LaDs in Dance of Dragons! au have fun!
The rain hadn’t started yet, but I could smell it.
It lingered just above the stone—cold and metallic, like wet steel. The sea wind had followed us from Driftmark, curling through the Red Keep’s open windows and whispering things no one wanted to hear. The lords and ladies cloaked themselves in silks and smiles, pretending it didn’t matter that the King was choosing another wife. Pretending the last one hadn’t died screaming.
I wasn’t supposed to be wandering.
I was meant to be sitting in a solar with my sister Laena, listening to a septa drone on about The Seven-Pointed Star while courtiers argued over which braids would flatter her best. But Laena didn’t need my help. She was already radiant—graceful, tall, born for court.
I was the youngest daughter of the Sea Snake and the Queen Who Never Was, a child born of salt and flame, and the shadow of older, brighter stars. My sister was the future—beautiful, poised, and betrothed in whispers before her twelfth name day. I was still being reminded to wear shoes.
So I slipped away, wandering down lesser halls where the Red Keep forgot to polish itself. The kind of corridors where dust still held the memory of boots, and the silence felt older than the stones.
I turned a corner and nearly collided with someone.
He didn’t move, only glanced down as I stumbled back, catching myself on the wall. He stood with one shoulder resting against the archway, tall and angular beneath a black and red cloak. The torchlight caught the mess of silver hair falling over his brow, and the gleam of violet eyes that studied me like I was something written in a language only he could read.
You didn’t need a herald for Sylus. You just noticed him—and tried not to be noticed back.
He tilted his head slightly. “Little early to be wandering the halls barefoot, isn’t it?”
“I’m not lost,” I said, straightening.
I hesitated. “Then what are you doing here?”
“Walking,” he echoed, tone bone-dry. “Same as you. Only I remembered my shoes.”
I cursed inwardly. I hadn’t meant to leave them behind. Again.
“I wanted air,” I said instead. “The court smells like perfume and old lies.”
That made him huff a breath—amusement, maybe. Or agreement.
“Rhaenys’s youngest, aren’t you?” he asked, finally pushing off the wall. “You’re the sister.”
“Laena’s,” I said. “Yes.”
His eyes flicked across me like he was measuring something that couldn’t be tallied with height or weight.
“They say your blood runs deep,” he murmured. “Salt and fire both.”
“I bleed like anyone else,” I said. “And so does she.”
His mouth tilted at the corner. “You don’t sound impressed.”
“I’m not here to be,” I answered.
Sylus stepped closer, not quite invading space, but owning it. He had the presence of a blade—sharp, quiet, and certain it would be felt.
“They’re dressing her now,” he said. “Tying her into silks, combing her hair, sweetening her breath with mint leaves. All for a King who still grieves the last woman he crowned.”
“She doesn’t mind,” I said. “She knows what’s expected.”
“And you?” he asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
I met his gaze. “I expect very little.”
The silence stretched. Somewhere down the hall, a guard’s footsteps rang off stone, distant and fading.
Sylus studied me like I was a map he hadn’t decided whether to read or burn.
“Strange thing,” he said finally. “To be a dragon’s daughter and still sound like you’re hiding.”
“I’m not hiding,” I said.
“No. Just barefoot in shadowed halls, walking nowhere in particular.” He tilted his head. “You’re not like your sister.”
He smiled faintly, like that amused him more than anything else.
Then, with a glance down at my bare feet and a soft, dry laugh, he turned.
“You should wear shoes,” he said over his shoulder. “Stone doesn’t care whose blood it drinks.”
And just like that, he was gone, cloak whispering behind him like a secret.
I stood there a little longer before I turned back—toward Laena, toward the gold and silk and the pageantry of choosing.
But I didn’t walk quickly.
hehehehe i got an itch to write after watching a tiktok. hope you like it!
the others will be introduced slowly
areudirty
jbbartram-illu
tangentwithtanner
germansingergirl
prguitarman
snowghoul