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123 AC, King's Landing
Helaena Targaryen hummed as she gently rocked her son's body, while Aegon did the same for their daughter. Normally, a tourney was not a great place to bring infants, but Aegon had insisted on 'showing off' the twins. Helaena had divined if Jaehaerys and Jaehaera would be fine, and saw no issues with it, as she had seen them fall asleep despite the noise.
She personally thought that Aegon only wished to spend more time with them, and she couldn't blame him. After all, she relished every moment they had together, especially with the nightmares that she had regarding them, having stopped completely.
The princess couldn't help but wonder if Lord Harry had expected that she would use his lessons to peer into the future and see if the tourney would bother her children too much. No, he would likely find it amusing, but Lady Daphne would likely give her a disappointed look, even if she likely would find it just as humorous.
It wasn't like she was given a choice. Helaena wished to spend as much time as she could with her children, and yet her parents had insisted that she attend the Hand's tourney. She didn't really see the appeal of tourneys. It was simply people riding on horses and trying to make one another fall with sticks, and the melee was slightly too bloody for her.
Nevertheless, the King had commanded that a tourney would take place to celebrate Rhaenys' appointment as his Hand, as well as Otto Hightower's services to the crown. Speaking of her grandfather, he was surprisingly composed when her father announced his replacement during the Feast after their arrival in the Capital. Although he had been taken aback when he was told to return to Oldtown to help with some issues growing there regarding the Faith and some theft from the Citadel.
Given the fact that all she had found when she had tried to look into the theft using her divination out of pure curiosity was some vague shadows, she assumed that the Potters had something to do with it. Their influence seemed to be quite protected from her sight somehow, and during her training, they lowered whatever spell they had in place for her to learn.
Nevertheless, her grandfather had all but glared at his daughter and yet was not allowed to leave until the end of his successor's celebrations, something that she could see was slowly irritating him as they progressed.
Helaena was never fond of her grandfather. He was a man who relished the idea of control and influence. He often planned their futures for them, as if they had very little say in the matter. The man had all but dismissed her as nothing more than a woman to sire heirs, since he had seen her, and made no attempts at changing her perception of him.
Alas, he had also felt almost inevitable. Mother followed his will, and the King all but worshipped his advice, and Helaena had long decided not to care for unescapable predicaments. She had to admit that she couldn't do the same with her children's visions, though.
That didn't matter now, because this was before the trip to Dragonstone. Now, Otto Hightower seemed like a man being dragged away by a storm, unable to do anything about it.
Helaena had used her divination slightly to see if he would be able to stay in King's Landing somehow, but it seemed like her mother's words to the King were the last nail in the coffin. He would leave Oldtown, and they would be free of his schemes enough for Helaena to be able to act in the best interest of their family, just as Lord Harry had asked of her.
Her musings were interrupted by Aegon gently shaking her, "You're missing the tourney."
Helaena looked up to see a knight from the Riverlands being thrown off his horse, with the entire stands cheering, "I do not like tourneys."
"I know," he replied, "But the Court is watching."
She had to admit that he was surprised that Aegon was so perceptive of the affairs of the Court, which he often ignored. Then again, she hadn't cared either before she realised how dangerous these games could be.
Her grandfather's dismissal as Hand had been a shock for the entire realm that no one had expected. Hundreds of courtiers were angry at the royal family for ruining plans that they had with the man, who had not only lost a lot of power, but was all but ordered to return to Oldtown.
That meant that there was a lot of scrutiny towards his replacement, and with it, her interactions with the rest of the royal family. So far, Rhaenys had mostly spoken to the King and the Small Council, but not anyone else. The members of the Small Council were afraid that she would try to remove them, but Helaena thought that she wasn't inclined to change too much too quickly.
After all, there had been a lot of uncertainty regarding her appointment. The memories of nobles were rather short ones, and while many Houses had supported her during the Great Council, everyone had all but forgotten about her after Viserys' crowning, choosing to focus more on how to use the current divide in the House of the Dragon, this time between Rhaenyra's claim and Aegon's.
The reaction that the king taking his former rival claimant to the Iron Throne as his Hand was mostly met with confusion. Both the Greens and the Blacks had been confused by the move. After all, if he had wished to secure his eldest daughter's claim and had no qualms about a woman being hand, then wouldn't Rhaenyra have made a better candidate? House Velaryon's relations with Rhaenyra had also been somewhat strained ever since the death of Laenor and Laena, but they had not turned hostile since the Sea Snake still considered Lucerys to be his heir.
All in all, this confusion stopped the nobles from making any aggressive move, something that Rhaenys would likely use to her advantage, and that Helaena would as well.
Once more, Aegon broke her thoughts while smiling, "Getting lost in your head again? The joust can't be that boring. There are a lot of very good challengers here."
Instead of answering immediately, Helaena closed her eyes and followed the strands in her mind. She was soon beset with the image of a sun shining brightly on top of a defeated stag. What a boring outcome.
"Ser Criston will win," she replied with certainty.
He would also likely crown Mother as the Queen of love and beauty, as he always did. It was a shame. She liked Ser Criston, but it had gotten boring to watch him win most tourneys in the Capital. It seemed like he would triumph over the Borros, Baratheon, who seemed to be a crowd favourite. The future Lord of Storm's End had come with his father to celebrate Rhaenys' appointment. After all, Boremund Targaryen was said to have been a fervent supporter of his niece, Rhaenys, during the Great Council, and seeing her becoming Hand was likely a personal vindication.
Aegon grinned at that, "Care to bet on that?"
Her brother had been different since Dragonstone. He was kinder to her and almost inhumanly gentle when it came to her children. Oh, he still had bouts of rage, often directed at the servants, and he eyed a few of the maids with hunger in his eyes, but it was barely more than a shadow of what it used to be.
She didn't think that they would ever see one another as husband or wife. Theirs was not a marriage that they desired, not one bit. And yet, Helaena couldn't have imagined, before Dragonstone, that she and Aegon would act friendly, at the very least, japing about knights and tourneys.
She did not get the chance to accept the bet, as Aegon turned towards Aemond, who had started snickering beside her, "Do you care to share what you find so amusing, brother?"
Her one-eyed brother grinned maliciously, "I just find it humorous that you would bet with our sister on matters of knighthood. Then again, it is fitting, as she likely knows as much on the subject as you do."
The princess suppressed the urge to sigh in exasperation. Her brothers often turned any moment into a contest, and tourneys had always been an excuse for them to needle one another. It had all started when Aegon mocked their younger brother with the fact that he had not claimed a dragon, something that he regretted later when he realised that it had been a driving force behind Aemond claiming Vhagar and all the mess that followed. Now, Aemond rarely ever let Aegon forget that he could beat him in their spars more often than not, despite his disability.
In the past, Aegon would have taken the bait immediately, or just ignored it in favour of drinking a cup of wine, but this time, he grinned mischievously, "Perhaps. Helaena can be very perceptive. Then again, I wouldn't expect much from someone who suggested putting a sapphire, of all things, in your eye. Did you plan on charming maidens by letting your eyes glitter in the sun?"
Aemond stared at their older brother incomprehensibly for a few moments before growing a smile of his own, and he started by trading barbs with him. However, this time, it lacked the heat in his earlier comment.
They continued this for some time, all the while ignoring the pointed looks that their mother gave them. Despite it all, Helaena could tell that Aemond was still wary of Aegon, as if he was waiting for everything to go back to how it used to be. Her younger brother was also different. He was still angry and trying to find his place in a world that had failed him. She had failed him, too, once upon a time.
He was always kind to her when they were younger. He was the more understanding one in her family, far more than Aegon or their father, perhaps even more than their mother. He was an intelligent boy, one who was perhaps slow to forgive and quick to anger, but he was kind.
And yet, despite it all, all Helaena had seen of him was the boy who would grow into a kinslayer, who would be the spark that would engulf the realm in flames. It was inevitable, just as the death of her children was, and Helaena distanced herself from it all, only wishing for the nightmares to end.
Unfortunately, she was proven to be correct. The kindness inside Aemond had all but vanished after the Driftmark, replaced by a cold arrogance. He was happy with Vhagar and didn't mind losing his eye, but it was his family's reaction that changed him. They were not able to defend him, to avenge him, and to him, that was more important than showing him comfort. It had shown Aemond that he was alone in the world, and his heart grew cold because of it. Despite him not saying it, Helaena knew that he had vowed to be the family's protector, that it would be his duty to stop it from happening to anyone else.
And even now, the anger remained, even if he was different. He looked… lost. That would be the best way to describe it, which was extremely strange. For all his virtues and faults, Aemond had a surety to him of the role he would play in the future. That security was not gone, even if most did not see it. He also did not seem to respect their grandfather as he once had. Then again, Aemond would have likely seen him as their family's former protectors, and now he was being sent away once more.
Then again, who would know what happened inside that head of his? Aemond would find himself one day, and the world would be better for it. She was sure of it.
Her thoughts halted as she saw Aemond staring expectantly at her, making her tilt her head in confusion. Her younger brother rolled his eyes playfully, "Gods, Helaena. Would it kill you to focus on a conversation?"
"Perhaps I would die in boredom," she replied dryly, "What do you wish to ask me?"
He snorted in amusement, "I was just wondering why Tyland Lannister keeps staring at you."
Despite herself, Helaena turned towards the Master of Ships, and the man paled before flinching away to look back at the joust, while muttering what looked suspiciously like a prayer. She couldn't help but giggle at the reaction and looked back to meet her brother's incredulous gaze, "I gave him a gift."
That response seemed to confuse her brothers further, but she did not care to elaborate. She had to admit that scaring Tyland Lannister had been fun, even if she did not know why his reaction was so drastic. It had been a very tight line, using the allure of Brightroar, as well as the fear of angering a Dragonrider, to get him to accept her deal.
It truly was a wonder how she needed to threaten House Lannister for Lord Jason to not go back on their future agreement and just keep the sword. She hadn't cared much for the Lord of Casterly Rock, but many visions of his future actions made it very hard to like him much. Tyland was much more reasonable, but he wasn't the Lord of the Westerlands. Unfortunately, his brother was.
Still, it had been the best possible action Helaena could have taken with Brightroar. Its value aside, she didn't know how to use the sword and even if she wanted to, she didn't have anyone to teach her. She also couldn't sell the sword as people would ask her where she had found it, and perhaps there would have been some friction with the Lannisters.
Helaena looked down at her daughter's sleeping face and smiled. This had been for her benefit after all.
It had worked, just as she expected. Jason Lannister had sent her a raven saying that he agreed to her conditions, and she gave the Valyrian Steel sword to Ser Tyland, who had made sure to spend as little time with her as she could.
Perhaps using her divination to scare people wasn't a very nice thing to do. That didn't change the fact that it was extremely funny.
Finally, just as she had foreseen, in the finals, Ser Criston unhorsed Boros Baratheon in a splendid display of skill, and the Kingsguard crowned her mother as the Queen of love and beauty. With that done, her father announced another feast to celebrate the end of the joust, as well as Otto Hightower's service.
Her grandfather would likely spend the coming hours dealing with drunk men speaking to him, before he would make his way to Oldtown as the King had bid him. By the time he would return, should he even return, Rhaenys would have tracked down and eliminated most of his influence in the Capital.
And so, while most of the Court made its way to the feast, Helaena excused herself and brought the twins back to their chambers, asking the maids to look after them. However, instead of making her way back, she returned to her room and changed out of the constrictive green dress that her mother had asked her to wear, before making her way to the Red Keep's Godswood. After all, she had no plans on attending the feast, and after a quick peek into the future, most would be too much into their cups to even notice that she hadn't returned.
As she expected, the Godswood was deserted, and Helaena prepared herself, feeling the fated moment approach with every second. After all, as time passed, she could feel her sight of the future slowly muddy, as if there was a cloud stopping the light from going through. She felt seen this cloud approach for days, waiting eagerly for it to come.
Finally, the moment arrived, and her butterfly necklace released a faint hum. The moment that she touched it, a familiar voice spoke up behind her, "Hello Helaena."
She turned and couldn't help but grin widely as she saw Lord Harry and Lady Daphne stand behind her in the flesh. She practically leapt towards both of them and engulfed them in a hug, "You took too long."
"Oh, sorry. There were a few things that we needed to finish first."
Helaena let go of them and rolled her eyes, "Is that so? Were you, perhaps, too busy robbing the Citadel?"
"Hey! It's not my fault that they had so many interesting and dangerous things in that library of theirs. I was also derailed by a little detour in the Hightower. I even met your youngest brother, Daeron. There were also these annoying people who kept trying to scry me. I ended up leaving them a little warning on a whim. Anyway, that's not important. Are you ready?"
The princess smiled widely at him, "I am."
Before she had even finished her sentence, she blinked and found herself far away from the relaxing Red Keep. Instead, she stood in front of a river, which spread forward into a gigantic grey fog. In the distance, she could almost see ruins in the distance, but not quite. There was also a stillness, a silence that felt unnatural and unnerving, like a serpent poised to strike.
Despite the terrible sight before her, Helaena couldn't help but smile.
After all, adventure awaited her.
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AN: We're finally starting the Chroyane arc. I know that this wasn't the most exciting of chapters, but I wanted to show the progression of the relationship between Helaena, Aegon and Aemond, as well as show Helaena growing in her use of her Seer abilities and also growing in confidence. Still, things should pick up from now on, and I'm really excited about the next few chapters. 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 on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.