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

Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye

"That was nearly two decades ago." The girls laughed and then Rhaena handed the fisherman the bag of provisions that one of the maids had fetched from the kitchens.

Rhaena and Visaera were still talking to Tornin on the beach when the sentries spotted a single dragon in the sky. All the eyes turned upward and Visaera's heart rose to her throat as she waited for the dragon to approach, straining to see who it was.

As Visaera often did, Jace landed Vermax on the beach, stirring up sand and leaving giant gouges in the ground. The prince dismounted before the green dragon had a chance to tuck his wings, wearing a solemn look on his face.

Her brother was covered in ash and blood and his eyes were wide with dismay. The sight made Visaera's stomach clench.

"Vis..." He had a dazed sort of look in his eye and his voice was shaking as he reached for her, "It's Luke. He's gone..." She was already trembling, but Visaera shook her head, refusing to believe it. Luke couldn't be gone. Her baby brother was not yet fifteen... Jace continue to talk, despite the fact that Visaera didn't want to hear anymore... "We tried to target the fleet, but..."

"But what?" Visaera breathed, her eyes flashing up to his, "What happened, Jace?"

"Aegon and Aemond were already circling in the bay. I don't know if they were looking for you or waiting for us, but..." Jace answered, swallowing thickly. Visaera felt sick, her stomach cramping and threatening to expel its contents onto the beach. "I didn't see what happened, but Luke and Arrax went down in Blackwater Bay, neither resurfaced."

"So, you left him there?" she asked softly, feeling strangely numb like she was no longer attached to her own body. "Did you even bother trying to look for him?" she asked him.

"Vis, I—" She shook her head again, back and forth, as if the motion would somehow wake her and prove this moment to be one of her horrible nightmares. Perhaps she would wake up in the Red Keep, in Aegon's arms... No, this couldn't be real... Her uncles wouldn't...

"This was your...stupid plan...and..." she gritted her teeth, fighting against the gnawing pain threatening to rip her insides apart. It started in the center of her chest and, no matter how she battled against it, it continued to grow. She could feel it, consuming her organs and stealing her breath.

"Visaera, I—"

"You left him there, you fucking—" she choked out a sob as she shoved against his chest as hard as she could, sending him stumbling across the sand. "Our little brother, Jace! Our little brother! You just left him to—" She couldn't breathe, she couldn't force herself to say the word. Visaera was gasping for air but she couldn't breathe. Her lungs were caving in on themselves, shriveling into tiny black bits of ash in her chest. "How could you leave him there?" she screamed, gasping for air as her legs buckled and she fell into the sand.

Lucerys...

Her entire world was caving in, dragging her into a black abyss that threatened to consume her whole. Rhaena and Jace looped their arms around her, supporting her the entire way up to the keep as she battled against them, her legs repeatedly giving out beneath her.

Flashes filled her head, a tiny, dark-haired babe being pushed into her curious arms, Visaera constantly pushing his black curls off his forehead, the pair of them sprinting hand in hand down the beach to the hot springs. Memories she could cling to but would never fully hold again...

"I'm so sorry, Vis," Jace offered again, the pain evident in his eyes as Rhaena tried to help her back to her room. But Visaera couldn't find a space in her heart to feel sympathy for her brother. Visaera felt nothing but her own, all-consuming agony. Nothing he said could take the pain away.