THE STRAIN OF LOVE & DUTY (Multi)

🐉16: Love or Duty🐉

3-year time skip:

Vaera sat in front of the hearth in Aemond's room, her swollen eyes grown tired as she stared into the fire, the tear tracks upon her cheeks long since dried but were sure to have left a mark in their wake. "Any change Maester?" Alicent choked up behind her.

Vaera could hear the hesitation in the man's voice before he even spoke "Speak it whole" Alicent pressed in desperation.

"It is not likely the prince will survive much longer, your grace. It would appear the Damage to his eye has continued to worsen since-" He was cut off by the queen's wails, Vaera closed her eyes as a new wave of tears rushed forward as her heart ached and cracked like a ship beneath the ocean of pain she carried. 

Vaera slightly flinched when a gentle hand layed on her shoulder "Granddaughter may it be best to now rest in your chambers, for the babe's sake." Rhaenys gently suggested.

Her child, Her second child. The one she was sure was Aegon's this time. Not that it mattered, she didn't know who the father was to her firstborn Drako but she loved him, possibly even more than Aemond which was an oddity she never thought would happen, that her madness would allow. "I need to stay," she whispered back, she could see Cole's shoulders deflate upon her answer.

"Very well" Rhaenys sighed and kissed the top of her head before taking leave, Baela doing the same before also leaving. 

across from her, she could see Helaena staring at her from her own seat muttering to herself, long since having figured out her dear friend was cursed by dragon dreams, she assumed she already had seen and knew what Vaera would do. Had to do.

It only made her heart hurt that much more knowing her friend had to see her destruction thru her dreams, no matter how hard Vaera tried to block them from her. Slowly rising from her seat, she turned and took a few steps towards Aemond's bed but never close enough to touch the bed itself. She couldn't, Aemond was her everything. He always had been since they were children only born months apart. But now he lies dying, because of her mother, because of Luc. Aemond would be yet another thing her mother would take from her. 

No. "The price of duty for the gift of life." The god of destruction whispered in her ear again. Her duty for her love, that was the price. Her eyes took in Aemond's deathly pale skin, his no longer stitched eye open showing the festering wound as his mother Alicent fussed and combed his long hair, doing her best to make her beloved stoic son more presentable, more put together like how he always appeared.

Turning to leave she stopped by Cole who had turned to follow her, "Bring him to me when they leave." she whispered.

"Princess?" he lowly questioned, briefly eyeing the queen, but when he looked back to where Vaera was she was already gone. He didn't need her to tell him where it was, he was supposed to bring the sickly prince, but it only made him worry for the grown woman as to what she would do. for although he had seen what good deeds her actions brought out in the flea bottoms it was the sins of the chambers that only saw the death and blood of various living things. A chamber of which she now asked him to bring the prince, her friend. 

Hours had passed and Vaera's movements were sluggish as she silently wept. Her cauldron boiled as she dropped the last of the ingredients in the pot, before setting a single sapphire in a separate bowl, the candlelight gleaming on the stone's surface, ominously, as if her god possessed it, pleased with her obedience.

"Set him on the bed" she sniffled as Criston crossed the threshold, his armor long since discarded to carry the prince easier.

slicing her fingertip, she approached aemond and kissed his forehead, lingering her own against his before drawing a sigil for life upon his forehead. She then stepped back and slipped off her already loose dress and stood bare in front of the pot again, Criston watched her worried as she looked to the ceiling, tears once again slipping from her violet eyes as she drew a different symbol upon her bare stomach. 

A sigil of death.

Nothing happened right away, but all too quickly a shearing pain cut across her womb, Criston barely catching her as she doubled over. "Princess please stop this!" he begged as vaera screamed through gritted teeth.

"It's the price." she cried grasping tightly to his arm as another scream ripped from her lungs as her insides twisted.

"For your gods to demand your own child is Evil Vaera please you must see reason!" he begged her. But she could hardly hear him as the pain only became stronger, so strong she wanted to end her own life if it meant it would end. For several minutes this went on as she cried and Cole pleaded, blood running down her legs and strong arms holding her up. But as quick as it came it also ended with the afterbirth dropping to the floor with the child still inside. 

Vaera groaned in pain as she knelt on the ground and picked up her child with Cole's assistance. "Princess-"

"I can not lose him. not him." Her teary eyes meeting Criston's own teary dark eyes. He nodded solemnly, helping her step closer to the cauldron as she held the child to her lips with a gentle loving kiss before carefully lowering it into the pot. The tips of her fingers turned an ashy black as soon as the fetus was submerged. "Princess your hands." Criston pointed out scared.

"Hand me the bowl," she whispered ignoring the sin staining her skin.

Wordlessly she took the bowl from his hand and filled a ladle with the pots remnants and slowly poured it over the gem before putting the ladle down and covering the bowl with her black tipped hand and mumbled a prayer, her body, and consciousness beginning to sway from the blood loss.

"Put the gem in the wound," she whispered handing the bowl to Criston.

"Vaera-" he began to plea again noticing her having to hold onto the side of the hot cauldron as a means to hold herself up.

"Please Criston." she tiredly begged her exhausted gemlike eyes staring at him till he folded once again to her will despite what he wanted.

As Criston slipped the gem into Aemond's socket he heard a thud behind him as Vaera collapsed finally giving into the depths of sleep that called her.

The next time Vaera barely gained consciousness she was in bed, her eyes going from the spot aemond had been laying that was now empty to the grunts at the end of the bed where aemond stood, taller, stronger, his damp hair flying through the air as he expertly swung a Valarian steel spear thru the air. Vaera gave into the depths of sleep again, only this time with a sense of relief and a small smile.