Born to Die

Chapter 30

Jace groaned as he blinked his eyes open. His entire body hurt, and he was almost positive his mouth had been packed with cotton.

"Here." Jace looked over to see Aemeryn sitting next to him with a cup of water in her hands. He went to reach for it, but she smacked his hand back down and brought the cup to his mouth. "You do know that you were fed and given water while on milk of the poppy right?" She asked as she watched Jace gulp down the water like he had never drank any before.

"I feel like a dragon smacked me into a wall," he groaned out when he tried to move. Aemeryn sighed and helped him sit up before he hurt himself again. Jace noticed the metal plates tied on his left arm and could feel them on his right leg and frowned.

"That would be because you fell off of a dragon and hit water. You're lucky to be alive, you imbecile."

Jace's frown deepened as he tried to remember what Aemeryn was talking about. He remembered going to the Gullet to help their grandfather destroy Aegon's fleet. He could remember when Aemeryn had arrived, but he couldn't remember anything after that.

"Em, what happened?"

"Nope."

"Nope? What the fuck do you mean nope?"

Aemeryn sighed and looked at her younger brother. The cuts and bruises that littered his body had all but healed- only his broken bones remained. There was too much information to dump on him as soon as he woke up.

"I'll tell you once you've been lucid for more than ten minutes, Jace. A lot has happened since the Gullet."

Jace finally got a good look at his sister. Her gown was off shoulder, so he could see the giant bruise on her left shoulder. If he could see her back, he would see a bruise that covered almost its entirety. Her lip was busted, and another bruise was forming on her jaw.

"Em, what happened to you?" She smirked and shook her head.

"Battle wounds, I suppose."

"Battle? You went to battle?"

Aemeryn shot Jace a look, and he stopped talking, but his mouth was still hanging open. His eyes glanced down, and he could see that she now had a baby bump barely noticeable under her gown.

"Aemond and Kepa look far worse than me, I promise."

"Care to fill me in on that at least?"

"Baratheon decided to storm Dragonstone," Aemeryn said with a shrug. Jace's eyes grew huge. "He wanted my head and thought Kepa was gone. So, Kepa and I surprised him on Caraxes. Aemond and Mother were furious that I went into battle and that he was in on it, and it was made worse when Baratheon almost killed me."

"He almost killed you?" Jace exclaimed as he sat up. He hissed in pain before flopping back on the pillows.

"Keep your ass still, Jace. He didn't, obviously, but Kepa and Aemond kind of got into a fight after."

"Where are they now?"

Aemeryn shrugged. Aemond had left long before she had woken up, and her mother informed her that she hadn't seen him since last night.

"Mother and Kepa went to get the boys from Harrenhal. As for Aemond, I have to find him. Baela and Rhaena are here, so you won't be alone," Aemeryn said as she kissed his forehead before walking to the door. Baela was still pacing the hallway where Aemeryn had left her and smiled when Aemeryn pointed to Jace over her shoulder. Baela ran in and slammed the door, and Aemeryn let out a small laugh.

She walked to her chambers fairly quickly and changed into her riding leathers even quicker. There was someone she needed to speak with before they left, and she hoped that she hadn't missed them already. Aemeryn didn't bother with putting her hair in a braid as she ran from her chambers and down the stairs.