Rhaella Targaryen always knew that there was more behind her mother's death than what she was told. Alysanne was a healthy, strong woman, and yet she was gone in a couple of days because of a mysterious illness. Rhaella was only a child when the tra...
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KING'S LANDING
134 AC
RHAELLA COULDN'T SLEEP. Every time she shut her eyes, her mother's image ― not the pretty one she always thought about, but the one of her in her death bed ― came back to her, haunting her.
Poisoned. Her mother hadn't died because of a mysterious illness she caught in Essos, she had died because she was poisoned. And she had been poisoned because of her. Rhaella couldn't believe how stupid she had been, not thinking about Tears of Lys. It was so obvious ― right in front of her. She had wasted years on searching for unknown herbs that could be used as poison when the truth was much more simple than she thought.
Rhaella felt like she was in freaking nightmare, hoping every second she would wake up and find out that it had all been a dream. She had already ruined so many lives ― her mother's, her father's ― lives broken, because of her. And now, there was the risk she could do it again.
She never once questioned her decision to stay in Dragonstone after Jace asked her to. After he told her he loved her. She had been happier than ever, and she had started to think that maybe life was actually going into the right way, and nothing could hurt them. Boy, she had been so wrong.
Maybe it would have been better if she left. Or maybe not. Because she was there and she had the chance to save her loved ones. Even if that meant she had to give up on the thing she wanted the most ― a life with Jace.
Rhaella had already made her decision. She had made it in the moment Otto had pronounced that sentence, in the moment she had learned what he had done to her mother. There was nothing she could do to repair to that, but she could prevent more terrible things from happening. If marrying Aemond meant Jace and the others would live, she would do it ― even if the simple thought of it made her want to throw up.
Aemond lost all her affection and respect that afternoon. Rhaella couldn't believe he wasn't bright enough to see that she could never love him, not only because she loved Jace, but also because he had known the truth for the entire time. He had made her feel like she was crazy for not believing that her mother had passed away due to a sickness, while he was aware that his grandfather had a role in her murder. However, he seemed thrilled at the idea of marrying her. He even dared to say that they belonged together.
Aemond didn't really love her, not in that way. Rhaella knew it. He had just been brought up thinking he loved her, because that was what his mother and grandfather told him ― that he had a right over her, that she should be his. Rhaella wasn't anyone's ― and even if she was, that person would be Jace, not certainly Aemond.
