twin flames | daemon targaryen

forty-two

"My peaceful, little dragon. The light of my life."

Rhaella's eyes widened, her grip on her sons' hands tightening. She slowly turned away from the forms of the Conquerors before her to see her mother standing behind her. The former Queen Consort looked the same as the last time Rhaella had seen her, though her stomach was not swollen with a child as it often had been through Rhaella's childhood.

Her mother's silver hair fell past her shoulders in shimmery waves, and she wore a gown of dark blue with small falcons sewn into the hem, an ode to the Vale. Aemma's lips were spread in a kind smile, her face flush with happiness, her bright blue eyes, the same as Elaena's and Viserra's, shining with unshed tears. Rhaella felt tears of her own begin to fall down her cheeks.

Aemma Arryn, Aemma Targaryen, was a Queen of Westeros, but more importantly, she was a mother. She was kind and gentle, but she was the fiercest of the dragons when it came to her two daughters. Even when she kept to her bed, heavy with child, she was their protector, their advocate, their greatest supporter in ways that Viserys could not be even in his best moments. Aemma cried with them, and she cheered them on when they excelled.

Aemma Arryn had been ripped from the world too soon, and Rhaella was overcome with grief as she stared at her mother for the first time in over 25 years. She felt like a young girl again, desperate to stay in her mother's company rather than undergo embroidery lessons with her septa.

"Mother," Rhaella sighed, her shoulders shaking as a soft sob escaped her.

"Rhaella," Aemma replied. She walked forward and grasped onto Rhaella's hands, holding not only Rhaella's but also that of Rhaella's sons. The Peaceful Princess shivered at the contact. "You know what you must do. Your children need you, sweet girl. Daemon needs you, Rhaenyra needs you. Viserys needs you. We will be waiting for you, my daughter."

Rhaella stared at her mother in wonder, and Aemma's smile became sad. The Arryn woman reached up and cupped Rhaella's face with her hands, leaning forward until their foreheads pressed against each other. Rhaella could feel her sons let go of her hands and wrap their arms tight around her waist. Rhaella felt another sob rise within her, and she struggled to keep it down.

"We will see you soon, my heart," Aemma murmured. Rhaella's eyebrows rose and she looked up at her mother with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Aemma only continued to smile sadly. She lifted her forehead off of Rhaella's and pressed a kiss to her brow. Rhaella closed her eyes at the contact, and when she opened them again, she was no longer on the sandy beaches of Driftmark.

"Muña!"

Rhaella blinked rapidly, her stomach lurching as she was thrust back into the real world. Her daughter and son stood over her, their faces ashen and tears falling down their cheeks as they stared at her. When they saw her looking back at them, sobs immediately escaped them.

"Muña," Aemma cried out, collapsing onto the bed beside Rhaella and burying her face into her mother's shoulder. Rhaella gasped at the sudden movement, her hand automatically reaching up to run a soothing hand through her daughter's curls. The Peaceful Princess turned her gaze to Rhaenys, who stood on her other side, staring back at her with haunted, tear-filled violet eyes.

"Rhaenys?" Rhaella asked softly. "What happened? Is it the children? Daemon?" She felt a sudden wetness under her nose, and Rhaella reached up with her free hand to wipe at it. She pulled her hand back and found it covered in blood.

"It's happened again," Rhaenys said solemnly, a single tear falling down her cheek. A dragon roar sounded in the air, and a chill ran down Rhaella's spine. The Peaceful Princess reached up once more to wipe at the blood that continued to steadily fall from her nose.