𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕// Alicent Hightower

IV

Daena had always valued spending time with her family. She had a close relationship with both of her siblings and couldn't talk to anyone else as freely as she could with them. Perhaps it was because the three of them were simply cut from the same cloth, coming from the same origins, that they had such a strong bond.

Daena gazed dreamily into the fire of the candles, which flickered wildly before her eyes and the flames looked as if they were trying to perform a dance. She thought back to the conversation she had had with Rhaenyra and Alicent yesterday and how comfortable she had felt. Both girls had seemed so nice that she had begun to hope that this visit might not be as terrible as she had thought at the beginning.

"Ow, Daena, you're hurting me"

The whiny voice of her little sister Laena snapped her out of her thoughts again and she lowered her gaze to look down at the girl she had just accidentally hurt with the hairbrush in her hands. Laena's white curls had apparently become tangled in the brush and Daena did all she could to untangle them.

"Forgive me, Laena. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing. I'll be more careful now," she promised, not without a small apologetic smile that would hopefully appease her sister.

Her sister had come up to her earlier and asked her to brush her hair. Normally, this task was her mother's job, but she had been busy elsewhere and preparing for the upcoming tournament. After all, this tournament was also of great importance to her. If not to celebrate the king's heir, then at least to find Daena a suitable husband. Both her mother and her father would do well to arrange a few meetings. Gone were the beautiful thoughts of just now and the time in the godswood no longer mattered. Rather, she now thought that one of these arranged meetings would be the one that would seal her fate forever.

"Your mind is somewhere else again," Laena complained once more, now letting her previously knotted curls slide between her fingers. She wasn't angry about it, because a grin betrayed her. Laena was a sweet child, kind and loving and Daena had clearly taken a liking on her. Especially since the soul of a dragon rider also slumbered within her. She was always asking her questions when they found time for each other and Daena went to great lengths to answer all her questions. However, Laena was particularly fascinated by Vhagar, the giant dragon that no one had seen for ages. Daena had always laughed about it. A little girl who dreamed of the biggest dragon still alive. There couldn't have been a more glorious irony. That was what she loved so much about Laena, this honest, pure soul. The mere thought that she too would have to marry a lord in the not too distant future displeased her.

"Is that something new? Daena always has her head in the clouds."

Both girls turned their gaze to their brother. Laenor was also present, having cleared a space away from them to train with the wooden sword in his hands. He looked elegant, twirling this simple piece of wood around as if he were fighting a battle against imaginary enemies and winning effortlessly.

Daena gasped and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She wasn't going to let this go that easily. "I don't always have my head in the clouds. There's just a lot to think about right now." It wasn't even a lie, because there was a lot she had to think about, but when she saw the look on her brother Laenor's face, she knew she had lost.

"You're a dreamer, Daena. Just accept that I'm right."

Laughing softly, he shook his head at his sister's obviously stubborn nature and once again began to wave his sword in the air and move around on his quietly prancing feet.

Daena rested her head on the back of the couch where she had taken a seat with Laena to watch her brother play around for a while. His training in these rooms was clearly a thorn in her side, which was why she had the courage to point it out to him. After all, she was the eldest and therefore had a certain responsibility to bear.