Surviving

Chapter 19: The Girl Who Held The Boy

"You seem distracted, brother." Helaena said sweetly as she looked over at Aemond, who seemed a million miles away.

His eye flickered over to his sister, who was bouncing little Jaehaera on her knee. He cleared his throat, shifting just slightly in his seat, but remained silent.

"Are you and Princess Naerys not getting along?" She asked.

"No." A half truth.

"Oh." Helaena frowned, going back to giving her daughter her full attention. Aemond hadn't said much since he'd returned from his flight. It was like he wasn't even there.

Little Maelor waddled over to Aemond, swatting at his uncle's knee and then waving his arms above his head. Aemond glanced down at the boy with an annoyed look on his face, but Maelor just pouted more.

Aemond scoffed, rolling his eye, but picking his nephew up and sitting the boy on his lap. Maelor started wiggling around, babbling mindlessly as he played with his uncle's long, silver hair.

"Two jewels fall from each crown." Helaena's voice was ominous as she spoke.

Aemond looked over at his sister, but she had already gone back to doting on her daughter like no words had escaped her in the first place. He shook her vague riddles off as usual, keeping a close watch on his nephew.

"Aegon has not come near my chambers." Helaena finally said quietly after many minutes of silence.

He to his sister, eyebrows furrowed together. "He won't. I promise, sister."

"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep, brother." She hissed, head snapping towards him. Aemond's head shifted back in surprise, but so did hers. It was almost like she didn't even realize she was speaking.

"Are you well, sister?" He asked.

The doors opened with the servants coming in to retrieve the children for their nap, but when Aemond looked up at the door, he was looking right at his wife, who stood frozen in the hallway.

Naerys had a strange look on her face, looking from Aemond to Maelor. Her eyes turned glossy when she looked at the little boy on his knee, but once Maelor was taken, Naerys looked up at Aemond for a brief moment and vanished.

He quickly excused himself from his sister's chambers and rushed out the door to catch up to her. He'd caught her just as she'd entered their own chambers, but she just went straight to the balcony to lean over the ledge.

She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to for him to realize she was upset. He wasn't sure why he even cared. He just knew he couldn't leave her alone.

He joined her side, leaning over as well, but never looking over at her or saying a word. She snuck a glance at him from the corner of her eye, seeing him blankly staring over the city.

"Why did you hate me so much before...?" She asked in a quiet voice, trying to tiptoe around the obvious answer. It never made sense to her why she was always picked on. She'd never gone out of her way to insult or harm any of them.

"Make no mistake, I hated you just the same as your bastard brothers." He smirked, making her scowl with an eye roll. "You were the only one of them to make yourself stand out."

She went back to looking ahead, her face dropped from the snide mention of that night she took his eye. Her fingers toyed with each other lazily while her thoughts were all over the place.

"But that's not what I asked you." She swallowed hard, eyebrows knitted together as she looked down at her fingers toying with each other. "I asked why did you hate me? What did I do to you for you to hate me?"