying; if they forced her sister away, however unlikely, she'd leave. And she'd also leave if Daemon ever tried to force her into a marriage she didn't want.

After spending time with Rhaena, Alyssa knew it was getting late. She said goodnight to her, stopping by Baela's chambers to say goodnight as well.