Ashes In The Castle ||| Aemond Targaryen

twenty-eight

Naerys really was weak. That was what she told herself over and over as she was transported blindly on a horse. She couldn't save Rhaenys, couldn't save Jace, couldn't save Luke, couldn't save Viserys.

And to top it all off, she'd gotten herself captured. Twice. Unable to fight off her attackers. They wouldn't tell her where they were going, wouldn't say a word. No one so much as touched her other than the times they took breaks.

She didn't know how long their journey was. Days. That was clear. But not how many. Naerys was incredibly uncomfortable, grimy, and angry. Even if she had been kidnapped to be sold, Naerys couldn't care at that point. So much had happened that she just wanted to get it over with.

But finally, after days of gruelling travel, Naerys heard words that were strange. That let her know they'd arrived at whatever destination they'd been meaning to get to.

"Open the gates!"

Naerys perked up when she heard it, cursing her kidnappers for blinding her.

The sound of scraping steel, yelling, the horses moving forward again. Naerys could make nothing out from behind her blindfold, shapes. A castle of some sort.

They rode Naerys into the courtyard of the castle and stopped. Someone grabbed her and pulled her off of the horse as she grunted. She was placed on the ground and saw someone approach, a shape.

"Seven hells. Take the bloody blindfold off and untie her hands." A very familiar voice.

She was beginning to understand what happened. But Naerys wasn't any happier about it.

Her kidnappers pulled the cloth from around her eyes and cut the rope that had kept her hands together. Naerys squinted at first, regaining her vision, before she gazed angrily at the man responsible for her rude kidnapping.

"You?!"

Daemon smiled at her. "Me." He said simply.

"Had me kidnapped in the middle of the night? I thought I was being killed!" Naerys marched toward him, never breaking his gaze. She was furious at his way of "saving" her.

"Did you attack them?" Daemon raised a brow, looking down at his niece with amusement.

Naerys bit her cheek. "That isn't the point. They could have explained it to me."

He laughed. "You wouldn't have believed them. The time would have been wasted. All that matters is that you're here." Daemon took a step forward and pulled Naerys into himself. "Safe."

She remembered then that he'd lost his son, almost lost his other. And he cared deeply for Jace and Luke, just as she and Rhaenyra did. They had all been terrified she would be the next to go.

Naerys was his student. An adoptive daughter. He truly did want to see her safe.

And despite her anger with him and her... feelings for the Prince Regent, it was comforting to be hugged by someone she loved. Someone she looked up to as her mentor. Someone who understood the anguish she was in over her brothers.

She sighed into him and returned the embrace. It wasn't long but it was... nice.

"There's much for you to be told. But first... a bath. And rest." Daemon pulled away, pat Naerys on the shoulder, and encouraged her to follow a handmaiden inside.