Dreams, Dragons, and Deceit || Aemond & Aegon Targaryen

The Mess You've Made

⚠️Trigger warning for what can *technically* be considered dub-con⚠️

The door burst open with a loud slam and Rhaenyra and Daemon charged into the room. Already, her mother was red-faced and flustered.

"Do you have any idea what sort of mess you've just thrown us into?" Her mother immediately snapped, not waiting for her daughter to speak. "First, you make a fool of yourself at the petition, then announce your betrothal, something you haven't even spoken to me about, then you strike Prince Aemond and threatened to rescind the very betrothal you just announced? Do you have anything to say for yourself, Visaera?"

"Mother, I just—"

"What in the god's name possessed you to hit him? Alicent is livid—"

"Oh, Alicent is livid?" she finally sneered, "I'm livid, mother! He practically called my brothers bastards right there at the table and nobody did anything about it! I'm supposed to just let him speak ill of my family?"

"And this betrothal business?" Daemon finally interrupted, stepping between the glaring women, "Why would you announce such a thing without consulting us first? We haven't even spoken about marriage, other than a single instance on Dragonstone."

"Yes, I know, but the Queen kept asking me—"

"I don't give a fuck about that whore. There are other matches, better matches, that you could have made. It's our duty to find you a suitable betrothal and you just ruined any prospect of that happening." 

"I couldn't help it; I was just so mad! Aegon, he—"

"Of course!" Rhaenyra groaned, then laughed bitterly, "Of course, it's not about your future, it's about fucking Aegon! Your ridiculous attachment to your uncle—"

"You're one to lecture me on proprieties! If it weren't for 'ridiculous attachments' to uncles, I wouldn't have been fucking born, would I?" At her words, Rhaenyra took a visible step back, pressing a hand to her ribcage as though she were struggling to breathe. When she audibly gasped and doubled over in pain, the argument was forgotten and Visaera was rushing to her mother's side. "Mother?" Her voice trembled with worry as she ducked to give Rhaenyra her shoulder and help her into a chair. "Is it the baby?"

The thought sent a chill sweeping down her spine and the blood drained from her face. The last thing Visaera wanted was to cause her mother unnecessary stress or do anything to harm the baby growing in her womb. Rhaenyra reached for one of the chairs behind her and lowered herself into it, still grimacing in pain. "I'm sorry," she whispered, tears springing in her eyes as she dropped to her knees and pressed her cheek to Rhaenyra's belly. "I'm sorry. I won't fight with you anymore."

"I don't want to fight with you, Visaera," her mother assured her when the pain finally subsided; running her hand through her hair. "I want to make sure that you are making smart decisions for the future. Nothing that took place tonight would be considered a smart decision."

"So. you think Aemond is the wrong choice for me?" she asked, finally looking up from Rhaenyra's belly.

"I barely know the boy; I haven't seen him in years. But deciding on a whim to marry him as some sort of revenge... Nothing needed to be decided tonight, or even this year. We could have sent word and waited for offers from any of the other houses. Your choice tonight removed those options." Her mother sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "The Queen is not happy about what you said before you left."

"When I said I made a mistake or when I called them fucking Hightowers?" Visaera asked grimly. A snort of laughter came from across the room and, when Visaera looked up, she found Daemon shaking his head and trying to smother a grin.