green lies, black hearts

XLIII

a/n ~ hi!! a few things!!
1) thank you to whoever nominated GLBH for best ongoing asoiaf fanfic in the r/asoiaffanfiction community! you can vote here: https://forms.gle/hytvWVmvj5fUwmJx6 but be sure to check out all the others too!!

2) I deeply apologize for my hiatus from this fic. I've been handling a lot in my life, and depression has been the biggest issue. This fic means everything to me and I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it perfect for y'all, and that usually ends up with me feeling worried it won't be good enough, and that I've taken too long to update, and that everything I write isn't very good at all. And so, sometimes I just need to take a break and breathe and return with a fresh mind and remind myself y'all still enjoy this fic, and that I still enjoy writing it :,) that I still enjoy writing in general! Though, it is hard to realize this fic is almost done and that makes it harder to write. I can't quite believe after 3 years, were in the final stretch!

3) I do hope to have this fic finished before s3 airs! I have some things planned and I am making it my goal to try and get back into the groove I once was in! (Though weekly updates is no longer possible as I'm working and disabled, and I was only able to update weekly/biweekly when in grad school lol)

4) since this chapter marks the end of the transitionary period of acts 2 & 3, we head into act 3 that will include more time skips (for the sake of continuity and making sure this fic isn't 100 chapters longer lol) and more focus on Shaera and Aemond!

Thank you all for an amazing 3 years of GLBH! And thank you for reading all of this if you have! As always, apologies for any mistakes (I've written every chapter in my notes app on my phone lol) and I hope y'all enjoy!!

- mint

~+~

Alicent

Alicent couldn't breathe.

She expected cries of pain. Grunts. Screaming. Anything, and yet, there was nothing but melted skin ripping. But it wasn't quite ripping—the skin on her son wasn't strong enough to even peel. It just was a sticky, sloughed mess that gave the most sickening squelch as Grand Maester Orwyle carefully peeled armor from the king. Her hand twitched towards him. Towards the maester or her son, she wasn't sure. She just wanted them to stop. She wanted to tell them that they were hurting her son. That they were hurting their king. Couldn't they see?

She reached for her necklace and started to fiddle with it, hoping the sharp points of her star would remind her that at least it was not her flesh. That Orwyle knew what he was doing. That everyone was just trying to help.

"Is he alive?" she rasped, rubbing her throat. "Is my son going to... to die?"

Orwyle grimaced as he got close to her son, peeling another section of his armor off of his torso. Alicent gagged at the stench. "Our king may yet survive, but he is very weak."

May yet survive. Alicent scoffed to herself, eyes rolling up to the ceiling she once stared at every night when her own king had taken use of her body over and over and over again. Wringing her hand all over her neck, she exhaled tiredly. "Do we know what has happened to him? How he came to" —she waved a hand around, simply needing to do something before she started picking— "this state?"

Orwyle paused a moment, and he set the armor to the side as a silent sister brought over some incense in a censer, waving it back and forth. Perhaps it was to protect the king. Perhaps it was to cover the stench of rotting flesh, and that was one Alicent knew well. She had slept next to it for years.