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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
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123 AC, Dragonstone
Rhaena Targaryen walked out of the odd dinner, alongside her sister, feeling like it had all been a waste of time. She could have been playing with Solarys, or even better, visiting the Potters. She still craved whatever that weird hot brown drink called chocolate, whatever it was. And yet, she knew that she would have to deal with her father and stepmother being angry. Again.
Her father had been angry ever since Princess Rhaenyra left for King's Landing after meeting the Potters. Well, angry was a bit much. Irritable would be a more suitable word.
Then again, Rhaena was also irritable; her grandparents had asked her not to visit the Potters alone, and to definitely not go on more 'adventures' with them.
It wasn't fair!
It was the day after their trip to Skagos, the day after she confessed of her adventures with Lord Harry and Lady Daphne, discovering magical places and solving mysteries as old as Valyria itself. They had seemed so understanding at the time, only for them to take her aside during dinner the following day and tell her that she couldn't go on any more adventures.
Her expeditions with the Potters were some of the best nights of her life. She had always been the responsible one, especially compared to Baela, but she felt like she mattered in those times; she felt alive and important.
Who cared about thrones and kings, when she'd seen a Child of the Forest, seen an Ice Spider, heard the voice of a God, and so much more…
But it wasn't just the adventures that she missed. A part of her missed the Potters as well. Lord Harry, the man who seemed to know everything there was under the sun, and perhaps even more so, the man who spoke to a God as if he were his equal and made him run away, the man who acted childish just to make her laugh, the man who had given her Solarys, her precious dragon.
And Lady Daphne, the gentle woman who teased her husband whenever he did something ridiculous, who was so kind that it reminded Rhaena of her own mother.
She couldn't help but wonder what the Potters thought of her, now that she had stopped seeking them out. Would they forget her? Would they leave without saying goodbye? Would they think that she hated them?
That last one was the one that hurt the most, and why she was angry with her grandparents. Although she had to admit that they obviously hadn't told anyone of her adventures with the Potters. Her father would have definitely said something, that was for sure.
Her train of thought was broken by Baela's voice, "I didn't even get to eat dessert."
Rhaena couldn't help but snort at that, "Our father is furious. Our stepmother feels slighted by her own father and is likely to hate our grandparents, since our grandmother will become Hand of the King, and all you seem to care about is your dessert."
"It was peach pie, though, all the way from Tyrosh. The King should have waited after we finished eating, and then made everyone angry. It's only polite. Let's go. I want to go play with Moondancer."
Rhaena realised that her sister wished to cheer her up, and let herself be pulled into a run by her sister, with Solarys releasing a hiss at the sudden change of pace. Yet, when they ran down, Rhaena heard a familiar voice speak up in the distance.
She stopped, and Baela gave her a questioning look, "Why don't you go ahead. I forgot to give something to Jace."
Her twin gave her an odd look, but simply shrugged, likely excited to play with her dragon and walk away. When her sister was out of view, Rhaena followed the familiar voice.
It was Lord Harry, wasn't it? She would recognise it so easily, the foreign accent, and everything. The closer she got, the more she was sure. She found herself arriving near one of the balconies, and she saw him speaking with someone.
Rhaena didn't know who it was, as she didn't want to be seen, but she heard him ask, "How have you been?"
"Very well. The golden song is calmer now, nicer. Thank you for that. You did not have to help," the voice answered. It was a woman, but it wasn't Lady Daphne. It sounded familiar, though, as if Rhaena had heard it before, but not too much.
Lord Harry's voice continued, "A man's honour is not built on what he must do, but what he chooses to do. Choices are what define us, dear, and what man would I be if I left you to suffer as you have, when I could change that? What about the children?"
"Thicker threads make for beautiful tapestries," the dreamy voice replied, and if Rhaena didn't know that Lord Harry was answering as if it made any sense, she would have thought that the woman was a simpleton and liked saying odd things.
"That's very good to hear, my dear. Now, Rhaena, why don't you come join us? It's very rude to snoop, you know?" Lord Harry's voice spoke up, filled with amusement.
Rhaena tried to hide her embarrassed blush as she entered the balcony, but she failed, given the sorcerer's mischievous expression. She was about to reply, only to freeze as she saw the woman sitting next to him, who seemed to stare away into the distance.
Princess Helaena Targaryen, daughter of King Viserys and Queen Alicent, wife of Aegon, and Rhaena's cousin. Rhaena didn't know what to feel when she saw them, betrayal at the fact that Lord Harry was consorting with the Greens, anger at the fact that he had seemingly replaced her in mere seconds… No, it was mostly hurt and sadness.
She glared at him and said the only thing that came out of her mouth, feeling angry, "You replaced me!"
Lord Harry gave her a confused look. "I don't understand."
Tears started to fill her eyes, "I'm sorry that my grandparents said that I couldn't see you anymore. I should have come anyway. Please don't replace me with her. I didn't mean to…"
Lord Harry knelt and immediately grabbed her into a hug, "Oh, you silly girl. I never replaced you, my dear. Do you think I think so little of you that I'd do such a thing over a few days of silence?"
Rhaena hiccupped once and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. "Then why were you with her? Why didn't you come see me?"
Harry pulled back slightly, just enough to look her in the face. His tone was gentle, but there was something quiet and firm beneath it. "Because not everything is about you, sweetling. And I know you know that. You have a good heart. Don't let it be clouded by hurt."
She blinked at him, confused, and he ran a hand through her hair, soothing.
"Princess Helaena's children were ill," he explained. "Just little babies. Even the Maesters didn't know that they were. I saw them when I first came here and offered to help them. Tell me, Rhaena, if you'd known that there were hurt babies, would you help them, or would you walk away?"
The young girl remembered something, a small detail when Lord Harry first came to Dragonstone, how he had seen a small girl wishing desperately for a dragon and gave her one. How he had saved Rhaena's life in the Dragonmont.
How could she deny helping two sick babes when Lord Harry had helped Rhaena much the same? No, it was only natural that the sorcerer helped them, much like he did her, and she would do the same if she could.
"I would help them," Rhaena answered resolutely.
Lord Harry gave her a proud look, which made Rhaena feel warm, "And that's why you're a wonderful young girl. So, don't worry, little one. I won't replace you anytime soon."
"Then why didn't you come see me?" the young girl asked.
Rhaena knew perfectly well that there was very little that could stop Lord Harry or Lady Daphne from seeing her, if they wanted to. And yet, they hadn't, which had stung her a bit.
"Your grandparents asked us not to, Rhaena," Lord Harry explained, "And I respect their choice as your family. They felt that our adventures were a bit too dangerous for a young girl, and I can see their point. They're just worried about you and asked us not to meet with you until they come to a decision on the matter."
"But it's not fair," Rhaena growled.
"Perhaps, but they are still your grandparents. If it's any consolation, you were a lot braver than they."
It took a few seconds before everything clicked, and she pointed at the sorcerer menacingly and said with an accusing tone, "You went on an expedition with them!"
Unfortunately, Lord Harry didn't seem intimidated by her and just snickered, "We just went on a fishing trip that, admittedly, did spiral out of control a bit."
She still felt suspicious but calmed down slightly, "And I was braver."
The sorcerer gave her an indulgent look, "You were so much braver. You should have seen them, running around, scared. You were a lot better travelling companion, that's for sure. You didn't even scream back in Skagos, or when the Ice Spider attacked us."
Well, that did comfort her. At least Lord Harry knew that Rhaena was brave and strong. Maybe her grandparents were too scared of the adventures that they thought she could get hurt? Silly grown-ups: nothing could hurt her with Lord Harry around.
Oddly enough, it was Helaena who spoke up next, and this time, the dreamy look on her face was gone. "You met an Ice Spider?"
"Of course," Rhaena answered proudly, and maybe a bit of smugness, "They were so big, even bigger than Lord Harry, and white, too. Their legs were made of glass and looked so sharp, like blades."
The princess seemed suitably awed by her description, eyes wide with wonder as she leaned ever so slightly forward. "Did it have spinnerets? Were the joints barbed or smooth? And its eyes… Did it have eight?"
Rhaena blinked, surprised. "Um… I think so? There were a lot of eyes, and they glowed blue in the dark."
The princess nodded slowly, absorbing every word. "I never heard of a spider this large other than in Sothoryos, but mother doesn't like me reading about this place, and the Grand Maester doesn't know much of it, even when I asked… And legs of ice, too. I wish I could have seen them."
Lord Harry smiled at them both and took something out of his cloak. Her eyes widened as she saw it, a basic pendant, but with eight small shards of ice instead of gems spread around it. "I decided to study the creature's magic a bit. I thought that they were more tied up to the White Walkers, as Ice Spiders are famous for being their mounts, but it seemed to be a creature of its own entirely. I thought about making a dagger, but you seem to have enough of those. So, instead, I made this pendant using the tips of the spider's legs. It should keep you fresh in the summer. Useful, huh?"
Rhaena took out her pendant and stared at it. She quickly put it on and gasped. She felt a faint coldness spread across her body and smiled.
She knew that Lord Harry could make things colder or warmer with barely any effort, but this felt more personal, a trophy of some sort, of what she survived. She did have a few treasures, including the Dragonglass dagger that belonged to the Child of the Forest, the Valyrian Steel ring and knife that she had found in the Dragonmont, to start… But this was something made for her, not something she found in a ruin. It was different. It felt different.
The young girl gave the sorcerer a teary look, "You made this for me?"
He gave her a small smile, "I told you that I didn't forget you, you silly girl."
Whatever she wished to say was interrupted as Helaena seemed to take the small shards of ice in her hand, staring at them with an intensity that Rhaena hadn't thought the princess could ever show. She turned towards Lord Harry and demanded, "I'm going on the next adventure."
The sorcerer chuckled, "We'll see about that later."
Rhaena prepared to protest, only for Helaena to give her a small smile, "I like your dragon."
She blinked at the older princess, momentarily thrown by the oddness of the compliment, before deciding it was actually quite sweet. "She likes you as well."
And she was right, Solarys did like the Princess. Not nearly as much as Rhaena, of course, but she could feel that her dragon thought that the older girl was warm.
A smile grew on the older girl's face, "The lady of the sun shines brighter than the morning."
Rheana didn't know what to say to that. She thought for a while of a response, but fortunately, or unfortunately, she felt something flicker in the background. Lord Harry, who had been sipping some drink, which had an odd smell, looked up and casually snapped his finger.
Rhaena shrieked when she saw seven shadows appear around the room. No, they weren't shadows. They looked like people made of shadows, with daggers in their hands.
Even Helaena's eyes widened in shock, yet she did not scream, just stood there frozen alongside Rhaena.
Yet the shadows did not strike. They hovered mid-motion, as if caught in time, weapons raised but held still by unseen force. The sorcerer, though, got up and gave them a curious look, "That's new. I really love new stuff, you know," he hummed as he neared them, "Soul projection through shadow manipulation. That's pretty interesting, you know. Now, that is nasty… Each one is empowered with the soul of an unborn child. Not just any child, even one touched by destiny…"
One of the shadows, which looked like a woman, seemed to shake and resist Lord Harry's invisible restraints and growled out, "Abomination."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it was jagged and wrong, like broken glass dragged across stone. Rhaena instinctively flinched at the sound, and even Solarys hissed at them.
Lord Harry didn't seem insulted and answered casually, "Now, that's not a nice thing to say, is it? Then again, I've been called that a lot recently. Now, I'm curious. You're here to kill me, of course, but that doesn't mean we can't have a nice conversation, does it? Now, as curious as your magic is, and believe me, I'm being very kind here, I'm more interested in the fact that there are seven of you. It's a very curious number, seven. Probably enough to kill almost everyone, even if they could protect themselves, but obviously not enough to know about me. So, that implies that you only know so much about my capabilities."
The shadow-woman didn't say anything, but the sorcerer continued, "You attacked me here out of desperation, because it's the only time in the last week or so that I've stayed in an unprotected space for a while. So, you haven't been here when the royal family first arrived, or you'd have tried it then, and are also desperate enough to kill me with witnesses involved. You also obviously know that I'm a sorcerer. So, this is an assassination attempt, one that someone paid you for. But who? You don't know, do you? Now, that's quite the pickle you're in."
"How?" the shadow-woman rasped.
"My dear, you have your soul bare before me. There is literally nothing you can hide from me. Now, normally, I wouldn't really care about you, not all that much. People try to kill me all the time, and this is a pretty sad attempt, honestly. However, looking at your souls, you're all quite horrible, aren't you? Especially, you, in the middle, the marginally more powerful one. And you also attacked me in the middle of a lovely conversation with two young girls. So, I can't let that go, you see. Now, I know what you're thinking, that eventually, the magic will run out or be disturbed, and you'll be able to run away. Back to Asshai, right? I've heard of the infamous Shadowbinders that live in that place. Good, I'll have to visit this place soon. I was planning to eventually, but now, you've got my curiosity. Anyway, you'll probably want to run away, either warn them, or just get more people and try again."
The shadows did not say anything, but Rhaena could see some fear appear in their expressions. Finally, Lord Harry spoke up, "Well, that's too bad. You see, there's a reason why using this kind of magic has so much risk. Magic involving souls is a bit like that. And well, unfortunately for you, I am a bit of an expert."
He snapped his finger, and the shadows started to dissipate, and each of them released an unholy screech that felt like it could spread across the entire castle. It lasted for a few seconds, and a man with a white cloak, Ser Criston, broke in with a sword drawn, ready to attack, only as the shadows finished dissipating.
He stared there slack jawed and shaken, as Lord Harry sat back down and kept sipping his drink. Rhaena simply shrugged and started to play with Solarys. She gave the pale-faced Helaena a sympathetic look. She'd need to get used to this if she ever wanted to join them in an adventure. After all, time with Lord Harry was rarely boring.
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AN: Phew, that chapter took a bit out of me, and I might have gotten carried away a bit. I hope it came out like I wanted it to. The idea is to make Harry interested in going to Asshai. And I did miss writing Helaena a bit. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.