Paint it Black

Chapter 3

Then, Daemon's eyes caught the necklace on Rhaenyra's neck, "Is that necklace made of Valyrian steel?" He asked while running his finger on the steel.

Rhaenyra immediately releases him, and her expression turns solemn.

"Heyy, what with that face?" Daemon asks in confusion.

Without warning, Rhaenyra started tearing up and burst into tears; Daemon gasped, "Rhaenyra, why are you crying?" Daemon quickly searched for his handkerchief but immediately realised that he already used that for his crybaby brother before.

"Here my prince." Steffon said as he offered his handkerchief.

"Thanks, Steffon," Daemon said before wiping away Rhaenyra's tears,

Daemon waits patiently till Rhaenyra calms down; he always finds crying people annoying, especially a child, but Rhaenyra? She's the prettiest crying girl Daemon has ever seen; in fact, seeing her crying like this kind stirred something inside him.

Daemon carefully wipes her tears as if her tears would turn into a pearl.

Once she calmed down, Daemon looked straight at her puffy eyes,

Daemon chuckled silently. Yep, prettiest crybaby ever,

"Take a deep breath Rhaenyra...yes, like that." Daemon smiled, "better?"

Rhaenyra nodded.

Daemon ran his thumb over her soft cheek, "now, care to tell me why you suddenly cry like that?"

"...because...I just realise...Uncle Daemon didn't remember a single thing about me."

Daemon felt his heat start to ache as someone poked it with a thousand needles.

"This necklace was your gift for me, uncle..."

Ah... no wonder... "....I'm sorry, Rhaenyra..."

Rhaenyra shook her head, "It's not your fault that you lost your memories."

Daemon smiles wryly at her. "Well, we can always create new memories, can't we?"

Rhaenyra gasped, "You want to create new memories with me?!" She asks in disbelief.

Daemon shrugs, "Why not?"

Rhaenyra's eyes turn glassy again,

Daemon sighs; he pulls Rhaenyra into his embrace, letting his crybaby cry her heart out safely in his arms.

Two crybaby. Daemon mused. At least one is not annoying as the other one.

"Uncle, can I train too?" Rhaenyra asks after she watches Daemon training with Steffon for a while.

"Sure, why not." Daemon answered, his eyes still focused on Steffon.

"I don't think it's a good idea, princess; you're a woman." Criston immediately stopped Rhaenyra from taking a wooden training sword.

Daemon rolled his eyes; the audacity of this green knight really pissed Daemon off; he signalling Steffon to take a break and then approached Rhaenyra and her dog, "Yes, Rhaenyra is a woman, so does queen Visenya, do you think Queen Visenya was less than any knight because she's a woman?"

Criston drew a sharp breath; Daemon noticed that the bastard hand was steady on his sword handle.

Daemon glared at the insolent guard; how dare he try to draw a sword in front of the Royal Family; he drew his Dark Sister and pressed the tip into Criston's breastplate, "Listen carefully Dog. If I hear you once more forbid my Niece to do anything she wants to do, I'll cut your fucking tongue myself!"