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‘It was a grand celebration, befitting an event as important as Westeros’ only omega prince’s marriage. The streets were decked out in flowery decorations and colourful banners, with countless stalls standing between them, selling all kinds of wares. The festival was to last three whole days, their king decreed. With endless offers of entertainment for the people to partake in the joy of this union.
All of it must have cost a fortune to organise a wedding so glamorous. It did not even consider the untold numbers of noble guests that had arrived to witness the event. Foreign carriages have been entering their capital in a never-ending caravan of gifts and people for days now, bearing blessings and gold alongside their arrival. It made the city more lively and happy, with anticipation over what was to come thrumming through it like a heartbeat.
Aerion forced the dagger further into his knight’s hand. “Do it.” He insisted, voice steadier than it had ever been before. “If you love me, do it.”
His lover looked at him with horrified ocean-blue eyes. The cold metal felt searing hot against his skin, the muscles in his fingers shying away from the blade. Dunk shook his head. “I cannot. I will not. How could you ever ask such a thing of me, my prince?”
“You claim to be devoted,” the man only continued to beg, “You say that my wedding would be the end of your days. That you’d rather plunge your sword through your own chest than witness it take place. I’m asking you to help me do that.”
“You are asking me to kill you.” Dunk retorted, “My own life is one matter. Yours is entirely of a different nature. How could you demand of me to end it? How could you be so cruel?”
Aerion shook his head in a manner desperately unbecoming of the situation, insisting like an unrelenting stone in the surf. “You need to. Please. If I have to leave, let it be by your hand. Let me decide my fate on my own.” His voice, soft and gentle, turned to ice in the space between them. Cold daggers aimed outwards, not towards him, never towards him. But towards those they could not name.
Still, the knight did not relent. He took one of the omega’s hands into his own- away from the dagger. Letting their hands rest in each other. “We could run,” the man offered instead. “The city is busy; we could slip away- run as far as our feet will carry us. We could flee to the countryside and live there. You do not have to die to achieve your freedom!”
“And spend our lives in constant danger?” Asked the other in return, “You know aswell as I that my father would be livid. He’d sooner burn down every village and city in the land than let his only omega son escape like this. I don’t want to live my life in fear and on the run, never sure when I will be caught. I want to be free, Duncan. Truly free. And we both know there is only one way to achieve it. “
“And you would make me your murderer for that?”
“Please.” He spoke again, like a man who could not say anything besides
He took a step back.
“This is insanity!” Dunk exclaimed, gaze hardening from where he stood. “How could you be so selfish!? To ask me to spill your blood- and you claim to love me? Surely, you must want to see me suffer, to demand such a thing. No— To even consider such an act! How could you condemn me to such a thing?”
“And you wish to condemn me to be the wife of a stranger!?” Aerion’s voice broke. “To a loveless marriage, an alliance formed for politics rather than my own desire!? To be locked away in a foreign keep, cut from all I’ve known and loved? Just so my sire may see me ‘settled well’? So he can make an alliance to deal with whatever new Blackfyre bastard may try to challenge the throne!? Just another chess piece!?”
“Your father loves you, my prince. He only wants what would be best for you!”
A wet laugh tore from Aerion’s throat. “Love me? He may. He may not. I do not know. Perhaps he even thinks that it will do me some good to be some lord’s mate with pups of my own. But you and I both know that it’s a lie, and no matter what. I will not sacrifice myself on the altar of such hubris. “
“It is my duty to protect you! I have sworn an oath! Even if this situation may seem hopeless, I would never deign to break that which I have vowed.”
It was an excuse. They both understood that.
“You have also sworn to protect my happiness”. Aerion took a step forward, closing the distance between them from where the alpha had taken a step back. Still grabbing tightly onto the dagger, which had never left his hand properly. “I do not want to spend the rest of my life in a situation I know I will loathe. Marrying someone I barely even know… it would cause me to die too, sooner or later. Is it such an unforgivable sin that I want to find my end in the hands of the one I love the most?”
“It is, if you are asking me to plunge that dagger into your heart. To become the one who has killed you, and be forced to carry that knowledge until the end of my life.” Dunk shook as he spoke, words tumbling from his lips in a way entirely unusual for him. Aerion must be, at least that was what he thought, just as cruel as her father for putting the alpha through such.
He laid his head on his chest as soon as he got close enough. “Then die with me.”
“What?”
The omega looked up at his lover with crystal-clear eyes, not a sliver of doubt reflecting in them as he spoke. “Seeing me married would kill you; being married would kill me. If you cannot bear to live knowing you ended my life, then come and die with me. Let us leave this world together; let us flee to a place none of them would ever find us. Not my father, not your duties and oaths, none of the things that keep us apart in this life. We could be at peace, together.”
“But my family, what am I to tell them?”
“What should you have to tell them?” He replied, “They gave you away as a boy, and have plenty of other children in my family’s service. If they truly love you as you love them, they will surely understand why you have done what you did. Father may be cold, but never unreasonable. He will understand this matter was between the two of us alone.”
Dunk’s gaze told Aerion that he was considering it, debating with himself on whether or not the proposal was worth taking. The omega took the initiative to press the dagger into his hand one last time. “Please,” he begged him, one final time. “Please.” He repeated.
The knight looked down at the shining silver in his hand, contrasting with the metallic sheen of his battle-worn armour. He gripped it tight to his chest, slowly pushing his lover away so he could have more room.
The plunge was as quiet as it was painful. Aerion did not scream as the dagger dug into his chest, crimson blood spilling from the wound to stain his clothes. There would be no wedding to celebrate afterall, it seemed. Ugly satisfaction bloomed like blood on his chest.
He broke down as he felt his knees buckle, fall feathered only by Dunk’s quick reaction as he lifted him up and into his bed. The omega would die comfortably and warm.
“Thank you,” Aerion smiled through blood-stained lips. His lover could only shake his head. “Not for this. Do not thank me for an act like this.”
But the prince did not respond, instead beckoning him closer as his life left him. The man did as he demanded, silently accepting the cold kiss the other pressed to his lips. “I love you.” Aerion told him, “Let’s- Let’s meet again, somewhere far away from here.”
Dunk smiled, “I vow it.” He confirmed, watching carefully as he faded. “It will be my last oath in this life. I vow that I will find you again, my prince.”
Aerion Targaryen’s death was peaceful and serene. If it weren’t for the blood-red stains on his chest and on the bed below, you would think he was merely sleeping. That, despite it all, he seemed content.
The knight gathered his own bearings shortly thereafter, laying the dagger into the prince’s hands where he rested. It was a delicate and fine thing, fragile in ways hands like his did not understand. It would be wasted on him. He walked outside the room instead, standing beside his bedroom door like he had so many nights, holding guard and remaining vigilant. He would do it one last time as well.
It was always his fate to die by the sword, his own sword, though…that, perhaps, was a surprise even for Dunk. It hurt, and he hoped that Aerion did not have to feel the same way when it had been his turn. In the end, he slumped together against the wall, using his last bit of strength to pull his own blade from his gut. He did not want to dirty his room any more than necessary, lest the serenity of the omega’s resting place be disturbed. He chose to die as its guard instead, a place much more fitting for a knight like him.
He wondered, in some distant part of his mind, what those who may find them would think.’
—
Aerion raised a singular eyebrow as he looked between his theatre teacher, boyfriend, and the piece of paper he’d been made to read.
“This play sounds like shite.”
“AERION!”
“WHAT!?” He exclaimed, “I’m just saying! That’s exactly the type of cheesy romance bullshit I’m forced to watch whenever my sisters get to pick out the movie for film night. Don’t tell me that you don’t think it's cheesy.”
Dunk crossed his arms. “It’s nice, Aerion. And for your information, I do not think that it is cheesy; it’s tragic.”
“Of course a sod like you-”
“I am not a sod!”
“-Of course a sod like you would be all for it.” The omega finished with a ‘hmpf’. “You just want to do it because we share names with the main characters. You can be honest with me on that; you don’t need to pretend to actually like it or anything.”
“I do like it, though.”
The omega rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed at his classmate’s antics. “I don’t understand why everyone likes this story so much. As I see it they were just two idiots deciding to kill themselves over some dramatics. It’s not even that interesting if you think about it, really. Just something for teenage girls to fawn over in history books.”
Dunk tilted his head. Aerion huffed. “And giant emotional halfwits like you. It’s something for teenage girls and giant emotional halfwits like you. Here, happy now?”
“I think it’s romantic,” retorted the giant in question. “I mean, it’s also really sad. But romantic. Surely if they loved eachother enough to go through with something like that, the gods will have granted their wish. Do you think they met eachother again like they wanted to?”
“Seriously?”
“It’s a nice thought…”
“No, you oaf.” Aerion spoke, “No. They didn’t. They are dead. Now stop being so damn emotional and get over it. This is starting to get annoying!”
“Now, now, boys.” Mr Osgrey interrupted, “There’s no need to use crass language such as that. Both of you ought to remain polite”