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Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warnings:
Graphic Depictions Of ViolenceMajor Character Death
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
House of the Dragon (TV)Warhammer Fantasy
Characters:
Ikit ClawRhaenyra TargaryenJacaerys VelaryonLucerys Velaryon (Son of Rhaenyra)Baela TargaryenRhaena Targaryen (Daughter of Daemon)Daemon TargaryenCorlys "The Sea Snake" VelaryonHelaena TargaryenAddam VelaryonBackground & Cameo CharactersSilverwing | Alysanne Targaryen's DragonOriginal CharactersJoffrey Velaryon
Additional Tags:
Crack Treated SeriouslyCanon-Typical ViolenceThe Dance of the Dragons | Aegon II Targaryen v. Rhaenyra Targaryen EraAlternate Universe - Canon DivergenceCanonical Character DeathCharacter Turned Into a HumanIkit got isekai'd as Jace's twinSkaven Species (Warhammer Fantasy)Death to all GreensHuman ExperimentationScience ExperimentsIkit is his own warningSilverwing still has shit taste in male ridersPOV MultipleBackground RelationshipsBackground Character Deathshow canon onlyDragon RidersAnimal AbuseIkit is an abusive dragonriderTho he's fairly mellow compared to his SkavenselfGood Parent Rhaenyra TargaryenNo beta we die like LucerysDysfunctional FamilyCannibalismBlood and TortureCanon-Typical BehaviorBAMF Helaena Targaryen
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2026-02-26Completed:2026-04-22Words:181,492Chapters:55/55Comments:1,270Kudos:749Bookmarks:159Hits:33,607
The Rat Prince of Westeros
SkilledWarriorKiwi
Chapter 4: Elinda
Chapter Text
Ikit was devout.
Somehow, that was the most unusual thing she discovered about her lady's odd silver-haired son.
Of course Elinda adored Princess Rhaenyra and all her children, even the more antisocial like Ikit. She had been one of the maids present for the boy's rage as an infant and so briefly knew him as Aenar before the name change. She did not know the origin for his current name, as it didn't sound Valyrian nor Velaryon. Still, she had a pale scar on her left hand where Ikit had bitten her so it must have been important to him. Targaryens were magical after all, bound to the grandest creatures in the world, she would not pretend to know their thoughts.
She remained attentive and dutiful as years past and Rhaenyra flourished as Lady of Dragonstone as her children grew. First it had been her twin boys, Jacaerys and Ikit, then it had been sweet little Lucerys. The princess even mentioned wishing more children if the gods provided. A daughter especially, Elinda knew, but the Realm's Delight would never voice such a thing as she adored her sons dearly.
Elinda had been there for Rhaenyra's births and recovery, tending to her mistress and helping her and the infants. She remained faithful and obedient, touched by the trust Rhaenyra had shown her in allowing her to mind the little ones in their younger years. She knew how difficult it had been for the princess to trust her in the aftermath of Alicent's betrayal and a part of her would never trust the queen after knowing the truth of it- someone willing to betray their princess in such a way to seduce her grieving father was someone who had no integrity despite the queen's constant appearances at the royal sept. They were hostile thoughts she kept to herself, knowing Rhaenyra still stung from the betrayal from a once close friend.
It was why also she never spoke about the oddities of Targaryens, such as their continued worship of the Old Valyrian gods. Those were considered forgotten and heretical, as Aegon the Conqueror had publicly allowed himself to be anointed in the seven oils and crowned by the High Septon as king, but Elinda soon learned they were still honoured within Dragonstone.
It, much like Prince Ikit's sudden realization of intelligence when he began his lessons, was something she learned to adapt to.
Elinda was from a noble house in the crownlands, of the keep Stonedance along the edge of Massey's Hook, so she had been raised to known her letters and numbers even before she became the crown princess's lady-in-waiting. So she felt she was quite a learned woman, but even she could not make heads or tails of the math problems Princess Rhaenyra's second eldest son had so easily completed. Maester Gerardys had been raving about it when he presented his findings to the princess and when Elinda read the sheet over she couldn't even begin to actually solve those problems, much less understand them in the first place.
Prince Ikit had happily accepted their praise and when Rhaenyra had asked her son to explain the problems and how he answered them, he had happily done so. Elinda had been sitting across from her lady, face fixed in a polite smile yet utterly not comprehending what Ikit was even talking about and failed to understand even the majority of the words and terms. Luckily the two guards at the door had looked just as confused while Rhaenyra seemed far more fascinated by what Ikit was saying.
In the aftermath when Rhaenyra was still with Ikit Elinda made sure to go to Jacaerys and praise him for his lessons. Even bringing along some treats of lemon cakes and candied fruit. Elinda had not seen her siblings for some time but she knew it was never a good feeling to have one excel so greatly and make you seem less. Of course she knew it was never from ill feelings, but rather in one self, and she did not want Jacaerys to feel adequate with his twin advancing so well.
"Some just find gifts in numbers, my prince," Elinda said lightly. "Myself, I couldn't even understand a single thing on that page. It is beyond my keen, and for many others. There is no shame in admitting you don't understand something."
"But you're old, shouldn't you know this?" the prince blinked those big doe eyes up at her, a half eaten lemon cake in hand.
Elinda was more amused than offended, "But that doesn't mean I understand such a thing nor enjoy them. For the philosophers to debate over at the Citadel, I feel. It would seem your brother is once such yet for me I feel such a talent to be a tad bookish. Now come along. Vermax will want to see you, my prince."
Cheered up, Jacaerys followed her to the great caves and Elinda thought that over as some time passed. Ikit's massive leap in intelligence was a source of curiosity to many, especially as he had never once been trained in such a thing.
Elinda felt it may have more to do with the odder Targaryens over the histories, and Ikit was displaying such a shine. Daenys the Dreamer was the most famous of all, Rhaenyra having told her the story of the maiden who had a powerful vision of Old Valyria's destruction years before it occurred and which saved her family and the last dragons from extinction. Elinda felt that perhaps Ikit was a type of that, having knowledge of something one so young shouldn't possess.
It was also why she never disapproved of Princess Rhaenyra and her sons still paying their respects to the gods of Old Valyria. The princess still attended a service at the sept of the Seven within Dragonstone once a month, and never denounced the faith.
Elinda did know more than most about the Fourteen, even if she didn't personally worship. But she was surprised that out of all the princess's sons, Ikit was the one who paid the most tribute to the old gods to the point he did so in his private chambers.
She had noticed he had a necklace, made from a piece of round obsidian, that he had a habit of clutching. She had thought it to be akin to a worry stone but when she stumbled across the small altar in Ikit's rooms she realized it was a religious talisman.
It had been by accident that she had found it; as a lady-in-waiting she was typically at Rhaenyra's side, yet of that afternoon the princess had gone for a flight along with Lord Laenor and Princess Rhaenys who was visiting Dragonstone. They had taken the boys with them, Jace with Rhaenyra, Luke with Laenor, and Ikit with Rhaenys, and their dragons had been darting about the island in races even if the Red Queen was leaving both Syrax and Seasmoke flailing in her wake.
Elinda had gone to the prince's room to deliver a pile of books Lord Corlys had brought with him. Last she had seen, the Sea Snake had been in excited talks with Maester Gerardys about Prince Ikit's advanced intelligence, and Elinda had left them to it as she carefully carried the books to the prince's chambers.
When she put them down on one of the tables she had inwardly sighed at the state of the room. Ikit was messy, to the point she almost felt it was intentional. She knew the maids had cleaned the room when the prince had left for breakfast, but it seemed he had returned and made a mess of things. His blankets had all been heaped up in a rough pile and several of the tables had been shoved about and there were numerous sheets of parchment, scribbled with indescribable things, strewn across the area.
She spent some time cleaning, even if it wasn't her typical task, straightening the blankets and fur, pushing the tables back into place and then picking up all the parchment. Much like the problem sheet, she couldn't understand what was on it. Even the language itself she did not know, so she wondered if perhaps it was a type of Valyrian. It was when she went to place the parchment in the vanity, thinking perhaps it was personal work he would not want crumbled nor crusted by the salt air, did she find the small altar.
Unlike the room it was neat and well kept. Sitting on the shelf in the wide drawer of the vanity, the centerpiece was a obelisk of emerald with thirteen sides. She did not recognize the rune carved into the stones, sharp and jagged, but she did recognized the upside down triangle upon an obsidian block that had been carved in the likeness of an animal skull and was carefully set before the small pillar. There were other gems, all in blacks and greens, with more runes she couldn't recognize. There were dozens of rat skulls arranged amongst the gems, carefully cleaned.
Yet the oddest thing was the tiny bell tower amongst the gems, made from small pieces of wood, steel and with an iron bell like one shepherds would use for cows at the apex of the little tower. It was wonderfully made and Elinda felt deeply convinced Prince Ikit had made it himself. With his advancement and intelligence, making a little functional bell tower would easily be within his grasp even if she did not understand its importance.
Elinda could not see which Valyrian god in specific it was dedicated to, as for most they had been lost to history. She had been at Rhaenyra's side long enough to know the dragons had been named after the old Valyrian pantheon, most for the most important Fourteen but there were many others aside she knew not about which could be the one honoured here. Elinda also did not worry for the rats, they were vermin and needed to be hunted.
As she quietly closed up the vanity and left the prince's chambers she had to wonder if he was praying for a dragon. Lucerys's egg had hatched, a white dragon with pale red membranes, yet Ikit's egg of dark hues was inert even if Elinda knew he kept it near. There were also untamed dragons upon the isle so he could be as his mother and try to tame one of those so perhaps he wanted the blessings of a god to attempt such a thing.
She had thought about the altar in the following days, feeling almost uneasy in stumbling across it. Faith could be quite private especially for the dragonlords where their Fourteen were deemed uncivilized. It was why she decided to try and reach out to the more withdrawn son of her lady, as the princeling was standoffish towards near everyone except his own kin and she noted how he was giving her the cold shoulder. He also had an air of authority to him that Jacaerys lacked; an expectation that he was to be obeyed, that he already held such rank and prestige he must be obeyed. While Jacaerys and Lucerys never once pushed their nobility upon anyone in Dragonstone Ikit had a habit of barking orders or demands to any passing maid or servant to the point Rhaenyra had to gently correct him when he became too harsh.
Elinda had to wonder if it was in part due to his intelligence, in never truly feeling like a child. It made a part of her feel saddened and why she obliged with her urge to help.
At the end of the moon's turn, when her purchase arrived on a trading vessel, she found Ikit seated by a window in one of the immense watchtowers. He was eating some smoked haddock stew that filled the air with a fishy aroma. He was alone, with sheets of parchment before him and threatening to overflow from the table.
"My prince?" Elinda asked, approaching Ikit despite the obvious disinterested air he projected.
As always, those burning green eyes were transfixing as the boy looked up at her.
"I have a gift for you," she said, offering Ikit the wrapped package.
"You were in my den-burrow, at my altar," Ikit said, not taking it. She could see the leather strip of his talisman just above the collar of his Velaryon-blue jerkin.
Elinda didn't know how he knew but did not bother to deny it, now knowing why he had been treating her so coldly lately, so she said, "I was and I do apologize for disturbing your altar, my prince. I meant no disrespect. Targaryens have their own customs I do not claim to be a part of nor will judge. I apologize if I upset any prayer you had prepared."
Ikit stared at her for a long moment, even as Elinda kept her gift outstretched. After a moment he grunted and accepted it, saying, "You are loyal-devout to den mother. Do not touch it again and I will forgive you this time for such a trespass-insult."
"I understand, my prince. This is part of my apology for disturbing it, please accept," she said, gesturing to the package he held.
He eyed her before quickly ripping off the covering, sharp nails shredding it The book was a heavy tome, something she had made sure the library within Dragonstone didn't possess, and dedicated to the more obscure arts and history of Old Valyria, about the rituals and godfolk and bloody customs. Half rumours and heresies and half truth and guile. It was something she had managed to get largely by chance due to Dragonstone's close ties to the trade city of Braavos, along with the generous payment, and she had eagerly awaited its arrival.
"I had it ordered from one of the merchant ships," she explained. "I hope this will make up for my mistake. And I hope you share it with your brothers Jacaerys and Lucerys, they say you are a wonderful storyteller and it will be a good way for you to bond this evening."
Ikit cracked open the book, the cover made from ancient faded leather, his eyes greedily running over the elegant High Valyrian script inside. After a moment he nodded at her, the cool almost hostile air fully dissipating from him, and Elinda left her prince with a much lighter step.
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