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“You are right,” dad smiled softly, looking at her. “It is a really beautiful dress.”
Alicent looked down at herself, running her hands over her dress.
It was a really pretty dress. A little short, but so pretty!
Mrs Targaryen had given it to her months ago with other clothes, before she passed.
She was much nicer than other dying people, with all her gifts and her stories. Alicent had never gotten so many clothes and books from a single person at once and so many times.
“I’m sure Rhaenyra will love to see it,” he told her. “It might raise her from bed.”
She fidgeted with her fingers.
Rhaenyra was… weird. Since Mrs Targaryen died, it felt like she was just stewing in her grief — which would be normal for the first months of losing someone, but half a year?
She didn’t call a lot anymore.
Actually, she didn’t want to do anything anymore. She wouldn’t go out or call Alicent. She skipped school all the time!
Honestly, Alicent didn’t know how she was still going to graduate like that.
She barely even left bed when she visited.
But dad told her to always visit, even if Rhaenyra was a terrible host.
Oh, maybe Alicent could braid her hair before going.
Rhaenyra liked having her hair braided, and she loved matching looks with her.
“Here,” dad spoke, putting something on his desk before she could leave to go do that.
A travel bottle of perfume?
“I thought you might like it,” he offered her a smile. “Try it. I’ll buy you a full one if you do.”
Alicent reached for it eagerly, spraying some on her neck and her wrists.
Oh, it smelled so good.
“Thank you,” she spoke quickly. “I like it very much.”
Dad didn’t give her a lot of gifts, not outside of important dates — he always called Rhaenyra spoiled because her parents did so to her.
He just nodded.
“Go get your things,” he told her, looking back to his computer. “We’ll leave in a minute, I just need to get this done with.”
She rushed to her bedroom, sitting down to braid her hair back, and put on the pretty earrings Rhaenyra gave her for her birthday.
They could watch something while they were there, they hadn’t watched Clueless in a while.
Her hair was all pretty and pined when dad drove her to the Red Keep, and he even left her at the door this time, she didn’t have to cross the yard alone — it was a bit of trouble to do that by car, so he didn't like to drive around.
Well, he didn’t like driving her around himself at all. It was why she always rode with Rhaenyra most of the time.
It was a bit weird.
He parked the car, but didn’t unlock the door, going for the glove compartment and taking a box from inside.
“Make sure to give this to Viserys when you have the time,” dad told her.
Alicent took it, looking down on it. A box?
“What do I say to him?” she asked.
Why couldn’t he do it himself?
“Just give it to him,” dad wavered her off. “Now go. I’ll pick you up after dinner.”
She held the box and stepped out of the car, and her stomach flipped a little.
That was even more weird.
He drove off, leaving her to watch him go, and she fought against her curiosity, just holding the box in place and knocking on the door, and she smiled politely to the butler when he opened her door.
The Butler let her into the house, but no one came to welcome her or lead her anywhere, to even tell her if Rhaenyra was coming down.
Everything had become incredibly quiet since Mrs Targaryen had died. Quieter than when she was sick.
“Miss Targaryen is upstairs,” the butler told her. “But I don’t think she is awake yet.”
Alicent looked at the clock on the wall.
It was past 2 pm. What was she still doing asleep?
“I’ll go up,” she told him. “Thank you.”
She climbed up the stairs, holding the box carefully, and knocked on the door of her room, waiting for an answer.
“Go away,” Rhaenyra yelled from inside.
That made Alicent freeze in her spot.
What?
“Rhaenyra?” she called. “It’s me.”
She didn’t answer for a moment, and Alicent waited.
Was everything alright?
Did she not want to see her?
But Rhaenyra’s answer this time was way less angry.
“The door is open.”
Alicent pushed the door open, and frowned a bit at the state of the room.
It was… messy. Like, really messy.
There were books by the door, the bed covers were tossed on the floor, and the curtains were pulled fully closed, everything was dark.
And it didn’t smell too good.
Not that it stunk, but Rhaenyra’s room was usually super clean.
“Hey,” Alicent spoke slowly. “What happened here?”
Rhaenyra didn’t even rise from the bed. She didn’t even look at her, just squeezing some kind of plush and curling around it.
“Dad was being a dick,” she mumbled.
Alicent looked down at the floor, and there were a couple of books down over… everything else. Clothes, DVDs, papers… was that her schoolbag?
“Was it about cleaning your room?” she tried to lighten the mood. “Cause I’m kind of on his side.”
She really needed to pick up on her tidying. Or let someone clean up — there were lots of people who could do that downstairs.
Alicent put the box aside with her purse, and picked up her books, walking to the shelf and putting them up.
And more silence. Rhaenyra didn’t say anything.
Alicent stopped, looking at her.
Now, Rhaenyra was really pretty. There was a reason she was a model.
But she looked awful! Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was all pale.
“Do you feel alright?” Alicent asked, sitting by her side. “Are you sick?”
Rhaenyra looked up at her and shook her head.
No, she wasn’t alright, or no, she wasn’t sick?
Alicent put her hand on her forehead, but it wasn’t hot. And honestly, she stunk.
How long had she been locked up in her room?
“Have you eaten yet?” she moved her fingers to her hair, and it got stuck in some knots.
And it was so greasy.
Rhaenyra shook her head again.
Alicent lit up, oh, that was good.
“I got a pamphlet of this new place opening,” she told her. “The owner is from Volantis, it’s local cuisine.”
Volantis was part of New Valyria, right? Then it would be Valyrian food.
“You go wash up,” Alicent decided, standing up. “I’ll go order it.”
“Sure,” she mumbled.
She grabbed the pamphlet and left the room, grateful for the breath of fresh air.
Rhaenyra’s room was in such a beautiful open corridor, facing the garden. Why she would have the windows closed when it was such a beautiful sight, Alicent never understood.
She walked to the corridor phone, but it was out of order, so she just went downstairs to the other phone.
Rhaenyra really should get a phone in her room. Even Alicent had a phone in her room.
She stopped in front of it at the sight of Mr Targaryen, stopping nervously as he spoke to the butler, knowing better than to interrupt.
But instead of walking off, he turned around and set his eyes on her, giving her a little polite smile, though just as awkward as Alicent herself.
Mr Targaryen was barely home most of the time. Alicent only saw him when she stayed for dinner.
“Oh, Alicent,” he exhaled. “Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon, sir,” she fidgeted with her fingers.
“Did you come to see Rhaenyra?” he asked, looking up the stairs in the direction of her room. “I didn’t know you were here.”
She nodded, not knowing what to do with herself.
“I am,” she confirmed, picking on her nail. “She hasn’t gone to school this week, and I was worried, so I thought of coming announced, which I know I never do,” she laughed, nervous. “I don’t... I didn’t mean to surprise, it’s just that she’s been weird for a while and my dad thought she deserved a visit, and—”
“It’s fine,” he stopped her ramblings, his voice very calm. “You are welcome to our home any time you feel like coming over.”
Alicent breathed in, tugging on a piece of skin.
“Thank you, sir.”
Mr Targaryen just smiled, nodding, and stopped for a moment.
“Do you think you could help me with something?” he asked.
Alicent looked back at the stairs. Well, Rhaenyra was probably going to wash her hair, and she took ages with all the purple stuff she had to use.
“Of course,” she confirmed.
He smiled.
“My hands aren’t as nimble as they used to be,” he gave her a little smile. “I’ve been trying to put together this tower in the right place, but my hands are shaky. Do you think you could do it?”
Alicent nodded quickly. She had very stable hands, her art teacher always praised her for it.
“I would have asked Rhaenyra for help, but...” he started, and then shook his head. “She doesn’t feel like seeing me today.”
How rude.
“It’s no problem, sir,” she assured him.
He just nodded to her, very gentle, and pointed the way.
“Come. My office is right here.”
Alicent followed after him, and he was right, his office was really close.
It couldn’t be his real, real office. While it was big, it was nothing like her dad’s office. Instead, it only had a single thing.
The whole room was filled with a huge, long table — it had to be 15 metres long and who knew how wide — of… something? It looked like a city model.
“Old Valyria,” Viserys told her. “It’s the capital, before it was destroyed.”
She stepped around it carefully, a little nervous.
It looked delicate.
Was it… stone?
“It’s marble,” he told her, probably noticing her curious looks. “I picked up on it when Aemma got first...”
But he paused, and she tucked her chin lower, not wanting to dig in.
Mrs Targaryen was sick for a long time. Many years.
“She said it would do me good to have some hobbies when I started stressing out,” he chuckled sadly. “She got me all the illustrated books that existed of it.”
Alicent just kept her hands to herself.
She was not the history kind of student, Rhaenyra liked it more. All she knew about Old Valyria was that it was destroyed when some Targaryen was King in Westeros. But again, lots of Targaryens were kings in Westeros.
But it was a beautiful thing. Lots of staircases.
“I carved some of it, built some of it, bought some of it...” he continued. “You know, if I didn’t have the responsibilities I have, my dream was to become a sculptor.”
Alicent glanced back at him.
“You have the talent for it,” she spoke, not thinking much before saying it.
He smiled charmingly, and she tucked her chin back, feeling her cheeks warm.
Oh, she always said too much.
“You flatter me,” he walked to a drawer.
Alicent shook her head.
“I mean it,” she insisted. “The, uh… arena,” she pointed. “It’s very well done. And the houses.”
He followed her finger, focusing on where she was pointing.
Could she call them houses? They looked so classic.
But a lot of it was empty space, waiting for what he had to add to it.
“The Valyrian Capital was built by a volcano, just like Dragonstone,” he told her. “There’s still some remaining artefacts of the time there now, though the volcano has died and become simply a mountain. I used to live there. The museums were beautiful.”
She listened, leaning in to look at a dragon figurine. It was very well-detailed.
“The volcano was said to be the source of their magic,” he told her.
She felt his hand brushing her back very briefly, and gasped, pulling back, but he just pickedup the figurine.
“And magic is what made dragons,” he smiled. “This is the Inoglion.”
Alicent forced herself to look back at where the dragon had been perched.
“It’s where the blood mages worked their craft.”
It sounded barbaric, but she just smiled.
“It’s.. wonderful, what you built,” she told him.
He smiled.
“I must confess, I had some people doing the hardest work,” he confessed as he offered the dragon to her. “My talents aren’t that advanced. I want it to be perfect.”
She picked it up, looking at the animal, and tried to ignore how his touch lingered on her hand for a moment.
Most of the dragons died during one of their wars. The… Blackfyre rebellion?
One of a bunch.
“This is Balerion,” he told her. “Valyria had thousands of dragons… a majestic fleet…”
He admired it, and all she could think of was how she could not drop Balerion.
“We have New Valyria, but the glory of Old Valyria is gone,” he lamented. “It’ll never be seen again.”
She gave the figurine back to him, but Viserys dropped it.
“Dammit,” he mumbled.
Alicent bent down before he did. It had broken into two pieces. His hands were still in the same position when she gave them back.
She swallowed down and he looked at her for a moment before stepping back.
“How is Rhaenyra?” he asked, as if just remembering her.
Alicent was taken aback for a moment.
Rhaenyra, yes. That was why she had come.
“Sleeping,” she told him. “I… I think she woke up when I arrived.”
Viserys looked away from her, breathing slowly.
“Yes, she’s been doing that quite a bit in the last few months,” he agreed. “This hasn’t been a good year for her. Us.”
Alicent kept quiet.
She didn’t remember exactly how she coped with losing her mother — she was pretty young.
Life just moved.
“It’s been six months already,” Viserys set the dragon down, sighing. “She is… not easy.”
Alicent picked on her nails.
Well, yeah.
Alicent was the one putting all the effort into their relationship these days. If she didn’t call, then Rhaenyra wouldn’t call her!
If she didn’t show up, then Rhaenyra wouldn’t even talk to her.
“It’s hard to lose a mother,” Alicent tried to counter.
But Viserys shook his head.
“I’ve lost my mother,” he noted. “It’s like she’s not even trying to get out of… whatever took her.”
Mr Targaryen set the dragon aside, walking away from her.
“I asked her for help with this, you know?” he asked, walking to his drawers. “I thought it would bring us closer together. She just yelled at me, and told me to get out of her room."
Alicent didn’t say anything — she couldn’t complain about Nyra to her father. It wasn’t something any good friend would or should do.
But that was very rude of her. He was just trying to be good.
“I wish my father would do it for me,” she mumbled.
He came back, at last, and showed her the tower with a smile, and her face felt a little warm again.
He did have a very charming smile.
“Let me show you where this goes,” Mr Targaryen offered.
She watched him, following him with her eyes, and he showed her the half-built tower.
“I made the mistake of glueing the base down before I had the full tower,” Mr Targaryen told her, looking a bit embarrassed. “So you can say I played myself.”
She chuckled a bit.
“It’s an honest mistake,” Alicent assured him.
He passed it to her, and showed her the glue.
“Do you want to test it?” he asked. “Before I put the glue on?”
Oh, that would be great!
Alicent nodded, and he stepped back, letting her lean in to place the tower right.
Okay. She could glue it fine.
Alicent stepped back, and Viserys raised his eyes quickly to her face.
“That’s a really pretty dress,” he told her, smiling. “You look very beautiful in it.”
Alicent looked down at herself.
“Oh, it’s...”
But she stopped.
Didn’t he know this dress?
Did Mrs Targaryen tell him she was giving her clothes away?
What if she told him and he got upset?
“It’s one of my favourites,” she covered up her words. “Thank you.”
He reached for her, but instead of taking the tower from her hand, he just made her flip her palm up, holding her with the glue in his other hand.
His hand was very warm.
“I’m sure you hear that from boys all the time,” he spread glue on the base with a brush.
Alicent was stunned for a moment.
“Let it thicken a little,” he told her, setting the brush aside, and kept his hand on hers.
She swallowed down.
“I… uh...” she looked for words to answer him.
Viserys looked up at her face, purple eyes expectant.
“Not really,” she shrugged. “I don’t know a lot of boys, sir. I study in an all-girls’ school.”
He chuckled, letting her hand go, and she steadied herself to place the tower in the right place, and bent a little to make sure it was straight and in the right place. It did help that there was a dip to fit it, like a Lego piece.
“I know,” he chuckled. “I heard you are one of the best students there. Your father told me all about it. He’s very proud of your accomplishments.”
Alicent felt herself blushing a bit. Dad never told her any of that.
He never said he liked anything she did.
“Thank you, sir,” she fidgeted with her own fingers.
But Mr Targaryen shook his head.
“None of that Sir stuff,” he waved her a hand. “I’m barely in my mid-30s. Just call me Viserys.”
She smiled a bit as he walked to get some tools.
“And… you?” he asked, a bit slow.
Alicent looked at him, a little bit confused.
“Me?”
She was Alicent. Didn’t he know?
“How old are you?” Mr Targaryen-, well, Viserys – asked. “I... I cannot remember.”
Alicent flushed — she was flushing a lot today.
“Sorry,” she swallowed down, nervous. “I’m 18. I’m turning 19 in March.”
He raised his eyebrows, surprised.
“My birthday is in March,” he told her, smiling. “The 3rd.”
Yes, Alicent knew that. Rhaenyra and Mrs Targaryen commented it a few times around her birthday.
Rhaenyra had missed some of her birthdays because she would travel with her parents for a week to celebrate his birthday.
“Mine is on the 6th,” she told him.
Viserys hummed his answer.
“I’ll mark it down on my calendar,” he told her. “Make sure to get you a present.”
Alicent just smiled back to him.
He was really nice.
Why Rhaenyra didn’t like spending time with her dad, she would never understand.
Alicent would spend her whole free time with her dad if he was like Viserys.
“I’ll get us some food,” he told her. “Maybe come down to the dining room with Rhaenyra in… forty minutes or something?”
Her eyes widened.
Oh, no! She had forgotten about Rhaenyra!
“Of course,” she agreed with him. “I’ll go see if she is done with her shower.”
He chuckled sadly.
“At least you can get her into the shower,” he mumbled.
Alicent frowned. What did he mean?
But he just waved her off.
“Go on,” he told her. “I’m sure she is waiting for you.”
Alicent nodded, leaving his office and running up the stairs to her room, passing by Syrax sunbathing over the balcony and being simply ignored. She never quite liked Alicent.
She expected to find Rhaenyra in new clothes, maybe with her hair wet, or maybe blow-drying it.
But she was still in bed, wearing the same clothes, still in the very same position.
Still, she raised her head to look at her when she opened, the door, and Alicent tried not to frown her nose at the smell inside.
“Where were you?” she asked.
Finally, Alicent caught sight of what she was holding.
It was her plush dragon.
Rhaenyra had it since forever, it was already all ragged and old.
She was 16, why was she holding a plush dragon like a kid?
“I went to use the phone but then I started talking with your dad,” she shrugged, sitting on her bed. “I thought you were washing your hair.”
Rhaenyra rolled her eyes.
“He’s so annoying,” she mumbled, laying her head on the dragon again. “Sorry you had to deal with him.”
Annoying?
“He’s really nice,” Alicent corrected her. “I wish my dad was like him.”
Rhaenyra scoffed.
“You don’t,” she rolled her eyes.
Alicent frowned at her, surprised.
What?
Why would she say that?
Viserys was great! He was lively, and he was charming, and he like spending time with her!
Still, she forced herself to chuckle.
“You’re right,” Alicent lied. “He said he’s going to order food.”
Rhaenyra didn’t even move, just humming.
“You have time to bathe,” she tried to nudge her. “I don’t think it’s time enough to wash your hair, but… it’s, like, 20 minutes.”
Another hum, and then she breathed in and out.
“You can just go now,” she mumbled, wrapping her arm around her dragon again. “I’ll do it later.”
Alicent frowned a little.
Go?
She was sending her away?
“Oh,” she mumbled. “I… I’ll see you at school? Monday?”
Rhaenyra looked at her, blank in the eyes.
“Isn’t school over?” she asked.
Alicent frowned, and shook her head.
“Not yet, we have another week.”
She just took in a deep breath and cuddled her dragon closer.
“Sure,” she mumbled.
Alicent stood up slowly, a bit confused, and took her purse and her box.
So that was it? She came all this way and Rhaenyra just kicked her out.
“Okay,” she looked around.
Gods, that room stunk.
“You… really should bathe,” Alicent suggested, putting her purse over her shoulder. “And do something with your hair. It’s getting yellow.”
Valyrian hair wasn’t yellow, it was white.
But Rhaenyra didn’t even care about her reminder, she just kept her head in the stupid dragon toy.
She didn’t even say goodbye when Alicent left.
Syrax entered through the little cat door, and Alicent walked away, closing the door behind herself.
She could just hang out with Viserys while she waited for Dad to come pick her up. She still had to give him the box.
So she walked to his office, and knocked on the door, pushing it a little open.
He was leaning against the window when she did, and turned to her with excited eyes before relaxing a little.
“Alicent,” he greeted, puffing smoke from between his lips and lowering a cigarette. “Come in.”
She stepped inside, a little awkward.
He looked a bit embarrassed at the sight of her, but was quick to cover up.
“A little secret of mine,” he told her, looking guilty. “I’m trying to quit, but it’s not that easy.”
She just nodded a little, holding his box.
“I… have this for you,” she told him.
Viserys put off his cigarette and walked to her, taking the box from her hand, a bit surprised.
When he opened it, it was another figurine. Very detailed, but just another stone thing, protected with bubble wrap.
Still, he looked at it with the excitement of a little boy with a new toy.
“Thank you so much, Alicent,” he smiled at her. “Sit down a little, let’s have some tea while we wait for our meal.”
She complied, looking around a little for a chair before sitting.
“Isn’t Rhaenyra coming?” he asked her, though not turning to look fully at her as she did.
“I don’t know,” Alicent confessed. “She… doesn’t look like she’s feeling herself much.”
Viserys didn’t answer for a moment and just exhaled, sounding tired.
“You tried,” he spoke softly, looking in her direction. “Thank you, Alicent.”
She relaxed.
She had tried, indeed.
“You’re welcome, S-” she stopped herself. “Viserys. You’re welcome.”
He smiled to her, and pressed a button on the phone attached to his stone wall.
“Send some tea for two to my office, Jeanette,” he requested, and paused. “Yes, just to wait for our meal. Thank you.”
He turned to her, at last, smiling.
“It’ll be here in a minute,” Viserys told her, and stopped by his desk, brushing his hair back for a moment. “I’ve talked on and on about myself and my model. It feels so rude of me.”
Alicent shrugged. Oh, it was fine.
“Go on, tell me about yourself,” Viserys insisted. “What do you like doing in your free time?”
She smiled lowering her head, and he pulled a chair near her, smiling.
“I’m all ears.”