"Prisoner" was the word that replayed in Alicent's head incessantly. On a morning made hectic by the arrival of her father, the Queen Mother kept rereading the piece of paper sent by Rhaenyra's courts. It was written in her own hand, Alicent recognised it. She already knew what Otto would say, that it was a trick. And she already knew that Rhaenyra had presented nothing to prove Aemond's presence. Still, Alicent clung to the only official testimony she had been given. Everything else was hearsay, too much like what Rhaenyra seemed to confirm. Aemond was at Dragonstone, Vhagar was missing, and Luke had been rescued. She could also believe the lack of proof because Daemon was still at Harrenhal, and he was the only one in that family to be able to send sadistic proof that they had him. So she was both relieved and nervous, seeing that they hadn't sent her any fingers, or ears, or who knows what else they deemed necessary. If he was locked up, at least he was in one piece. How Luke could have survived was a mystery.
"Mother," Helaena called softly. "The Grandsire is already here."
When she looked at her, Helaena had both hands folded beneath her growing belly. Everyone had only discovered it a few days ago, when her dress had seemed to grow tighter around her body. The maester inspected her immediately, surprised that the Queen had not complained. Helaena just shrugged, saying that she didn't want to alarm anyone with the news, and that it wasn't something she was really happy about. It was her second pregnancy, but it would be her third child. Alicent couldn't be angry with her, though everyone seemed to expect it. Aegon got drunk in her honor as soon as the news was told, and that night Alicent and Helaena slept together, leaving Aegon to find his wife's bed empty when he returned from his private banquet.
"Come with me, my love."
They walked hand in hand, only the mother was in a hurry. All the guards surrounded her, as if she walked ready to assassinate Otto or to shout historically against anyone who did not go in search of Aemond. She once acted like that, but Alicent will never be ashamed of doing everything she could to save her son, never again.
In the throne room, Aegon sat more asleep than awake. He wasn't even wearing his crown, and Alicent chalked it up to the early hour. Across from the King, and ready to give him a good slap to wake him up, stood Otto Hightower. He smiled at both women, and only Helaena gave him a hug. Father and daughter exchanged tense glances.
"I suppose you must have gotten the news at the same time we did?" commented Otto, of course, displaying an exaggerated amount of confidence.
"She says she's going to kill Aemond if we don't surrender the throne." Alicent's voice was trying to be calm, but still the veins in his neck were starting to show.
"And what proof do you have that it's true?"
"I WILL NOT LET MY SON'S LIFE BE AT RISK FOR LACK OF PROOF!" she shouted at last.
And what Otto did was to grab her roughly by the arm and drag her out of the room. It wasn't the first time he had treated her like this. From a distance, he might look like a father grabbing his unruly child by the arm to give her a reprimand. But up close, Otto squeezed Alicent to the point of bruising, and if she resisted, she received an even harder and more humiliating shove. Alicent knew the lesson by now and walked wordlessly to another room.
In the quiet of the Keep's library, where hardly anyone visited at the time, Otto sighed as he looked at Alicent, pulling himself together. He thought about the words he should surely use, the way he had to manipulate her. It was getting harder and harder for him, she didn't see her father's ambitious spirit clearly before, but Alicent was beginning to think that her children, the ones he appealed to in order to bring out all of Alicent's fury, were nothing more than puppets giving him a reason to stay relevant.
