The Dragons and Their Sun (aemond/oc)

helaena I

 "Uncle, I require your assistance with something. If you wouldn't mind," she greeted her uncle. He was leaned over a table with Corlys, Rhaenys, and a few other soldiers. Everyone's head snapped to hers as she entered the room. The eyes on her made her want to squirm away and never be seen again, but she powered through it. This needed to be done. Her grandfather would not be allowed to live any longer. He has been the root of the pain and misery in her childhood life, and that would not go unpunished. Her own mother was changed into a paranoid and obsessive woman because of him.

"My dear niece, what can I do for you?" Daemon didn't look at her as he spoke. Helaena couldn't distinguish his tone very well. It sounded like sarcasm, but she was never great with identifying sarcasm. Jace had been teaching her different tones of speaking, and she was getting better at picking them up. Daemon, however, had a habit of never changing his tone no matter what he was saying. It was impossibly difficult to tell whether he meant what he was saying.

Helaena racked her brain to figure out how to tell him what he was needed for without alerting everyone else about her plan. She fiddled with her fingers to try and keep her brain from getting too overwhelmed. She made sure to keep her eyes on Daemon as she spoke, trying her best to ignore the other eyes on her, "If I could speak to you alone, uncle?"

She heard him sigh. It sounded angry. Helaena didn't know how to deal with an angry Daemon. She hasn't had enough time with him to understand how to work her way through that.

"Go on. I'm sure we can manage without you for a moment," Corlys spoke for her. Helaena silently thanked the man.

Daemon sent a look to the older man; Helaena couldn't read it. Daemon's face seemed to never change despite Helaena actively seeing it change. They all just seemed like the same face. He sighed again before walking towards her. She tried not to take rapid steps back as he approached her. Helaena had always found Daemon a bit scary, if she were being honest. Someone that blank being that strong was a nightmare for her brain to work through. He could kill her in the next minute, and she wouldn't be able to tell what, or why, he did it because she can't read him.

He left the room without her. She blinked at the other people in the room before rushing after him. She had no idea where they were going, but she had to trust that he wasn't leading her somewhere to kill her.

"I trust this is important," he told her over his shoulder as they entered a room. She was finally able to pinpoint this tone. He was threatening her without blatantly doing so. She's heard the tone before, but it was always in a more jesting way rather than the serious way Daemon was doing it. At least, Helaena thought he was being serious. She couldn't see his face. Not that that would have helped at all, but it would be easier to know if he was going to run her through if she could see his eyes.

"I believe it is, yes," Helaena told him, casting a glance around the room. She didn't recognize it, not that she would've. She's rarely on Driftmark.

"Well?" He pressed. He was facing her now. His face was blank. She looked closer and saw a slight frown on his face. She didn't think that was a good thing. She squared her shoulders and brought forth her fake confidence.

"First, I want your assurance that you won't run out of here and tell everyone. This is to be a two person venture," once she started talking, she couldn't stop the truth from slipping out. "I'm only asking you to come because Aurora demanded it. I wouldn't want you to come if it were up to me."

She almost threw her hand over her mouth as she blurted it out. She didn't know Daemon well, but she didn't think he would take what she said as a compliment. She cursed her inability to hold her true thoughts sometimes. She had been getting better at it, but she slipped sometimes.