King's Landing

110 a.c.

Rhaenyra woke up early, like any other day, but this time she slept next to Cassandra Baratheon. Rhaenyra had never expected to wake up next to anyone else who wasn't Alicent.

When Rhaenyra woke up, she looked at Cassandra, who had laid her head on Rhaenyra's shoulder, and snore sweetly. Rhaenyra giggled quietly by hearing Cassandra snoring. She knew it would be a better idea to move Cassandra to her pillow so she wouldn't be surprised when she woke up.

While Rhaenyra gently moved Cassandra's head. Cassandra quietly with morning voice asked "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I just move you from myself." Rhaenyra answered with a smile.

"Why, are you afraid to be near me?" Cassandra asked while her eyes were still closed.

"Lady Cassandra, I ride a dragon. Do you think I am afraid of you?" Rhaenyra asked ironically while she was looking at Cassandra.

"I think you are. Especially since this girl can do whatever she wants with you."

"What do you mean?" asked Rhaenyra.

"Nothing, don't worry. Someday you will understand." Cassandra answered, opening her eyes to see how Rhaenyra looks at her.

"What?" Cassandra asked with a laughed.

"What?!" Rhaenyra asked, laughing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Cassandra asked as a small smile appeared on her lips.

"How I look at you-" Rhaenyra went to ask, but she was interrupted by a knocking on the door. It was Mary.

"Good morning princess. Are you awake?" mary asked with a good tone.

Rhaenyra panicked and wondered what to answer because she didn’t want Mary to know that Cassandra spent the night in Rhaenyra's chambers.

"Am, Mary, I'm awake, but I don't need anything. If I want something, I'll call you." Rhaenyra responded with a trembling and panicked voice, but Mary did not pay much attention.

"I think it's time to get up, what do you think?" Rhaenyra asked Cassandra while she was staring in her eyes.

Cassandra was happy that Rhaenyra didn't interrogate her about the nightmare last night. Rhaenyra knew that Cassandra would not want to tell and it didn't make sense to ask her. The important thing was that Rhaenyra was next to her when she needed the most...

~~~~

Today was the day Queen Aemma had to give birth, or at least so said the Grand Maester.

Rhaenyra knew that the baby would probably be a boy, but she wasn't worried.

Alicent and her father had to return from the Old Town and Rhaenyra was a little scared. She didn't know what to tell to Alicent about Cassandra. How would she tell her that they slept in one bed?

Cassandra was happy that she would finally be able to see Alicent, who had taken an eye on her brother, Orys, who had no interest in her. He had no interest in most women, not because he didn't want to, but because his nature was like that. Ser Martyn was the secret lover of Orys, which very few people knew about and one of them was Cassandra. When Orys confessed to his sister for his feelings for Martyn Lannister, Cassandra was not surprised, and supported her brother. She had never judged him for the decisions he made about having a secret affair with his best friend. Orys couldn't share secrets to many people. He couldn't share Borros, his older brother, because he was not that tolerant like Cassandra. The only person he can share secrets with was Cassandra. She didn't judge him, maybe because she sometimes thought she liked not only lords, but also ladies. But she didn't want to think too much, and she was leaving herself along the course.

I had been in a while since Cassandra left Rhaenyra alone in her chambers until a knock on the door was heard. Rhaenyra headed to the door with a smile because she thought it was probably Cassandra there, but it wasn't her.

"Alicent!What are you doing here?" Rhaenyra asked. She did not expect Alicent so early.

"Hello Rhaenyra. Why are you so surprised to see me? Who else would be?"

"I didn't just expect you so early." Rhaenyra lied and invited Alissent to enter.

"So how was it?" Alicent asked to hint Rhaenyra about the time spent with Cassandra.

"What?" Rhaenyra made it that she didn't know what Alicent asked her about.

"How was your day with Cassandra Baratheon?"

"It was good. We didn't have much in common. We just had dinner together." Rhaenyra answered, worried Alicent to find out about what happened last night.

"Clear. What were you talking about?" Alicent asked curious to find out about the conversations between Rhaenyra and Cassandra.

"Nothing special. She told me about Storm's End, though she grew up there, and I told her about King's Landing and The Red Keep." Rhaenyra answered.

"That's all?" Alicent asked.

"Yes that's all." Rhaenyra answered and changed the subject and began asking Alicent about the time spent with her father at The Old Town.

It was time for the two girls to get ready for the tournament. Alicent helped Rhaenyra to choose a dress and dressed. After Rhaenyra was ready, Alicent got really too. The two went to the tournament, but they didn't expect exactly when they opened the door to see Cassandra Baratheon.

"Hello Lady Alicent!" Cassandra said to Alicent.

Cassandra and Rhaenyra exchanged eyes in seconds before Alicent noticed them.

"Hello Lady Cassandra!" Alicent responded to Cassandra's greeting and proceeded along the hallway.

"Princess!" Cassandra said to Rhaenyra and smiled until Alicent wasn't watching.

"Lady Cassandra!"

"How did you sleep, princess?" Asked Cassandra.

Rhaenyra panicked for a moment, but decided to do that nothing happened last night.

"I slept well, did you?" asked Rhaenyra looking everywhere, but not in Cassandra.

"I did. Thank you for asking." Cassandra replied, noticing that Rhaenyra dared not look her in the eye.

"Lady Cassandra, are you going to the tournament too?" Asked Alicent with a tone of arrogance.

"Yes, that's where I was going. Are you two too?"

"Yes!!" Rhaenyra said very quickly.

"Okay, so we're in the same direction. We can go together if you don't have a problem?" Cassandra asked, expecting Alicent to cut her offer.

"Okay, let's go together." Rhaenyra said before Alicent.

"In the meantime, I forgot to congratulate you last night, Princess, about the birth of your brother." Cassandra said in order to annoy Alicent.

"Thank you Lady Cassandra. But I don’t think you should congratulate me, but my mother."

"By the way, where are your brothers Lady Cassandra?" Alicent asked to break the conversation between Cassandra and Rhaenyra.

"I don't know. They're probably somewhere with my father. Their rooms were in the other part of the Red Keep, and they were very long hunting and I didn't see them for a while. They must be at the tournament with my father to respect the king and the baby's birth." Cassandra responded and saw the mad look on Alicent's face.

After Alicent's words, none of the ladies said anything until they reached the tournament.

"Lady Cassandra, me and the princess go up to our fathers. You can find your own downstairs." Alicent said with the most nasty tone possible, but Cassandra did not pay much attention to her.

Cassandra found her family and sat next to her brother Orys.

"Where have you been all day? I was worried about you." Orys asked Cassandra with a mad tone.

"I spent the whole day with the princess. The king had ordered it."

"What do you mean?" Orys asked surprised because he knew his sister didn't like the princess much.

"Our father seems to have decided that he will tell the story of our childhood, with the roses and the mud to the king."

"And the king decided to fix your relationship with the princess?" Orys asked with eyes wild open.

"Apparently yes-" Cassandra responded, but was interrupted by the signal of the start of the first match from the tournament.

Orys was worried because Ser Martyn would have been in a fight against Ser Cristion Cole.

•

Cassandra was not watching the tournament, but she was watching the princess. Whatever she did, the princess didn't come out of her head. While talking to her brothers, she was not watching Rhaenyra. When she turned to find her, she couldn't. Cassandra immediately noticed that Rhaenyra was gone, and Alicent was still there.

Cassandra was worried about Rhaenyra and wanted to look for her.

"I'll be back in a moment." Cassandra told her brothers.

"Wait, where you were going-" Oris wanted to ask, but Cassandra had already gone.

Cassandra figured something might have happened to Queen Aemma and went to search for her chambers quickly. She asked a maid, who guided her and Cassandra went to the queen's chambers.

How close she was, that stronger screams became, which reminded Cassandra of her childhood trauma.

When she reached the queen's chambers, Cassandra saw Rhaenyra front. Her hands were the whole blood, and the tears on her face fell down. When Cassandra saw her, she felt like she saw herself years ago. Her hands were dirty with the cooker's blood, and the tears of guilt flowed down. When Cassandra got to Rhaenyra "Princess, what's going on. Are you okay?"

"My mother can't give birth. There have been some complications with the baby, and she can't go out. My father is inside and I don't know what's happening. She doesn't bother me to say goodbye to her." Rhaenyra responds until her eyes fill up again and again with tears.

Cassandra lifted her hand and wiped the tears from Rhaenyra's cheeks. She knew that nothing could be done for the Queen, but she could be with Rhaenyra at that moment because even her best friend Alicent wasn't.

It took a while, and the Queen's screams stopped. The door opened and the king came out.

"You can go in to say goodbye to your mother." Viserys said quietly to Rhaenyra and go back to the tournament without showing any feelings.

Rhaenyra knew that the Queen was not much left and had to get tight and get in to get goodbye.

All the time while Cassandra was waiting with Rhaenyra, they held hands and every time Rhaenyra heard a scream of her mother, she squeezed Cassandra's hand.

Cassandra thought Rhaenyra would like to be with her mother alone, but no.

When Rhaenyra went to enter the queen's chambers she did not let Cassandra's hand.

"Mom, it's me..."

"Rhaenyra, my beautiful child. Why are you here and not in the tournament?" The Queen asked already exhausted. She was at the limit of her powers, but she found a stylus to say goodbye to her first born child.

"I came to see Mom. Look who's with me, Lady Cassandra Baratheon."

"She is very beautiful." The Queen said while watching Cassandra's eyes filled with tears.

"I know right, she is very beautiful." Rhaenyra told her mother.

"Please Cassandra, take care of my Rhaenyra. I know Alicent won't, but you look like a woman who can handle the dragon." Aemma said and laughed with the last powers he had.

"I will take care of her, I will not leave her alone, don't worry. I will stay in King's Landing and try to be next to Rhaenyra." Cassandra said with a small laugh while her eyes were tearing.

"I love you, child. You will always be a part of me and my heart."

These were the last words of Queen Aemma...

Rhaenyra and Cassandra stayed next to her insensitive body to remain silent in honor of the Queen and her good heart.

Rhaenyra did not understand why the Queen, her mother chose Cassandra, not Alicent. Alicent has been with Rhaenyra for life, but Aemma chose Cassandra.

Rhaenyra knew that she had to keep Cassandra next to her...