The King had dismissed his Hand following the allegations against his daughter. Both Enora and Rhaenyra had spoken to the older man, advising him to rid the Keep of his conniving Hand. Rhaenyra had called the man a 'vulture perching on the Iron Throne.' With her stepdaughter by her side, Enora was finally able to speak of her father's ambitions.
She told her husband everything, how she had originally come to his chambers the first night in Alicent's stead. How much she had wanted to protect her sister. How Otto pushed for her to convince Viserys to name Aegon heir. How badly he wanted to supplant Rhaenyra with his own blood.
Anger and betrayal had rolled off of Viserys in waves as he waited for his Hand in the Small Council's meeting chambers. How could he have been so blind to Otto's plans for so long? Everything seemed to become clear, every comment Otto had made about Aegon and Rhaenyra. The man's advice had long been tainted by his own self-interests.
Somewhere hidden under the anger was a small pea-sized feeling of doubt. Viserys didn't wish too but he wondered if Enora truly loved him. He searched through every interaction in his mind, trying to find any moment where Enora's mask might have slipped. Where her true intentions showed.
But Viserys couldn't remember a time when Enora was anything but her kind-hearted, gentle and loving self. He felt terrible for even thinking that of his wife. She had cut through the darkness of his grief and depression, leading him through the haze and into the light. She had stood toe to toe with his daughter offering the girl nothing but love and care. Enora was a gift from the Seven themselves, sent to repair the fractures in House Targaryen.
"Your Grace." Otto greeted, launching Viserys out of his thoughts.
"Five days." Was all Viserys could bring himself to say.
"I'm sorry, Your Grace?"
"Though it was sometime ago. The details, they fade in memory. My father was a hale and healthy warrior and a dragonrider at the peak of his abilities. Jaehaerys named a great royal hunt to celebrate him being named the Hand of the King. Five days later my father lay dead. Tourneys last longer. Baelon the Brave, rider of Vhagar, heir to the Iron Throne dead of a burst belly. The gods have a dark wit."
"It was a grim day. I recall it all too well."
"It was a good day for you. Jaehaerys named you Hand in Baelon's stead."
"That's hardly how I viewed it, Your Grace." Otto tried to defend himself. "It was a duty."
"You served my grandsire nobly in his final days. You are the man that taught me how to be King."
"You honor me, Your Grace."
"Just five days..." Viserys sighed. "You went from being another man in Jahaerys's court, o the second most powerful man in the realm. I wonder how long did it take you to choose yourself over your King?"
"Your Grace?"
"I will never recover from Aemma's death. But Enora, she took me through the worst of my grief and in doing so gave me a son. And since Aegon's birth you have stopped at nothing to place him on the throne."
"That is an absurdity. I have only done what is best for the realm."
"Your interests no longer align with those of the realm. Your judgment has been compromised."
"A loyal hand must tell his King a discomforting truth form time to time, Your Grace. If he doesn't," Otto struggled for a moment as his mind raced for things to say. "He's failed as a servant."
"You were a faithful servant, Otto." Viserys stepped closer to the man and tore the pin of the Hand of the King from his coat. "The crown and the realm both owe you a debt that can never be repaid. But I can no longer trust your judgment."
★・・・・・・★
While Viserys and Rhaenyra had traveled to Driftmark to secure a match for the Princess, Enora had stayed behind with her sister to see their father off. The Queen felt as if she was fourteen again and was being sent away, never to see her father again. But this time instead of dread filling her, Enora almost felt relieved.
Rain fell as Enora and Alicent neared the gate from which their father was leaving.
" A moment." Alicent called to their father, begging him not to leave without saying goodbye.
Otto slowly turned around, gazing upon his two daughters. His face grim and his jaw clenched in anger.
"I do not wish to see you go." Alicent said, and it was the truth. The young girl adored and loved her father.
"Such is the King's decision." Otto dismissed his youngest daughter, turning to his eldest. "And how do you feel, Enora? Are you glad to see your father off?"
"The Keep shall miss you father. Your time as Hand was a dutiful one. The realm thanks you for your service as Hand." Enora couldn't help herself as she smiled at the anger clear on her father's face. She was no longer a young girl he could push around, she was Queen. "Perhaps if you had not been so relentless in advancing Aegon as heir, you would have been able to see your grandchildren grow."
Otto stepped close to his eldest daughter, grabbing tightly to her wrist and pulling her into me. "Listen to me, daughter." Otto snarled. 'The King will die. It may be months or years, but he'll not live to be an old man. And if Rhaenyra succeeds him, war will follow, do you understand? The realm will not accept her. And to secure her claim, she'll have to put your children to the sword. She'll have no choice."
"Not if House Targaryen stands united, father. No war will come that House Targaryen cannot squash together."
"You're a fool!" Otto shouted. "How can you not see it? You will let the realm fal into ruin over one girl who you share no blood."
"She is my daughter, my Princess. The Heir to the Iron Throne. I will not suffer insults to her name." Enora ripped her arm from her father's hold. "Leave before I have you thrown in the dungeons for treason."
Otto glared at Enora before sharply turning from his two daughters and mounting his horse. Not even sparing Alicent a glance as he rode away. Enora turned to her sister, gathering the weeping girl into her arms.
★・・・・・・★
Enora had rushed to the outer courtyard when word of the ship carrying the King and Princess returning had reached her. She eagerly awaited her husband and daughter's return. When the carriage had stopped before the doors to the Red Keep, Enora had practically bouncing in her shoes. Viserys could not exit fast enough for the Queen, so she went against protocol and approached.
The King and Queen reunited in front of the royal carriage, wrapping their arms tightly around each other. Enora relaxed at having her husband near her again, the journey to and from Driftmark had taken a total of five days. The longest Enora and Viserys had not been in each other's company.
As Enora looked up at Viserys, she saw his eyes roll back. His body went limp, crashing into hers. Enora squealed as she struggled to hold up her husband's dead weight. King's Guards rushed to help their Queen, gently laying the King onto the ground.
Enora knelt beside her husband, squeezing his hand in hers. Chaos went around her as Ser Harrold, the Lord Commander of the King's Guard shouted orders. Lord Lyonel, the new Hand of the King, came to Enora's side and pulled her away, allowing the guards room to place Viserys onto a stretcher and carry him to their rooms.
She watched as Viserys was stripped of his outer clothes and leeches were placed on his arm. And when the leeches had drunk their fill and were removed. The Maester's placed a bottle on a small table beside her and took their leave.
"Where are the children?" The King croaked, slowly opening his eyes.
"Helena, Ilaria and Aegon are with the nursemaids, Unwin is in the libraries, and I have no clue on Rhaenyra's whereabouts." Enora spoke. The Queen sat on her knees beside her husband's chair, hands wrapped around his own on his chest and her chin resting on the arm rest of the chair, looking up at her love. "You worried me, my dear."
"I am sorry, my love."
Enora looked at her husband's bad arm, the skin had long since turned gray and began cracking in places and swelling in others. "You pushed yourself too hard. I warned you that the journey to Driftmark would be too much. You could've written or sent for them."
"I know, I know. I should have listened to you." Viserys lifted the hand holding his wife's hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.