Chapter 98: The Queen’s Guilt

The siblings shared stories of their adventures.

Before long, a group of guards showed up.

"Rhaegar, Rhaenyra!"

Viserys, looking a bit worn out but happy to see them, brushed past the guards and hurried towards his children with surprising speed.

"Father!"

Rhaegar's face lit up at the sight of his father, though he couldn't hug him with Rhaenyra still leaning on him.

Rhaenyra was startled by her father's arrival and turned to face him, greeting him timidly, "Father."

She had slipped out of her chamber through the secret passage behind the Kingsguard, and she felt a twinge of nervousness at being caught.

"It's good to see you both safe," Viserys said, breathing a sigh of relief. He ignored his daughter's subdued greeting as he focused on his son.

He crouched down next to Rhaegar, his eyes scanning him with a look of paternal concern. He had dreamed of Rhaegar's safe return, and now seeing him in the flesh, he felt a profound sense of relief.

With an affectionate embrace, Viserys planted a kiss on Rhaegar's forehead. "When the dragon roared on the island, I knew it was you who had returned."

Rhaegar wiped away the drool with a sheepish grin and bragged about his victories. "Cannibal and I defeated Vermithor and Silverwing. No dragon on the island could match us."

"You're certainly bold, my boy," Viserys replied, his expression a mix of pride and concern.

Since Rhaegar's recovery, he had grown in many ways, but his audacity seemed to grow with each passing day.

From taming a dragon without permission to engaging in battles on their doorstep upon his return, Rhaegar's daring actions left Viserys wondering what the future might hold as his son matured.

Viserys was filled with thoughts but showed only relief on his face. "You've never been an ordinary child, Rhaegar."

In that moment, he recognized Rhaegar as the prince foretold in the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy.

Indeed, Rhaegar had proven himself capable of taming the largest wild dragon ever seen and defeating the renowned Bronze Fury and Silverwing of the continent.

"Come, I've prepared a grand feast to welcome you home."

Viserys gave his eldest son a playful pat on the head before lifting him up.

As they walked, Viserys turned to Rhaenyra with a hint of reproach in his voice. "You disobeyed me again, Rhaenyra."

"I'm sorry, Father," Rhaenyra apologized, bowing her head. "I was really worried about Rhaegar, so I couldn't just wait around."

"It's not the first time you've disobeyed my orders," Viserys replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Let's set that aside for now. You both seem to be in good spirits."

"Yes, Father," Rhaenyra answered quietly, her gaze lingering on the father-son pair, a hint of longing evident in her eyes.

...

Once they'd freshened up from their journey, the two siblings found themselves seated at the long table in the hall.

Rhaegar told their father all about their adventures on the Peninsula in great detail, his eyes shining with excitement as he told about his exploits.

Viserys, holding a goblet in his hand, listened to his eldest son's stories patiently, his expression kind and attentive.

However, when Rhaegar got to the part about the Shadowbringer's head being resurrected and the mask being used to defeat the curse, Viserys's face darkened slightly, and a hint of gravity clouded his features.

Viserys saw magic and dragons as two dangerous forces. The idea of bringing the dead back to life and perpetuating curses made him feel ashamed and disgusted.

"The House Brune and the Crabb family," Viserys said aloud, his voice tinged with concern. "It looks like we need to send someone to look into this..."

His expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, Viserys was already calculating the depths of involvement of these two families.

As Rhaegar kept talking, he noticed that his father and sister were getting more and more subdued. He felt a sense of unease creep over him.

He thought his stories were pretty engaging. Why were they so passive?

After a moment of reflection, he decided to share the news of the Peninsula nobles' allegiance and the two thousand free men who had pledged their support and followed him across the sea.

Viserys's face changed as he processed this new information.

Meanwhile, Rhaenyra pursed her lips and took a sip from her glass, her expression unreadable.

Rhaegar stopped his story when he sensed something was wrong.

"Sorry I'm late, but I hope you're all ready." Alicent's voice broke the silence just in time.

The three turned to see Alicent coming down the stairs, cradling the baby in one arm and leading Helaena with the other, while Aegon trailed behind, accompanied by a maid.

Viserys paused for a moment, then turned to Rhaegar and said, "There are more than a few free folk following you. I'll have them transported to the area near the woods first, just to make sure they have what they need."

"Once you figure out how to use them, you can deploy them as needed."

"Understood, Father," Rhaegar acknowledged.

While the father and son conversed, Alicent made her way to the table and took her seat, her eyes filled with joy and emotion as she addressed Rhaegar, "The Seven Gods have blessed you with a safe return, Rhaegar."

"Brother!" Helaena's voice rang out with joy as she stood up to greet her long-absent sibling.

Rhaegar gave a small smile in response to Helaena's greeting, then turned to Alicent and said, "Thanks to Cannibal's protection, I made it back safely."

"The wild dragon?" Alicent's puzzled expression matched her crossed arms.

"Once I tamed him, he stopped being wild," Rhaegar clarified.

Alicent said, "You showed great courage in taming an adult dragon all by yourself."

"On the other hand," she added, glancing at Aegon, "Aegon is still struggling to command Sunfyre and has yet to succeed."

"Mom!" Aegon objected, his eyebrows furrowing.

As Rhaegar observed Alicent's hands, he noticed their roughness, which showed she'd been used to practical tasks like sewing and writing. Her fingers showed signs of recent injuries, with the wounds still fresh and unhealed.

Rhaegar, who was well-versed in scholarly matters, recognized these wounds as recent, likely inflicted in the past few days.

Rhaegar paused before speaking, "Your Majesty, what happened to your hand?"

"Huh?" Alicent seemed taken aback, looking at Rhaegar's gaze and quickly covering her hand with a slight panic.

Alicent offered a smile and said, "My apologies, perhaps it's just the humidity of Dragonstone Island making my hands itch."

"Make sure to keep warm," Rhaegar added casually, though his tone was peculiar.

While Dragonstone Island was indeed humid, King's Landing, being a seaside city, wasn't significantly drier.

Alicent's excuse didn't seem very convincing, and her nervousness only made Rhaegar more suspicious.

Alicent quickly changed the subject, asking a servant, "Is the banquet ready? Please bring it forward at once."

Viserys agreed.

Rhaegar leaned in close to Rhaenyra and asked quietly, "Why is Alicent nervously tapping her fingers?"

As Rhaenyra was Alicent's former confidante, she was aware of such details and whispered back, "It's a nervous habit of Alicent's. Whenever she's anxious, she tends to tap her fingers, often to the point of bleeding."

"Nervous?" Rhaegar echoed silently.

Why would someone be nervous?

Fear, excitement...

Or maybe it's a sign of guilty?

(Word count: 1,225)