the court had long known the story of you and rhaenyra.

you had grown up together, side by side in the red keep. you were the daughter of a great house, close companions from the moment you could walk.

years passed and everything changed. rhaenyra was named heir, then she left for dragonstone. you remained in king’s landing, bound by duty and loyalty to the king and queen alicent.

when the realm split into two, you stood firmly with the greens, yet your heart never fully turned away from her.

people whispered behind your back. they called you a fool. they said it was weakness, that your love for the enemy made you soft and untrustworthy.

they did not understand that love did not simply vanish just because sides were chosen.

when rhaenyra returned to court as a grown woman, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. she was older now, her face sharper, her eyes darker and more guarded.

she wore black and red, the colours of house targaryen, and carried herself like a queen who already owned the world.

you stood with alicent and the rest of the green party, your chin held high, but your eyes followed rhaenyra across the room.

she saw you too. her gaze would lock onto yours from across the hall, heavy and unreadable. there was no warmth in the way she looked at you anymore, not like when you were children.

there was only history, and hurt, and the heavy weight of what had been lost.

one evening, you found yourselves alone in one of the quieter galleries. the guards had stepped away, and for a moment, the world narrowed down to just the two of you.

you stopped a few paces apart, neither stepping closer nor turning away.

“they say i am a fool for still caring about you,” you said quietly, your voice steady but low. “they say my loyalty is split and that i am dangerous to my own side.”

rhaenyra’s expression did not soften, but her eyes searched your face as if looking for something she could no longer find.

“and do they say i am a fool for letting you live, even though you stand with those who would steal my birthright?” she answered, her tone cool and sharp.

you looked at her, really looked at her, and saw the woman you had always loved beneath the pride and the armour. “i do not stand against you out of hate,” you told her. “you know that. i stand where my duty lies, just as you stand where yours does.”

rhaenyra tilted her head slightly, that familiar stubborn set to her jaw. “duty is a cold comfort,” she replied. she took a small step forward, the space between you shrinking.

“you are their jewel, their loyal servant. yet you still look at me as you did when we were girls. it makes you weak in their eyes, and it makes you dangerous in mine.”

there was no anger in her words, exactly. there was only the truth, bitter and sweet all at once.

“i never wanted to be your enemy,” you admitted.

rhaenyra’s gaze flickered over your face, lingering on your eyes, your mouth, like she was remembering every moment you had ever shared. “and i never wanted you to be,”

she said quietly. “but here we are. you wear their colours and i wear mine. you fight for them, and i fight for what is mine.”

the way she looked at you told you everything you already knew. she did not hate you. she could never hate you. but she could not have you either, not when the whole realm was tearing itself apart.

“they are wrong, you know,” she said after a pause, her voice lower, softer, almost like the old days. “they call you a fool for loving me, as if love is something to be ashamed of. they do not understand that some things run deeper than crowns or battles or wars.”

you felt your chest tighten. “then why do you treat me like a stranger?”

rhaenyra’s lips pressed together. “because if i let myself remember what we were, i might forget what i have to be. and i cannot afford to forget.”