ELLIPSISM, aemond targaryen

[072] mother's love

NEVER BEFORE HAD AEMOND felt the same amount of peace and tension as he did then. Until that moment, he actually doubted that such a thing was even possible, but he could not describe the moment in any other way.

It was a deep silent night without any sounds outside the windows or from the hall, as if everything around was asleep. It was probably also true, which was the reason why apart from the dying fire in the hearth, Aemond extinguished all the candles in his room so as not to show that he was still awake. Even if Lord Borros or anyone else hadn't tried to find him until then, Aemond didn't want to risk any unexpected visitors discovering he wasn't alone on this late hour.

Aemma was lying on her back just like him, the duvet covered up to her neck to shield her still bare body from the cold around her which made her shiver slightly. This action never went unnoticed by Aemond who almost had the urge to pull her closer and give her at least some warmth, but he wasn't sure if she would react positively to it. Because as soon as the last signs of the passion and lust they had indulged in left both of them, they both pulled away from each other on opposite sides of the bed.

They were back where they were before. Back to the same problem. Fucking may have delayed or alleviated the problem, but it didn't solve it.

Aemond stared at the ceiling above him, watching as the orange light spreading from the dying fire slowly faded into the surrounding darkness. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and when he felt at least a bit composed, he turned his head to the left to look at Aemma's face dimly lit by the fire, which somehow made her features look sharper.

As if she could feel his gaze on her, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but as soon as she was convinced that he was really looking at her, she avoided her gaze. She fisted the duvet material with her hand and pulled it up even higher, but Aemond couldn't tell if she did it out of nervousness or if she really wanted to hide from him.

"I apologise for shouting at you," he spoke slowly, trying to show his intentions as well as possible in his voice.

Aemma continued to stare at the ceiling without any emotion or even the slightest change in attitude. "Alright."

"I mean it," Aemond continued when she said nothing more and she hummed. "I shouldn't have yelled at you or suspected you w--"

"It's alright," she stopped him and turned her head to him. "You are not the only one to blame. I should have talked to you too."

The weight lifted from his chest and he raised his eyebrows with a small smirk. "So we both screwed up?"

The slightest hint of a smile appeared on her lips before looking away. "As per usual."

Although the silence between them was more comfortable than before, it was still clear that everything was not in alright. He felt it, who looked more and more in her direction, trying to find out what was probably going on in her mind, and she felt it too, whose smile disappeared from her face and she started nervously playing with the rings on her fingers.

"I sho--"

"I won't force you to talk about something you don't want to talk about," Aemond stopped her before she could continue and his words surprised her so much that she turned her head to him again while he turned to her to lay on his side. "I want you to talk when you want to talk."

Aemma pursed her lips and resumed playing with her rings. "There are things in my life that I haven't told Helaena about, or my brothers about, or--"

"I don't want to be to you what they were," he interrupted her again, the arm under his head moving so that he could move a strand of her hair from her face. "I don't want you to tell me about your life. I want to be a part of your life, Aemma."