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- To my nephews, Jace and Luke, may they always be Strong.
It was with that speech that Aemond Targaryen ruined the entire family dinner, Valarys' brothers fought with his uncles while his father and mother tried to stop them.
Valarys could only watch Aemond from afar, wondering how much time he had wasted with his uncle, and how much he wanted to be there the night his younger brother removed his eye.
He always wondered if with his calmer spirit he could have calmed the situation, avoided the insults his brothers received, and perhaps avoided one of the great reasons for his uncle's hatred.
- Go to your room my love, you don't need to see this. - Daemon said in his son's ear.
Valarys knew in his heart, with a certain weight, that he was his father's favorite son. Technically he was the son of Laenor Velaryon, whom he greatly cherished and missed. But he knew that the reason his legitimacy had never been questioned was because his mother, in a meeting with Daemon after the wedding, conceived him.
He was the only "son" of Laenor Velaryon who had the blond hair and violet eyes, typical of the Targaryen house.
A soldier helped him get to his room, arriving at his quarters he kindly dismissed the maids who wanted to help him get ready for bed.
Despite being royalty, he had always liked simplicity and calm, his mother often called him her Meek Dragon.
A few knocks on the door echoed into the room and he could soon hear his mother's voice.
- Can I enter? - Rhaenyra asked.
- Of course mother.
The woman opened the door and came to meet her son, giving him a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
- I came to check if everything was okay with you, Daemon told me that you came to your quarters as soon as... the confusion started.
The princess's eyes grew a little heavy when she saw her son's sad expression.
- Will it always be like this? This endless fight? I miss when I was a kid and these things didn't matter.
- I'm sorry my love, families are complicated. And I know ours is especially complicated.
Valarys sighed, nodding with regret in his heart.
- Sometimes I think if I could do something to change this situation, I know I'm not the eldest child but I feel responsible for my brothers, I wish I could take care of them, have avoided this disaster that happened so many years ago.
Rhaenyra gave her son another hug.
- My dear meek dragon, I know that your heart has the purest intentions than any of us, but that ship was already predicted to sink long before your birth or the birth of your brothers. - Rhaenyra said while running her hand through her son's long silver hair - But I don't want you to worry about that, we'll be back home soon, you'll be able to go back to your normal routine and not be bothered by these matters.
With another kiss on her son's head, Rhaenyra said goodbye, wishing him good night.
Valarys was soon asleep, and a dream of a memory he still had hovered over his mind.
- Come on Aemond, the dragon cubs are still small! They won't hurt us - said a little Valarys to a younger version of Aemond.
The two children ventured to the part of the pit where the cubs were. Aemond always assuming a protective posture over his nephew, he still didn't have his dragon and he knew that his nephew already had one, but that wasn't enough reason for him to stop taking care of the safety of the beautiful young man with curious and excited eyes.
When they finally reached the baby dragons, only one was in sight where they could pet it.
- Are you sure it's safe? - Valarys asked, looking at his uncle with some fear.
- Yes, they are still easier to deal with. -Aemond replied as he affectionately approached the little dragon and stroked his head. - Come! He won't bite you.
Aemond took Valarys' hand and carefully guided him to the head of the small silver dragon, who seemed a little interested in both of them.
Valarys laughed and kissed his uncle on the cheek, who soon had a blush on his face with happiness.
- Thank you for coming with me. - Valarys said.
- One day it will just be me, you, and the dragons, my nephew.
Valarys has awakened. He was deeply sad that the dream was over, and he knew that it was one of the last good memories he had with Aemond.
He got up, already knowing that sleep would not accompany him for the rest of the night, put on warmer clothes and shoes and started to open the door, which was guarded by Sir Aric.
- Sir Aric, I'm sleepless and would like to take a walk through the palace gardens, would you mind accompanying me?
Valarys knew that the guard would go with him anyway, but he always thought that kindness could never be too much.
- Yes, my prince, it would be an honor.
The prince went out with his knight to walk through the night of the palace, with the lights low, and the gardens being lit only by the moon.
Not long after entering the garden, Valarys saw a figure with long silver hair, wearing a green cloak, sitting by the fountain, it was his uncle Aemond.
- Sir Aric, please wait for me at the entrance, I will talk to my uncle for a while.
- Are you sure, my prince? - The faithful knight asked.
- Yes, everything is fine.
Valarys slowly approached his uncle, sitting next to him, for a moment the two remained in an awkward silence, with only the noise of insects in the background.
- Couldn't you fall asleep either? - Valarys asked in a low tone of voice.
- Obviously not. - Aemond replied with disdain.
Another awkward silence fell between the two Targaryens but neither had the courage to move away from each other.
- Me, you, and the dragons... remember that? - It was Aemond who took the initiative to speak this time.
- As if I could forget... - Valarys said with regret in his voice.
- I was serious when I said that. - Aemond finally moved so he could look his nephew in the eyes.
- Lately I thought you had just decided to hate me. - Valarys said, now also looking into Aemond's eyes.
- I wanted to hate you, believe me I really wanted to hate you.
- Then why don't you hate it? Apparently it's so easy with my brothers.
- You know it's different with you.
- Why? Because I'm blonde and have violet eyes? Or because I didn't take part in that stupid fight you had when we were kids? - Valarys said, raising his voice.
- That stupid fight took my eye! -Aemond said, removing the eye patch and showing the jewel that was in the place where he also once had a violet eye.
- That fight took my best friend away from me... but I don't expect you to understand that.
Valarys began to deeply regret having approached his uncle, he didn't know why his calmness, always so constant around him, was disappearing, he began to withdraw from his presence when Aemond held him by the arm.
- Wait.
- For what? So we can exchange more childish insults as if we were ten years old?
Once again the little prince began to leave his uncle's presence.
- I need to tell you a secret - Aemond said in a muffled voice.
Valarys turned carefully, what could possibly be on Aemond's mind to share with him? Did he still have his trust?
- Valarys, there is something I have kept inside me for years, something I never dared to confess to anyone, not even myself. But tonight, with all these family conflicts, I feel like I can't keep this secret any longer.
Valarys, surprised, stares at Aemond, waiting for him to continue.
Aemond takes a deep breath and begins:
- Since we were children, from the moment I can remember, my heart has belonged to you, Valarys Targaryen. It's not a love that I chose, it's a love that just happened. And as much as I tried to deny it, repress it, and hide it, it only grew stronger every day.
Valarys is speechless, his eyes meeting Aemond's, full of emotion and uncertainty.
Aemond concludes:
- I don't expect you to feel the same way, and I understand the complications this brings to our family. But I needed you to know the truth, Valarys. My love for you is real and deep, and I can no longer hide it. I was serious that day in the dragon pit.
The two men remain silent, the weight of Aemond's confession hanging over them as the night breeze whispers through the trees of the castle gardens.
Valarys looks deeply into Aemond's eyes, her heart racing at his uncle's confession. After a moment of reflection, he finally answers truthfully:
- Aemond, I was not prepared to hear this tonight, and it takes me by surprise. But I value the courage you had in sharing your feelings with me. We are linked by blood and our complicated family history, and this confession just makes it more complex.
- I just don't want to feel rejected anymore.
Valarys listens to Aemond's words and realizes the deep pain in his uncle. He places his hand over Aemond's heart and says with empathy:
- Aemond, I understand what you're feeling, and the last thing I want is for you to feel rejected. You've always been an important part of my life, and I don't want that to change. Let's face this together, with care and respect one for the other.
Aemond looks at his nephew as if he were his whole world, and at that moment he was, nothing else mattered to him. Then in a rush he takes his nephew's lips for himself.
Aemond's kiss takes Valarys by surprise, but after the first moment of hesitation, Y/N allows his feelings to speak louder. Their lips meet in a kiss filled with emotion and desire, marking a new chapter in their lives.
Valarys feels a mixture of confusion and excitement, but also a deep connection with Aemond.
Aemond leans his nephews against one of the garden's stone walls and starts kissing his neck, knowing that in the morning those will be marks.
- Uncle... - Valarys moans.
- If you want me to stop, I will stop.
- No... uncle, I need you.
- You look beautiful begging but I don't want to take you here in the middle of the garden. May I accompany you to your quarters? - Aemond asks, excited about his love's correspondence.
-Yes. - Valarys responds, finally understanding all the times he felt incomplete, needing someone and never understanding why.
They had that night to themselves, nothing mattered, no family conflict, the succession of the throne, their parents, nothing mattered, they could deal with it later, but in that moment they would have each other and they would cling to it like one clings to life