The council meetings had stretched for hours. With the queen absent, the burden of keeping everything afloat had fallen upon you both. Now, in the privacy of her chambers, you were still discussing council matters. But while you spoke of numbers, treaties, and strategic, Rhaenys mind was elsewhere. On you. On what you had once been. Over the years, the distance between you had grown. Not out of anger, not out of neglect, but simply because time had pulled you apart. Days became months, months became years, and without realizing it, you had seen less and less of each other. Then, suddenly, Rhaenys closed the distance between you.

—“These past few weeks, I’ve had you closer than I have in years.”—She murmured, her gaze locking onto yours.—“An irony… that we only see each other in the council.”

Her hand brushed over your shoulder, firm yet almost melancholic. Then, her voice dropped lower, just above a whisper.

—“Tell me… is there still a spark of love between us? Or have the years extinguished everything that once was?”