The Fire That Burns Within US - Aemond Targaryen

The Things We Love Destroy Us Every Time

134 AC - Red Keep

Aemond can not help the smile on his face; he holds tightly onto the ring in his hand. He does not care that he does not have the approval of the King or the monarch of Visenyas family. He will marry her. Aemond had expected Visenya or Ben to be in her room, not Aegon.

"Brother," Aegon greets from the couch; he had been watching the maids clean the room. "Ladies, would you please give us the room,"

The maids bow their heads before Aemond and Aegon. Both maids are happy to be out of the room and away from Aegon.

"Where is Visenya?" Aemond asks as he looks around the room. It looked like no one had been in the room for years. He begins to feel nervous. Did something happen to her?

"You haven't heard," Aegon teases his brother. "Our little niece is leaving King's Landing. She even cut off one of Ser Cristions fingers when he tried to stop her,"

"What?" Aemond asks. If Visenya were leaving, he would go with her, but why hasn't she told him about leaving?

"I did warn you that if you touched me again, I would inform Visenya how alike we are. How you are not perfect as you pretend to be," Aegon tells his brother. He did give him a warning, and he was planning on following through with his threat whether Aemond hurt him again or not. Aegon smiles at him as he watches the emotions on his brother's face change. "I think you should pay a visit to your little plaything, and I wonder if Visenya had let her live after their meeting,"

Aemond stiffens at the information that Visenya has visited Alys. He had hoped that Visenya would never find out about Alys and their relationship. Alys knows all about Visenya and always talks about her and the life he hopes they will have one day. A life away from King's Landing, a tiny little house with open space for their dragons to roam around.

"Found this on the table when I got here," Aegon tells Aemond as he tosses him what he found.

Aemond catches it and looks down. His heart breaks. The dragon hairpin.

– –

134 AC - Street Of Silk

Aemond needs to know what happened between Visenya and Alys. He needs to know just how much Visenya has found out. Aemond is ashamed of the relationship between him and Alys. Still, in the years that Visenya had been away, Alys had been his closest person, and he was hoping that Visenya would never find out about the relationship the two had.

Aemond knows his way around the whore house Alys works out of, not letting anyone stop him. Aemond goes into Alys's room, not bothering to knock. Alys sits at the table, cleaning her hand; she looks up at Aemond and sighs before standing.

"Aemond, I tried to explain to her, but she wouldn't listen," Alys explains to him. Aemond focuses on her hand.

"What happened?" He asks as he takes hold of it. He recognizes it, the Valyrian symbol for death. Visenya had always drawn the symbols on spare parchment, claiming that it should be her own personal sigil because Morghon means death in Valyrian, so that it would fit her perfectly.

"Princess Visenya and a man came here and said that Aegon had told her to come. She saw the bones and got mad. They held me down and did this," Alys recalls as she looks at her hand. "I have never seen someone so calm when doing something so violent,"

Aemond knows he's in deep shit. That if Visenya knew about him gifting the bones, she would not easily forgive him or maybe should never forgive him. Giving the bones to Alys was done in the heat of the moment, and he thought that Visenya would never find out.

"Do you think she knows?" Aemond asks, his voice quiet because he knows the answer.

"Of course she does, Aemond. She is smart," Alys answers. She sits back down and looks at the cut on her hand. It will scar her for sure, and she will have a permanent reminder of what the Princess is capable of doing. "You should go and try to explain yourself,"

Aemond takes the ring out of his packet. It was simple, a sign of his love, and he hoped it would also be a sign of the vow the two would make to one another in the future, but Aemond knows that his chances with Visenya might be ruined. It was simple, silver steel with the same blue stone he has in his eye socket. Alys looks up from her hand and to what Aemond is focusing on.

"I am so sorry, Aemond," Alys apologizes.

Aemond needs to find Visenya and try to explain himself.

– –

134 AC - Dragonpit

Ben stands close behind Visenya, he has not questioned why they have not left yet, but he cannot help but feel the anger within him. Not towards Visenya but to Aemond. Ben keeps a tight grip on his hammer, knuckles white, and wants nothing more than to smash the prince's skull in. Ben is worried about Visenya. She was too calm for the situation that they were in. The dragonpit is hotter than he thought it would be, but he can understand that multiple fire-breathing creatures are lying underneath the ground.

Ben moves the hammer off the ground and onto his shoulder as he sees someone entering the dragonpit, and he watches Visenya hold the hilt of her sword. Both Visenya and Ben tense as Aemond walks closer to them.

"Visenya-"

"Did you fuck her?" Visenya cuts him off. Still calm, Ben worries about when she snaps. "Or are you two just friends?"

"Visenya, she means nothing-"

"You did fuck her then," Visenya steps closer to Aemond and Ben follows her action. "I don't care if you fuck her. I know I shouldn't have expected that I wouldn't have any relationship when I was away, but the bones and dragon buckle. I taught you about the history behind them, you know how much all the bones mean to me and our house, yet you gave them to your whore for her to ruin!"

"Visenya-" Aemond tries to reason but it is no use.

"You replaced me with her," Visenya accuses him.

"I love-"

"Don't! I waited for you. I could have fucked any man or woman I wanted, but I love you so much that the thought of touching someone else sickens me," Visenya tells him, and Ben takes a step closer to her; the action goes noticed by Aemond.

"I do not see how my relationship is any different than the one you have with him. You gifted him a dragon bone dagger," Aemond points out, and Ben stares him down.

"For saving my life, not for fucking him," Visenya shouts at him, echoing through the empty dragonpit. "I love him the same way I do my brothers,"

"Visenya, please listen to me-"

"I am leaving the city. Do not follow me," Visenya tells him. She does not want to be near him anymore, and she can not trust him the way she thought she could. Visenya walks to Aemond, kisses his cheek, and looks him in the eye. "I love you, Aemond. That will never change, but I can't trust you now,"

Visenya pulls away from Aemond and walks back to Ben. The two go underneath the dragonpit to the dragons. Leaving Aemond there by himself with nothing but his feelings. He is conflicted because he knows that Visenya loves him, but she is leaving him again.