Do Not Presume to Know The Damned (Jacaerys x Helaena)

Helaena III

Her blood was boiling, searing hot as dragon breath through her veins and snaking under her skin. Helaena was being burnt up from the inside out, cooked alive. She must be dead, trapped in one of the seven hells her septa warned her of.

"Nothing else to be done, Your Grace," someone said far away. "It lies with the princess now." They sounded weary, their voice echoing against stone walls. She knew that cadence, the shape of the words familiar, but it slipped from her grasp before she could take its measure. Far away and all too close.

The stone walls surrounding Helaena. Had they been there before? It didn't matter. All she knew was she had to run. They pushed in at her, threatening to squash her, squeeze and entomb her in their crushing embrace. Her footfalls were loud as her bare feet slapped against cold, uneven flagstones in the frigid dark. Despite the chill, every inch of her body was alive with white-hot agony. Helaena was caught between the freezing cold of the tunnel and the raging inferno within.

Run, run, run, run, run¸ she commanded, the beat of the order in time with the ringing of her feet on stone. Every stride sent pain racing up her legs. She could not stop. There were things behind her in the deep dark, not just the crushing tunnel. Rats as big as men with teeth like cruel, bloody cleavers, and dark fire that would turn her bones to dust.

The tunnels twisted and bent in on themselves at odd angles before opening up and splitting off in a dozen different directions. Some exits from the opening were caved in, rubble cutting off that path with tons of stone. Was she underground? Helaena didn't have time to consider. She could hear claws scrabbling for purchase as they closed the distance towards her, could feel the brittle hairs brushing the back of her neck. Helaena flung herself into the nearest tunnel without a second thought. She could not falter; she could not fail. It would mean certain death.

Helaena came upon another opening and almost collapsed. She'd been down this way, trodden this path before. Desperate, she chose another corridor to the left, sprinting down the dark tunnel with reckless abandon. Helaena would slow eventually, she must. There was no way she could maintain the mad dash, this game of cat and mouse. The path curved and coiled, so she wasn't certain where she was being led until it spat her back into another opening of branching paths.

The same opening. The same room. Alarm shot through her, and she careened towards the passage to the right. Her breath was loud in her ears, coming harsh and stuttering, her lungs were already burning, and the gasping was only worsening it. Snarling beasts, their heavy feet behind her outpaced the small, skittering things. These hulking things blew their blazing wildfire breath at her ankles, urging her onwards. Helaena knew they clutched wickedly barbed spears in scaled hands. She could see their burning eyes filled with hatred, their mouths salivating at the hunt.

"Maiden, protect my daughter as you do all innocents," a woman's voice cut through Helaena's fear, the prayer unfamiliar. Mother?

"Mother, grant Helaena your mercy, for she loves you well above all others." Her mother's voice was raw and scratchy, changed in a way that left it almost unrecognisable. Helaena kept running, trying to figure out where the voice came from - behind or before. If she could find her mother, she would be safe.

"Crone, raise your shining lamp and bring her back to me..." Alicent's voice hitched and caught, strangling her vowels in her throat. "Please." I'm here! Helaena wanted to scream. Mother, I'm here! Don't cry, please don't cry.

Don't go.

A door loomed before her, sturdy and thick with brass and iron cladding. She could have wept with joy, wrenching it open by the brass handle and slamming it shut behind her with a final bang. Helaena's chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, feeling almost delirious with the relief that swept through her. She slipped to the floor; the pain abating if even for a moment. Looking about, she tried to find a glimpse of her mother, a flash of auburn hair or flutter of green fabric. Nothing. The space was cavernous and empty, and Helaena was alone. Always alone.