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A Princess Returned


Westeros

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Almost a fortnight was past since Princess Daena had vanished from the keep called the Maidenvault by some at court, where she and her sisters had been immured soon after King Baelor’s ascension. The revelation of her disappearance brought to an abrupt session the king’s court, as he fled to pray for his sister’s safe return and as others at court such as the Hand Prince Viserys hurriedly arranged a search for her. The City Watch combed the docks and the city, but the news of her flight was kept to the Red Keep for all of a day before it began to circulate throughout the city. Nothing the goldcloaks and bailiffs did revealed her: early claims of sightings of the princess in Flea Bottom, at River Row, at the quays, at one gate or another—every one was a false lead. Some feared that she had indeed already left the city.

At court, it was whispered that it was believed she had fled of her own volition, and indeed it was said that it was thought she had secretly sewn some sort of garments—perhaps a servant’s garb—in preparation for her escape. The ladies at court who knew the princess well wondered at that, for Princess Daena had shown only passing interest or skill with her needlework (she preferred horses and archery), and among the cynical it was supposed she might have had help from a sympathetic maid, or lady-in-waiting, or even her own sisters. Certainly, Prince Viserys was said to have gone to question his nieces as to Daena’s whereabouts, but if they revealed anything to him it did not bring about Daena’s return any more swiftly.

It was in the end happenstance that Daena’s whereabouts was discovered: a report of a theft from a bakery beneath the Hill of Rhaenys led to a bailiff questioning some of the local Kingslanders, and among them was an old woman who complained of a waif who she’d seen sneaking about her patch of garden, trampling her turnips. When the bailiff was cajoled into looking at the scene of that terrible crime, he noted that looming above the old woman’s hovel were the cavernous ruins of the Dragonpit. Perhaps to escape the harridan’s hectoring complaints, he climbed higher up to see if any sign of the waif might be found among the ruins…

...and there, to his shock, he found Princess Daena, who had been in hiding there ever since she had successfully escaped the Red Keep. Just as some guessed, she wore garments that could pass for that of a servant, and had hidden her hair under a kerchief and a hooded cloak. But it seems her plans were barely considered: once out of the Red Keep, she did not think far on where to go next, and by the time the alarm went up and the search began for her she could only find refuge in the abandoned ruin until some opportunity to escape the city presented itself.

In the end, it’s said she gave herself up willingly, being half-starved for she was a poor thief and though she had jewels with her she realized that as soon as she sold any she would have been quickly discovered. But others say that she fought the bailiff after leading him a merry chase, and who knows what the truth may be? The bailiff quickly took her to his superiors, and a great escort led by the Dragonknight came to lead her back to the Red Keep. The reunion of Baelor with his sister was witnessed by few eyes, for she was conducted into the sept where he prayed almost endlessly for her safety, but immediately afterward she was taken to the Maidenvault and the door was shut behind her once again. The guard of the keep, some noted, was more than doubled.

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