The Maid - Aemond Targaryen

Twenty Six - The Prince She Escaped

"And um... here are five golden dragons. Just in case you find yourself in any trouble in the North. Though I am sure Lord Cregan will be kind to you, he is an honorable man, and I will make sure cousin Bernard takes care of you." Erryk spoke quietly as he handed Elyana a small sack with the dragons.

She looked up at him with grateful eyes and took a deep breath, looking at the dirty cart she would have to get into.

They stood in a dirty stable of the Red Keep, and Erryk had paid the wooltakers a few dragons just so they would smuggle Elyana to the North. The sun had set over the capital and now it was time for the cavalcade to leave and begin it's twelve day journey to the North.

"Please... tell my mother where I have ran and that I am sorry for everything I've done." She mumbled as she looked down at the mud. And she saw herself in it. Dirty and stepped on.

"Please care for her... she... she will be left alone. I-I will try to bring her to me if all goes well. In time maybe." She tried making herself feel better but it did not work well. Nothing could make her feel better.

Elyana was hopeful that everything would go according to plan, that she would flee to Winterfell and never be found again. But she knew better than that. She knew he would find her. But she hoped and prayed that maybe he would just leave her be. That he would forget her and find someone else to ruin and steal from.

"I will." Erryk gave her one nod as she pressed her lips. Her eyes were glued to his and the guilt for her actions still flooded her senses.

"I am sorry. For everything. I swear I never meant to hurt you." Her voice was low and defeated, and she leaned into his touch when he moved his thumb to swipe away one stray tear.

"Sometimes one does not understand how good they have it until they are left battered and bruised. Now you know... when you play with fire, you get burned." He spoke with a sigh.

She had been burned and reduced to ashes by the dragon that was Aemond Targaryen, and she regretted ever putting herself in his path of wrath. But regret did nothing now. She had to live with this, and with the child he forcefully left in her.

"Aye! We leaving now! You stay or you go?" An older man shouted from his horse, and Elyana looked around to see all of the horses and carts begin their departure. She breathed out and looked back to Erryk, giving him a small faltering smile.

"Thank you for this... you need not have to. Yet you did..." She told him as the knight shrugged and walked to the beaten down wooden cart she would be traveling on. "Come on." He muttered and offered his hand for support as she climbed unto it and sat down on the hay.

"Goodbye Erryk..." She whispered as he gave her one nod and pounded once on the cart, letting the horseman know that she was ready.

As the cart moved she looked back to the good knight, their eyes locking as she fled the Red Keep. She took a deep breath and wiped her tears with her right hand, taking shallowy breaths as the horses moved through the fields.

She laid down on the hay and looked up at the night sky, her mind wandering what could have been if she never let Aemond in. What could have been if she had remained loyal to Erryk. Or what could have been if her father never faded... A thousand what ifs clouded her brain as she stared at the stars.

She drifted off to sleep easily, her mind desperate to forget what she was leaving behind. Desperate to forget Aemond and his viciousness to claim and take whatever he pleased.

She fled the capital with nothing but her babe, her wounded heart, and five golden dragons.

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