Chapter Text
His uncle Aegon had been acting odd as of late around Jace. He first noticed it last week when he and his uncle were fighting. Aemond had managed to knock him to the ground. He was going in for the punch when suddenly uncle Aemond was pulled off of him. To his surprise uncle Aegon stood behind them with a firm grip on Aemonds shirt. Aegon's eyes had scanned over him for a second with almost a hint of worry in them. As quickly as he came he was gone. In his absence he left both a stunned Jacaerys and Aemond, who had never seen that type of behavior from him before.
News of his aunt's death reached his ears fairly quickly. His mother took him and his brother acide and explained that she was dead and that her uncle Daemon and his young daughters would be coming home. His mother gave them both a small smile and walked away. Jace’s only thought about this however was that he was missing his mentor Ser Harwin deeply. He remembers the day he left and how he ran to his mother asking if he was a bastard and if his true father was Ser Harwin. He would never get to find out as now he was dead, along with his father who was hand to the king. Perhaps Ser Harwin died because he had considered the thought that he was his bastard. Or perhaps it was just an accident.
Now he was standing with his mother and Luke as his aunt Laena’s coffin was thrown into the sea. Jace barely knew his aunt as when he was still a babe she left with her husband Daemon. He knew he still needed to appear sad as she was his fathers dear sister. He glanced to his left and saw his uncle Aegon failing to hide his bored look. Even though they seldom got along, they grew up together and Jace had always seemed to know what Aegon was feeling. His mother ushered him and his brother to follow her as everyone began making their way up the cliff. It did noy escape his notice however that his father had not moved from his spot and was still looking at where the stone coffin had sunk into the water.
They were all standing at the top of the cliff, his mother long abandoning him to go talk to her uncle Daemon. He was with his cousins as there mother had just died and his own mother had instructed him to provide them with some comfort. It was his first time meeting them. He looks to where Luke was with there grandpa and silently begged him to come over and help. He didn't know what to say and did not know how to help. He hoped that him just being there was enough. He looked over at Baela and she grabbed his hand. He gave hers a comforting squeeze back. His grandmother came over to them and gave him a look. Understanding what that meant he gave a small smile and let go of Baela’s hand. He walked away sensing he was not needed anymore, his grandmother Rhaenys could do a much better job of comforting his cousins then he could.
“Why would you let her treat you like that?”
He turned around to see his uncle Aegon looking intently at him.
“What do you mean?”
“She treats you like you’re just some random nuisance, you are her grandson are you not.”
Did she really treat him differently?
“ I guess.” He replied back, he had never really noticed it before.
“Well she should treat you better, you're her grandson.” He said as he threw his arm around Jaces shoulder.
“You deserve better than some cold hearted bitch that pretends you don't exist,” he rambled on. It was now that he realized that Aegon was well into his wines.
“I would not let myself be treated like that.” Aegon said as his rant ended. Almost as if he finally realized what he was doing he quickly brought his arm back in and wiped his hand on his shirt.
“Well good day to you nephew.” He said as he walked away. It almost seemed like he was embarrassed just then. Perhaps he thought that Jace was one of the maids carrying glasses of wine. That would make more sense. It almost felt the same as what happened last week. Maybe his uncle was ill and wasn’t thinking clearly. It was known plain as day that Aegon and his brother harbored animosity towards him and Luke. A clear minded Aegon would never think to treat Jace with such care. He saw the king standup and say something to the queen, then he began making his way back to Driftmark. It was no secret that the king's health was in rapid decline. He had been looking sickly for as long as Jace had known him and had only gotten worse. His skin was stretched over his bones in a sickly way and was riddled with abscesses. He was missing an arm and needed a cane to walk. Jace knew that soon the time would come for his mother to be crowned queen of the seven kingdoms and for himself to be crowned as heir. He hoped that he would get to marry someone of his choosing as he knew that his own parents' marriage was an arranged one and that there were talks of his uncle Aegon being wed to his aunt Healena.
As the sky began to darken more people began making their way back to Driftmark. His mother was nowhere to be seen and his father had long retired into his chambers. His brother had gone back a couple of minutes ago with his cousins, Jace decided to stay a little longer. In the distance dragons could be heard preparing to sleep, this noise made him begin to miss his own. His dragon Vermax was born to him and he had watched him grow up, but he was still too small to mount. He had been dragon riding before of course with his mother and father, but he longed to finally be able to ride on his own dragon. Now only few people remained as the sun went below the horizon. He noticed that Aegon appeared to be passed out with a bottle of wine in his hand. He felt the urge to go wake his uncle but decided not to, his uncle usually had an uncontrollable temper and would no doubt get mad by being woken up. A hand was on his shoulder and he jumped. He turned quickly around to see, speaking of the devil, his uncle Aegon.
“Uncle?”
It appeared that his uncle did not hear him as he continued his incoherent mumbling. Jace furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. His uncle looked like he was going to pass out any second now and without much thought Jace decided he would escort his uncle to his chambers. He grabbed his arm and began leading him up the stairs to Driftmark. Once they arrived he used his shoulder to open the doors and guided his uncle to what he hoped were his bed chambers. He guided Aegon to his bed and attempted to lie him down, but his uncle would not comply. His uncle grabbed his arm and they tumbled onto the bed. Jace went to stand back up, but Aegon's arms quickly wrapped around his torso.
“Uncle it's me Jacaerys.” He whispered, but his uncle just tightened his hold on him. Perhaps he thought that Jace was some girl in his drunken state and was attempting to bed him. Jace blushed at the thought. He soon realized that it was futile to continue struggling and went still. He could still go to sleep and wake up early enough to sneak out of his uncle's room without anyone seeing him. He decided that's what he would do. He closed his eyes and tried to relax but it was hard with his uncle squeezing his torso and breathing on his neck. But soon enough the trials of the day began to take its toll on him and he began to relax. His last thought before falling asleep was that of warm apple pie.