No Requiem

DAENYS WAS SILENT AS HER MOTHER LED HER TO BED. As if she could have said anything. Even with the best attempts to soothe her throat, it still ached, and fear had stolen what little remained of her voice.

Rhaenyra was saying something to the children as they walked, but Daenys didn't hear her. All she wanted was her bed and her father.

But tragedy was not done with Daenys Velaryon.

It happened not that night but the next. Daenys was just on the edge of sleep when the screaming awoke her. She blinked through the darkness. There was another moment where Daenys laid in bed, frozen in fear by the sound.

Finally, she slipped out of bed and began to creep out of the door.

After the events of the night before, Daenys was terrified. She had learned to fear the night. Whatever the woman — she could tell it was a woman — was screaming about, it could not be good. Nothing good caused such a horrible sound.

Yet that same terror led her down the darkened passageway. The further she went, the more concerned she became. Especially as she came into contact with panicked servants, who didn't even register her presence. Though Daenys could not pick up their words, she could hear the terror in their whispers.

The wailing led Daenys to the sitting room. Rhaenys was crumbled by the fireplace. Corlys held her tightly as she wept into her hands. The sight only scared Daenys more. She knew her grandmother was strong, not one to be emotional. Not even Laena's funeral had moved her this greatly.

"Grandmother?" Daenys started towards the two.

At once Corlys' head snapped up towards her. Something unreadable flashed across his face.

"Who let the girl in here?" Corlys demanded of a nearby servant, a terrified looking young woman. When she only blinked at him he demanded, "Take my granddaughter to her room! This isn't a place for children."

To the servant's defense, she did attempt to stop Daenys. But by then the girl had already rushed over, and Lord Corlys himself had to step in to stop her. Still the Daenys caught a glimpse of a burnt corpse laid just outside the fireplace. The body was destroyed so greatly it was almost impossible to recognize him.

Almost impossible...if not for the fact that servants in the hall had been whispering of Laenor and that Daenys could not think of another person Rhaenys would mourn in such a manner.

"Where is my father?" Daenys demanded.

A part of her knew the answer, but she refused to believe it. Corlys did not answer. Instead he passed her off to a guard near the door.

"Take the princess to her mother at once," Corlys ordered.

"No! I want my father," Daenys demanded. She had begun to cry now. Despite this she tried her hardest to make her voice sound commanding. "Take me to my father."

Instead she was taken to Rhaenyra. The servant explained to her what had happened, and in seconds she had engulfed her daughter in a hug.

Daenys sobbed into her mother's shoulder. Everything seemed to collapse in on her at once. Rhaenyra did the best she could to comfort her daughter, but in the end, it wasn't enough. It never would be.

˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲

GAEL HELPED CARRY TRUNKS TO THE SHIP. The Smallwoods were meant to leave that morning, but with Laenor's death she had decided to stay behind.

Her husband and children would not be joining her. Merlon was anxious to get back to Acorn Hall. He said he just missed his family, but Gael suspected the events of Laena's funeral had destroyed the already strained comfort he had around the Targaryens.

The triplets were equally exhausted. Mary threw a tantrum when it was suggested they remain longer, and Aelyx had refused to keep her gaze. Lyle had said he was willing to stay, but Gael knew him well enough to tell it was a front.

A dockworker had taken the trunk from Gael's grasp when Rhaenyra approached her. She was polite enough to wait until the two were done to clear her throat.

"You'll have to forgive me, I'm not exactly in the mood to speak at the moment," Gael muttered.

"I know," Rhaenyra sighed. She stared out at the horizon before continuing, "But I wished to invite you and your family to sail to Dragonstone with us before you left."

"I'm helping with the funeral," Gael said flatly.

She made no attempt to hide her mood. Laena and Laenor had been closer to siblings than cousins. Now they were both gone. Gael didn't feel like being kind.

And why should she? Her son had been assaulted, her friend murdered, and her family ignored and children traumatized for the sake of Alicent and Rhaenyra's vendetta against each other.

"Daemon and I are to be married in two days' time," Rhaenyra said.

For a moment, Gael only shared blankly at her sister. Was this what her sister found humorous now?

Then she realized Rhaenyra was being serious. Gael ran her hand down her face, fighting the urge to grab Rhaenyra by the shoulders and shake her.

"Have you gone mad?" Gael demanded. "Think of your children, both of your children. Baela and Rhaena have lost their mother, and bastard or not —"

"That slander —" Rhaenyra began.

"And bastards or not," Gael repeated, this time with more force. She had no interest in Rhaenyra's farce, at least not in private. "Laenor was your children's father, and they loved him dearly. You know as well as I the grief we suffered after our mother's death. You wish to inflict that upon them?"

"I am heir to the throne, it is my duty to remarry," Rhaenyra said. She seemed taken aback by Gael's admonishments. "I believed you of all people would be on my side on the matter."

"I am! I am on your side, as I have been since we were children," Gael snapped. "But I stand by you as your sister, not your lickspittle. I will not allow you to throw away your inheritance to fuck our uncle —"

"My inheritance? You don't know the half of what I have given up for my inheritance to be respected," Rhaenyra said ruefully. "Yet it has changed nothing. I still suffer their judgment."

"So your solution is to worsen it?"

"My solution is to marry for love, as I should have years ago."

That much was obvious. But Daemon? Gael shook her head. She had been aware her sister and uncle had been close, but she had underestimated the chokehold the man held upon Rhaenyra.

"What love? Daemon cares only for himself and his power. Even now he seeks to undermine you," Gael warned. "With him by your side, you will soon find yourself consort to your own rule. Assuming you even reach it."

"I care not for them! We are the blood of the dragon and we are meant to burn together," Rhaenyra declared.

Gael scowled. She knew her sister would not budge on the matter. Just as she knew she would not, either. They were a stubborn pair, just as they had been as children.

In the end, the two would go their separate ways as if the conversation had never happened. Gael would stay at High Tide until Laenor's funeral to support the grieving family. Rhaenyra continued with her plans to sail for Dragonstone with her children, Daemon, and his children, sealing her fate in the process.

˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲

DAENYS STOOD WITH HER BROTHERS AS HER MOTHER WAS MARRIED. A priest she did not recognize officiated the wedding in the ways of Old Valyria. Meanwhile, the children stood witness.

Husband and wife slit each other's lower lips and wrote sigils on each other's foreads with the blood. Their palms were cut, the blood dripped into a goblet of wine, which they would go on to drink. The entire time, the priest chanted the marriage rites in High Valyrian.

Though their parents seemed to find the event romantic, none of the children were pleased.

Ryland Royce had come as well, though Daenys did not know why as he was hardly one to celebrate his father. Perhaps it was for his half-sisters. Rhaena huddled beneath his arm. Even Baela, who stood on her own to glare at the pair, was at Ryland's side throughout much of the event.

Luke clung to their maester, who was also present. He was in despair and confused by what had happened (especially since, in his mind, Aemond's threat of his father burning to death had come true.) Daenys and Jace stood beside the two, prepared to comfort the boy if he sought it.

Because clearly they were not going to find it in their parents. Daenys's eyes were dry, if only due to the fact that her grief had rotted into a miserable anger.

She hadn't even given time to mourn the loss of her father. The day of his death Rhaenyra had gathered them together to tell them she would be marrying once more. Laenor would be cast aside in favor of this new man Daenys knew nothing about and did not trust.

As they sailed to Dragonstone, Rhaenyra had attempted to force the families to get along. Daenys, admittedly, was fond of Rhaena. She was a sweet, quiet girl, and they bonded over their lack of dragons within a dragon obsessed family.

Baela seemed as if she might have been a good friend as well, in a time when she was less miserable. Now she was just moody. She nearly bit off Daenys's head every time she tried to talk to her.

By the time of the wedding, their relationship had not been improved in the slightest. Once they finished, there was no celebration. There was to be a feast, but the children in particular were slow to move. It was only once the maester coaxed Luke forward. Daenys and Jace followed after him, and Baela and Rhaena felt obliged to do the same. None of them addressed their parents.

None except the Lord Royce. At once he approached Rhaenyra.

"Congratulations on your marriage, cousin...step-mother? Should I call you step-mother now?" Ryland gave an exaggerated look of confusion, and then an even more exaggeratedly sweet smile. "Whichever pleases you most, I suppose."

Rhaenyra's face tightened. Standing together, they looked more like siblings than son and step–mother. Both could see it and, though Ryland played innocent, his intentions were clearly mocking.

Daenys quickened her walk as she passed them. The last thing she needed was to get caught in what would likely be a tense confrontation.

˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲

RHAENYRA COULD TELL HER DAUGHTER WAS DISPLEASED WITH HER. Daenys clearly believed she hid her feelings well, and perhaps she did. But Rhaenyra could always read her.

Instinctively, Rhaenyra started to tell Daemon to go talk to her. Then she remembered that Daemon was not Laenor, and in that split second she missed him dearly.

Laenor was not a perfect father, but he had always been great with Daenys. He would have known exactly what to say. Despite Rhaenyra's best attempts – despite succeeding in building a strong bond with Jace and Luke – she had never managed to do that.

The girl was just so unlike her. Quiet and dutiful, the only thing that ever seemed to bring Daenys out of her shell was the sea. But if Rhaenyra was bad with her, she was certain Daemon would be even worse. So she swallowed her pride and went to find Daenys.

It was not hard to guess where the girl would go. Rhaenyra found her sat cross-legged on a ledge that overlooked the sea, watching the sunset.

"It is almost time for bed," Rhaenyra said. There was no meaning to it, she only wanted to avoid startling Daenys. Her heart ached when she saw the girl quickly wipe her eyes before she turned to face her. "Are you well?"

"My father is dead. Do you think I am well?" Daenys snapped.

For a moment Rhaenyra was tempted to admonish her daughter, but she realized that would only make things worse. So instead she took a deep breath.

"I know. And I grieve him just as you do —" Rhaenyra started.

That seemed to only upset Daenys further. The girl stood.

"Do you?" Daenys's voice was weak, but it seemed to cut straight through her. "Because you seem perfectly happy to move on."

Despite Gael's warning — perhaps because of it — those words hit Rhaenyra like a slap to the face. Indignation burned in her chest. Who does this child think she is? Rhaenyra thought, then answered herself. My daughter.

The girl before her was her daughter, her heir, she couldn't be spoken to the same as Aemond, or even Gael. Rhaenyra needed to remind herself of that.

And so, Rhaenyra tried to remember what her own father had said when he remarried. It did little to help. In truth, she had never gotten over her father's new marriage.

Perhaps that should have been a sign, but that was a different situation. Alicent had taken their grief as a chance to raise her own position, and to this day continued to harass Rhaenyra with attempts to dethrone her.

Rhaenyra was doing nothing of the sort. She and Daemon had loved each other for years, the only reason they weren't married by now was efforts from those around them. This was owed to her.

Why could no one see that?

"It is my duty as heir to the throne to remarry," Rhaenyra said. She tried to keep her voice even. "Daemon is a good man —"

"So was my father!" Daenys argued.

"He is dead."

It wasn't supposed to be that way. Rhaenyra had wanted to convince Laenor to run away with his lover. Perhaps in another time he would have agreed, knowing that both of them would be so much happier apart, but in the end he had refused. Before Rhaenyra could have thought of a new plan, Laenor was dead.

Rhaenyra knew Daemon had something to do with it. That he had moved to get what he wanted.

Unsurprisingly, Laenor's reason had been Daenys. His daughter needed him. Maybe Jace and Luke (and Rhaenyra herself, though he didn't say it) could move on from him, but he meant the world to Daenys. She would be crushed if he died, and even more so if she found out he had chosen to abandon her. Not even Rhaenyra's assurance that Daenys would never find out was not enough to soothe his guilt.

Perhaps Rhaenyra's words were harsh. Even as she spoke, she knew that. But no amount of kindness would make things easier. No words were sweet enough to cover the bitter taste of loss. Daenys needed to realize that.

"Laenor is dead. Refusing to move on will only serve to cause you more pain," Rhaenyra insisted. "Perhaps you could speak to Daemon. He will be your new father."

"I don't want a new father, I want mine!"

"Daenys —"

"He was murdered! They burned him alive!"

"Daenys — "

"And you don't even care!"

"Daenys, that is enough!"

Rhaenyra hadn't realized how loud she had gotten until she had screamed in the girl's face. Daenys recoiled. Looking back, Rhaenyra knew she should have stopped there. Apologized. Explained things at a calmer moment.

Instead she shouted the worst possible words:

"He wasn't even your father, you stupid girl!"

Daenys's eyes widened. Rhaenyra realized her mistake at once.

For as long as the children had lived, she had never confirmed their status as bastards. Daenys had always been the easiest one on this front. As soon as Jace was born, no one talked about her as a bastard anymore. Instead they used her "true-born" status against her siblings. Jace and Luke were clearly bastards compared to her.

But they all were. Not from the same father, of course, but none of them had been Laenor's biological child.

Rhaenyra had tried to hide this fact from them. Part of this was practical: young children could not be trusted with secrets. Another part, though, was for their sake. When people spoke cruelly about them, they could at least comfort themselves with the belief it wasn't true.

There were so many things Rhaenyra could have said right then. They festered in her mind as she prepared for bed that night. Daenys had gone to her room silently after their confrontation, but it was not an easy silence.

Ultimately, after an hour of trying to sleep it off, Rhaenyra went to check on the girl.

To her surprise, there was no answer when she knocked on the door. Daenys never liked to keep people waiting. She would have run to the door as soon as she heard the knock.

It was then that Rhaenyra noticed the door was unlocked. Before she could reconsider, she opened the door. Maybe her daughter was sleeping, or ignoring her.

"Daenys..." Rhaenyra started. Her voice died in her throat.

The room was empty.

˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲

RYLAND DIDN'T QUESTION WHY DAENYS NEEDED ABOARD HIS SHIP. Nor why she wanted to change course to King's Landing, the exact opposite direction of its original destination of Runestone. Daenys was thankful for that. Words were failing her. Her only answer would have been sobbing.

She sat on a bench, the only seating above deck. Despite never suffering from sea sickness, Daenys's stomach seemed to roll with the waves.

He wasn't even your father, you stupid girl.

Daenys stared hard across the deck. Her mother's words rang in her head. She had been stupid. All her life she had heard the rumors, she had even believed them when it came to her brothers. Jace and Luke were lovely, and Daenys would never claim them lesser than trueborn children, but they were clearly bastards.

Yet, she had never believed the same for herself. And why? What had made her so certain that she was special among them? Daenys didn't know. Mother might have wanted her heir to be true born, she thought, but that seemed ridiculous now.

In truth, she had feared what being a bastard would mean. Everyone said they were naturally untrustworthy, inheriting the lies and dishonor that had gone into their birth. She didn't want to be cursed. She didn't want to be born evil.

And, more than anything, Daenys had wanted to believe Laenor was her father. She had loved him like a father. She remembered the days she spent with him, pretending to be pirates and sailors even before she could think about stepping onto a real boat.

Who was Daenys if not a Velaryon? That name had always been her comfort, when she watched her brothers gain praise and affection for their dragons. For their Targaryen interests. Daenys never had that, but she had her father and her dreams of the sea.

What did she have now?

"I didn't take you for one to get sea sick, little cousin."

Lord Royce had come to sit next to her. He broke a piece from a loaf of bread in his hand and gave it to her. Daenys took it. It seemed like a good distraction from her thoughts. Something to nibble at. As soon as she took a bite, however, she was hit with a wave of hunger and began to eat in earnest.

"It's not that," Daenys mumbled through a mouthful of food.

She would never had spoken with her mouth full, especially not in front of a lord, but she was too miserable to care. Besides, as Ryland (she tried to call him Ryland this time, even though Lord Royce seemed more natural) had said, they were cousins. Family. Daenys doubted he would judge her.

"What is it, then?" Ryland asked. "I've given you grace, but I would like to know what I am getting involved in."

"I am a bastard."

Daenys barely managed to get the words out. Speaking the truth out loud made her feel like she'd swallowed a mouthful of seawater instead of bread.

To her irritation, Ryland didn't look surprised. He must have suspected the entire time. Just like Alicent had. Just like everyone had.

Or maybe he was just waiting for her to finish.

"My mother...she said..," Daenys continued. She tugged at the skirt of the servant's dress she had worn to hide her escape in a poor attempt to calm herself. "That I was a bastard. I think that's why my father was killed."

Daenys hadn't meant to say father. She wasn't really Laenor's daughter. It no longer felt right to claim that title.
Not that it mattered. Ryland didn't notice.

"Killed him? Who told you that?" he asked.

His tone seemed more accusatory than surprised, as if he had known all along and was only upset she did as well. Daenys's heart sank even further.

Their mother had tried to get them off Driftmark before rumors could fly, but it had not been fast enough. Daenys had overheard servants theorizing Daemon and Rhaenyra had paid someone to kill Laenor so they could be married.

At the time she had dismissed it. Now, though? As soon as Rhaenyra had declared her a bastard, Daenys was certain the rumors had been true. And if that was true, who would be next? Would her and her brothers be killed, so Daemon's future children could go ahead of them?

"Everyone was talking about it on Driftmark..." Daenys muttered.

Ryland sighed and messaged the bridge of his nose.

"My fa – Laenor deserves justice. No one will listen on Driftmark, but the queen –"

"The queen who demanded your hand?" Ryland interrupted it. Daenys blinked. She had not thought of that. "I agree with you that Laenor deserves justice. But you must understand what you are getting into."

Daenys knitted her brows.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The king is still in power. You saw that on Driftmark," Ryland explained. "And the unfortunate truth, little cousin, is that he has no interest in justice. I have petitioned him every year since my mother was murdered. The only thing he has done was to banish me from King's Landing and threaten my lordship if I spoke again."

Daenys looked away from him. She had forgotten about Lady Rhea. Most people only mentioned her in whispers, as one of the many crimes that built Daemon as the Rogue Prince. Mother had dismissed it openly. That had been enough for Daenys. Not once had she ever considered it from Ryland's perspective, as the child who had lost his mother, possibly at the hands of his father.

Not until she was in the same situation.

"But mother admitted to it. There's proof!" Daenys insisted.

"She admitted to killing your father?" Ryland asked.

"Well...no," Daenys tugged at her dress skirt again. "But she called me a bastard. Maybe it won't get justice, but that's enough. I don't...bastards can't inherit. Mother may not care, but I won't support her lies."
"You're certain? You could still be queen one day."

Daenys narrowed her eyes at Ryland. It was obvious this was meant to be a test of her morals. Knowing that still, she infuriated her that he would imply that would change her intentions. What was the Iron Throne compared to her father's life? Daenys could have lived her entire life without even seeing the thing, without a title to her name, if it meant she could still have Laenor in her life.

"I would have made a poor queen, anyway," Daenys finally said.

Ryland only gave her a faint smile. Daenys wished she knew what it meant. 

Author's Note: Originally while re–writing this I considered changing it from Rhaenyra to Daemon who told Daenys she was a bastard. 

But I realized while watching it that was just falling into the same trap I criticized the show for (whitewashing Rhaenyra by moving all her bad actions to Daemon.) Plus, it perfectly exemplified a trend I noticed in season 1 and became clear in season 2 – Rhaenyra's impulsiveness leads to her being irresponsible with her children's emotional and mental health.