Led By Fiery Passion (currently being revised)

Part 14

Walking through the cold, stone halls of Dragonstone, Aenyra made her way toward the maester's chambers, her shoulder still stinging from the wound Daemon had left during their training. Her footsteps echoed softly—until she felt it. A presence behind her. Eyes watching.

"I saw you," came a voice from the shadows. "You and Daemon."

She froze. The voice was familiar, distant—detached.

Jacaerys stepped forward into the dim torchlight, his expression unreadable.

"And?" Aenyra drawled, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in her voice. "Did you like what you saw?"

She rolled her eyes and continued walking, but before she could take another step, a hand suddenly gripped her left arm—right below her injured shoulder.

"What the—let go of me!" she snapped, the pain making her wince as she tried to wrench herself free.

Jacaerys was taller now, stronger than she remembered, but he hadn't trained like she had. Without hesitation, she twisted sharply, breaking free of his hold. In one swift motion, she turned the momentum against him, pinning his arm behind his back.

"Don't touch me, Jace," she warned coldly before shoving him away.

He stumbled slightly but recovered quickly, the look in his eyes shifting from surprise to frustration.

"What is it you even want?" she snapped. "Did you finally grow a conscience? Feeling guilty for treating me like I'm nothing for the past year?"

She folded her arms, her wounded shoulder aching with the motion, but she didn't let it show. Not in front of him.

Jacaerys's jaw tightened. "You're doing it for him, aren't you?"

She blinked. "What?"

"All this training. Pushing yourself. Letting Daemon cut you up like that." His voice was low and tight. "It's about him."

Her eyes narrowed. "And if it is?"

"Then you're a fool."

Aenyra let out a dry, bitter laugh. "Maybe so, but at least I'm  not a coward."

Jacaerys gritted his teeth, his fists clenched tight at his sides.

"Oh,sweet clueless Jacaerys," Aenyra said mockingly, tilting her head as her voice dripped with sarcasm. "First of all, not every decision I make revolves around Aemond. And second—sure, maybe it started that way... but it's not about him anymore."

She stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. "I'm doing this for me. So that no one—not even you—can stand in my way if it ever comes to that."

The tension between them thickened. Her words were sharp, but there was pain threaded beneath every syllable.

All this time... barely a word from you. And now this? I never wronged you, Jace. If anything, you're the one who should be explaining yourself.

Aenyra let out a short scoff and shook her head.

And with that, she walked away, boots echoing off the stone corridor—leaving him frozen in place, jaw clenched, mouth parted, and not a single word left to say.

————-

Rhaenyra

Rhaenyra paced their chambers, one hand pressed protectively to the swell of her belly, the other clenched at her side. Her heart was still pounding from what she'd seen earlier—fresh stitches on Aenyra's arm, the skin swollen and angry, yet her daughter had spoken of it with such unsettling casualness.