Chapter 5: 005 The Second Name Day (2)
Rhaenyra turned toward the dwarf, who was supposed to be singing.
But her brows creased when she looked at her friend (former friend).
Rhaenyra had long white hair; her purple eyes had a glimmering shine to them, like that of a warrior, contrasting nicely with her pale white skin.
A long black coat with red accents draped over her slender body, with a hint of redness in her cheeks.
"What are you doing here, Rhaenyra?" Alicent asked her friend. She noticed that Rhaenyra was isolating herself further away from her.
'She's stubborn,' she mumbled to herself; she tried to talk to her friend, and the more she did, the more she thought Rhaenyra was going through something, of which Alicent had a clear idea of.
"I am reading," Rhaenyra replied, her gaze didn't linger on Alucent for long as she turned toward the book, "The Tales of the Targaryen might!" She read.
Aegon watched his half-sister intently. He intended to leave her alone, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was stupid.
'Haah! Leaving her alone would bite back in the ass,' he mumbled inwardly.
'Even if I can win the dance, it will come at a cost. I don't know what will happen, but either my siblings or I could, no, will get hurt.'
He then turned toward his mother and began to furiously wiggle in her arms, signaling her to drop him on the ground.
Alicent, who noticed her son's wiggling, understood and put him on the ground and turned toward Rhaenyra, "The king wants you to be there, Rhaenyra."
A pleading look adorned her face as she looked at her friend; she wanted to say, 'I want you to be there!' but couldn't; she felt a lump in her throat when she thought about it.
THUD
Rhaenyra closed the book with a thud; anger and frustration flared in her eyes as she turned toward Alicent. "The king wants me to be there?"
Alicent was a little shocked at Rhaenyra's outburst, her green eyes dilated in confusion as she couldn't understand why she was angry.
But before Alicent could reply to her, Aegon, who had reached Rhaenyra, said.
"Sister, Aegon, Lift!" He said as he raised his arms.
Both the women looked at Aegon, who had raised his little hands in the air, his purple eyes shining with innocence as he looked at his sister.
'Well, prevention is better than the cure.' He mumbled inwardly as he said again, "Lift!"
Rhaenyra was conflicted as she looked at her brother; she bit her lip as her eyes wavered with uncertainty about what she should do.
She wanted to be far from him; after all, he was taking her birthright away. But then again, he is her brother, and he is only two years old.
'Ugh! Only this once!' she grumbled inwardly as she looked into his innocent eyes.
Opening her arms reluctantly, she lifted him up in her arms and placed him on her lap.
"Hehehe," Aegon giggled as he made himself comfortable in her lap, which surprised Alicent.
A small smile formed on the Queen as she said, "It seems that Aegon likes you."
"Why do you say that?" Rhaenyra asked as she turned toward her.
Alicent's smile widened as she walked toward Rhaenyra, her heart beating rapidly as she was happy that Rhaenyra wasn't pushing her son away.
She sat beside Rhaenyra and picked up the book, "because Aegon never laughs."
She looked at her son, caressing his cheeks. "He only smiles at me, only laughs for me." She said, proudly.
Rhaenyra narrowed her eyes at her former friend, not believing her words.
Alicent ignored her friend's stares and continued, "Even the king, his father, only received blank stares from him. No matter who, even if it were the maids who raised him alongside me. So I am surprised that he smiled at you."
Rhaenyra turned to her brother, her eyes glinting with understanding while Alicent asked, "Aegon, do you like your sister?"
'I mean, not really. But I guess I will come to like her when I get to know her better.'
"Yes! Aegon, like!" he answered, contrary to his inner thoughts.
'I think I read where Otto proposes a marriage between Aegon and Rhaenyra. But it is said that Viserys, that coward, felt repulsed by that idea.'
His eyes narrowed a little as he thought about it, 'I mean, that Targaryens are known to marry blood siblings, so what's wrong with marrying a half-sister!? It could have fucking prevented the bloody dance!'
Rhaenyra, oblivious to Aegon's inner thoughts, was quite surprised by his answer. She knew he wasn't lying, as a two-year-old cannot lie yet.
But that only made the conflict in her heart more deeper.
She bit her lip in frustration while clenching her fist. Her heartbeat rose as her body tensed.
Alicent watched her friend and knew that something was wrong. 'What happened suddenly? She was fine before, and I thought… I thought maybe we could go back to before.'
Her heart ached when she saw her friend's expression.
Aegon too watched Rhaenyra intently, 'Hmm, that should be enough for now. I should grow that bond she has with me, increase the conflict within her heart, and wait until it bursts, and once it dies, I can make my move.'
The trio fell into an awkward silence as Alicent didn't know what to do while Rhaenyra was conflicted about her emotions.
A few moments passed, and the silence became uncomfortable for the two friends. 'Oh gods, what is this!?' Alicent thought to herself.
But she let out a big sigh of relief when she heard a maid from behind.
"Your Grace, His Highness requests you to hurry; the carriage is ready, and the lords are waiting for you at the hunt."
Alicent thanked the maid inwardly while Rhaenyra, looking at her friend, said, "We should go. The king demands our presence!"
.....
Note: Rhaenyra too objected the marriage proposal with Aegon in the original lore. She thought of Aegon as a rival who is challenging her brother right.
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