"Send a messenger, tell them we will not set fire to their home if they hand us prince Daemon. Tell them they will all walk away unscathed if the prince surrenders willingly," King Aemond ordered to his soldiers.
The Green men had settled their campsites around the surrounding fields neighbouring the castle of Winterfell. They overlooked it and waited for their King to give the order, ready for battle. Steadying themselves, Aemond and Rhea held the other's hand tight as their messenger entered the northern keep, nodding to each other in support.
"This is it, then," Rhea finally said softly. She had a strong posture, her breath was slow and she looked more than ready.
"Now we wait," Aemond answered. He didn't let go of her hand until, mere minutes after, they saw movement outside the gates of Winterfell.
It was Daemon himself.
Everyone leaned forward with baited breath, if he surrendered, the war would be over and the Greens would offer Rhaenyra a deal, much like the one she and Rhea would have struck had Daemon not butchered Aegon's children, Marian and Helaena.
Daemon swaggered about and stopped when he reached the middle of the field. He dropped the messenger's head on the ground and snickered.
"If you think for one second I'm going to let you have it this easy," he spoke loudly so Aemond and Rhea could hear him. "You're dead wrong."
Rhea, without a thought, sped forward and charged him, ready to end it then and there. Daemon seemed surprised for a second but wielded his own sword fiercely and looked her in the eyes.
"Rhea," Aemond shouted. "Do not."
The woman turned towards her King and grunted in frustration. She had only been able to take a few steps, Daemon was still far from her and she wished she could have gotten to him faster. He would be dead already.
"Ha," Daemon laughed. "You've taught your bitch well, I see." He taunted them and laughed again when he looked at Rhea's furious expression. "My apologies, nephew, I don't seem to be able to see your brother, where is he?"
Aemond's arm slid around his wife's waist, holding her tight as he knew she would try and run towards his uncle again. Swallowing his hatred, the King simply smiled threateningly.
"Aegon died in battle, an honour you will not be granted," he stated calmly. "I am King of the Seven Kingdoms now, and Rhea is-"
Daemon sneered.
"Rhea is nothing but the wife of a usurper and she will be treated as such," he cut off his nephew.
"She is your Queen. You might remember that next time you chose to insult her, Uncle," Aemond spoke plainly, concealing his own anger and closing his hand on his wife's forearm, preventing her from moving carelessly again. He shook his head lightly, just so she could see and whispered in her ear to keep her composure, he was only taunting them to piss them off and make them forget their battle plan.
"My Queen is inside, nephew. All I see next to you is some cunt who thinks themselves so righteous-"
"A cunt you once loved as your own, Daemon," Rhaenyra's voice sounded loud behind him and there was a bustle among the Greens.
It seemed things had not been so perfect between the two of them for the past two years, understandably, given Daemon's actions had led to all of this. The Black Queen walked in an almost serene fashion, her gaze fixed on the greens.
"What you see, Daemon, is the cunt that's going to free your head from your shoulders and feed it to your dragon," Rhea threatened, her head high and her gaze deadly. "Rhaenyra, while I understand your motives, I'm afraid I cannot forgive the clemency you showed him."
Both Green and Black Kings and Queens glared at each other while their men stood by, weapons drawn. Aemond finally took the first step, closely followed by Ser Rayford. He gestured for Rhea to stay back and she did, dreading another rash decision from Daemon.
"My mother and brother, might I see them?" He ordered more than he asked Rhaenyra, deciding to fully ignore Daemon who now stood beside his wife.
"If you leave your soldiers behind, yes," Rhaenyra answered using the same tone he had.
Aemond snickered.
"So you can kill me the second I enter, no, I'll pass." He refused, then after a short break he continued. "The dragons, who ordered their execution?"
Rhea jumped slightly as she heard the word they had used as code for "attack". She turned to her men and nodded discreetly, they all knew what would follow and stood perfectly still, as if nothing had happened.
Their Queen made her way through their ranks and rejoined the nearby forest without a sound, she was to go all the way around the castle and enter it when the Blacks were all focused elsewhere. Now was the perfect time. She gave Aemond one last quick glance and did exactly as it was planned.
Once she had successfully entered the Stark home, she stealthily distracted the guards and entered the dungeons were Alicent and Daeron were prisoners.
"R-Rhea? What are you doing here?" Daeron asked quietly. He got up from the floor and lifted his chained-arms to the bars of his cell, watching as his sister-by-law let out his mother and then himself.
"We haven't got much time," she whispered. "My Queen, follow me. Daeron, I'm sorry to ask you this but-"
"Ask me anything, I want to make myself useful," the young prince cut her off and she embraced him sadly, planting a loving kiss on his forehead.
"You will, Dae," she smiled at him. "Your brother needs you to rejoin the dragons and their keepers in the nearby forest. You will fly Vhagar and burn down this castle as soon as your mother and I are out, understood?"
The young prince nodded and dashed away, turning back to glance at his mother and Rhea, who, in a moment of clarity, threw her dagger at him.
"Use it, Dae, if you need to," she pleaded him and her heart felt heavy as he ran off again. "Now, come, my Queen, it is time for us to join the King."
Rhea purposefully didn't tell Alicent her first son had died, she would do it, of course, once they had reached safety, but for now, she had to believe Aegon was still among them. Both women furtively escaped the castle the same way Rhea had infiltrated it and they ran through the woods. Rhea lifted her head and watched as Vhagar took off. She and Alicent stopped running, astonished at the magnificence of the dragon breathing fire below her. The beast was gigantic and was used to war, she was truly mighty.
"Rhea, child," Alicent urged her as she pulled her hand and began running again. "What of me?"
Rhea looked at her husband's mother and looked down, she had never trained, she would be killed in seconds if she were to fight.
"Go to our campsite, there are men there who will keep you safe until our return," Rhea ordered. "Go."
The Queen Mother nodded and was about to leave when she turned around to look at the stand-off happening below them, as the hill they were on was slightly uphill from the castle.
"Where's Aegon?" She asked, worried. "I see Aemond, but I don't see him-"
Rhea shoved her a bit too strongly in order to get her moving and apologized, avoiding her gaze. She couldn't bring herself to tell her, not there, not at that moment when too many things were on the line.
"Rhea? Where is my son?"
"He-"
They both turned around and ducked, startled, as Vhagar breathed fire again, this time touching the castle and causing a few stones to fall to the ground, a tower collapsing. They ran again and this time, they were safely in the woods. Rhea closed her eyes and let out a sad sigh, when she opened them again, they were brimming with tears and her voice broke as she spoke.
"Aegon is dead, my Queen," she revealed, her heart breaking as the woman before her fell to her knees, her hand on her stomach as a heavy flow of tears left her eyes. "I'm sorry."
The woman lifted her green eyes towards her son's wife and bowed her head in reverence.
"That means you are Queen, now," she affirmed.
Rhea shook her head, she hated how she had to rush a grieving mother and keep her from letting that grief express itself, but they had no time. She began walking fast and Alicent followed her closely.
"You are, Rhea," she insisted.
Rhea scoffed.
"Yes, well I won't be Queen for very long if I can't go back there and fight for Aemond," she concluded sharply. "Come, hurry, we've no time. Aegon's death and our grieving slowed our advancement by a month and a half, we should have already been here a while ago."
They soon reached the clearing where they had settled and Rhea bid goodbye to the Queen Mother, and, as she walked away, she heard the woman wail for the death of her firstborn son, imploring the Seven to keep her other two safe. Rhea's heart broke for the woman and she felt her stomach turn, leaning against a tree stump, she bent somewhat and she felt a sharp pain in her lower belly, around the exact spot she had been stabbed all those years ago. She writhed as she tried to get rid of the pain and she breathed with difficulty, placing a hand where she hurt. She knew very well her stitches, now turned into scars, could not reopen. She knew exactly why she felt that pain and she hated herself for it, for the selfishness of her actions.
This could not be happening, not now, she thought.
She had to reach Sapphire, she had to join Daeron and Vhagar and lead the other dragons as they carried out their attack on Winterfell, it was decisive.
When the pain softened, she raced to the beasts and leapt on Sapphire's saddle, taking off.