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

The Mess You've Made

"She truly is my daughter, isn't she?" he asked softly. The mix of pride and sarcasm in his question made the corners of Rhaenyra's mouth twitch. And then, despite the fact that they had just been screaming at one another, both women were grinning.

"I love you, sweet girl," Rhaenyra told her, lifting her chin and gazing down at her, "Never, ever, forget that. I only want the very best for you. That is why I'm hard on you." Visaera nodded and her mother leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You smell like wine," she added, wrinkling her nose. "Get some sleep and we will figure this mess out in the morning." Visaera bid them both goodnight, kissing Daemon on the cheek and earning another proud grin from him before she finally closed the door.

Releasing the braids from her hair and combing her fingers through it, Visaera let out a sigh of relief. Everything could wait until tomorrow... Continuing to rub her fingers over her aching scalp, she crossed the room and poured herself another glass of wine, not that she needed it. Her body was still warm from all the wine at dinner. Still, lifting the goblet to her mouth gave her hands something to do and kept her from biting her nails.

She had nearly finished her second cup when a loud knock at her door startled her; she nearly dropped the cup in her hand. Almost stumbling over her skirts, Visaera crossed the room in a hurry and tugged open the door, expecting to find Alarya. Instead, she found Aegon, panting as though he had just run through the entire keep.

Panicked, Visaera looked between him and her knight, who stood beside her door. Aegon had never used the corridors to enter her rooms before, but Ser Jaunton already knew why he had to this time. A silent conversation passed between her and her knight, deciding whether the prince would be turned away and whether Jaunton would ever speak of this. The knight leaned against the wall and looked pointedly at the ceiling, whistling a tune and pretending he wasn't witnessing the prince standing outside her chambers just before bed...

Despite her better judgment, Visaera stepped aside and allowed him to enter the room, closing the door behind him.

"What do you—"

"You're going to marry him?" Aegon snarled before she could finish her question. Swallowing the last of her wine, she set the cup forcefully down on the table.

"What did you think was going to happen, Aegon?" she countered, "You think I would just be a good little wife and let you fuck the entirety of the keep without uttering a word of complaint? That I would keep letting you hurt me?"

"Visaera, that's not fair!"

"No, what's not fair is you demanding that I marry you, practically calling me a whore in the process, and then going off to bed someone else hours later!" she yelled.

"I didn't bed anyone!" he replied desperately.

"I heard you!" she countered.

"Visaera, I was fucking drunk!" he yelled, "Whatever you think you heard, nothing happened! Yes, there was a maid in my rooms; she was cleaning my vomit from the fucking floor! Is that what you needed to know?" He gripped her around the shoulders and looked into her face, silently pleading with her to believe him. "I haven't touched anyone but you in months, not since the moment you returned, swear to the gods."

A heavy lump had formed in her throat and her heart had begun to pound as she stared up into his wide, violet eyes. Years of companionship had made her an expert on reading his eyes, and she found no lie in them. Her legs nearly gave out as she realized how stupid she had been.

"You didn't—"

"Of course not!" he assured her. Jarred by the revelation, Visaera blinked up at him, realizing she had utterly fucked everything up. "And now you're going to marry him?" She turned away, unable to look at him, unable to face the accusation in his voice. "Answer me."