Lady Arianwyn Targaryen, Lady of Runestone, was not born of love. Nor passion. Nor even a sense of duty. She was seeded by her father, the Rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen, in an act of unbridled hatred, and borne of her mother, the late Lady Rhea Royc...
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Arianwyn hardly made it out of Maegor's Holdfast before her legs failed her, and she collapsed against a wall, frozen in her fear. She hung her head between her knees as she dragged a hand through her hair, not caring when she thoroughly dismantled the braided bun Baela had created no more than an hour earlier.
How had everything gone so wrong?
Only minutes ago, she had been sitting with Aemond, her hand on his thigh and his eye on her lips, feeling as though nothing else mattered.
Now, she was sure it would be the last time she saw him smile for a long while, if not forever. Daemon would not forgive his words nor how he had easily dispatched Jace, and certainly not his open display of affection towards her. Her father would do everything in his power to keep them apart. Even when she was of age, he would fight against her happiness with everything he had.
"Aria!" Aemond's voice echoing through the hall stopped her from spiraling further into paranoia and despair. She stood to grab onto him as he crashed into her, holding her tight to his chest as though he would never let her go.
His voice strained with desperation as he whispered into her hair. "Aria, I am so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just got so angry, and I should have known better. I should have..."
Arianwyn shook her head into his chest, failing to stop his blustering as he pressed kiss after kiss onto her hair.
"I won't let him hurt you, I promise. I'll stand guard outside your bedchamber myself. I'll – "
"Aemond, please, I have to tell you something."
"Anything, Aria."
"I..." she held back her tears just long enough to bite out, "I'm leaving. Tonight."
Silence.
It had not felt real until it left her lips, she realized. The child still in her that had once loved reading fairy tales with Aemond was hoping for some kind of miracle, something to give her a happy ending and take away all her fears. Even as she packed her bag with Brynna and practiced opening the hidden door again and again until she knew exactly where to press the keystone, it felt like a faraway dream.
It had not been real until Aemond knew.
He stared at the wall, blinking furiously. "You said you wouldn't leave me again."
She pulled away, gazing up at him with eyes full of determination and regret. "I don't want to, Aemond. Please believe me. But I must."
"Daemon is forcing you back to Dragonstone? When did he – "
"It is not that, Aemond." She shook her head, unable to find the words to explain.
"Then why?" It sounded almost like an accusation.
"Because Daemon will never allow me to stay here, and I would rather die than return to Dragonstone."
Aemond went unnaturally still, his eye focused and intense like a gathering storm. He raised a hand to Arianwyn's cheek, his hold at once firm and gentle. "Aria... where are you going?"
