CELTIGAR - House of The Dragon

Awakening

Aegon fell to his knees by his sister's bed, clutching her hands in his. He placed his forehead on her arm as he began to pray, a discreet tear rolling out of his eye. Everyone in the room was silent and all that could be heard were the maesters hurried moves to put the last of the bandages around Rhea's body. It grew colder and colder by the second, which drew Marian to pull a furry blanket over the princess, then another. As they administered the last treatment they could and left, the maesters missionned Marian to remain by the princess's side the whole night and to warn them should anything change.

"Go and rest, your Grace," Marian spoke softly. "I will stay here, by her side."

Aegon didn't move.

"There are guards outside the doors, and I swear it to you, I would not harm her even if I was offered a thousand gold dragons," Marian swore, her eyes on the King's.

Aegon nodded and turned to leave, his hand on the handle.

"If anything, and I mean anything, happens to night, I want you to come fetch me first," he ordered before leaving the room.

The next morning, after a very short night, Aegon was awoken by quick loud knocks on his door. He rushed to open them, still picturing Rhea laying on his floor. The red-headed handmaiden stood there, out of breath. Aegon braced himself for the worst possible news but instead, the woman told him to follow her and ran off.

They burst in the princess's quarters and Aegon let oud a loud relieved sigh when he saw his sister sat up, alive, in her bed, eating an apple. He leaned on the door frame as he caught his breath. Rhea turned to look at him, wincing at the pain in her lower back and belly.

"Seven hells, Rhea, are you alright?" Aegon exclaimed as he strode to her side.

Rhea winced again as she sat more upright, turning her torso towards him painfully. She still had not fully healed from the last attempt on her life, her neck bruised and scabs only just fading. Her hands were still bandaged and her stomach was covered in white linen, turned red as she bled again through the night, causing her handmaiden to freshen up the bandages as soon as she realised. She asked her lady to sit back while she changed them, and she did.

"Am I hurting you, princess?" Marian asked, concerned.

Rhea simply shook her head and her hands pulled at the sheets while her jaw clenched in pain, her brow furrowing and small drops of sweat rolling on her forehead.

"Are you okay?" Aegon asked again, this time sitting on the edge of her bed.

"As surprising as it may sound, I have been better, Aegon," Rhea tried to joke but winced again as she laughed. "Why are you here?"

Aegon gently took her hand in his, patting it.

"I am the one who found you, sister."

Rhea gulped, closing her eyes in pain as she moved to hug her adopted brother's side to the best of her abilities.

"So I owe you my life," she stated, tears brimming her eyes.

"I wouldn't go as far, Rhea. I had been in my chambers when you first got there, none of this would have happened."

"Well, I am glad you found me when you did, still."

"Your Handmaiden, Marian is it?" Aegon turned to ask the girl confirmation, as she nodded, he continued. "She has stayed by your side the whole night through."

Rhea's eyes glinted with tears and she squeezed the redhead's hand.

"Thank you, the both of you," Rhea concluded.

The three of them stayed in silence and, as Aegon rose to leave, the Queen Mother rushed in the room.

"Out, all of you," she demanded and waited until she and her daughter-by-law were alone. "My child, I have just heard, are you well? Did you see who did this to you? Do you recall anything?"

Rhea explained what she remember to the woman and swallowed hard, taking a sip of water from her cup. Her skin was pale, her eyes surrounded in dark circles and her lips were dry as ever. She had never felt weaker in her whole life and she hated it.

Unbeknownst to them, Aegon lingered behind the doors and listened in on their conversation.

Rhea breathed painfully, taking deep steadying breaths as she tried to remain conscious.

"Did you see anyone on your way there, my girl?" Alicent asked, her hands clasping Rhea's.

Rhea paused to think and she seemed to piece two and two together. It was the Hand. Each and every time something had happened to her, he was somehow connected to it. Ser Willard's death, her newly appointed King's Guard trying to slit her throat and now this? She felt it in her bones, the man had something to do with it, and he might even be the one to have poisoned her father all those years ago. Blood rushed to her face, shivers running all over her body, Rhea could not think straight and, as she opened her mouth to answer, she stopped herself in a moment of clarity.

The Queen was the Hand's daughter. She could not simply accuse to man of attempted murder and expect her to believe it. She had to be clever about this. This was something she had to do on her own.

"No," she lied. "I had just left Helaena's side and thought I wished to see her husband."

The Queen nodded, looking visibly upset. She leant down and placed a tender kiss on the silver-haired woman's forehead before leaving. Aegon rushed to leave before his mother could see him, thinking how odd it was for Rhea to simply wander around in his quarters. She would never do that uninvited, someone must have told her to go there and waited for him to be absent to try and kill her. Someone waited for Aemond to be away to try and kill her.

He had to find who it was and make them pay, he thought as he went about his Kingly duties.

Rhea racked her brain to find a way for her to make the Hand admit to his crimes, and then make him pay for the hurt he had caused her.

"That cunt will get what is coming for him," she swore angrily.

She looked about the chambers she shared with her husband and her stomach turned thinking how furious he would be when he found out she was harmed, how dangerous he would be to anyone who dared to come near her after that.

She smiled to herself, clasping her necklace. She looked down at her hands and belly and sighed at the sight of her bandages. Someone truly wanted her dead, and what for? She did not know. She dragged one of her hands on her forehead and pinched the base of her nose. What had her life become? As she looked about her room once more, she realised King Visery's chainmail had disappeared. She would usually rest it on one of the chairs when she did not wear it but this time, it was nowhere to be seen. She cursed herself for not wearing it the day before, too.

As soon as she had finally found a comfortable position, a storm broke outside her window and she thought about how her husband might be caught under it. Wishing he would soon be back by her side, safely, she drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep.

She was awoken in the middle of the night, her doors swinging open loudly as Aemond barged in, dripping in water and a strange, sad, confused look in his eye. He was back from Storm's End at last.