The stars shimmer above the Red Keep, distant and endless, their silver light casting a soft glow over the gardens. The world is quiet here, far removed from the whispers of court and the heavy weight of expectation. It is just you and Alicent, lying on the cool grass, your shoulders barely touching.

She exhales, a slow, measured breath, as if reluctant to disturb the fragile peace of the moment. “Do you ever wonder what it would be like?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

You turn your head, watching the way the starlight catches in her auburn hair, the way her lashes cast delicate shadows against her skin. “What what would be like?”

A faint smile plays at her lips, wistful, almost sad. “To be free.”

The word lingers between you, heavy with longing. Free. Free from duty, free from expectations, free from a life already decided for her.

You reach for her hand, and she lets you take it, her fingers warm in yours. “What would you do?” you ask. “If you were truly free?”

Alicent sighs, closing her eyes for a moment as if allowing herself to pretend. “I would run,” she says softly. “To the countryside, perhaps, or to the sea. Somewhere no one knows me, where I am not my father’s daughter, not a piece to be played in a game I never wished to join.” She turns to look at you, green eyes searching. “And you?”

You squeeze her hand, considering. “I think… I would go where you go.”

Her breath catches, and for a moment, she says nothing. Then, ever so gently, she lifts your joined hands to her lips, pressing the softest of kisses to your knuckles. “Perhaps in another life,” she murmurs, her voice carrying the weight of an unspoken truth, “we are simply two girls who love each other, with no need for crowns or courts.”

The thought hangs in the air, bittersweet. But when she rests her head against your shoulder, when her fingers tighten around yours, you allow yourself to believe—if only for tonight—that perhaps, in another life, you already are.