himejoshing out

the thing that really sells rhaenyra giving alicent otto's ring is the timing. she hasn't had luck finding out anything about ormund's machinations, corlys is flat out refusing to act as her foremost advisor, ulf is parading around the city, someone is writing queen of bastards on the walls, daemon has presented her with the head of jace's supposed killer and denied her the right of her own revenge for the act. she's spiraling, control is slipping. but the ring, the ring is something she can do. the ring is proof she managed to complete this one simple task that was asked of her. in this long list of failures rhaenyra arranges for otto's remains to be sent home and she hands alicent his ring and lingers in her room and in that moment she has succeeded. yes everything else is imploding around her but she did this. and that counts for something to her