The Silver Dragon | Aemond Targaryen x Royce!OC

The Beach

The dining room at High Tide seemed warmer that evening, more inviting.

Before, Arianwyn had only noticed the imposing pointed spires of the chairs and how the ashy wood of the table seemed to enhance the cold stone of the walls – a coldness reflected in her father's eyes.

Now, as Arianwyn entered the room along with the queen and Helaena, warm yellow candlelight filled the room, along with the voices of the gathered crowd. Having spent their tears at the funeral and subsequent reception earlier in the day, the family had moved on to cautious nostalgia. They still held each other for comfort – whether through embraces, joined hands, or arms around shoulders – but rather than sharing their woes, they instead told stories of joy.

As she moved through the crowd, Arianwyn heard tale after tale of Lady Laena. Of her prowess as a dragonrider, claiming Vhagar, the largest dragon in the world, when she was only thirteen. Of how she had skillfully maneuvered the massive beast in careful dances with Caraxes, awing the royalty and nobility of Pentos. She heard of Laena's warmth and grace, how she charmed everyone she met within mere moments. She heard of her deep love for her daughters and how, in her final days, she had begged Daemon to let them return to Westeros to raise the girls – and their unborn child – in their true home, amongst their family.

How such a woman not only married but seemingly truly loved Daemon was beyond Arianwyn's understanding.

Still, Arianwyn listened with great interest to the stories of her late stepmother until the party was finally called to eat. Thankfully, Arianwyn was placed on the opposite end of the table as her father. The entire Velaryon family – including Princess Rhaenyra and her children – took the seats surrounding the head of the table, where Lord Corlys himself sat. For any other lord, the consequences would have been severe for setting the king and his family so far down the table, but Viserys had always given the Sea Snake an unusual amount of grace.

Arianwyn was comfortably seated at the opposite end of the table, among those she considered her own: the king and queen, Aemond and Helaena, and even Aegon and Otto Hightower. If she focused enough on the conversation surrounding her, she could almost forget anyone else was there.

Nevertheless, whenever she slipped into that sense of security and belonging, she was inevitably torn back to reality by Daemon laughing at the other end of the table. Arianwyn quickly decided that it was her least favorite sound in the world.

After one particularly infuriating bout of laughter from Daemon toward the end of the meal, as someone at his end of the table was telling a gruesome war story, Aemond reached out to place his hand on Arianwyn's wrist.

-

Aemond had not seen her since the reception that afternoon. Nor had his mother told him anything about the meeting with Daemon, but from the hardened look on Aria's face and the slight tinge of red around the rims of her eyes, he knew it had not gone well.

She froze at his touch, turning to look at him for the first time that evening.

He offered her a weak smile, but when she did not return it, his smile fell, and his stomach dropped. "What did he say to you, Aria?"

"Not much," she grimaced through her answer, dragging her fork through what remained of the pale pink frosting that had covered her dessert. "Nothing kind."

Aemond dropped his hand. "I'm sorry," was all he could think to say. His own father had not shown much interest in his younger children since the birth of Rhaenyra's sons, but at least Viserys acknowledged them – to a small degree – and he was never cruel to them. Aemond could not imagine living without a father for so long, only to have him be unkind when he finally showed his face.