To Take What Is Rightfully Ours

Chapter 29. Celebrating A Good Match

It wasn't precisely scandalous news, but everyone seemed to be aware that ever since the last birth the Queen lost most of her interest in her children. She spent the first month in seclusion, barely speaking to anyone or being seen at all. After that, she seemed to slowly return to her normal routines (with very obvious urging from her father) but her indifference to her children never really changed. The servants said that the only child Alicent spent any of her time with was Helaena. Aegon got her attention only when she wanted to reprimand him, and Aemond... well, the Queen didn't seem to acknowledge his existence at all.

Otto tried to stop these rumors from spreading but there wasn't much he could do. After all, this time they were absolutely true and Alicent did nothing to change her behavior or at least pretend that she did. Otto tried to urge her to do that a few times but she either brushed him off or blatantly ignored him.

The servants would have pitied Aemond for having such a rough start in life but it was also known that Lady Diane took the little prince under her wing. They were more frequently seen together than apart and it was rather obvious that Aemond was really attached to her.

A few days after he was born, Diane requested a cot to be put in her rooms because Aemond refused to go to sleep and constantly cried if she wasn't around. And she couldn't keep camping in the nursery because her neck started protesting against sleeping in the armchair.

'I think it, amongst other things, has something to do with your heartbeat,' Haisa said to Diane once after she performed a routine check-up on the baby. Aemond was gaining weight and behaving like any normal child was supposed to so it was safe to say that he was out of the woods. 'You held him during that night and now he probably associates the sound of your heart and a smell of you with safety.'

Diane smiled at the child in her arms, 'Well, he is not wrong. As long as he is with me, I will not let any harm come his way.'

Diane knew she was probably getting too attached but she had always been fond of kids and there was no one else to care for Aemond except the wet nurse. Don't get her wrong, Frella did a good job but it was a job to her. And Aemond needed someone to love him which was getting easier and easier for Diane to do by the day.

Did she see the irony in the fact that she named this child Aemond and then proceeded to basically adopt him? Of course, it wasn't lost on her. But she loved ironic twists in general and if this child was indeed Aemond that she had known in another timeline, then she would make fucking sure he wouldn't grow up into a miserable, jealous fucker who wasn't loved enough as a child.

Rhaenyra helped her out with a baby a lot. Mostly because she wanted to practice for when she had her own children but Diane appreciated it all the same. If Aemond was in a good mood, he wasn't against Rhaenyra holding him and his hands kept tangling in her hair which the princess found adorable. It also gave Diane a chance to have a little time for herself and, for example, have a bath without another person being constantly attached to her.

When it came to Daemon... well, he held Aemond a few times when Diane asked him to and it felt like a lot. Daemon wasn't quick to give affection to children that weren't his but he also saw how much his daughter cared for Aemond so he didn't mind being involved... a little bit. After all, he didn't interact much with Aegon and Helaena either so it wasn't unusual for him.

Diane and Rhaenyra also tried to spend more time with Aegon because the poor thing started to pick up on the change of attitude from his mother and Diane was afraid he might internalize it. Aegon was a rather kind and sensitive child (which was a surprise for Diane, considering she knew first-hand what a monster he turned out to be in another timeline), and the fact that "mommy didn't love him anymore" weighed on him. It was way too much for a four-year-old to deal with and there was nothing any of them could do to persuade Alicent to change her attitude. So Diane and Rhaenyra did their best to compensate for it and it seemed to be working. Aegon loved his older sister and Diane and always waited for them to join him and Helaena at playtime.