A Dance Of Scales And Shadows | Aemond Targaryen x OC

Part 31 - The Prince That Was Promised

The sun hadn't even risen when Aemond woke Aika with a kiss on her temple. Once her eyes opened, she noticed his battle attire.

"Are you already leaving?" she asked, sitting up and pulling him to sit in front of her.

"Yes, I couldn't leave without saying goodbye," he replied calmly.

She softly caressed his cheek.

"Do you really care about who sits on the throne?" Aika asked.

"I don't," he replied, "but I should win against Daemon."

Then he took Aika's hand and placed a dagger in it. She recognized it immediately—the Valyrian dagger that belonged to the Conqueror and to their father.

"I took this from Aegon," Aemond explained. "May it stay with you until we meet again."

Aika immediately fell into his embrace. Was Aemond thinking of this as his last battle, or was she overthinking things?

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Aika sat in her room, the fire crackling brightly in the fireplace. The dagger rested in her hand as she examined it from every angle.

The prophecy written on the dagger, King Viserys had told her.

She knelt before the fire, holding the dagger over the flames. A faint writing in Valyrian appeared on the blade:

"From my blood will come the Prince That Was Promised, and his will be the Song of Ice and Fire."

Viserys believed in prophecies, and so did Rhaenyra...

"I am sorry father," she said to herself, "I won't let a prophecy to cost me someone I love..."

Next, she pulled the dagger from the fire and used it to cut a lock of her hair, tossing it into the flames. It burned instantly. 

Suddenly, a loud horn sounded from afar, signaling an alarm across the keep. The signal could only mean one thing—Rhaenyra and her troops had arrived at the city gates.

Aika brought the dagger back to her hair, her fingers tightening around its handle. With a swift motion, she sliced through the strands again and tossed them into the fire.

She stood, watching as her locks curled in the flames, blackened, and disappeared into ash. Then she turned and walked toward the mirror. Her hair, now shoulder-length, felt lighter. She placed the dagger in its scabbard, then hurried toward the door.

She was about to leave when Alicent ran after her.

"Aika, where are you going?" Alicent called, trying to stop her.

"I'm leaving," Aika exclaimed.

"No, you can't leave! If you do—"

"Right, because you promised Aegon to Rhaenyra, and now he's gone," Aika said, glad to have gotten him out of the picture.

"Your brothers' surrender is the only way out—the only way we could live," Alicent pleaded.

"I don't want to live without Aemond. How can you not understand that?" Aika's voice trembled with pain.

"Aika!" Alicent tried again to stop her.

"I refuse to become a prisoner and a burden to Aemond," Aika said, remembering how she had once said the same thing to Daemon before falling into the abyss. "And I refuse to accept peace in a world without him!"

With that, she stormed out of the castle, not once looking back.

The streets were filled with chaos and terror, but to her benefit, no one recognized her as she nearly ran toward her destination.

When she reached the Dragonpit, the city bells rang, signaling the surrender. 

"Your highness, the city surrendered," one of the dragonkeepers tried to stop her entry.

"And I wish to die elsewhere," she moved passed him, "keep the central gate open or else I won't spare any of you," she commanded as she entered the dark tunnel leading to her dragon.

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