The Joker and The Queen // Daemon Targaryen // Harwin Strong

51. Psychopath

"The heir finally having an heir... lets hope he doesnt get your wife's unfortunate ego." Laenor glanced back at Nyra. She had clearly heard and Laenor took a step back. 

"You think I'm high and mighty just wait til you meet my little sister." Nyra countered nodding to Vaera. "She loves to take others down a peg and she does it so elegantly that you will feel like she is complimenting your idiocy and threatening you at the same time... a true skill Vaera has. Laenor." Rhaenyra turned to her husband. "Get better friends." She instructed. 

 Vaera knelt before Aemond. He was only a bit older than Haemon. He stared back at her. 

"Hello sweetie, I'm Vaera." Aemond stared back at her. "This handsome little boy is Haemon..." She remarked. 

"Thrilling conversation." Harwin mused coming up to them, Vaera rose flattening her dress as she turned to Harwin. Gods why was he still so handsome, and tall, and bearded and- she cleared her throat stopping her spiraling mind down a rabbit hole of Harwin. 

"Haemon is a chatter bug with me. Less with others." Vaera remarked. "Aemond seems the same." Vaera looked down at the boys. 

"Hi." Aemond said awkwardly stepping forward. 

"Hiiii...." Haemon replied looking to Vaera. She crouched down next to them again. 

"You know what I think?" Vaera whispered. 

"Cookies." Haemon whispered back. Aemond looked between Vaera and Haemon. 

"Exactly! Aemond, do you like cookies?" Vaera asked. 

"Mum doesnt like cookies." Aemond whispered and Vaera was personally offended by this statement. What sort of psychopath didnt like cookies?

"Well, pardon my Dorne, but your mum is a loon." Vaera told Aemond as she stood up and  grabbing their little hands. "Cookie time. Always cookie time." Vaera assured him. "Stick with me loves, I won't steer you away from cookies." 

Aemond smiled happily up at her but Haemon didnt know that he wanted to share his mama with anyone else. He gripped tight to her hand pulling her closer to him. 

"Hello Vaera!" Aegon declared running up to her. 

"Aegon, look at you, so handsome you are." Vaera remarked. Aegon blushed smiling up at her. "You were just a little thing, now look at you, all legs and arms. Taller than myself in no time." Vaera mused. 

"I'm six." Aegon informed her. "Almost my seventh name day." 

"Good, more cookies for everyone then!" Vaera exclaimed. 

"Hela this is Vaera, you remember Vaera?" Aegon asked. Helaena had her hands clasped in front of her. 

"Oh, did you catch something?" Vaera asked, Hela nodded. "Can I see?" Hela nodded again opening her hand and a little black and red lady bug crawled over Hela's hand. "Targaryen colors." Vaera remarked. "A good catch." Hela smiled up at her closing her hands gently against keeping it contained. 

"Are you staying for good?" Aegon asked. "Whos that?" finally noticing Haemon. 

"This is my son, Haemon." Vaera introduced. "Haemon this is your..." Uncle seemed really a stupid thing to call him only being three years elder than Haemon but technically Aegon, Aemond and Helaena were Vaera's siblings. "Aegon." Vaera settled. 

"You ditch the dull lion?" Vaera chuckled. "I hear people talk." Aegon remarked. 

"He passed away recently." Vaera offered. Aegon remembered Vaera fondly. He was younger when she left but she was always kind, tucked him in, danced him around the room. "We were on our way to get some cookies." Vaera remarked feeling Haemon tug on her hand again. "Care to join?"

"Mother doesnt like us having sweets." Aegon told her and Vaera shook her head, appalled. 

"Honestly." She muttered. "complete psychopath." 

"What's that?" Hela asked. 

"Someone that doesnt like sweets." Vaera told her simply. 

"Should I tell mother she is a psychopath?" Aegon offered. Vaera opened her mouth to say yes, tell Maleficent she is a psychopath but she didnt want him to feel the repercussions of that. Since Vaera was staying she didnt want to be causing that much trouble already. 

"No, we say those things behind her back." Vaera offered. "To help her maintain her inflated ego." 

"What's an ego?" hela asked. 

"Cookies, we were getting cookies." Vaera declared herding the children to the table. 

"You really love my Vaera." Viserys remarked. 

"She is my Vaera." Daemon corrected and Viserys shook his head. 

"She will always be my Vaera." Viserys retorted. "I'm happy you make her happy. She seems to have leveled you out a bit as well it seems."

"I wasn't stable before?" Daemon mused. 

"I'm glad you both are back." 

"More glad Vaera is back." Daemon countered. 

"Yes." Viserys agreed immediately. "I want to be mad at you for stealing her for so long but as soon as she was married to that lannister I wanted to take it back." 

"You are the king. You could have." 

"It was a good match, with a good house." Viserys countered. "Just a dull, stupid man." 

"Indeed. Not a problem anymore though." Daemon assured. "But I think I might have a problem with Strong." 

"Harwin was Vaera's guard for many years," Viserys reminded him. "Of course he is fond of Vaera. He doted on her."

"More than doting." Daemon murmured. 

"What's that?"

"Am I going to have a problem with Harwin Strong?"

"I don't see why you would." Viserys countered. 

"No... you wouldnt." Daemon agreed. 

"He asked to be in her service again." Viserys informed Daemon. "Of course I said yes." 

"Of course you would." Daemon repeated. 

"What? Who better to look after Vaera than someone that already adores her?"

"I can look after Vaera, she is mine." Daemon reminded him. 

"You can't be there all the time. It is nice to have an extra set of eyes on Vaera. "

"Oh my goodness!" Vaera declared laughing out. "That's too big. Too big. You can't fit the whole cookie in your mouth!" 

"It's so good." Aegon corrected. 

"Mother never lets us." Hela agreed. 

"As I said, she is a psychopath."