The Tragedy of Liliyana Lannister 𓆗♡ AEMOND TARGARYEN ♡ 𓆗

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

Prince Aegon was still half-drunk when the White Worm's people entered.

"Time already?" he asked, falling onto his strawbed. "Fucking--"

They placed a body beside him; cloaked and hooded. Motionless, Aegon presumed them dead. Two men and a woman wordlessly piled hay onto a cart, readying the Prince's royal carriage to the next hideout.

"Not quite morning yet, my prince," one of the women lied. Their mistress needed the boy and lady just a little while longer. She adjusted Aegon's companion, lifting her hood. Crusted blood oozed from her forehead and nose. An ugly and veiny bruise bloomed from her temple and into her blonde hairline.

Aegon stepped back in horror. "Liliyana!" He looked at his brother's wife and nearly puked. "I-is she dead?"

The woman smiled, but it never reached her eyes. "She would have been, had we not prevented her rape and kidnapping."

The prince slowly sank to the floor. "My brother is going to murder someone."

The woman reached beside him and picked up his forgotten goblet of ale. She placed it between his slacked fingers. "Then it is best to be drunk when it happens, no?"

Aegon gripped the cup and arched a brow, toasting the woman. "You have no idea!"

~

Cole and Aemond continued on their way, interrogating brothel after brothel. Cole spoke while Aemond slinked away to a corner to watch and listen. His ever-observing eye searching the crowds for any hint of his brother.

"You are quiet now," Cole said, after they walked again. "Something on your mind?" When the prince did not respond, Cole looked back, a knowing look in his brown eyes. "Or someone?"

The woman still stood out in Aemond's mind like an eyesore, but that was not his true focus. He hoped Liliyana was well, but he already knew the answer: she was beside herself. He knew the relationship his father and wife had over the years. Aemond let her see him, often needing to twist a few arms to allow her so.

He should be with her now, taking care of her while she mourned. Leaving had been a mistake. Aemond thought Aegon would be found quickly. But his brother, as always, made things needlessly more difficult.

"Here I am," he bit out, unable to hide his frustration. Liliyana's despair when told earlier this morning played in his mind like a spinning top. "trawling the city, ever the good soldier, in search of a wastrel who's never taken half an interest in his birthright." Aemond stopped and so did Cole. "'Tis I the younger brother who studies history and philosophy, it is I who trains with the sword, who rides the largest dragon in the world. It is I who should be--" He cut himself off.

Jealousy sat in the back of his neck and had bloomed over the years, but he kept it there, never letting it release. He was not weak and did not wish to appear as such. But he deserved what was handed to Aegon. He deserved to rule and Liliyana deserved to be seen as the queen she was.

Cole came up beside him. "I know what it is to toil for what others are freely given."

"Mm." Aemond did not entirely disbelieve the man, but he also did not want pity. "And

we can't find him, Cole. You are a decent man with no taste for depravity. His secrets are his own...and he's welcome to them." Aemond stepped forward, not wanting his voice to carry. "I'm next in line to the throne. Should they come looking for me, I intend to be found."

~

In a market center, Otto Hightower and twins Ser Erryk and Arryk met with the White Worm.

The Hand's patience began to lack. "Where is the Prince?" he asked her again.