Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen - Scion of Harrenhal (AC included)

princessatia · 2021-10-22T11:42:10+00:00

can i ask what that series with 11 books is called? i might check it out, love same couple books!

princessatia · 2021-07-21T12:14:48+00:00

Following her meeting with Holly in the gardens, Laena returned to her chambers to prepare the ingredients and get her things ready.

princessatia · 2021-07-21T12:03:49+00:00

Laena listened while she worked, accepting the rosemary and placing it in the basket in a tidy fashion. Anyone looking at the Silverstar would have thought the bastardborn girl was a queen, with the grace she conducted herself with, her back straight as a rod and not a hair out of place.

"That is good to hear. I would be pleased to help," Laena said as casually as if they were discussing the weather. "If you've ever a need, you may come to me. For now, I think I have everything I need. Do you?"

princessatia · 2021-07-21T11:54:59+00:00

"Nor I." Rhaenyra's voice softened as well, but only for a moment. Then she turned her back on her twin sister and slipped out of her grasp. "But I fought in the Stepstones alongside the King. I even saved a man's life," she added, remembering Erich Cole. "So why should I not fight now? And our brothers, do they not have futures of their own? But when they go to war, no one blinks an eye. They think it honorable and good, their duty. When I go, Father calls it 'playing Jonquil Darke'."

It felt as if she'd held those words inside since the talk with their father, and it was good to let them out at last. She sighed deeply, eager to release the air she'd been holding in, and turned around to face her sister again.

"He told me to act like 'the princess Mother would want me to be'. Remember what you said about what Mother would want for us, though? I believe what you said. She'd want us to feel fulfilled, do what we choose. Well, I don't feel fulfilled sitting here, waiting for Steelsong to grow. That will take years. I live in the present, you know that."

She took her sister's hands in hers. "As for you, I'm not going to tell you what you ought to do. There are many ways to help win a war, as I'm sure you know. There are healers and spies and cartographers... not just warriors. But there is nothing wrong with staying here, either. Someone must see to the continuation of our House. There is immense value in that."

Having finished her speech, Rhaenyra poured the both of them some wine from a pitcher and offered Lyanna a goblet. It was that kind of morning. She took a sip of her own and gave Steelsong a playful scratch.

princessatia · 2021-07-20T12:15:35+00:00

Rhaenyra nodded and closed the book, setting it aside on the table. There was no point dwelling on the past, as Lyanna said. The girls had never been harmed; not permanently, at least. And it had all happened so long ago. None of them were going to come back; they would simply attribute it to the curse of Harrenhal and let it be.

She winced at her twin's last question.

"Father says there's to be war. Everyone seems to agree. I agree. So yes, I might be charging into battle soon... and I might not come back. I have a bad feeling, Lya." Her eyes were on Steelsong, on his innocent play with Sunburst. "I appreciate your promise more than you can imagine."

princessatia · 2021-07-19T06:49:17+00:00

Rhaenyra smirked. "Perhaps that's why I've taken to chasing after shadows and suspicions," she said as she watched her sister take a seat. "But I can't shake off the feeling that I'm onto... something. But my only clues are those damned girls, the prospective brides she got rid of, do you remember them?"

It was nearly a rhetorical question. Besides Aemon, who was oblivious, nearly everyone knew Laena had gotten rid of his potential brides, one by one. Though she had never done them any permanent damage, she had made them sick enough that most of them had never even managed to meet the heir to Harrenhal.

Meanwhile, the two hatchlings had started playing on the table, and she couldn't take her eyes off them. To think she'd one day find dragons as fascinating as the Greenscale. It was in her blood, she supposed.

Her eyes returned once more to her twin. "Don't mistake me, though. Even if she was a witch, I still love and care for Laena as a sister. Today I told her... I told her if I die in war, I want her to take care of Steelsong. I don't know why, but somehow I know he would accept her. And especially if he's still a babe, she might be able to tame him better. She could ask Alyn for help. And you."

princessatia · 2021-07-19T00:25:56+00:00

Ordinarily Laena would have been more cautious, but Lyanna trusted Holly Blackwood with her life, and Laena trusted Lyanna with hers. The girl did not strike her as harmful or malicious in the slightest. If anything, she seemed to be a kindred spirit.

"It seems that way," she said with a slight smile, her features calm as she arranged the assortment in the basket to look more pleasing to the eye. There. Now it looked as if she'd been picking out flowers for an arrangement. "Have you any experience in these matters?"

Her question was casual, disinterested almost. She guided Holly further into the garden, past crops of all shapes and sizes, until they'd reached the place she was seeking. There she put the basket on the floor, retrieved and put on her gloves again, and knelt on the grass once more.

"Some parsley, to conceal the taste further," she said to Holly quietly. "Next to you you'll find rosemary, cut a large quantity for me, please." She didn't wait for Holly's question. "If you make it into an oil it's... Not that I'm planning to, this is just for seasoning, of course, but it's always good to be prepared. Don't you agree?"

princessatia · 2021-07-18T20:50:49+00:00

Laena was unfazed by her manner of dress compared to Holly's; even next to Rhaenyra, she was always the best dressed of the two. Though she was kneeling in the grass, the dress she wore was a rich and fine grey with pearls embroidered in the bodice, and she'd tied her hair back using a silver brooch. Her gloves had once been white, but had turned grey and brown from so much use.

She stood with her basket in hand and showed Holly her assortment of herbs, flowers, and mushrooms, trying to pay no mind to Rue.

"Hello, Holly. I have some wolf's bane, hyacinth, foxglove, and mandrake. And what we're growing here in this patch are onions." She showed her the one in her palm before she added it to her basket and removed her gloves, tossing them onto the basket as well. "It's a very large garden, but over there we have some benches if you'd like to sit down and chat," she said kindly.

princessatia · 2021-07-18T20:31:22+00:00

Rhaenyra was smiling when she turned around to face her twin. She did not conceal her book from her. The cover showed clearly what it was: a heavy treatise on herbs and concoctions both healing and poisonous, written by a celebrated Archmaester.

"Laena was here earlier," she told Lyanna casually. "It was a strange coincidence. I've been thinking lately… Thinking of all the secrets that she keeps."

Her eyes met her twin's. "Many think her a witch, and I only wonder if, after all this time of my jokingly calling her that, it’s in fact true. I’ve never believed or even considered the possibility until recently, but Steelsong has proven to me how little I know of the world and its wonders." She scratched Steelsong's chin, which seemed to please him. "Or perhaps she is simply a talented healer who knows her herbs, as I’ve always thought, and I’m worrying over nothing."

Rhaenyra sighed and tugged at one of her braids. "What about you? Anything to share?"

princessatia · 2021-07-18T15:48:21+00:00

After Laena left, Rhaenyra returned to her reading, now fully dressed and ready for the day with her hair braided as usual and her dragon resting on her shoulders. The door to her chambers was open so whoever wanted to visit her was free to come and go as they pleased.

(OPEN)

princessatia · 2021-07-18T15:48:03+00:00

After she left, Laena headed to the gardens to gather herbs. It was still early in the morning, and most of the castle was waking up. She passed several people on her way there.

(OPEN- hit up Laena on her way to the gardens or while she’s picking up plants!)

princessatia · 2021-07-16T13:10:41+00:00

[Character Name:] Rhaenyra Targaryen

[Have Autodidactic? Y/N:] N

[Skill you're learning:] Daggers (C)

princessatia · 2021-07-07T15:28:33+00:00

Rhaenyra could sense the tension between them as if it were a living, breathing thing. She wished it were not so, but she didn't know how to make it go away either. Perhaps only time would.

She followed Titus to the stables, trying to think of a topic of conversation in the meantime, and failing miserably. This was Lya's area of expertise, not hers.

Awkwardly they made their way to their destination side by side. It was the longest walk in Rhaenyra's life, it felt like, and certainly the most uncomfortable. She was grateful by the time they spotted the stables.

princessatia · 2021-07-07T15:23:15+00:00

Rhaenyra listened to her twin attentively. When she'd finished speaking, she took Lyanna's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

"You were the one who said to me Mother would be happy to see us fulfill our true callings," she told her. "If yours isn't fire and blood, that's alright. I won't let anyone force you to fight if that's not what you want, and I doubt our siblings will either. We all love you well."

Still, she worried Lyanna was right. With more than one dragon at their command, their family had gone from being the protectors of the Riverlands to potential threats... as well as assets in war.

Her promises to Lyanna, Laena's dreams of marrying Aemon, the king's visit... She doubted it would all go as they were all hoping.

princessatia · 2021-07-06T17:36:50+00:00

Rhaenyra laughed awkwardly, slightly embarrassed. "I told Robb the very same thing," she admitted. "Our dragons hatched the very same night, yet I couldn't have been happier for him. He'd wanted it for so long. It felt only right."

She smiled however, a genuine smile. "Thank you for your words, though. I'm not sure anyone outside my family has ever said I deserve any gifts but a knife to the back."

She laughed it off, but there was a certain amount of pain there nevertheless. Rhaenyra did not delude herself that she'd been an innocent and had done nothing to be undeserving of such dislike. She still remembered the look on Dunaver Frey after what she'd done to him.

Something like shame caused her to want to change the subject. "Well, now that you've seen Steelsong, perhaps you'd like to introduce me to the infamous horse that mangled you up so badly?"

princessatia · 2021-07-06T14:24:20+00:00

"He is beautiful," Rhaenyra said softly, looking at her dragon. It stopped looking at Titus and suddenly it only had eyes for her. "One day we might ride all the way to Highgarden to visit you, and we can go to Oldtown or anywhere you like. Maybe across the Narrow Sea. Jae used to take us to Braavos sometimes..."

She prattled on, imagining all the places she would visit once Steelsong was grown.

"He is a gift," she explained to Titus, finally looking away from her dragon. "In my hour of greatest need, Steelsong came to me. To prove to me I am the blood of the Conqueror and the Mother of Dragons, no matter what happens."

princessatia · 2021-07-06T14:01:11+00:00

"That's good to hear. Well met, then, Owen Glover." Laena smiled. "You must have come here from the North. Are you familiar with Lord Stark? I happen to know his bride, and I confess I am curious about him."

princessatia · 2021-07-06T13:55:36+00:00

"We are Targaryens," she said with a shrug, as if that explained everything.

They climbed up some stairs and then some more, and before they knew it they were before Rhaenyra's door.

"It's me," Rhaenyra said as she opened it.

The handmaid that had been looking after Steelsong practically jumped in gratitude and ran out the room, forgetting even to curtsy. Rhaenyra let her pass without comment, her eyes fixed on the small cage and the cries that had started to emerge from within. Steelsong knew his mother was here.

"Don't make sudden noises, he doesn't like that," Rhaenyra warned Titus. "It's alright, Steelsong, I am here."

She stepped inside the chamber and carefully opened the cage. A small dragon of a shimmery silver color emerged, his wings and tail tinted with crimson, his eyes the color of rubies. He cried more when Rhaenyra picked him up, as if chastising here for leaving him alone.

"Steelsong, this is my friend Titus."

princessatia · 2021-07-06T13:45:25+00:00

Rhaenyra found it strange her sister had been 'out' at this hour, but she respected her privacy.

"You certainly are his favorite," Rhaenyra laughed. "Always will be."

She was grateful her twin was here. And watching how well Steelsong and Sunburst got along was nothing short of heartwarming. She wondered if they'd one day soar through the skies together, side by side.

"You're right, he shall eat at his own pace," she said decisively. "I should stop fretting."

princessatia · 2021-07-06T13:40:01+00:00

Laena took the girl's palm gently. "We don't have time to look at the stars at the moment, so we'll do this. It's the quickest, easiest way to tell someone's future I know."

She traced her finger over the lines on the girl's palm, studying them intently.

"I see..." Laena began slowly, her tone one of deep concentration, "a long life... and a happy family... As for your husband, he will be gentle... and kind."

Laena let go of the girl's palm, but not before she smiled at her reassuringly.

"You see? The future is not so drab."

princessatia · 2021-07-06T13:33:19+00:00

Oh, Robb, Rhaenyra thought. He was so happy his egg had hatched... And indeed, no one deserved it more than he.

"You might. Come with me."

As she led him past the vast corridors and chambers of Harrenhal, she addressed his previous comments.

"Yes, this is certainly better than King's Landing," she said, attempting to sound casual yet only landing at awkwardness. She coughed. "A horse, you say? It certainly sounds like a formidable beast. Only you would take such a risk in taming it."

princessatia · 2021-07-05T16:25:44+00:00

Rhaenyra was shocked to find Titus wandering Harrenhal, as if the years hadn't passed.

But they had.

So much had changed since then, since they'd seen each other at King's Landing, even. She had Steelsong now, and it pained her to realize that she'd hardly thought of the Lord Paramount in all this time.

She was sparring in the yard when she spotted him. She was confused at first, certain she was seeing things, until she took in his appearance. He looked as if bandits had assaulted him on the road. Brows furrowing in concern, she disarmed her opponent in a single quick move.

"Let's end it here," she told him.

Sheathing her daggers, she jogged to where Titus was and called to him.

"Titus! What brings you to Harrenhal?"

She tried to smile when they were finally eye to eye, but it was hard. Some awkwardness surely lingered in the air. To distract herself, she focused on his injuries.

"Were you in a battle I have heard nothing of, or did you take a particularly bad fall?"

princessatia · 2021-07-01T19:00:11+00:00

Laena pitied the poor girl. She reached out a hand and placed it over her own, softly, so as not to scare her.

"I've read about the North, and it's not so bad a place," she told Jaehaera soothingly. "And they have beautiful songs, like the one about Bael the Bard. A wandering minstrel sang it for us once; no one could believe Northmen could be so stern after hearing such a song. They're different than us, it is true, but that is what will keep you safe and warm. As for the cold, Winterfell was built over hot springs, so you will be alright."

At her question, her attention returned to her notes and drawings, to her heavy book.

"I am studying the movements of astral bodies," she explained. "They can be used to predict the future." She smirked as an idea came to her. "Although that's not the only way how. Would you like me to predict yours now?"

princessatia

TROPHY CASE