Burn me • Aemond Targaryen

Order of The Flame

Chapter Forty-One~ Order of the Flame

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It was Clarrisa Tarbeck. Her hair ran all the way down her back, like droplets of crimson, poured by clouds dragons flame, and they danced wildly around her face in curls. Her eyes were the darkest shade of Amber you could imagine and a string of gold wrapped around the iris' border, like someone had poured liquid gold into her eyes.
Her gown was a rich, deep, shade of purple. With silver embroidered into the lining of her bodice.

"Holy seven above." Finan muttered at the sight of her.

"Lady Tarbeck." Aegon greeted.

"Your Grace." Her bow was low, showing the respect that Aegon felt he deserved. "Your brother told me you requested my presence."

"It was I who requested your presence." Rhaella announced, walking toward the woman. "Did you tell anyone of your coming here."

"No Princess." Clarissa said, bowing again.

"Good, Take a seat then." Rhaella told her, walking back to her own chair.

"Forgive my bluntness your graces, but might I ask why it is I have been summoned here?" Clarissa took her seat opposite Finan, who was trying his best to not stare at her.

"Clarissa, Your brother is lord of his house is he not?" Rhaella questioned, Clarissa nodded her head in reply. "But before he inherited the army and the estate and the gold, he was called to battle for his claim was he not?"

"By my fathers cousin, yes." Clarissa replied. She sounded cautious, unsure whether Rhaella knew the truth.

"Now the man, who set to steal away your brother birth right was murdered the night before his battle with your brother." Rhaella stared at Clarissa, admiring how well she kept composure all while Rhaella clawed at the cage of truth she kept locked up in her past. "The knife that was used to murder the false claimant was gifted to my father by your brother." Rhaella pulled a box from her lap, placing it on the table and revealing a dagger embedded into a velvet cushion.

"Forgive me Princess, but I struggle to see what these awful memories have to do with me." Clarissa furrowed her brows.

Aemond smirked at his wife, knowing that she was pulling Clarissa down into a trap of her own lies.

"I've seen this dagger before." Rhaella admitted. "Before it was gifted to my father, I mean." The princess sighed. "You showed it to me, after you stole it from your brothers bedchamber." She pushed the box toward Clarissa. "I was unsure, but I had the quarts that is embedded into the handle examined, and I was told it is a rare crystal that only appears in the westerlands, specifically in the caves close to your home." Rhaella looked Clarissa dead in the eye. "You killed him didn't you?"

Everyone had a tell. For most it was either excessive blinking or sweating. For some it was shaking hands or increased breathing. For few it was an eye twitch or a flare of one's nostrils.

But for Clarissa it was the way her pupil shrunk in size.

"There is no proof of anything." Clarissa said it to the king, instead of the princess. "Your Grace,"

Aegon held up his hand. "I need people like you." He said. "People who are loyal to me, no matter the risks. People who will slither through the lies of court and cut down my enemies with a smile on their face."

Clarissa looked at him in utter shock. "My King,"

"You got away with this for eight years." Aemond said, drawing Tarbeck's attention to him. "It is either you face trial for murder, or you sit on the separate council for your king."