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»four

"POMPOUS"

"YOU, TELL THAT maid I want more wine delivered to my chambers." Aegon said to a passing guard, making Aemond roll his eyes as they walked through the castle halls after that mess in the throne room.

"Perhaps you should do it yourself for once, brother." He muttered.

"Well then all the pretty servant girls wouldn't have jobs now, would they little brother?" Aegon smirked.

"Sometimes I do wonder how it is that you and I are related." Aemond sighed.

"Me too, little brother. You and me are hardly alike. You scarcely get your cock wet." Aegon snickered. "You are in dire need of a whore. Or one of those lovely maids. Like the ones over there." He pointed across the hallway to two maids talking. Aemond's gaze followed his brother's finger in the direction of the maids, but he had to do a double-take.

What in the seven hells was she doing here?

He almost didn't recognise her for a moment. Firstly, she was wearing a dress. She had her hair pulled back into a low bun at the bottom of her head, though some pieces were too short to reach and instead hung loosely at the sides of her face and ears. But that was definitely her. That was definitely Nazyra.

"I like that one," Aegon pointed, "the one with the dark hair and the large tits."

Aemond's jaw clenched at his brother's vulgar language. Especially about Nazyra. He bit the side of his cheek to prevent even worse language from coming out of his own mouth to insult Aegon. It's not like the two girls wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. The halls were virtually empty and Aegon spoke very loud.

But that didn't stop Aegon. "Why don't they make those dresses with a lower neckline? They would be much more appealing to look at all d-"

"That is because they are maids, not whores, brother." Aemond took a deep breath in to attempt to diffuse his frustrations. He could see Nazyra's little grin pushing onto her face from the side, no matter how much she tried to force it away.

And it was not because of Aegon's words. She was amused because she wished she could've seen the look on Aemond's face when he realised it was her. She could almost hear the shock. Every time he cleared his throat, she suppressed a little giggle to herself as she listened to Dyana's words about each room in the hallway. And then Helaena's soft voice sounded through the halls.

"Dyana?" She called and the two girls lowered their heads a little out of respect for her. "The children are to be dressed for bed."

"Of course, my lady." Dyana said, giving Nazyra one last unsure glance, not knowing whether she knew her way back or not, but Nazyra sent her a nod in reassurance. The two of them disappeared around the corner and down the halls.

Aegon looked at Aemond, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll leave you with her, brother. But, do tell, if you do not want her, then I should gladly take her off your hands."

Aemond shrugged his shoulder away from his brother's touch, letting out a cringed sigh as he listened to Aegon's footsteps get further and further away. Aemond just stood for a moment, staring at Nazyra, who had decided to let the grin push its way onto her face, along with a laugh. She smacked a hand over her mouth to quieten herself down before Aemond finally took a few footsteps towards her.

"Whatever happened to 'I would far better as a blacksmith'?" He cocked a brow.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." She chuckled.

"Care to elaborate?" Aemond questioned, a small, amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips now.

"Well, you see, Tarron thought I was an embarrassment because I fell today when I was getting the horses from Lord Vaemond's guards, even though that was entirely not my fault, so then he decided to be a nasty human being and revoke me of my job, and I was just wondering around all night looking for a new job, and then I ran into Dyana who said she could put in a good word for me that might get me a job as a maid at the castle." She rambled on and on. Aemond loved her voice. It didn't matter what she could be talking about, her voice always made it sound like music to his ears.

"And to think I was worried." Aemond muttered.

Nazyra raised her eyebrows. "Worried? About me?"

"Perhaps that does make me a fool as you named me mere nights ago." He said.

She was genuinely rather shocked, but couldn't resist being a tease to her best friend. "Well, my prince, I feel quite honoured to have taken up so much of your time and concern."

Aemond smirked. "Do not flatter yourself, maid."

"It is hard not to be flattered when you show such concern." She teased. "You were out searching for me all night long yesterday, you admit to worrying about me, you even defended my honour in front of your elder brother mere moments ago." She chuckled, watching Aemond narrow his eyes at her. "If I didn't know any better, my prince, I'd say you truly care for me."

Aemond took a step forwards, making Nazyra have to tilt her head a little more to be able to get a full view of his face. His perfect face. "And you know better, do you not?" He said, lowly. The taunting tone was now evident in his voice instead of hers.

Nazyra gulped, suddenly very aware of her rapid heart beat and her sweaty hands. "I..." she trailed off, pursing her lips. She wished words would come out of her mouth, but the sheer proximity between them held her in a speechless state.

"A miracle has occurred." Aemond smirked. "Nazyra Stone is quiet."

Nazyra narrowed her eyes at him. "You know what you're doing." She whispered.

"Do tell." Aemond chuckled.

"I shall be retiring to the maids quarters now, my prince." Nazyra attempted to regain her composure. "I have much work to do tomorrow." She said, glancing up to meet his eye one last time before turning her back.

"Sleep well, stable girl." Aemond called out.

"You're not amusing." Nazyra called back, not turning to look at him, but Aemond could almost see the smirk on her lips. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head slightly before turning in the opposite direction.

Aemond hated when Nazyra made jokes about how he cares deeply for her. Because, to her, that's all they were - jokes. But the way he felt about her, the feelings he had for her, they were really there. And they were prominent in his mind. The two would tease each other and laugh about it, but Aemond couldn't escape the fact that he was being deadly serious the entire time.

And it hurt that whenever he looked at her, he was reminded that they could never be together. Not openly.