Familiarity ||| Jacaerys Velaryon

twenty-eight

There were no pleasantries upon Daemon's rushed arrival at Dragonstone. He'd left Harrenhal undefended, he knew it wasn't a particularly smart or strategic move, but he didn't care.

He'd gotten a letter by raven telling him someone tried to kill his daughter. It didn't matter that it repeated that she was alive and healing. She'd been injured. That didn't slide.

Ignoring knights who bowed to him and greeted him; they could be dealt with later. His only concern was Alyssa.

Marching through the halls of Dragonstone, Daemon bypassed even the council to get to his daughter's quarters. He imagined that was where she would be.

And he was correct. Daemon walked in without knocking, something he would learn to regret later, and found Alyssa pointing at something for Jace to reach for her.

She couldn't stretch much, not with the stitches in her side. And Jace was taller than her anyway; it was a win-win scenario making him get things off of shelves for her.

He startled Alyssa and Jace at first. Suddenly appearing without saying anything; only looking at his daughter to see if she had any visible injuries.

"Father," Alyssa said as Jace dropped the book he'd retrieved for her, holding a hand to his heart.

Alyssa stood from where she'd been sitting on the bed. She held a hand to her side, wincing, and walked forward to hug her father.

Daemon took Alyssa in his arms, mindful of where she had her hand, and hugged his daughter for the first time in many moons. He hadn't seen her since before she departed as an envoy.

He never knew he could love someone as he loved her. Daemon oft thought about the first time he even met her. Just a girl in Runestone, no knowledge of her ancestry or her parentage. She was set to grow up as a repressed lady in the Vale.

And instead, she was with him. His beloved daughter, made a princess because of her likeness, set to become a Queen.

So much like him. Fiery and bold, without care for rules or tradition. And she would have a better life than he did. Being killed wasn't a part of that.

The thought of Alyssa in danger made him physically sick. Angry. That anyone thought they had the right to touch her.

Alyssa sighed into her father, glad he was there and that he was safe. She'd been worried about him all those moons they'd been apart.

He knew her attack had been retaliation for what he'd ordered against Jaehaerys. Daemon had no regrets about ordering it; only that his daughter had been the target of the retaliation.

"Little dragon." Daemon pulled back a bit to look at Alyssa's face. That name had always been something of comfort for Alyssa. He only ever used it for her.

She could see what he was going to ask, what he wanted to know.

"I'm fine," Alyssa assured, tenderly touching her right side. "He only cut me here. Ser Erryk died for me. If there is anyone to be mourned, it is him."

In truth, if they had the resources, Alyssa, as well as Jace, should've had sworn shields. But they didn't have enough knights for that.