Chapter Text
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“Tell me again.”
From one of the highest points in the Red Keep, you could see the immensity of King’s Landing and the waves of Blackwater Bay crashing to shore.
“Tell you what?”
The wind was cold yet gentle, dusk settled on the horizon; painting the skies and clouds in deep golden.
“The story of how you found your dragon.”
You smiled, easy and knowing. Aemond has heard this story a dozen times already, yet you never refused to tell him just one more time, whenever he asked. From the glint in the young prince’s eyes, you knew that it gave him hope that one day he would find a dragon of his own.
“My father, Laena, my sisters, and I were traveling again, we had stopped by a small town to let the dragons rest. And there, they told us they had spotted a rogue dragon. As wild as a lioness. She’d come out to hunt at night, during heavy rain and lightning storms.” You motioned theatrically with your hands, an excited grin on your lips as you recounted the fateful night you’d met your dragon.
Aemond listened closely, as he always did, leaning his elbows on the balcony’s balustrade and keeping his gaze attentively on you.
“One night, when we were staying at a house at the edge of town, I walked out while everyone was asleep. Do you know why?” You bit at the inside of your cheek, playing the usual game.
“You heard her,” Aemond answered with the same spark of youthful joy.
“I did,” you whispered as if it was a well-guarded secret, leaning closer to the boy. “I could hear her outside, the sound of her wings, her heavy steps on the ground. It was raining, and dark, but I felt as if… as if she was calling to me.” You placed a hand over your heart.
“I think Caraxes heard when I got out, I think I ended up waking him,” both you and Aemond chuckled. “But he kept quiet when he saw it was me. I walked for a while during that night, until…” You paused dramatically, and Aemond grinned. “Until I saw her, feasting on a stolen lamb.”
Aemond’s eyes were sparkling, he was drinking in every word.
“She was so pretty,” you recalled with a soft smile, looking out to the horizon and the darkening sky. “I could see the dark blue of her scales, and then the brighter blue of her wings. Her horns were long and pointy, and she had this patch of fur in between them and on the back of her neck that I’d never seen before.”
“She didn’t attack you,” Aemond mumbled, more a statement than a question; he knew the answer.
You shook your head; “No, she just looked at me with those beautiful eyes, they looked like they were glowing. And then she came closer, baring her teeth, but I asked her to stay calm. Told her I was a friend.” You picked at your nails, a fondly nostalgic look in your eyes. “She followed me back home after that. I think she liked that I wasn’t afraid of her. Father was furious for what I had done, but I think he was even more curious about my new dragon.” You shrugged, with a cheeky grin, “The next morning, I chose to ride her for the first time, and she let me. We don’t know if she ever had a rider before me, but we share a deep bond now.”
“You are so lucky,” Aemond told you, his voice low and eyes downcast; not because of your story, but because the boy wished to have the same luck you did.
Turning your head to try and catch his gaze, you spoke with conviction, “You’re going to find your dragon soon, Aemond, I know you will. And when you do, we’re going to fly together over all of King’s Landing, I promise you.”
Despite the solemn look in his eyes, the young Aemond smiled.
You extended a hand to him then, “Come on, your mother will be mad if we’re late to supper… again.” Wiggling your fingers for him, you held back a grin.
Aemond rolled his eyes halfheartedly, taking your hand anyway.
You walked together through the hallways of the castle, blissfully innocent and unaware of the amused whispers between the maids about how you two would still marry someday.
─── ⋄✧⋄ ───
Two nights later, Aemond did find his dragon. However, it came at a cost.
The day had been one filled with grief. Laena had passed away after trying to give birth to her third child. While she was not your birth mother, you had spent enough years by her side to consider her something similar to it; as she was, after all, the closest thing to a mother that you knew. She had always been kind to you, treating you no different than how she treated your two half-sisters.
You mourned her loss, the salty air of the sea mixing with the salt of your tears as you watched the ceremony unfold.
As soon as she had learned of her third pregnancy, Laena wanted to return home. Your father eventually agreed to halt the travelers life for her sake, and once King Viserys got word of your return he offered all of you a home in King’s Landing again. Laena had been happy with the agreement since her brother lived there too.
And so that’s how you came to meet Aemond. That was several months ago, yet it sometimes feels like it was just yesterday.
Tonight, you had gone to bed with red and puffy eyes, but it didn’t take long for the distant sound of fast-paced steps and arguing to pull you from your sleep. You got up, rubbed your still tired eyes, and tiptoed towards the commotion, bare feet padding over the cold stone floor of Driftmark.
After turning corners and almost getting lost in the infinite hallways, you found your family. Everyone stood around the lit fire of the throne room fireplace while the Maester tended to someone you couldn’t yet see as the back of the chair they were sitting on blocked your view.
Alicent was shouting, Rhaenyra and her sons were shouting, everyone was shouting; you heard the sharp words yet couldn’t make much sense of them.
You spotted your father leaning against a pillar, a couple of feet away from everyone, and ran up to him, immediately clinging to the fabric of his vest and looking up at him with questioning eyes. He didn’t speak, simply lay a hand on your back and then on your head, in the best comforting manner he could muster.
The shouting match continued until Viserys had to raise his own voice, everyone in the spacious room stayed quiet for a moment then. You could hear your shaky breath, feeling it in your bones that something was wrong. You gripped tighter onto your father, leaning your head against him.
Breaking the silence, Viserys demanded answers from Aemond, and your heartbeat sped up at the sound of your friend’s name. And then his mother was speaking about the injustice of him being maimed. And when Rhaenyra mercilessly demanded that he be questioned, Aemond finally looked in her direction, and consequently, yours.
You saw it then. Deep red blood glinting in the low light of the fire, painful stitches stretching skin while also holding it together, his eye sewn shut. You couldn’t hold back a gasp at the sight of him, the whole left side of his face now forever marked with an angry, deep cut that went from his forehead, over his eye, and down to the middle of his cheek. Seeing your friend like this twisted your stomach in all the wrong ways and made you feel like puking out your dinner, you were almost poking holes in your father’s vest with how tight you were gripping it, already feeling your eyes burn with unshed tears.
Aemond met your gaze from afar, he looked almost as stunned and lost as you; but he was also quick to look away and hide behind the back of his chair again.
You didn’t hear much of the rest of the fight then, all turning into muffled noise to your ears as your father took hold of your hand to pull you forward with him and into the commotion when Alicent picked up a dagger, dashing towards Rhaenyra. The sight of Aemond’s bruised and slashed face forever burnt into the back of your mind.
The only voice you clearly heard again, was his; “Do not mourn me, mother. It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon.”
─── ⋄✧⋄ ───
You were only able to meet Aemond again on the next day, minutes before both of you had to leave Driftmark.
You found him in a secluded hallway, he looked out at sea through the large windows, watching as they readied his ship for departure, the left side of his face carefully bandaged to keep the cut clean. Holding onto the sides of your dress so as not to step on it, you ran to him.
He heard you, of course he did, you were hardly the sneakiest of people. Part of him wanted to turn away and leave, deeply ashamed of the fresh scar marking his skin; perhaps even afraid that it might scare you off. But you were his friend. His only friend.
“Aemond…” you spoke softly when you reached him, biting at the inside of your cheek and nervously gripping onto the cotton fabric of your lilac dress. You were only kids; you didn’t know what to say to someone who’d just lost a part of himself, and Aemond cowered under your gaze, making himself smaller as shame and timidness filled his gut.
“Does it… hurt?” You chose to ask, voice hesitant.
The young prince took his time, pursing his lips as he looked down at his feet and then out the window again. “Yes,” he admitted, “but less than it did last night.”
“I’m sorry,” you said without a second thought.
Aemond glanced in your direction with the corner of his good eye, refusing to turn toward you completely. “Are you not upset that I claimed your step-mother’s dragon?”
The corners of your lips turned up into a small smile, it held sorrow and affection in equal measures. “I’m not.” You stepped closer to him and turned to look out the window as well, watching as gentle waves washed to shore. You bumped your shoulder onto his. “I’m glad it’s you.”
For several moments you stood in silence, simply enjoying the easeness that came with each other’s company.
Alicent’s voice was the one to eventually break the quiet. “Aemond,” she called.
Both you and him turned in the direction of her voice, finding her looking at you with a fond smile on her lips. “It’s time to go, my dear.” She gestured outside, to where their ship awaited, now ready to set sail. Aemond nodded at her words and she turned around, making her way to the docks.
The prince, however, made no effort to leave, he kept his gaze focused outside, following a flock of birds that overflown the ocean.
You followed it too, the sight bringing an idea to your mind. You had a tentative smile on your lips before you even started speaking; “You should go,” despite not looking at you directly, you noticed Aemond’s attention shifting to you. “I’ll meet you again once we reach King’s Landing, and… now that you have a dragon, perhaps we’ll soon be able to fly over it together, right?” Your voice held a hopeful tone as you spoke.
For the first time since he had lost his eye, Aemond smiled; a real smile that stretched the fresh stitches on his cheek and gave a prickling feeling to the sensitive skin around them, but he didn’t mind. He finally turned to look at you fully, all hopeful excitement and pink cheeks.
“We will,” he affirmed without losing his grin. He held your gaze for a moment longer, lips parting as if he wanted to say something more, but didn’t.
From the same window, you watched, now alone, as Aemond’s ship sailed away; the colossal figure of Vhagar flying close to it, as if to protect her new rider.
Later this same day, your father married Rhaenyra, taking both you and your sisters to live in Dragonstone without ceremony.
You never said goodbye to Aemond. You would have, if you knew you would not be seeing him again for many years to come.