Dreams, Dragons, and Deceit || Aemond & Aegon Targaryen

Mud and Trouble

"I shouldn't need to remind you that Queen Alicent will look for any reason to slander us, Visaera," Rhaenyra scolded. Visaera nodded bleakly. By all accounts her parents were right; she had been too caught up in the moment to understand how her actions would have repercussions. "I don't suppose I need to tell you to stay away from your uncle?" Rhaenyra added. Visaera shook her head.

That night, Visaera tossed and turned in bed. When she finally slept, horrible images plagued her dreams. There was a man and a woman, both of them shrouded in flames, screaming out in a haunting tone. She woke in a sweat, panting heavily and crying out, unable to shake the feeling of foreboding the dream had left behind. Both of them felt familiar; as if she had known them her whole life, but she couldn't place them covered in fire. Even after she joined prince Aegon in his bed, sleep refused to claim her...

Visaera was in still in her bed the when the news came of a fight in the outer yard. Her belly had been aching all day, warning her that her bleeding would come soon. So, instead of attending lessons or watching her brothers train, she remained under the covers in the safety of her rooms.

It was late in the afternoon when she finally hauled herself from bed and dressed in preparation for supper. The tension around the table was thick and Visaera glanced back and forth between her mothers and her brother, confused.

"What's going on?" she finally asked. No one offered her a reply and she returned to eating.

"It's really not our fault, Mother," Jacaerys complained.

"I will hear no more of it," Rhaenyra insisted, "It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Ser Harwin harmed a member of the Kingsguard. His father is sending taking him back to Harrenhal and we have no say in the matter." The room fell into silence as the boys returned to their suppers. Visaera couldn't help but wonder what exactly had happened in the yard, and Jace only filled her in as they made their way back to their rooms.

"We were training and Ser Criston set us against each other, me and Aegon and Luke and Aemond. When the prince knocked me into the dirt, Ser Criston told him to keep hitting me; to not let up. Then, Ser Harwin defended us; told Ser Criston that he was teaching cruelty and unfairness. I don't know what Ser Criston said to him, then, it was too low to hear... But then, Ser Harwin attacked him. Punched him in the face over and over. It was really marvelous to see," he admitted. Visaera laughed at that. Far more often than not, Ser Criston treated her brothers worse than dirt. It was high time someone else showed him exactly how that felt.

"So, he's being sent back to Harrenhal?" she asked.

"His father requested it; I'm not sure why. Mother won't say it, but I can tell that she's upset, too." Visaera could guess why her mother would be. With their father spending so much time with Ser Qarl, it was understandable that Rhaenyra would seek companionship elsewhere.

The next morning, the children gathered in Rhaenyra's apartments to bid the knight goodbye. Visaera watched as Harwin said goodbye to her brothers and then the princess. Then he smiled and chucked her under the chin. As everyone around her held back tears, Visaera simply sat on her mother's settee and fidgeted uncomfortably.

Part of her felt as though she should be sad, but she wasn't as close to Ser Harwin as the rest of her family was. It made her feel guilty to watch her mother stare at the ground, unable to look the knight in the eye as he kissed little Joffrey goodbye. Then he was out the door; Jace was running behind him. Even out in the corridor, Visaera could hear Jace's voice echo as he asked his mother if he was a bastard. The word, and the memory it conjured, made her wince. She hated that word. Why did it matter whether someone's parents were married? Why wasn't it enough to see that two people loved each other?