𝙺𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽 ° aemond targaryen

Act One, Scene Ten

┍━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
"𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙷𝚊𝚗𝚍"
𝟷𝟸𝟺 𝙰𝙲 - 𝙳𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━┙

     THE HALL WAS FILLED WITH hushed murmurs at the queen's words, everyone slightly shocked that she would even think of doing such a thing to a child. But the fury in the woman's eyes told all; she wanted vengeance for the wrongs done to her family.

"My dear wife," The king said in an exasperated tone, not believing her words.

"He is your son, Viserys. She is your niece." Her tone was stern, showing she was not backing down. "Your blood."

"Do not...allow your temper to guide your judgement."

     From where Vaella sat, still clutching her elder cousin's hand in her own, she could see as the queen shook her head slightly, as if disappointed in her husband's words. The girl understood where she was coming from—a mother furious about the attacks on her children—but she didn't want to see anymore bloodshed.

     "If the king will not seek justice, the queen will." Her eyes turned towards her sworn sword. "Ser Criston," As the man looked over at her, she faced her step-daughter. "Carry out the sentence."

     The Velaryon boys screamed, clutching at their mother's skirts, who pushed the pair of them towards Lord Corlys as the knight took a step forwards. The king tried to reason with the woman, but her gaze didn't stray from her former friend.

     "They can choose the location of their punishment. A privilege they did not grant my children."

     At the woman's words, Daemon, who had been standing in the doorway all this time, grew tense. His eyes narrowed to slits as he looked at the dark haired woman. He never liked the Hightowers, and her words—and the thought of what had happened earlier that day with Otto—had his blood boiling.

     "You will do no such thing." Rhaenyra stated, her tone stern as she looked from the knight to Alicent.

    The king, too, glanced at Criston. "Stay your hand."

    "No, you are sworn to me!" The Hightower woman all but hollered.

    Her loud tone caused Vaella to flinch slightly, her hand gripping tighter on her cousin's. Aegon, as if sensing the girl's worry, squeezed hers back just as tight, placing a hand on her shoulder. Though, when her purple eyes turned to look up at him, he was looking in slight shock at his mother.

     Ser Criston looked at the dark haired woman, taking a step back as he briefly glanced at Rhaenyra. "As your protector, My Queen."

     The room was plunged into a tense silence, everyone still on edge from the incident that had just occurred. No one truly knew what to think about it all, never having seen this side of the queen. She typically held herself tall, proud, and dutiful. But now she simply looked broken, calling for revenge with tears streaming down her cheeks.

     "Alicent," The king said, taking steps to be closer to his wife, a hard look in his eyes. "This matter is finished. Do you understand?" The woman stayed silent. He took that as answer enough before he took a step back, turning his attention to the rest of the hall. "And let it be known: anyone whose tongue dares to question the birth of Princess Rhaenyra's sons should have it removed."

     "Thank you, father," The eldest princess said gratefully, clutching the shoulder of her youngest son that had returned to her side.

     The girl of ten and two watched the scene, silent as a mouse. So many times she wished she could have spoken up, stated her own thoughts, but the stitching going through her cheek and lips refrained her from doing so.

    Aegon's form kneeling down beside her caught her attention, causing her to turn her violet eyes towards him. "Are you alright?" He asked his cousin, his hand still locked in hers.

    She nodded, squeezing his hand as a way to silently say she was thankful for what he had done. It wasn't like him to be a comforting person, but it seemed that his younger cousin was the exception to this. They both knew how tense their relationship would get at times, but they would always be there for each other. Tonight proved that.

     "Alicent!"

     At the yell, everyone sprung into action. Vaella hopped from her seat, turning her attention towards the queen, who was marching with determined strides towards her step-daughter.

     The girl took a few quick steps towards the two women, now locked together with a blade between them. Before she could get too far, however, an arm clamped around her wrist. Her head whipped around, meeting the worried eye of Aemond.

     "Don't," He said softly, rising to stand beside her. "You'll get yourself hurt." He paused. "More than you already are."

     As much as she wanted to argue, the girl stayed put, her eyes turning back to the scene unfolding before her. The grip that was around her arm slowly gave away, only to be placed in her own hand. She squeezed Aemond's hand back tightly, worried about the woman she saw as a mother.

     The two were speaking words that the pair could not pick up, their tones too hushed. But both seemed to be saying things that cut deep, the hurt in Rhaenyra's eyes and the visible pain on Alicent's face giving it away.

     Suddenly, they seperated, each gasping for breath. At this, Vaella pulled her cousin forwards, heading towards the center of the small circle that had formed. Her eyes widened slightly seeing the blood dripping from Rhaenyra's arm. The blade that cut her fell from the queen's hand, clattering against the stones with a metallic ring.

     Eyes fluttered over towards the pair of injured Targaryen children. The king's eldest daughter gasped slightly under her breath, having not seen the true extent of their injuries until now.

     "Do not mourn us, mother," Aemond spoke, causing all eyes in the hall to turn to him. "It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon. And Vaella..." He trailed off, turning his eyes towards the girl.

     She felt his grip her hand a little tighter, causing her to turn her gaze away from Rhaenyra and towards the queen. A light smile came to her lips, though only the one side tilted upwards at the action.

     Viserys let out a soft sigh, turning to his wife. "This proceeding is at an end."

    With that said, the man turned and started making his way out of the hall. Not many moved after that, though the ones who did made their allegiances clear as day.

    Dameon slowly moved away from the crowd, approaching the eldest princess and her young son, brushing the boy's hair away from his face.

    Ser Criston went to retrieving the king's blade, wiping for small amount of blood against his glove before standing tall beside his queen.

     Aemond, keeping his hand grasped in Vaella's, made his way over to his mother, releasing the girl's hand as he hugged his mother tightly. The younger girl stood Alicent's other side, standing closer to her. The woman wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging the young one into her side.

     And from that moment forth, a line was drawn, and sides were chosen.

𖤍