The next morning, I woke up at six on the dot.
Which sounds responsible and productive, right? Early bird gets the worm and all that.
Yeah, no. The truth is way less impressive. I'd slept maybe two hours. Tops. Every time I closed my eyes, my brain would remind me: There are two Targaryen princesses sleeping like three feet away from you. You can hear them breathing. Isn't that wild? Isn't that completely insane? Let's think about it all night instead of sleeping.
So yeah. Two hours. Maybe.
I sat up carefully, rubbing my eyes, and looked over at the bed. They were both still out cold, curled up under the blankets like normal people instead of legendary figures from fantasy history. Visenya's silver hair was fanned out across the pillow, her face relaxed in sleep in a way it never was when she was awake. Rhaenys had one arm tucked under her cheek, lips slightly parted, looking so peaceful it almost hurt to look at.
And despite everything—the exhaustion, the anxiety, the sheer impossibility of the situation—I found myself smiling.
They're just people, I reminded myself. Targaryens, yeah. Dragon riders, yeah. Beautiful beyond reason, yeah. But still just... people. Not monsters. Not gods. Women who got dropped into a world they don't understand, relying on some random guy to keep them from drowning in modernity.
Kind of puts things in perspective.
Anyway. I had school in a couple hours, and I needed to actually be functional for once. My high school isn't far—twenty minutes on a good day—so I had some time to kill. Time I should probably use to study.
Chemistry and history today. My favorite combo of "why does this matter" and "I'll forget this immediately after the test."
I grabbed my books and, instead of staying in the main room where I might wake them up, I tucked myself into the tiny entryway next to the bathroom. Sat on the floor, balanced my textbook on my knees, and tried to make chemical equations stick in my sleep-deprived brain.
An hour later, I'd retained approximately nothing. But at least I'd tried.
Around seven, I decided to shower. Quick and quiet, hoping the water wouldn't wake them. It worked—I made it through without incident, feeling marginally more human as I stepped out, towel around my neck, reaching for my clothes.
I opened the bathroom door and nearly had a heart attack.
Visenya was standing right there. Right there. Like two feet away, staring at me with those pale, unblinking eyes.
"Jesus Christ!" I yelped, clutching my chest. "You scared the hell out of me!"
She didn't apologize. Of course she didn't. Just stood there, radiating impatience.
"I need," she said.
"Need? Need what?"
She gave me a look. The kind of look that said "are you really this stupid?"
Then: "Move."
Oh. OH. Bathroom. She needs the bathroom. Obviously.
I scrambled out of the way, and the door closed in my face before I could even say anything. Right. Okay then. Good morning to you too.
I got dressed quickly, packed my bag, and headed back to the main room. Rhaenys was awake now—still lying down, but her gaze was fixed on the window, watching the gray morning light with an expression I couldn't quite read.
"Good morning," I said, opening the fridge to grab some juice.
She didn't answer. Just kept staring out the window like she was seeing something I couldn't.
I took a long swig straight from the bottle. Needed the energy. High school is a special kind of nightmare even on a good day, and today was shaping up to be... well. Interesting.
"When will you come back?"
I turned. Rhaenys was looking at me now, head tilted slightly, those violet eyes studying me with an intensity that made my stomach do weird things.
Don't look at me like while laying like that and while asking such things please.
My heart can't skip that many beats.
"Afternoon," I said, pointing at the clock on the wall. "When the big hand is there and the little hand is there. See?"
She followed my gesture, nodded slowly, and pulled the blankets back up without another word.
Visenya emerged from the bathroom a moment later, and I seized the opportunity to give them both the morning briefing.
"I know I'm repeating myself," I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder, "but please. Do not leave this apartment. When I get back, we can go somewhere if you want, but until then—if you want to stay safe and not attract attention—you need to stay here. I left food in the fridge. You can take it out and heat it up. You remember how to use the microwave, right? Like I showed you?"
They both looked at me. Silent. Which I chose to interpret as "yes, we remember."
"Just... stay here. Don't answer the door for anyone. If you get bored, there are books, but you probably can't read—wait. Can you read? What the hell?"
I stopped mid-thought, genuinely confused. They speak English. They understand English. But from their perspective, they're speaking whatever they speak in Westeros, right? So is this some kind of translation magic? A gift from whatever force dumped them here? And what language do they actually speak? Common? High Valyrian? Both?
My brain hurt.
I shook my head. "Never mind. Doesn't matter. There are books if you want them. Just please don't cause any trouble. I pay for this place with money I barely have, plus whatever my grandfather throws at me when he's feeling generous, which isn't often. So please. I'm begging you."
I looked at them both, searching for some sign that they understood. Rhaenos gave me a small nod. Visenya... didn't not nod.
Good enough.
I grabbed my keys, opened the door, and stepped into the hallway. Paused for a second, listening to the silence behind me. Then I locked the door and headed for the stairs.
My stomach was in knots. Leaving them alone felt wrong—dangerous, even. Like leaving two dragons in a china shop and hoping for the best. But I couldn't skip class. Not in my final year. Not when graduation was the only thing standing between me and a future that didn't suck.
I just had to trust them.
God help us all.