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

Premonition

When she finally came to, Visaera was sobbing, lying flat upon her back on the damp ground. Unable to see anything through the thick, crimson color filling her eyes, she scrambled across the grass and clawed at her surroundings, desperate to find purchase on something familiar.

Her mind was a scrambled mess and she tried to make sense of what had just happened to her.

"Are you alright, princess?" She was hauled to her feet by a familiar voice and, as she blinked repeatedly to clear her eyes, Ser Criston finally came into hazy view. "You're bleeding..." he murmured, reaching out and smearing the red tear across her cheek with the pad of his thumb. There was a soft compassion to his gaze that made her gut twist with disgust as she remembered what she had just seen.

"Don't fucking touch me!" she hissed, recoiling. The vision of him and Rhaenyra flashed in her mind once more, churning her stomach and threatening to make her sick. "Do I remind you of her, Cole? Of my mother... Before you were willing to abandon your vows? Before you betrayed her for not returning your sentiments?" Visaera had no idea what made her say such things, but the words poured from her with malice she didn't know she was capable of possessing. "I'm not my mother, Ser Criston, I'm far worse, I promise you. If you ever presume to touch me again, I'll make you wish the Queen hadn't stayed your hand. I'll make you wish you had killed yourself that night..."

As she stormed off, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands, Ser Criston stared after her in shock, wondering how she knew any of the things she had just told him. While it was possible that Rhaenyra had said something about him, he couldn't imagine her telling any of her children about Cole's offer to abandon his position and whisk her across the narrow sea. And the only one who knew about his suicide attempt was the Queen herself; she would never breathe a word of it to anyone...

Visaera was panicking as she made her way back to her rooms, rubbing furiously at her eyes and willing the burning to fade. Never had she experienced a vision of such magnitude, and never had she experienced one while she was awake. With trembling fingers, she hunted down her satchel and began throwing things inside, all while fighting the tremors that wracked her limbs. She tried desperately to make sense of what she had seen, but so many different things had flashed before her mind that they were almost all jumbled together. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on a single image, pulling it forward in her jumbled mind.

Aemond... She watched as Aemond flew through a downpour of rain and then... Lucerys... The feeling the vision provided was enough to knock her flat on her bum and choke out a wrenching sob. War was coming and Lucerys was going to be the first casualty, she knew it in her gut.

Fury bubbled through her, so strong she nearly marched to Aemond's room to smother him in his sleep. Instead, she continued to pack her things, realizing that she was no longer safe alone in the capital. Something was coming and she needed to be prepared for it.

Leaning over the table, she wrote out three letters with shaking hands, offering words of apology and plenty of excuses, hoping they would be enough. She hardly noticed the red tears that marked the page as she scribbled out her goodbyes.

"Ser Jaunton," she whispered, peaking her head out of her door. The sound of her huffs had woken him upon her return and now he looked fully alert. "I need your help..."

** ** **

"Are you sure about this, princess?" the knight asked her one last time.

"Yes..." she replied. "Are you going to be in much trouble for letting me go?" She was staring at the small ship anchored against the dock and her stomach churned involuntarily. Fuck... Already, she was seasick and she hadn't even stepped foot on the ship.