KING'S LANDING
***Trigger Warning: drugging, assault and strangulation***
Hira straightened her posture, keeping her head high before entering the chambers of the small council. Aemond followed closely behind, her very own shadow.
When they arrived back at the Keep, a flock of Kingsguards immediately surrounded them. They were being summoned by the council.
Hira took note of the men who remained loyal to the Greens: Grand Maester Orwyle, Ser Tyland Lannister, the Master of Coin, Lord Jasper Wylde, the Master of Laws, and Lord Larys Strong, the Master of Whisperers. Ever the lapdog, Ser Criston Cole, the new Commander of the Kingsguard stood a breath away from his dowager queen.
Aegon sat at the head of the table, his grandfather on the left whilst his mother sat on the right. All heads shot up when Hira loomed before the traitors.
She raised a brow at Otto's questionable look. He was close to seething, beady eyes fixated on her person. Even Alicent was distraught, eyes rimmed red and if Hira looked closer, a few unshed tears. Though she held the same heat as her father.
The air was tense and heavy.
No one said a word, until Aegon threw a parchment across the table, the look on his face matching his grandfather's. The seal was of Hightower, a white tower crowned by flames. When Hira finished reading the letter, she swallowed. Over her shoulder, Aemond cursed softly.
Her fleet was spotted sailing to Oldtown. One hundred ships marked with the Lengii sigil attacked the oldest city in Westeros, the ancestral seat of House Hightower, in retaliation to her kidnapping. The streets of Oldtown were torched. Homes, establishments and ships burnt to cinder. The greatest offence was the kidnapping of Ormund Hightower, who was taken from his home and made a hostage of Leng.
Hira knew not whether to laugh at the cunning of her kin or curse at the blood that was spilt in her name. And here she thought Daemon would be the first to spew fire, instead it was her Sapphire Guards.
There was no love lost between the two factions and Lyonel Hightower was a damnable name amongst them. They never forgave and they never forgot.
A small part of her thought it was justice.
"To think the terms I offered you were reasonable." Aegon remarked, an ugly sneer plastered across his mouth. "You've assaulted my mother's home. Hold my grand-uncle and the Lord of Oldtown hostage."
"The Princess never ordered this assault." Aemond was quick to defend her. "Under close inspection Hira's had no way of collaborating with her kin."
Whilst thankful, Hira dismissed Aemond with a wave of her hand. "I don't deny it."
They attacked Oldtown for her, how could she oppose any of it? This act was smouldering in a pot, waiting for the right moment to erupt. Besides, even with Aemond's defence, the Greens would never believe her, not with the bad blood they all share.
"Is that all you have to say for yourself? Do you believe you are above punishment? Entitled to be above it, even." Alicent taunted, dressed in black to mourn her late husband, or her girlhood home. Perhaps both.
"If we wish to speak of punishment, then may the gods strike everyone in this room, for you have all condemned yourselves in the eyes of the late king's decree." Hira replied dryly.
The grating sound of a chair scratching floorboards echoed in the room. Otto stood, looking as though he was ready to leap across the table and end her then and there.
YOU ARE READING
The Passion of a Thousand Suns | Aemond Targaryen
Fanfiction❛❛ Aemond yearned for her, that much she knew. It was a pity duty held a crown over her head, for Hira would have gladly fallen into his desire. ❜❜ - Hira, known to the Seven Kingdoms as Daemon's bastard daughter. In Leng, a Princess, a daughter of...
