<h4>Chapter 25 - 25 - The Queen and the Exiled Princesses (I)</h4>
"I lived in exile for thirteen years, but instead of sumbing to the hardships and dangers of the situation, I changed my mindset and stopped being a weak queen and became the queen my daughters needed." Queen Mother, Rhae I Targaryen.
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<i>Continent of Essos - In the Free City of Braavos.</i>
Ser Willem Darry walked through the crowd with a cloak covering his appearance, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his eyes scanning his surroundings for followers or enemies with surprising ease. Don''t me him for being so paranoid, but having just been attacked by assassins, anyone would be the same way.
Finally realizing that he wasn''t being followed, he entered an alleyway and soon saw a discreet house that was hard to see unless you looked closely.
Willem knocked on the door with a specific knock, almost as if he was speaking a secret code to whoever was on the other side of the door.
The next second, the door opened and a woman in her thirties appeared in front of the Master-at-Arms of the Red Keep.
Willem didn''t hesitate and without waiting for the woman''s words, he entered the house and the door was closed at the same moment.
Suddenly, the woman''s face changed slightly as she smelled the strong scent of blood. "Are you hurt Ser?" The woman asked with a worried look on her face.
"Some assassins attacked me in the harbor, but I''m unharmed. But we must leave Braavos, Your Grace." Willem said, leaning back in his chair and letting out a tired, exhausted sigh.
It wasn''t just the assassins who had attacked him, a week ago the men he imed to be loyal to betrayed him and almost caused the death of Princess Daenerys.
If Princess Visenya hadn''t killed one of the guards in the nick of time, things would have ended in a tragedy he could never forgive himself for.
The woman Willem was talking to had tinum hair and beautiful lc eyes; if any of the nobles of Westeros were present, they might recognize her as Queen Rhae I Targaryen, wife of Aerys II, the Mad King.
Rhae was not an indecisive woman; the events of the past week had already rmed her enough to know that Braavos was far from safe.
"Let''s leave Braavos and go to another city." Rhae made the decision in an instant.
"Your Grace, if I may, I think it would be best to go to Vntis." Willem spoke, catching her attention with his words.
"What do you suggest, Ser Willem?" Rhae asked with a calm expression. She didn''t refuse and waited for his words.
"Vntis has be a holy city in the eyes of all Red Faith believers, if we can take refuge in Vntis, no assassin will dare attack a city full of crazed fanatics." Willem spoke calmly, hiding nothing from his queen.
Rhae hesitated. As Willem had said, the entire city of Vntis had beenpletely transformed four years ago, the true rulers of the city changed in less than a year, making the city of Vtins a true Theocratic City.
The Reverend Mother called Kinvara became the ruler of the city.
With a well-trained army of over twenty thousand, Vntis was now a safer city to live in than Essos, especially with the Dothraki Khal plundering the Free Cities and every caravan that passed through. But Rhae hesitated; what if she and her daughters were arrested if their identities were discovered?
The thought of her daughters in danger tormented her, but in the end she realized she had no choice. Staying in Braavos was asking to be attacked by endless waves of assassins sent by Robert and Tywin. Going to Vntis was a gamble, but when you think about it, all the others were gambles, too.
Vntis was less of a gamble at the moment, especially given the rumors of the Red Faith''s kindness and generosity over the past four years.
Rhae had made up her mind. "Let''s go to Vntis, Ser Willem."
Willem nodded and stood up, preparing to leave.
Rhae watched the old man disappear into his room with a grateful and emotional look on her face. Without Willem, she really didn''t know how she, a woman who had never worked or done anything but sew and read, would survive in exile.
Don''t get it wrong, Rhae had long since ceased to be a weak and submissive queen, the years in exile had forged her in the mes of hardship, burned away any weakness and hesitation that still lingered within her.
But it wasn''t so at first. Like everyone else, she gradually grew stronger, and that time was essential in changing her mentality.
But that time wouldn''t have existed without Willem''s help, the man provided that precious time and she lived up to her daughters'' expectations, bing a warrior and a survivor in those ten years of exile.
On her way to her room, Rhae opened the door and saw two girls, one older and one younger.
The younger one was ten years old, small and delicate, with tinum hair and lovely, very expressive lc eyes. She was as beautiful as a doll made by the gods. A beauty that would surely make many men fall in love with her when she grew up.
It was her youngest daughter, Daenerys Targaryen.
The eldest girl was seventeen, with straight white hair that fell over her shoulders and back in a cascade of silky, shining strands. Her features were delicate and sweet, her eyes a very vivid and beautiful shade of violet. She was rtively tall, about 169 cm (5''6").
She was his eldest daughter, Era Visenya Targaryen.
"Mom!" Daenerys eximed as she saw her mother enter the room. The ten-year-old put down the book she was reading and smiled brightly at her mother.
That smile made all the worry, exhaustion, and fear of the future disappear as if it had never existed. "Hello, my adorable little dragon." Rhae said, kissing both of her daughter''s cheeks.
"Mom!" Daenerys pulled away and spoke with an unhappy tone. "I''m not a child anymore."
Rhae smiled and didn''t deny it, her daughter might look innocent, but she had been trained since childhood to protect herself, the girl was not only skilled with daggers, but also with poisons.
Visenya was theplete opposite of Daenerys, like her counterpart, her daughter was a warrior princess who used a sword with such mastery that it would put most men to shame.
Although it wasn''t something a princess should learn, Rhae discovered that only strength could keep her and her family alive in exile, so she always encouraged her daughters to train during the day and read at night to improve their knowledge. Only then could her family survive and have a chance to reim everything that belonged to them.
"We will move to Vntis, but before we do, you must dye your hair ck." Rhae spoke in a serious tone. Three tinum-haired women apanied by an old knight was simply too conspicuous, something they should avoid until they reached Vntis.
Visenya and Daenerys'' faces changed dramatically when they heard their mother''s words. Neither hesitated or objected. Unity was what House Targaryen needed, and now it was. Three memberspletely united and with a coordination that would impress most strategists.
Visenya and Daenerys acted quickly, the one looking for the items needed for the hair dye and the other girl starting to prepare all the clothes they would wear to disguise themselves. Seeing her daughters act so quickly and without question, Rhae smiled with relief. Even if she were to die for some reason, she was confident that her daughters could survive on their own.
After some thought, Rhae began helping her daughters immediately, helping Daenerys pack the clothes and items they would take to Vntis, especially the jewelry. It was theirst source of ie, should they need it in the future.
As for the jewels and the crown, Rhae didn''t care at all, even if they had been the jewels of her former queens. Her daughters'' safety was the most important thing to her, everything else was secondary. And never would a jewel be more important than feeding her daughters.
It took an hour for everything to be ready. By then, Rhae, Visenya, and Daenerys were wearing ck hair and clothes that covered almost all of their skin, leaving only their eyes and a few locks of ck hair showing. This was amon outfit for anyone venturing into the deserts of Essos, so it was one of the mostmon outfits to be found in the Free Cities.
"Let''s go." Rhae spoke without any nostalgia for the house she had sheltered for five years. Her home was in the Red Fortress, any other house was just something to pass the time and shelter from the rain and sun.
Everyone nodded and left the Red Door House.
Daenerys looked back at the red door, which she would probably never forget.
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