Dreams, Dragons, and Deceit || Aemond & Aegon Targaryen

Confession

Head throbbing and vision dancing, Visaera pushed herself up in Aemond's bed, running her fingers over the knot at the back of her skull and wincing.

"The next time I'm injured, please, just let me die," she grumbled, "If I have to wake up in bed like this one more time, I might just end my life myself..." Aemond smirked as he took a seat beside her in the bed, but the smile didn't meet his eye, in fact, he looked disturbed by her jest.

The prince looked terrible; worse than she had ever seen him. Dark circles rimmed both eyes, sapphire and violet alike, and his skin was pale. She wondered how she hadn't noticed the decline in his health before now. Perhaps, she had been far too occupied with her own madness to recognize that Aemond needed help as badly as she had. He leaned back against the pillow, his eye falling shut.

"Aemond," she breathed, watching his eye peek open once more, "Your mother... I'm so sorry... What did you do, Aemond?"

"I made a choice," he answered, exhaustion apparent even in his voice. "I couldn't let everything I've done be for nothing... Siding with your mother seemed like the best course of action. I suppose it always was..." He rubbed his temples and leaned back against the pillows again, turning to nuzzle her hair.  "Mm, even after months of injury and bedrest, you still smell so good," he breathed, sounding moments from falling asleep.

"What do you mean everything you've done, Aemond?" she asked softly, reaching out to stroke his silver hair.

"I always wanted a dragon as a child..." Visaera smiled as his yawn-filled reply. "Do you remember that night on Driftmark?" he asked her.

"Of course," she replied. The entire night had been burned into her memory like a hot blade to a wound, scarring her permanently.

"You told me if I wanted something, I had to take it."

"I did," she answered with a smile.

"You believed in me. I needed that. I don't know if I would have claimed Vhagar without your encouragement. But your words lingered even after I returned to King's Landing." Aemond's eye had fallen closed, and she continued to stroke over his hair, her fingers occasionally trailing along his temple. She stared down at the sapphire beneath his half-open lid and fought the urge to plant a soft kiss on the jewel.

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Because I still wanted you..." he answered softly, shifting until he was laying against her chest. "But you wanted Aegon. You've always wanted Aegon... I remember how he kissed you that morning before we left Driftmark. I hated watching him touch you..." he murmured, a tone of bitterness to his words. Visaera recalled that moment and the look that Aemond had worn. At the time, she had been sure he was disgusted that Aegon had kissed a bastard. "So, I had to do a bit of planning..." he added. Visaera's hand froze in his hair and her back stiffened.

"Planning?" she echoed softly, her mind immediately going into a frenzy.

"Mm, planning..." Aemond replied, his voice thick with exhaustion. Visaera had no doubt that the prince was oblivious to what he was actually confessing to her. "Aegon never deserved you anyway..." Recognition hit her like a rockslide and her eyes widened as she glanced down at him.

"You knew I was coming, didn't you?" she breathed out, her hand falling away from him. "Three years ago, when I came to visit and found him with that girl..."

"Mm," he replied, his breathing steady, clearly unperturbed by his own revelation, oblivious to her reaction. "Aegon's a predictable drunk, all I did was send her his way. He did the rest all by himself..." Visaera stared down at him in disbelief, her hands shaking and her gut twisting into a tight knot.