𝒈𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 ───── a house of the dragon fanfiction.
⚘ written by 𝒍𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒂 . . . 2024
𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑹𝑰𝑨𝑮𝑬 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑶𝑲 with each gravely piece of road, much to Kaleyna’s distaste. It rocked her from her childlike dreaming and moved the young girl into an awakened state. At just six years old, her mind was far more plagued than it should’ve been — motherless and forever attached to the Hightower name. She never liked King’s Landing much, but she had little choice in the move. Her uncle, Otto, had been Hand to the King for years, and just months prior he had offered his brother’s children to find places in the castle and court. He would have never even thought to offer something of the sort if Brianna Hightower hadn’t died. 

     He refused to join his son and daughter on their embark for the castle, as his excuse was that they both needed to ‘grow into each own’. Neither Kaleyna nor Ormund understood at the time, and neither did they now, facing each other in grim silence as the horses outside of the box rattled down the road with impatience.

     Ormund stared blatantly towards the flash of trees, just a few feet out of reach. He was never one to be silent; but that was before. After was ahead of them now, and habits would change like the dying of spring winds.

     “Do you remember?”

     His gaze snapped onto his younger sister’s curious eyes. She used to think he could kill with just a single blink, but now, she found a sort of solemn in the deep green color of his glare. “Remember what, ‘Leyna?”

     The girl’s fingertips just slightly grazed the glass of the window beside her. The stone of the castle’s walls peaked through the foliage. “Being here… at King’s Landing.” She took a breath before forcing her eyes away from her decided fate at court in her coming teenagehood. “You know I haven’t been in years, and even then, I was too young to recall.”

      She was still too young. Too young to be sent off by her own father to engage in proposals and suffer through the consequences of being at the heart of the Realm, the most vulnerable spot for any high-born child to be.

      Ormund swallowed, the apple in his throat bobbing up and back down again. His fate was far more closer than hers, as seventeen was a pinnacle in society — the just time to wed and produce heirs of the Hightower name. “Yes… I do.” The boy took a pause. “Prince Viserys and I… we were extremely close then, like brothers. The second Prince, Daemon, was just about your age, no less. I rarely saw the young boy, as he was mostly kept occupied with Her Grace, the Queen. I recall hearing the babe whine all through the wretched night.”

      Kaleyna giggled, imagining a prince in such a predicament, too young to have a mind of his own. “What then, brother? Did Prince Viserys groan about his babe brother to you?”

     Ormund’s smile faded coldly. “No, sister. Father stormed into the room with my baggage before I could hear about it from Viserys.” His jaw clenched rigidly, revealing the same spite he held out for their father for years, if he could even be called one at all. “But, I am certain things will go well with you back here again. I’ve received word that Prince Daemon will be in court this year. Can you believe the boy’s already eleven?”

     “That’s just because you’re old, Ormund.” Kaleyna snickered. “I don’t look a day over three.” The boy hissed a lively complaint and pinched the lobe of her left ear, causing the young girl to crumple up into a pretty ball.

     The enjoyment ended when the horses came to a halt— just when all things in life did.

     The pair of Hightower children were greeted upon and walked to their confined rooms, where they would stay for the next few years, depending on the love their father so proudly never gave.

     The first night, not so long after their ride, Kaleyna laid across her new poster bed. The red and black of the Targaryen colors that decorated her living quarters discomforted her, but she would not allow it to rid her of sleep; some other dreaded thought would. The girl was deathly afraid the royal family would despise her, or worse… that they would like her.

𝒈𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 ───── a house of the dragon fanfiction.
⚘ written by 𝒍𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒂 . . . 2024
𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

words . . . 798.
written . . . 5.18.24.
published . . . 6.15.24.