Surviving

Chapter 31: The Boy Who Was Scared

Naerys woke just as the sun was beginning to rise, lying on Aemond's chest with his hand over hers and his other arm wrapped around her. He was still asleep and she didn't want to wake him, so she just stared at him, studying every inch of his face.

She couldn't wrap her mind around it for one second, but she didn't care.

All she knew was her heart belonged to him now.

Aemond was her comfort, her protector, her husband. Their marriage had been so tumultuous from the beginning, but now the idea of being apart from him terrified her. Their past didn't matter anymore. He was her future now.

Her eyes wandered down to his hand holding hers and she noticed the tiniest of cuts on his fingertips. Those weren't there when they arrived in Dorne. They all looked relatively new, which only made her wrack her brain trying to remember if she'd seen them since. But her thoughts would distract her right back to the cloud she'd been floating on the past couple days.

There was a faint drumming noise that pulled her attention coming from outside, reminding her of what today would be, or would've been. Aerys' second nameday.

Naerys had been dreading the day since Qyle's nameday. She'd spent the entire time crying as she walked through the people of Sunspear. She felt like a ghost of who she used to be. A princess loved by all of Sunspear, but a broken widow was all that remained of her.

Yet now she was far from that. She was still grieving, and there would always be a small part of her that would continue to grieve her late husband and children, but she was moving on finally.

She'd thrown herself onto their pyres just for Aemond to be the one to lift her from their ashes.

The sound of the drums was starting to grow louder as the sun started to shine over Sunspear. Aemond grumbled in his sleep, shifting slightly and pulling Naerys tighter to him. She let out a quiet giggle as she started to kiss along his chest, working her way up his neck slowly while he started to wake.

A low moan came from the back of his throat as his eye started to open. Her lips had just reached his cheek when she pulled away to smile at him.

She could still smell the wine on both of their lips from last night, but she didn't move away from him. Any fears she had vanished from her as she looked at him. Her "something good".

Aemond ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face before he cupped her cheek. He didn't care how selfish it was for him to want this every morning.

Then the sound of the drumming finally caught his attention, reminding him of what today was for her. His face softened with concern as his thumb brushed gently against her cheek.

"Is there anything I can do for you to make today easier for you?" He asked in a low, husky voice. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but also surprise. "Aliandra told me when we arrived."

Her face fell, eyes dropping from his gaze as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. She let out a small sigh, slowly lifting her eyes back to him as she whispered. "Stay with me."

His eye softened with a small smile slowly growing on his face. It was like music to his ears. He slid his hand into her hair, pulling her towards him before he kissed her softly. His lips pulled away with his forehead pressing against hers as he murmured over her lips. "From this day, until the end of my days."

The door opened abruptly with Coryanne and Aliandra rushing in. Naerys and Aemond barely had a moment to turn their attention to them by the time the two sisters were dragging Naerys out of bed.