I Just Pray For Your Fall ||| Cregan Stark

eighteen

If you saw this the first time, no you didn't.

(I meant to save it as a draft but was sleep deprived)

Amara thought the exhaustion and fatigue that crept into her body after the petitions at court would subside once she had rest. But the pain in her, especially her belly did not subside. She was sick after all, expelling what she had for breakfast the first time the image of Vaemond's body flashed in her mind again.

She hated King's Landing.

When Aemond came to Amara in the evening, he told her about a family dinner with the least amount of enthusiasm she'd ever seen. "Father wishes for us to play family again. He has invited all of his children and grandchildren to have dinner together. He has extended the invitation to you as well. She is carrying my grandchild, she is part of this family." He imitated his father's dulcet tone to tell Amara what King Viserys said about her being invited to have dinner.

Amara did try. She tried to stand, to think about having dinner in a room full of Targaryens and Velaryons she didn't know. But the thought alone made her woozy and imagining having to eat dinner in those circumstances made her queasy. Worse than being seen as rude and rejecting the invitation would be spewing sick on the rest of the guests at dinner.

"I do not wish to reject the invitation, but I fear I will be sick if I attend," Amara said. She rubbed a hand over the swell of her belly and blew air out of her cheeks to try and calm her stomach. "Please give your family my regards for my absence."

Aemond had been much more lenient in his treatment of Amara since she became pregnant. He was not kinder or more loving. But he seemed to understand she was growing a child and that it could be a painful and exhausting process. She had never used the child in her belly as an excuse to miss something and despite their loveless match, she did what was required when it was required. For her to miss an invitation to what was likely to be an important dinner likely meant Amara was genuinely ill.

He nodded his head to his wife and left her to rest and attend the dinner alone. Amara imagined that after the events of the day, it would be calm. What would the purpose behind making more of a mess of things be? Viserys was obviously on his way out and perhaps the family could try and make amends before Rhaenyra was to become Queen.

Even if Amara couldn't attend the dinner, she decided to plant herself in the front room of their shared quarters. She had a book in hand and sat in front of the fireplace, the heat from the crackling blaze in the hearth soothing for her exhausted body. She'd wait for Aemond's return and ask him about the dinner. If it was anything like she expected, Amara assumed Aemond would be gone the majority of the evening.

***

She was extremely incorrect in all of her assumptions about that night. Aemond's return wasn't quiet in the middle of the night. Much sooner than Amara would have expected, she helped in surprise when the door to their quarters shot open, slamming against the wall before Aemond grabbed it and slammed it shut. The anger was simmering off of him in waves when he walked in, fists clenched by his sides and features set.

Amara's heart lodged itself somewhere in her esophagus at the noise and commotion of his return. The book fell from her hands and she found speed she didn't know she possessed to stand from where she'd been sitting.

"Are you alright?" Amara asked. It was a genuine question, one not born of malice or mockery. Aemond glanced at her but shook his head and made to walk past her. "What happened?" Amara had a feeling the question was futile. She was proven right when without a word, Aemond retreated to his chambers and left her alone in the sitting room.