The King's Whore - Aegon/Aemond

Chapter 1

Fern didn't know much about Cedra, despite being raised by the woman. She didn't even know her last name.
Was she a bastard like Fern too? An orphan from King's Landing? A woman from a distant land?
She didn't know. She doubted she ever would.
But though she knew little about the older woman's past, she knew plenty about her mannerisms.
Cedra was middle-aged, perhaps in her fourty fifth or sixth year. She had dull brown hair and green eyes, and the face of a woman who had once been beautiful.
She'd been one of the whores when Fern had first been brought to this place and the girl recalled many a night spent with the curtain in their shared room drawn as Cedra entertained guests.
She would close her eyes and cover her ears, waiting for the sounds to diminish before managing to find sleep. And in the morning, she'd clean up the beds and help Cedra wash away the night's work.
But she was no longer one of the working women. Now, she ran the place. A promotion, Fern supposed.
She used cuts of every girls money to buy herself fine jewels and gowns and almost looked regal were it not for the distinctly cheap way in which she wore it all.
Fern supposed there was no way to imitate nobility. All of them would always be common, no matter how hard they tried to change their stars.
"Will the little Prince be visiting you today, my love?" Cedra asked coyly, combing through the young girl's hair.
Fern looked back at her in the mirror. This woman was the closest she'd ever had to a mother.
When she'd had nightmares, Cedra had given her wine to help her sleep again. She'd taught her to speak by swearing at her. She'd taught her to pick pockets and hide in plain sight and had promised her that, one day, when Fern began working too, she'd teach her all she needed to know about that as well.
"I don't know." Fern said quietly, fiddling with the sleeves of her nightgown. It had grown too small for her a while ago, but Fern had nothing else. "He doesn't come to see me, Cedra. He's here for the same reason every other man is."
"Aye but you get excited when you see him, don't you?" Cedra smiled. There was something deeper in her green eyes. Something Fern didn't understand.
Cedra walked over to her bed, pulling a box out from under it. "Wouldn't it be nice to show your friend your best, eh?" She said, passing the box to her.
Fern looked between the gift and the older woman in confusion before opening it.
Inside, lay a beautiful silk dress the likes of which Fern had only ever been able to dream of.
Aegon had told her how women of court had whole dresses made of the stuff but a part of her hadn't quite believed him until that moment.
A blue dress. A beautiful blue dress.
And next to it lay a necklace of blue stones.
"How did you afford this?" Fern gaped. "What- this is-"
"The girls and I put money together to buy you something nice. Figured you'd need it now."
Fern's brows furrowed as she looked up at Cedra. "What do you mean?"
The woman sighed, pulling up a rickety old chair and sitting opposite her. She took Fern's hands gently. "You've been a woman for a while now, little Fern. But your blood came young so we all agreed that we'd wait. But you turn ten and five soon. That's longer than any of us got before our maidenheads were sold."
Fern gulped, looking back down at the dress.
The soft material felt slimy to the touch now. Like an eel in her hands.
"I'm out of time then?" Fern guessed.
"I'm afraid so, little one." Cedra said, touching her arm gently. "There will be a bid... Men like being the first to have a girl so lots of them will try to win you. I'd rather it was someone you like but you never know."
"Was- was yours someone you liked?"
Cedra gave a pinched smile. "No, little one. I wasn't as lucky as you."
Fern wanted to ask more but she didn't. That was the relationship she had with Cedra. Never ask questions. Never get too close.
"We're putting you out to show you off, sweet girl. Since Cissy and Dalla left, boss man says the girls are overworked. By the end of the week, he'll take bids and the winner will..."
Fern stared down at her hands, chewing nervously on her lip. "Oh."
"It isn't so bad once you're used to it." Cedra said. "Now, get dressed. If you get lucky, maybe your friend will want you."
Cedra left her to attend to the other girls and as the door closed, the room filled with a terrible silence.
The walls seemed to shift and move, old bricks that had been her only stability for the last fifteen years now falling away around her.
She'd known her whole life that this day would come. That this was what her life was leading towards. And yet it still felt too soon.
She pulled the dress on and met her fate.

In the end, Aegon had graced them with his presence. It was late in the evening and he'd stumbled in already more than a little drunk.
He'd faced another day of lunacy at home. Between his mother, his father, and his eldest sister he couldn't take another family dinner.
So, he'd come here instead.
He'd expected to find Fern as cheerful as usual with some baudy tale to tell him that would ease his mind, but that wasn't what he found.
Instead, she sat against one wall as if she were on display - dressed in fine silk with neatly combed hair.
She looked beautiful, more beautiful than he'd known she could look even, but there was a sadness in her face that he recognised. A distant look in her eyes that he'd worn so many times.
He approached her, leaving behind the women who'd promised to show him a good evening. As much as he'd wanted to have them prove it, he'd focused in on Fern and her teary eyes and knew he'd not be able to enjoy himself until he knew what was going on.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked, finding a seat and pulling it up beside her.
Fern looked over at him, her face brightening a little. "My Prince."
"Shut up." He frowned, hating when she used his title. "Why are you sat out here like a prized cow?"
She huffed, looking back down at her hands. "I am a prized cow. I'm finally being sold off."
"What? Into slavery?" He looked scandalised.
She couldn't help but laugh, even though all she'd wanted to do all day was cry. "Of a sort. They're taking bids on my maidenhead."
Aegon looked around the room at the men all staring at Fern. Old men. Fat men. Young men. Some handsome, some ugly. Some tall, some short.
"Do you get a choice in who-"
"No."
He looked back at her. At her golden hair and freckled cheeks. At the curve of her body that had always been hidden under rags. "Who would you want it to be?"
Fern bit her lip, something she always did when she was nervous. "That doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters or I wouldn't have asked, you idiot."
"You're not very good at being comforting, you know?"
"Am I supposed to be comforting you?" He grinned. "I'm sure I could do that."
Fern laughed, prodding him in the arm. "Stop it!"
"Answer the question, Waters."
She huffed, looking out at the sea of men who were all chatting and pointing at her like she was a fresh cooked pigeon pie ready to be eaten.
She gulped. "Princes have more money than Lords, don't they?"
"That depends on the Lord." Aegon answered, but she could hear his smirk without even looking at him.
"Do you have more than the men here?"
He looked them over, leaning back in his chair. "Much more."
Fern peered over at him, trying not to chew at her bottom lip. It had already bled twice that day.
"Will you bid on me?"
Aegon's pleased grin made her want to punch him. "Not unless you ask me to, Waters."
She huffed, folding her arms frustratedly. "Would you want me? If I asked you?"
"Do you think I come here because the food is better than the Keep's?"
"You come here for the whores, Aegon."
"This isn't the only place in King's Landing that I could find whores, Fern."
Her cheeks turned that pretty shade of pink and she was back to biting her lip again. She tucked a lock of gold hair behind her ear. "I want it to be you, Aegon."
There was a glimmer of something in the Prince's eyes, bright and gleaming like the full moon, that Fern couldn't understand.
He looked away, that self satisfied smirk secured firmly in place, and grabbed a cup of wine from one of the women that passed him. The woman gave him a sharp look but Aegon didn't seem to care as he swigged back the dark liquid.
“I could bid on you...” He said, shrugging. “I could not bid on you...”
“Aegon!”
He laughed, passing her his cup of wine. “Have a drink.”
She frowned but didn't argue. In truth, she needed it.
The wine was warm and tasted a little sour but she didn't care.
It had been a very long day.
“When I win you,” Aegon said, an arm around her shoulders, “do I get to keep you?”
“I wish.” She said a little too quickly.
He laughed. “Do you?”
“Shut up.”
“We could leave together. Tonight. Like we planned.”
She smiled sadly. It was a nice dream, one she'd been happy to indulge in for the last two years of knowing him. But it was just that. A dream.
Princes and whores didn't live happily ever after together.
“Just make sure you win, alright?”
“Do I get to kiss you tonight then?”
Her cheeks darkened again and she elbowed him in the ribs. “That never happened.”
“It did.”
“You were drunk.”
“That doesn't mean it didn't happen.”
“Aegon.” She huffed.
“Fern.” He mimicked.
She bit down her grin and rolled her eyes at him. “We would've gotten around to this eventually, you know.”
“I know. It's my irresistible charms.”
“Gods, you're annoying.”
“You can't call Princes annoying, Fern.”
She frowned. “You can't only use that when it suits you.”
“I can. It's the best part of being a Prince.”
She laughed, resting her head on his shoulder. Aegon held her there, his mind even darker than when he'd stepped inside.
Sure, buying her for the night would keep these men away from her for now. But as soon as it was done, just like all the other girls, Fern would be put to use in this dreary place. All sorts of men would have her whenever they wanted.
The idea of it made his stomach twist and he held her tighter.
Both of them were trapped. Day by day, his own fate grew closer.
He'd wished he could take her away, that both of them could run and escape what was coming.
But they both knew that would never happen.