Twin Flames of the Dance
Part II – Bonds of Fire
Chapter I – The Princess and the First Flame
POV: Rhaenyra Targaryen
They unsettled the court.
They unsettled her father.
They unsettled Daemon.
But they did not unsettle her.
Rhaenyra found Aenarion standing at the Painted Table of Dragonstone, studying Westeros as though he had seen it rise from the sea.
"You look at it like it belongs to you," she said.
He smiled faintly. "It never did. That is why it survives."
Daenerys stood by the windows, silver hair stirred by sea wind. There was something ancient in her gaze — and something painfully familiar.
"You woke us," Daenerys said gently to her. "You carry more weight than you show."
Rhaenyra bristled. "I am the named heir."
"Yes," Aenarion replied softly. "And heirs are rarely loved."
Silence lingered.
They understood her in ways even her own kin did not.
For the first time in months, Rhaenyra did not feel alone.
Chapter II – Driftmark's Daughter
POV: Laena Velaryon
Laena met them at Driftmark.
She had expected arrogance.
Instead, she found stillness.
Vhagar circled high above as she approached them on the beach.
Daenerys looked up at the great dragon and smiled.
"She misses the old skies," Daenerys murmured.
Laena stiffened. "You speak as if you knew them."
"I did," Daenerys answered simply.
Aenarion lifted a hand. The wind stilled around them. The tide paused — not frozen, but hesitant.
Laena felt it then.
Not power meant to dominate.
Power meant to endure.
"You are not like the others," she said.
"No," Aenarion agreed. "We are what remains when others fall."
Laena laughed softly. "Good. Then perhaps you will remain with us."
It was not a request.
It was hope.
Chapter III – Fire and Friendship
POV: Daenerys
In another life, friendship had been fragile.
Here, it felt… earned.
Rhaenyra sparred with Aenarion daily. Steel against telekinetic precision. He never humiliated her. Never belittled her.
He sharpened her.
I walked the cliffs with Laena.
She spoke of flying Vhagar across Essos, of Pentos and Volantis, of wanting the world before it was taken from her by marriage politics.
"You could take it," I told her.
She smirked. "With Vhagar, perhaps."
"With yourself," I corrected.
She studied me.
"You speak like a queen."
"I was," I said softly. "And it cost me everything."
Laena did not press.
Instead, she took my hand.
"Then be something else this time."
The simplicity of it struck me harder than any blade.
Chapter IV – The Prince of Rogue Fire
POV: Daemon Targaryen
Daemon did not trust them.
That was precisely why he respected them.
He watched as Rhaenyra laughed more freely.
As Laena trained longer, harder — not to impress him, but to strengthen herself.
The twins did not interfere in politics.
They did not whisper counsel in Viserys' ear.
They did something far more dangerous.
They inspired loyalty without asking for it.
One evening, Daemon approached Aenarion alone.
"You could take the throne in a night," Daemon said plainly.
"Yes."
"And yet you do not."
Aenarion's gaze was calm. Immovable.
"A throne is a cage. I have already escaped one fate. I will not build another."
Daemon studied him for a long moment — then laughed.
"Good. I prefer my rivals ambitious."
"You have none in us," Daenerys said from behind, her voice warm but unyielding. "But you may have allies."
Daemon did not kneel.
But he inclined his head.
For him, that was enough.
Chapter V – Four Dragons Beneath the Stars
POV: Aenarion
The four of them stood atop Dragonstone's cliffs beneath a sky thick with stars.
Syrax circled lazily.
Caraxes screamed somewhere beyond the clouds.
Vhagar's distant roar rolled like thunder.
Rhaenyra leaned against the stone battlements.
"Laena says you've seen the end of the world," she said quietly.
"I have seen one version," I answered.
"And in it?" she pressed.
"You burn," Daenerys replied gently.
Silence fell.
Laena crossed her arms. "And do we die?"
"Yes," I said truthfully.
Rhaenyra's jaw tightened.
Laena only smiled.
"Then we make this version better."
The wind lifted their silver hair together — dragonblood bound not just by ancestry, but by choice.
Daenerys' voice brushed my mind.
This is dangerous.
Yes.
We are growing attached.
I looked at the three women before me — fierce, flawed, radiant.
So we are.
Far away, time continued its march toward the Dance.
But here, in this fragile moment, prophecy felt less certain.
Because now—
The Twins were not alone.
And neither were Rhaenyra and Laena.