Inviolable Bindings | Aemond & Aegon II Targaryen

Chapter 18

This chapter details child death. Please skip to the next chapter if you find this to be a trigger for you!

I am releasing two shorter chapters this time so people can skip over this one and continue on to the next one.

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Without another word, the two of them quickly scrambled from the bed to dress. Viserra grabbed for the first gown she saw and threw it over her head. Aegon haphazardly dressed as well, hardly making time to button his top.

In those few moments, there had not been any more screaming. Viserra looked out the window to see that it was most likely still the hour of the eel and they could not have slept for longer than an hour or two.

She quickly donned her blades with haste and followed Aegon out of the room. Two of the Kingsguard stood just outside of the doors, turning to stop them both as they tried to exit.

"Your Grace, you must stay here in these rooms while the area is deemed safe." One of the knights suggested, standing in their way.

"It is Helaena, I heard her screaming, I need to get to her." Aegon shouted, pushing past the knight.

"Your Grace, I must insist. Ser Arryk has gone to find the source of the screaming, you will be safest here until it has been determined there is no imminent danger."

Viserra thought she might need to intervene, but watched as Aegon pushed both of the guards aside angrily, "You can follow me then. But I am leaving."

Without any more delay, they started to make their way to the Queen's chambers, but both of the guards informed them that Helaena was not there. She had taken the children to see their grandmother for their usual bedtime routine but had not yet returned.

Quickly, they descended out of Maegor's Holdfast and to the other flight of stairs leading to the Tower of the Hand. Viserra had not ventured into this area yet, staying far from the Hand unless it was unavoidable. She knew the dowager queen's chambers were located inside as well and worried as Aegon led them both there.

There was plenty of commotion happening ahead of them. As soon as they reached the top of the steps, Aegon ran to his mother's rooms. Close behind, Viserra and the Kingsguard followed.

He had stopped dead in his tracks once he reached the doors and Ser Arryk was suddenly embracing him, pulling him away from the entrance. As she watched Aegon try and get past Ser Arryk, she realized she could hear crying and sobbing coming from inside the room.

Squeezing in between the door and two other guards, she suddenly saw the scene in front of her. Alicent was holding both Jaehaera and Maelor to her bosom. Both children were crying to their grandmother who was trying desperately to comfort them. Her eyes then looked to Helaena who was hunched over on the floor near the fireplace.

After taking one more glance at Alicent and the children, she made her way towards Helaena. Once she was only a few feet away, she realized the sobbing girl was holding on to a small lifeless body. Without a doubt it must have been Jaehaerys.

"Gods, Helaena. What has happened?" Viserra exclaimed, coming down next to her and reaching out to touch her lightly on the shoulder. Helaena did not respond or pull away from her, in a seemingly unbreakable trance. She noted a large amount of blood all over her arms and a pool of it there on the floor.

Leaning in even closer, Viserra suddenly realized the gruesome sight in front of her. The body of the child in Helaena's arms had been beheaded. An uninvited wave of nausea rolled through her belly, coming up to sit in her throat. She placed her hand on the ground to stabilize herself, forcing her own body to take a few deep breaths in and out.

Once she felt herself regaining composure, she turned back to the Queen and placed her hands on her in an attempt to comfort. "Helaena," she breathed, "We will kill whoever did this." Viserra turned to the doorway to find that there were more guards coming into the room. With the swell of rage suddenly building in her chest, she spoke to them, "Fetch the maester and cloth to wrap the prince. And quickly!"

"He should be here shortly." One of the guards replied.

Viserra could hear Aegon cursing and the voice of someone else trying to talk sense into him. She attempted to focus her attention on Helaena until the maester had come to assess the scene. There were so many questions that had run through her mind but she knew that it had not been the time to ask them.

The maester had come quickly with cloth in hand but Helaena would not allow him to take Jaehaerys' body from her arms. Viserra was at a complete loss of how to help in the situation, still kneeling by the Queen and speaking words to try and encourage her to give the boy up.

She found Alicent's hand on her shoulder, turning to find that she was coming to help as well. She realized that the dowager queen had bruises on her face, her hair tousled, and her dress ripped at the shoulder. They must have all been attacked.

Viserra let Alicent take her place at her daughter's side and stood to move out of the way. She took a look around the room and realized the whole scene felt like a fever dream. Her eyes landed on the two children, huddled near one of the Kingsguard, both looking frightened to the bone.

Realizing that the children had most likely witnessed the horrific death of their brother, she quickly went to them. Little Maelor had reached to her and she instinctively picked the boy up. Bringing herself down to Jaehaera's level, the girl immediately leaned into her for comfort.

"I know it does not seem as such, sweet girl, but you are safe now." Viserra soothed, running her fingers through Jaehaera's blonde hair and holding her close.

"My brother is dead," the little voice spoke, her deep purple eyes looking up to meet Viserra's.

She shushed the young girl and held her close, watching as Aegon completely lost himself to the realization of what had happened. The uneasiness that she had felt throughout the evening had been because of something actually being amiss. Mercenaries in the castle walls, watching and waiting.

There was a familiar sound of feet rushing up the steps before Aemond was suddenly at the chamber doors. He must have ran there, judging by the way he was breathing. His wide eye took in the room before him: angry and hysterical Aegon, his cousin comforting his niece and nephew, and his mother and the maester trying to convince his sister to give them the body of her dead child. Aemond walked to Viserra who stood, leaving Jaehaera clinging to her dress.

"What in the Seven hells has happened?" He breathed in a tone that was questioning yet filled with the underlying heat of rage.

Viserra looked to Helaena who was crying again as the maester wrapped her son in cloth. Alicent had her in her arms, but she was still fighting to cling on to the lifeless body.

"I do not know in its entirety. But your mother and sister were attacked, your nephew murdered." Viserra whispered to Aemond. "They left with his head."

He looked to her with a wide eye, almost speechless, "They took his head?!"

"Yes," she confirmed, watching the rage begin to bubble inside him. Even though he kept it well contained, she could still see it within his body language.

"How did this happen?!" He asked her, his voice hushed yet harsh.

Viserra shook her head, "I do not know. I only came when I heard the screaming."

Aemond left her there and found his grandfather who was talking to the guards, presumably about finding the whereabouts of the attackers. She looked again to Aegon, who was now sitting with his head in his hands. For a moment, she thought to go to him, but the whimpering at her legs brought her attention back to the children.

The beginnings of the war had started the moment Rhaenyra had heard of her son's death but it wasn't until the deed had been returned that the Greens had also felt the reality of it all.