Ashes In The Castle ||| Aemond Targaryen

twenty

"What?" Naerys asked, lifting her head and staring down at the man laying on top of her. "Where did that come from?"

"You are to be married off to a man you have never met. A man whose first wife died while she laboured. Is that what you desire? To become his breeding cow? Tell me true." Aemond looked at her seriously.

Naerys sighed and laid back on the rock. "And is that not what you offer to me? If we wed, heirs will be expected. I will still be in service to a man, only in a different way." She stared up at the ceiling. "And I will not bend the knee to Aegon. He's a twat."

"No matter what, you will have to marry. You will be expected to bear children. But only I see you for what you truly are: a warrior. An equal. Not a wife or a womb." Aemond kissed Naerys chest after he spoke and she smacked him on the shoulder.

"Breaking betrothals means war, Aemond. I will not be responsible for starting one between my family and the Starks."

No matter what point Naerys brought to his attention, Aemond had a counter. "The Starks will blame me, will blame Aegon, not the Blacks. They already plan to declare for Rhaenyra, nothing will be lost."

She didn't think she would ever meet someone as stubborn as Daemon. But there he was.

"And what of my family, my brothers? I have a duty to protect them. You suppose I abandon and betray them? Where is the honour in that? I have a place in line for the throne." She looked back down at him as he rested his chin on her stomach.

Aemond scoffed when she said that and pushed off of her. It was obviously a topic that made him angry. "A place in line for the throne? You mean last, behind every brother? Your mother is a hypocrite, Naerys. She condemns Aegon as a usurper yet pushes you aside in favour of her son. How is that any different?"

He pulled his trousers up as Naerys sat up and stared at him. There was nothing she could say about that because she was still angry about it.

"Do you not see the value your mother places on your brothers in favour of you? Willing to sacrifice your happiness for armies and a throne. You have become nothing but a daughter. Not a warrior, not a princess. A daughter to be traded for goods and services."

It was somewhat surprising how passionate Aemond was about it. The unfairness of Naerys' treatment in her family, at least at a time of war. When it was too hard to keep promises.

"I see it. Trust me, I do. But I cannot just abandon them for the good of myself only. If not my mother, then my brothers. No matter what you think of them."

As he let the words settle, Aemond found Naerys' bottoms and began to slip them back on her legs.

"I know the feeling well, Naerys. It is I who studied the histories and trained with the sword. Yet my brother, who has no sense of duty, was made king. Passed over because of the order in which I was born; no skills changed my importance. You and I both deserve to do something that only benefits us."

When the pants were on her legs, Aemond took her boots and began to tie them up for her.

"And what of King's Landing? I represent what your brother's supporters despise. Your brother's council will like me even less. They will have me killed if I do not bend."