ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[040] tempting thoughts

THE FIRST THING Aemma felt was her feet touching something icy beneath her, then she felt the uncomfortable feeling rise higher and when it reached her waist she gasped. Which was a mistake, because almost a second later, Aemma Velaryon disappeared under the surface of the water without getting a chance to take a proper breath.

She couldn't hear anything. When she opened her eyes, she saw only darkness. She looked all around for a hint of light, but she didn't find it until she forgot exactly where 'up' was.

It was like being held by a huge invisible hand that didn't allow her to breathe or move and was pulling her down to the deepest corners of hell from where it came and where she belonged. Feeling this pulling, Aemma's mind produced only one solution: to swim in the opposite direction, wherever that was.

She tried to swim, but the pull was getting stronger and that was when she realised that she was pulled down the most by her thick coat, which was soaked in water and thus became the one thing that was pulling her down. Aemma tried to unfasten the golden clasps that held her coat together but was unsuccessful. She was starting to panic.

God, I'm going to die. I will die here. I can't breathe. I can't move. How do I get out? I can't do it. I can't.

In a last ditch effort to save herself she grabbed both sides of the coat with her hands and pulled with all her might, hoping to tear it open. She felt that the coat was falling deeper and deeper, but it was not pulling her along, it was slipping off her shoulders. Aemma took her hands out of her sleeves and lifted them up, making one move to get higher and no longer wearing her coat. Swimming up seemed endless, her eyes were open but all she could see was darkness. But Aemma refused to give up despite all the despair and kept swimming.

Her fist slammed into the ceiling of the cave and Aemma pulled her head up to catch her breath, but the water was up to the ceiling. No air. Aemma held onto the ceiling with one hand and moved her head along until she felt air and raised her head up, breathing deeply. She saw nothing. She raised her hand above her head only to find another cave ceiling and when she put it to the right she found another wall.

She was trapped. With little air. She didn't know where she was or how to get back, and panic engulfed her again when she fully realized it, desperately pulling herself closer to the ceiling to be as little as possible in the water. Aemma had the feeling that there was something in that darkness that wanted to drag her back to the depths of hell, maybe to punish her for the things she had done and the things she hadn't done yet. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that Aemma Velaryon was desperate and almost certain she would die.

A scream escaped from her throat when she felt someone touch her hand and a second later there was a splash next to her.

"Aemma," said a voice next to her but Aemma didn't hear it and tried to move as far as possible, only to hit her head on one of the walls.

Once again she felt someone grab her arm and pull her back, Aemma began to fight again and try to get away.

"Aemma, stop. It's me," Aemond said, his voice loud and stern but also trying to be as calm as possible. "It's me, Aemma. Stop fighting, you'll get tired and run out of air."

"Aemond," Aemma exhaled after a few sharp breaths, her body stiffened and she reached out the hand that Aemond wasn't holding until she felt it touch his shoulder. "How-- where have you been?"

Aemond didn't answer her, he just reached out into the darkness and placed his hand at all the walls around, frowning when he realized there was no way out. Despite the fact that Aemma did not know, he could physically feel her presence, especially because of the firm grip of her hand on his shoulder and her still rapid breathing.