Into the Dragon's Den

Way Down We Go

"What happened?" Daemon demanded when he strode into her room mere hours later, completely unannounced. She sighed and dunked her head under the water, attempting to burn away the chill that had seeped into her once again.

Why was she interrupted every single time she tried to take a bath? Could she not have one moment of peace? Her eyes burned from crying and she wanted nothing more than to sink beneath the surface of the bath water and never come up for air. Instead, she resurfaced and pushed the wet hair out of her face.

"Can't I bathe in fucking peace, just once? If you need to see me naked, you can just ask, Daemon," she sneered at him. He snorted and grimaced at her distasteful jest. "Bad jape, sorry." she finally murmured, rubbing her tired eyes. How did he manage to return so quickly? Doesn't he have a castle to hold? She was tired of looking at the accusation in his eyes; she merely wanted to be left alone.

"Lean back," he ordered, placing a wooden stool behind the tub. He lathered his hands with soap and pushed his fingers into her curls. His nails scraped softly along her scalp and her head instinctively fell forward against her knees. She had seen him wash her mother's hair often in the years before and the action made her heart hurt, especially after his heartless greeting when she had originally arrived on Dragonstone. "Tell me what happened..." he prodded again, softer this time.

"I took too long to find Starfyre," she answered honestly, frowning. "If I would have found her the first morning, perhaps I would have made it to Rook's Rest sooner. I might have been able to save her... Meleys fell from the sky just as I arrived; grandmother was crushed beneath her." She sniffled and wiped her nose at the memory. The sound of Starfyre crunching Meleys's bones resurfaced and made her stomach twist. She swallowed the lump in her throat, afraid she was about to vomit up her entire stomach in front of him.

"I received reports from one of our spies..."  Daemon mentioned casually. She hummed an acknowledgment and tried her best not to tense at his words, her breath catching in her throat, imagining Daemon shoving her head beneath the water and holding it there. "While the greens now hold control over Rook's Rest, they incurred heavy losses. I heard you burned the entire battlefield to ash..." She shrugged.

"After I saw grandmother, I must have lost my head. My emotions got the better of me..." she told him, not technically lying.

"And Aegon; his dragon?" he prodded, "I heard Sunfyre and the prince were wounded."

"They were on the ground, wrapped up with Meleys," she replied, her heart pounding in her chest as the lie so easily poured from her lips. "There was a lot of smoke when Starfyre set everything ablaze, I didn't see if they survived." Daemon hummed in acknowledgment, sounding unconvinced.

"I'm sure you did your best..." he assured her. Daemon rinsed his hands in the tub, kissed the top of her head, and left the room. She was left wondering if he actually believed her or had something terrible planned for her fate...

There was a long, dismal period of mourning after the death of princess Raenys. The twins avoided Laena and she could only guess how they were feeling about her after all that had happened. She wondered if they blamed her for not doing enough to keep her family safe. She wondered if they still considered her their sister... Laena's surface wounds healed and the pain in her abdomen plagued her less with each passing day. As she gained her strength, she worried that the small period of peace wouldn't last.

For an entire turn of the moon, no movements were made on either front. Laena hoped the lack of news from King's Landing was merely because Aegon was healing from his injuries, but she couldn't help but wonder about Daemon... He wasn't the type to sit and wait while opportunities passed him by; he had to be planning something. The castle no longer felt like home; it wasn't the same as it had been before their return to King's Landing. The warmth and laughter had gone from the stone halls.