The unwanted princess - H.o.D.

Infighting

Surprisingly, Aegon was nice enough to talk to when he wanted to be and, after the awkward tension between them disappeared after their talk a few hours before, they ended up sharing some water - Valora's insistence of course, even if Aegon had tried to persuade her for a bit of wine - and talking to one another for hours. It came as a shock to both the children involved, but soon, they realized they would spend quite some time together if it hadn't been for both, Ser Dalt and Ser Arryk stepping into the chambers in their usual stoic stances.

"My prince, my princess." Aegon's sworn protector spoke. "The King has sent for you both."

Even more surprising than the fact that, for the first time in forever, Aegon and Valora had gotten along for more than five minutes at a time, it was the fact that, as soon as the two of them arrived at the Hall of Nine, where their father had summoned them to and where the rest of their family scrabbled like children, they found themselves wishing they could go back to Aegon's chambers and just spend the rest of the night by themselves.

"How could you allow such a thing to happen?" The King demanded of the guard, limping around the huge hall as a Maester tended to Aemond's bloodied face. "I will have answers."

From what Valora had managed to gather from the overlapping shouts of her nephews and cousins and the furious rampage of her father, it seemed like her half-brother Aemond had gotten into a fight with the other kids over the fact that he had, apparently, claimed Vhagar to himself and gotten a knife to the eye for it.

"The princes were supposed to be abed, My King." One of the Rhaenyra's boys' knights said.

"Who had the watch?" The king demanded.

"The young prince was attacked by his own cousins, Your Grace." Ser Criston said.

"You swore oaths to protect and defend my blood!" Viserys raged.

"I'm very sorry, Your Grace." Ser Westerling said. "The Kingsguard has never had to defend princes from princes, Your Grace."

"That is no answer!"

Before the king Viserys could continue with his rant, a very worried Alicent spoke, from her placed perched beside her younger boy.

"It will heal, will it not, maester?" She asked, her voice trembling with emotion.

"The flesh will heal." The Maester said, still stitching up the ugly wound on Aemond's face. "But the eye is lost, Your Grace."

Alicent let out a shaky breath then, spinning in her heels, beside herself. She set her eyes on Aegon then, and pushing her way past the guards to make her way over to where he and Valora stood off to the side, she marched up to her eldest.

"Where were you?" She demanded, as Aegon widened his eyes in shock.

"Me?" He asked. Alicent raged, her hand coming down to smack against Aegon's cheek as Valora gasped. "Ow! What was that for?"

"That was nothing compared to the abuse your brother suffered while you were drowning in your cups, you fool." She said, as Valora frowned.

"The prince was with me when it happened, your grace." She said, her voice low but no less sure. "We were not drinking."

Alicent turned to her head to look at her then and Valora was sure she was stunned to have been address at all, much less for having Valora of all people standing up for Aegon. But before she could say much else, Lord and Lady Velaryon walked in, running straight toward their granddaughters while Rhaenyra followed closely behind, after Jace and Luke.

"Luke!" The princess cried as she reached over to her son, who extended an arm to show her a cut there. "Show me. Show me."

Luke sniffled and that seemed to have been enough to Rhaenyra.