The Art of Love & Hate

Chapter 34

Continuation of the last chapter. I hope you guys like it 🥰

Darya had been able to pretend to be asleep for most of the trip on the ship. She was surprised that they had chosen the longest way to travel since on a ship they would have to go all the way around Blackwater Bay, then go around Storms End and Dorne before reaching Old Town. Thinking about it some more it did not sound so stupid, no one would guess that they would be going by ship. Once they reached Old Town she could not pretend to be asleep any longer, but she pretended to be weak, barely able to lift up her head. The men had not even bothered to tie her up, which was stupid of them, but she could not run away. She knew if she tried she would not get far and there was the chance they would hurt her child while trying to capture her. Darya was a bit surprised when instead of taking her to Oldtown, they took her to the Citadel, where several maesters were waiting for her.

She had to admit it was an impressive place, this was the first time she had seen it. The building lay in the Honeywine, its towers and domes were connected with arching stone bridges. Houses and stalls sat on the bridges. The gates were flanked by a pair of tall green sphinxes with the bodies of lions, the wings of eagles, and the tails of serpents. One of the statues had the face of a man, and the other had the face of a woman. She was dragged to one of the tallest buildings and once she was inside she could not help but look around, it was like a giant library. She was taken to a room, that looked similar to a cell, but cleaner and with more space. There was a small cot pushed up against the wall farthest from the door, but what truly scared her were the sharp instruments that lay on a table. There were knives and other things she had never seen before. This was one of the rooms where the maesters did their experiments.

"Welcome, princess." The maester gave her a short bow, his smile anything but pleasant. "We are glad that you are willing to help us discover more about the Targaryens."

She still pretended to be weak and made sure not to move too quickly. "I do not know what you mean."

"We have always been interested in the bond you Targaryens have with your dragons, and how you are able to control those beasts." The man moved to the table and ran a finger over one of the blades. "By studying you and your child we will be able to find out the way that bond works."

"It will be a few moons before I give birth." Her hand moved to the side of her gown and she gripped the dagger hidden on the side of her leg. The men who had taken her had been very stupid to believe she was defenseless and weak, she would show them the error of their ways. "There is no way you can keep me here for so long without my parents and husband realizing where I am."

"We do not need to keep you here for long, at least not alive." Darya felt fear run down her spine, but made sure not to react. "Neither do we need your babe to be alive, we want to examine what is inside you both."

Darya's eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. "You want to cut me open before cutting open my child."

"Yes," His answer angered her, especially because she had not asked a question. The man's condescending smile grated on her nerves. "You should be proud, you and your child will serve to advance our knowledge of your family." As the man talked she took the dagger out of the sheath without him noticing and hid it under her leg. "Some of the other maesters are very excited about it. Can you imagine if we are able to discover what is so special about your bloodline that makes it possible for you to bond with dragons? You would no longer be the most powerful family in Westeros and we would be able to overthrow you."