The Love of a Dragon

Part 27

Aegon's Pov,
Some Time Later, 

Walking through the king's wood a lot of huffing and puffing is being heard behind me. "Why could we not have taken our dragons........ it would have been a lot faster." Aegon mumbles and I place my arm around his shoulders. 

"You do know that there are people who walk this probably almost 10 times every day, to get water or some food. So you can walk a bit to where we need to be." I say and he puffs his cheeks out. 

"Why are we even here anyways."  


"What does it matter? You should be glad the king wishes to make time for us." Aemond counters making a chuckle leave my lips. "We are here to camp and hunt for a few days." 

"Hunt with girls? They can't hunt." 


"Yes I can!" Baela's quick to follow up Aegon's comment and truly what did I get myself into, going comping with the six of them.  "Either way I can teach you, but we didn't just come here to hunt and camp." I say and it makes five heads turn in my direction while Helaena is looking in the direction of a butterfly. 

"What else did we come here for?" Baela asks me with a frown as I come to a stop by the river and the place where we will set up camp for the upcoming days. "That's something to talk about later, for now we will set up camp." 

"We? Don't we have servants for that?" 

"Do you see any servants around you?" I counter and Aegon looks around before shaking his head. "No." 

"That's what I thought, so we are all setting up camp together." 

..........................

Gathered around the fire with the children, I gaze upwards at the sky and the moon, feeling Daeron lean his head against me, prompting me to encircle him with one arm. "There's a matter I need to discuss with you all," I begin, my eyes returning to my children, "but it must remain confidential for now."

"Keep it secret?" Baela inquires, to which I respond with a firm nod. "Yes, it must stay just among us," I affirm, as the fire punctuates my words with its intermittent crackling, and they all give their silent nods of understanding.

"We promise." Aemond says making me take a deep breath. "Often times when people are born into positions of power there are people who think we can do whatever we wish, wed whoever we want. But the truth that comes with our position is that we have to chose what's best for other people above what we want ourselves." I start as I look around me at them. 

"Many times we marry people for a lot of reasons beside that of lov-"

"S-so you didn't love mom?" Rhaena asks me in shock with wide eyes and I pull her closer to me. "I loved your mother very much, and I wish she could have stayed with us for a lot longer than she did......... I will always love your mother, she was my wife and my queen." I say before pressing a kiss to the side of her head. 

"But that didn't mean I did not hold love for another in my heart, I loved her before I loved Laena and I would have taken her to wife if I could have." 


"Why didn't you, you're the king you can do whatever you want." Aegon says and I shake my head. "I wasn't king yet and before I could speak out about me wishing to wed her, she was promised to another man. Either way in the eyes of the council she would not have been a good match for me, she's the daughter of a secondborn son who would inherited nothing and could offer me nothing." I start as his eyes are on me and a frown appears on it.

"Laena her father is Hand of the King and Lord of Driftmark, he holds the largest fleet and Laena was born out of pure Valyrian blood...... she could give me coin, ships, dragons. And so as King I decided to wed Laena, while I still remained close with the woman who had given me a son and a daughter by that time." I say and I see eyes widen.