A Dance Of Scales And Shadows | Aemond Targaryen x OC

Part 14 - The Moments of Stillness

If it had been up to Aemond, he would have carried her up to her room, but as she felt better, she walked herself.

Gentle chatter accompanied them as they walked up the staircase. The guards, maids, servants, and even the cooks peeked to see her. Usually, she would have enjoyed the attention, but not today due to her terrible state.

"We are glad to see you are well, Princess," said Lord Tyland Lannister, to which Aika just nodded slightly.

Aegon was waiting in Aika's chamber when the two entered. Aika gave him a gentle smile as she sat in one of the armchairs under the blue curtains. Aegon sat close to her on a nearby sofa, while Aemond stood looking out of the windows.

"Heard you got so well that you even ran today," started Aegon but soon realized it wasn't appropriate to joke, "Well, so what happened?" he asked in a serious tone.

"Starlight died," Aemond replied instead of Aika.

Everyone was silent for a minute. Aegon looked at Aika, inspecting her bandages. Her neck was wrapped in bandages, as was her right hand. It wasn't visible, but he knew her whole waist was bandaged as well.

"And who did THIS to you?" he asked sternly. "I should send assassins to Dragonstone to deal with Jace and..."

"No, Aegon, Jace helped me to escape," Aika said, placing her hand on top of his. The gesture softened his temper, "I just didn't expect to run into Daemon and Caraxes."

Aemond's hand clenched into a fist as she recounted what happened.

"... I didn't want to be a prisoner, so I made that decision," she explained. Silence enveloped them once again.

"The Queen, the Hand of the King, and Queen Alicent are here," soon was heard from outside the door.

"Let them in," Aika ordered and stood up, while Aegon stayed seated.

Once they entered, Helaena ran toward her and carefully hugged her sister. The twins followed their mother and hugged Aika's legs tightly. She adored her nieces, once Heleana pulled away from the hug she kneeled to get a good look at them. 

"We heard the news about Starlight; it's very tragic," Alicent said.

"Truly tragic. Who knew reckless decisions would lead to such tragedies for us," said Otto, and Aegon glared at him as if ready to throw daggers, "Now we are one dragon short against them."

"If you are here for notations, you can leave," Aemond said harshly, still looking out the window.

Otto sighed deeply, seeing that none of his grandchildren were as foresighted as he had hoped.

"Thank the Seven you came back without lethal injuries," Alicent said sincerely, her eyes filled with emotion.

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

As Aika's maids finished helping her into her nightgown, Aemond paid one more visit to his sister.

"I wanted to make sure you were well," he said. Now he was in more comfortable clothes than his usual leather attire.

"I feel better," Aika replied.

Her hair gleamed under the moonlight and her eyes shone like amethysts. Aemond wished he could admire her for a bit longer.

"They said you stayed here most of the time while I was unconscious," Aika said.

He nodded in agreement.

"Stay here for tonight as well," she said, his eyes widening in surprise.