From Flames to Fury (Part 2)

The morning air was thick with tension, the kind that seemed to cling to every breath, every movement. We stood side by side, straightening our clothes, going through the motions of preparing for the day ahead, but there was a heaviness between us. Rhaenyra was silent, her hands steady as she fastened her cloak, but I could see the tightness in her shoulders, the way her lips pressed together in a thin line. I was no better—fidgeting with the fabric of my sleeves, trying to keep my hands from shaking as I fought against the gnawing anxiety building in my chest.

Daemon was supposed to bend the knee this morning. In front of his men. In front of us. This was the moment that was supposed to solidify Rhaenyra's forces, her claim to the Iron Throne. But despite the plan, despite the assurances made the night before, the tension was undeniable. We both knew Daemon too well—me from the stories, the legend of his wild, unpredictable nature, and Rhaenyra from personal experience. He was a man who thrived in chaos, who shifted like the wind, and even now, with his promise hanging in the air, there was the gnawing sense that something could go terribly wrong.

No matter how much I wanted to believe in his vow, there was still that sliver of doubt—small but sharp as a knife. This was the same man who had killed his first wife simply because he didn't like her. The same man who had ordered the assassination of a three-year-old, a child's head delivered to him without remorse. So, yeah—let's just say I didn't have overwhelming confidence in the psychopath.

And judging by the way Rhaenyra moved, the way her muscles tensed beneath her regal composure, she was just as wary. She had this coiled energy about her, a readiness to spring into action at any moment. She was prepared for whatever Daemon might throw at her, even if neither of us wanted to admit just how real the danger was.

Her readiness, her sharp focus, was contagious, wrapping itself around me like a vice. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen, something that would push everything to the brink. I wasn't used to this—the high stakes, the palpable tension before a moment that could define everything.

And then her voice had cut through the silence like a knife, breaking my spiraling thoughts.

"If he moves to attack me, you get on Cannibal and leave. Do you understand me? This is not the time for your selfless, foolhardy acts of bravery, Elizabeth. Do you hear me?"

Her words hit me like a blow, leaving me momentarily stunned. My eyes widened as her command registered, and for a second, I couldn't even comprehend what she had just asked of me. It was like my brain refused to process it, like some part of me rejected the very idea of leaving her behind. It took a few heartbeats, a few agonizing seconds, for the meaning to fully sink in. And when it did, a mixture of anger and fear clamped down on my chest, squeezing the air out of my lungs.

"Rhaenyra—don't ask that of me..." My voice trembled as I spoke, barely able to contain the storm of emotions surging inside me. The very thought of abandoning her—leaving her behind to face Daemon and whatever chaos might follow—felt like a knife twisting deep in my gut. How could she ask me to run? How could I even consider it when everything inside me screamed to stay, to stand by her side, no matter the cost?

But Rhaenyra, ever composed, ever regal, cut through my protest like a blade slicing clean through flesh.

"Elizabeth," she said, her voice sharp but laced with an underlying plea, "you love me, yes?"

The question hit me like a blow to the chest, knocking the breath from my lungs. Her bluntness, the sheer force of her words, made the world tilt beneath my feet. It wasn't just a question—it was a truth laid bare between us.

So, we were acknowledging it.

Who says they love you for the first time and then drifts off to sleep as if nothing monumental had just happened? But that was exactly what I had done, my emotions pouring out in a moment of vulnerability before exhaustion pulled me under.