tragedy after tragedy had found her ever since the death of her father . the usurpation , the loss of the daughter she so desired , the loss of her son . still , the gods were kind enough to bring said son back to her after she had restlessly looked for him , unable to accept nor believe he was gone . the queen could still feel him as if he was part of her . as he appeared at the gates of the castle , dragged along by her guards , looking as if … a different person , a stark contrast to the boy she had raised , it felt as if her heart would have burst out of her chest . the relief , the happiness she had felt . then the agony of seeing him in pain , the sorrow in his eyes , the grief he was feeling due to the loss of his dragon . a pain he shared with her own dragon . the golden beauty who had laid that egg that was placed in his crib after he had been born.
if she wanted to see him , he was always in his chambers , locked inside , refusing to step outside for he could not handle the way everyone would look at him , try to help him as if he was useless . he was not , rhaenyra knew that . crippled or not , dragon or not , that was her son , her sweetest boy who had sworn to protect her when he was nothing but a small princeling . he was strong , she kept reminding the maester , in which the man had agreed without hesitation . he was . he would go back to himself , soon enough . he needed time . something rhaenyra would not take from him . the loss of a dragon , for a rider , felt as if something had been ripped off from them . a phantom limb.
she nearly does not hear the knock on the door , taking a few seconds to allow the person from the other side to come inside , hands still flipping pages from yet another one of those old , dusty , history tomes . perhaps they would give her an answer , give her the advice she sought for during these times of needless yet unavoidable war . only did her eyes lift from those pages when she heard the familiar noise of that cane hitting the stone floors . it was somewhat unusual to see him out && about , however the sight brought her a sense of relief . progress , she thought . the corner of her lips tug up in a soft smile , tenderness reflected in violet orbs as she watches him && with a shake of her head , she gives him her response . ❛ ⠀ no apology is needed . you are alive , that is what matters . ⠀ ❜
every word , she had meant && while admittedly , securing house baratheon would have been ideal , clearly an advantage for them , having lucerys in front of her was more important . a heavy exhale comes out of her , glancing down at the book she was skimming through && the mess of scrolls scattered over her desk . moments like these , she was unable to look at him . was it not her fault that he had gone all the way to storm's end ? his own mother had allowed him to act as an envoy . he should have stayed home , with her , safe . with a nod of her head , she motions to a seat near her , not wanting him to be on his feet for too long . ❛ ⠀ as i have said , your safety is most important to me . dwell on it no longer , my sweet . ⠀ ❜