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"You know they make fun of you because you react, right?"
Vanya had been wandering around the halls of Driftmark for quite some time. She had arrived with her father via boat, leaving Moonstone in the Kingslanding pits. It had been easy enough to disappear into the shadows of the castle. With all of the chaos of the coming funeral in the afternoon, no one noticed the small girl's movements.
She had been looking for Helaena, whom she had been separated from once the ship began to unload people, but she hadn't had much luck. Instead, it seemed, she had stumbled upon the younger brother.
Aemond Targaryen was doing what Aemond Targaryen always did: mope around in some dark area. Like many others, he had been there when Naenya and Maegor took off on the silent Cannibal. Unlike the others, Aemond was far more jealous than concerned about the idea of people getting to ride such a large dragon. Vanya was certain Aemond wished desperately to be in Maegor's shoes and have Naenya offer him the seat instead. Vanya was sure that, deep down, there was a tiny sliver of Aemond that wished he was Naenya's son rather than Visery's. She also knew that the larger part of Aemond hated himself for even thinking about having a mother who wasn't Alicent Hightower.
"What?" Aemond seemed surprised to see Vanya.
Aemond had seated himself on an empty stairwell, likely hoping Alicent Hightower would notice his disappearance and find him soon enough.
"Aegon makes fun of you because you always react, and he pulls Jace, Luke and Rhaenya along because they're young like you," Vanya shrugged, sitting beside Aemond on the stairs, "Easy to push to do what he wants,"
"Why are you saying this?" Aemond rolled his eyes but didn't move, "It isn't exactly helpful."
"I'm just saying, don't react." Vanya said, "Don't react, and Aegon will get bored."
Aemond didn't mind Vanya. She never took part in his bullying. In fact, she never really took part in anything. Aemond knew the Targaryen and Velaryon children would often have sleepovers in each other's room, an idea Maegor started. Aemond, despite being invited, hardly involved himself, though he would sometimes watch as the gaggle of children ran around between rooms. Aemond only saw Vanya with the group infrequently, following slowly after her twin brother.
Vanya was always silent; this was already one of the longest conversations he'd ever had with her. He hadn't been aware of how soft her voice was; he assumed it would be piercing and echoing like her twins. It wasn't, though; it was soft and sweet like honey, almost sleepy. It was nice.
"So what, you don't have a dragon? Plenty of Targaryens in history didn't," Vanya continued.
"It's not that easy. You wouldn't understand. You have a dragon," Aemond said, his words like a whip.
