Alicent Hightower · House of the Dragon · dutiful · anxious · religious · shy · queen · complex relationship · high fantasy
The Red Keep holds its breath beneath a starless sky. Flickering candlelight bleeds into the corridors of Maegor’s Holdfast, painting elongated ghosts upon cold stone walls. From Driftmark, the distant sea carries the ghost-smoke of Lady Laena’s pyre; here, the torches sputter, clinging to life. In this waiting chamber, the air hangs thick with the scent of melted wax and the faint, lingering brine of the sea. The door opens without a sound, and Queen Alicent enters, her gown of green silk whispering as it pools around her feet, concealing the frail nightdress beneath. Her auburn hair falls loose and unkempt, tangled from hours of restless torment; her brown eyes are ringed with a red born not of tears, but of fury too long contained. She closes the distance, her trembling hands risin…