Sworn Fate // Aegon Targaryen II

Chapter 1

Aerion made his way through the hallways of the Red Keep, trying not to dread each encroaching second as the day moved steadily closer to the time when he and his brothers were forced to train with Criston Cole.

For whatever reason, Criston clearly favored Aegon and Aemond over him and his brothers. Aerion had yet to pinpoint the exact reason why, but he supposed his close association with Alicent at least explained some of it. Criston's favoritism was a small pond compared to the oceans of disdain he knew Alicent held for all of them.

Aerion thought the entire affair stupid, but he'd read enough history books to be able to understand one thing: the potential for power did strange to people. Aerion's ancestor Maegor was a great example of that.

He wasn't worried though. At the end of the day, he figured there was little Alicent could do. His grandfather loved his mother and her children dearly. He wouldn't be changing his mind about the line of succession and besides, his mother was the strongest person he knew. She would be such a great Queen that no one could oppose her once she took the throne. She would be just, kind, and smart exactly like King Jaehaerys and all the kings in the stories were.

He turned the corner and nodded to Ser Steffon of the Kingsguard who was making his way down the corridor. He returned Aerion's nod with a smile. At the very least, most of the other Kingsguard members didn't openly show any favoritism if they held any.

Aerion approached the door to his left and knocked against the dark wood, pushing it open without waiting for a reply.

Aegon glanced over from where he was sprawled across his bed, "What's the point of knocking if you're just going to come in anyway?"

"When have you ever sent me away?" Aerion asked, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

This was the other reason that he was unconcerned with the Queen and her supporters grumbling. Aegon was her eldest son and Aerion couldn't imagine him striving for the throne. He loved Aegon dearly, but he lacked both motivation and ambition for...most anything that wasn't flying about with Sunfyre really.

Aegon sat up, his long blonde hair a tangled mess behind him. Despite being younger than Aegon, Aerion often felt protective of him. Aegon was brash and somewhat obtuse. He was loud and boisterous, full of life but not much political knowledge or understanding. Aerion himself only knew what he'd observed and what he'd read from various books, but still.

"Come here," he said, waving Aegon over to a stool placed in front of a mirror. He came without complaint, sitting down so that he was facing forward.

"You know that servants could do this," Aegon reminded him as Aerion carefully ran his fingers through the strands of Aegon's hair and began pulling it into some sort of order as he braided it.

"I'm aware," he said simply, ignoring the way that the idea of anyone else but him doing this for Aegon made him want to bare his teeth like a wild animal. "Will you take me flying with Sunfyre after training?"

His own dragon Ajax was still too small for him to ride, though the dragonkeepers promised that by either the end of this year or the beginning of the next he should have grown large enough. Though Sunfyre was only a few years older than Ajax, he'd grown incredibly quickly and could carry Aegon and someone as slight as Aerion with ease.

"To where?"

Aerion thought about it for a moment. They weren't technically supposed to land when they were out flying if none of the Kingsguard was around to watch over them. Sometimes his father would fly with Seasmoke to accompany them, but most of the time he and Aegon simply ignored the rules and landed where they wished as long as it was isolated enough. Sunfyre was more than enough protection in his eyes. "The secret beach?"