"How much longer do you think Rhaenyra will be?" Camilla whined from her position sprawled out across one of the benches in the wheelhouse, her book lay abandoned on her chest.
"Who knows," Alicent turned to the Queen's ward with a mischievous smile. "Why do you have plans? Perhaps you mean to seek a particular someone out who has just returned?"
"Oh hush, Alicent," Camilla rolled her eyes. "I just enjoy his company."
Camilla couldn't help but smile upon thinking of her male friend. Growing up she had followed him around like a lost puppy begging for scraps. Alicent and Rhaenyra had teased her, but Camilla couldn't help it. There was just something about him, in his presence she felt seen, like she was someone's first choice. Camilla had never felt that. Her mother had hated her since her birth, shipping her off to King's Landing and forgetting about her. Even with her two closest friends, she knew they would choose each other over her.
"You are so taken with him!" Alicent laughed, ripping Camilla from her thoughts. The Hightower girl opened her mouth to continue teasing the younger girl when the heavy sound of wings filled the air.
"Looks like the Princess has returned ." Camilla stood up, happy to avoid another round of teasing, and exited the carriage just as the Princess's dragon, Syrax, landed.
"Cousin! You came back!" Camilla ran to her cousin, throwing her arms around Rhaenyra. "Thank the gods, if I had to spend another moment with Alicent alone I fear I may have wandered into the dragon pit and rang the dinner bell on myself."
Rhaenyra laughed at her dear cousin's dramatics, patting the older girl's back with one hand as she maneuvered herself to the carriage with her cousin still hanging off of her.
"It's alright I know you don't mean that," Alicent called from her position on the steps of the wheelhouse. Turning her attention to the Princess, the auburn haired girl spoke. "Syrax is growing quickly. She'll soon be as large as Caraxes."
Camilla stepped back watching as her two friends interacted. Having spent so much time with the two, Camilla considered herself an expert at reading between the lines and dissecting secret meanings from what wasn't said.
"That is almost large enough to saddle two." Rhaenyra smiled up at Alicent, her lilac eyes soft and warm as she looked upon her friend.
"I believe I'm quite content as a spectator, thank you." Alicent returned Rhaenyra's smile with a grin of her own, stepping back into the carriage as thePrincess watched, her mouth slightly open.
"Come on cousin, didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your mouth closed." Camilla spoke, patting Rhaenyra's cheek. As she passed her cousin, the white haired girl whispered. "I swear you two are the most obvious people I know, it's a miracle no one has caught on."
★・・・・・・★
The three girls walked through the busy halls of the red keep arm in arm. Servants and Lords stepped out of the way making room for the Princess and her companions.
"You smell of dragon." Alicent whispered, her nose scrunching up at the smell of sulfur wafting off of Rhaenyra.
"Is that a compliment?" Rhaenyra smirked at Alicent, throwing a wink towards the Hand's daughter.
Camilla laughed at her cousin's flirting. "More like an insult, cousin."
Rhaenyra turned to Camilla, sticking her tongue out at the ward. Sensing that the two were going to begin bickering, Alicent spoke up. "It was merely a suggestion that you take a bath."
"I don't have time for a bath, I'm already late to see my mother."
"Then you'd best change out of your riding clothes."
"You know how your mother hates for you to go flying." Camilla added.
"I suppose you are right." Rhaenyra glanced between Alicent and Camilla, before a smile spread across her lips and she turned back to Alicent. "Come with me? She's sure to be cross. I could use a sworn protector."
Alicent rolled her eyes, trying to fake annoyance but a giggle spilled from her lips. "I'm not sure I possess the training."
"But you do possess a disarming kindness. It can be quite potent."
"Then I am at your service, Princess." Alicent smiled, a tinge of red staining her cheeks.
"Will you two hurry up," Camilla rolled her eyes, tugging Rhaenyra's arm so they would get to their destination sooner. "You are already late."
Rhaenyra laughed at her cousin's eagerness to visit her mother, though she quickened her steps. "Why do you wish to see my mother so badly?"
"She doesn't care to see the Queen, only that she might see her admirer sooner." Alicent spoke up.
"I do not." Camilla tried to defend herself against her companion's knowing looks. "I merely worry for my aunt."
"Of course." Rhaenyra agreed as they came to the doors to her chambers.
The two girls quickly helped Rhaenyra ready herself to visit her mother. While Alicent laced up a simple gold dress and Rhaenyra brushed out any knots and tangles from soaring through the sky on dragon back, Camilla picked a small vial off of Rhaenyra's dressing table. The small bottle held the Princess's favorite perfume. Camilla took care to gently dab the oil on Rhaenyra's wrists and elbows and on the sides of her neck. The smell of lemon floated off of Rhaenyra, disguising the scent of dragon.
Satisfied that the Princess was presentable enough the three girls left Rhaenyra's apartments and quickly made their way to the Queen's chambers. The King's Guard stationed at the entrance quickly opened the door allowing the three young women in. Maesters and servants bustled around the room, caring for the pregnant Queen.
"Ahh Rhaenyra," Aemma called in greeting, as her daughter, niece and their companion entered the room. ."You know I don't like you to go flying while I'm in this condition."
"You don't like me to go flying in any condition." The teen sassed back.
"Your Grace." Alicent Hightower greeted from the door. She dared not come any closer, unlike Camilla who made her way to her aunt and pressed a kiss to the older woman's cheek.
"Good morrow, Alicent." Aemma addressed her daughter's friend before turning to her niece. "How do you fare, Camilla? Have you seen him yet?"
Camilla groaned at her aunt's teasing, taking the flat hand fan from her hand and fanning the older woman. "I am fine, do not worry for me. How are you?"
"Did you sleep?" Rhaenyra asked, she had followed her cousin further into the room and sat down on a nearby stool.
"I slept."
"How long?"
"I don't need mothering, Rhaenyra."
"Well here you are surrounded by attendants all focused on the babe. Someone has to attend to you."
Aemma lightly kicked Rhaenyra's knee. "You will lay in this bed soon enough, Rhaenyra. This discomfort is how we serve the realm."
"I'd rather serve as a knight and ride to battle and glory."
Aemma laughed at her daughter's words. She grabbed Camilla's unoccupied hand, offering a reassuring squeeze. "We have royal wombs, the childbed is our battlefield. We must learn to face it with a stiff lip. Now take a bath. You stink of dragon."
★・・・・・・★
After visiting the Queen, the Tully girl set out looking for her favorite person within the walls of the Red Keep. Maybe even in all of Westeros. Her family didn't care for her, all she had was her aunt, uncle, Rhaenyra and Alicent. And they all had other people, people who came before her.
Eventually, Camilla found her favorite person in the great hall upon the Iron throne. He did not even stir when the doors opened. He remained stoic and still, as if he was a statue, a permanent fixture in the Red Keep.
Closing the door behind her, Camilla turned to walk towards the man upon the Iron Throne. "What are you doing, sunshine?"
"Sitting, my little shadow." Camilla's sunshine replied in the language of their ancestors.
That was how the two normally communicated, he was a paranoid man at his core, not wanting others to overhear his conversations with the young girl. Lest his brother find out and decide to send him away.
"Why?" The Tully girl now stood just before the Iron throne, on the steps leading up to it. She feared stepping any closer due to the swords jutting upwards from the ground.
"This could very well be my chair one day, I may as well get comfortable." Prince Daemon spoke, holding a hand out for the young lady in front of him. The King's seat was a dangerous one, made of the broken and bent blades from Aegon's conquest and any other battle the Targaryens had won. To other's it was an imposing creation, demanding respect and awe, but it unsettled Camilla, causing a tightening sensation to build in her chest.
"Not if the King finds out," Camilla replied, though all reason seemed to fly away at the Prince's outstretched hand. The young girl stepped forward without a thought for the fear that had just ran through her.
When she was within reach Daemon leaned forward and grabbed her by her hips, pulling her forward until she stood between his knees, pressed against him. Prince Daemon leaned forward and buried his face against Camilla's chest, breathing in her sweet scent. He had missed her smell, her voice and the feel of her supple flesh in his calloused hands.
Camilla lifted her hands, one arm wrapped around his shoulders, holding him close while her other hand met the top of his head. She ran her fingers through the Prince's soft, long, white hair until she reached the corner of his jaw, and then lightly traced her fingers across his skin, feeling the heat radiating off of him. Stopping to grasp his chin between her thumb and forefinger, tilting Daemon's face upwards so she could see into his lavender eyes. "I have missed you. You have not been at court for quite some time."
"Court is so dreadfully boring." He groaned, rolling his eyes though a smile pulled at the corner of his lips.
Knowing what he was after, Camilla suppressed a grin and dropped her hand from his face. "Then why come back at all?"
Camilla attempted to take a step back, but Daemon's grip on her waist only tightened until Camilla could feel his fingernails through the fabric of her dark blue dress. "I heard the King was hosting a tournament, so I had to come back to make my shadow the Queen of Love and Beauty."
"How sweet." Camilla softly smiled at the older man in front of her. Her heart warmed at his spoken words and the unspoken thoughts she could read plain as day in the way he looked at her.
Daemon took Camilla's hand in his own, "I brought you something."
The Prince smiled proudly as he held out a bracelet. The piece of jewelry was made of some type of silver, rubies hung off the thick chain and at the bottom was a dragon pendant with rubies for eyes and curved into a crescent shape. It matched perfectly with the other pieces of jewelry Daemon had gifted her over the years, especially the ruby ring she wore on her right index finger.
"For my shadow," Daemon spoke, turning Camilla's wrist so he could clasp the bracelet shut and place a kiss to the vein that ran along the inside of her wrist.
Camilla brought her wrist to her face, so she could examine the piece of jewelry better. "Is it-"
"Valyrian steel, yes."
A smile spread across her face, her hands cupped the older man's face, tilting his head back once more so she could see into his eyes. Camilla craned her neck down, bending one of her knees and placing it on the edge of the throne. Her nose brushed against Daemon's, their lips a breath apart. Air passed from between Camilla's lips and entered Daemon's lungs.
"Thank you." Camilla whispered before her lips finally met his.
Daemon's grip on her hips tightened further, as he tried to pull her closer. Nothing would ever be enough for Daemon until he could crack open her ribs and bury himself beside her heart. He wanted to make a home for himself inside her chest and never leave. There he would find happiness, within the walls of her flesh. There he would stay.
★・・・・・・★
Later that afternoon, the three young ladies of the King's court relaxed under the weirwood tree in the godswood of the Red Keep. Alicent Hightower sat at the base of the tree with a book in one hand. The Princess laid with her head resting on Lady Alicent's lap. Camilla Tully sat not too far away. She was meant to be sketching her two friends, as was commonplace when the three spent time together. But yet her mind ran wild, her lips still burned from the heat of Daemon's kiss and her body thrummed with excitement over his promise to visit her that night.
"What about you, Camilla?" Alicent's voice ripped Camilla from her thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Did you read it?"
"Yes?" Camilla voice lilted at the end of her sentence, making it sound more like a question than a statement.
Alicent rolled her eyes at her close friend and opened the book she held to a different page. "When Princess Nymeria arrived in Dorne who did she take to husband, Camilla?"
Camilla looked down at the piece of parchment in her lap, where a drawing of her friends was meant to be a pair of familiar eyes gazed back at her. "A man."
"What was his name?"
Camilla merely looked to her cousin for help.
"Lord Something," Rhaenyra answered, taking Alicent's attention off of Camilla for a moment so the young girl could go back to her sketch.
"If you answer with Lord something Septa Marlow will be furious." Alicent chastised.
"She's funny when she's furious. She gets that wrinkle between her brows."
Alicent gazed at her Princess concerned. "You're always like this when you're worried."
"Like what?"
"Disagreeable."
"She means annoying, dear cousin." Camilla called out without even looking up from her page, locked in a staring match with the eyes she had drawn.
"No I do not, Camilla!" Alicent sputtered out. "I just mean that you're worried your father is about to overshadow you with a son."
"Wow, that's a helpful thing to say," Camilla chuckled.
"Hush Camilla!" Alicent glared causing Camilla to lift her hands in surrender.
"I only worry for my mother," Rhaenyra spoke bringing the attention back to her. "I hope for my father that he gets a son. As long as I can recall it's all he's wanted."
"You want him to have a son?" Alicent asked.
"I want to fly with you on dragonback, see the great wonders across the Narrow Sea and eat only cake." Camilla almost felt as if she was intruding on a private moment between her two friends.
"I'm being serious, Rhaenyra."
"I never jest about cake."
"You aren't worried about your position?"
"I like this position. It's quite comfortable." Rhaenyra smiled up at Alicent.
Alicent huffed in annoyance, slamming the book closed and jumping to her feet to walk off.
"Where are you going?" Rhaenyra called, though she still laid on the blanket.
"Home." Alicent turned to Rhaenyra watching as she finally sat up. "The hour has grown late."
"Princess Nymeria led her Rhoynar across the Narrow Sea on ten thousand ships to flee their Valyrian pursuers." Alicent flipped the book open, searching through the pages for the section on Princess Nymeria, as Rhaenyra came to a stop in front of her. "She took Lord Mors Martell of Dorne to husband."
Camilla followed her cousin's lead and stood up, stopping on the other side of Alicent. "She also burned her own fleet off Sunspear to show her people they were finished running."
Finished proving she and Camilla were already knowledgeable on the topic, Rhaenyra ripped the page on the subject from the book.
"What are you doing?" Alicent gasped.
So you remember." Rhaenyra dropped the torn out page onto the open book in Alicent's hands.
"If the Septa sees this book, then-"
"Fuck the Septa." Rhaenyra interrupted Alicent's worries, causing her friends to laugh as the three girls headed inside.
★・・・・・・★
The sun had fallen and Camilla had taken her end of day meal alone in her room. Though both Rhaenyra and Alicent had invited her to join them, Camilla had declined, stating she was merely tired. A bath had been prepared for her after she finished her meal and Camilla had dismissed her handmaids, telling them to enjoy their evening.
Dried rose petals floated at the top of the water, steam raised from the tub smelling strongly of vanilla. Silver locks were piled on top of Camilla's head, not wishing to get her hair wet. Her eyes fluttered shut as the heat seeped into her bones and caused any tension and stress to melt from her body.
A slight click was heard as a panel of her wall was pushed open, Camilla didn't even glance over to see as Daemon entered her room. She couldn't remember the first time he had used the Red Keep's hidden passages to sneak into her chambers late at night, only that it had been a common occurrence when Daemon was in King's Landing.
"Are you going to leave the bath or should I join you?" The smirk was clear in Daemon's voice. Camilla didn't even have to open her eyes to see it, she could clearly picture it in her mind.
"Join me." Camilla's eyes opened, as she pressed against the edge of the bath, smiling at Daemon.
Not needing any further prompting, Daemon quickly shed his clothes. Dropping them to the floor with no care. Camilla's eyes trailed after him as he moved closer to the tub, and lowered himself into the hot water. A hiss slipped past his lips at the heat of the water.
"Are you trying to boil?" Daemon teased, as he grabbed Camilla's arm and pulled her into him.
Camilla laid against the Prince's chest as his arms wrapped tightly around her. Her own hands rested over his forearms, just below her breasts. Her fingers trailed over the taut muscles of his forearms admiring his strength.
All was silent, as the two enjoyed just being in the other's presence. Before Daemon's rough fingers passed between her breasts and up her neck, tilting her jaw to the side so he could gaze into her eyes.
"My sweet shadow," Daemon whispered as his lips captured hers.
Without breaking the kiss, Camilla turned around so she was facing Daemon and crawled onto his lap. Water spilled over the edge of the tub as the two began a familiar dance of pleasure. Their teeth gnashed and moans spilled from Camilla's lips, as Daemon marked her skin and her womb.
AN: This is the closest I've ever come to writing smut, like I almost went into detail.
-ELE