Dunes

This was all very new to Valyira. It was very, very new. She had spent much of her youth following her mother, first in the Hills and then on the Crossing. Their time on Salem had been better. There had been others. Her siblings, and the other mares. Evrain had been gone before she had been born, and the discussion of the Valyria's actual parentage had never been discussed. There were whispers, of course, that she looked different than the rest of Rhaenys' children. Without the silver hair she looked so...ordinary, and her mother had taken every opportunity to remind her. If Rhaenys herself had not given birth to Valyria, the once-queen would have never even given her a second glance.

Rhaenys' love was fleeting, suffocating, and cold. There were times she doted upon Valyria, drowning her in attention. And she was gone as quickly as she had appeared, back to ignoring her as Valyria toddled after her. Rhaenys had left her in the middle of the night, disappearing beneath the stars and left a yearling to fend for herself. Luckily, she had not gotten in much trouble and found the Dunes abandoned when she'd arrived. Truthfully, Valyria had no gone to Salem to become a queen. She'd been looking for her mother.

"What have you done." The voice came from the wind, howling between Valyria's ears. She turned sharply in the direction of the sound, to find no one there. Her mother's words repeat in her head and she looks frantically across the sands. "Are you not...proud, mother?" she asks the wind, pinning her ears against the gentle curl of her nape.

She was so young. So unsure of herself. Valyria still had much to learn. The child-queen. She was ambitious, in her own way, there was no way anyone from Rhaenys' own blood could not be. Rhaenys was sharp, a poisoned blade hidden behind perfect teeth. Valyria was soft, and kind. There was no weapon behind her smile, no poison dripping from her fangs. She was simply who she was. A girl who missed her mother, standing on the very sands where Rhaenys had chased Nyimara all those years ago.

Valyria sighed, turning away from the whispering wind, and began making her way to the edge of the territory. Even as inexperienced as she was, she knew of border checks, and so she'd check them. Over and over. Hoping against all hope that Rhaenys would be there to greet her.