It passed too quickly, and the trees were so long that they could not follow the dragon's direction with a mere glance. Its colour had not been visible either, and its roar was unfamiliar to Luke. It seemed a little larger in size than Arrax. He had Aemond fairly close when they heard the roar, and left him behind as he began to run. He ran in the direction the dragon had taken, turning his head every few seconds to see if he could find it in the air, but the trees were still tall and there was no more roar to follow. Still, Luke felt his body urging him to keep running, with a feeling of desperation, wishing he had the option of going home.
He was stopped abruptly. Aemond didn't push him, but he held him so tightly that his feet stopped in moments and he almost fell from the speed, falling into Aemond as well. He didn't, Aemond kept his balance for both of them.
"What are you doing? We have to follow him!" shouted Luke. He was trying to get out of his arms, but it was impossible.
"No, we're not going to catch him no matter how hard we run, Lucerys!" He let him loose, as they both caught their breath. "He's a dragon, whoever he belongs to has only one destination to go to."
The castle, he has to go to the castle. That didn't take away from the fact that they needed to get there as quickly as possible. If they were quick, there was a good chance the rider hadn't left yet. Something told Luke that luck would be on his side, and that dragon would belong to Jace. And he couldn't wait a single second to see him again.
"We have to go, whoever it is, they'll recognise us!"
"I know, and I want to get there soon too, but we have to stay close and you just ran off. I was about to lose track of you, you cunt!"
Thus began Aemond to sound like the Aemond who wanted to rip his eye out in Storm's End. In a voice that hovered between irritation and arrogance. Nor had he missed the opportunity to insult him, something he hadn't done for days. It didn't take him long to link that face back to the death of his beloved Arrax, and his stomach turned. All the words he could say to him turned to ashes on his tongue, and Luke lost all desire to talk to Aemond. He merely looked at him as he started walking forward again.
~
That look again. The look of hatred and disgust that he had given him numerous times since returning from Dragonstone. Maybe it was because of his words, maybe he had gone too far with it. Still, he would not apologise. That roar had just reminded Aemond of what he really was, a true Targaryen. And the mission he had to accomplish was to win the war, to drive Luke and his entire family from the Throne, for they were nothing but bastards. They might have lived through days of cordiality, and he might even have grown strangely fond of Lucerys, but realistically, it must have been exhaustion and loneliness.
How, then, could Aemond shake off the pang of grief that crossed his chest at that look? He was a child, incapable of doing a single thing right, and Aemond was being too supportive, saving his ass whenever he needed it. When they found out who the dragon was, when they came face to face with its rider, the truce would end, he was sure. If he had to choose who he wanted to see on that dragon, Aemond hoped it would be Jace, because he was incapable of killing him, at least not directly. And also, so Luke would go home. He had no wish to see Lucerys die; Aemond knew he would never get any pleasure out of it, not at this point. He was sure Aegon would never have found time to rescue his brother, he'd be too busy with his drunken, fornicating duties. And Daeron... he doubted it would be Daeron, surely Alicent wouldn't want him flying around Westeros knowing there was war, and with the Blacks having a greater number of dragons. Nor did he expect Helaena, as much as his heart desired it. It wouldn't be Helaena for the same reasons it wouldn't be Daeron, not even Aemond would let her fly in those circumstances.
