CELTIGAR - House of The Dragon

Rhea Celtigar & Aemond Targaryen

 Aemond laughed vindictively and kissed his wife as they made yet another tower collapse, Rhea turning her gaze away from the happenings below and kissing her husband deeply. She didn't register at first, the atrocious pain she felt in her stomach, and neither did Aemond, but when he coughed up blood and so did his wife, he realized the silver arrow which had pierced through his back and out of his stomach had also done the same to her. They both gasped in pain as the arrow broke through the both of them and Rhea let go of the reins on her saddle before clasping them strongly again.

This could not be happening, they had so much to achieve still, so much more to live together.

Rhea lowered her gaze to her belly and cried out as she saw the arrow lodged through it, the child she was carrying was no more, and, soon, neither would she. Aemond rested his head sadly on the back of hers, letting a few tears leave his eyes. There was no harm in finally crying after keeping himself from it, he was dying, and so were his wife and son, he had every reason to cry.

"Aemond?" Rhea shouted, fear in her voice. "Aemond are you still with me?"

She felt her husband's hands squeeze her back lightly and she sighed, relieved.

"I'm sorry," she said, tears streaming down her face. "I should-"

"Don't you dare apologize, my love," Aemond cut her off.

He wouldn't let her feel guilty in her last moments.

"I think we both knew it was always supposed to happen that way," he carried on, his fingers digging into her skin. "Together."

She nodded and wiped tears from her eyes, painfully turning her head to look into his eye. His face had a pained expression, but he still smiled at her, cupping her cheek.

"I am not dying here," Rhea then stated angrily. "Not in Winterfell, not so far away from home."

With that said, she pulled on the reins, screaming as she felt a sharp pain and Sapphire, thankfully unharmed, tilted towards the south. Rhea wanted to see the Crownlands one last time, fly above Claw Isle, Dragonstone and the Red Keep one last time before she died. Sapphire steadied his course as Aemond and Rhea lost more and more blood.

Sapphire's wings flapped hard as the dragon rushed through the skies, he had never flown that fast in his life but he felt his rider's need to see her home once again and he would not let her down. Aemond's vision became blurry and his head light, resisting the pain he felt almost impossible.

"I love you, I always have," he struggled to say. "And I am glad I will not have to live without you, not one day."

Rhea cried and let out a small, sad, laugh, tears all over her face and hands.

"I am glad I will not have to either," she replied through her sobs. "I love you, Aemond."

The King forced himself, against every reason, to slide closer to her, the arrow piercing his body further, but he would not die without holding her as close as he could. He cried out in pain and his fingers left marks on his wife's sides. She sobbed again, turning her face towards her husbands, and he rested his forehead on her shoulder, the one where her childhood scar was. They felt themselves fade away slowly, still clinging onto the other for strength, they refused to let each other go and they both knew it.

"Aemond, let me die first, please," Rhea pleaded. "I can't-"

She sobbed louder as she looked down, they were so high she couldn't tell where they were. But she saw the sea from afar. Aemond shook his head against her shoulder, his jaw clenched.

"No. I refuse to let you die before me," he refused through gritted teeth. "You were born in the winter, two years after I was, and that winter ended a week after your birth. All my life, I have never known another winter and I refuse to believe you do not have something to do with it. You are my life's summer, my warmth, without you, I-"

He stopped to catch his breath, each word more painful than the other. Rhea's hands could no longer hold tightly onto the saddle and Sapphire felt it, steadying himself more.

"We should have taken that trip to Essos, it would have been glorious to see all of it, see Old Valyria like you always dreamed of," Aemond added, his voice full of regret.

"It would have, but I don't regret anything, my love," she comforted him, stroking his hand lovingly. 

He smiled sadly, weakly. 

"Me neither, my love." Aemond said, and it was true, he would not have changed anything, for every step they took, good or bad, built the love they shared.

They were silent for a second, breathing with difficulty as their bodies gradually surrendered to their deaths.

"Kiss me, one last time, Aemond," Rhea asked and she gathered the last of her strength to push through the immense pain she felt and turn around to the best of her abilities, looking into her husband's eye one last time, the sapphire she had gifted him still in his eye socket, still glinting as he moved. Even dying, he was the most beautiful man she had ever laid her eyes on, and Aemond had the exact same thought about her, smiling sadly as he cupped her cheek and brought her lips to his, sharing one last deep, passionate kiss. His hand still on her cheek, Aemond stroke Rhea's lip with his thumb, kissing her forehead. She no longer cried and she looked resolute, so did he.

"Goodbye, my love," Aemond whispered again her before he drew his last breath, his hand slowly dropping from Rhea's face. His body leaning off the saddle, pulling Rhea's.

Rhea closed her eyes, her lip quivering and her eyes filling with tears as she opened them again and looked at her beloved dragon one last time. They were still far from Claw Isle, and she knew she would not be able to hold on for much longer.

Aemond's body was still attached to hers through the arrow, she felt his warmth slowly leave his body and she closed her eyes one last time, breathing in and out as she made her peace with all the joys, all the sorrows she had felt in her, however short-lived, life.

She died just as her body toppled over Sapphire's saddle, bringing Aemond's with hers, plunging through the air towards the sea. The arrow remained, holding them both in place as their bodies crashed into the water.

Aemond Targaryen was only five and twenty when the light in his soul went out. Rhea Celtigar only almost three and twenty. Their first child would have indeed been a boy, had he ever been born. They would have been great rulers, had they been given the chance, and even better parents.

In their lives, Rhea had been many things to Aemond: his father's ward, his friend, his confidant, his lady, his princess and then his queen. But the most important, through all the other stages and titles, she had been his one true love, and he had been hers.

(A/N : I made myself wayyy too sad writing the last few chapters knowing this one was coming, and, yup, this chapter didn't help either 🙃

i lowkey cried so much writing it i had to take breaks 😂😭

my two babies i love them so much😭❤️

stay tuned for the last chapter, coming shortly after this one ❤️)