Fire and Blood

Chapter 65: Filler Arc ― Aemma Targaryen

YEAR 130 AC

Red Keep ― Maegor's Holdfast...

Two years for members of the royal family, but for others, it was more than that. It has now been roughly four years since the Driftmark incident. With King Viserys's health slowly deteriorating, control of the royal court largely fell to his eldest son and Hand, Prince Aeonar. After the king was rendered bedridden, he became nothing more than a figurehead. For now, the Seven Kingdoms belonged to Aeonar, who turned his gaze toward domestic matters. However, with both the Blacks and the Caltrops continuing to vie for supremacy over King's Landing, those loyal to the Young Dragon worked tirelessly to remove any lingering threat to House Targaryen's reign; the Caltrops, meanwhile, were locked in a bitter power struggle with their political rivals as they too sought to establish dominance. But with Aeonar as heir to the Iron Throne and Viserys's Hand of the King, the cold war between the two factions projected to favor the Blacks.

While the elite engaged in their political games of intrigue amidst the infighting, one young maiden yearned to embrace a more ordinary life she had once known as a child.

The thirteen-year-old Princess Aemma diligently carried out her duties as a member of House Targaryen, honoring her role as both a daughter and granddaughter. Her Valyrian heritage was evident in her features, but her face resembled her mother Alicent's. Upon recently experiencing her first flowering, it officially marked Aemma's official entry into womanhood. In the act of filial piety, the princess had been asked by her mother to keep her ailing grandfather company. Sitting by his bedside, Aemma sewed a piece of silk fabric, threading one needle after another. She intended to create something special for her beloved grandfather with her own hands. She wanted to try to cheer him up. As she worked, she sang a soft, elegant tune, her voice as soothing as a mother's embrace to a frightened child.

♪ He rode from far and yonder ♪
♪ Through the desert heat and the winter's cold ♪
♪ And the heaven's skies, and the crash of the ocean's waves~ ♪
♪ O'er the wynds, the steps, and the cobbles ♪
♪ For across the horizon awaits his love ♪
♪ She was a secret treasure, his bliss, and his life. ♪
♪ For a castle or a village are nothing ♪
♪ Compared to a woman's kiss ♪

♪ For a maiden fair, he will risk it all. ♪
♪ For a woman's touch, his courage will lead the way ♪
♪ For a woman's love is warm~ ♪

♪ And there he stood with sword in hand, the last of fear and doubt ♪
♪ And smooth the grass beneath his feet, and the winds as strong they blow ♪
♪ And strung the rain had felled on his face, and the red the glow of setting sun ♪
♪ That bathed him in its light ♪
♪ 'Come one, come all, the great hero called; my maiden fair awaits my return.~' ♪
♪ And with a cry of savagery, they swarm across the field ♪
♪ And with a cry of savagery, they sought to test his skill~ ♪

♪ He rode through the streets of the city ♪
♪ Through tests and trials, he passed his test ♪
♪ O'er the wynds, the steps, and the cobbles ♪
♪ For across the horizon awaits his love ♪
♪ She was a secret treasure, his bliss, and his life. ♪
♪ For a castle or a village are nothing ♪
♪ Compared to a woman's kiss ♪

♪ For a maiden fair, he will risk it all ♪
♪ For a woman's touch, his courage will lead the way ♪
♪ For a woman's love is warm ♪
♪ For a maiden fair, he will risk it all ♪
♪ For a woman's touch, his courage will lead the way ♪
♪ For a woman's love is warm~ ♪

Initially unresponsive, Viserys sighed as he turned his head against his pillow. His breathing was slow and shallow, but the king remained active. Then, clearing his throat of unwanted phlegm, he turned to his granddaughter. "My... what a... that was a very touching song, my dear. Truly a lovely voice you've been blessed with," he told her.