the great war | hotd

1.4 - i may break

The most devastating thing Alysanne had heard all day was not the fact they were going back to Dragonstone, or that Ser Harwin would become Lord Strong in his father's absence, but it was that Aegon, Jace, and Luke had pulled an unthinkable prank on Aemond.

Mere hours before hearing this, she'd been ready to strike Aemond down to reach Jacaerys. To protect her brother, at the expense of her uncle. Now she was sad for him. Aegon was especially cruel to Aemond, forcing children into his wicked games was a specialty.

It seemed to Alysanne that the older Aegon was, the more cruel he became to others. He'd began picking on Helaena, resulting in her never coming around anymore. Alysanne did not even know if he bullied her, she never let anything get to her after Aemond stated he didn't care for Seasmoke and spat bastard upon her for the first time.

Why would she, as the heir to the iron throne, care what Alicent Hightower's children thought of her? Helaena was never mean to her, but as they aged, Helaena's ... spells began taking over, and Alysanne hated to dream of Helaena's prophecies.

It seemed when they were together, they were still a solid world and dreamworld apart. Alysanne was stuck in the now, content to let her dreams of other people be, while Helaena was stuck in a dream, fighting to come home.

"The Pink Dread!" Lucerys giggled at Jace's reenactment of the entire encounter. This had happened the previous day, but it was the first time she heard of it. A sincere frown crossed her face. "What, Aly?" Jace became more serious.

"That is cruel." She stated. "Aemond is unkind, but allowing Aegon to rope you in was foolish. You shall apologize."

"Apologize? Whatever for?" Rhaenyra asked, entering the room with the new babe cradled in her arms.

"Alysanne says we should apologize to Aemond. It twas a jest!" Jacaerys attempted to defend himself.

"The pink dread?" Rhaenyra questioned. All three of her older children gave a nod. "Alysanne is correct, my boys. It was .. unbecoming of a prince." It seemed she struggled to find the word to describe her feelings. Alysanne knew that her mother found it funny, but the Princess was always looking for ways to mend the broken family bond.

"It was Aegon's idea!" Jace said angrily.

"And if Aegon wants to feed you to Sunfyre, will you think that's a funny jest too?" Alysanne snapped back at her brother. His face fell into a frown. If only they knew.

"I'm sorry, Aly!" Luke cried, latching onto his sister.

"You must tell Aemond." She prodded, pushing her brother away from her. "I shall accompany you." She didn't particularly want to, but she knew that they would never make it there and apologize alone. She could feel the commander of the city watch hovering around the room, and ushered her brother out of the room, leaving baby Joffrey with their mother.

As she left, she could see Ser Harwin enter the room and give her a small nod of gratitude.

Jace held a frown the entire walk, and Luke tried to clutch to her skirts, bathing in guilt. He was only five years of age, but he was very sweet. Kinder than she or Jace ever were. Typically he was always on his best behavior.

She leaned against the wall, out of sight from anyone in the room, but her eyes were trained on her little brothers. Why am I here? She kept asking herself. Was it how Aemond flinched when he believed she would smack him with a wooden sword? Or now that she knew she was leaving, did she crave the broken bond they once shared? Or was it simply because her brothers were in the wrong and this was the just action to take?

Aemond opened the door, scoffing at the sight of her brothers. He attempted to close the door upon them, but Jace quickly said, "wait! We're here to apologize."