The King's Whore - Aegon/Aemond

Chapter 17

Fern woke to a polite but insistent knock on the door. She knew, immediately, who it was.
“What now?” Was her only greeting as she opened the door.
Aemond eyed her up and down judgementally. “Were you asleep?”
“Yes.” She sighed.
“It's the middle of the afternoon.”
She crossed her arms over her chest as he waltzed inside. “I was tired. What do you want?”
“My mother wants to meet you.”
Fern's face drained of all colour.
“Queen Alicent?” She asked timidly.
Alicent, from all she'd heard, was quite a moral woman.
If she thought Rhaenyra was a whore... Gods, what would she think of Fern?
“Yes. Unless I have another mother that I'm not aware of.”
Fern frowned at him. “Why does your mother want to meet me?”
“Perhaps because you're the only woman that has been able to maintain Aegon's attention. Perhaps because she doesn't want her son to be known as the whoremonger king. I don't know.”
Her frown grows.
Aemond rolls his eye, folding his hands behind his back. “Get dressed.”
She huffed defiantly but did as she was told. She went to find a dress in the sea of clothes Aegon had let her buy or bought for her. There seemed to be no end to the fineries he'd given her.
She couldn't decide. Especially not with Aemond behind her tapping his foot at how long she was taking.
In the end, she opted to wear green. She hoped it might show her loyalty. Perhaps even endear her a little to the Queen? But she doubted that. She doubted Queen Alicent would ever have much time for her.
She was the whore who'd bedded two of her three sons. She wasn't exactly someone to take home to introduce to the parents... Although that's exactly what Aegon had done.
She pulled on the dress over the top of her shift and Aemond seemed relieved she'd finally chosen something to wear.
So, of course, she began lacing the front up.
The Prince watched her for a moment as she struggled with the laces. She'd not quite gotten the hang of these sorts of dresses.
She fiddled, toying with them, huffing frustratedly when she couldn't seem to get them in the right place.
He pulled a face like she was being infuriating, took a deep sigh, and stomped over to her. When he reached out for her laces, Fern stared at him like he'd gone mad.
“What are you doing?"
“You're taking too long.”
“I'm not... Stop it!”
“By the Gods Fern just shut up.”
She pulled a face.
Aemond seemed to pull her in closer as he tightened her laces. Closer and closer until they were so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek.
He seemed focused on his task, not looking anywhere but at the laces of her dress. One by one, he loooped them through and began tying them together and the only thing Fern could concentrate on was him.
His fingers moved with a sort of... Expert ease. Graceful.
She bit her lower lip as she watched.
It was a gentle touch. And it... Was an odd sort of feeling. To have a man lacing up her dress rather than pulling it off of her.
“Green suits you.” He said calmly.
She blushed. “It does?”
Was she shaking? She felt like she might be. She felt like she could barely breathe.
His lips were mere centimetres away and she couldn't seem to stop glancing at them.
“It does.” He said firmly, his eye returning to her face as he finished tying the laces of her dress.
She felt like she might faint then and there.
But she didn't. She was well practiced.
“I look better in nothing.” She said with a teasing shrug.
She'd expected that to make him blush... Or at least look away. But he didn't. He leaned in closer, an intensity in his eye.
“I know. I remember.”
Her heart races through her chest. She looked down at his lips, ready for him to kiss her... But he never did.
Instead, he pulled back and offered her his arm.
“Come. You don't want to keep my mother waiting.”
She gulped, blinking up at him, and took his arm.

Alicent Hightower sat at a table drinking a glass of wine. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere. Perhaps on the past. Perhaps on the future. Either way, she looked worried.
She was a beautiful woman. Her dark red hair, her brown eyes... But she always seemed to wear that same look on her face. Fern had never seen her without furrowed brows.
She did a small curtsey when she entered, not sure how to greet the former Queen. How was she meant to address her? What was she meant to say? What did she do?
Aemond held her steady beside him as she stumbled slightly. She looked up at him gratefully, but his eye was on his mother.
“Hello... Your... Majesty?” She guessed with a wince.
Alicent's face gave no hint as to whether that was correct or not, but the small up turn of Aemond's lips hinted that he found her efforts amusing.
“Sit with me, will you?” She said. She looked over at Aemond with a maternal warmth. “Are you staying?”
He shook his head.
She sent him a small smile.
It was like the two of them could communicate silently with no need for speech. Like they could read each others minds by just looking at one another.
Fern realised in that moment that this meeting was more important than just making a good impression on Alicent.
Whatever his mother thought of her would likely impact how Aemond viewed her as well.
She gulped a little.
Aemond looked down at her. In a gentle, barely perceptible gesture, he squeezed her hand.
Then she watched him leave. And the door closed shut leaving her alone with Alicent Hightower.
“Fern, was it?” Alicent asked, the picture of queenly calmness. She was raised for this. Born for it. While Fern felt completely out of her depth.
She nodded. “Yes ma'am. Fern Waters.” She said, sitting down opposite her.
“Are you hungry?”
Fern nodded a little and Alicent pushed a small plate of food towards her.
“Fern...” She said, watching her eat. “My daughter, Queen Helaena, and Prince Aemond, both have only good things to say about you. And I'm sure you're a nice girl. But in truth...”
They did? What had Aemond told his mother of her?
“In truth, I'm a whore.” Fern finished. “And you don't want me here to tarnish your son's reputation and shame your daughter. So what price will it take to get me to leave?”
Alicent sat up a little straighter. She nodded. She seemed to eye the girl before her a little differently, reassessing her in her eyes.
“My Queen, with all due respect, I'm not leaving Aegon. If he says he needs me, I'm staying.” She said firmly. “I know what I am, and I know you may always loathe me for it... But I do love your son. I care about him a great deal. And if I must weather your ire, even though I have nothing but admiration for you, I will weather it. For him.”
Alicent paused for a long moment, seeming oddly surprised by her.
She took a breath, looking away in thought before looking back at her through the corner of her eyes.
“I cannot have him parading you around.” Alicent said. “For Helaena's sake. You understand that, don't you?”
“I would never do anything to damage Queen Helaena, ma'am. I am very fond of her. If that is your wish, I will ensure I'm kept out of any public eye. I... I never wished for attention in the first place. I only wished to help Aegon where I can.”
Alicent sighed. “But you're not helping Aegon. He already has a reputation.”
“My Queen, I will not lead him astray. I promise you. I never have. I wish for him to be remembered as a good and just king, just as you do. I only want what is best for him.”
“Then go home.” She said firmly, leaning forward. “I will pay to ensure you do not have to work on the streets again.”
Fern smiled coldly, standing to her feet. “That is kind of you, My Queen. But I have already been bought.” She said through gritted teeth.
She turned on her heel and left, biting the inside of her cheek.
As the door closed and she found herself alone in the corridor, her dress began to feel all too tight.
She pulled at it, trying to breathe as best she could.
What was she doing here?
Alicent was right. She should go home. She wasn't meant to be here. And being paid such a sum? It could change her whole life.
But she couldn't.
She couldn't leave Aegon.
She couldn't disappear with her riches and abandon the other women she'd worked with and lived with her whole life.
And there was no changing who she was.
She was a whore. She'd always be a whore.
But for once... She decided that she couldn't be bought.
And so she returned back to the life she chose.
A life beside Aegon.
No matter the cost.