paradox - Aemond Targaryen

Chapter 7: Goodwill Cannot Make Him Whole

'And now you take my son's eye, and to even that, you feel entitled,' Alicent said. 

'Exhausting, wasn't it?' Rhaenyra asked. 'Hiding beneath the cloak of your own righteousness?' She leaned forward ever so slightly to whisper to Alicent. 'But now they see you as you are.' Alicent's hand, holding the blade, came down, and Rhaenyra reeled back, Corlys catching her. Daemon aligned himself next to Rhaenyra, coming up in front of the boys. Rhaenyra and Corlys looked down at her hand, which was dripping blood from a cut on her arm, made by the blade. She let go of the blade, and it clattered to the floor. Aemond, who had been sitting the entire time, stood and made his way over to his mother. 

'Do not mourn me, Mother,' Aemond said. 'It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon.' He leaned into her, and she numbly wrapped her arm around her youngest son. 

'This proceeding is at an end,' Viserys said, and walked away with the aid of his cane. 

The next day... 

Viserys' household left Driftmark the next day, sailing for Kings' Landing. Along with them came the Princess Eleana, and the four dragons of Viserys' household, which included Eleana's dragon, Silverwing, the old mount of Princess Alysanne. The other three dragons comprised of Sunfyre, Aegon's dragon, Dreamfyre, Heleana's dragon, and Vhagar, Aemond's dragon. 

Rhaenyra watched as the ship continued to disappear over the horizon, the dragons flying above the ship. Daemon came to stand next to her. 

'Fire is such strange power,' Rhaenyra spoke. 'Everything that House Targaryen possesses is owed to it. Yet it has cost us both what we loved.' 

'Perhaps the Velaryons knew the truth of it,' Daemon replied. 'The sea is the better ally.' 

'Fire is a prison. The sea offers an escape.'

On the boat... 

Alicent looked out on the water, seeing the dragons fly by, including Vhagar. Larys Strong limped up to her with the aid of his cane, and seated himself near the railing of the boat, positioning himself in a way that was looking at her, but not quite at her.

'A perversion of justice,' Larys remarked. 'The young prince... defiled. An outrage.' 

'Indeed,' she said, her voice thick with remorse. 

'If it's an eye you want, balance the scales, I am your servant.' She looked at him, her face instantly morphing into terror at his statement. She swallowed a lump in her throat. 

'That will not be necessary,' Alicent replied. 'But your devotion has not gone unnoticed.' 

'These are dangerous times,' Larys spoke. Alicent turned away from him. 

'The day will doubtless come when I will require such a friend. With not only skill, but discretion as well.' He inclined his head to her ever so slightly. 

'I shall await your call, my Queen,' he replied, giving a sly smile, then turning to face the vast ocean with her. 

On the shore... 

'I need you, Uncle,' she said. 'I cannot face the greens alone,' she added in High Valyrian. Daemon turned to her. 'Let us bind our blood, as Aegon the Conqueror did with his sisters. With you as my husband and prince consort, my claim would not be so easily challenged. The Velaryons are made of the sea. But you and I... are made of fire. We were always meant to burn together.' 

'We could not marry unless Laenor were dead,' Daemon replied, switching back to English. Rhaenyra sighed. 

'I know. I will not be a tyrant, and rule through terror.' 

'A tyrant rules only through terror,' Daemon replied. 'If the King isn't feared, he is powerless. If you are to be a strong queen, you must cultivate love and respect, yes, but your subjects must fear you.'

'I do love Laenor,' Rhaenyra spoke. 

'Then grant him this kindness. Set him free,' Daemon replied. 

'This will cost Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys their only remaining child. And the realm will whisper that I was somehow responsible.' 

'Let them whisper. We will know the truth of it and our enemies won't.' 

'They will fear what else we might be capable of.' 

The plan was a fake. Daemon and Rhaenyra married as Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys grieved the loss of their final child, Ser Laenor Velaryon. But Laenor had found his way to the beaches outside of Driftmark, and set sail for the fighting in the Stepstones with his friend, Qarl Correy. There, he disappeared for good.