Love and Loyalty - Aemond Targaryen

Chapter 1

Rhaenyra had been expecting a little sister, and she had gotten one, but she had lost her mother in the process.
Aemma Arryn had been carrying twins. Prince Baelon, named after Viserys' father. And Princess Alyssa, named after his mother.
Baelon and Aemma did not survive.
But Alyssa did.
Unluckily for her, it was a son that Viserys had wanted, not another daughter.
Less than a year after her mother's death, Viserys remarried. The young Alicent Hightower, Princess Rhaenyra's childhood friend, was the new Queen. And in time, she gave the King children of his own.
Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, and later Daeron too.
But Alyssa did not spend much time with her new family.
Seeing her only reminded Viserys of what he'd done to his poor first wife. And though Alicent was always kind to her, trying to raise her as if they were flesh and blood, Rhaenyra was the one who took responsibility for her little sister.
In Princess Rhaenyra's year of solitude after Viserys married Alicent, little Alyssa was the only thing that brought her any joy or comfort.
She would sit with the baby on her knee, telling her all the stories about their mother.
Given the fact they were so similar in age, Alyssa spent the first couple years of her life quite attached to her little brother Aegon.
And he grew to be quite attached to her too. In fact, when he first learned to talk, his favourite phrase was 'where Lyssa?'
Alicent encouraged the friendship. They were siblings, after all, and she was trying her best to build bridges with Rhaenyra.
But everything changed on the night of Rhaenyra's wedding to Laenor Velaryon.
Alyssa was nine years old, Aegon was only seven, when they were all made to pick their side.
Green.
Or black.
Soon enough, Alyssa and Aegon weren't throwing porridge at each other or hitting one another with sticks. She couldn't find bugs with Helaena or lift Aemond up in the air and pretend he was flying a dragon.
Soon enough, she was on her own again.
But she had Rhaenyra.
She always had Rhaenyra.
And soon Jace and Luke were born.
Yet every day... She couldn't help but feel more alone.
“Mother says I can go with Aegon and Helaena to the dragonpit.” Alyssa said as Rhaenyra combed through her hair. “She says I can have dinner with them and father tonight, and so can you.”
Rhaenyra stopped what she was doing, a serious look upon her beautiful face.
Alyssa had always thought that her sister was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. It was no wonder she was the Realm's Delight. She prayed each day that she would grow to look like her. To be like her in every way.
“That woman is not your mother, Alyssa.” Rhaenyra reminded her sternly. “Our mother must never be forgotten.”
Alyssa smiled, nodding. “But father doesn't like when I call her Alicent.”
Rhaenyra pursed her lips, gently smoothing her sister's pale hair. “Father wishes for us all to come together and be a family because he is blind to what is happening within the walls of this Keep. You and I are not welcome in their family, Alyssa.”
The girl nodded again, holding her big sister's hand. “But we are still family. You and I, sister.”
As Rhaenyra smiled, there was sorrow in her eyes. She leaned down, kissing the top of Alyssa's head. “Always.”
Alyssa did not go to the dragonpit that day, or any day after.
Helaena claimed the dragon Dreamfyre.
Aegon claimed Sunfyre.
Even young Jace and Luke had Vermax and Arrax.
The only children of King Viserys that had no dragons were Alyssa and Aemond.
She found it funny sometimes. As a little child, Aemond had loved dragons more than anything else.
His favourite toys were dragons. He only ever laughed when he pretended to fly. Most of the time, he was sullen and still. He was like a grown adult in the body of a child. But when he was pretending to be a Dragonrider, he was a little boy again.
Alyssa wasn't surprised she'd never bonded with any dragons.
The only thing she'd ever bonded with was Rhaenyra.
More often than not, she spent her time alone. Especially since Rhaenyra became a mother.
She didn't live in the Princesses apartments with Laenor and the boys. She wasn't a part of their family.
And she didn't live on the corridor that her half siblings shared. One room next to the other, they were clearly a family.
But not Alyssa.
Her room was down the end of a solitary hallway that no one else ever ventured down.
Her time was spent reading or sitting in the gardens or talking to herself in her room.
She didn't have any friends.
She didn't have any hobbies.
She just had an aching loneliness that never went away.
And a jealousy. A jealousy that burned brighter than any dragonfire.
It rose to the surface when she saw Jace and Luke playing together. Or when Aegon and Aemond bickered. Or when Helaena and Aemond went to the gardens together.
It sparked when she saw Rhaenyra with their father, and how much he loved her.
And it grew worse when she saw Alicent with her children. Because she'd never had a mother of her own.
Every story Rhaenyra told her of Aemma used to make her happy, but now it just left her cold. All those years that her sister had gotten that Alyssa had never had. All that time. All that love.
It was like she was a ghost, doomed to watch everyone else live. Unable to touch them, to change the world at all. Just there. In the background.
An unwanted stranger.