Of the Blood of the Dragon

Chapter Six

"That will not be necessary, Orwyle. The leechings have always brought His Grace relief." Maester Mellos says as Valaena enters Viserys' chambers.

"To help him sleep." The maester whispers to Valaena, handing her a vial.

She opens the bottle, walking to wear Viserys who is slouched in his chair.

"Where's the Queen?" Viserys asks weakly as the maesters leave.

"I was given to understand that she is otherwise occupied, Your Grace." Viserys sighs as he takes the vial from her. "Before you ask, she's not with the children."

Viserys smiles, "Alicent tells me Aemond always is asking for you."

Valaena looks down at the vial in his hand and Viserys sighs before drinking it.

"Will I be remembered as a good king, Valaena?"

"Viserys?" She asks, confused.

"What will they say of me when the histories are written? I have neither fought nor conquered, nor suffered any great defeat."

Valaena sighs, kneeling on the floor next to his chair and taking his hand. "Some might call that good fortune."

"It hardly makes a good song, does it? To be sung at feasts in a hundred years..." Valaena smiles. "Five hundred." he adds with a laugh.

"You have carried King Jaehaerys's legacy. And kept the realm strong. It is better to live in peace than to have songs sung after you are dead."

"Since when did you become so wise?" Viserys jests.

"I've always been wise, Your Grace."

"But there is a part of me that wishes I'd been tested. I often think that in the crucible, I may have been forged a different man."

"As someone who has been tested, I often wish to have been spared it."

Viserys sighs, squeezing her hand. "Another lord might assure me that I would rise like Aegon the Conqueror given the chance. But you're right... as always."

"It is perhaps best not to know." Viserys smiles, before drifting off to sleep.

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As the handmaiden laced up her dress, she saw Daemon enter her chamber through the mirror.

The handmaiden stopped and bowed to Daemon.

"Leave us." She said not looking at Daemon. 

"I used to imagine this day, except you were to be mine." He mutters, eyeing the jewels laid out to be put in her hair.

Daemon was always a constant in her life, shaping her, and although she valued honor and duty more than him, they had the same mischievous side. They were the same and yet they couldn't be more different.

"We were foolish and young."

"We don't get to choose who we love."

Valaena turned to face him. "No, you don't get to do this. Say what you really mean, Daemon. No more games."

"You were right. It is lonely living in exile with no one."

"You put yourself here Daemon. You, no one else." She hissed, stepping closer to him. "You deserve all the pain and loneliness that will follow you in the next years."

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As the news of the Wedding of Lady Valaena Valar and Ser Harwin Strong spread throughout the realm, lords and ladies across the realm were shocked.