Rhagerys whipped his head up to firmly glare at his father. “I refuse to apologize. Yes, what I did was wrong, horrendous even. But he spoke such poisonous words—”
“Which is why you must have thicker skin than what you have now. You are of dragon’s blood not the blood of a mere man. That makes you better, stronger than them.” Daemon stood over Rhagerys. “Simple words, no matter what poison they carry, should not affect you.”
Rhagerys craned his head back as he kept his dark green eye upon the man who was the reason he could not see out of two eyes. “When it comes to mother, I will burn the whole of Westeros for her and her honor.” He felt his chin begin to shake. “My love for her is that strong. But all I can do is lash out when someone insults her.” He vaguely shook his head. “Those thoughts, feelings are just as strong when it comes to Ettie.” Rhagerys felt a tear slip from his good eye. “I do not have much in this world, Kepa. So, I must protect what little I can hold onto.” The shake of his jaw was much more prominent, the shake of his head was felt throughout his body, the single tear was joined by much more. Rhagerys wept. “I am alone.”
Daemon instinctively did something he had not done since he was a young boy of four and ten when his brother needed comfort after the stillbirth of his first child, his first son. He dropped to his knees and held his son to him. Daemon shushed Rhagerys as he stroked the boy’s head. “Such words.” Daemon emptily said. “You are not alone, dear boy.”
“My mother is dead.”
“Rhagerys—”
“She is. I do not even have a memory of her to carry with me. You vaguely remember a broken nose and a green eye of your mother. Baela and Rhaena have many memories to lose themselves in. But,” Rhagerys breathed in sharply. “I have to cling to words, memories from others. You, Ryck, and Ettie are the ones who can keep her alive for me. Yet, the words can only exist in my mind.”
Daemon let the weighted words from his son sink into his skin. They seeped into his heart and carved at a piece he thought was long dead. Yet, the way a pain he had fought so valiantly against years ago spread through his chest once more and engulfed his entire body, Daemon understood just how false his belief was. “Your mother—”
“Is dead.” There was no emotion in Rhagerys’s voice, just truth.
“Aye, she is. And I have told you all I can of my time with her. Anything else would be a lie.”
“Never stopped you before.” Rhagerys bit out.
“Rhagerys!” Daemon stopped carding his fingers through his son’s hair. “I am trying to give you words of comfort. Do not throw them back at me as if they are tainted.”
“What does it matter?” Rhagerys pushed himself up and away from his father. He pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. “Living in a memory is not wise. I,” The familiar shake of his chin was felt by Rhagerys. “I told Mother as such earlier. I told her even though I am greatly saddened by her death, that I am at peace with it.”
Daemon mimicked Rhagerys’s way of sitting. He studied his son’s face as he mulled over the boy’s statement. It felt sudden and harsh for Rhagerys to be calm on the words he freely admitted. “Did you? What brought such words to be spoken?”
“As I said, “I am alone”.” Rhagerys blinked away tears but could only do so with his left eye, his right eye but had swollen shut. “I hate Jace and dislike Luke. Rhaenyra does not care for me nor I her.” He paused to wait for a reprimand from his father. As none came, Rhagerys continued. “I rarely see Ettie. Baela is on Driftmark. I feel a rift beginning between Rhaena and myself.” A single eye looked up to the stone ceiling in order to push away any tears that may come. When Rhagerys felt that he could continue, he settled his dark green eye upon his father. “All I have is you. I love you, Kepa. But it is quite the lonely existence.”
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