Having covered Aegon's miserable life of "study and confinement," it was time to turn to Rhaenyra.
The wind from the Narrow Sea swept over the snowy peaks of the Mountains of the Moon, carrying the chill of their year-round frost as it stirred the clouds above the Eyrie.
Rhaenyra stood on the Eyrie's terrace, watching the sea of clouds roil beneath her feet, her long silver-gold hair streaming in the mountain wind. She took a deep breath. The air was filled with the crisp scent of pine needles and snow, free of the lingering incense and scheming of the Red Keep in King's Landing, and free of her father and his courtiers' endless nagging about marriage.
At that moment, her only thought was, I'm so happy here, I've no wish to return to King's Landing! Yet before this, she had intended to argue her case in King's Landing and rescue her dear little brother Aegon from confinement.
But within a few days, her father Viserys had offered a compromise: she could dismiss her traveling party and fly to the Vale alone on Syrax. Already feeling guilty about all the trouble she and Aegon had caused on their journey, she promptly abandoned the brother still desperately waiting for her to save him.
Early the morning after her father Viserys made the offer, she mounted Syrax alone and set off for the Vale.
"Well? Isn't my Vale much more comfortable?"
A gentle voice came from behind her.
Rhaenyra came out of her reverie and turned to see her cousin Jeyne Arryn approaching with a smile.
The niece of Rhaenyra's mother, Queen Aemma, and the Duchess who ruled the Vale wore a dark blue velvet gown, with a belt embroidered with House Arryn's moon-and-falcon sigil around her waist. Her expression was gentle, yet