Jaehaerys woke up with a hand caressing his cheek, a slight twinge of pain making him frown. He opened his eyes and looked into his wife's amethyst eyes. She looked hurt and worried.
"You've never been hurt before," she whispered.
"I had... when I was a child," he replied as he got up and sat on the end of the bed, remembering when he trained with Rodrik. He didn't count the blows he received in jousting.
He trained with the sword a few times, hoping to spark an interest in martial arts, but it didn't happen. He didn't know how many of those incidents had been reported to his mother. He had found Varys' little birds and fed them in exchange for false information. In the north, it was easy; they stood out like a sore thumb.
Euron had left a mark on his face. The Valyrian steel cut through his flesh like butter. Jaehaerys only now realized how close he had come to death. His reflexes had saved him, but a thousandth of a second would have been enough for everything to go wrong.
His wife's arms wrapped around him from behind, and she leaned on his shoulder.
"Is he dead?" she asked, though she seemed to know the answer. What man could hurt him and still live?
"No... he got away. I only got half his hand," said the prince with a frown.
The prince recovered the hand he managed to sever from Euron. The glove was indeed made of Valyrian steel, a small amount of which he managed to cut through because his weapon was made of the same material. He didn't know what he would do with it, but any piece of the metal was worth having.
He also had Lady Forlon, courtesy of Ser Corbray.
The strange thing came later: Euron's hand rotted and decomposed down to the bones. That's what happens typically to humans. But that's not something that occurs in less than a day. It was almost as if it had been replaced by something else.
Jaehaerys wasn't worried about Tywin or Aegon anymore. It was Euron who worried him. He had been looking for him for some time before their first encounter, but the man remained elusive and stayed off his radar.
He felt Daenerys' embrace tighten.
"He will die at the end of the war," she proclaimed confidently.
"That's uncertain," replied the prince. "Euron has Valyrian steel armor, which is almost impossible for a normal person to damage," said the prince. "And that's assuming he participates in the war and doesn't simply flee," he added, which was his main thought about Euron.
The Ironborn had no chance of carrying out their rebellion successfully. Euron must know that. This little war will serve to remove some Greyjoys from the picture and to test the waters. The pirate wanted to meet Jaehaerys, and he did.
"He'll show up eventually... there's no place on earth where he can hide from the dragons," Dany ran her nails across his chest, leaving red lines on his skin.
"I know... they say he was in Valyria..."
"You're not going to Valyria, Jae," Daenerys said firmly.
"What? No, I don't plan to," the prince denied. "In Valyria, he said he found a horn to tame dragons." Euron didn't tell him directly; he only knew thanks to metaknowledge.
"Victarion said the same thing, but it only enraged them, and he ended up burned alive for it." Daenerys' tone was somewhere between mocking and annoyed.
"Did the man upset you that much?" It was unusual to see his wife so angry. Daenerys wasn't usually the type of person to speak disparagingly of anyone.
"He would be alive if it weren't for that," she said as she got out of bed. Jaehaerys appreciated her naked beauty, still bearing the marks of the previous night. She took water from a jug and drank, then gave Jaehaerys the same glass.
"A toast to his death? With water?" joked the prince after he drank.
"As if the idiot deserved more," she muttered angrily.
"What did he do?" Jaehaerys began to worry. Dany was used to compliments and people seeking her hand in marriage. Victarion did something else.
"He said you died," she whispered.
"That wasn't all he said... he did—" Jae began to fear truly.
"No, gods, no," Dany denied. "I... I can't have children, Jae," she said vulnerably, her voice almost breaking as she spoke.
"That's not true, love," Jae comforted her.
"He wanted to steal a dragon... one of my children," she said with fury in her voice. "They are the only offspring I will ever have, the only mark I will leave on the world... and he wanted to steal them and use them as if they were a toy of war," she looked at Jaehaerys seriously.
"So it was the horn?" Jae asked.
"Yes... The stories were lies, or they didn't know how to use them," she said. "He wanted to use the dragons to conquer Westeros... so I taught him, I taught him what an enraged dragon can do," she snatched the cup from her husband and drank, water dripping from her chin.
Jaehaerys found himself admiring his wife in those moments. In this case, it wasn't just her physical appearance; he saw something beautiful in knowing that she had destroyed the IronBorn. He hoped he wouldn't become like his father and begin to find pleasure in burning people alive.
"None of the IronBorn survived, right?" asked the prince.
"No, none of them. They either drowned or burned to death. Or our men on land killed them," she replied. "Did I...? No, I did the right thing," she began a question as if seeking his approval, but then reaffirmed her actions. She had become more confident.
"Good," Jae stroked her short hair, then kissed her on the forehead. "We'd better take a shower," said the prince.
"Yes..." Dany looked at the messy bed and thought about how they had slept in that mess. "Tell me about your daughter, what is she like?" she said as she covered her body. Jae did the same. Then a bell rang, and some maids entered, waiting for orders. "Hot water," Dany said.
"Are you sure?" Jae asked hesitantly, unsure if talking about his daughter was the right thing to do at that moment. He couldn't hide how happy he was to have offspring, and that could affect his wife's mood.
"I heard she was poisoned, but she survived," Dany said, genuine concern in her voice. All the fire that had boiled within her seemed to be reserved exclusively for the Ironborn.
"I used the necklace to save her," the prince said. "She... lived, and the one who tried to poison her died," he confessed to his crime.
"How?" Dany asked curiously.
"I ripped out his tongue; he choked on his own blood. By the way, do you have any recommendations for the next Master of Coin?" Jae asked. Dany opened her eyes in realization.
"A Tyrell or a Manderly. It would bring the kingdoms closer to the royal family. Do you really want to be Hand?" she asked, having heard the news.
"A Manderly then... he'll be our ally," Jae replied. "I'm not sure about Aegon... he seems too soft to me," he said, giving his assessment of the king.
"Soft? I would never have described him as such," Dany weighed her words.
"Indecisive... like Viserys I," Rhaenyra Targaryen's father, a man who was king after Jaehaerys the Conciliator. More focused on pleasing each of his subjects than on ruling properly. His indecision laid the foundations for what is known as the Dance of Dragons.
"Aegon always seemed to know what he was doing," Dany commented, not denying her husband's words.
"He overthinks everything. He's afraid of becoming like his father. He micromanages every action, always seeking the best option. But sometimes there are no better options, just options. He finds it hard to believe that one of his decisions will have bad consequences... he hasn't learned that he can't please everyone," Jaehaerys described his nephew based on what little he knew about him.
"I'll start paying more attention to him... one good thing about you being Hand is that Rhaelle can be legitimized quickly," Dany said with a smile. "I hear she's a beautiful baby... white hair and beautiful indigo eyes," she added.
"She also has small patches where her hair is coppery," he said with a smile. He immediately wiped the expression from his face.
Daenerys laughed at him.
"Don't hide how much you love her," she said as she caressed his cheek. "You don't need to feign indifference in front of me," she added.
The maids entered and, ignoring the princes in the room, prepared the water for them. Then they withdrew.
The water boiled as they both entered the tub. Jaehaerys began talking about his daughter while Dany listened with a smile.