House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Chapter 120: Chapter 119 – The Princess’s Tears (I)

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE TOPICS.

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At night, Dragonstone.

Inside the room, Maekar woke up in his bed, completely drenched in sweat. He sat up and ran his hand through the hair stuck to his face. Getting out of bed, he walked to the table and poured himself a glass of water.

Maekar didn’t know what was happening to him. He felt a terrible tightness in his chest. It felt like someone was holding his heart with both hands and squeezing it hard. This left him somewhat breathless and even panicked.

He tried to sleep but always woke up a few minutes later. Touching his heart and feeling its extremely fast rhythm, Maekar thought he was having a heart attack, but he simply didn’t feel any similar symptoms.

Looking at the flickering flames of the fireplace and the torches around him, Maekar didn’t feel warm but as if he were inside a cave of ice.

Suddenly, a knock on the door caught Maekar’s attention. Unconsciously, Maekar reached the side of the bed and held Blackfyre in his hands.

“It’s me, my prince.” Hearing the familiar female voice, Maekar relaxed and spoke in a calm tone.

“You may enter,” Maekar said.

As soon as his words sounded, the door opened and a figure entered the room. Only the sound of rippling fabric could be heard in the silent room.

It was Melisandre.

He sat on the sofa and positioned himself in a more comfortable pose. He looked up and covered his eyes with his arm. Hearing the silence of the room, in which only his and Melisandre’s breathing could be heard,

Maekar asked in a cold tone. “Did something happen?”

“I just felt my prince needed me.” Melisandre said with a gentle, enigmatic smile. Seeing Maekar’s state, a trace of pity crossed the woman’s expression.

She came closer and sat down beside Maekar; using her hands, she made his head rest gently on her thighs. Without needing a single word, she gently stroked his soft, silky hair. A gentle, soothing sound came from her closed mouth.

“Something bad is happening and I can’t sleep.” Maekar said, showing a rare moment of vulnerability that he didn’t like to show even to Gael. He didn’t know why, but he just wanted to say what he was feeling.

Melisandre didn’t answer and just kept gently stroking Maekar’s hair, humming a wordless tune, just sound.

Maekar felt relaxed and simply closed his eyes but didn’t sleep. The feeling of loss had weakened, but it still existed in his chest, leaving him hollow.

“Does my prince want me to look into the flames?” Melisandre asked in a gentle tone while looking at Maekar’s handsome face under the flickering torchlight.

Silence was Melisandre’s answer, but she understood and looked at the flames with her ruby red eyes. The ruby on her necklace seemed to light up at that moment, a faint, ethereal glow.

Under Melisandre’s eyes, she saw a female figure crying beside the bed, embracing a lifeless flame. A fierce battle, and finally, a titan in flames.

Faced with such a clear vision, Melisandre was surprised. It was the first time she had seen a vision of the future so vivid and expressive. She didn’t even need to think to guess what happened after seeing what she had just witnessed in the flames.

Melisandre hesitated to speak. She leaned closer to Maekar’s face and whispered in a gentle tone. “Does my prince really want to know?”

Maekar’s heart stopped beating for a moment. It was definitely more news. He began thinking of countless scenarios, mostly apocalyptic and terrible ones. Had the Long Night arrived early, or had a blue necromancer crossed the Wall?

However, Melisandre’s next words made Maekar wish for those apocalyptic scenarios.

“It’s something related to my prince,” Melisandre, still just inches from Maekar’s face, said in a gentle tone.

Opening his eyes, Maekar looked directly into the ruby red eyes just inches away and asked in a firm, solemn tone. “Speak.”

“I saw a female figure crying beside the bed, embracing a lifeless flame. A fierce battle, and finally, a titan in flames.” The red witch answered with a trace of pity in her voice.

Maekar was breathless for a brief moment; he looked at Melisandre and closed his eyes tightly. The prince clutched his heart and felt as if it were being cruelly torn from his chest.

It was such a strong pain that Maekar forgot to breathe.

“Gael…” A murmur escaped Maekar’s lips. He didn’t need to be a genius to know what had happened.

If he were in that state, Maekar could imagine that Gael, who was the mother, would be completely devastated.

Getting up, Maekar put on a white shirt, put on his boots, and left the room with hurried steps. Melisandre remained alone in the room, watching his back disappear through the door.

“He will be a good father,” Melisandre whispered. A man who could suffer so much because of a child not yet born couldn’t be a bad father; at least he would be better than many others she had seen in her long life.

On the other side, Maekar waved at the guards protecting the entrance to Alysanne’s room and entered without even knocking. The door was thrown open abruptly.

Alysanne, who had been sleeping, drew a dagger from under her pillow and looked cautiously at the intruder who had barged into her room. Seeing it was Maekar, she lowered the dagger and, just as she was about to scold her grandson, saw his exhausted, sorrowful expression.

“What happened?” Putting a silk robe on over her white nightgown, Alysanne asked in a worried tone.

“Gael has probably lost the baby.” Maekar whispered in a sorrowful tone.

Alysanne’s face turned pale; she brought her hand to her mouth and resisted the urge to cry. She was worried about Gael. Her daughter’s mind had always been delicate and fragile, and although Maekar had changed her for the better, that change couldn’t be so drastic.

“Go and stay by her side,” Alysanne said in a trembling tone, holding Maekar’s hand.

Maekar nodded and left the room, heading toward the Lower Chamber, which led to the stone platform in the gigantic cave beneath the castle.

Alysanne sat on the bed and showed a desolate look. She knew exactly the pain Gael was going through, since she had lost nearly all of her own sons and daughters. She would rather die than see one of her children die again.

On the other side, Maekar reached the place and saw Bahamut pacing in the cave; he seemed angry and restless. Obviously sensing his rider’s emotions.

With Maekar’s arrival, Bahamut fixed his golden eyes on him and walked to the stone platform. Maekar didn’t hesitate and climbed into the saddle and fastened the belt around his waist.

Moments later, the platinum dragon could be seen flying toward the sky and disappearing into the darkness of the night.

Riverlands, Harrenhal.

The entire castle was in a sad, heavy atmosphere. No one dared breathe too loudly. Miria was completely panicked. She heard the crying from behind the door and swore on her life she had never heard such a sad sound. It seemed to come from the very soul.

After hesitating for a moment, Miria opened the door to Prince Maekar’s room and entered cautiously. She closed the door carefully and looked at the four ladies in waiting of Princess Gael. The four young women had sad, worried expressions.

Hearing the crying, she knew something was very wrong. The prince had ordered that not even a single hair of the princess’s head should be lost.

This made Miria’s heart clench; she felt her breathing grow harder, her stomach turned, and a terrible chill ran through her body.

However, Miria didn’t ask the four young women what was happening and walked toward the bed, where a figure knelt on the floor while tightly holding a white cloth against her chest. Suddenly, Miria saw the color red in the corner of her vision and looked at the bed.

On the white sheets, a pool of blood stained the whiteness of the fabric.

Looking at the trembling figure crying as if there were no tomorrow, Miria felt an enormous sadness. Even having never gone through this herself, she already knew what had happened.

“Princess…” Miria tried to touch Gael’s shoulder, but the princess looked at her with eyes red from crying and tears overflowing.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!!!” GAEL screamed while pressing the white cloth against her chest tightly, as if afraid of anything hurting her child.

Miria seemed to see a wounded animal and stepped back.

Returning to the side of the four ladies in waiting, Miria spoke in a solemn tone. “Don’t let her out of your sight; I’m going to send a raven to Dragonstone.”

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Note: I originally wanted to show the scene of Gael waking up and realizing what happened, but this brought back terrible memories for me, and I skipped that part. Believe me, it’s not pretty to see a woman suffering from losing a child not yet born.

Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard