From Low Born to King

Chapter Forty-One: Soothe

Arthur
The small medical room smells strongly of herbs and medicine. Prince Aegon is still asleep, shivering occasionally from fever. Rhaegar is lying next to the prince, looking to be in a catatonic state.
"My Lord," Arthur murmurs, snapping the Targaryen out of his haze. "I brought you food. I know you haven't been eating well."

He watches Rhaegar force himself to sit up. "Thank you," he rasps, taking the food tray.
Arthur nods slowly, worried.
"Satin is worried as well. He says he will see Aegon later, when he wakes up."
"Of course."
"How is he?" Arthur looks at the prince.

"He doesn't shiver as much. But he told me he saw things..visions. The visions are coming back to him, possibly more violent than before."
"My poor prince..." Dayne sighs, moving a stand of hair away from Aegon's face gently.
****
Later, Arthur checks on Aegon while Rhaegar is in the washroom. Satin is in the room, watching the prince sleep. "Flowers..." Arthur whispers, drawing his attention. "Anything?"
"Not much, Ser Arthur," Satin answers.

Then Aegon gasps sharply and wakes up, startling them both.
"Aegon!" Satin sounds relieved.
The prince groans, rubbing his eyes.
"Give him space," Arthur orders gently, hand on Satin's shoulder. Flowers does.
"Are you okay, my prince?" Satin asks, tears in his eyes.
"Aye," Aegon responds slowly, like his mind is stuck in a fog.

With a soft hiss, they turn to see Cobalt looking in through the window, grey smoke venting from her nostrils. Arthur is startled by this. Can Cobalt sense when Aegon is feeling unwell?
"I'm okay," he reasons with the beast.
Cobalt snorts and looks at the two men near the prince, then moves away from the window.

Satin walks over and grabs Aegon's hand, skin sweaty from fever, but this doesn't bother the squire.
Then the king walks in as well.
He lets out a startled cry of relief and rushes over.
"Oh, my baby..." Rhaegar murmurs, pulling his son into a hug. "Don't scare me like that again," he whispers.
****
Over the next few days, Arthur watches Aegon get progressively better, being able to keep food down and gain his strength back. Slowly, food is introduced back to him: hearty vegetable soup, soft bread and cheese, soon moving to heavier meals like pot roast and seasoned chicken.

The other King's Guard are worried as well, especially Ser Barristan. All seven of the guards end up talking late into the night in the White Sword Tower, a large tower in the Red Keep where the King's Guard live and sleep.
Sandor, Jaime, Jonothor, Oswell, and Barristan are already asleep, leaving only Arthur and Gerold awake.

Gerold Hightower is almost as old as Barristan Selmy, but equally as fierce. They call him the White Bull for a reason.
"I recall being sworn to protect Princess Elia Martell when she was held hostage here," the old man says quietly. "And I failed. I remember seeing the bodies of the prince and princess, all bloody and broken."

"We could only do so much," Arthur reasons.
"How would you know? You weren't even here during the Sack of King's Landing."
"I was protecting the heir apparent, Prince Aegon," Arthur says coldly. "I swore a vow to guard the king and prince, not judge them."

Gerold suddenly looks...defeated, depressed.
"I know," he says quietly. "And I regret not searching harder for the prince when he ran off all those years ago. I will not make the same mistake again."
****
In the morning, Arthur sits outside, breathing in the chill winter air. The Red Keep was getting stuffy, and he needed a small breather.
In stark contrast with the grey clouds, Arthur sees Orchid fly down close to him and land with a thump.

The purple beast notices him and walks over, head tilted curiously. Arthur fights the urge to back away, watching her get close.
They're getting bigger, he realizes, bigger than a fully grown horse.
"Hello," he says, knowing they can understand some of the Common Tongue.

Orchid makes that familiar chirping noise, sounding like a happy bird. She nuzzles him, scales like sandpaper.
Arthur yelps in surprise, unsure what to do.
Hearing laughter from one of the Red Keep's balconies, they both look up to see some of the staff's children pointing and giggling.

Embarrassed, Arthur sees Orchid's attitude change. Spines and frills on the back of her neck flaring up, she exhales smoke from her jaw and hisses like a cobra.
The children look alarmed and rush back inside.
Growling, she shakes herself, nearly smacking Arthur with a wing, but he manages to duck just in time.

Suddenly calm again, she curls up next to the Commander and sighs. Stunned, Arthur pets the dragon, earning a happy purr from her.
Dayne has heard stories about Aegon the Conqueror's dragon Belarion the Black Dread, a dragon so large it could swallow the entirety of King's Landing in it's shadow. The ruins of Harrenhall is still proof enough about how destructive those beasts were.

Prince Aegon's dragons are, at most, five years old, and yet they caused so much damage to Sunspear.
But Aegon wouldn't burn more cities, right? He only did it because his father was in danger. But now that they've all seen that unstable side of the prince, Arthur isn't so certain anymore.