ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[047] consequences

SILENCE AND COLD surrounded her, her lungs were constricted and she couldn't breathe. She waved her arms around in an attempt to reach for air, but with each small movement up, she felt herself even more pulled to the bottom. Her strength was nothing compared to someone pulling her down.

She kicked with her legs as if she could kick whoever was holding her, and despite her leg passing through the air every time, the grip was loosened. Then she took her chance and started swimming up, not daring to look below her to see who was trying to kill her.

The surface of the water, smooth as a mirror, shattered as her head passed over it and she gasped, the cold air that she inhaled hurt her lungs as if she had swallowed a knife. She lifted her head and saw a light high above her, to which she immediately began to climb. For some unknown reason, it seemed to her that there was something strange about how easily she was climbing up, as if she had broken all the rules of reality and was flying up, only helping herself along the wall with her hands.

However, when she reached the top, she was surprised to find that there was no light, despite the fact that she had seen it from below. Only darkness, cold and slippery ground which made her unable to properly grab hold and pull herself up, and she remained hung on the wall, slowly losing her strength and almost falling down before someone grabbed her hand.

She looked up at the person holding her hand, long silver hair and a face with sharp features, one eye had a blue gem in its place and the other was real and cold, but they both seemed equally inhumane to her. His grip on her hand was firm and almost reassuring, she almost felt safe. However, when she tried to pull herself up again, his grip held her away and it was only then that she realized that he had not come to save her.

He came here to throw her down personally.

Her gaze was almost desperate as she looked at him, she tried to pull herself up again but in vain. His expression was serious, he never blinked, and he hardly looked alive. Until the moment when he pulled her closer by her hand and bent down so that their faces could come closer. And she just stared at him warily, unable to even breathe.

"What did you expect?" he asked her quietly, his emotionless voice sending shivers through her body.

And then he let her go.

Her arms reached out even more for him but he had already stood up and she fell through the air until she ended up underwater again. Her scream was muffled by a hand that was placed over her mouth and other hands on her body pulled her down again while she just stared in fear at the figure of a man high above her, who watched her disappear into the darkness for a moment before turning around and walking away.

• • •

AEMMA'S HEAD APPEARED from the water and she was breathing heavily as she coughed up the water, her hands tightly gripping the edges of the wooden tub she was in. It took her a moment to calm down and realize it was just a dream and then she leaned her head against the tub with a sigh.

When Aemma woke up, the warm sun was coming in, and judging by the sounds outside, it was almost lunchtime. That's why it seemed strange to her that neither Baela nor Helaena came to wake her up, but when she discovered a package with herbs on the bedside table and a tub of warm water in the next room, she figured out that Josmyn must have been in her room first and asked the other maids to let her sleep longer.

Aemma wasn't sure how many hours she slept, but she knew it wasn't enough. Her eyes sometimes closed while she washed herself with various soaps, determined to wash away all the blood, dirt and Aemond's touch at all costs. She sank her head under the water a few times, enjoying the absolute silence that helped to ease her headache, before emerging from the water and stepping out of the tub.