Forget Me Not

🍁 Chapter 4 🍁

The King's Chambers :

King Viserys and Queen Alicent were having a conversation when Princess Rhaenyra entered the chambers.

“My daughter!” the king exclaimed. “What brings you here?” he asked.

Rhaenyra had a glow on her face which did not go unnoticed by her stepmother. Alicent wondered what made her so happy. Rhaenyra said, “Father, I am with child.”

Viserys stood up from his place and embraced his daughter. Then he kissed her forehead and said, “May the Gods bless you, my dear child.”

Alicent stood up too. Even though she was not very happy to hear that, she had to congratulate her stepdaughter. She walked up to Rhaenyra and took her hands in hers. She said, “That's really wonderful, Princess. Jacaerys and Naerys will have a playmate soon. I wish you happiness.”

Rhaenyra said with a smile, “Thank You, Your Grace.”

Viserys asked Rhaenyra to sit down beside him for a conversation. Alicent took her leave and left the father alone with his daughter.

After Alicent had left, Viserys said to her, “My dear daughter, are you taking care of your health? It is true that I am very happy to have another grandchild but there is another thing. There is something which worries me.”

Rhaenyra placed her hand on Viserys’ hand and said, “Father… What is it? What worries you?”

Viserys said sadly, “I am afraid, Rhaenyra. I might be the king. I might be the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and the Protector of the Realm. I might be the one who rode Balerion the Black Dread. But I am a father too. And I am afraid. Your mother…My beloved Aemma...She died on her birthing bed. The Gods snatched her away from me so cruelly. Your presence gave me peace. And now, you are with a child again. Just like your mother was. What will I do if I lose you too?”

Rhaenyra saw tears in his eyes. He was crying. She said, “Men are not supposed to cry, Aye. And it is forbidden for the kings to show weakness. Do not cry, Father. Do not cry. I am your daughter, your own blood. Your smile will give me the strength to endure every pain. But your tears will make me weak. Do not cry, Father. Do not cry.”

“It is not the king in front of you, Rhaenyra. It is the man who has lost his wife and is worried about his daughter,” Viserys replied.

To this Rhaenyra said, “Do not worry, Father. The Mother Above will keep me safe, I know. And The Warrior will give me the strength to fight in any difficult situation. My child will be safe and I will be safe too.”

The Queen's Chambers :

Alicent was standing by the window. Her mind was occupied by various thoughts. Princess Rhaenyra was with child once again. The first child of the princess was a bastard of her sworn protector. The second child was a trueborn daughter of her husband. Now who would be the father of her third child? Will it be Harwin? Probably. Because he was the one who was always around her. He loved the princess. It was true. She had seen it in his eyes. What if Laenor is the father of this child? That is less likely. The whole Red Keep knows that Laenor prefers men. He loves the company of his handsome squires. Some maids even whisper that he has not bedded his wife for months. Alicent had heard all those whispers. She believed only half of them. Because, if all the whispers across the Seven Kingdoms are to be believed, it was Prince Daemon who had taken her maidenhead, not her Lord Husband.

She remembered the little girl of eight who became her stepdaughter. She had called her ‘daughter’. The start was amiable but now, there is only jealousy and resentment. She married the king because he needed an heir and a spare. She gave him three sons and yet, it was his daughter from his first wife who held the position of the heir. Earlier she had hoped that the king would change his decision. But now, it was too late. The king would never declare her son as his heir and the Prince of Dragonstone. He had to challenge his sister's claim to the throne, she knew.