The Snow Princess - Aemond Targaryen

Forty Eight

Alyarra Stark had never felt such a sense of utter doom as staggering as she did when she learned that King's Landing had fallen to Rhaenyra and Daemon. It was a possibility all along, she knew that but still nobody was prepared for it. She was not prepared to hear her handmaiden say those words.

She was not sure what it meant, or what would happen then.

Was the war over?

Was Aegon dead? Alicent? Helaena? The kids? Sweet Maelor?

Alyarra was worried out of her mind as she rushed down the Harrenhal corridors and into it's Great Hall, but Aemond was not there. Alyarra was hyperventilating as she then rushed to the courtyard where she assumed Aemond was.

Her mind was reeling, she was so worried for everyone, so scared for her own self and for her son. Was she now a traitor to the Crown? If they imprisoned her, would she be executed?

Alyarra happened upon the doors that led to the courtyard, they were closed with three guards standing in front of them.

"Why are they closed?" Alyarra asked the men, who remained silent in their stance. She then heard screaming and crying coming from outside and she felt her heart drop. "Open the doors!" She ordered desperately.

One of the guards turned to her with a hardened expression on his face. "The Prince Regent ordered for all doors and entrances to the castle be locked and guarded." He said stoicly, a statement which made Alyarra confused and even more paranoid than before. Would the Blacks come for them?

"Where is the Prince Regent?" She questioned the guard, who simply looked away from Alyarra and retook his stance guarding the doors. She could still hear screaming and crying coming from outside, and with each second that passed she grew more desperate and worried. "What is happening?!" She asked frantically, only for the guards to say nothing in return.

Alyarra found herself trembling, shaking, at the thought of the Blacks coming for them. They would come for Aemond and for his child, she was sure. "Open the doors." Alyarra said shakily.

Silence. "Open the fucking doors now! Tis an order!" She frantically screamed, losing every single bit of self control she had in her body. The uncertainty was eating her alive, she needed to find Aemond— needed him to tell her that all would be okay.

"We only take orders from the Prince Regent, and his were loud and clear. No one goes in or out until he says otherwise." One of the other guards answered sternly. Alyarra looked between the three men and took a deep breath, trying to build the courage to stand up to them.

"Open the doors!" She ordered once more, but they would not even turn to her. They remained unmoving, which only made her spiral deeper into desperation. "I... I will pay you each fifty golden dragons if you open the doors..." She offered the guards, a statement that made each of them turn to her.

One of them, the biggest of the three, raised a brow at the woman before him. "How could we know you truly will pay us?" He asked her.

"There has never been a Stark who forgot an oath. Believe me." She answered quickly, a statement that garnered a chuckle from the guards. "Fifty five golden dragons each." He countered and instantly she nodded her head in agreement.

The big guard nodded to the other two guards, and they both stood aside, opening the doors for her dubiously. She held her breath as the courtyard doors were opened for her, but as she walked outside— she instantly wished that she had not pressed the guards so much.

She felt her heart stop as she looked around the yard with wide, fearful eyes. The scene was one that Alyarra would never forget, one that would hunt her for the rest of her life. Aemond stood tall with his back facing her, wearing his war armor— in his hand he held his favorite sword. Next to her husband stood Criston Cole, watching as Aemond brought his sword down upon a boy, a child.