Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"DAENYS, WAKE UP! AEMOND HAS BEEN maimed, you have to get up now," Helaena pleaded, jerking her sister's unconscious body.
She blinked slowly. "What are you talking about?"
"Luke slashed Aemond's left eye during a fight," Helaena clarified, yanking the sheets away. Her stomach dropped to her feet the instant her words started to make sense in her head. "Come on! Mother told me to come and fetch you."
"Gods be good," Daenys murmured, climbing out of her bed. "How could this happen?"
"Aemond claimed Vhagar," Helaena stated, leading the way towards where the commotion had erupted. "Our cousins weren't happy about that. They believe that he stole their mother's mount. Rhaena's dragon egg never hatched, so they thought she would claim Vhagar, now that Laena has passed away. Jace, Luke, Baela and Rhaena ambushed and assaulted our brother."
"Dragons can't be stolen," Daenys commented dryly. "If that were possible, I would've already stolen Sunfyre just to spite Aegon."
"Vhagar chose him to be her new rider," she continued, ignoring the mention of her future husband's dragon. "Insults were traded, and now Aemond has closed an eye forever."
Daenys grimaced, imagining the tremendous amount of pain Aemond was going through at that moment. "I have to be there for him."
"Yes, you do," Helaena agreed. "He needs you."
No more words were exchanged during the rest of the walk to the throne room. Different voices could be heard in the corridor, but Queen Alicent's shrill screams overcame the rest. Helaena and Daenys slipped into the room without drawing attention to themselves and wandered towards their mother and Aemond. Daenys embraced her maimed brother as soon as she caught sight of him.
Much to her surprise, he didn't try to push her away. Instead, he combed his fingers through his sister's red curls and glared directly at Jacaerys to make sure that he was looking at them. He wanted that bastard to see who her biggest priority was, who Daenys would always choose first.
"It will heal, will it not, maester?" Alicent asked, staring at the man who had finished patching up Aemond's wounds. "Tell me it will heal."
"The flesh will heal," the Maester responded carefully. "But the eye is lost, Your Grace."
Aemond's grasp on Daenys grew tighter as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Alicent expelled a long, desperate breath, and aimed her frustrations at her eldest son. "Where were you?"
Aegon was dumbfounded. "Me?"
The sound of Alicent's hand colliding with his cheek made everyone in the throne room shudder.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"That was nothing compared to the abuse your brother suffered while you were drowning in your cups, you fool!" Alicent exclaimed angrily.
