paradox - Aemond Targaryen

Chapter 4: Shame and Scrutiny

Rhaenyra walked up the steps of the back passageway in the castle, hearing Harwin and his father, Lyonel, arguing in loud voices. 

'It fills me with unrelenting shame,' Lyonel snapped. 

'So what is this about, then?'

'Your shame. Our shame, Harwin! Shame on the whole of House Strong?' 

'Because I laid my hands on that insufferable Cole, the son of a steward?' 

'He is a knight of the Kingsguard now, a defender of the crown.' 

'He assailed Prince Jacaerys, the future heir to the throne.' The two shouted between each other for a while, and a cup or two was smashed. Then Lyonel spoke. 

'You have laid us open to accusations of an uglier treachery.' 

'And what treachery is that?' 

'Do not play the fool with me, boy,' Lyonel snapped. 'Your intimacy with the Princess Rhaenyra is an offence that would mean exile and death... for you, for her, for the children!'

'It is rumour only, spun by the Princess' rivals.'

'People have eyes, boy. Yet his Grace, the King, it seems, will not accept what his eyes see. This flimsy shield alone stands between you and the headsman. The wilful blindness of a father towards his child.' 

'I wish my father affected a similar blindness,' Harwin remarked. 

'Have I not these many years? And yet today, you publicly assaulted a member of the Kingsguard in defence of your...' Harwin slowly turned to his father. 

'You have your honour, and I have mine.' He turned and left. 

That evening... (Elaena's POV)

Rhaenyra stood, holding baby Joffrey, and I stood with her, Harwin farewelling the boys. 

'Be good to your mother and sister, lads,' he said comfortingly, touching Lucerys tenderly. 'I'll visit when I can. But that may be some time.' He turned to Jacaerys, who instead ran to his mother. 'I will return,' he said, angling the boy's chin up to face him. 'I promise.' I came to him, hugging Harwin as he wrapped a tender arm around me. He kissed my long, dark hair. 

'You have your mother's eyes, Eleana,' he said softly. 'You grow more wonderful by the day.' I smiled widely, and hugged him, letting out a soft sob. 'Be good to your mother,' he added, and I disengaged from him, leaning into Rhaenyra. Harwin bent and kissed baby Joffrey on the head, standing up to face Rhaenyra. 'I will be a stranger when we meet again,' he whispered to the sleeping baby. Rhaenyra seemed to shake, bouncing the baby, seemingly steeling herself. The two seemed to stare wordlessly at each other. Then Harwin stepped back and bowed his head ever so slightly. 'Princess,' he said, and turned, leaving the room. Jacaerys ran out of the room, Rhaenyra and I following after him, watching his familiar hulking form walk down the hall until he was out of sight and earshot. 

'We will exchange letters by raven. Won't that be fun?' Rhaenyra asked Jace. He turned to her, a desperate look in his eyes. 

'Is Harwin Strong my father? Am I a bastard?' He looked at me, but I said nothing. 

'You are a Targaryen,' she said, looking at the both of us. 'You are both Targaryens. That's all that matters.' 

That next morning... 

Laenor and his friend, Qarl Correy, trained hard with their swords in the practice yard. Rhaenyra walked up to them. 

'A word?' she said. They stopped their practicing immediately, and Laenor walked over to Rhaenyra. 

'I take it he's gone,' Laenor said. Rhaenyra looked up at him but said nothing.

'We're finished here. We're leaving.' 

'Well, what of your offer - Elaena and Aemond?' 

'I have been undermined and made a spectacle. They whisper about me in the corridors,' Rhaenyra replied. 'Well, I leave them to it.' 

'To Dragonstone, then?'

'We should have left years ago,' Rhaenyra replied. She turned to walk away, but Laenor called out again. 

'What of your position? You've always said that if you were absent from court, she would pour her honey in your father's ear.' 

'A wise sailor flees the storm as it gathers.' Laenor chuckled softly. 'Laenor... bring him,' she added, gesturing to Qarl. 'We'll need every sword we can muster.' 

That night, the supposedly haunted castle of Harrenhal burned, taking two souls with it, and in the morning, Rhaenyra moved her family, comprised of Laenor, their three sons, Laenor's friend Qarl Correy, and several other members of Rhaenyra's personal guard and household. That same day, Queen Alicent sent young Eleana Targaryen away to the seat of Hightower power, a place called Oldtown. 

Eleana would not return for many years, except for the funeral of one Lady Laena Velaryon, the sister of her stepfather, Laenor Velaryon. She would not know the fate of her father, Harwin Strong, or that of her grandfather, Lyonel, for their fate was masked in secret... and none knew - 

Save one man. 

'What are children, but a weakness... a folly, a futility? Through them, you imagine you cheat the great darkness of its victory. You will persist forever, in some form or another. As if they will keep you from the dust. But for them... you surrender what you should not. You may know what the right thing is to be done, but - love stays the hand. Love... is a downfall. Best to make your way through life unencumbered, if you ask me,' Larys Strong said, sitting on the chair, staring at Queen Alicent, with his cane in front of him, a strange look on his face. 

'They're dead,' Alicent said in horror. 

'You've heard the stories of Harrenhal, Your Grace. It was built in hubris by Harren the Black as a monument to his own greatness. Blood mixed into the mortar. It is said to be a cursed place. That is passes judgement on all who pass beneath its gates.' 

'You... you passed judgement,' Alicent replied, almost reeling back, her hand covering her mouth in shock. 

'The Queen makes a wish. What servant of the realm would not strive to fulfil it? I assume you will write to your father now?' 

'Larys...' Alicent muttered warily. 'I did not wish for this.'

'I feel certain you will reward me - when the time is right.'