Work Text:
She sits slouched over in her chair, not at all the posture of a princess. But mother won’t scold her in front of Rhaenyra and Daemon, so Helaena slouches. She fiddles with some fuzz she found earlier on Aemond’s shoulder. She plucked it off without him noticing.
They're making toasts now. Aegon is taunting Baela and Jace. Helaena would be embarrassed if her mind was present at this moment. But alas, she is dreaming. There is a beast beneath the boards, she whispers to no one. She doesn’t notice Aemond turn his head slightly in her direction, always attuned to her. He notices things about her. He notices her . Sometimes it makes her uneasy. She’s not used to being the center of attention ever, but being the center of his attention she’s come to love. Perhaps she will give him more to pay attention to.
She stands up and raises her cup full of wine she has not drunk out of.
“I would like to toast to Baela and Rhaena. They are to be married soon. It’s not so bad, mostly he just ignores you. Except sometimes when he’s drunk,” she finishes with a sheepish smile. She hears someone chuckle. She looks at her younger brother and she sees the hint of a scowl on his mouth. He hates when she reveals disturbing details about her marriage to their brother, so she keeps it from him most of the time.
Her grandfather whispers encouragement at her, making her feel a sense of pride. She did it right, then. With the fuzz still in her fingers, something blocks her view of Aemond. She looks up to see her nephew. He extends his hand, meaning to dance with her. Aegon never asks her to dance. No one ever has. She is elated, until she makes eye contact with Aemond as Jace leads her to the open floor. Perhaps she shouldn’t have accepted. Aemond gets upset about things like this, though she can't understand why. He knows who her heart belongs to.
As she dances and jumps around with Jace, she can feel his eye on her, always on her. He’s even moved his chair to face them. He taps his finger on the table irritably. She will soothe his anguish later, but for now she is having fun and she hasn't had fun in so long.
Father is taken out of the room, groaning all the way. Her and Jace continue their waltz. When she chances a glance at Aemond once more, he’s barely hiding his discontent. The matter gets more severe when the roasted pig is brought out. Aemond slams his fist on the table and claims to want to toast to his nephews. Good, she thinks, maybe he won't be cross with her for dancing with Jace after all.
All the things he said were nice things, but the reactions to them were not. She stops mid clap, confused at the sudden change in atmosphere. Before she’s realized what has happened, Jace has punched Aemond in the face. Commotion surrounds her and her throat feels tight. She watches as Aemond smirks and then pushes Jace to the floor. She hopes he didn't intend to push her down as well, but down she fell. She had walked closer to Jace to stop him from attacking Aemond, so when he was pushed to the ground, his body’s impact threw her flat on her back. Her head slams on the floor, the noise echoing.
Jace scrambles to his feet, reaching his hand out to help her up, but Aemond grabs his arm and wrenches him to the side
“Get away from her,” he hisses. He kneels down and cups the back of her head while everyone watches on, stunned.
Her vision is blurry and her head is pounding, but she thinks otherwise all is fine. She looks at Aemond, almost hurt by his actions. He’s not going to apologize, he never does to anyone. So when he whispers to her that he is so sorry and begs for her forgiveness, she thinks she’s been knocked out and is really dreaming.
She places her hands on his forearms, motioning her intention to get up. She dusts off her dress, rearranges her hair, and in a moment of pure boldness stands up on her tiptoes and kisses his scarred cheek. And with that he is absolved.
His eye goes wide, but he schools his expression quickly, letting her go and walking back to his seat, as most everyone has done by now.
She does not sit down, though, as her head really is hurting. She touches the impacted spot and her hand comes away bloody.
She goes over to her mother and asks loud enough that everyone could hear, “Mother, may I be excused? I think I might be bleeding a little,” she shows alicent her bloodied hand.
Alicent gasps and calls for a maester. Helaena’s cheeks flush.
“No mother, not here. In my chambers. This is embarrassing,” she begs.
“Of course dear. Aegon, would you like to escort your wife back to her-”
“No no, I will go alone. I will not further ruin the wonderful evening we were having. Goodbye everyone,” she says as her eyes stay glued to the floor. The last thing she wants is to be in the company of Aegon alone.
Two guards step into stride behind her as she walks out of the doorway. She chances a final glance behind her. He’s watching her leave as she knew he would be. He looks truly sick. His hands were on the table in fists. She can see from the whitening of his knuckles that he's digging his nails into the skin of his palm. She will soothe that later as well. She smiles to herself. She can think of many things Aemond can do that will aid in her forgiveness of him.
She almost skips to her chambers.