ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[017] grief is the price of love

SLEEP WAS NO longer essential to any Velaryon child. Although Aemma, Jace and Luke were trying to sleep, they returned to Rhaenyra after a while and informed her that they wished to be with her while the maester stitched up her injured arm.

In the end, Rhaenyra didn't choose to punish any of them as she saw the whole incident as the result of Aemma getting hurt because of Aemond and her brothers immediately defending her. And so they didn't even get a lecture on how to behave and weren't even ordered to apologize to Alicent or Aemond.

Rhaenyra apparently saw the biggest betrayal anyway in the rumors about her children's parentage.

"Hunter or prey, chase or run, you will die anyway."

Jace rested his head on his hand and watched as Aemma watched the black spider with long legs crawling up the table in fascination. Luke rested his head on her shoulder and also watched it, because when he wanted to catch the spider, his sister slapped his hand.

It was part of Aemma's offer to distract her mother and her siblings from the pain Rhaenyra was experiencing when her hand was being stitched up. However, due to the absent expression in her eyes, it seemed that she is again lost in her own thoughts.

Rhaenyra turned her head to her. "Why is that?"

"No one can run forever," Aemma shook her head gently. "It's something we can't control. Life begins with birth and ends with death. No matter what we want, the fly always flies into the spider's web."

"What if they decide not to fly? To survive?" Luke tugged at her sleeve, trying to get her attention.

Aemma kept her eyes on the spider. "If the prey chooses another way to escape, the hunter chooses another way to attack."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Not all spiders hunt by catching prey in their webs. They are some that they catch them without the webs, with their own strength and wit."

"I have never seen such a thing," Luke's brows furrowed.

Aemma hummed in response, placing her hand on the table, close to the spider. "They exists. They hide under the sand or in the shelters they create themselves. They patiently wait there until their victim came closer and . . ."

A spider crawled onto her palm and Aemma closed it.

Beware the beast beneath the clouds.

"So the prey is destined to die?" Luke pouted and Aemma nodded. "That's not fair!"

"It is as it should be. And over time, even the hunter dies because he cannot live forever. Either he becomes the prey of another hunter or time defeats him," Aemma clicked her tongue.

Rhaenyra watched with a small smile on her face as Jace and Luke stared at the spider in Aemma's hands while the girl kept muttering something. Her brows furrowed again in pain as the master inserted the needle and she nervously looked around to avoid looking at her wound.

"You will scar, but the wound will heal," he said thoughtfully. "Valyrian steel cuts clean."

The door opened and Laenor walked in, his eyes resting first on Rhaenyra's hand, then on Aemma, Luke and Jace. "Gods. Is everyone all right?"

"The wound on the forearm and the broken nose are the worst," the maester replied, finishing Rhaenyra's stitch.

Laenor paled and moved closer to Aemma, lifting her forearm and examining the wound, then stroking Luke's hair.

"Thank you, maester," Rhaenyra sighed and put her hand in her lap. "Leave us." The maester left an her head turned to Jace, Aemma and Luke. "You as well. You've already found enough trouble today."