welcome to my cabinet of curiosities

The quiet is nice as is the glow of the candles that bathe Jace's decimated body with warmth you wish could revive him. Dampening a rag, you gently dab it at the gaping wounds left by the arrows of his killers. The seawater had done most of the cleansing.

You take the greatest care when you reach his neck. Hand quivering, you can't bring yourself to press the cloth against it.

Instead, you busy yourself with gently wrapping him with gauze.

Blinking back tears, you try to push the vision away. It had never been nightmares that plagued you as you slept. You were warned so many times, yet did nothing to protect Jace.

Even Helaena's apparition was attempting to reach you in a last-ditch effort. And you shoved her away.

When you look up, you find Rhaenyra standing at the base of the stairs. Her eyes were red rimmed, glossy as she was unable to look at Jace's body for too long. You can't even begin to imagine the pain she felt. She'd lost her eldest child, her heir. Not just Jace, but Rhaenyra never really had a chance to properly mourn Luce. Life became one bloody battle after another. There was no time for grief. Death would seize the opportunity either way and not spare a moment for you to catch your breath.

"He's almost ready. . ." Your voice croaks out.

"(y/n)."

"I've also had some of his personal effects retrieved to be burned with him." You could be speaking nonsense for all you knew. Your body floated on its own accord. Going through the motions was all you could do to even be standing there. You wouldn't permit your emotions to surface. Not yet at least.

Rhaenyra abruptly stills your hands. "(y/n)." She repeats even more softly.

You stare at her, not expecting her hands to still be so warm. You yourself felt ice cold.

"My sweet girl." Rhaenyra felt herself tremble looking at her one and only girl. Her warrior princess. "You do not have to do this alone."

Rhaenyra had buried a father, a stillborn daughter, a son, and now she watched another child preparing the body of the firstborn.

When you don't reply, Rhaenyra tries to coax you away from the bier. You immediately reach back toward Jace. "He isn't finished yet."

"He is."

"No. I have to finish."

"You already have."

"I have to-"

"(y/n), please!" The plea echoes through the cellar.

For one terrible heartbeat you simply stare at her then look back at Jace. "I know. . ." Your tears threaten to spill over your bottom lashes.

Your mother wraps her arms around you. At first you remain rigid like Jace's corpse.

Then, slowly, you sag into her embrace. Not weeping, not screaming, simply collapsing inward as though every bone in you had been hollowed out; unable to support you any longer.

"He was my. . ." your words fail you.

Twin was too small. Brother was not enough.

The Silent Sisters at some point left you and your mother to grieve as you now found it was just the two of you. She walks you over to a chair to have you sit down. She kneels in front of you and kisses your hands. "My darling, I know the wound is still raw and bleeding. . . but there is something we must speak of. Before anything else is to happen."

"I know."

"Do you?"

You nod once. "I am your heir now." The word tasted like poison.

Rhaenyra can't help but feel the burning presence of her son's body behind her as she looks away from her daughter. "Yes."

Your answer comes instantly. "No."

You don't have ot see her face to know there is disappointment. "(y/n)."

"I don't want it."

"You do not have the luxury of wanting, my darling." She's still trying to remain comforting and gentle.

"Give it to Joffrey. The lords will be pleased to have a male on the throne."

"He is a child." Rhaenyra shakes her head and stands. "You would surrender your birthright? Everything Jace fought so hard for-"

"It was never mine!" You finally meet her eyes. You feel your enflamed cheeks turn warmer. "It was ours. We were born together. We learned together. I was supposed to stand beside him. He was supposed to wear Grandfather's crown, and I was supposed to wear mine beside him. We were supposed to rule together!"

Not a queen. Never queen alone. Always beside him. Always with him.

"I was never meant to do this by myself." Your voice cracks.

Rhaenyra swallows hard against the lump in her throat. "You can. I know you can."

There's a frenzied moment where you leap from your chair, startling your mother. "Aren't you listening to me? I don't want it!" You never spoke against your mother until now. "I will not stand beside another man. I won't marry for a crown. I won't smile while someone else sits where he was supposed to sit. I refuse to pretend. I won't replace him!"

Now she is the one trying to placate you. "No one is asking you to replace him."

"That is exactly what everyone will ask." Your breathing was becoming uneven. "They'll bring lord after lord and claim it will be the good of the realm." You laugh bitterly. "Duty and the good of the realm have already taken enough from me."

Rhaenyra's jaw tightened. A part of her admires how bold you are. How fierce the fire inside of you blazed and fought against oppression. You always insisted on being true to yourself. But now she wishes you would yield just this once. Just for now until the throne was officially her's.

"Do you think Jacaerys died only for me? He flew north because I asked him and gathered the other houses because I needed allies. He fought because I am queen." Rhaenyra shakes her head. "No. He fought for his family. For his house and specifically for you." She rests her hands against your cheek. "He knew this could always happen... where you would stand, where he could not. He believed in you and the future the two of you would have together. Gods, I would have never anticipated agreeing to your union, but Jace was determined that no one else would do. He argued with lords who questioned you and praised you when you were not even there to hear it."

Yes, it was quite the scandal when Jace demanded to have you as his intended. Rhaenyra had proposed to him taking Baela as a wife but Jace refused.

"He loved you. Jace never thought he was protecting only my claim. He was protecting yours too." Rhaenyra can't stop her tears that roll slowly down her cheeks.

You lost it.

The sob that escapes you is raw enough to make the walls seem to mourn as well.

"I don't want the throne. I want my brother." you bury your face against your mother's shoulder.

Rhaenyra breaks just as hard as she holds onto you tightly.

You knew you would relent when grief turned to numbness.

For now, you allow yourself to resort back to being a young girl in desperate need of her mother.

He'd noticed during your evening flight how you'd grow breathless atop Aegarax. Once Vermax and Aegarax safely land, Jace slides off his dragon saddle and rushes to help you down.

"I'm alright, Jace. We didn't have to cut the flight short. Aegarax would never let me fall." Your fingers are touching your neck before moving to your chest.

"Please, let me take you to Maester Gerardys."

"If I have to swallow another one of his disgusting tonics, I think I'd have Aegarax set me ablaze."

Not liking your dark joke, Aegarax lets out an irritated trill before bonking her snout against your shoulder.

You pat her blue-and-red snout scales. "Oh you know I only jest."

"(y/n), I'm really worried about you." His soft voice drove a lump into your throat. How could you tell him that the reason for the nightmares and the pain. . . You knew the reason why. It made looking at him near unbareable.

You recall your aunt Helaena.

She was always odd. Spoke in riddles and stared off into the distance. Sometimes she'd stare at you, though. So intently you thought she was reading your mind. The last time you saw her was the last time your grandfather was alive.

At that dinner before you left, she'd grabbed your arm. She'd scared you greatly as she whispered, "You hear them too."

"What?"

Her eyes remained on you. "Do not let the other half of your soul near deep water."

You can see Jace's body floating in the water.

"Jace. . ." You grip his arm. Your fingers dig deeply into his arm as a way to reassure yourself that he is still there with you. "I've been having terrible dreams. Almost every night since my chest pains started."

Every time you close your eyes, the image of a large arrow sticking out of the back of your beloved brother's neck bursts behind your eyelids.

It was horrific to see every night, and it was beginning to eat away at you.

His dark eyes are full of worry. He puts a hand on top of yours, gently coaxes your fingers loose, and brings your hand to his lips so he can press his lips against your knuckles.

"Please tell me, sweet sister. Let me help you."

"To speak of it, might bring it to life." You whisper and allow Jace to pull you in against his chest. He was warm. Alive.

"Then we'll face the reality of it together. You're the one who always says we can do anything as long as we have each other." He won't let you push this down and ignore it. "Maybe if you tell me, it will alleviate whatever is haunting you."

Numbly, you watch your dragons twist together in the air. Vermax's green clashed with Aegarax's blue and red. "Each night, I dream of your death." You can feel the pickup of his heart as you lay your head against his chest. "It feels. . . so real Jace. I lose you every night and there's nothing I can do."

"How do I die?"

"Oh, Jace. I don't want to tell you."

His nose nuzzles against the back of your head. "Kostilus, ñuha prūmia." (Please, my heart.)

You heave a sigh and close your eyes. "You fall into water. Sometimes I think you'll make it. Swim to shore. But. . . But an arrow pierces your neck, and many strike your chest." Your free hand hovers over your breast. "I feel each one strike you."

Turning in his arms, you stare up at him with wild eyes. "It just has to be a dream, right? Nothing more."

Jace's expression is morose, his pretty mouth pursed into a grimace. Instead of giving you a verbal reply, Jace cups your face and leans in to kiss you.

Your heart flutters, feet lifting off the ground an inch as you let him sweep you up in his sudden kiss.

When the two of you part, you're breathless.

"Tis but a dream, sweet sister. Please try not to worry yourself over something that isn't real." His thumb swoops over your cheekbone. "I'm here. Not even the gods or war can tear me away from you." He goes in for another kiss that has your fingers weaving into his dark curls. His kisses are so intense that somehow the two of you wind up on the grass, entwined with one another. Your fingers clumsy and impatient to rid the both of you of clothes. Only the sky and your dragons watching over you as Jace takes you over and over again. He rids you of your fear.

Jace was alive.

Jace was with you.

Darkness swirls around your ankles.

Your eyes squint, trying to make out the apparating figure in front of you.

"Hello?"

"Hello."

You pause.

"Helaena?"

You'd never dreamed of Helaena before.

Her pale blonde hair is loose and looks like an ethereal veil trailing behind her. You hadn't seen her since the night your grandfather died. When she happily danced with Jace.

"You're still dreaming, yes, but this is real."

You recoil. "Why are you here?"

"You know why."

You shake your head. "It was only a dream I had of Jace. Nothing more." Insisting, you can feel your palms begin to bead with sweat. "It's not going to happen."

"Do you really believe that?" Helaena's words echo your own doubt. She can feel you trying to wake yourself up, so she hastily adds, "I wasn't sure at first, if you were like me. I'd seen you in dreams. You played with dragons the size of butterflies."

That had definitely been a dream of your's you'd had before.

"It's alright. I know it must be scary to have these dreams-"

"They are just dreams." You continue to insist.

She looks at you with pity. "If only they were. (y/n), Jacaerys will die."

"No." You shake your head. That same pain was starting to bite at your chest. "NO."

"(y/n)-"

"NO!!" You shriek. "Get out of my head!!"

As you wake up, you can still recall Helaena's sad face.

Your eyes track Ser Lorent's index finger as it travels over the massive map that encompasses the Painted Table.

Rhaenyra, having just told everyone that Alicent had paid a visit to Dragonstone in the dead of night, was still intent on going to King's Landing based on a blind promise made by Alicent that no harm would come to her.

"Your Grace!"

Everyone turns to see Baela stalking up to the queen with gravity etched deep onto her beautiful face.

"There is war in the Gullet." She immediately spits out her words, almost too fast for her mouth to form.

Rhaenyra disregards the men before her and goes up to Baela. "Who?"

"An armada of ships sailing out of the rising sun from the east."

Armada.

Your eyes widen.

A heaviness weighs down the bottom of your stomach.

Images of your twin floating belly up in the water.

Arrows sticking out of him.

Jace grimaces. "A trap."

Rhaenyra considers it. You can see the cogs of her brain working to choose the best decision. She looks back at you and Jace. Her eldest heirs.

Facing Baela, Rhaenyra says with conviction, "I shall go."

You pale. Your dreams were never of your mother dying. Who would be better to lose? Your brother or mother?

Not wanting to be the one to make that decision, you grab Jace's forearm.

You didn't want either of them to die. Not after the grief that Luce's death caused.

Without regarding you or Jace, Rhaenyra exits the room with Ser Lorent not far behind.

"We can't let her go." Jace drags you along with him, speeding after the queen. Baela stares helplessly after you.

Pursuing her through dark corridors, Jace calls out to Rhaenyra. All while you desperately try to pull him back.

"Jace-"

"Mother! Stop! You cannot!" He shouts.

The walls of the corridor are closing in on you. His shouts and your mother's own of indignation warble out of focus.

Jacaerys will die.

Helaena said it so confidently.

And now. . .

Rhaenyra slams her bedroom doors shut. Leaving you, Jace and Ser Lorent in the dark.

You don't like how quiet Jace is, heatedly staring at the centuries-worn wood of the door. He still hasn't let you go.

"Jace. . . whatever the queen has instructed. . . we need to heed now. I know you don't want her to go out there, but Syrax is much larger than Vermax and Aegarax. She can destroy the armada single-handedly."

He's a bit hurt at that. "You don't think as her heir I can?"

"Jace, be reasonable." You feel sick. There was no way you could let him go out there.

His face softens. "(y/n), remember what I said? Those dreams are just dreams. If you, Baela, and I were to meet them at the Gullet, there would be no reason for Mother to be there. We can get this done before the day's end."

"Jacaerys stop."

You hardly ever used his full name. You're panting and possibly having a panic attack, but you don't care. Through ragged breaths, you plead with him. "We need to listen to the queen."

Jace's dark eyes drill into you. So intent that you think maybe he'll listen to you. That was until he turned to Ser Lorent. "You are to lock and bar this door. The queen must be confined until she regains her senses. But first. . ."

There's an apology on his face. In one swift movement, Jace opens your mother's chamber doors and spins you inside before shutting them firmly behind you.

Rhaenyra is shocked at your sudden appearance.

"JACE!!" Your fists bang on the door.

"What is going on?"

Your scream is bloody murder. "JACE!! Open the door!!!"

Rhaenyra moves you aside and tries to open the door, but it is already locked. Realization dawns on her.

"Ser Lorent? Open the door."

You press your back against a pillar, heavily breathing and squeezing your eyes shut.

It was just a dream.

He'll come back, safe and sound, and Rhaenyra will give him the tongue lashing of the century.

Everything will be fine.

Everything will be fine.

Everything will be fine.

It couldn't be Jace.

This pale corpse that they bring before you and your mother.

There simply had to be a mistake. Jace and Vermax should be on their way home.

Your body knows better.

Tears swell, blinding your eyes. Your hand trails the arrow piercings from his chest to his neck. Exactly what you'd dreamed. Your hand trembles over his neck.

You're trying to be strong for your mother as she rages and howls.

"You stupid idiot." You heave under your breath. "You asshole. How could you. . ." You wish he were alive so you could pummel him. "Were we not a team in every way?"

I wish I'd died with him.

A sob rakes your body. Your mother's yelling stops when she hears you.

"How could you die without me? You promised!" Rage felt better than sorrow. "You promised me Jace!!"

For years, he'd promised you the Seven Kingdoms. That the two of you would reign like Jahaerys and Alysanne. You would be his queen.

Never were you apart from long, even during your birth; you were only a few seconds behind him.

"We were supposed to die together. We're twins. . ."

Rhaenyra holds you in her arms, weeping just as much. The last time you'd buried your face in your mother's chest was years ago. You turn once more to the security of her embrace and let your tears stain the front of her gown.

Being heir was nice when you split it with someone.

Now, Rhaenyra's crown would lie entirely on you. There would be no Jace to stand next to you to shoulder the burden with you. That's why the two of you were born at the same time. The same soul with separate bodies. It was easier to face the world when there was someone always by your side.

Unfair that you were so beloved, and Jacaerys, your twin, was thought of as a bastard.

He sees the looks cast upon him by Alicent and her kin. Even other lords and ladies of the Keep showed their suspicious disdain toward him.

And you, smiling up at him with utter reverence. Pure love radiated from you whenever you and Jace were together. Many may love and adore you, but none of them held your attention like he did. That was enough to make Jace feel special, the most important person in the Seven Kingdoms.

You were someone Queen Alicent couldn't scrutinize, unlike the rest of your siblings. She couldn't call you a bastard born, nor could Aegon or Aemond.

Even atop of Vermax, Jace watches you. The wind tangling your wild, silver mane as you carelessly laugh. Your mount under you, Aegarax, lets out her own shrill scream of delight as the she-dragon pierces through clouds like an arrow through the heart.

Never was there a more beautiful sight than that which caused Jace's chest to ache with longing.

Aegarax's red and blue-scaled belly shimmers as she flies low to the water of Blackwater Bay, scaring a few seamen who were out on their docks. They laugh when they see it's you. The people of King's Landing cherished you most of all. You were seen as the playful epitome of a dragon-riding princess. They used to call Rhaenyra 'the Realm's Delight', but the title was now passed down to you.

Vermax and Jace take a sharp, upward ascension to avoid clipping a cargo ship's sails. He was still getting used to handling a dragon beneath him. You seemed to effortlessly take flight the moment Aegarax was big enough to ride. When you were angry, Jacaerys thought you took on the very visage of your dragon. Fire behind your eyes and a terrifying roar.

His haze of adoration for you is abruptly cut short when he realizes that a familiar golden dragon was diving for you and Aegarax. You appeared oblivious to the oncoming danger.

"Adere, Vermax! (Quick, Vermax!)" Jacaerys urges Vermax in your direction.

Barely making it back inside the Red Keep's walls, Sunfyre tauntingly pecks at the top of Aegarax.

Vermax is close enough that Jace could make out you tilting your head up to see your uncle, Aegon.

Aegarax snaps her jaws at Sunfyre in annoyance. She was as quick-tempered as you were.

To prevent any disasters, Jace watches Aegarax's sleek form make a safe landing at the mouth of the dragon pit, startling many of the handlers as they rush to move out of the way. All the while, Jace could hear Aegon's snide laughter.

You angrily throw your helmet off and slide down Aegarax's side.

Fury couldn't begin to describe the snapping jaws of a hellish dragon burst inside of you.

He could have killed you with an aerial attack like that. Thank the gods Aegarax didn't startle easily. She handled that taunt with true grace.

She's snorting and rumbling at the dragonkeepers. Smoke curls from the slits of her nostril, the spikes along her body on an offensive edge. "Gīda (Calm). Nothing good will happen with both of us spitting fire." You tell her.

You hear Jace call your name as he dismounts Vermax. "Are you okay?"

He can already taste your rage in the air.

"That dickhead-" Your eyes dart up to the sky, waiting for Sunfyre's descent with curled fists "I'll get him for that. One of these days when Aegarax is bigger, he's going to regret it."

Your older twin manages to get you into a carriage that was waiting for your return. He holds your hand on the ride back in an attempt to quash your heat.

Upon getting back to the castle, you and Jace go to Rhaenyra and tell her of what happened. You tattled on yourself for skipping out on your lessons as a consequence, but you knew what Aegon did would outweigh you playing hooky.

Rhaenyra, indignation high on her cheeks, mutters to herself, "He could have killed her..." before putting her attention back on her twins. She cups your cheek then does the same to Jacaerys. "I'll take care of this. In the meantime, the two of you catch up on the material you missed out on."

Jace gawks. "But-"

"Did you think I'd let the two of you slide on your studies? You're my heir, Jace, and you, my only daughter, will be Crown Princess once Jacaerys becomes king. There are duties you have to attend to as well. We need your mind sharp." She gently admonishes both of you. "Go apologize to your septa and repent."

After hours spent hunched over your tomes, you and Jace tiredly wobble out of the library, eyes weary and dry from reading small print on dusty parchment.

"Thank the gods Septa Sarsah took pity on us to release us for dinner." Jacaerys weakly smiles, though his steps grew lighter the farther you got from your studies.

To get to the tower where your branch of the family resides, you had to cross the main courtyard. The sun cast a deep orange glow in the sky as its rays were slowly extinguished. You loved this time of day.

Especially the way it glinted off of your twin’s dark hair.

You love him so much that it aches your heart as you stop in your steps and whisper, “I’m sorry I got you in trouble too. It was my idea to skip out on our lessons.” You seemed to get Jace in trouble often. Even if it was your idea, Jacaerys unfairly received much more of the blame. You knew it was mainly due to your differing hair color. Everyone was always ready to blame him because his coloring resembled that of Harwin Strong, the man everyone believed to be your mother's lover and the true father to her children.

He's confused, pausing mid-step to glance back at you before fully facing you with a frown. "It wasn't your fault."

Sadly smiling to yourself, you shake your head in disagreement. "Oh, Jace, always trying to protect me."

"I could have very well stayed in the godswood and obeyed our septa. I have my own will, and I decided to go with you." He insists. "Plus, as the older twin, I could have stopped you, too."

Snorting out a laugh, you close the distance between the two of you to admire his dark eyes. "You? Stop me?"

He grins down. "I can be very persuasive." Jacaerys towered over you. As children, you had been the taller one for the longest time. But when your brother hit that age where little boys become men, it hit hard.

A derisive scoff comes from a few feet down the corridor. "And how would you consider yourself persuasive, nephew? With your tongue or sword?"

All lightness fled from you as you moved around your brother to glare at Aegon. Jace's firm hand clamps down on your arm to prevent you from lunging at your uncle.

"You could've killed me with that stunt you pulled." You hiss, using your free hand to try and pry Jace's grip off of you. "You think that's funny?"

"I would never hurt you, sweet niece." Aegon's voice turns annoyingly sweet with a hint of mockery. His steps were slow and calculated. He was married to his sister Helaena, yet the way his eyes crawled up and down your body made you sick to your stomach.

For a time there was talk of marrying you off to Aegon as a sort of truce between Alicent and Rhaenyra. To ease the tension between the branches of your family. That was one thing you could thank Alicent for; she was the one who put up a fight against the union.

Aegon never stopped treating you like his potential bride. When he'd heard of the potential engagement, Aegon was actually quite excited. He'd had feelings for you since you budded into a young lady. Always wanting. . . more of you. Eyes that hungered to shred the clothing you wore and to rove over your bare skin. Never bothering to hide his obvious lust for you both deeply unsettled you and your twin.

"Go back to your wife, Aegon." You snarl.

That makes him laugh. "The audacity you have is charming. Yet you should know better than to order me around."

"Why wouldn't she? She could very well become queen when our mother dies." Jace feels you stir.

He regrets looking at you, for he found stars in your eyes as you stare up at him with reverence. He read the thought in your eyes: 'For me to be queen, you must be king'.

Aegon reads the threat clearly. "Not even your mother would allow such a horrendous match."

"Why wouldn't she? You married your own sister." Counters Jace, a snap in his voice.

Squaring his chest, an ugly scowl crosses Aegon's face. "You're twins, too close with your. . . Strong blood."

You would maim him for that.

Once again you find Jace restrain you. He leans down to whisper in your ear "Say the word and I will make him bleed for you."

Heart racing and face blooming with a blush, you nod. He'd get in even more trouble for making Alicent's eldest son bleed. Rheanyra would surely be disappointed in him and give him the lecture of the decade. Worst would be the affirmation of his bad blood. The Hightowers would permanently point the finger at him and deem him a disgrace to the Targaryen name.

He should hate you for making him love you so much.

Hate everything about you, from your typical Targaryen looks to the fact that you never got punished as bad as he did.

His pure love for you was stronger than any breed of hate.

And for you, he clenched his dominant hand into a harsh fist and lunged for Aegon.

You watch, titillated and dizzy at the brawl that broke out right in front of you.

You felt bad for the trouble he would get in for this. But there was a sick thrill you received when you saw your twin fight for you at your command.

He may be the eldest twin but you held the reins.

Jacaerys could never hate you, the only person he shared half a soul with. The gods were cruel, though, in having both of you share a womb yet make you look completely different. You with your pale hair and dark, violet eyes that bore into the soul. While Jace. . . Jace, Luce, and Joff have the wavy, rich coloration very similar to a certain Lord Commander of the City Watch of King's Landing.

Unfair that you were so beloved, and Jacaerys, your twin, was thought of as a bastard.

He sees the looks cast upon him by Alicent and her kin. Even other lords and ladies of the Keep showed their suspicious disdain toward him.

And you, smiling up at him with utter reverence. Pure love radiated from you whenever you and Jace were together. Many may love and adore you, but none of them held your attention like he did. That was enough to make Jace feel special, the most important person in the Seven Kingdoms.

You were someone Queen Alicent couldn't scrutinize, unlike the rest of your siblings. She couldn't call you a bastard born, nor could Aegon or Aemond.

Even atop of Vermax, Jace watches you. The wind tangling your wild, silver mane as you carelessly laugh. Your mount under you, Aegarax, lets out her own shrill scream of delight as the she-dragon pierces through clouds like an arrow through the heart.

Never was there a more beautiful sight than that which caused Jace's chest to ache with longing.

Aegarax's red and blue-scaled belly shimmers as she flies low to the water of Blackwater Bay, scaring a few seamen who were out on their docks. They laugh when they see it's you. The people of King's Landing cherished you most of all. You were seen as the playful epitome of a dragon-riding princess. They used to call Rhaenyra 'the Realm's Delight', but the title was now passed down to you.

Vermax and Jace take a sharp, upward ascension to avoid clipping a cargo ship's sails. He was still getting used to handling a dragon beneath him. You seemed to effortlessly take flight the moment Aegarax was big enough to ride. When you were angry, Jacaerys thought you took on the very visage of your dragon. Fire behind your eyes and a terrifying roar.

His haze of adoration for you is abruptly cut short when he realizes that a familiar golden dragon was diving for you and Aegarax. You appeared oblivious to the oncoming danger.

"Adere, Vermax! (Quick, Vermax!)" Jacaerys urges Vermax in your direction.

Barely making it back inside the Red Keep's walls, Sunfyre tauntingly pecks at the top of Aegarax.

Vermax is close enough that Jace could make out you tilting your head up to see your uncle, Aegon.

Aegarax snaps her jaws at Sunfyre in annoyance. She was as quick-tempered as you were.

To prevent any disasters, Jace watches Aegarax's sleek form make a safe landing at the mouth of the dragon pit, startling many of the handlers as they rush to move out of the way. All the while, Jace could hear Aegon's snide laughter.

You angrily throw your helmet off and slide down Aegarax's side.

Fury couldn't begin to describe the snapping jaws of a hellish dragon burst inside of you.

He could have killed you with an aerial attack like that. Thank the gods Aegarax didn't startle easily. She handled that taunt with true grace.

She's snorting and rumbling at the dragonkeepers. Smoke curls from the slits of her nostril, the spikes along her body on an offensive edge. "Gīda (Calm). Nothing good will happen with both of us spitting fire." You tell her.

You hear Jace call your name as he dismounts Vermax. "Are you okay?"

He can already taste your rage in the air.

"That dickhead-" Your eyes dart up to the sky, waiting for Sunfyre's descent with curled fists "I'll get him for that. One of these days when Aegarax is bigger, he's going to regret it."

Your older twin manages to get you into a carriage that was waiting for your return. He holds your hand on the ride back in an attempt to quash your heat.

Upon getting back to the castle, you and Jace go to Rhaenyra and tell her of what happened. You tattled on yourself for skipping out on your lessons as a consequence, but you knew what Aegon did would outweigh you playing hooky.

Rhaenyra, indignation high on her cheeks, mutters to herself, "He could have killed her..." before putting her attention back on her twins. She cups your cheek then does the same to Jacaerys. "I'll take care of this. In the meantime, the two of you catch up on the material you missed out on."

Jace gawks. "But-"

"Did you think I'd let the two of you slide on your studies? You're my heir, Jace, and you, my only daughter, will be Crown Princess once Jacaerys becomes king. There are duties you have to attend to as well. We need your mind sharp." She gently admonishes both of you. "Go apologize to your septa and repent."

After hours spent hunched over your tomes, you and Jace tiredly wobble out of the library, eyes weary and dry from reading small print on dusty parchment.

"Thank the gods Septa Sarsah took pity on us to release us for dinner." Jacaerys weakly smiles, though his steps grew lighter the farther you got from your studies.

To get to the tower where your branch of the family resides, you had to cross the main courtyard. The sun cast a deep orange glow in the sky as its rays were slowly extinguished. You loved this time of day.

Especially the way it glinted off of your twin’s dark hair.

You love him so much that it aches your heart as you stop in your steps and whisper, “I’m sorry I got you in trouble too. It was my idea to skip out on our lessons.” You seemed to get Jace in trouble often. Even if it was your idea, Jacaerys unfairly received much more of the blame. You knew it was mainly due to your differing hair color. Everyone was always ready to blame him because his coloring resembled that of Harwin Strong, the man everyone believed to be your mother's lover and the true father to her children.

He's confused, pausing mid-step to glance back at you before fully facing you with a frown. "It wasn't your fault."

Sadly smiling to yourself, you shake your head in disagreement. "Oh, Jace, always trying to protect me."

"I could have very well stayed in the godswood and obeyed our septa. I have my own will, and I decided to go with you." He insists. "Plus, as the older twin, I could have stopped you, too."

Snorting out a laugh, you close the distance between the two of you to admire his dark eyes. "You? Stop me?"

He grins down. "I can be very persuasive." Jacaerys towered over you. As children, you had been the taller one for the longest time. But when your brother hit that age where little boys become men, it hit hard.

A derisive scoff comes from a few feet down the corridor. "And how would you consider yourself persuasive, nephew? With your tongue or sword?"

All lightness fled from you as you moved around your brother to glare at Aegon. Jace's firm hand clamps down on your arm to prevent you from lunging at your uncle.

"You could've killed me with that stunt you pulled." You hiss, using your free hand to try and pry Jace's grip off of you. "You think that's funny?"

"I would never hurt you, sweet niece." Aegon's voice turns annoyingly sweet with a hint of mockery. His steps were slow and calculated. He was married to his sister Helaena, yet the way his eyes crawled up and down your body made you sick to your stomach.

For a time there was talk of marrying you off to Aegon as a sort of truce between Alicent and Rhaenyra. To ease the tension between the branches of your family. That was one thing you could thank Alicent for; she was the one who put up a fight against the union.

Aegon never stopped treating you like his potential bride. When he'd heard of the potential engagement, Aegon was actually quite excited. He'd had feelings for you since you budded into a young lady. Always wanting. . . more of you. Eyes that hungered to shred the clothing you wore and to rove over your bare skin. Never bothering to hide his obvious lust for you both deeply unsettled you and your twin.

"Go back to your wife, Aegon." You snarl.

That makes him laugh. "The audacity you have is charming. Yet you should know better than to order me around."

"Why wouldn't she? She could very well become queen when our mother dies." Jace feels you stir.

He regrets looking at you, for he found stars in your eyes as you stare up at him with reverence. He read the thought in your eyes: 'For me to be queen, you must be king'.

Aegon reads the threat clearly. "Not even your mother would allow such a horrendous match."

"Why wouldn't she? You married your own sister." Counters Jace, a snap in his voice.

Squaring his chest, an ugly scowl crosses Aegon's face. "You're twins, too close with your. . . Strong blood."

You would maim him for that.

Once again you find Jace restrain you. He leans down to whisper in your ear "Say the word and I will make him bleed for you."

Heart racing and face blooming with a blush, you nod. He'd get in even more trouble for making Alicent's eldest son bleed. Rheanyra would surely be disappointed in him and give him the lecture of the decade. Worst would be the affirmation of his bad blood. The Hightowers would permanently point the finger at him and deem him a disgrace to the Targaryen name.

He should hate you for making him love you so much.

Hate everything about you, from your typical Targaryen looks to the fact that you never got punished as bad as he did.

His pure love for you was stronger than any breed of hate.

And for you, he clenched his dominant hand into a harsh fist and lunged for Aegon.

You watch, titillated and dizzy at the brawl that broke out right in front of you.

You felt bad for the trouble he would get in for this. But there was a sick thrill you received when you saw your twin fight for you at your command.

He may be the eldest twin but you held the reins.