The Dragons and Their Sun (aemond/oc)

rhaenys III

Aurora sat in front of her, excitedly telling her all about how she had managed to find out she had Targaryen family, and Rhaenys watched her hands as the young girl used them to talk. Aurora was wearing her gloves again, but Rhaenys knew what was under them.

She would admit she was even more confused after seeing the girl in person. Surviving dragon fire. Having fire run through her veins. Her eyes. None of it made sense. She would have to speak to Corlys when he arrived in a day or two. Her only guess right now was that the Gods had intervened somehow. But, even that sounded absurd to her.

Her confusion was slowly taken over by anger once she had looked past the obvious signs of fire in the little girl. Aurora was tiny. Too tiny. Rhaenys still remembers just how cold her body had gotten when Aurora told her why.

"You're awfully small for two and ten, you know? My grandchildren are bigger than you, and they're younger!" Rhaenys had exclaimed after Aurora showed off one of her 'good dresses' or so she called them. In Rhaenys' opinion, they were just nicer rags.

"My father says bringing more than one meal a day would raise too many suspicions," Aurora had told her. Rhaenys had almost called Meleys right then and there to burn this place to the ground, but Aurora had launched into describing her dream dress. Rhaenys had to force herself to calm down as she let the girl's voice pass through her.

Not only was she tiny, her clothes were nothing but shifts and plain brown long sleeved dresses. Other than the color being brown, you wouldn't recognize the girl was even a Lady of a noble house.

Aurora's hair reached the back of her knees. Rhaenys had winced whenever Aurora accidentally sat on it. Her hair was so dark it rivaled the night sky. It was curly, and the curls looked like a matted mess from a distance. They didn't look much better up close, but Aurora had already told her how difficult it was to brush.

There were so many more alarming things about this girl than her skin or her eyes. Rhaenys officially hated the man her Nicolas had become. How could he, knowingly, let his child live like this? The poor girl had never even touched grass. Rhaenys tried to imagine herself in Aurora's position. She was sure she would go mad.

"-pies. I even sent one to Rhaenyra so she would know I wasn't lying!" Aurora shot up from her place beside Rhaenys on the bed and knelt beside her pillow. She pulled out a worn out piece of parchment, handing it to Rhaenys.

It was obvious to see what it was, despite the messy writing and the multiple crossing out of things. A family tree. Their family tree. Rhaenys scanned it quickly; she already knew the information, but she wanted to make sure Aurora knew she was appreciating her work.

"You did this by yourself?" Rhaenys asked despite knowing the answer.

Aurora nodded, "I did. You can have one if you want. So you always know I'm here."

Did Aurora really think she was staying here? Rhaenys had already gone through twenty different plans to get the girl out. Surely, she couldn't think Rhaenys would just leave her there?

"I won't need this. I'll know exactly where you are," Rhaenys told her with a gentle smile. She wanted to tell Aurora what her plan was, but, on the off chance that it fell through, she didn't want to get the girl's hopes up.

Aurora shrugged, "Okay!"

She sighed and looked out the window. The sun was rising. Meleys was already becoming bigger on the horizon. Aurora watched the dragon get closer with a blank look on her face. Rhaenys shook her shoulder slightly, "Aurora?"

Said girl shook her head quickly, rubbing the skin where her heart was with a troubled look on her face. Before Rhaenys could question it, Aurora's typical grin was back in place. She threw herself at Rhaenys with a beam on her face that rivaled the brightness of her eyes. Rhaenys laughed slightly at the girl's actions. Aurora's joy was contagious sometimes. Rhaenys wasn't going to let go of the look she had seen on the girl's face, though. She just wanted to make sure Aurora didn't go to sleep feeling anything but happy.

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She wrote her letter that night. She sent it in the morning before she did anything else, making sure she was the only one to touch the letter.

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Aurora didn't greet her at the window that night. Aurora absolutely adored Meleys, saying something in her heart told her to. So the girl would always be at the window to greet Meleys. She wasn't tonight. Rhaenys told herself not to panic as she quickly dismounted. She could feel Meleys' panic as if it were her own. The word 'mother' ran through her mind before she quickly dismissed it. It was just Rhaenys' own maternal instincts colliding with the dragon's.

She slipped through the window, and her eyes immediately landed on her Aurora, slumped in a chair at her table. Her head was down. Rhaenys felt some relief at the fact that the girl was just asleep. She also felt slightly guilty for keeping the girl awake night after night for almost a week now. She stepped gently across the floor, praying that it wouldn't creak and wake the tired girl.

Alarm quickly took over the growing fondness as Rhaenys got close enough to see the blood dripped onto her young cousin's gloves. Rhaenys gently pulled the girl's back, horrified as she saw Aurora's eyes flickering violently back and forth beneath her eyelids.

"Aurora." Rhaenys tapped at her cheeks. She didn't wake.

"Aurora!" Rhaenys shook the girl. No change. Rhaenys gave her a hard shake, grimacing as she did so.

Rhaenys was practically shaking with relief as the girl shot forward with a deep inhale, as if she couldn't breathe. Her eyes were shooting all over the room. She looked terrified. It didn't seem like she even registered Rhaenys' presence as she tumbled out of her chair to grab something. Parchment?

Rhaenys watched as she frantically wrote, muttering things under her breath. Room? Cage? What else can you heal? Call on her?

She was only getting slightly frustrated at the lack of answers, but she didn't want to startle the girl out of her trance. So, she waited. She calmly sat down beside the girl and waited for her to snap out of it.

It was several minutes before Aurora came to. Her breathing was back to normal, and her eyes were her own again. She looked much calmer. She slowly looked at Rhaenys, jumping slightly, "Oh! When did you get here?"

"I've been here," Rhaenys told her, her own heartbeat finally starting to calm down.

"Oh."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Aurora."

She watched as Aurora grimaced and went to grab more parchment. They were all filled. It was going to be a long night.