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Rhaenyra stood by her station in the High Council chambers as the council members entered and took their seats. She could tell her father was struggling with the upcoming announcement, so she gave him a smile. He had her blessing. Rhaenyra was under no illusions of what duties were required by the king. He needed to remarry. The realm needed a queen. And Lady Laena would do a fine job.
Across the council table, Alicent was standing by her father. It was strange for her to attend a council meeting, but it was even stranger how she was looking down at the floor. Mayhaps this council meeting was dealing with business regarding Oldtown too, in addition to the King's announcement.
After greeting the council, the King said, "I intend to marry…" then paused dramatically. His eyes landed on Alicent, who had finally looked up.
Rhaenyra and Alicent locked eyes. Alicent was fiddling with her nails and shifting from side to side. The realization only hit Rhaenyra seconds before her father said the words.
"…the lady Alicent."
Ser Otto looked over at his daughter with pride while Lord Corlys stood and argued. Rhaenyra paid them no attention. Her eyes were set on Alicent, who now would barely look in her direction.
Rhaenyra tried to hold back tears, but when her father called out her name, it was too much to handle. She took her leave of the room before any of the council members could see her discomposure.
Once she was out of the room, she wiped her eyes. There were still too many lords and ladies walking about the Keep who could see her vulnerability. Quickening her pace, she found an exit and headed for the Godswood.
Like a shadow, her personal guard, Ser Criston, followed. "Leave me," she told him at the entrance to the secluded sanctuary.
When finally alone, she bent over and let out an unearthly scream as she let the floodgates of tears open. Her father and her best friend. How could they do this to her? How long had this been going on?
"Rhaenyra."
It was Alicent's voice, and the last thing in the world that she needed to hear right now.
Drying her eyes with her sleeve, Rhaenyra took three calming breaths before turning to greet the girl that she had always called her best friend.
"You traitorous whore," Rhaenyra screamed. "How long have you been seducing my father? Did you even wait for the funeral pyre to cool before you slithered up his bedside?"
Alicent's face had pinched together, like she was holding back tears. Pathetic. She had made her bed, there would be no crying her way to forgiveness.
"I did not, Rhaenyra. I swear. I would never."
"Then why?!" Rhaenyra screamed. "You're nothing more than the daughter of a second-born son. What makes your union so advantageous?"
"It's not. I do not know what your father is thinking."
Rhaenyra turned away from her. She wouldn't listen to any more lies.
This didn't dissuade Alicent. Instead, she walked around Rhaenyra, and made a grab for her hands. Rhaenyra pulled away and crossed her arms.
"You know how broken your father's been," Alicent said.
"My father is a Targaryen king. A dragon. We are not weak," Rhaenyra said as she wiped away more tears.
"He seemed sad," Alicent corrected. "I admit, I tried to comfort him—but it was innocent. I brought him books and let him tell me about Old Valyria. That is all. I thought he just needed someone to talk to. I did not realize he thought it was more. I did not want it to be more. Rhaenyra, I swear. This is not what I intended. It's not what I want."
"You are not that much of a fool."
"But I am naive. You have always told me such. Please Rhaenyra. I do not want this. If I could say no, I would. But he's the king. And my father approves. You know I don't have a choice."
They were lies. Alicent had already been sneaking behind her back for months, visiting the king in secret. Lying had surely become second nature to her, just as it is with all snakes.
"Leave, before you poison my favorite spot, just as you've poisoned my father."
She turned away again and took a deep breath, preparing for more arguments, but when she looked back at Alicent, Alicent was already retreating back into the Keep.
Good riddance.
Rhaenyra grew distant over the next couple weeks. Any time Alicent tried to speak with her, Rhaenyra responded in short, clipped sentences, then quickly found an excuse to leave. It hurt. They had been best friends since Alicent could remember and now there was an empty hole in her heart where love once stood.
Alicent was going to marry the king. She did not particularly look forward to this marriage, but she knew what her duty was. The king had commanded it. Her father commanded it. Girls like Alicent never got a choice.
As Rhaenyra continued to make the once warm Red Keep feel as cold as the North, Alicent sought guidance from the Seven. Her once cherished meeting place, the Godswood, had been claimed by Rhaenyra, who made it clear that Alicent was no longer welcome. So instead, Alicent took to the Royal Sept, the one place in the Red Keep where Rhaenyra never disturbed her.
Hours would pass while she knelt in front of the various statues, her knees growing weary and achy. To the Mother, she prayed for strength in her upcoming marriage and wifely duties—wifely duties that were abhorrent to think about. To the maiden, she prayed to learn to love Viserys as he loved her. And from the Crone, she prayed for the wisdom she would need to be a just and loving queen.
But it was the Father she spent the most time praying to. She prayed for his forgiveness, for she knew how sinful she was. Rhaenyra was right to hate her. She had betrayed her best friend. If Alicent had been of pure heart, then Rhaenyra would have understood. It was the sin she sensed within Alicent that caused her best friend to lash out and hate. She had to know Alicent's shame.
After a full day of praying, Alicent would return to her chamber in the Hand's tower, with aching knees. Her bed was always too soft in the wrong places and left her tossing and turning throughout the night. Of course, the sinful dreams did not help either. Shameful thoughts of Rhaenyra plagued her. Some nights, her dreams were so bad, she had to return to the sept, and the Father, first thing in the morning before she even had the chance to break her fast.
"Look at how pious she is, Your Grace," her father would say to the King.
Alicent added deceiving her father and the king to her list of sins. She was not pious. She was wicked.
"I would like you to help Alicent with the wedding preparations," Rhaenyra's father said over dinner.
Ever since the queen's death, uncomfortable silence had become the norm for the royal family. Rhaenyra and her father had begun repairing their deteriorating relationship, until her father's appalling announcement of his upcoming nuptials. Soon enough, Alicent would be joining in on these awkward dinners too. Rhaenyra wondered how she would ever be able to stomach another bite while seated at the same table as that wicked stepmother.
Rhaenyra looked up with a glare. "Is this a request or a command?"
"Is there a difference?"
Rhaenyra rolled her eyes. Men with absolute power rarely remembered the concept of choice. "A request is a favor. I can say no. A command has consequences if I say no."
Her father sighed. "Rhaenyra, will you just do as I say?"
"So it is a command?"
"If that's what you need it to be."
Returning her attention to her plate, Rhaenyra pushed a vegetable across it with her fork. Her stomach growled, but she already had no appetite. She pushed the plate away and stood. "I'm going to retire early."
"But we still have another course."
"I'm not feeling well, Father." She headed toward the door.
"Should I send for the maester?"
"Do not bother. All I need is a good night's rest." She snuck out through the door and made her way through the halls. But instead of returning to her chambers, Rhaenyra exited the Holdfast, making her way toward the Godswood.
The Godswood reminded her of simpler times, of when her mother was still alive and Alicent had not yet betrayed her. She would sit with her back against the ancient tree, reading old tomes and forgetting about how fucked up her life had become.
She passed the Royal Sept on the way to her sanctuary. With the sun setting, the dim candle lights from inside the sept lit her path. A shadow moved from within the sept, and Rhaenyra paused before deciding to take a closer look.
Peering through a window, she saw Alicent and her unmistakable red hair kneeling in front of the status of the Father. Rhaenyra rolled her eyes. She knew better than to trust this performance. Alicent had always been religious but her behavior as of late was absurd. If she thought praying at the sept each day would remove the stain of her sins, she was sorely mistaken. Everyone would see through her saintly act soon enough. It was only a matter of time.
Alicent stood and moved in front of the statue of the Mother. She knelt again and lit a candle, before bowing her head once more.
"I have prayed for the Father's forgiveness," she told the statue. "But I need your strength to not repeat my sins. I do not want these sinful thoughts. I know they're why Rhaenyra hates me so. She must sense my sinfulness."
A tingle went down Rhaenyra's spine. Had Alicent spotted her? Was Alicent putting on this show for her benefit? But if that was true, why call herself sinful?
Alicent began to recite an old prayer, while Rhaenyra crept away from the building. What was Alicent's game? Words of guilt and sinful thoughts were not the words of a woman trying to prove her piety. Could it be that her new religious zealousy was sincere? Mayhaps a manifestation of guilt? But what guilt? Her seduction of Viserys was well known, but Alicent spoke as if this sin was a secret. What else could she be hiding?
Rhaenyra continued toward the Godswood, her thoughts preoccupied with her former best friend. But for the first time in weeks, when she thought of Alicent, her blood did not boil. Rather, her heart sank into her chest as she worried over what Alicent had gotten herself into.
The night before her wedding, Alicent dreamed.
Led in arm by her father, Alicent walked through the center of the Grand Sept. Familiar faces surrounded her as she passed through a makeshift aisle toward the alter. She wore a green cloak with the Hightower crest embroidered on the back. When she reached the end of the aisle, there was another figure, this one dawned in a black cloak with the Targaryen crest embroidered on it. The figured turned.
It was Rhaenyra.
She smiled that cheeky smile of her, that made her eyes squint and cheeks dimple.
Alicent looked back at her father, expecting a scolding, but instead he nodded with a soft smile on his lips.
"This is what was always meant to be," he said, and passed Alicent's hand into Rhaenyra's.
"You may now cloak your bride," the Septon said.
Rhaenyra untied Alicent's cloak, folding it neatly as she handed it to Alicent. Then she removed her own Targaryen cloak, and placed it on Alicent's shoulder. After giving Alicent a slight nod, she turned around. Her meaning was clear. Alicent unfolded the green cloak and draped it across Rhaenyra's shoulders.
This was not a marriage of dominance, like most in Westeros. They would be equals.
Once Rhaenyra, now draped in the green cloak of House Hightower, turned back to face her, Alicent leaned in for the kiss.
But before she could reach Rhaenyra's lips, she was shook awake.
"You've overslept." It was her father, with a grimace on his face. He looked a lot less happy in the real world. "This isn't a good start for your tenure as queen."
Alicent sat up in her bed. "I was having the most pleasant dream," she told him, hoping that she could still see that happy look on him again.
He glared at her. "What use are dreams when you already have a kingdom?" He snapped his fingers at the door and a few servants came in. "Ready my daughter for her nuptials. We have a queen to make."
Rhaenyra had sworn she would have nothing to do with her father's wedding. But Alicent's words echoed through her brain. "She must sense my sinfulness."
What sins, Alicent?
On the day of the wedding, Rhaenyra arrived at the Hand's Tower and a servant brought her to Alicent's chamber. After today, Alicent would be moved into the royal apartment in Maegor's Holdfast. She would be moved into the chamber above Rhaenyra's—Rhaenyra's mother's old chamber.
Pushing aside her resentment, Rhaenyra knocked on the door. She had told herself she would give a sincere try at compassion today. It was no day to be petty.
"Come."
Rhaenyra opened the door to see Alicent dressed in nothing more than her under silk. Her hair was wet and the scent of rose petals wafted through the air.
"Rhaenyra," Alicent said with a gasped, covering her chest with her delicate arms.
"Don't be so modest," Rhaenyra said as she closed the door. "We used to take baths together."
"I thought you were one of my handmaids." Alicent lowered her arms, switching to fiddling with the creases in the silk as she struggled to find a relaxing position for her hands.
An ivory dress hung on a hook near Alicent and her upright looking glass. Intricate embroidery sloped across the bosom, where a dragon-like emblem had been stitched just below in gold thread. On the shoulders, there was a more sturdy, three-dimensional design that created a wing effect. The dress screamed Targaryen.
Rhaenyra crossed the room and picked up the dress, but instead of bringing it to Alicent, she held it against her own body.
For years, Rhaenyra and Alicent had shared daydreams about their future weddings. Rhaenyra always spoke of the handsome lord she would marry, but Alicent focused more on the details of the ceremony and festivities—and of course the dress. She always wanted intricate bead work sewn into the fabric, usually of emeralds or peridot, to match the traditional Hightower cloak that she would don.
"No emeralds?" Rhaenyra asked.
"They clashed with the tiara." Alicent glanced over at a golden tiara, decorated in pearls and rubies, sitting on her desk. Those stones may have been familiar to the majority of Rhaenyra's wardrobe, but foreign to Alicent's.
The idea that Alicent would give up her dream wedding dress to look like a dragon turned her stomach. Would this be expected of Rhaenyra some day? Would she have to give up her Targaryen jewels to wear those belonging to a lesser family's? Why must it always be the woman who gives up her identity?
"Doesn't this all feel strange to you?" Rhaenyra asked, still staring into the looking glass.
A lazy smile appeared across Alicent's face. "I think you would look beautiful in a wedding dress."
Rhaenyra sneered. "I meant strange you were marrying my father, not the dress." She tossed it haphazardly onto the floor, unbothered by the possibility of wrinkles or dirt. In fact, she kind of hoped there would be a smudge of dirt across it. Would that be enough to put a stop to this wedding? Or at least delay it?
"Rhaenyra!" Alicent chastised as she hastily picked up the dress and placed it back on the hook. "Did you just come here to ruin my things?"
"I don't know. Did you just come here to ruin my family?" Rhaenyra regretted the words the instant she said them, especially after she saw Alicent's lips trembling. "I didn't…I…Alicent…"
"If you're just going to try to ruin the day, then I'd rather you not come." Alicent turned away from her.
Rhaenyra walked over to the side Alicent was now facing. "Is this really what you want?"
Alicent wiped away some tears. "I want to do my duty. I hope that one day, when you are Queen, you will understand that I did what I had to."
Rhaenyra grabbed her hands. "Fuck duty. What do you want? Do you want this marriage? Do you want to be Queen consort and have my father's babes and forgo all our years of friendship?"
Alicent's brows furrowed and lips puckered. "People like me don't get to do what they want."
Rhaenyra's heart sank into her chest. That answer was as good as any confirmation. Alicent didn't want this. How had Rhaenyra ever convinced herself that her best friend did? If grief and anger hadn't been blurring her vision, she would have seen it sooner.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Rhaenyra asked. "If you had told me you didn't want this, I could have gotten you out of it."
"Don't be so foolish, Rhaenyra. There is no getting out of this. My King wants my hand in marriage. I have no choice. None of us do."
"I have a choice," Rhaenyra reminded her. "If you had told me, I could have spoken to him. My father would have listened to me."
"And my father would have hated me. What do you want me to say, Rhaenyra, that I want to runaway, across the narrow sea, and eat cake with you? Of course I'd rather runaway with you. I've dreamed of fleeing with you every night since your father's announcement. But that is only fantasy. We must live in the real world."
Rhaenyra stared at her, struck silent, as she remembered a months old conversation from simpler times. From before her mother and brother had died, and she had been named heir. Of a time when she had no obligation other than looking pretty for the court.
"In these fantasies, do you fly away on Syrax?"
"Fastest way to flee, isn't she?"
"I thought you were scared of Syrax."
"I'm more scared of this wedding."
Why today? Why did Alicent have to tell her this today? Why couldn't she have told Rhaenyra all those months ago during their argument in the Godswoods? Mayhaps they could have actually done something to get her out of this. But with her wedding ceremony in only a few hours, what could either of them do?
Rhaenyra stared back at the dress. There was one thing she knew she couldn't do. She couldn't help Alicent follow through on the biggest mistake of her life. Rhaenyra backed away from her former best friend, and toward the door. Without saying another word she ran from the chamber, and out of the Tower of the Hand. She had to make things right. She had to save Alicent.
Abandoned again. That seemed to be Alicent's lot in life. Her mother died, leaving her alone. Her father treated her more as a commodity than a daughter. And her best friend was gone again. And just when she had a moment of hope for reconciliation.
Alicent had told her too much. Rhaenyra surely now understood just how deep Alicent's sinfulness was, and ran away for her own good.
Calling a handmaid into her room, Alicent finished dressing without her best friend, and considered her options. Mayhaps Rhaenyra was right, and she could have gotten Alicent out of this had she asked for help. But it was too late now. All the lords and ladies of the Realm were in attendance. Thousands of Gold Dragons had been invested in just the ceremony, nevermind the festivities to follow.
Dressed, Alicent took one last look in the looking glass. Her ivory dress felt like a lie. Alicent was not pure. She was evil incarnate.
She briefly considered throwing herself from atop the tower, but knew that would cause more grief amidst the kingdom than she deserved. The king wanted her hand, and perhaps this marriage could be her penance for her lustful thoughts.
The last garment that her handmaiden helped her into was her green Hightower cloak. She remembered her dream, and a chill went down her spine. There was no mistaking where her place in this marriage was. She could only hope that Viserys would be kind, even if she did not deserve it.
For months, Viserys had been nothing but respectful with her during their secret, improper meetings, but clearly those meetings meant something more to the king. As his wife, there would be other expectations than polite conversation. She could only hope that he would not ask too much of her, nor too often.
Now dressed, her handmaid helped Alicent out of the room and down the steps of the tower.
Outside the tower, a wheelhouse was already waiting to bring her to the Great Sept in the heart of King's Landing.
A roar echoed through the air, and in the sky above Syrax was flapping her wings.
Oh Rhaenyra, what are you doing? Though at first it seemed as if Rhaenyra was fleeing the city, Syrax instead descended, landing in a tight fit between the castle gate and the wheelhouse.
Alicent tried to not flinch as the ground beneath her feet quaked. She failed.
Was this the end at last? Had Rhaenyra finally decided that the best way to stop this wedding was by fire and blood? Alicent took a deep breath. At least the dragonfire would be purifying. Mayhaps her soul could find penance at last.
Confused guards stared at Syrax but made no move toward the she-dragon.
Instead of turning the dragon's head toward Alicent and commanding dracarys, Rhaenyra simply reached her hand out to Alicent.
"What…what are you doing?" Alicent asked.
"Let's get cake."
Alicent stared blankly at Rhaenyra's hand, trying to comprehend the words. Cake. Eating cake. Eating cake across the narrow sea. Running away across the narrow sea and eating cake. Seven Hells, was Rhaenyra offering to help her run away?
The confused guards in the yard finally regained their bearings. With lowered swords, they approached.
"Princess, what are you doing?" one asked cautiously.
Rhaenyra ignored them as she flexed her fingers. "It's now or never. Do you want to be queen? Or do you want to eat cake with me?"
They couldn't do it. It was wrong. Sinful. Treasonous. Rhaenyra would be sacrificing her inheritance, the Hightowers would become enemies of the crown, and they would be damning their souls to the Seven Hells.
Alicent reached out and let Rhaenyra pull her atop Syrax.
"Sōvētēs," Rhaenyra commanded, and Syrax took off, taking to the sky.
The moment Syrax was off the ground, Alicent let out an ear-piercing scream. The ground kept getting further and further away. The guards below, waving their swords in the air as they screamed incomprehensible words, just got smaller and smaller.
Oh Gods. Humans were not meant to be this high. The Red Keep looked no bigger than Viserys' model of Old Valyria now.
Alicent squeezed Rhaenyra tighter.
"Alicent!" Rhaenyra said with a cough. "Not so tight."
"Not so tight? Do you know where we are?" Alicent screamed. "The sky, Rhaenyra. The fucking sky!"
A laugh chocked out from Rhaenyra.
"Do you think this is funny?"
"I've just never heard you swear before." Wind was passing through their ears made it hard to even hear the words.
Alicent buried her eyes into Rhaenyra's shoulder as she squeezed them shut.
What had she done? Every part of her mind had told her how bad of an idea this was, and yet her body had ignored logic and accepted Rhaenyra's hand. And now she was soaring through the sky where humans were not meant to be. Was this her punishment for her sinful ways?
Targaryens were said to be closer to Gods than men. Alicent had always assumed that was just hubris. But what if it was true? They alone were able to tame dragons. They alone were meant to soar through the sky. To be up here was surely an affront to the Gods and they would smite her for it, plunging her from the saddle and into the depths of the Narrow Sea below.
"Seven Gods," Alicent whispered, "what have I done? Please be merciful."
"Take a deep breath," Rhaenyra said.
"We need to go back."
"It won't be long," Rhaenyra said, steering Syrax west. "I know the first flight can be scary. We can rest as soon as we find some safe land.
"Rhaenyra!" Alicent begged. How did she not understand? How did she not see that this was blasphemy against the Gods?
"Shh!" Rhaenyra said in a hushed tone. She took one of Alicent's hands that were squeezing around her waist, and moved it across Syrax's skin. "If you're calm, she'll be calm."
Alicent wasn't sure if Rhaenyra was talking to her or the she-dragon. Mayhaps both.
"I can fly toward the coast," Rhaenyra said. "Once we're far enough from King's Landing I can put Syrax done. Just take deep breaths until then…or sing me a song."
"A song?"
"Any song."
Alicent started with the deep breaths, as she pulled her arm back around Rhaenyra's waist. She tried to think of her favorite hymns, but despite all her years of personal tutoring from the Royal Septa, every hymn had suddenly escaped her. Instead, she could only remember the words to one song.
"She fled with her ships," Alicent cracked out in a shaky voice. Usually she had a lovely singing voice, but that too was gone. "And her people. Her heart broken…"
Underneath her grip, Rhaenyra stiffened, which only made Alicent's voice crack more as she sang. Was she unhappy with the choice of song?
By the time she reached the chorus, though, Rhaenyra had relaxed, and joined in.
"Under the dragon's eyes!" they both sang out together, though Rhaenyra was much more boisterous. They continued on through the next twelve versus. By the time they finished their rendition of Nymeria's Ballad, Alicent had felt as serene as Rhaenyra.
"I think we're safe to set down here," Rhaenyra said.
The descent was just as bad as when they took off. Alicent squeezed Rhaenyra for dear life as her stomach dropped along with them.
This was it. This was when the Gods would intervene and push her from her seat. They would make their displeasure of her insolence known.
Suddenly they stopped moving. Alicent jutted forward, slamming into Rhaenyra's back hard enough to cause a groan. When Alicent opened her eyes, she realized they had landed—and in one piece. The Gods had not struck out against her.
They had landed on a beached far away from any town. No signs of civilization could be seen in any distance, not even the monstrous King's Landing perched upon its three glorious hills.
They had truly escaped, and the Gods had let them.
Rhaenyra dismounted, and again offered her hand to Alicent. Dumbstruck, Alicent just stared back at it until Syrax roared. Startled, Alicent tumbled off the saddle, but Rhaenyra awkwardly caught her, which broke her fall, but did cause both girls to fall onto the sand below. Rhaenyra laughed while Alicent frowned.
Was everything she had ever believed about the world wrong?
"What are we doing, Rhaenyra?" Alicent asked as they both stood and tried to free their dresses of sand.
"Ruining hundred Gold Dragon dresses, I suppose."
Rhaenyra's dress was now caked in briny mud, and Alicent's ivory dress was already discoloring.
"I mean this!" Alicent waved at Syrax. "Running away. Oh Gods, what were we thinking. What were you thinking?
"You said this is what you wanted. To run away on dragonback, across the narrow sea, and eat cake."
"That was just…talk…pre-wedding jitters. You weren't supposed to…oh Gods, what have we done?"
"You took my hand," Rhaenyra reminded her. "I gave you a choice, and you took it."
"That wasn't a choice Rhaenyra."
"I didn't force you like my father!"
Alicent rubbed her temples. "You should know by know that I can't say no to you."
Pouting, Rhaenyra turned away and walked toward the ocean. She picked up a rock and threw it in. Finally she turned around.
"I'm the only person who has ever given you a choice," Rhaenyra yelled. "You don't get to be mad at me just because you wanted what I was offering you."
"I'm not mad, I'm just…oh Gods, Rhaenyra, do you realize what you've done? What you're sacrificing? This is treason. You're risking your throne and making us traitors to the crown."
"Let me worry about the risks."
Alicent shook her head. Her windblown hair felt stiff as her head moved. "You never think about the consequences. Rhaenyra, take me back. I'm not worth it. I'm a bad, sinful thing. You were right to hate me."
Rhaenyra ran back to her, kicking up sand as she moved. She grabbed Alicent's hands. "Don't you ever say that. You're the only person who's ever been here for me, no matter what. And when you needed me, I turned my back on you. Well, not anymore."
"You'd give up your throne for me?" Alicent questioned.
Rhaenyra eyes darted around. She really hadn't considered how she'd be punished. What she was giving up. How typical. And Alicent had even called it.
"Just take me back," Alicent said. "We can tell you father that you wanted to give me a proper introduction by giving me a dragon rider's entrance. We both know he'll take the easier road and just believe it. Just take me back and we can forget about this whole thing."
Rhaenyra squeezed her hands. "No. I'm not bringing you back to a loveless marriage. Because you can't love him, can you?"
"I'll learn to love him," Alicent said.
Rhaenyra shook her head. "We both know you can't." She leaned in closer, until her face was only inches away.
"Rhaenyra," Alicent said with a sigh. Even stinking of dragon, she wanted nothing more than to pull Rhaenyra close. Why was Rhaenyra tempting her like this? Did she know her true feelings? Was this a test? "What are you doing?"
"It took me a while to understand." Rhaenyra's breath felt hot and moist. "Why I was so upset. Why it felt like a betrayal. And why you had suddenly become so devote."
"I've always been devote."
"You never thought you were sinful before."
Rhaenyra moved her hands onto Alicent's shoulders. "The way we feel about each other isn't sinful. It's destiny. You were never meant to be his queen…you were meant to be mine."
With one hand perched behind Alicent's head, Rhaenyra guided Alicent closer, closing the gap between their lips.
Alicent didn't resist.
Rhaenyra had once dreamed of kissing Alicent. The dream then became very sensual and Rhaenyra woke up with an odd feeling in her lower region. She tried to talk to her mother about it, but her mother just chastised her and told her never to speak of such things again. Rhaenyra had buried those thoughts deep inside, and forced herself to forget them. Until today. Until Alicent had made it clear she had those same thoughts and desires to run away, and as more than just friends.
Alicent wasn't a very aggressive kisser, but her touch lingered as she slowly moved her hand across Rhaenyra's body and toward the small of her back.
"Rhaenyra," Alicent said with a heavy breath as she broke their lips away.
"Don't you dare say this is wrong."
Alicent smiled. It was the first time Rhaenyra had seen that smile in months. She had missed it. Rhaenyra vowed to never let Alicent go that long without smiling again.
"I know you're not one for plans but…what are we supposed to do next?"
Rhaenyra looked out at the coast, taking Alicent's hand into her own. "Same plan as it's always been. Cross the Narrow Sea. See the great wonders of Essos—
"And eat nothing but cake," Alicent said with an eye roll.
Rhaenyra kissed her cheek. "You know me so well."