green lies, black hearts

XXIV

a/n - MY FAV ARC (so far hehe) IS HEREEEEE!! ENJOY!!

- mint

~+~

Shaera

"You're certain you feel well enough to walk?"

Shaera smiled over at Qoren as she accepted his arm. "Maester Gerardys said it was best if I get some fresh air." She stepped down the precarious rocks with his help, and then kept hold of him as he followed. "He said something about my lungs appreciating it?"

An itch crawled up her throat and she coughed into her elbow.

"True as that may be" -Qoren hopped down and handed her a handkerchief- "your coughing doesn't seem pleased with this development. Though, I'm glad to hear your voice once more."

"And that, my prince, is the issue. Not my outings to the shore."

"Your issue is too much talking?" he chuckled.

"Of course." Shaera held the handkerchief to her mouth once more and relieved the itch with a well-time and full cough. The sound was wet and thick, and she winced at the taste of blood in her mouth. Crumpling the fabric, she held it at her side, and looked out to the sea just a few more steps below them. "Maester Gerardys claims my throat will bleed for a while longer because of how raw it is?"

"Hmm. As is often the case, I suppose."

"You sound less than agreeable," Shaera giggled.

She studied the man beside her, catching the small smile that hid beneath his thickening beard. He wasn't looking at her-there was a certain gleam of appreciation in his obsidian eyes as he scanned the shore of Dragonstone-but Shaera found she didn't mind. She much preferred it actually. She preferred the relief she felt when she knew that if one purple eye wasn't staring at her, then neither were two dark brown ones. It was the only way she could ignore the guilt eating away at her heart each time she went out to the shore with Qoren as her escort.

She enjoyed her time with him. She did. But every time she walked a little farther ahead, she would turn and expect it to be a one-eyed prince catching up, not the handsome Dornish prince. She would turn and want it to be Aemond with her, and the disappointment, swift and ever-gutting as it was, would never fail to ruin her mood.

"While I do not doubt Maester Gerardys' knowledge and abilities," Qoren sighed, turning to look down at Shaera, "I believe myself to be..."

"Better?" she teased.

"Yes, but-"

"Ah, no! You can't take it back now, my prince. You've already claimed yourself superior."

Qoren rolled his eyes but he wore a lazy grin. "I think it was you who did it for me."

"I simply finished your thought for you." Shaera urged him to the next set of rocks and with his support, she stepped down. She wore no shoes, trusting in the bare feel of the balls of her feet upon the rocks she had climbed time and time again, and her skirts swished around her ankles. She was half tempted to pin them up to her knees, but she feared what Qoren may take that as. Aemond had looked at her as if she was crazy the first time he snuck her out of the Red Keep. Would Qoren do the same?

"If better than even Maester Gerardys," Shaera said, "shall I send a raven to Oldtown and-"

"Is my niece hoping to become a maester? Will you journey to Oldtown and earn your chain links?"

Shaera slipped.

She slipped when she missed a slick stretch of rock, and her foot gave way underneath her, and she was falling, falling, falling, until she wasn't. Until Qoren was beside her once more with an arm wrapped around her and his hand gripping her bicep tightly.