The Darkness We Hide

Chapter 1

12 years later

"But it smells like shit in King's Landing, mother!" Alys whined as she sat on the back of Braxes' saddle behind Viserra. Viserra held onto the reins with one hand while the other rubbed at her aching, swollen belly.

"Alyssa Arryn! Watch your tongue!" Viserra scoffed with a laugh as the Red Keep came into view. She sighed, dreading her return after years away.

Their visits were frequent as they wanted to try to keep their children together, but especially for Alys. Alys was an only child still with only her mother and father in the Eyrie. Her mother suffered two stillbirths and a miscarriage within 5 years of Alys being born. It put so much strain on her family that eventually Viserra never returned to King's Landing nor did Alys.

Rhaenyra would visit every so often with her children, but she too was trying to limit her visits as well. Over the years, Queen Alicent grew to hate Rhaenyra and try to convince the king her son's were bastards. But the king refused to listen, saving Rhaenyra and her children ultimately. She was currently under the watchful, spiteful eyes of the queen after giving birth to yet another dark haired boy.

Ser Laenor, Rhaenyra's husband, had sent a raven to Viserra explaining Joffrey's birth and what the queen put Rhaenyra through immediately afterwards. The moment she read the scroll, she didn't care how close to her own labors she was. She didn't care what anyone had to say. She was flying to King's Landing and giving the queen a piece of her mind and to defend her big sister.

Braxes came down hard in front of the dragonpits, shaking the ground beneath. Alys' hands flew around her mother's belly protectively with the sudden thump. She helped her mother carefully down to the ground and eagerly looked into the pits.

"Mother, might I...?" Alys nodded towards the inside with a sheepsih smile.

"Fine, but then straight to your aunt's chambers. Understood?" Viserra chuckled, relieved even now that she didn't have to find an excuse to keep Alys away from where she was headed towards. She didn't want her daughter seeing a single second of what she had in mind for the queen.

Alys lit up, embracing her mother gently before she ran off into the pits. There before her were her uncles, Aegon and Aemond, and her cousins, Jace and Luke. Aegon, Jace and Luke were all laughing and snorting at Aemond, who stood silently in front of a pig with wings attached to its back. She cocked her head and whistled at them sharply, gaining all their attention except for Aemond.

"What's with the pig?" She grimaced.

"Alys!" Luke cheered, now with Aemond turning to face her. She looked between Jace and Aegon, who kept snorting and laughing behind Luke.

"Niece! Ah, apologies. If we'd known you were coming, we would've found another dragon for you as well." Aegon chuckled as he gave a pat to Aemond's shoulder.  "My lucky brother here has been blessed enough to claim the Pink Dread."

Aemond's face was blank mostly, but she noticed a slight twitch at the corner of his eye the moment Aegon touched him. She walked past her two uncles right up to the pig, looking back at Aemond one last time. He looked so pitiful and hurt as his brother and nephews continued to laugh.

"Apologies, uncle, but..." She hopped up quickly onto the pig, giving its rear a kick. "This one is mine now!"

The pig took off with a squeal much quicker than she thought, rushing right towards Aegon. It was too late by the time he noticed the giant pig crash into him, knocking Jace and Luke down in the process as well.

Aemond let out a stifled laugh as he watched them all tumble down with Alys laughing on the back of the pig still. He couldn't pull his eyes from her for one second. He felt his heart stop when her smile was now directed at him. When the pig didn't stop, he noticed her shift uncomfortably.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Alys squealed as the pig trotted quickly down the ramp that led deeper into the pits...towards the dragons. The pig managed to bump her off, throwing her into the dirt as she rolled down towards the darkness.

"Alys!" They all shouted from the top, unable to see her from their view. Aemond started to rush forward, but froze when he heard a small, low growl.

"Who...has...the nice...merciful...green dragon?" Alys nervously called out.

"Vermax!" Jace shouted. He started running down instantly, brushing into Aemond's shoulder and bumping him out of the way. He reached her finally, seeing her slowly crawling backwards on her hands and feet away from his dragon who was chained up not too far across from her. "Dohaeris, Vermax!"

"Please don't eat me, Vermax." Alys sarcastically gritted through her teeth, still inching away back towards the light. Vermax hissed, raising his neck slightly towards her. "Shutting up. Understood."

"Dohaeris! Lykiri!" Jace commanded once more, but this time Vermax pulled away and waddled back. Alys quickly shuffled away and rose to her feet. Jace threw his arms around his cousin instantly. "You idiot! You could've died!"

"Think about that next time you decide to pull a stunt like that on someone." She rolled her eyes as they laughed walking back up to the rest of them.

"Vermax obeyed me finally!" Jace called up at them with his arms raised.

Aegon and Luke were cheering and laughing, meanwhile Aemond stood halfway up frozen as he looked at Alys. She was covered head to toe in dirt with the widest grin on her face, even after almost being eaten by Vermax. Before they passed Aemond, she snuck a glance at him and winked with a small smile.

Jace and Luke led her off to find Rhaenyra's chambers while Aegon wandered off drinking, leaving a baffled Aemond in the pits. He hardly remembered his niece since it had been years, but the moment he saw her chase after his brother and nephews to defend him, she was all he wanted to know.

Unfortunately for Aemond, by the time he'd reached Rhaenyra's chambers, Alys and her mother were gone. He sat in Helaena's chambers sulking while she played with her spiders, muttering mindlessly to herself.

"Each must pay a price for the ride they will one day sit."