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Lucerys knew that his son had every right to be angry with him, but, if he were being honest, he didn’t think that Vaenys would stay angry.
They had stayed in Harrenhal for a few months together while Aemond recovered in King’s Landing, and while Maelon had eventually stopped shying away when he entered the room or crying whenever Luke held him, Vaenys had not.
His oldest son didn’t speak to him. At least, no more than absolutely necessary. And he glared all the time. The months away from his mother hadn’t done him any favors. If anything, Aemond’s absence seemed to fuel Vaenys’s animosity towards him.
Which Luke knew he deserved.
Lucerys had taken the kids to King’s Landing when Aemond was better because he thought that they would like to see their mother. He thought maybe if they saw that Aemond was ok, well, maybe Vaenys would stop.
Except, it seemed to make things worse.
Vaenys had always gotten upset when he wasn’t with Aemond for long periods of time. Now though? He had taken to biting people if they tried to force him from Aemond’s side. Aemond didn’t help. He just cooed at the boy like he was simply being adorable.
Luke didn’t want his son to hate him. He hadn’t meant to hurt Aemond…ok, that wasn’t true. He hadn’t meant to hurt Aemond that badly. He’d lost control of himself and he wasn’t proud of it. He was sorry for it, and while Aemond seemed content enough to tolerate his presence, Vaenys looked like he was plotting to smother him in his sleep.
Thank the gods, Alaena was unharmed. She was small, but active. He was sure that was the only reason Aemond himself weren’t plotting to kill him.
Luke tried to think of what he could do to make it up to them all. It wouldn’t be easy. But he knew the only way Vaenys would even entertain the idea of forgiving him, he would need Aemond’s forgiveness first.
He decided that he knew he needed to do something big. And he decided to recruit his oldest son to help him.
“I’m going down to the God’s Eye,” he told Vaenys one day. The boy looked up at him with unimpressed eyes and said nothing. He slowly made his way over to the boy. “I was wondering if you’d like to help me with something?”
Vaenys didn’t answer him. The boy kept his eyes firmly locked on the book in his lap. It was a response that Luke had expected and was prepared for. He crouched down so that he was next to his son, ignoring the bolt of shame that went through him when he felt the boy tense up.
“I was thinking of doing something nice for muña, but I can’t do it alone. I need help,” Luke whispered it like a secret. It was exactly a lie. He felt like he would need help, though he wasn’t sure how useful Vaenys would be.
Vaenys finally lifted his head and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Like what?”
“You’ll have to come down to the lake and find out,” he said with a hint of coyness. Vaenys turned away with a very serious look on his face. Finally, after several long minutes, the boy gave a slow, solemn nod.
They rode down to the lake in a stony silence. When they reached the shore, there were dozens of people around them, with several boats out on the lake. Vaenys looked uneasy and very suspicious. When they dismounted, Grey Ghost materialized from the clouds and came barreling towards them, letting out a shrill cry as a greeting.
The people around them shouted in alarm and ran, but Vaenys saw that Luke didn’t move and so stood still as the dragon landed in the shallows before dragging himself up to the shore. He trilled happily at them and Luke tried to look happy to see the dragon, but he couldn’t deny that it still made him uncomfortable to be this close to a dragon.
Luke had Vaenys wait a respectable distance away while he saddled Grey Ghost and began hooking ropes and chains to it. Vaenys watched with sharp eyes, clearly trying to work through exactly what they were doing and how it could possibly be nice for his mother.
“Do you remember what’s at the bottom of the lake?” he asked Vaenys once they were done. Vaenys glared over his folded arms.
“Muña’s dragon,” the boy snipped at him. Luke nodded.
“I want to give muña his dragon back,” Luke said. Vaenys looked at him doubtfully. “Ghost is going to help us pull her out.”
Vaenys looked wildly unimpressed. Gods, just like his mother. It was both infuriating and endearing.
“I haven’t ridden a dragon in a long time. I was hoping you’d help me.” Luke asked softly. “For muña, of course.”
“How can I help?” the boy asked harshly, like it was an accusation. Luke tried to be as nonchalant as he could. He lifted a shoulder in a shrug.
“You would have to ride Ghost with me,” he said coyly. “Like I said, it’s been a long time. I might not remember the words to command him.”
Surely enough, Vaenys suddenly stood straighter and his eyes were wide, all of his suspicion suddenly evaporating. He may have held great contempt from Luke, but that feeling did not extend to dragons.
“You have been practicing your High Valyrian with muña, haven’t you? Dragons only listen to High Valyrian.” Luke asked, using an exaggerated and doubtful tone. Vaenys didn’t even get upset at his tone. The boy bobbed his head furiously.
Luke picked Vaenys up and slung him across his back, instructing him to hold onto his neck tightly. The boy obeyed him without so much as a grumble. Vaenys’s eyes were locked onto Ghost. They didn’t live on Dragonstone, or in King’s Landing. And his egg hadn’t hatched either. He hadn’t been so close to a dragon before.
Once they were in the saddle, Luke carefully clipped them in, wrapping an extra strap around Vaenys. Ghost was impatiently waiting under them. It was the first time the dragon had been saddled, and the first time Luke had ridden him. For Ghost, this was a moment of excitement. For Luke, it was terrifying.
His hands were shaking and he thought he was sweating. This was the part where he hoped having Vaenys with him would help.
“Kepa?” Vaenys asked with that tone of suspicion. Luke realized he was breathing harder.
He hadn’t been on a dragon since Arrax. And now, with a warm dragon under his thighs, well, his body was beginning to forget itself. Luke forced himself to slow his breathing. Hearing Vaenys’s little voice actually helped calm him.
He couldn’t afford to lose himself to the storm when his son was here, relying on him to keep it together.
“Do you remember the word?” Luke asked lightly, ignoring how shaky his voice was.
Vaenys thought for a moment and then his face brightened. “Sōvēs?”
Luke gave him his best grin as he showed Vaenys where to hold the reins. “Hold on. Sōvēs, Ghost!”
Ghost let out an elated shriek and lunged into the sky. Up and up they went quickly, straight up towards the clouds. And then, just as Vaenys was starting to giggle uncontrollably, the chains strapped to the saddle pulled taut and Ghost yelped as they jerked to a halt.
Luke reached out to sooth him. It was expected. Nothing to panic about. Ghost calmed, his wings beating hard, tugging experimentally at the chains.
Below them, the sailors had dived down to wrap chains and rope around whatever they could of Vhagar’s skull. With each tug, Luke could envision the skull being lifted, slowly, dragging through mud and underwater flora.
They spent hours like that. Ghost had to rest only twice.
The first time they landed to let Ghost rest, Vaenys glanced down into the water and caught a glimpse of the massive shadow under the surface that was Vhagar’s skull and the boy gasped in a mixture of awe and horror.
“You knew Vhagar was the biggest dragon, right?” Luke asked breathlessly, teasing the boy. Vaenys stared up at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, his earlier anger and suspicion gone completely. It was obvious that Vaenys simply didn’t understand how big a dragon could get.
Once the skull had broken the surface, it only became a matter of hauling it onto the shore. Ghost pulled from the ground, crawling and inching up the shore slowly, while every hand Luke could have afforded helped to pull.
“Naejot, Ghost! Naejot!” Vaenys shouted excitedly, slapping his hand against Ghost’s neck. The boy had completely let go of the reins and was leaning forward dangerously, but Luke made sure to hold him in place.The dragon let out a noise of frustration, but lunged more anyways, pulling, pulling, and pulling.
When the sun was finally starting to set, Vhagar’s skull was fully out of the water. When Luke told Vaenys it was time to return to the keep, he looked ready to burst into tears.
“I can take you flying - really, flying - another day,” Luke told him fondly. “But now we have to bring muña his present.”
That seemed to stop the tears. Vaenys was practically vibrating as they rode back to the castle.
Immediately, Vaenys had demanded they go straight to Aemond. Luke tried to convince him that they should at least change their clothes because they both no doubt reeked of dragon, but the boy wasn’t having it and Luke was reluctant to ruin his good mood.
Surely enough, the moment they burst into the room, Aemond’s nose crinkled and then his eyes were wide in panic. He glared at Luke as Vaenys leapt into his arms.
“Muña! We have a surprise for you!” Vaenys practically screamed. Maelon was watching with growing excitement. Alaena babbled from her place on the floor.
“You stink,” Aemond said to Vaenys, leaning forward to sniff at his hair. He didn’t sound disgusted. He sounded almost wistful.
“We went riding on Ghost,” Luke said slowly. Aemond looked confused and a little afraid, and then he looked suspicious.
“You’ve never ridden Grey Ghost,” Aemond said suspiciously, his eyes narrowing. Gods, Luke could see exactly where Vaenys got that look from. “You took my son on a dragon you’ve never ridden before?”
Luke felt his face go slack. Hells, he hadn’t even thought of that.
“Uh - “ Luke began nervously, not knowing what excuse would come out of his mouth.
“Muña!” Vaenys interrupted sternly, his little hands cupping Aemond’s face to force his mother to look at him. “We got you a present! You have to come see!”
“Vaenys,” Aemond warned gently, starting to pry the boy’s hands off his face so that he could go back to tearing into Luke.
“Please,” Luke interrupted softly. Aemond glared up at him. “We spent all day on it. I think you’ll like it.”
Aemond glanced down to Vaenys, who nodded, his face bright with barely contained excitement. He sighed deeply.
“Presents!” Maelon shouted happily when he saw Vaenys get even more animated. Alaena kicked her feet and squealed, not knowing why everyone was excited, but joining in regardless.
Aemond gave Luke a questioning look, but eventually relented.
“But after, I want you both to bathe. You smell awful.”
“We smell like dragon,” Vaenys declared proudly, tugging Aemond’s hand to lead him down the hall. Luke scooped up Maelon when the boy shrieked unhappily at the threat of being left behind. One of the servants followed with Alaena.
When they entered the large hall where Luke planned to hang Vhagar’s skull, Aemond jerked to a halt. Vaenys stared at him questioningly. He even looked to Luke for some sort of reassurance when his mother didn’t move. Luke didn’t know how to offer any.
“I figured she deserved to be hung up on the wall,” Luke said. “We’ll get the rest of her too.”
But Aemond wasn’t listening.
“Do you think we can fit all of her in here?” Luke asked. Aemond swallowed hard, but seemed to think about it.
“No,” Aemond said with some fondness. If Luke didn’t know better, he would think Aemond’s eyes were wet.
“Do you like it?” Vaenys asked in a small voice, looking up at Aemond. His lip quivered when he saw Aemond’s wet eyes. “Muna, don’t cry! We didn’t mean to- “
“I love it, sweet boy,” Aemond said hurriedly, scooping the boy up to smother his cheeks with kisses. “Thank you so much. She’s very special to me.”
“Not as special as me?” Vaenys asked suddenly, turning his suspicious look on his mother for once. Aemond smiled and gave him another kiss.
For once, Luke felt relieved, like something had gone right for once.
–
From then on, most of Aemond’s free time was spent in that hall with Vhagar’s skull. Sometimes the children joined him and Aemond would tell them stories about her. On some rare occasions, Luke was allowed to join them and share some of his own stories from growing up on Dragonstone.
For the first time in months, Aemond looked at Luke with something other than well-earned contempt.
“This doesn’t change anything,” Aemond whispered, his voice shaky, when Luke approached him late one night in the hall. His forehead hadn’t lifted from Vhagar’s skull.
“I know,” Luke said just as softly. He knew better than to try to touch him.
He knew there was no way to really apologize for what he’d done. He’d said the words I’m sorry more times than he could count, but it hadn’t done anything. He needed something more than that. He just didn’t know where to really begin.
But Aemond didn’t shy away from his touch anymore when they were in bed together. He thought this was a good place to start.