The Dragons and Their Sun (aemond/oc)

rhaenyra IV

Aegon was bed ridden for two more days before he was well enough to get up and move around. He had tried to refuse any help that was offered, joking about how he was used to fumbling around like a baby doe. Rhaenyra had to look away to hide a smile multiple times as he cursed at his mother and the maesters who were trying to help him. He wasn't nice to Rhaenyra either, but she expected it after last night.

She wasn't the least bit ashamed of the fury that rested just below the surface. Aegon may not have told her just who shared those vile lies with her half-siblings, but she knew who it was. Otto Hightower had poisoned his daughter's mind, and now the woman was poisoning the minds of her children. Rhaenyra was tempted to fly to Oldtown and burn it all to the ground, finally ridding the realm of the stain called Otto Hightower. Her realm would be better with him gone.

The sheer betrayal of Alicent sharing those thoughts made Rhaenyra question why she ever thought a truce could be an option. Rhaenyra may not have been the closest with her half-siblings, but to want them dead? What kind of person did Alicent think she is? To not only harm her half-siblings, but to harm children in general? The mere thought made her stomach turn.

Aemond's behavior with her, his clear distrust of her and his flinching every time she moved to touch him, made much more sense after Aegon had uttered those damn words. Aemond thought he was being touched by the very person who would kill him later in life. She would have to make sure he knew she had no plans to do that. She would not harm her siblings.

Her fury rose higher as she watched the servants bring in a new mattress for her bed; Rhaenyra had her sheets and mattress burned the moment he was out of her room. She needed to speak to Helaena as well. Rhaenyra had the growing suspicion that Helaena would be the easiest to befriend. She seemed like a sweet girl. To poison such a sweet girl with such venomous lies was despicable. She was taken out her thoughts as her door banged open and her sons entered, arguing about something they heard in training. Laenor followed them with a giant grin on his face.

"Now, boys, you were both absolutely horrid. There's no need to argue about who was better," Laenor joked. Their boys attacked him with punches that surely didn't hurt as Rhaenyra watched them with a fond smile. She loved little moments like this.

She stepped forward to grab Luke's shoulders, "Boys, you shouldn't hit your father like that," she adjusted Luke's fist before moving it forward in the motion of a punch. "You should hit him like this!"

Laenor looked at her like he was a man dying of thirst and she had just drank the last of his water. The boys took her advice, changing their attack on their Father, shouting at him to yield. He eventually did, falling to the ground and acting like he was taking his last breath, "Jace, Luke, I love you, boys."

He dramatically threw his head back and her room was filled with the sounds of her sons laughing at their father. The servants making her new bed had small smiles on their faces. Jace turned to her with bright eyes, "Mother, Aegon was back in training today!"

She smiled at him, slightly nodding her head to the servants as they left the room. She couldn't wait to sleep on her clean bed. She slept in Luke's room with him until they had gotten her a new mattress after Aegon left. It had only taken two days. She wasn't surprised Aegon was back in training only four days after he woke. If he had been her son, though, he would still be in bed. She barely let Jace go back to training a whole week after he had broken his fever. Too many puppy eyes and lectures from her husband was what made her finally let him go.

"How is he faring?" Rhaenyra asked.

"He's back to beating Aemond. Not that that's hard," Luke told her. That reminded her. It was time to talk to them.