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“Your Grace, please wake up and come with me. I apologize about the disturbance but it is an emergency.”
An emergency? Alicent sleepily thought as she looked at Ser Criston. She started to put on more appropriate clothes as he explained more.
“It’s about your son, Aemond. There was a fight between the crown princess’ children and him, now he is missing.”
“He’s what!?” She snapped, the servants nervously continuing to help her.
“They are… Saying he turned into a dragon and flew off. I believe it to be lies they made up but they are insistent and so is one of the guards.”
She stared at his armored face, eyes shining with worry behind the plated helmet.
“Do they have any idea where he went?”
“Somewhere out on the island, there are guards searching for him as we speak.”
“What led up to the fight?” She flinched as her hair was pulled back too tightly for a moment.
“Aemond attempted to claim Vhagar, or steal her as the children say, and returned shortly after unharmed. He didn’t succeed at the claim, and he insulted them which led to them fighting. I am unsure who threw the first punch but they claimed he did with his insults.”
“Why did he run?”
“It was four on one, your Grace. He likely realized it was a losing battle and ran to get away from them.”
She looked as he fidgeted in place.
“Any other reason?”
“I think he does not want to face the consequences of failing to claim Vhagar when he was only given permission to try to claim eggs and hatchlings, your Grace.”
Alicent closed her eyes, sighing as the servants went away. They had given her gloves and she put them on, knowing she was going to fidget quite a bit in the coming hours.
“What else happened?”
He shuffled and she could see the familiar downturn of his eyes when he grimaced.
“The guard said he began to transform and ran away after one of the boys, Lucerys, slashed at his eye with a dagger.”
She gasped, clutching the bed post as her knees went weak. “Did he say if he lost it?”
“He said it was likely, but couldn’t get a good look in time.”
Her poor boy. Afraid and hurt without anyone to protect him. She squared her shoulders as she blinked back tears.
“Let us try and find him ourselves, Ser Cole. He may be more inclined to come out of wherever he is hiding if we explain he is not in trouble.”
He’d likely be in trouble due to the fight, but much could be forgiven considering he may be… Alicent put it out of her mind. She’d cross that bridge when she got to it.
Ser Criston nodded and led her downstairs, which despite the late hour the castle was now quite busy with guards and servants searching for the lost prince. They asked everyone they came across for any news but there was none. Finally they went to the main hall where many of the guests were, the king, the royal children and the guard.
She glanced at the children and frowned. Each was in various bloodied or bruised states. As much as she disliked Rhaenyra’s boys for picking on Aemond they weren’t deserving of violence. Only a sleepy Helaena and Joffrey were unharmed, Aegon dozing in a chair without a scratch on him. She looked to the guard who was sitting down, surrounded by the kingsguard. Alicent interrupted the fourth recounting the tired guard was being put through.
“Excuse me, Sers. Could you tell me where you think my son went?”
The guard stared at her, exhaustion beneath his eyes. “The dunes, roughly that way before I lost sight.” He pointed and gave her directions.
“A search party went that way, your Grace. Others are assembling as we speak.” One of the kingsguard commented.
She glanced at her husband who was busy talking to lord Corlys and princess Rhaenys.
“Thank you, I will help search for him as well.”
The kingsguard spluttered that such was unnecessary as she quickly exited to the stables to find a pair of horses for her and Ser Cole. She was not in riding clothes but a slightly crinkled dress was a fair price to find her son. The stable boy handed a fine pair of palfreys over, who were wide awake with all the commotion. He also gave two lamps that could be attached to the saddles on the end of a long stick to help light the way. He cautioned against riding swiftly in the dark, even with the lamp and the moon out.
Alicent mounted her steed with his and Ser Cole’s help, riding out with her knight. She thought the land around the castle was lovely, if a little boring. It was unending sand and grass, surrounded on all sides by the ocean. They would come across the meager farm land if they rode further inland, but that was not where her son was supposed to be.
They decided to hug the beach, Alicent and Cole slightly spread out. She saw the distant lights of the other search parties, fanning outwards to look for her son. They had gotten a head start and were much further away. The two rode for a time, Alicent always scanning the grasses to try and find her boy hidden within.
Eventually one of the guards approached them, at first staring blankly as he saw who they were and frantically taking a knee when he remembered decorum.
“Your Grace, I came to warn everyone who is searching for the prince that a young dragon is up ahead and should be avoided. It appears to be resting but has shown aggression to anyone who comes close.”
She frowned. “Do we know whose it is?”
“We thought at first it may be Arrax due to similar coloring, but the dragon is in the stables.”
“Is it old enough to be ridden?”
“It appears to be that way.”
She shared a look with Cole.
“Do you believe it to be the dragon Grey Ghost?”
“We aren’t sure. His territory is much farther away from here, and he is known for flying away from people rather than confronting them. All we do know is that it appears to be injured.”
“In what way? Another dragon?”
“We could smell blood and see one of its eyes must be damaged, your Grace. But we couldn’t get close enough to tell what caused the injury or if there were more.”
She stared at the guard for what felt like an eternity.
“Take me to the dragon.”
“What?” The guard looked up and his mouth was slightly open. “Your Grace, the animal is incredibly dangerous in its current state!”
“I know. We will be cautious. Take me to it, that is a command from your queen.”
The guard nodded, eyes wide and sweating. He took them further up the dunes and they came across the beast, a guard stationed to watch it from a distance.
It was large, definitely big enough for a grown man to ride. But not much more than that, and it was hunched up with part of its face tucked into a wing. It was a silver color, gleaming dull gold in the moonlight. She could see its neck and wing membranes were a shade of violet and so was the one visible eye that was glaring beadily at the guard stationed to watch its movement.
When they got closer its eye snapped towards them and she could smell iron in the air. All of its muscles tensed as the queen and dragon stared at the other. It shrunk further into itself and looked at the ground, breathing heavily with great wheezy pants. Its teeth glinted in the faint lamp light.
She stopped her horse and didn’t get closer. For some reason she thought of her son, Aemond, when he was in trouble. He always looked at the ground and his two front teeth showed as he breathed in more to steady himself.
She studied the dragon as it let loose a noise she best described as a whine, its eye closing.
“Aemond?” She called softly.
The dragon reopened its eye and looked at her.
“Aemond?” Was it just a coincidence?
Its head turned toward her and she gasped. One of its eyes was definitely gone, blood and mucus dripping down the side of its muzzle. Her son looked at her in fright and gave out a warbled sob of distress, his head beginning to droop towards his chest. He always tucked his chin when he started to cry in earnest.
She got off the horse, ignoring the call from Cole and the guard, rushing towards her son. He shrunk a little from her but stayed still as she got to be a few feet away from his head.
“Aemond? Is that you, my love?”
His large head nodded and he warbled, trying to speak to her.
She brought her hands to her mouth, her vision blurring as her son's distressed calls filled her ears. What was she to do now? She couldn’t hug him or bring him his favorite treats and tell him everything would be okay in the end. Alicent collapsed to her knees in the grass.
Two large hands tentatively took her shoulders as someone came to sit by her.
“Alicent?” Ser Cole whispered, his face a blurry frown.
“What am I to do!” She shouted at him, sobbing as he started to hold her.
“How can I help him now?” She murmured, clinging to his cloak as it was wrapped around her. Aemond’s breaths were blowing their hair back and forth as he moved his head forward, almost touching her knees. Her sweet boy always tried to comfort her when she was upset.
“I don’t know, your Grace. But we can start by treating his eye.”
She glanced at her son. A large, dark red hole was where one of his eyes used to be. She bit her lip and nodded.
“Will you come back to the castle with us, Aemond?”
He let out a groan and shrunk away.
“If anyone says something, you have permission to burn them,” she growled, surprised at the venom in her own voice.
“Your eye needs to be treated, my love. Let the maesters help you.”
He gave a little nod and slowly got up, following them back as they returned to the castle. She had taken to riding next to his head where his remaining eye was, Cole on his other flank. The guard had been dismissed to go and spread word to return the search parties to the castle.
When the guards asked why they were bringing a dragon inside she waved them off, telling them to keep the gate open as the rest of the search party would be returning soon. She commanded them to summon maesters and dragon keepers as the dragon needed treatment.
In the torchlight of the castle she could see some of his scales were askew and missing. He was a beautiful color and his horns were long and sharp. But he didn’t look so fierce, hunched to make himself smaller and avoided eye contact with anyone.
They stopped in the courtyard because her son was much too big to go into the castle proper. As the maesters treated him, she pet some of his scales to comfort him, his face pressed into her side. He let out little hisses occasionally as they touched the mangled side of his face. He was being remarkably well behaved, even if some of his scales were digging into her stomach. A dragon keeper directed the maesters as they worked.
Eventually a servant of the king came to them, keeping out of range of a lunge from Aemond.
“Your Grace, the king and his court is requesting your presence now that the prince has been absent for so long.”
Alicent scoffed. Absent was one way to put it.
“I am not leaving my son's side until he is well. Tell the king the prince has been found, but cannot enter the castle due to becoming a dragon. He can come to his son or not at all.”
The servant swallowed. “Pardon me your Grace, but I don’t think the king will believe me.”
“He will or he will not. I refuse to move. Tell my father to come if my husband does not believe me.”
The servant nodded, scurrying back into the castle. Eventually her father came, staring at Aemond as the maesters were now debating with the dragon keepers how best to sew the flesh shut. He lingered in the secondary gate for a bit, then came over to stop at a respectable distance.
“So… The children spoke the truth?” He gently inquired, watching one of the maesters jog off to get something.
“Yes. I do not know how or why but… Aemond is - is this, now.” Her boy sniffled and lowered his head to the ground.
“Are you certain?”
“He responds to his name and can understand us.”
Aemond glanced at his grandfather.
“Aemond… Did the maesters properly numb the site?” He asked.
Her son gave a little nod, then stilled and partly shook his head.
“They did in the beginning?” Her son nodded at her father.
“Gods be good… It’s true,” Otto muttered, looking at his grandson with wide eyes.
Aemond let out a sad little whistle.
“I will tell the king and get him to come here. Even if we somehow got the windows open for him to fly through there is no way he would fit in the courtroom like this.”
She nodded and watched her father leave, the maester returning with a spool of steel and reinforced rope. The team resumed their work after she told them to numb the flesh of his eye socket again. By the time the maesters were almost finished treating her son most of the court had come down, shocked murmurs and whispers throughout the small crowd, the King hobbling after them. Her children ran to her side, Helaena unbothered by Aemond but Aegon stood behind her. She watched her daughter pet Aemond’s snout, gentle as she always was.
Alicent stared at her husband as he was given a seat, the court shuffling to form a circle. Him at one end, her at the other. Rhaenyra and her children at his right, Daemon and princess Rhaenys family at his left. Viserys cleared his throat.
“Now that we are all here we can properly address what happened earlier tonight. I know we have all heard the accounts from the children and the guard, Eric Saltmouth of house Velaryon, but the queen has not. Nor have we heard an account from… Aemond, but as he is indisposed at the moment we will need to act justly and cautiously.”
“Indisposed,” Alicent muttered, quiet at first. But then she shouted, cutting off any further talk. “Indisposed!? Look at him! Look what they’ve done to him! He cannot give any proper testimony and yet we are going to act on the word of the children who attacked him and one guard who was only there for the latter end of the fight?”
Otto sucked in a breath.
Viserys’ eyes were wide. “We need to decide what to do going forward, Alicent. What to do with Aemond.”
“What to do with him?” She hissed, “the only thing to do is find a way to turn him back! Give him justice for his lost eye! Look at him!” Aemond’s tail tucked into his body now that everybody was staring at him again. “Those children maimed my son for life and now he is - he's - he is stuck as a dragon!”
“We are going to do everything we can for him, Alicent,” Viserys tried to placate.
“It was an accident,” Rhaenyra protested.
“An accident! Attacking my son and taking his eye was an accident,” she seethed.
“I didn’t mean too!” She looked at Lucerys, the blood on his face had been cleaned but his nose was slightly crooked and bruised, the flesh a dark purple. “He was going to kill Jace!” Aemond hissed at that.
Alicent breathed in deep as her father took control of the situation. “Let us start at the beginning. We know Aemond snuck out to try and claim Vhagar and returned unsuccessful. Rhaena had been watching the dragon and saw something happen, so she went to investigate.” Otto looked at the girl who nodded. “You went downstairs with your sister, met up with Jacaerys and Lucerys as they wanted a drink, and found Aemond returning to his chambers.”
The boys and the girls’ twin nodded. “You confronted him about stealing your mothers dragon.”
“She’s mine to claim!” The little girl defended herself.
Alicent knew very little about dragons, but she did know they chose their rider and were almost never passed down from parent to child.
“What happened next?” Otto pushed.
“He insulted her,” Jacaerys put forth. “He called us bastards,” Lucerys muttered. Rhaenyra frowned in displeasure. “We need to know where he learned such vile rumors, those who spread such a thing should be sharply questioned about why they do so.”
Aegon muttered to her where he was partly hiding in her dress, “she said to question Aemond when he was found.” Alicent grit her teeth.
“And after the insults?” Otto cut in, his voice stern as he glanced at the crown princess and her husband.
“We got into a fight after he said I should ride a pig,” Rhaena commented. Her grandmother gave her a look. “I started it,” she glanced at the floor. “We jumped in to defend her,” said Jacaerys. “We started to win, but then he got back up. He called us bastards so I… Got out my knife.”
Lucerys shuffled his feet. “I thought he was going to kill Jace with a rock after Aemond knocked it away, so I grabbed the knife and attacked him. I didn’t mean to maim him! I thought he was going to do it! And that he would come after us next! I just wanted him to drop the rock and go away.”
Otto nodded, “at that point Eric arrived, yes?”
The guard stepped forth, still as tired as she had seen him last. “Yes, I heard shouting and came running. Prince Aemond was screaming by the time I got there. He was thrashing on the floor and I was trying to get a good look at him when he… Started to become… That. He took off down the hall and I followed until he was out of sight, then I got the other guards and dealt with the children.”
“That is the testimony we have gathered so far. If Aemond can answer yes or no questions then we can learn more.” Her father looked at her son. “He does appear to understand us well enough to answer questions.” Aemond looked at Otto as the maesters stepped back, finished at last. Aemond raised his head, attempting to look proud and unaffected.
“Aemond, is what Eric Saltmouth said true?” Her boy nodded and some of the court members gasped.
“Is it true you insulted Rhaena?” Aemond hissed, his frills pressing into his head. Yes.
“Is it true you accused Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon of bastardry?” He looked to the floor. Yes.
“Did you truly mean it?” He shook his head from side to side.
“So you said it to be cruel?” Yes.
“Did someone tell you this vile rumor?” Aemond stilled and looked at the court members. Yes.
“Is it anyone here?” He blinked with his second eyelid, no. Aegon sighed.
“Rhaena threw the first punch, yes?” Yes.
“So is the account of your attackers true?” Aemond snarled, yes. A few nobles gasped.
“Did you truly intend to kill Jacaerys?” No.
“Any of the other children?” No.
“And you did attempt to claim Vhagar?” Yes.
Otto’s face did a little twitch, the one when he was trying not to sigh. “Do you know how to turn back?” Her boy looked at the ground and grumbled, no.
“I believe, your Grace, that all parties are guilty in this matter. Treason has been committed by attacking and maiming the king’ son, Aemond Targaryen. But the same goes for the sons of the crown princess and the daughters of prince Daemon Targaryen, though it was in self defense. Even if prince Aemond returns to a…” He wet his lips, “a human form, he will be changed for life. There is no way to take back this accident.”
Everyone looked to the king, who was holding his face in one of his hands. He pulled himself together and all held their breath in anticipation.
“We will find a way to return prince Aemond to his human form. He will stay within the Dragonpit until he is back to his regular self. Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon, Baela and Rhaena Targaryen, will help in taking care of Aemond and finding a way to turn him back. Any who dare spread or speak the lie of bastardry of my heirs' children shall lose their tongue.”
Alicent gasped, “you would damn our son to that hole in the ground? Lock him away in some - some dark pit? Chain him up? Make his jailers the one who assaulted him unjustly!?”
“He will receive the best care there, Alicent. He cannot stay in the Red Keep.” Viserys didn’t look at their son.
“Let him pick where he wants to live! Let him pick who cares for him! Give him that mercy if you’re going to deny him the justice he is owed. Those children maimed him and you decide to trust they will actually try their best to turn him back?”
“I have no reason not to. The children have gotten along well before this event,” he pleaded.
She breathed harshly through her nose. “Gotten along? Along? You know nothing! Those two boys have bullied and mocked our son for being dragonless for two years now and you say they get along! The girls don’t know anything about Aemond and they hate him for trying to claim Vhagar! You are cursing our son to an eternity stuck as a dragon if they are the only ones looking for a way to turn him back.”
“Alicent, they won’t be the only ones,” the king tried to point out but the queen went on.
“What does it matter if they aren’t? Your judgment is poor.” She hissed at him, the court murmuring.
“This is the best he can do,” Rhaenyra objected.
“The best he can do? That is a lie!” She shouted, Aemond putting his head in the way so she couldn’t rush the king and crown princess. “There is so much more he can do for my son! For your children! For you and I! The realm as a whole! Look around you, Rhaenyra!” She threw out her arms to the court. “He chose you as his heir but has never trained you to properly rule the people standing with us here and now!”
“That is not true,” her old friend's eyes were wide.
“Is it? Do you truly believe your own lies? If he cared you would be sitting in council meetings and petitions with him, touring the realm and learning how to rule your future subjects. You would be gathering support in a court you must preside over as queen one day. But no - you hide away on Dragonstone.”
“I am trying to raise my children where they can be children, not slaves to duty.”
Alicent clicked her tongue. “Those children will be grown men someday. They need to be ready to take on their duty before then. The realm won’t wait on your boys to learn how to be capable when they inherit. Their subjects expect somebody strong and competent the second they are to swear fealty to them. Weakness will be exploited.”
“My daughter or her children are not weak,” her husband snapped.
“If they were not weak, a false accusation by a boy would not have made them attack their own flesh and blood! Or is it a lie you called for my son to be tortured?” She glared at Rhaenyra.
“I - I only asked him to be questioned, not tortured.”
“Do not play me for a fool. Everyone here knows the real meaning of ‘sharply questioned.’” Alicent scanned the small crowd. Some met her gaze while others lowered their eyes.
“Accusations of high treason against the royal family cannot stand to be spoken,” Daemon cut in, his eyes sharp. “Especially when the consequences of them can be quite dangerous.”
Alicent met his eyes. “The king could have silenced the rumors long before this night.”
“They had not reached his ears until now.”
“He would have known had he paid attention to something besides his Old Valyria recreation,” she ground her teeth together. Alicent looked at her children, then to Viserys.
“Is your mind unchanged, husband? Will you deny your son, Aemond Targaryen, justice for an assault on his person?”
He breathed in harshly, looking at her eyes that glittered in the torchlight. He was slumped in his chair.
“I do not deny him justice, Alicent. It is unfair to punish children who do not have a firm grasp on their emotions, that did not intend to go as far as they did. Even the most properly raised break protocol at times. He will receive the best care the realm can give. I will do whatever I must to help him now.”
She clenched her necklace, the seven points piercing through her gloves into her skin. Her father slightly shook his head. She gazed at her children, eldest to youngest. Imagined her little boy, Daeron, who had been sent to Oldtown staring at her here and now. She squared her shoulders.
“Tell me this, my King. When you swore our marriage vows on our wedding day you agreed to provide for and protect any legitimate children that came from our union, yes?”
His brow scrunched and he leaned back into his chair. “I did. Why?”
“You have provided for our children, yes? Clothed and fed them, housed them and made sure they knew to read and write.”
“Yes, I did.”
“No. You gave me the means to do so. Simply told me to oversee the matter and servants would help me figure it out. What I really ask is this: have you given them a fathers love?” Alicent whispered the last part, an ache in her throat and chest. He asked her to repeat.
“Have you loved them!?” She shouted, vision blurry. “Did you learn their favorite activities, the names of their best friends? The food they love and despise? Did you ever ask them how things were in their schooling? Learned when they were lying and when they were being truthful? Ever read to them before bed? Said I love you when they needed it?”
“I - I do the best I can with the busy schedule of a king.”
“Liar,” she accused. “You spend more time on your model than you ever did with them!”
“I have done my duty! I have provided for and protected them!”
“If you properly protected them our son wouldn’t be maimed for life! If you properly provided Aegon wouldn’t need to worry about becoming the unwilling figurehead of a succession crisis after you die! Helaena would have learned how to stay with us and not wherever she goes in her mind! Daeron would still be here and not in Oldtown where I knew someone would love him! Not simply provide the basic necessities of life and neglect in all other ways!”
She panted harshly, the courtyard dead silent as they watched her as if she was a wild animal, ready to lash out.
“I wish for our marriage to be annulled. For I accuse you of having neglected your duties of providing, protecting and loving your legitimate children. You have no need of me or your children from our marriage as spares due to your chosen heir having multiple successors now. You are capable of ruling without a queen as you have a council and Hand to aid you.”
“Alicent,” Viserys breathed, staring as if she was the one turned into a dragon and not her son.
“I long for the days you were affectionate to me… But I know now that was all a farce. If you ever loved me - let me and my children be free of your neglect. I cannot stand it a second longer.” She bowed her head and wiped at her tears with the back of her hand, her gloves already dark from her blood.
“Alicent, can we please talk about this matter when emotions are not running so high?” He pleaded with her, having gotten up to try and get close to comfort her. Aemond growled and he did not go any further.
“High emotions? Sleeping on high emotions won’t change the growing succession crisis you willingly ignore,” she noticed her heart was beating fast. “Putting off addressing it every chance you get, until the day you die,” she murmured, almost sweet. “How I envy you.”
“There is no crisis - there would not be if you had not married my father!” Rhaenyra was red in the face, her sons behind her as she glared at Alicent.
“You act as if I had a choice in the matter. What was I to do, say no to the king? Refuse? Desperately hope it will stain only my reputation with the scandal? And then watch the king punish my house and family for spurning his hand?”
“My father would never have done that!”
“Kings have done it before. Targaryens have as well. Or did you forget Maegor, hmm? You were never one for history lessons.” Rhaenyra flinched and looked at her father.
“No I - I never would have, Alicent.” Viserys was pale and shaky.
“Then why did you ask for the hand of a girl too young to understand that you would not have?”
“I thought you were genuinely interested. That you did want the marriage.”
“In some ways… Yes, I did. There were kind parts of you. I knew I could love you and find comfort in our marriage if the kindness you showed to me stayed true. I found peace in that any children we had would live the best lives possible. The children of royalty - they would not want for anything.” She started to giggle uncontrollably, then laughed and wondered if the gods were flipping a coin for her. “I see now how wrong I was!”
Alicent peered at her old friend, the dark violet of her eyes as intriguing and odd as it ever was.
“I do apologize for the rift between you and your father I caused, all those years ago, when I married him. For the one I made between us. I am not sorry that I had my children, for they are the lights of my life. But I am sorry for the hurt I caused between two people who do seem to truly love the other.”
Rhaenyra lowered her head and Laenor took her into his arms.
“Alicent, I am sorry about your suffering.” Her husband apologized. “But think clearly about the consequences of this. The fallout for everyone involved.” His eyes were watery.
“As you once said so long ago: let tongues wag. I do not care anymore about the scandal this will cause! My duty is to my children, not my house or the realm. I will do my duty to them whether I am a queen or a beggar in the streets. I would take that life if it meant my children were happy for once. Damn whoever scorns me for wanting my sons and daughter happy!”
The king hung his head. “Let us reconvene on the matter in the morning to sort it out. A temporary separation until we have properly settled this may do us good.”
“I am staying with my son for the night, and so are my children,” she put a hand atop Aemond’s head next to Helaena. Aegon had come to stand by her other side, mostly hidden by Aemond’s long neck.
The king waved his hand, “I will have the servants make proper arrangements for you. Goodnight, Alicent.”
The court dispersed as their king returned to bed inside the castle. Soon it was only her and her children, Cole and a few guards stationed on night watch. They were moved to what Alicent could tell was a stable and storage area for carriages with supplies; it had been dressed up for them. Aemond curled into a ball, taking up most of the space even as he tried to get smaller so there was room for his mother and siblings. Alicent threw herself onto one of the mattresses and resisted the urge to scream.
Cole came to sit next to her on the floor. She turned over to look at him, Helaena and Aegon had settled in on their own mattresses. The candles did not provide much light in the dark.
“That was very brave of you,” he quietly stated. Alicent let out a little laugh. “I don’t feel very brave… That was foolish and stupid of me.”
“Is it foolish and stupid to stand up for your children?”
“… No,” she shook her head into the mattress, sniffling and holding the blankets tightly to her.
“Rest, lady Alicent. Tomorrow will be a better day.”
She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the restlessness, listening to the rhythmic breathing of her children and the distant song of the ocean. By the Seven, she hoped all tomorrow’s would be better days.
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