✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
𝘡𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘺 - 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

It was an unfair demand that the queen made, but she was the queen for a reason and Edith had entered into the dangerous game by staying here in King's Landing to gather information for her family.

At a moment like this, it was clear to Edith that war was now unstoppable. She wasn't the only one unhappy with her decision.

Edith leaned her forehead against the cool wall in her room and took a deep breath. She felt dizzy and the sudden pressure on her ears made her nauseous and short of breath.

The girl didn't have to think long for her decision, but it was still hard for her to say it out loud. She loved her mother, her family, more than anything else and it was clear that she chose them.

"I will fly to Dragonstone today, and upon my return, I will marry the son of your choice, Your Grace." She had announced loudly and clearly to the room, then she had bowed and almost stormed out of the room in a hurry. Not for a second had she looked at anyone in the room except the queen. She didn't know if she could have borne the stares of Aegon or Helaena.

Marrying Aegon would have been the lesser evil, especially since Helaena had also spoken in favor of it moments ago to everyone's surprise. The two had been the only ones who had been nice to her so far. Although Aegon could also be a creep like his brother Aemond.

With shaky steps she went to her closet and picked out some new clothes, then quickly cleaned herself up and one of the maids helped her with some ointment for the abrasions on her back. In a bag she packed some things she might need on Dragonstone, also she packed her dragon egg, because she didn't want to leave it here.

Deep in her heart Edith still had hope that her parents would find a way out for her.

There was a knock at the door and Edith managed to put the egg in the bag just in time before the visitor entered. "My lady, the princes are already waiting for you." Ser Adrik informed his niece.

"Thank you." Edith nodded to the maid and her uncle, then left her room to go to the dragon pit. Of course, Adrik followed her immediately. "Are you going to accompany me too?" she asked sarcastically. She was at a point where nothing would surprise her.

Adrik shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but I know the princes will take good care of you on your journey." He answered her. His hand was on his sword as always, and he walked beside her like a personal protector.

Edith had to stifle a sarcastic laugh. She had so many things on her mind that she feared he would burst at any moment. The worry about her mother, the upcoming wedding, her hatched dragon egg, a war and much more...

In the end, she would have liked to see Aegon's face when she made her decision. He himself had suggested a wedding between the two and that could only mean that Aegon must have feelings for the girl.

Another thing that gave her a headache. Somehow she was also glad that he would not accompany her.

"I'm not convinced of that." Replied the girl with brownish hair, looking critically at her uncle.

"Daeron is a fine young man. I'm sure he would treat you well." Adrik then said as if out of nowhere as they were already standing in front of the dragon pit.

Edith was speechless. Was her uncle already telling her about Alicent's decision? She had to know and at the same time she was afraid of the answer. "Will he be my husband?" she asked in a low voice. It still felt so crazy to think about it. It had been a ruse and now she would really have to do it.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Queen Alicent hasn't decided yet." Of course Adrik would know before anyone else, after all he was the queen's lover.

The silence of the two was interrupted by the appearance of a grinning prince. Daeron was already waiting for Edith with his dragon in the pit when she entered with Adrik. "Well, finally! Shall we?"

Edith didn't have to look around to see that Daeron was here alone with his dragon. "Where is Aemond? Is he going to stay here?" she asked the young prince hopefully, and almost exhaled in relief, but he dashed her hopes with a shake of his head. "No, unfortunately he won't. We'll meet him in the air, since Vhagar is much too big for the pit." Answered Daeron to her question with a laugh.

He was a cheerful person and laughed a lot, liked to joke around and was very charming when doing so, but he couldn't cheer up her mood today.

"And which dragon do I get to fly?" She held her bag tightly with her hand and nervously played with the strings on it. She wanted to finally leave and not waste any more time. Unsure of how old her sister's letter was, she didn't know how her mother was doing right now.

"You will fly with Prince Daeron on Rainfyre." Adrik pointed at the dark dragon. Its scales and poisonous green eyes just shone in the light from the torches of fire. It was already dark outside, and Rainfyre seemed to snuggle into the darkness. "My mother fears you might escape with a dragon of your own." Daeron added, then held out his hand to Edith. "Shall we?"

She quickly nodded and followed the prince to his dragon. First he mounted the beast, then she followed him onto Rainfyre's back, again holding out his hand to help her.

"Be careful of yourselves, my prince, my lady." Shouted Ser Adrik to the two young people, and then the two of them left the dragon's pit on the black creature.

As if automatically, Edith put her arms around Daeron's waist to hold on. She had last flown in pairs with her father until she was allowed to fly alone. It was an unfamiliar feeling to have to sit behind someone again and at the same time it felt so good to be able to fly again as the cold night wind touched her cheeks.

It felt like she could finally breathe again after a long time and she relaxed instantly.

Shortly after they left King's Landing behind, the sky grew even darker as a large dragon appeared beside them. Vhagar. On his back sat his rider Prince Aemond, who did not give a glance to the girl and his brother. He still seemed offended at having to accompany them, and no one could blame him.

~~~

Seconds felt like hours and at the same time every hour passed like a second. Being up in the air was a dreamlike feeling, she finally felt free again, but she was also glad when she could finally get off Rainfyre's back.

Edith didn't wait for her companions to get off as well, she ran as fast as she could into Dragonstone Castle. None of the guards stopped her, but only bowed to the future Lady of Dragonstone. She immediately ran to her parents' chambers, her heart beating much too fast and much too loudly.

She knocked, but did not wait for an answer and simply entered the room. "Mother?" she asked anxiously, now walking with much slower steps to the marriage bed.

"Edith?" her mother answered questioningly. She sat up in her bed with difficulty, immediately Rhaena got up from her chair and helped her pregnant stepmother. "You're here!" her sister then greeted her, hugging Edith tightly.

The older one immediately returned the hug and her heart warmed, then she went to her mother, sat on the edge of the bed and hugged her as well. "How are you, mother?" Edith wanted to know, eyeing her mother carefully. Aruna also eyed her daughter and stroked her cheeks. "I've been better, but I'm very glad you're here." She smiled honestly, but exhaustedly.

"Where is father?" Edith looked first at her mother and then at her sister. The two young women's lips tightened into a thin line at the same time. "Father... he's with Caraxes a lot..." Rhaena answered her, sighing.

It was obvious that Daemon must not be doing well with the inaccurate situation either. For him it must feel like a repeating nightmare, since he had lost his second wife Lady Laena, the mother of Rhaena and Baela, his daughters, in childbirth as well. Aruna was his true love. Surely he would not be able to bear such a loss again.

Edith did not let go of her mother's hand, which was still in terrible pain. The contractions had been going on for several days.

At some point she sought advice from the maesters and healers who were taking care of Aruna. Later she went in search of her brother to greet him as well. Two weeks had passed and still she thought her little brother had grown much bigger since the last time she saw him.

She met her father only when she went back to her mother's chamber. Daemon Targaryen sat next to his wife on the bed and stroked her round belly. Aruna and Rhaena had already told him of Edith's arrival, but he couldn't really believe it until his firstborn stood before him. "Edith." Daemon stood up and Edith immediately fell into her father's arms.

She was finally back home with her family. She was safe and yet there was someone making her home unsafe.

"How did you talk Alicent into this?" her father wanted to know as they broke away from each other. Edith was so happy to be back that she had tears in her eyes, but the tears of joy turned into tears of frustration. Her throat felt like it was swelling shut and she was having a hard time breathing. Thousands of thoughts had run through her head on the way here, but she wasn't ready to tell them the truth. But she had to be honest.

"I made another deal with the queen... She only let me go if..... If I marry one of her sons immediately after my return... One she chooses." She explained to her family in an uncertain voice.

The three looked at Edith with a look of disbelief. "Edith, why did you do that?" Aruna's voice was all soft and as warm as ever, while her gaze turned pitying. She knew exactly why her daughter had made this deal. "Please tell me that's not true!" Daemon was upset, unlike his wife. The man wiped his face and took a few steps across the room. "You will not return to King's Landing. I forbid it."

"I don't think that's an option." Edith murmured softly, but of course everyone in the room could hear. "This and more I would do anything for all of you."

"I think that's very brave of you. I don't know if I would be able to do that." Interjected Rhaena into the conversation, smiling sincerely at her big sister.

Edith returned the smile, but it immediately faded at the sight of her parents. "Please don't be angry..." begged the girl with brownish hair.

"How could I not be? I won't let you marry one of those- ...one of her children." Daemon had his hands on his hips and shook his head slightly. He was perplexed and also stunned. It make a decision, which she should have discussed with them beforehand. "We should have talked about this beforehand."

"There was no time for that! I wanted to see you, I needed to know that you, that mother, are well." She explained herself. The girl had her hands clasped in front of her chest, standing in front of the bed.

"Please... I feel guilty enough already... You shouldn't have come here alone..." Aruna looked at her daughter with her warm blue Tyrell eyes. She blamed herself more than ever that her daughter had to sacrifice herself just because she wasn't well. She worried for her unborn child and her own life, but she worried much more for her eldest right now.

"I'm not alone..." confessed Edith. She hadn't been back here for long, but in that short time she had completely forgotten about her appendages. Not for a second had she wondered about their disappearance. Maybe they had flown back again? But Edith certainly didn't have that kind of luck. "Aemond and Daeron brought me here. They're supposed to look after me." Clarified she.

"They shall take you back." Her father concluded with a snort. Nodding her head in agreement, Rhaena did so. She sat back in the chair next to the bed and watched her family intently.

Aruna stroked her round belly and could barely hide her pain, but she didn't want to cause her loved ones any more worry. It was enough that she already had a headache from all the current worries. "We should talk to Rhaenyra." She then suggested.

"Do you think she knows a way out?" asked Edith hopefully. She knew what she had gotten herself into when she made the deal, with both of them, but she couldn't wrap her head around it.

"Who would figure out something, if not the heiress herself?"

~~~

Daemon Targaryen hated it when others took over decisions, when others decided his life and that of his family. Now the disgusting Greens, the Hightowers, had once again decided over the lives of his family. This time, of all people, over his eldest daughter's.

"I will personally bring her sons' heads back to the capital." Escaped the man sourly. He stood in front of the large table in the conference room and propped his hands on it. His shoulder-length silver hair fell in strands from his neat braid as he kept running his hands through his hair.

He made a show of himself, feeling responsible for everything. Daemon had three daughters, each of them having their own difficult task. One had to keep order in Driftmark and kept her eyes and ears open there, one did the same in the capital and the youngest did it here in Dragonstone.

He demanded so much from them and just now he was about to lose Edith to the Greens, he hadn't heard anything new from Baela for days and Rhaena was also getting quieter and quieter and tried to avoid everyone.

And then there was his wife, who was suffering from terrible pain, giving birth to his child. Another child, to which he could not do justice and certainly had to ask for something at some point.

Rhaenyra was not the only one who was worried about him. She looked pityingly at her uncle as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "However tempting it sounds, perhaps we can take advantage of the situation. After all, my half-brothers have never been to Dragonstone." She pondered thoughtfully.

"Where are they?" asked Edith curiously, looking around the room. She was sitting at the large wooden table, with Jace and Luke sitting next to her. The two boys had been surprised to see the girl here, but when they learned who was with her they felt different. Of course, they tried to avoid the two of them now.

"Guards have taken her to the visitors' wing so we can talk in peace." Rhaenyra replied, looking anxiously at her sons. The boys' encounters never ended well.

"What do you think about the situation?" Edith now wanted to know from the older woman. She knew her parents' opinion on the matter, but Rhaenyra and her sons had not yet commented.

Jace sighed loudly beside her and Luke slid around a bit in his chair. "You can't marry any of them, Edda. Just think...Aemond will kill her on her wedding night!" Luke looked at everyone in the room with wide eyes and Edith could only roll her eyes. "Or she him." Agreed his brother Jace.

" Boys that's not helping." Rhaenyra said quickly when she saw Daemon's look. "I think Daeron would be the better of the bad choices." Rhaenyra sighed and propped herself up on the back of the chair as she continued to speak. "Except now you don't have a choice. Why on earth did you do it?"

"I think it's more than obvious why I did that! You can't judge me for that!" Edith got up from her chair angrily, the chair falling to the floor as she moved. " I'm sorry." She said quickly. "I'm just... overwhelmed..."

Edith did not know what to do. She had had a task and had managed to get herself into such trouble so quickly. She was back with her family now, but she could feel the ticking clock in her ear and she was afraid it would ring and her time here would be over again.

"I should get back to Mother..." Edith walked around the overturned chair and put it back neatly, then smoothed out her robe. She was still wearing the clothes she had traveled here in.

"No. You stay here." Her father decided in a serious voice, but he did not look at her.

Even though he wasn't looking at her, she nodded at him. "Okay..." She wanted nothing more than to be with her mother, but she knew she couldn't really help her in this situation and she comforted herself with the thought that Rhaena was with Aruna.

"What did you hear all about back home? How is the king?" asked Rhaenyra now. Everyone noticed, of course, how she still considered King's Landing her home, because somehow it still was, even though she had been living on Dragonstone for years by now.

"Not much, to be honest... They never really included me, and they never dine together... each to their own." Edith felt ashamed that she had so little to tell and it wasn't even important information, but she tried to remember and say everything she knew. "King Viserys never leaves his chambers and his children never talk about him."

"Of course not." Said Rhaenyra sarcastically and listened carefully, walking with slow steps around the room. The situation was so tense that you could almost see it.

"I could hear once the hand was talking about Aegon... He hates him, but he fights for him." Edith then reported the most important information. She had met Otto when she had sent the letter for her parents, better said she had seen him and immediately hid when she heard his voice. "And Aegon himself told me about the plans." She added. He had told her after he and she had become intimate... after he had licked her.

"What are you saying, Edith? What are they all planning?" Rhaenyra stopped with her hands on her hips and looked at the girl with wide eyes. The heiress was most afraid of what might happen and hearing this now was not easy for her. "Why did Aegon tell you that?" asked Daemon.

Edith felt guilty. She had not only let Helaena get close to her, but also Aegon. The one who could be most dangerous to Rhaenyra when it came to the throne.

She hated him and at the same time she was very fond of him. Her plan to wrap him around her finger for information had worked. He was even ready to take Edith as his wife, such an effect she had on him. And he on her, which she now realized. She didn't want to betray him, but she would always side with her family.

"I think he likes me." She then said with red cheeks and sat down again on the chair next to Jace and Luke.

"He's not even capable of something like that!" replied Jace with a frown, shaking his head thoughtfully.

"He is! He's just a pawn in their game... He doesn't want any of this." She defended Aegon after all, looking sternly at Jace. "I mean...we all are."

"Wow." Rhaenyra exclaimed faintly. No one dared say a word until Edith broke the silence again.

"He doesn't want to ascend the throne. He just wants to be alive.... He even tried to help me with the upcoming marriage." Edith sighed in frustration from the whole situation. Her whole life so far had been determined by other people, and it would probably go on forever if she didn't finally stand up for herself. Yet all of this was harder than she thought.

"And how?" asked Luke.

"He wanted to marry me. Make me his second wife." She answered honestly, looking at the wooden table. She couldn't look at any of her family members at that moment.

"Ridiculous." Daemon ran his fingers through his hair again and this time he even lost his braid so that his silver hair now fell to his shoulders in a tousled way. "He didn't want to help you, he wanted you all for himself."

"Maybe. Maybe he could have gotten me out of this situation too." She sighed exhaustedly, but that only made Daemon angry. "Please tell me you don't really believe that. He wanted to use you like everyone else." He replied. He didn't believe that any of the green ones could have good intentions towards his daughter.

But Edith wanted to believe firmly, believe that they weren't so bad. Alicent's children could not be blamed for the situation any more than Rhaenyra's, Aruna's and Daemon's children.

"Yes, father. I believe that..." replied the girl with brownish hair. "He wanted to help me and I wanted to... But Queen Alicent gave me a choice. Aegon or a visit here."

"Do you regret it?" wanted Jace to know from her quietly.

But the girl didn't know any answer to that. She would always choose her family, but right now she felt judged by them. Finally she had decided for herself and it was probably not right.

But she had to stand by her decision.

"I'm not going to break my promises. Maybe I can so-"

The large dark double doors were yanked open and a heavily breathing Rhaena came running into the room. "It's Aruna! You must come now!"

***

Daemon in his protective father role
= hot

Finally back with Aruna and Daemon! I missed these two so much<33

What did you think of the chapter?

Have a good time, until the next chapter:)