The Death of War

Chapter 8

Visenya and Aemond talk about what she discovered. Aria is still trying to kill her father. I hope you guys like it. 🥰

Visenya had trouble accepting what the younger version of her husband had said to her. She had never believed that the man she loved would be capable of harming her brother and sister, but then he was not the man she loved. The Aemond from the other world was an angry and lonely man, he had been shaped by the people in his life and by the actions of others. She could see the hurt, the anger, and the self-doubt from leagues away. She also understood why Rheanyra hated him, why the woman could barely look at him sometimes. She could not blame her, Visenya had done terrible things to those who had attempted to hurt her family. But then, she had never been forced to fight against her own blood. Even her grandsire Viserys had been allowed to live his life in luxury in the Red Keep, even after everything he had done to her mother and father.

Visenya could not imagine what would happen if someone were to tell her that her husband had killed her brother or sister, just thinking about it made her chest tightened.

It seemed like Rhaenyra and Aemond's resentment had been brewing and growing for years. Each action they had taken pushed them farther away from each other, farther away from becoming a family and being able to have an amicable relationship. Aemond had listened to his mother and hated his sister, while Rhaenyra's hate for Alicent had been so strong she had ignored her siblings completely and decided to act like they did not exist. The gods had been very clear in what they expected, the three people had been sent to this world to learn. What could they teach them? As far as she could tell the damage had been done. How was she supposed to ask Rhaenyra to forgive the man who had killed her son?

"Are you going to tell me why you have been pacing for the past hour?" Her husband seemed to be tired of watching her walk from one side of the room to the other. "You have not said a word since you returned from the gardens."

"If someone ever hurt our children would you forgive them?" He frowned at the question and Visenya twisted one of her rings around her finger. "If someone from our family was to blame for one of our children's deaths, would you ever be able to forgive them?"

He did not answer immediately. Her husband was a very wise man, he always knew when to take his time before answering a question or when to give her the answer she wanted to hear. He stared at her and just blinked for a few minutes.

"I do not know. If you were to ask me right now, I would say no." He stood up and moved closer to her. "But there are also other things to consider, and as you are well aware of, dealing with family is hard and complicated. Nothing is ever just black and white."

"How am I supposed to ask a mother to forgive the man who killed her child?" She had been asking herself that question since the other Aemond had told her what he had done. "What moral ground do I have to ask her to do something so hard? I ended an entire family line because they hurt my daughter and brother." The thing she feared the most was what the gods would do to all of them should they fail. "And he is not even asking for forgiveness, he makes no apologies for what he has done."

"Do you want him to ask for forgiveness?" Aemond sounded calm, which she was not at the moment. "Does he even think he needs forgiveness?"

"Why would he not think it? He killed his nephew." Visenya attempted to pace some more, but her husband took her hands in his. "He is you, he cannot be so hateful."

"That is what is truly bothering you, is it not?" Aemond's smile was gentle and he ran a finger over the side of her face. "You are afraid that I could become that way someday, that I would be able to harm Aegon and Aemma."