The Darkness We Hide

Chapter 29

It was an odd feeling for Alys to be in a place she once called home, just to feel like a stranger. An outsider. An enemy.

Lady Jeyne had kept her word to Alys about the Vale always following her if called upon. Jace had secured the North as promised, but House Baratheon flocked to the false king. Because of his envoy.

Rhaenyra had the strongest allies for this war. She would be victorious and squash the greens. The blacks had more dragons, more battle hungry dragons. They would all rip her uncles' dragons into nothing. Everyone would celebrate their victory when their queen would sit the throne. But Alys would be long gone and away from Westeros if that day would come.

The ice shattered in her heart, leaving a hollowness inside her. He threatened her brother. All she could think about was the brave face Luke tried to put on. He tried to take his eye. She thought about how Luke's hand remained on his sword from the moment he saw his uncle. He chased after her brother on a war dragon. She remembered the way her own heart was racing with Luke's as he flew through the storm. He killed her brother.

It was too much for her to feel all at once. This vision was so different from the rest. It truly felt like she was there right beside Luke the entire time.

The rings.

She'd given Jace and Luke black marble rings when she'd returned to King's Landing. She knew of Rhaenyra's plan to marry them off to their cousins to secure House Velaryon.

Baela and Rhaena were good for Jace and Luke. They were kind and loving, loyal and fierce. The twins were the perfect balance of their parents, though Baela clearly took more after her father.

Alys trusted the girls to always love and protect her brothers, and for her brothers to do the same for them.

But she didn't want to lose that bond with her brothers. Alys loved the Velaryon boys deeply and saw them as her own family. She'd always love and protect them, even when they weren't hers to do so.

So when she put a spell on their rings before her return, she always thought she'd be there to swoop in when needed.

But Luke's panic was at an all time high when he walked into Storm's End. When his eyes found his uncle, underneath his glove, his ring began to glow. A pale blue line wrapped around the center of the ring, signaling he needed help.

And Alys wasn't there to answer him.

It was too late.

By the time she'd reached Braxes after she woke from collapsing, Luke was gone. There was nothing she could do to save him.

She failed him.

Alys had promised Luke to always look after him, and he did the same for her. It only made their last conversation that much harder.

"What if he starts asking me a bunch of questions and I don't know what to answer?" Luke pouted as Alys led him, arm in arm, through the halls.

"Tell him you simply came as a messenger. Any questions or concerns he may have, he can ask his queen himself." Alys smiled. "All you have to do is hand him the scroll, he'll read it, probably have a snide comment or two, but you will ask for his answer and once you have it, come home."

"Mother said Lord Borros is an eternally proud man..." Luke looked down at his feet, feeling more insecure in himself than ever.

"That's usually her way of saying he's a prick." Alys mumbled under breath, but then she sighed and grabbed his shoulders. She looked down at him with a sincere look on her face. "Lucerys, you are a Prince of the realm. You are the rightful Queen's second son and someday you will be the Lord of Driftmark. You have a dragon, for gods' sake. Do not ever let someone like Borros fucking Baratheon let you forget who you are."