the bear and the dragon fair - hotd au.

act one; part two: ghosts in the night.

content warning: while no explicit SA happens on screen, it is heavily implied, and a character dissociates because of it. proceed with this in mind.

By Aemond's insistence, his 13th name day was a small affair. Usually, royal celebrations were grand feasts, parties that carried late into the night, fanciful hunts into the Kingswood, all just too much grandeur for his tastes. A small mercy of being a second son, he was able to push for a small family dinner and was even able to convince Mother to go flying with him around the city earlier that morning. Now, Gwyn sat at his right hand, where Daeron would usually sit (Aemond had been sent a sweet letter and a carved dragon from Oldtown a few days before, all scrawled in the shaky handwriting of a 9-year-old), and had given him a new longsword, all bright and shiny with a bear tooth embedded in the pommel. Helaena sat at his left, baby Jaehaerya in her lap cooing at him, and the caged scorpion his sister gave him sat plenty out of reach of a baby's hands. Mother had been smiling fondly at him from the head of the table, the necklace that matched the one gifted to him glinting on her neck, and Father had even bothered to acknowledge him, gifting him a cyvasse set, which Aemond graciously neglected to mention had been the same one given to him a year prior. An ornate set of riding leathers from Grandsire, shiny new daggers from Ser Cole, even Rhaenyra had sent a tapestry that privately, Aemond thought she simply dug up from the stores of Dragonstone simply for courtesy's sake, but he'll take it.

The only one missing was Aegon. Aegon, who had been out of the keep since midday, and hadn't spoken a word to Aemond all day. He tried not to be disappointed. Aegon was a new father, the true heir, it was irrational and immature for Aemond to expect him to drop his duties to be at his name day. The duties that get shoved off on you, or Mother, or Grandsire every day? A quiet voice hissed inside him, almost sounding like Vhagar's deep trills. He dismissed it. It mattered not. Cole was now leaning on the back of his chair, admiring the sword Gwyn had given him, their conversation flowing around him like water. He chewed on his pinky nail, glancing to make sure Mother wasn't looking. She hated seeing his nails, all pink and chewed to the quick, and he hated doing it, indulging in such a shameful display of a habit he couldn't break. But it was the only reprieve he had from the throb of his eye socket in the open air. The maesters had to return to remove the useless lid, and the wound was too fresh to wear the patch over, leaving it as visible and painful as a brand. He shoved his hands under his thighs and turned to Helaena.

Jaehaera gurgled, reaching for him, making Aemond smile despite himself. The twins were only a few months old and did little else but warble and sleep in the way of most infants. He was too young to remember Daeron this young, and it was surprisingly nice to be an uncle. Helaena smiled back at him, bouncing her leg. "Could you take her? Just for a moment?" She asked, voice quiet. Nodding, he quickly finds himself with arms full of chubby fists reaching for his hair.

"Where are you going?" By now, he knew oftentimes the chatter and heat of gatherings got to his sister easily, but he liked to think he'd gotten good at recognizing when she was reaching her limit. She fussed with the scorpion's glass box on the table ("An ivory wyrm, from Yi Ti", Helaena had whispered to him earlier,) before standing, smoothing her skirts.

"Aegon's still not back," She said pointedly as if the lack of wine stink wasn't enough of a giveaway, "he was supposed to help with Jaehaerys." The other babe was held by a wet nurse on the other side of the room, a woolen dragon being danced in front of his eyes as he cooed and squealed. Aemond looked at him, then back to Helaena, who was already slinking out the door. Jaehaera squirmed in his arms, looking at Gwyn over his shoulder, and leaving Aemond to helplessly watch the hem of his sister's dress disappear around the doorway.