Redd stood at the door, looking down at her. She still didn't look up, but her eyes moved from her toes to the toes of his boots, like a cat testing the temperature of the water, first touching the water with the tips of its paws, and then deciding whether to jump down.
"Helaena?" Redd's voice was not loud, with a tone that was unique to him when talking to children, somewhere between serious and casual, "Why are you here alone?"
Helaena finally looked up.
Her eyes are House Targaryen's signature light purple, which is lighter than Rhaenyra's purple. They are like violet juice diluted with water. Under the afternoon sun, they reveal an almost transparent clarity, as if they can see through something.
Her eyes fell on Redd's face. There was no fear, no restraint, no nervousness and shrinkage that children often experience when facing strangers. She just looked at him, as if looking at a tree, a cloud, something she was not sure how to call yet.
She didn't answer immediately. Her lips moved slightly, as if she had something to say, but the words rolled around on the tip of her tongue and she swallowed them back.
Her eyes moved away from Redd's face and landed on a corner of the study behind him - maybe the window, maybe the desk, maybe the letters and maps spread out on the table - she looked at it for a moment, and then moved back.
She finally spoke, her voice was very soft, as if she was talking to herself. "They are all looking for me, but I don't want to be found by them."
"Why don't you want them to find you?"
Helaena's eyelashes trembled slightly.
She seemed to have been thinking for a while, and her way of thinking was different from most children - she would not rush to speak, nor would she panic because she could not think of an answer, she would just stand there quietly, letting the question circle twice in her mind, and then leave a blank space for it to settle.
"They are too noisy." She said. Her tone was calm, as if she was stating a fact that had been confirmed many times. Then she raised her hand and pointed to the study room behind Redd, "It's quiet here."
Redd looked back in the direction of her finger.
The study was indeed quiet, the window was open a crack, and occasionally the wind blew in from the outside, blowing the papers on the desk and making a slight rustling sound.
Apart from this, there were no other sounds. There were no footsteps, no voices, no sounds of doors opening and closing, and even the echoes that sometimes sounded in the corridor downstairs were absorbed by the walls.
"How did you get here?" Redd turned around, his eyes falling on her bare feet, "No one saw you?"
Helaena's toes curled up slightly on the cold stone ground, as if she wasn't sure how to answer that question. Her lips moved, and finally she just said, "They won't look this way."
This sentence is very simple, as simple as a child stating a fact that she takes for granted.
But Redd feels that there is something more than just a casual remark in this sentence.
He looked into her eyes, and there was no fear or dodge in those light purple pupils, only a quiet look, as if he was looking at the world through a layer of mist.
Her eyes always seemed to wander a little beyond the landing point, as if she wasn't sure whether what she saw was really there.
"Your maids should be worried." Redd's voice was slower than before, "Do you want me to have someone take you back?"
Helaena didn't answer immediately. She lowered her head again, looked at her toes, and was silent for a few breaths.
The dust marks on her toes didn't look like they had just stepped on the carpet, but rather seemed like they had been stained by stepping on some dusty stone steps.
Then she raised her head, her eyes fell on Redd's face again, as if she had passed him through a very fine sieve, and then she said something that made Redd raise her eyebrows slightly.
"You saw them."
Redd's eyes froze for a moment. "What do you see?"
"Those dragons," she said, her voice still in that light, sleepy tone, "There are so many dragons in your mind. They are all flying."
Redd looked at her. His expression did not change, but his fingers moved slightly by his side.
He looked at her light purple eyes - the light in them was very faint, like a thin veil that was diluted to the point of being almost invisible, but the firm and unquestionable tone when she spoke made him feel something gently seeping out of her, passing through the gaps in the air, and falling on his skin, like an invisible layer of frost.
"What did you see?" he asked, his voice lower than before.
Helaena tilted his head, as if this question was more difficult to answer than the previous ones.
Her eyes moved away from his face and fell on the window behind him, as if she saw something through that window that he couldn't see.
"They are all flying, many, many. They are going back to a place, a very hot place, where there are stones, fire, and black smoke. You are in front of them."
She paused again, then raised her much smaller hand and pointed at his chest. "You will open the door."
There was a rush of footsteps at the end of the corridor, as if someone was running.
The footsteps were getting closer and closer, accompanied by two low-pitched, anxious and panicked female voices passing each other words such as "Are you there?", "No, what about you?", etc., approaching quickly from a distance.
A maid in a light-colored dress poked her head out from around the corner. The moment she saw Helaena standing at the door of Redd, her whole expression relaxed obviously, as if someone had gently put back the heart that had been held in her hand.
"Your Highness!" The maid walked quickly, almost jogging to the front, then stopped suddenly, looked at Redd in a panic, and then at Helaena, with an awkward expression on her face. She wanted to take the princess away quickly, but was afraid of losing her etiquette in front of Redd.
So I could only stand there, hurriedly pulling up my skirt and making a less than standard salute, and whispered, "Your Highness, why are you here? Everyone is looking for you."
Helaena didn't answer or move. She still stood there quietly, as if the maid's words hadn't reached her ears yet and had to wait a few more breaths before they were truly accepted. Redd nodded to her. "She's fine."
The maid bowed down to thank her somewhat awkwardly, then took a step forward and tentatively extended her hand to Helaena: "Your Highness, let's go back. It's time for you to change clothes."
Helaena's eyes moved away from Redd's face and fell on the maid's outstretched hand. After a moment, she raised her hand to put it on, turned around and followed her, her steps still very light, almost as silent as stepping on cotton.
She walked a few steps, stopped again, looked back at Redd, her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say it.
She turned around and continued to follow the maid away, her silver-blond hair swaying on her shoulders, and then disappeared around the corner of the corridor.