Game of Survival

Chapter 10

When she was a little girl, Alicent would have dreams that always came true. In retrospect, they were things that could really be guessed by a combination of instinct or reasoning. She would dream about her name day presents and the next day, they would appear. Little necklaces of gold and emerald that sparkled in the light of the sun, ribbons in every color of the rainbow to thread through her auburn tresses, and gowns of the finest silk in shades of pink and blue. For what else was there to give a little girl like her for her name day. She saw her older brother win a tourney in Oldtown and name her the Queen of Love and Beauty. A month later, her brow was decorated with a crown of red roses and Arthur was taking a lap of victory around the arena. An easy feat for her brother who was one of the most skilled knights in the Reach.

When Alicent was ten, curled up in her chambers after being ordered from her mother’s bedside where she had watched helplessly as Alayna Hightower shivered from child-bed fever, she had a vision. There was her mother, cheeks pale as milk and containing none of the flush of joy that was ever present in her face. Her eyes, pools of honey that Alicent had inherited, were glassy and devoid of the sparkle of life. They stared absently at the man standing beside her, never seeing, apathetic to the pleas for her to return, to not leave him and their children alone in this world. Alicent had raced to her parents’ chambers, uncaring of her state of undress. She had prayed to the Mother that what she saw was only a nightmare. That she would stand above her mother and see her chest rise and fall as she drew breath. That when she entered the room her mother would be awake and grace her with the smile that had always made Alicent’s heart soar. But Alicent had not even made it to the door when her father stormed out of the room and the little girl knew that her mother was gone. At the funeral, as she stood surrounded by her brothers and watching her father’s face remain stoic even as his body trembled, Alicent could not bring herself to look upon the box that held her mother’s body nor could she stare at the smaller one beside her, that held the small child who would never see the world. She did not see the dark wood decorated with lilies, her mother’s favorite flowers. Alicent only saw her mother as she had been in her dreams. 

She had never told another soul about her visions. Alicent knew what people would say. They would explain it away as the manifestation of a child’s grief, the culmination of her fear and uncertainty that just happened to occur at the same time as the tragic event. Alicent did not have the time or the energy to examine why she had been able to see her mother’s death. She was much too consumed with the pain of losing the most important person to her, with learning how to cope with only half of her heart now that a piece had been buried with her mother and brother.

But now, as she sat staring at her sweet babe who had just told her that she was having visions of the future, Alicent wished that she had asked. 

“Many in my line have been dragonriders. Very few among us have been dreamers. What is the power of a dragon... next to the power of prophecy?” 

Viserys’ words echoed in her head and Alicent was transported to the moment when he had spoken them to her. It was the night of the hunt for Aegon’s second name-day and she had braved the heat of the blaze  to comfort her despondent husband. He was well in his cups, staring into the fire as though the leaping tongues would call out to him and provide him with the answers to all of his problems. That was supposed to be Alicent’s duty. As his wife and queen, she was to listen to Viserys’ woes and give him counsel. But, much to her shame, Alicent found herself hoping that the flames would be enough and she would not have to give him empty reassurances that he would not heed.

She was tired.

Her ankles were swollen, her back ached and the babe in her belly was restless. Aegon had fallen asleep not too long ago and she had been hoping to follow her son into the land of dreams. Instead she stood in front of an inferno, fighting back the tears in her eyes both from the smoke and her husband’s words.