Chapter Text
"How did this happen?! Who had the watch?!"
"The princes were supposed to be abed, your grace. I-I am truly sor-"
"You swore oaths to protect my blood!"
King Viserys rants and raves, shaking his walking stick and fist in the air and in the faces of the guards he was screaming at, all of them unable to meet his eye, heads hung as the middle son of the king sat on a chair getting his damaged eye stitched up by a maestor.
"It will heal, will it not maestor?"
"The wound will heal, but the eye is lost."
Queen Alicent breathes out a shaky and horrified breath as she hears that her son had truly just lost an eye, completely rendered blind in one side, all over a pathetic squabble amongst children.
The doors swing open in that moment and in comes a frantic Princess Rhaenyra, calling for her own sons.
"Jace? Jacaerys! Oh Gods, Luke! Luke, let me see, let me see."
The sight of her son's bloody nose and face causes alarm to course through the princess as she kneels before her child and gently holds his face in her hands. She inspects her sons face as she turns to her eldest.
"Jacaerys, what happened?! You were all supposed to be asleep!"
The answer to her question however, did not come from her son but from her half-brother who she had yet not seen. He turns in his chair and looks back at them as he yells.
"They attacked me!"
The room descends into a screaming match in that moment but Rhaenyra is, quite frankly, horrified by the sight of her brother's face. A nasty, raw scar marrs the left side of her brother's face, starting above the eyebrow and running in a jagged line down to the top of his cheekbone. It is an angry, blistering red; the skin is swollen, held together by stitches as dried blood stains the area and the rest of his face along with his hands and collar. It is sickening to see and Rhaenyra feels her own face stinging and burning the longer she stares at the raw scar.
"He called us-!"
"THAT IS ENOUGH!"
Her father's shout was loud enough to snap Rhaenyra out of her daze and she looks down at her son who looks up at her with tears in his eyes.
"He called us bastards." Jace whispers to her.
Rhaenyra's stomach twists even further at that; surely not, surely that damned word had not led to all of this. She tucks her sons behind her and wrings her hands together, tugging at the rings on her fingers as she swallows thickly, her mind frantically processing what had just happened and what she was going to do next. She, once again, looks towards the chair her brother is sat on but he had turned back around and she can not see his face. Her eyes unconsciously scan the room until she make eye contact with her eldest, younger half-brother.
Aegon is stood by the fireplace, slightly swaying and with a red mark adorning his own face.
'Drunk and probably slapped by Alicent' Rhaenyra thinks to herself.
She was right.
Aegon's eyes widen as they make contact with Rhaenyra's dark purple gaze, perhaps shocked at being caught staring at his sister but he composes himself quickly and sneers at her in contempt before looking away, not waiting to see her reaction.
However, he was in fact looking for her reaction all along, but his damned half-sister was so hard to read. She was always composed, never seemed nervous and always had an answer for everything. He knew she would somehow worm hers and her sons' ways out of this mess and the blame would once again fall on them, on the other children since his father could not see past the love for his eldest child.
Aegon was used to this, really, he was. He had come to terms with the fact that no matter what he did, he would never be Rhaenyra and he was okay with that. He did not want to be his bastard-bearing older half-sister anyway. She was a whore and a bitch and would kill him to secure her claim. He knew all this, it was all he'd ever known. But still, even still Aegon found himself seeking out those dark purple eyes, hoping that she would see the desperation in his lighter ones and maybe, just this once, she would fight for her brother. She would help their father see past the blinding light of herself, instead of using his blindness to her advantage. Not for him, but for Aemond.
Just this once.
And she had seen something. Rhaenyra had seen something in her half-brother's eyes. For a second he looked like the toddler that would chase her around the gardens as she tried to drown out the sound of his adorable giggles and calls of "Nyra!".
She had felt bad ignoring him back then but her stubbornness and pride would not let her give in. Her anger at her father and new step-mother would only intensify as she forced herself to reject her brother. As Alicent had more children and their friendship completely dissolved before her wedding, Rhaenyra found that she saw less and less of her half-siblings. Aegon's calls of her name went from adorable babbles of "Nyra" to quiet mutters of "Rhaenyra" to a slight nod of acknowledgment if they ever found themselves in a tense and awkward moment where they had to acknowledge one another's presence.
Rhaenyra never allowed herself to ponder over the relationship, or lack thereof, that she shared with her siblings. She was content with hearing about them in passing when her children would recount the activities of their days to her before they slept. Though, now that they had moved to Dragonstone, even this had ceased. It never once crossed her mind that she had no clue who these children were, they were of her blood but were more strangers to her than The Stranger himself.
And now her brother was blind in one eye, slashed in the face by her son and she felt shame filling her. Shame, regret and a sadness so deep it feels like it is tearing her apart.
How, how did they get to this point?
She looks away from Aegon to his mother and the sheer devastation pulling at her childhood companion's face makes Rhaenyra's heart ache for the woman for the first time in over a decade; she knew she would burn cities had it been her son. They did not have much in common anymore, her and Alicent, but they were mothers. Mothers that loved their children deeply and would go to any length for them.
It was as if 13 years of pent up emotions and regret hit her all at once and she almost could not bear the feeling of it.
This should not have happened.
"How did this grievance begin?" Rhaenyra questions no one in particular but receives 5 different shouting replies.
"Stop! I cannot hear a thing. You will speak one at a time. Baela, what happened?"
Rhaenyra turns to Daemon's daughter; the girl had fire but seemed to be the most mature out of the lot of the children. Baela was more than ready to tell her side.
"Aemond stole Vhagar! She belonged to our mother! Rhaena deserved a chance to claim her before him!" She spits out the last word in the direction of Aemond's chair who had now turned around to fight his side.
"Like I said, you should have claimed her earlier. It is not my fault you were too slow and besides, the dragon has to choose the rider and Vhagar chose me." Her brother was almost eerily calm as he said this, looking straight at Rhaena despite it being Baela who had spoken and Rhaenyra knew he was right; he could not have stolen the dragon had Vhagar not wanted Aemond to be her rider.
"Who threw the first blow?"
"Rhaenyra, what has this got to do-"
"Everything Alicent. It has everything to do with it. I want the truth so that we can understand and proceed accordingly. Not just for the sake of my children but for the sake of yours too."
This was the first time the mothers had spoken that night and Alicent almost could not believe what she was hearing. Rhaenyra sticking up for her children.
Another one of her ploys to seem the innocent flower.
Alicent kept this thought to herself and decided to keep her mouth shut as well to see how this farce would play out.
"So, who hit who first?" Rhaenyra asks the group of five once again.
They were all surprisingly quiet.
"You were all just yelling not 5 minutes ago. Come on now, own up."
Rhaenyra hears a slight mumble behind her.
"I did."
She turns to look at Baela who is looking at her shoes.
"Pardon?"
Baela sighs heavily before she meets Rhaenyra's eyes.
"I punched Aemond first. But only because he said Rhaena would suit riding a pig and then he pushed her down!"
"Because she came at me!"
"You said a pig would suit her!"
Rhaenyra could feel a tension headache building behind her eyes.
"Okay! Stop it. I agree what Aemond said and did was not savoury. However," She turns to face Rhaena, kneels before her and holds onto the girl's hands. Rhaenyra's voice is soft as she speaks to the child.
"Rhaena, Dragons are not pets and they are not heirlooms, as unfair as it sounds, they are not passed down to family members upon deaths. If their rider passes, it is of course up to another rider to try and claim a dragon but the dragon truly does choose the rider, sweet girl. I agree that you should have gotten a chance to, at the very least, try to claim Vhagar but," She smoothes a hand over the girl's silvery hair, "You are a Targaryen, you will have dragon one day, when your time comes and when the gods will. Do not fret."
Rhaena ponders over the words that sounded so similar to the ones her mother spoke to her not long ago and the pain of losing her becomes fresh once more as tears pool in the girls eyes. She nods at Rhaenyra before she looks past her at Aemond who was watching the scene with a slight scowl but with growing interest, at the same time. Rhaena takes a deep breath and meets the boy's eye.
"I am sorry, Cousin. You have accomplished a great feat in claiming Vhagar. Congratulations. We should not have ambushed you. I am sorry."
The apology sounds awkward, slightly forced but the sorrow is evident and for a second Aemond is stunned. He had not expected an apology, not from any of them. He had not expected a single ounce of sympathy. The sadness that seeps into his cousins voice is poignant. He almost feels bad for claiming the gigantic war dragon.
It was her mother's dragon.
He steals a glance at his own mother whose mouth is slightly agape and the thought of losing her flashes through his mind. The thought of never touching her soft red hair again, never holding her hand again, never taking in her scent again and never seeing her smile again makes his stomach turn so quickly he nearly throws up.
And Aemond, quite possibly for the first time in his life, feels a pang of guilt. For someone from that side. He sees his half-sister kiss his cousin's forehead before she stands and turns to look at him with a small smile, somewhere between encouraging and apologising. His mind is working in overdrive as he tries to organise and gather his thoughts.
It is the first time she has smiled at me.
Before he can even speak, Baela steps forward. She does not look at anyone but him, her gaze is sharp and harsh and focused directly on Aemond.
"I should not have punched you. 4 against 1 is never a fair fight, even if you are an assh-"
"Baela."
She stops herself and sighs in frustration.
"Whatever it is, we are kin. My mother raised me better than the way I acted this evening. I am sorry, Cousin."
Baela then turns to Alicent and with the same amount of power in her childish voice, addresses her.
"Your Grace, I am sorry for what has happened to your son."
Alicent stares at the two girls, unsure of what to say or how to even act but before she can gather her thoughts, the voice of her son fills her ears.
"I too am sorry for the way I behaved this evening. It is not in the manner of a prince. Rhaena, I should not have claimed your mother's dragon without first giving you a chance to claim her yourself. I apologise. And I am sorry for my part in the fight."
Alicent's head snaps in her son's direction as she takes in what he is saying. She cannot believe it. Here sat her sweet, precious son, maimed and mutilated, made blind in an eye due to these wretched children and somehow he was apologising. She wants to scream. She looks around and notices proud and almost hopeful smiles on the faces of the many in the room. How are they okay with this?
She looks at Rhaenyra who smiles at the girls, stroking their hair with each of her hands.
"Brilliant job, girls." She whispers to them as they walk past her and into their grandmother's embrace.
"That is all nice and well but what about the eye? What about your sons, Rhaenyra?" Alicent finds herself saying with malice dripping from every word.
Rhaenyra's eyes snap to Alicent's and for a second all of the warmth that was previously there leaves them and it almost causes Alicent to flinch but she stands her ground.
"I was getting to that. Jacaerys, Lucerys, come here."
The boys, who were holding onto Corlys, let go of their grandsire and stand before their mother, heads hung. She wastes no time.
"Who brought the blade?"
Her sons' silence eats into the room and she notices them share a look.
"Do not bother lying."
Jace sighs heavily before meeting her eye.
"I did, mother. But let me explain. When Baela and Rhaena came to our room to tell us Vhagar had been stolen, we did not it was Uncle Aemond, I swear! We did not know who it would be so for protection..." Jace trails of as he tries to explain.
Rhaenyra hums.
"That is reasonable, Jacaerys, but why was it pulled during the fight?"
"I- We. He was strangling Luke and he grabbed a rock then he," Jace stops and steals a glance at Aemond, "he called us bastards. He said we would di-"
Jace cuts himself off, unable to finish the rest of the sentence and when he meets her eyes, Rhaenyra knows he is trying not to cry, his voice thick with tears. Just then Luke chimes in.
"Jace managed to get him of me but when he fell to the floor, uncle Aemond grabbed the rock and I grabbed the blade. I thought he was going to kill Jace, mother! I am sorry! I did not mean to!" Luke, unable to hold his own tears in, starts crying as he hugs Rhaenyra's legs, repeating his apology.
Rhaenyra feels numb. She turns to look at Alicent who, for the first time, has averted her gaze, refusing to meet Rhaenyra's eye. Aemond's eye is trained on his lap and nobody in the room knows how to act or what to say. They all avoid looking at the princess and silence quickly engulfs the room, momentarily broken by Luke's sniffles and sobs.
"Aemond." Viserys finally breaks the almost unbearable silence, speaking since his earlier ranting. "Look at me, son. Who spoke these lies to you?"
Viserys hobbles closer to his second son, who slightly raises his head and meets his one good eye with his father's.
"Aemond, I will have the truth of it this instant. Where did you hear such ridiculous calumnies?"
Aemond looks to his mother who has an abject look of terror in her eyes and he decides in that moment that he cannot tell his father the truth.
"In the training yard, I have heard it a few times being said while training. It was a joke. Based on how they look."
"What do you mean, 'how they look?' You better not lie to me, boy!" Viserys raises his voice.
"I am not! That truly is it! They are Targaryens but do not have silver hair. The boys found it odd and made it a joke."
At this moment, Princess Rhaenys cuts in.
"If I may, cousin." And the rooms turns to her.
Viserys looks at his cousin, waving his hand. "Yes, yes go on Princess."
Rhaenys looks directly at Aemond.
"I know it may be hard for you to believe, little cousin, but not all Targaryens and dragonriders have silver hair. Mine own hair is not silver. I was born with hair has dark as the ravens, much like your nephews. It looks silver now on account of my age but I too had black hair courtesy of my Baratheon blood which of course my grandsons share. They have been blessed with my ancestors hair. If you look carefully, you shall find streaks of raven in my own mane." Rhaenys smiles warmly at Aemond but he does not miss the twinge of a warning shining in the lilac eyes of the 'queen who never was'.
Rhaenyra cannot believe her ears. She knew, everyone knew. It was an open secret, one without verbal confirmation but with plenty of physical confirmation that her sons were not fathered by Laenor. Despite having been born of her womb, her sons were not 'trueborn' in the eyes of the world but they were the truest born to her. She did not care about the parentage and neither did Laenor however, she know Corlys and Rhaenys were not happy about it, especially not with Luke set to inherit Driftmark. The thought that he was not even an ounce Velaryon in blood must have been hard to swallow for Rhaenys but especially Corlys, whose pride lived and died with his house. But history did not remember blood, it remembered names. And her sons were the truest Velaryons in that aspect but for Princess Rhaenys to so openly and plainly defend them in this manner, it made Rhaenyra's heart feel full.
Viserys laughs heartily. "Ah yes! I remember greatly indeed, my cousin did have hair as black as night and skin as pale as snow. A Targaryen and a Baratheon. See Aemond, I pray your suspicions have been placated. All of this, pain and suffering on the account of hair colour. It is ridiculous."
Viserys then turns to look at the room.
"Let it be known, that whoever's tongue dares to question the birth of Princess Rhaenyra's sons, shall have it removed!"
Rhaenyra looks at her father and nods her thanks, blinking away tears before she pulls her sons hands into her own and the three of them walk side by side towards Alicent and Aemond.
She stops before her brother who looks up at her with a semi-guarded expression. She takes a deep breath before she pulls her right hand out of Jace's grip and holds it out to her younger brother. He hesitates, glancing towards his mother but Rhaenyra does not even bother looking at Alicent. Aemond's hand shakes as he lifts it and allows Rhaenyra to hold and caress his hand the way he had seen her do to her sons many times before. He decides that he enjoys the comfort.
"Aemond, you have suffered a great and unimaginable loss and I know that nothing will feel sufficient to you in this moment but I cannot turn back the clock and make it so your eye is healed. All I and my sons can offer you in this moment, is an apology. So, I am sorry, truly and deeply sorry. I hope this can mark a change for us all, I only regret that it has come off of the back of such tragedy."
"Yes uncle, I am sorry it really was an accident! I did not mean for you to get hurt this badly, I thought Jace was going to die and-"
"Yes okay Luke!" Jace cuts in before looking at Aemond. "I deeply apologise for everything that has happened this evening and up to this point. I am sorry for the pig prank as well, it was cruel and unfair we should not have made a joke out of you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us." Jace says while offering Aemond a small smile reminiscent of the one Aemond had offered Jace earlier in the day which had been ignored.
Aemond does feel his heart stir, the words of his nephews along with the warm and comforting touch of his sister's hand holding his, softens his resolve slightly. He likes this, he likes this warmth. It was almost like the warmth his mother's hugs offered but while they provided warmth in those brief and fleeting moments, this felt like it had engulfed him, infiltrated his skin all the way down to his bones. It was nice and terrifying because his cold, whore of sister who would become a kinslayer upon her accession and would take more than just his eye, should not be capable of providing this warmth. What was she plotting? What was she doing and what had she done that had made Aemond's resolve break to the point that he, for a brief moment, craved to be loved by his sister the way his nephews were.
He tries to slow down his train of thought long enough to string together an apology of his own. It felt appropriate to apologise for the bastard comment now, even if he did not fully buy Princess Rhaenys' story, but his nephews had indeed apologised so, so should he. His brain however, refuses to slow down and cooperate so when his mother's voice breaks through the silence, he almost wants to throw his arms around her and hug her for doing so because he felt like he was drowning. He needed to get out of there. The feeling was terrifying.
"You are right Princess, that is insufficient. You offered your apologies but my son has been permanently damaged. Goodwill and your apologies will not make him whole."
Rhaenyra almost laughs in exasperation at Alicent, releasing Aemond's hand as she turns to his mother.
"And what do you propose will make him whole then, your grace?"
Alicent looks between Rhaenyra, Luke, her son and her husband.
"There must be a fair exchange. An eye for an eye."
"What?!" Come the voices of so many in the room. The exasperation and sheer disbelief of the crowd electrifies the air, all believing that their queen could surely not mean what she said. Carve out the eye of another child?!
Viserys steps closer to his wife and in a low voice speaks with her.
"Alicent, this matter is finished. There is nothing more to it, what you ask for is absurd. It was an accident, apologies have been offered. That is enough."
For the first time that night, Otto speaks.
"Alicent, his grace is correct, this matter is finished. I believe it best that we all take our leave and try to sleep."
Rhaenyra looks into Alicent's eyes with a gaze as hard as the steel of Valyria.
"I bid you goodnight, your grace. I will assume that your comment was one made by a grieving and distraught mother in the heat of the moment. I pray that by morning you come to your senses and we may be able to believe this matter resolved." She turns to speak to Aemond. "Goodnight Aemond, I pray you sleep well and your wound does not cause you great discomfort."
Aemond slightly nods at his sister as she turns with her sons hands in hers.
Everyone starts shuffling to leave the room and go to their respective chambers but Alicent stays completely still, watching the back of Rhaenyra's head. She then turns and seemingly at the speed of a dragon, snatches the dagger attached to Viserys' hip and marches towards Rhaenyra as the crowd descends into commotion.
Rhaenyra turns in the nick of time and grasps Alicent's hand which had the dagger raised in the air.
"Alicent! What are you doing?! Are you completely insane?! You've gone too far."
"I? What have I done but what was expected of me? Defending my son is going too far?!"
"Release the blade, Alicent." Otto warns his daughter.
"You need not defend your son from me."
Alicent's voice falls to a whisper as her tears finally spill over.
"If not from you then who?"
This sobers Rhaenyra, confusion immediately flooding her features and for a moment, her grip on Alicent's arm loosens.
"W-what?"
Alicent takes advantage of the loosened grip and strikes the blade down at the same moment Rhaenyra recovers and pushes her back.
She registers Luke's scream.
The cut is cold and quick, slicing through the layers of Rhaenyra's dress and overcoat, leaving a clean slice down her forearm, the dagger falling with a loud clang. She falls back into Corlys as drops of crimson fall to the ground. Otto and Criston hold onto Alicent, who finally seems to have snapped out of her trance and cannot believe what she has done. Rhaenyra looks down at her arm and back up at her childhood friend, disbelief sinking into every pore of her face.
Aemond stands from his chair and looks between the two women before hugging into his mother's side.
"Do not mourn me, mother. A fair exchange as already been given. I lost an eye, but I gained a dragon. Let this chapter close here."
Alicent's eyes become downcast as she allows her son to rest his head under her chin. She stares at the pool of blood forming on the ground and she herself cannot understand why she just did what she did. Rhaenyra stood up for her son, she had them all apologise, she herself apologised but Alicent could hear naught but a taunt. It felt insincere, a lie upon a lie upon a lie.
Because that is just what her step-daughter was. A liar.
In the shuffling and the commotion as everyone in the room tried to make sense of the situation, Aegon still stood by the fireplace, taking in everything that had just happened between his sister, her family and his.
He looks at her as Corlys inspects the wound and informs her that she too will need stitches, yelling for a maestor. He looks at her as she runs a hand through Luke's fluffy hair and tells him that it does not hurt, she is okay. And he looks at her when she once again looks at him, but this time he does not sneer or look away.
Instead he smiles, a smile of acknowledgment, of gratitude and of apology, on behalf of his mother.
She smiles too, a smile of recognition, of assurance and of forgiveness, because there was nothing to forgive.
At least not from him.