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text — un: aemond_ ( night after the tourney )

[provoke]

Helaena. Is she with you?

[unapparent]

No. She has retired to her room.

[provoke]

I have Aegon. He's agreed to stay with me for now.

Do you mean to have them room together as before?

[unapparent]

[ fear slices her heart, that aemond might — if presented with another chance, he could — ]

A king and queen keep separate chambers at court. It will remain so, in this place.

[ alicent never shared rooms with viserys, and so never inflicted that on helaena, either. ]

[provoke]

Daemon and Rhaenyra do not.

[ he doesn't want aegon and helaena to room together, either, but it bears pointing out the perception their separation implies. ]

Do you think it worth it, to dry Aegon out and keep him sober?

[unapparent]

They flout all propriety, as ever.

To what end?

[provoke]

He is not half-bad when he applies himself. Clarity is not something he's had in a while, that's all.

[ he is many things, with aegon. good things, bad things, questionable things - above all, a staunch believer in aegon's ability to be so much more than what he's settled himself into. ]

He could be good here.

[unapparent]

Like you’ve been.

[ how very bold of her to say, but she means it. he has been loyal — even kind to those he cares for, herself included. ]

I would prefer this to what we know comes to pass, Aemond. Do not doubt it. You’ve my support, though he’ll not hear such things from me.

[provoke]

I can suffer his tempers. It will not be anything new.

[ his and aegon's little secrets, their little trade-offs; the things they keep between themselves so their mother has one thing less to worry about. they fight and they bite and they insult each other all of the time — are there siblings that do not?

he has permission now. he'll take care of aegon. ]

Will you tell him?

[ that i burned him? ]

[unapparent]

No.
I do not think it a kindness, to suffer the knowledge of inevitable pain before one experiences it. It it as Ser Criston said of Sunfyre: Long in the dying.

[ does aemond feel guilt for that, too, killing the dragons he so loved as a boy? ]

Will you?

[provoke]

In time.

[ because he understands the betrayal that would come, should aegon learn of it from anyone else. that he loses his chance to explain his actions, even if he has no intention of ever doing so in the face of the misdirected hurt that drove him to call fire upon rhaenys and aegon both.

he doesn't regret the fight. it was a strong plan. it succeeded, even if it ended in a way aemond never anticipated it would. all aegon had to do was wait. ]

Helaena will support him. You must, too. [ there he goes again, ordering her around. ] I'm trying, Mother. You are well-loved here, and I should not want to take that from you.

[unapparent]

I will do what I must, as I have always done, for the sake of the realm.

[ it’s insulting, that he doubts her, but she quells the instinct to argue. he is trying, after all. ]

And what is it you want, Aemond?

[provoke]

[ hold. ]

To serve the realm and my king, and defend my birthright. The same as it ever has been.

Do you doubt my resolve here?

[unapparent]

I do not.
Are you certain there is nothing else you desire? At least while we remain trapped here?

[ a beat. ]

It is almost your nameday, after all.

[provoke]

Vhagar.

[ an easy answer. an expected answer. ]

This place will give her to me. Her tail alone would destroy most of the grounds, and what would she eat? The house would run out of guests in two turns of the moon, the amount she needs to eat her fill.

[ he's not doing his best to be difficult. it's just—— ]

I want to stop wearing the eyepatch.

[ not all of the time; the sapphire invites too many questions, if not thieving hands, and there are days when the flesh is tender under the numbed scar. but to not wear it for a day or two — to have the scar out in the open — it would leave him exposed. ]

[unapparent]

You will be reunited, Aemond.

[ one day, even if it kills him. ]

Then you should not wear it.
Or you should try not wearing it, with those you trust. You know I would not mind it, nor would Tim or Koby, Homelander or Daniel.

[provoke]

[ he knows the next time he rides, it will likely be his last. somehow it's a freeing thought, until he lets himself remember what it would mean in the eyes of history, and the people he would leave behind. ]

How can it not bother you? She used it to humiliate you.

[ no. enough. ]

Pierce Strickland. [ oh, context; ] You mentioned those I trust. He is among them.

[unapparent]

Because it is you, Aemond, and you are dearer to me than others. And that outweighs the shame of any slight.

Indeed, you are dearer to me than much I have known, in this life. I do not think I have made that clear to you before.

[ had she not cradled him and touched his scar, palm covering the wound to soothe a long-held ache? a different thing entirely than saying the words her boys long to hear, she knows it. ]

I shall look forward to meeting him properly, then.

[ dubious, when he displayed such cruelty, but perhaps he is like her aemond — and good to those he cares for most. ]

[provoke]

I'll make the introduction. He is not so terrible as he seems.

[ his friend, one at odds with his others, and even among allies. he can only hope his mother would consider him with slightly more grace, or tolerance.

as for the other parts of alicent's replies to him— ]

I've never doubted that you cared, Mother. I understand we have things we cannot say even if we want to.

You are a mother of dragons. Your blood does not weaken me, it never has.

[unapparent]

[ it is, perhaps, the kindest thing aemond could say to her — akin to helaena and alia uttering, i forgive you. a key difference, still, in that he does not believe the fault lies with her, or that the poison drips through her bloodline to him and his siblings. ]

Of course not. You are fire and blood, trēsy. You always will be, even in this place.

[ the hightower green only makes him sharper, smarter like his grandsire. or so she hopes. ]

Thank you, Aemond.
Will you sup with me tonight?

[ one last dinner, just the two of them, before their family of two becomes four again. ]

🎀 done!

[provoke]

[ she doesn't have to ask. she could command him and he would heed, he would heel, protests aside. that she asks — is it for fondness or for temperance that she does it?

aemond knows what he prefers. ]

Muña. I'll be with you.

[ he's even dress for the occasion. ]