𝙺𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽 ° aemond targaryen

Act Two, Scene Nine

┍━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
"𝙰 𝚃𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝"
𝟷𝟸𝟾 𝙰𝙲 - 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━┙

THE ROOM WAS SETTLED INTO a tense silence after the king had sat down, each person mulling his words over and thinking about how to move forwards. There was clear hatred between members of each side, and for reasons that were no secret.

Rhaenyra and Alicent; the Hightower woman and the princess used to be the best of friends, until the now queen went behind her back and married her father.

Aegon and Jacaerys; the eldest prince was simply a terror on his slightly younger nephew, stemming back to the time when they were boys.

Aemond, Lucerys, and Jacaerys; the Velaryons had taken his eye, and scarred his love, acts that left them damaged for all years to come, and one that everyone simply wanted to put in the past, though that would never be possible.

Vaella and Daemon; he had left her as an infant without a second glance, and continued endlessly to try and validate himself for it, never once apologizing for his actions.

No one was willing to look past these things, not that they ever could. The roots of hatred had been buried in deep, with no chance of coming back to the surface.

The sound of a chair scraping back caught everyone's attention. Rhaenyra had stood, holding a goblet in her hand as she let out a soft sigh. "I wish to raise my cup to Her Grace, the queen."

Alicent couldn't help but glance up at her from where she sat assisting her king husband, just as in shock at her words as everyone else was.

"I love my father," The princess continued. "But I must admit that no one has stood... more loyally by his side than his good wife. She has tended to him with... unfailing devotion, love, and honor. And for that, she has my gratitude...and my apology."

Everyone hesitantly rose their glasses as she sat back down, no one saying a word as to wait for the Hightower woman to speak first. After all, she never expected to hear those words from the woman she once called her dearest friend and confidant. And her emotions were clear as her eyes watered slightly.

"Your graciousness moves me deeply, Princess," She said, her eyes locked on Rhaenyra's as she sniffles softly. "We are both mothers and we love our children. We have more in common than we sometimes allow." At this, the woman raised herself from  her chair. "I raise my cup to you and to your house." Her fingers delicately wrapped around the stem of her goblet, tilting it in the white haired woman's direction. "You will make a fine queen."

Everyone drank from their goblets once more as the Hightower woman lowered herself back into her seat. From the corner of her eye, Vaella could've sworn she saw the corners of the white haired woman's mouth tilt up as she held back a smile. The action had the younger biting her cheek and setting her goblet back down with a sigh.

Thankfully, it seemed that it was only her husband that noticed the girl's annoyance with the princess. His grip on her leg tightened slightly as he leaned over to her, his voice in a low whisper. "What is wrong, Ābrazȳrys?"

She tilted her head to face him, choosing to focus on him rather than bother with the fact that her good brother had rose from his chair, most likely to pester their eldest nephew. "Rhaenyra is acting all happy and proud because mother said one nice thing about her," She ranted to him softly. "It's not like she had meant any of that; she was only saying it to avoid another fight."