Winter Rose.

lxxxv.

"My mother?" Rhae asked. "Yes, Rhaella had her secrets. She crowned Viserys the next King on this island, and had my sister Daenerys."

The maid shuffled. "Not those secrets..." It was all too cryptic for Rhaenar who sat higher in the throne, irritated slightly as the woman seemed to skirt around what she was trying to say. "I wasn't employed by Rhaella, but rather by another to deliver something to this island..."

She was unsure where this conversation was going. "What were you to deliver?"

"Please don't get angry at me, Your Grace for what I'm about to say. I've followed what Rhaella asked of me specifically, and Lord Stark." Lord Stark? What did he have to do with this? Her brow quirked, urging her to continue to speak. "I delivered a baby."

Her throat grew tight, her back straightening. "A baby?"

"Yes, a Targaryen baby just before Rhaella was to give birth." There were two ways this conversation could go; either the woman tells her that Daenerys wasn't a true Targaryen, or she had brought Rhaenar to Dragonstone. "She was a beautiful little thing; small but mighty with the largest indigo eyes I had ever seen."

Rhaenar felt sick. "You helped me escape from King's Landing? I thank you." She clawed from her throat, desperately urging her words to turn even.

"No. Not King's Landing." If not King's Landing then where? "I sailed from Dorne, I was a midwife there."

"You're telling me my mother was Dornish?" How did a Dornish woman get to the capital? And back out again while Robert's Rebellion was raging?

Again, the woman shook her head, pulling back grey strands. "No. Rather the opposite."

"The opposite?" It didn't make sense. How could she be the opposite of Dornish? If she was born in Dorne then her last name should have been Sand and there was no opposite to Sand, was there? Her mind scrambled, too many things filling it as she shook it free, returning her attention back to the maid.

"Your mother was a high born Northerner... I..." She seemed to struggle for a moment as grey eyes searched the floor before looking up. "I swore not to say anything, but I think you're at an age where you can handle the truth." The truth? "Every year, I have prayed for your safety and return; I was to look after you, but Willem Darry took you from here for your safety when Stannis Baratheon stormed the free hold." Rhae sat scared of what she was to say next, of if this woman was telling her the truth or not.

"It is only with determination that I've managed to keep this concealed for so many years; especially as Rhaella burned the only other copy." From her pocket she plucked a tattered scroll, the edge so torn and wrinkled that Rhaenar was hesitant to take it from her. "I only knew your mother in the last few months of her life, but your face is a mixture of your parents."

Rhae stood only growing more confused as she finally gathered the courage to take it; seeing a grey seal with a wolf stamped into the once hot wax. "You don't have to open it until you're ready; learning that you're not who you always thought you were will be a big step to take." She offered as she stepped back away from Rhaenar.

The pit only grew bigger in her stomach, almost swallowing her whole. "I don't think I'm ready to open this yet."

"When you are, you and I will talk. I'll tell you everything you need to know." The woman promised before taking another step away. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess." Rhae could only offer a weak, watery smile before letting the maid disappear, her eyes dropping to the scroll.