Burn me • Aemond Targaryen

Built Back Up Again

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Chapter Forty-Two~ Built Back Up Again

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Aemond watched from a distance as Rhaella laughed at something Finan said at dinner. He'd made a big fuss about how improper it was for the new Guard to feast amongst the Royals, but one look of pleading to Aegon and Rhaella had gotten her way.

Again.

He couldn't understand how their lives had lead them down this path. When they were young they were inseparable, after they married they were happy, in love. But now after tragedy had struck their lives, it seemed the flame of their marriage would burn out.

Perhaps it was an obsession he had never been rid of. Many men of the court spent little time worrying about their wives and often found satisfaction in the beds of others. But not him. His brain would not allow him to. Every breath, every thought, every word from him was Rhaella. She consumed him dawn noon and dusk. She was his means to an end, and his mind had him playing her on repeat.

But Aemond loved her, with every ounce of his being he loved her. He was hers forever. And he could only hope that she would soon follow the path that lead her back to him. She had crossed it a few times but never continued on the journey.

And now he watched her, Laughing lightly at the jokes that passed between Aegon and Finan. But he could tell she wished to be anywhere but here. The way she played with her fork, and kept reaching for her cup of wine. The purple that was bedded in her eyes seemed dull, void of life. He knew she would never overcome the loss of their son, and neither would he. It grieved him every morning when he saw the sun in the sky, and every night when he saw the moon take over. But he would do anything to take away the pain she felt.

He left dinner early, excusing himself from the table and explaining he had lost his appetite. But instead of leaving to go to their chambers, Aemond waited on the route he knew she would take.

Rhaella always chose to head down these halls alone, one reason being so she could pass by the nursery on her way, and the second so she could stare up at the night time sky, and the thousands of burning starts that flickered above.

So he waited for her, leant over the stone ledge, staring out at the gardens below. The outside was dark, lit by very little candle light. But he could still make out the nobles and their ladies who had taken to the comfort of the gardens for a midnight stroll.

After half of the hour had passed Aemond heard her.

"I will be fine on my own, thank you." She said.

He didn't know who she was taking to. He didn't care. He wanted her to talk to him. Properly, like they used to.

He slipped back behind the stone column. So that she would not see him. Aemond knew that she felt comfort alone when she looked up at the stars in the sky. She had always been mesmerized by the little balls of fire. He left her for a few moments, so that she could admire them in peace, before he approached her.

"Hello." Was all she said when she felt his presence by her side.

"Hello." He said in return. "We haven't spoken, properly."

"What do you mean?" Rhaella questioned staring up at the stars.

Aemond didn't know what he could say. She seemed happy enough, and he didn't want to say something
that would ruin her mood.

"Nothing." Aemond sighed.

Rhaella turned to him, frowning. "Well obviously you mean something."

"It doesn't matter." He said, again trying to leave his worry's in the dinner hall.