When the blood of the dragon meets the soul of the dragon, the continent begins to burn.
The Baratheons are steadfast, strong, and formidable. Leanna Baratheon is no different. She is the storm, and no one, Targaryen or other, will bring her down.
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It is unsettling to see the broad-shouldered figure of Orlys Baratheon upset. So much had he been reminding her of Boremund lately, and this was a shadow of the past. A memory of Leanna's mother growing increasingly sick after Borros's birth, until she died a shell of herself in his fifth. year. Boremund, in the darkness after losing his love, had suffered. Now, however, it's up to Leanna to keep her son from falling apart. She crosses the rough stone of Driftmark's halls, reaching for him.
"I'm sorry," she whispers as she stretches out her arms. He folds into her touch, something he hasn't done in years. "How are the girls?"
"They don't understand." His voice is raspy. "I find it hard to look at them. They look just like her." Leanna rubs the side of his head, sighing.
"I know. I can see to them, if you wish."
"No," he pulls back, sniffing. "I won't avoid them. They have lost a mother, I won't let them lose a father, too."
"That's good," she nods, patting his arm. "I'll be here for awhile to spend time with them and help you."
"It was Laena's wish that they be raised in the Velaryon way. She wants them to stay in Driftmark to be overseen by Rhaenys." Leanna stiffens. Orlys, despite the shadow over his face, draws himself up. "I will not ignore her wishes. She was afraid of this happening. It was what we planned."
"Are you certain you wish to part ways with them?"
"I would desire to never leave their sides," he answers, looking away again. "Half the year they will go to Driftmark. Half the year they will remain here."
"Half the year you will be alone," she presses, reaching for his hand. "Is that truly what will make you happy?"
"My happiness does not matter," Orlys answers. "Just theirs." He tugs back, moving for the door. Leanna regards her son. Tall and strong. The very image of Boremund Baratheon come alive again. He was respected in Driftmark and Storm's End, and his wife had been adored.
"We will leave them in Driftmark after the funeral," she answers.
For this, the second funeral on Driftmark she has attended, Leanna is feeling uneasy. After her departure from King's Landing a year prior, she has not seen their adversaries. Otto had cleared the council against them, with only Lyman Beesbury remaining their quiet supporter. That left Leanna, holding onto her position by the mere fact that Viserys could not be talked into kicking her off. It mattered not, for the queen acts for him these days and Leanna is no longer welcome in the Red Keep.
Leanna, once, would have attempted to reconcile with the queen. That was long before she refused to punish Ser Criston for killing Laenor in a freak fit of rage. Something that, with years and whispers, proved to be not-so-accidental. He was volatile, and cruel. A man undeserving of his role on the Kingsguard.
Alicent had picked her battle when Rhaenyra was only a child, and her resentment only grows with each year Viserys does not remove her as his heir. They all hear the whispers. Alicent speaking to her son Aegon as if he will be king, no matter what. The whispers that increase in volume until the very land itself is splitting itself into sides. There is the Greens, and then there are the Blacks. Each one waiting with bated breath as Viserys's health slowly declines.
