Princess Helaena was now the mother of two princes and a princess. All three children were blessed with the silver Targaryen hair and were the spitting image of their parents.

The children were perfect in the eyes of the children's mother, yet she did not see the constraints. She ignored the fact that her daughter was far too small and still wouldn't walk, just as her oldest had a hand and foot with six toes instead of five. Even weeks later, she had not found a flaw in her youngest son, or she overlooked it through her unconditional love.

Yet others saw these defects, but no one spoke up.

Edith also worried herself about the problems of the other princess' children. She did not come to wonder anyway if her unborn child also had flaws. Would it be healthy?

Secretly, they knew what the children were suffering from and what was the reason for it. Helaena and Aegon were not only married, they were also siblings.

Edith and Aemond were not siblings, but they were still both Targaryens. And as Edith thought about the relationship like this, she didn't know whether to laugh or continue to worry.

Her mother, Aruna, was the unofficial daughter of King Viserys Targaryen and Lady Tyrell of Highgarden. This made her the half-sister of Rhaenyra, Aegon, Helaena, Daeron, and thus Aemond.

Her father, Daemon Targaryen, was the brother of Viserys Targaryen and was thus the uncle of Viserys' children. This made Edith the cousin of Viserys' children.

Aemond was Edith's uncle and cousin. She hadn't really thought about it that way, because somewhere it was normal for the Targaryens, wasn't it? They had to keep their dragon blood pure so it stayed strong and they didn't lose their connection to the dragons. What was a Targaryen without a dragon? They had to stay under control or Westeros would be lost.

All the connections made her dizzy and she quickly shook off the thoughts. If King's Landing wasn't driving the young princess crazy, Edith was driving herself crazy.

She didn't know exactly how much time had passed since Prince Maelor's birth, but she was enjoying every second. Edith finally spent more time with Helaena again, and accordingly with her children.

Curiously observed every interaction between the children and their young mother. And between the children and the wet nurses. She tried to remember many hand movements. Edith wanted to be a good mother and she wished to be like her own mother - protective, loving and strong. Aruna Targaryen was a perfect mother.

"What are you thinking about, Edda?" Helaena asked her with her dreamy smile.

The two women sat in one of the many common rooms, as they often did lately. The twins were sitting on a blanket on the floor, playing with wooden figures, while their little brother slumbered in a cradle. Helaena sat on the couch holding wool and needles in her hands. Her hands were always busy and she loved to sew, crochet or embroider.

Edith, on the other hand, sat on an armchair, her feet resting on a stool and her hands on her small belly. Her wedding was almost four moons ago and the maester estimated conception must have happened shortly after, as far as she was now.

This meant that indeed her husband Aemond was the father of her child. Not Aegon.

"I was just thinking of our family." Edith answered her. A gentle smile could be seen on her lips as well.

"She's perfect, isn't she?" Helaena didn't look up from her work as she asked the question. Her silver hair was braided into a perfect braid and lay over her left shoulder. She rarely wore her hair together, but this way you could see her beautiful face and Edith really liked this.

"Almost..." murmured the girl with brownish hair softly. Her own hair was loose and only some strands she had braided this morning. Her pink dress fit her perfectly despite her small belly, thanks to the seamstresses.

"Why only almost? I love our family."

Helaena mentioned it as if it were something natural, and somewhere it was. Edith and Helaena were family, blood relatives, best friends, a family.

Nevertheless, Edith's family was not here, but on Dragonstone. And yet she was still here in King's Landing.

She was building her own family here. She had a husband and was expecting his child, she had Helaena and Daeron, and in a twisted way she now had the Queen, even if she still often didn't understand Alicent.

"I know." Edith opined, barely able to stifle her sigh. "But I miss my parents...my sisters and brothers...I miss them all." She finally confessed.

"You don't talk about them much..." noted Helaena almost sadly. She hardly knew this part of her family. While she had heard the many stories and seen them a few times, she unfortunately didn't really know them. "...Tell me about them?"

The younger one had to laugh softly. "What do you want to know?" she asked, slightly confused.

"I want to know everything."

"Okay." Smirked Edith a little awkwardly, thinking about her family. They weren't perfect, but in Edith's eyes they were. They were irreplaceable and incomparable. "My mother is an insanely strong woman...I admire her so much and sometimes wish I could be more like her. I am envious of her perfect dark curls, which are always flawless and perfectly in place, while I have to maintain mine with effort." Laughed the princess.

"My mother is incredibly fierce and intelligent... and her voice resembles that of an angel. I always loved it when she sang to me or she would tell me a story... I could listen to her for hours." She continued to tell with a smile.

Before her eyes she could see her mother's face. The most beautiful and kind-hearted woman in the world. She loved her so much and she missed her painfully.

"I remember her..." reflected Helaena, smiling. "I was very little when she came here to King's Landing and lived with us for a while... I loved spending time with her. Her stories were really beautiful, you're right."

"You still remember that? That was many years ago." Edith asked in amazement.

"She was the first one to pay attention to me and my brothers. I think my mother only discovered her mothering feelings after Daeron was born... I was always afraid of not being able to love my children either in the beginning..." confessed Helaena to her in her soft voice. Her eyes were still focused on the wool in her hands.

"And...? Could you?" Edith nervously wanted to know from her friend. They had great respect for the task of becoming a mother. What was she supposed to do if her own feelings didn't cooperate then?

Helaena shook her head and Edith's eyes grew wide with astonishment and fear. "That doesn't mean that it will happen to you too, Edda!" said Helaena quickly when she noticed the silence and finally she looked up at her friend comfortingly. "I was very young when I had my first children, much much younger than you are now... I was still almost a child myself and I had to learn to be an adult and to be a good wife and mother... my mother had to learn that too."

"Thank you, Hel." Smiled Edith and relaxed back into the chair. Her hands kept running proudly over her little belly. She had been doing this ever since it began to show.

"You will be the perfect mother, I can feel it." Helaena returned Edith's smile. "And Aemond will be a good father... at least a better one than Aegon." She added. Her first sentence was honest, but she said the second sentence bitterly. An unusual way of speaking for the princess. "Excuse me."

"He doesn't really care for them, does he?" asked Edith cautiously, watching the twins play. Jaehaerys and Jaehaera looked peaceful and happy despite the flaws.

Now it was Helaena who sighed, "Not anymore, no. He had problems in the beginning too and then he was totally infatuated with the twins... But since the accident in the dining hall, he's been avoiding me and the kids more and more." She told her with a sigh. "I think he wants to distance himself."

"You didn't tell me about that." Edith noted.

"You didn't want to talk about him anymore, did you? So I didn't say anything." Explained Helaena.

"Yeah, right..." Embarrassed, Edith brushed a strand of hair from her face and then played with the ends of her brownish hair. "Does he have the same disinterest in Maelor?" she asked instead.

"After you and mother left, he came into the birthing room... He even held Maelor and it seemed normal for a moment... Now I'm not sure." Said Helaena almost sadly, holding the needles and wool tightly in her hands and continuing to crochet.

"Why?"

"I think he's afraid?" Helaena lifted her head, her braid falling over her shoulder as she spoke. Then she pulled her legs up and sat on her feet. She did not let go of the wool as she did so.

"Him and fear? It doesn't fit, I don't believe it." Edith shook her head in disbelief and clicked her tongue. Aegon really wasn't afraid of anything or anyone. Why would he suddenly be afraid to take care of his wife and children?

The prince was irresponsible and a drunkard, he was afraid of nothing and nobody. Especially not of his children - that made no sense.

Helaena said nothing more. She looked dreamily into the flames of the fire burning in the fireplace.

The sun outside had already set and only the many candles in the room and the flames in the fireplace gave light to the two women.

The twins had played quietly on a blanket until dat, but were now put to bed by 2 wet nurses, their little brother Maelor also took the wet nurses and so the two young princesses were left alone in the room.

"Do you think Aemond will be a better father? I wouldn't stand for him to act like-" Edith couldn't bring herself to continue speaking Aegon's name. Just the thought of him hurt her very much and caused a severe headache.

Aemond showed more interest in her since he knew about the child and he also cared for her very much, but the fear of being alone did not leave her like the thoughts about Aegon. Would Aemond also lose interest in her and the child as soon as it was born?

"I hope not for your sake." In Helaena's violet eyes you could see the red flames of the fire as she put away her wool and needles and instead took a thick wool blanket and she snuggled into it. "But I'm afraid so."

"Why? Did he say something?" Edith wanted to know with wide eyes, her heart beating fast in her chest. "Or did you see it?" she quietly added this question.

Helaena's eyes seemed clear as she tilted her delicate head slightly to the side. "He didn't have to...look at the male Targaryens and you have your answer." Murmured the silver haired princess.

With her words, she made Edith think. She thought of the male and female Targaryens she knew and she thought of those who were no longer alive, whom she knew from the many books and stories. All of them had descendants - legitimate and illegitimate children. This meant that all of them had built their own family, but were they really a family or just connected by blood?

Edith's first thought was about the king. Viserys had many children. Besides Aegon, Helaena and Aemond, Viserys had also fathered Rhaenyra and Edith's mother Aruna, if Daeron was not counted. She did not know if Viserys had children out of wedlock as well, but it would not surprise her.

The Velaryons were relatives of the Targaryens, and even though Edith had met Lord Corlys only a few times, she was sure he was a good father and husband. He had lovingly raised his children to adulthood and taught them much. Lady Laena had been a brave dragonrider and a good mother to her daughters, though Ser Laenor was the most poetic and educated man Edith knew.

Laenor was good with words and was an honest man. He had married Rhaenyra and accepted her illegitimate children as his own, loving and raising them. He had been a good man and Edith hoped that he was doing well wherever he was now. She hoped he was happy and perhaps had met a nice man.

She often missed the conversations with him, for he understood her differently than anyone else.

His mother, Princess Rhaenys, is a magnificent woman. She is in fact strong and a true fighter. As a child, Edith had admired her when she met her at Lady Laena's funeral.

Rhaenys had also been in King's Landing when Edith arrived and had helped her during the first days here until she had to go back to Driftmark. To be honest, the young princess had felt hurt then to be left alone here but she could understand Rhaenys.

No one wanted to stay in the capital any longer than necessary.

Her thoughts finally led her to her own father, Prince Daemon. She had grown up without him for the first few years of her life and had believed that her father was someone else entirely. Ser Brandon Stark had loved her mother and married her, but with marriage came the truth and he had shown his true face.

Aruna had once confided in her that she believed Brandon had been jealous. Before her mother married the Northman, she had told him about her feelings for the Targaryen prince, and he had probably never been able to process the thought.

Brandon had never treated Edith as his own daughter. At the time she thought it was because of her gender, because he had loved her little brother Cassian. Now she knew Brandon must have suspected something.

When she had met her real father, she had immediately felt a connection, which she had sought in vain with Brandon.

Daemon had always treated her well and never doubted for a second that she was his daughter. He had loved her immediately and welcomed her into his life, just as he had her half-brother Cassian. He didn't care what gender Edith was, because he had taught her everything she needed to know. From history to combat experiences he had told her everything until she was old enough for her first sword and knife. The first flight with her on his dragon followed not much later.

He was the best father she could have asked for and she missed him terribly.

Daemon would surely have told her what to do now and how she could finally develop a plan. He would have encouraged her and supported her and if need be, he would have burned down King's Landing to get her out of here.

It would be so easy if he were here. But Edith had to find her own way.

Before her thoughts could wander to Aegon again, she sighed and shook her head in bewilderment. "Targaryen men are bad fathers." Escaped the princess with the brownish hair. "My father, Daemon, however, is not. He's perfect..."

"Who would have ever thought that of the rough prince?" smirked Helaena, sliding to the end of the couch on which she was sitting to be closer to Edith and reach for her hand. "I wish my own father was a little like yours."

"Did he ever spend time with you?" asked Edith cautiously, squeezing her friend's hand.

Helaena shook her head slightly. "Not really. Our mother took care of our upbringing with wet nurses." She told. "But it was okay. We siblings had each other, even if we didn't always love each other." With her free hand, Helaena stroked her silver braid. "How was it with your siblings?"

Edith loved her siblings. She had two brothers and two sisters and was grateful for each of them. But she had clearly had little time with them and it depressed her.

"My half-brother Cassian is a sunshine and has always been quiet. He is much younger than me, but for a long time we had just the two of us until we met my half-sisters Baela and Rhaena. They are all perfect and I miss spending time with them, especially because I only got to hold my youngest brother Viserys once." She told in a low and rough voice. The whole conversation had made her emotional, yet they were only talking about their families. "I had way too little time with them and had to grow up fast...that's not fair."

For a moment there was silence in the room and all that could be heard was the crackling from the fire.

"Life is not fair, but that is what we are here for, to change that." Said Helaena so quietly that Edith barely understood her. There was no reason to speak so softly, but she didn't question her friend.

"What are you trying to say, Hel?" With her blue violet eyes she looked at Helaena. Did she know about her mission or suspect something? It couldn't be... Edith's face turned pale with fear.

"We will find a way, sweet Edda." Helaena answered, still in a low voice.

Edith didn't quite know what Helaena meant, but she didn't dare to ask further, so she kept silent and turned her gaze to the warming fire.

***

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See you in the next chapter^^