The Sapphire Prince | Aemond Targaryen |

2.

After the encounter with Aemond Verena was furious to the point she could not sleep. She went out the whole night with her dragons who reciprocated her identical anger through the bond.

The memory repeated in her mind over and over again of how Aemond maintained her pressed against the wall.

How weak she felt.

Hours.

That's how long Aemond sat in the accustomed corner of Verena's chambers stealthily watching her sleep when she returned from her ride. He carefully marked every minor detail of her. How she preferred the sleep on her stomach with her arms disappearing under the decorative pillows. That she slept with one leg out of her quilt. The mess of her hair spread out all over the place.

Most notably how she slept comfortably undressed.

Aemond cautiously crept toward the end of the bed, allowing an eager finger to trail itself up her smooth skin. He turned the corner to be presently next to her, looking down on the few battle scars presented along her arm and back. But a burn mark he did not encounter at supper was displayed just below Verena's shoulder interested him.

He could kill her right here right now and be out in a matter of seconds. But the idea of tormenting her sounded much rather compelling.

He loathed her and since her arrival, his hatred had grown.

She had always managed to tick a nerve, even when he did not see her for years her name was all that was heard around the castle.

"Princess Verena claimed three dragons had you heard!"

"I heard the princess is a queen now!"

"Did you hear how she left Dragonstone in the middle of the night? Presumably, she ran away from her family."

"Will the Princess come here now to claim a husband?"

"I heard she and the noble Prince Jacaerys were supposed to wed."

It was all any of the noble lords and servants gossiped about and now after her antics of last night, she was anything Aegon would talk about.

Aemond will never forget the night he lost his eye. How Verena stood there next to Daemon while the Maester sewed his grave wound and she smiled at Lucerys' actions. The girl he barely knew but overheard many stories about vexed him from that moment on.

A knock on her door caused Aemond to carefully hide behind a screen. He stood there observing her gradually turn to her back, her breasts momentarily revealed before she pulled the quilt up to conceal them.

"Verena the sun has gone down and you're still in bed." Allora judged with her hands placed on her hips standing at the end of the bed.

Verena.

A mere servant casually speaking a royale name as if it were ordinary.

"Allora," Verena groaned stretching her arms while her eyes remained closed, "I spent the whole night riding you can forgive me for sleeping in."

"You've missed breakfast."

She uncovered her eyes and lazily supported her weight to her elbows, "How heartbroken I am to miss breakfast with my devoted family." Verena placed her bruised wrist over her heart, seemingly heartbroken.

"My gods Verena what has happened to your arm!" Allora rushed to her side examining the visible bruises presented on the princess's wrist and superior arm.

The set of bruises that granted Aemond to smile as he was the cause of the ones on her wrist.

"I may not have come to my chambers bloody as I predicted last night but I came back bruised. Do not worry Allora for this is nothing. May you hand me my robe." The girl walked over to the screen where the robe hung, Aemond remained still, hidden beneath his cloak. When Verena pulled her quilt back he wanted to avert his eye but could not do so. It was dark now and he could not see her figure clearly but that did leave more to the active imagination.