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Harrenhal 101 A.C
"We should have had a word with him. In those days, when he announced this foolish idea. We should have reminded him of his promises."
Corlys' voice sounded heavy, but fairly calm, although Rhaenys could sense his anger. After all, she felt exactly the same.
"It's over, Corlys. Viserys is the Prince of Dragonstone." Her voice was tired, but kept all of her negative emotions in her. She would break soon, as lightning before the storm, but not now. Not when the children are around her.
"They were idiots. All of them! Ιt was your birthright my love. You are Jaehaerys' eldest grandchild. Your father,"
"He's been dead nearly a decade, Corlys. But we're alive and well. Please stop."
"We had to remind the king of Queen Alysanne's wish, Rhaenys. She called you queen since you were born!"
"I shall not remind a broken old man of the words of his late wife. Our talk ended here! I will never wear the crown, but it matters little to me, Corlys. I have you, our children, our peace. I just want to go home."
"Won't mommy become queen?" Laenor was already sleepy and his voice sounds low. Rhaenys fondles the boy's hair while he rests his head against Corlys' chest.
"No, sweet boy. But I'll always be your mommy." She won't lie, it's something they have to accept and go forward with.
"Can we go back to Driftmark soon, Mommy?" Laenor asks half asleep. "Our babe is bored of this place."
Their baby is already sleeping in Rhaenys' arms, their darling Laena, a beautiful girl who looks just like him.
Her husband, the man who looked after her like a child and adored her like a goddess of Valyria. Rhaenys knows she couldn't have chosen a better man. He cares for her, loves their children and has given her a comfortable life.
The gods blessed her with two beautiful children, with the silver-colored hair and purple eyes of Valyria, the dark purple eyes of Corlys. And the color of his skin. Gods, she loved his skin from the first moment she saw him at the Small Council's meeting more than a decade ago.
It was so much more peaceful and beautiful those days.
With her spirit returning to the happy moments of the past, she did not listen to Laenor's question until he asked her again.
"Μommy, do ghosts really exist?"
"That noise you hear is your mama's dragon, son." The Sea Snake squeezed the boy on his chest, kissing his brow. "She's been upset these last few weeks."
The Red Queen was indeed distressed by remaining at Harrenhal during the Great Council. Rhaenys did not ride her as often as on Driftmark and that upset her, but tonight the cry mixed with the icy air is a cry of wrath.
Rhaenys wrath.
"Maybe you should go to her, love. Take a moment for yourself. I'll put the children to bed on my own and have the servants prepare a hot bath and some food for your return."
She's excited about the idea, but this time she has to hold back. If she gets close to Meleys now, the consequences will be serious. Rhaenys knows that and doesn't want to take that kind of risk.
The connection between the dragon and its rider is sacred. Rhaenys is part of Meleys and Meleys is part of Rhaenys. This would not be otherwise.
Her dragon knows how madly sorrowful she is. She knows that when the king announced the results of the ballot of lords and vassals, her rider wanted to climb on her back, fly over her heads shouting, "fuck you all."
"No, I'll get the children into bed by myself, but there's something you can do for me." She never finishes her sentence because Laenor stops her. "No, it's not Mew Mew, I was told by a maid that there are ghosts in the castle."
A pure grin spreads across the face of Rhaenys, and her cheeks glow red, like the wings of Meleys.
They called her the Red Queen for the color of her wings and the crown of her spikes.
Laenor as a baby called her Mew Mew and Laena as his little sister follows his example. Meleys is a proud creature, yet she willingly permits it.
Rhaenys smiles.
If her happiness was the price of having the crown, she would never have paid for it. She enjoys her life the way it is, calm, peaceful. But she remembers every word Laenor said. Who dared to frighten her son? Queen or not, the blood of the dragon runs through her veins, and whoever scares or wounds her babies simply pays the proper price.
"Husband, help me take the children to their beds and then," she takes a deep breath because she knows his reaction, "I want you to go take a look at our dragons. If they are well, and if they ate. Meleys will calm down a bit if she sees one of her familiar faces."
From his terrified look, she realizes that it would be more pleasant for him to swim from Driftmark to Essos in the midst of a winter storm.
The idea that he was still scared of her, ten years later, always makes her laugh.
" Corlys," she said gently, "if she had wanted to hurt you, she would have done so in the early days of our marriage. Not after ten years. My little girl knows I love you."
He looks at her wanting to say that she's not a little girl, but a fucking dragon, yet closes the door behind him after kissing their children for goodnight.
Rhaenys softly covers Laena by giving her a kiss on her forehead, placing beside the pillow the cloth dragon that her daughter has everywhere with her throughout the day. The final act of love of Baelon the Brave towards her family. She once told him she never wanted to see him again because he stole her birthright, but now if she could bring him back to life, she would pay the price by throwing her crown into the fire herself. Rhaenys was always fond of her family.
If she lets herself free, she will soon fall apart, but there is no room for sadness, not since her baby boy is afraid because of someone. So her focus is on Laenor.
"You know how much mommy loves you, right?" She asks him, kissing him on the forehead fondly caressing his hair. "You know you can always trust me."
The little boy shakes his head and Rhaenys kisses him again, on the nose this time making him laugh.
"So tell me, darling, who was the housemaid who told you these horrible things?"
She recognized the chambermaid from Laenor's description; she was the bastard daughter of the young Lord Strong. Perfectly, she'll have some words with her tomorrow morning.
She reassures him through gentle words and many kisses. She tells him that she will never allow anyone to harm him and the boy ends up calming himself in her arms.
"Can we go see our dragons in the morning?" He asks gently. "Ι missed Seasmoke so much."
"Οf course."
She realizes that he has a further question to ask her because of the way he looks at her behind his eyelashes.
"So go on, your mommy already understands that you want to ask another question, Laenor." Rhaenys said, and she giggles really happy. She doesn't need a crown to feel good. She has her children.
"Can you stay here? With me? Just for a while! Please, mommy!"
Normally, she needs a bath, fresh clothes and food, but she can't say no to him. She lies down beside him, hugging him firmly and kissing him on the cheeks.
Sleep comes fast for them, and Rhaenys goes into a joyful dream. In her dream, she's no queen, but she's got a third child.
His thoughts are a tangle as he passed the east gate and walked to the fields where Meleys was. Normally she should have been in the stables, but recently she had started to become quite grumpy and demanding and the lords were afraid of her presence.
Corlys himself was often frightened by her roaring, but tonight there is a wave of devilish delight within him. If the only way they can pay the price of their choice is through her shrieks, then Corlys would beg her to terrorize them even more.
They stole from us, they underestimated us, they betrayed us and they must pay for it. They gave the throne that rightfully belonged to her, to a boy who can't reign, just because he's got a cock.
Unfortunately, he's here for the opposite reason.
"I'm not asking you to remain calm for the sake of some false courtesy, husband. You know that I hate it as much as you do, but I want you to remain calm for the sake of my father's memory. Prince Aemon taught me honor and dignity, I would tarnish his memory if I acted as a spoiled brat."
He had promised her that he would remain calm, in the name of the man who once gave him the greatest honor he could imagine. To give him Rhaenys for a wife.
His rage changed to sadness when he saw the figure of the pale silver-grey dragon sleeping beneath Meleys' wings.
Similarly with Rhaenys the Red Queen had taken the little dragon under her wings, as Rhaenys always did with their children.
The dragon and the princess were part of one another, Corlys knew that.
Μeleys stared at him with big golden eyes as he got closer to her. She had stopped roaring, maybe because Seasmoke was already asleep, but she banged her tail on the ground nervously from time to time.
"Rytsas ñuha riña."
(Hello my girl.)
She continued to look at him as a curious child, though he did not come any closer. It had been over ten years since he had first approached her, but he still felt the same fear and admiration when he was around her, especially when Rhaenys wasn't in the same place.
"Rhaenys jittan nyke naejot mazverdagon sure īlē mirre paktot."
(Rhaenys sent me to make sure you were all right.)
At the sound of her rider's name, Meleys quieted down, but without taking her eyes off him. Damn.
At Driftmark when he wanted to approach her he bribed her with fish and crabs, always secret from Rhaenys, but in this damn place he could find none of them.
"You can have your fish at home, I promise. Here, I only found that."
He took a few steps back before throwing her the special treat he had been there for her, holding the bottle of wine in his other hand.
What kind of wise, sober man would give a dragon a cabbage?
A column of smoke ascended into the grey, night sky, and Corlys took another step backwards visibly terrified. Giving her a cabbage might not have been his best idea.
Meleys approached her snout at the strange thing which had landed in front of her, smelling it. Then she opened her mouth and swallowed it at once, making Corlys laugh in relief.
It would be pretty safe if he were to approach her now.
"Ao sagon iā sȳz riña." (You are a good girl.)
But I'm probably the worst husband in the world. I failed to give her the place she deserved, and I will not forgive myself for that. Not unless I apologize with my actions. They wronged my Rhaenys, your mama, and they must pay for that. I will not rest until I have corrected this injustice."
Meleys let a new pillar of smoke rise in the sky and brought her snout closer to him.
He had never imagined himself around her for so long, but her golden eyes were kind and he continued to speak to her.
"I may have been wrong to promise her that I would not use the gold of our House to draw more supporters for her sake. Rhaenys wanted to do things right, but I could have influenced at least those who were undecided to vote for her.
What is the true meaning of power if the people you love are not happy?"
Rhaenys had attempted to show that she was not deeply disturbed by the decision, but he knew, he felt, that she was deeply distressed. He recalled her reaction when, after the death of her father, the king appointed his second son as his heir, passing over her.
"I can't let her fall back into sorrow. Things were so tough back then. She's my concern, Mew Mew. I want her to always have a smile on her face."
This time, Meleys raised her head toward the sky, leaving an orange flame reaching as high as possible. She let the kids call her whatever they wanted, but not him.
He took a step backwards almost terrified. Queens or not, both have always had their whims and back home Rhaenys would feel safe and happy again. He would do his best for it.
Mysteriously, he remembered something early in their marriage, when he had made Rhaenys laugh a lot.
"Iksā se sȳrje riña isse se vys." (You are the best girl in the world.)
He hurriedly greeted Meleys calling her the Red Queen this time. If he had made his Rhaenys laugh when she mourned the loss of Prince Aemon, he could do that now too.
His absent pierces her like a knife when she opens her eyes and although she slept beside Laenor she still feels tired. She is also dirty and hungry, but what worries her the most is that Corlys is not there while she needs him.
Rhaenys feels frustrated.
Is it possible that now that she won't become the queen, he no longer loves her? However, he never gave her any reason to believe that. He is more likely to want to avoid her because he feels responsible for her failure.
He had told her a couple of times and really made her angry. She and Viserys? It was ridiculous.
Right now, though, she's feeling exhausted. She needs someone to embrace her, to help her take a bath, to brush her hair... She needs him.
There are servants of course for this work, but she misses out on the routine they have together. His care.
She misses his strong hands around her body. Where the hell are you, Corlys?
The noise from the outside takes her out of her thoughts. It is a continuous sound in the motif, and Rhaenys first thinks it begins to rain again. She hates it when it rains, especially here.
Another rain means she'll have to argue with Corlys about whether to travel on Dragonback or in the carriage.
Once the fucking Sea Snake returns. Her sadness turns into rage. What in Seven Hells is wrong with him? Why didn't he come back? Doesn't he care about his children either?
She quickly realizes that it is not raining, although there are clouds in the sky. The sound returns at the same intensity.
"Who's there?" she asks angrily, but softly. She doesn't want to wake the children because of some stupid thing.
The silence makes her anxious. Surely somebody is hiding in the darkness. Rhaenys suddenly realizes that it was a mistake to take the lower apartments of the Widow's Tower, but she could not deny her children's desire to play in the garden for as long as they lived in it.
"Show yourself!" This time she talks louder, but still does not get a response. This makes her angry! What kind of people think they can play with her?
When a sudden wind opened the window, Rhaenys felt a trembling in her spine. Tiredness and sorrow were playing with her mind and the stories Laenor was afraid of frozen her blood.
"Ghosts don't actually exist," she kept repeating herself, "it was just the wind."
She quickly closed the window and covered the children again, however, this time the sound was heard closer and specifically in her room.
Holding her dagger in hand, she moved quietly to surprise the intruder, but two strong hands caught her from behind.
The warmth of his body passed into her body, even under her clothes, expelling much of the tension but without calming her completely. "Are you out of your mind, Corlys? I thought it was someone else."
"Who else could be in our private rooms, wife? This is absurdity."
At the sound of his heavy voice Rhaenys felt her legs shaking as his large palm fell under her waist, touching her buttocks.
Had he planned this? If he is, he will pay a heavy price. Is he in the mood to play with her when she's going to drown in her anger? How can he do that?
"I apologize for scaring you, my love." His face is buried in her neck, leaving a kiss on her collarbone. "I thought you'd remember the good old days and have some fun."
Her rage is growing like a giant wave inside her. As a child, she loved to watch the big waves of Blackwater Bay, the ones brought by the winter storms, from the safety of her room in Maegor's holdfast.
On Driftmark the air smelled of salt and sea breeze, and the winter storms brought with them strong waves, and bright gray and black colors, and sometimes snowflakes that spread everywhere like a white carpet.
Rhaenys loved the view from her chamber's balcony and when the weather was warm she walked barefoot on the beach.
It was nice to walk on the wet sand, and Corlys often teased her that she looked more like a common girl than a Targaryen princess.
Rhaenys always replied that if she were a common girl, she would not hate crabs or love their little games. In the Red Keep or at Dragonstone, they tried to be careful and show their love for each other only behind closed doors in their bedroom, but at Driftmark...
In the early days, after her father's death, she needed time to realize the new situation, but Corlys had shown great understanding. Until one afternoon, he frightened her in order to make her laugh and they saw each other play another exciting game.
Their sexual life had never been boring, but since that afternoon they had unlocked a door to true pleasure, they were home and no longer needed to hide behind walls and heavy locked doors.
Her mind worked quickly, but of course his fingers that circled her ass over her dress also helped a lot. She didn't need more time to see his intentions. When she squeezed her body harder on him, among them was his hand, but it was the bulge in his breeches that greeted her move enthusiastically.
Before he could react, she moved her small hand between them, cupping him over the fabric of his breeches.
"Someone is very excited about himself, I see."
"Someone wants to please his sweet wife, Princess."
Princess... it was the only title left her by her family. The only legacy she would ever have. However, when she left the Great Hall of Harrenhal, some of her fiercest supporters called her as the Queen Who Never Was.
It gave her a bit of satisfaction, but not the same satisfaction she had planned to gain soon.
Leaving him literally enchanted beneath her touch, it was not difficult to slip into his grip and twist her body, so that now they stand face to face.
She faced him with a mischievous grin and a raised eyebrow. "Once, you promised to honor me as your queen, my Lord. You said back then you'd kneel before me. Now is the time to keep your promise."
He lifted her like a child in his arms, carrying her to the table where they broke their fast, often with the children, inwardly cursing the humble halls of Harrenhal that were not in the least compared to those of Driftmark. It was the closest piece of furniture to him, and at the same time the furthest from the children's chamber.
It was of no particular importance to the enthusiastic Rhaenys, however, who was now in front of him with half-open eyes and wide open legs, observing the subject of the Lord of the Tides on his knees.
His warm kisses on her bare skin made her shiver and she arched her back, but he continued to move his lips slowly, worshiping every inch of her.
As she deserved. Wanting more, however, she ran her fingers through his silvery hair, trying to guide him where she needed him most.
However, he ignored her desire, kissing and gently biting her inner thighs, increasing the humidity between her legs.
This action left marks and bruises on her skin, which Rhaenys was always proud to carry. They always marked each other during their coupling, like predators, although her own marks on him only become apparent if she caused blood flow.
"Corlys!" The moans of his name from her sweet mouth eventually lead to the desired movement as he slowly takes off her small clothes.
She's already wet and ready for him, but he wants to please her.
"I want to praise my queen." The word sounds strange in his mouth, and Rhaenys knows that under other circumstances, it would be like salt in her wound, but not here, not when their bodies are ready to become one.
He is hers in a unique way. He will not betray the crown to bring shame and misery to their House, but he will always praise her as his queen.
"So go on, if you will have my favor, my Lord."
She doesn't care what happened before, now she's only into their game. She feels her moisture stagnating on the surface of wood and she smiles at him with a wicked smile.
"If not, I can punish you, you know that." She won't beg, but she wants it now.
Her words fill him with a burning desire, and when he raises his head for a moment, so that he can observe her well he cannot fail to admire how beautiful she is. Her black hair contrasts harmoniously with her milky skin, and her cheeks blushes gracefully. While her words are harsh, love is reflected in her pale lilac eyes.
She's the most beautiful woman on earth, and she's his. Every inch of her body and every little sigh of her mouth belong to him alone.
With no warning, he buried his head between his thighs, and his tongue moved on her silk folds. Rhaenys presses his head, trying to lead him where she wants him, but he refuses her wish.
He is well aware of the way her body works and wants to push her to the edge to give her a marvelous orgasm.
Then he intensifies his efforts, licking her again, whilst slipping a finger inside her.
Rhaenys is far from a saintly wife. She always shamelessly enjoys sex with him, so she spreads her legs giving him more access. Then closes her thighs, guiding his head like it was Meleys' saddle.
Her fingers got his hair tangled again, but this time her grip was tighter, and so he focused on his task.
When he slipped a second finger beside the other, Rhaenys moaned so loudly that he had to cover her mouth with his palm. "Careful, love, you'll wake up the children."
She was whispering something in her breath, but he didn't have the means to respond. His tongue was slowly dragged in the pearl of her flesh, and the misty white pleasure began to flow from her core.
"Oh, fuck!" Rhaenys moaned as his fingers and tongue continued to work into her, sending waves of pleasure into her entire body.
"I'm close, I'm so close, Corlys, please, don't stop!"
He had no intention of course. Her knuckles turned white, as her fists gripped the edges of the table hard as she came into his mouth and as her loyal subject he drank all of her nectar like a thirsty man.
When her body stopped shaking, he stood up from the ground and approached her face, putting their lips closer together. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him close to her.
She tasted herself voraciously in his kiss while she ran her hand to his body. She could content herself with something passionate and hasty, but she wanted to enjoy the strong body of her husband, naked, before her eyes.
"Don't move!" Impatient and rushed, she could not wait to strip him, even with his help, so her dagger did the job faster, letting him mumble about his damaged clothes.
All his protests stopped when she took him in her hand, admiring the size and hardness.
Her fingers rolled on his veins and his pink head, teasing his slit. Pre cum was shining under the candlelight and Rhaenys picked it up between her fingers and licked them properly.
"Rhaenys," he warned her, "stop teasing if you don't want me to come into your hands. "I don't think I can hold out long."
"Nobody wants that, you have to have me." He was far from understanding the necessity, but he could not think of more, not when it was her own hand that held his cock firmly, driving it in her humid heat.
"Corlys!" She sighed at his thrusts, wrapping her legs around his waist, and holding his buttocks so tightly with her hands, that she felt her knuckles burning. "Fuck me, please!"
He put one hand on her back, holding her flat and with the other pulled the cloth from her dress to the height of her breasts, tearing the fabric into pieces.
"My gown!" Rhaenys murmured on his chest, and he paused for a moment to meet her gaze and caress her hair. "I'll buy you thousands of dresses, princess, the world's finest and most expensive fabrics."
Her hold came back firm and Corlys increased his thrusts, hitting his manhood in and out of his wife's sweet, tight, cunt.
He had to close one of her nipples in his mouth to drown out his own groans, but soon her mouth wiped his in an attempt to keep her sighs from being heard and waking up their children.
Her walls tightened around his big hard cock and Corlys kissed her fiercely while his thumb touched her swollen clitoris leading her to bliss.
"Give me your seed!" She whined as her body trembled in his arms, "put a baby in me!"
Surprised and aroused by her desire, he emptied himself in her and falls boneless in her arms.
"My Rhaenys, my beauty, my love, my wife, I promise you that I will do everything I can to correct the injustice against you. I will not stop until we see your blood on the throne. Our children."
"Corlys," she interrupted him, bringing her fingers to his lips. "The Iron Throne is not what my heart desires. My only wish is to go home with our children and have one more. I want the halls of High Tide to be filled with children's laughter. Laenor is already a wonderful big brother, and Laena often asks me for a babe."
"A girl to help you run Driftmark when I'm not around?"
"A boy that will help you in your travels when he gets old enough. And he will always bring you back to me."
His thumb gently stroked her hand, as his lips gave him a kiss on her forehead. "I will always come back to you, Rhaenys."
Driftmark, 9 months later.
The room smelled of blood, flowers and frankincense when he walked in and the fire in the fireplace roared joyfully keeping the chill of the night away from the space.
Rhaenys was lying in bed, her skin still sweaty and her hair damaged. She was tired, but her eyes were bright with joy and her face had a gentle smile. "Were you crying?" she asked slowly. He nodded negatively, but she laughed. "I know your eyes, Corlys."
"Those are tears of happiness, love." He teased her, turning his eyes at the small bundle she was holding in her arms.
"Can I keep him?" Rhaenys smiled and gave him the baby softly, putting his hands under the covers that had wrapped their newborn babe. Pale white-gold hair and pale lilac eyes shone in the candlelight and Corlys left a gentle kiss on his son's forehead.
"Laena and Laenor asked me for his name, have you thought of that, my love?" He stroked her palm with his thumb to make her feel comfortable with the next question. "Shall we name him after his grandsire?"
"I'm not sure I can do this, Corlys." But I know my father would be so happy if I gave to our babe another name. Baelon!"
He stared at her with wide eyes, while a wicked grin shone on her face."Viserys can hold his throne. I'm holding my son."