mad woman (a. targaryen)

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏

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126 AC
DRIFTMARK

                    AEMOND'S EYE HAD been wrapped with a bandage to cover the large gash of wound that had been stitched by the maester. The eye was lost, according to the maester. There was nothing that they could do but let the wound heal.

Aelys couldn't help but sniffle as a large tear dropped down her cheek. Her younger brother was hurt and she wasn't there to save him.

"Aelys, it's okay." Aemond reassured her once he noticed the tears streaming down her face.

"It's not okay, Aemond!" Aelys exclaimed. "I was supposed to be there, to protect you!"

Aemond grabbed her hand, "please do not be angry with yourself, sister. It was not your fault."

Helaena handed a cloth to the older sister who grabbed it gratefully and wiped her tears away.

"Father didn't even do anything. He was supposed to! And yet all he was concerned about was that his grandsons were called bastards." Aelys complained angrily. "He was angry over an insult but not angry that they caused this?" She gestured to Aemond's eye.

"I expected nothing from him." Aemond said bitterly.

Aelys scoffed, "are we even his children? Sometimes, I feel like we are not."

The siblings looked at her with sad smiles, even Aegon who was quietly sat beside the bed with a cup of wine. He had been their father's pride and joy when he was born, now, he was cast to the side. Sometimes, he wondered if the king regretted marrying their mother.

"Mother was right to demand a fair exchange." Aelys muttered. "An eye for an eye."

"I gained a dragon. I guess in exchange of that, I lost my eye." Aemond tried to smile to lift up their spirits but was unsuccessful.

Aelys smiled at him, "how was it? Your first flight?"

"Was she truly as large as they say?" Helaena asked curiously with a large grin.

Aemond smiled wider and began telling his siblings how he claimed the queen of the dragons. Vhagar had made her nest not far from the castle and he found her there. He told the story how he claimed the largest dragon and rode her for the first time. The feeling of flying on dragonback was indescribable, he said. For years he had longed for a dragon of his own and now he has one, and it was just not any dragon but the largest dragon in the realm.

Vhagar had been Queen Visenya's mount when Aegon I conquered Westeros. The dragon had been alive for decades and had seen different battles and lived to tell the tale. For Aemond to claim her was a great feat, one for the books.

Aelys was proud of her brother and she made sure to tell him that. Even the eldest was proud of him. None of the siblings were envious, they were all happy that their brother now had a dragon to call his own. For years, being dragonless tormented the young prince and now he claimed a dragon, proving to be a Targaryen through and through.

The siblings were ushered out of Aemond's chambers by the queen as the night grew darker. Aemond needed to rest and the maester needed to check on the wound and reapply medicine. Aelys retreated in her chambers to change out of her salty dress and rid herself of sand.