The Vengeful Ghost

23. An Understanding

"And you want to find a way in? If you console with my mother, she will put me on that fucking throne." Aegon said.

"Not if I convince her to give it to me with the promise that I will remain loyal to her," Visenya spoke.

"There's a caveat here, you hate my mother," Aemond added.

"I do. This is why when I become queen, we will be the red faction, not the Greens. With my station, I will remove your mother and Otto from the court, along with any other rats that stand in our way to remove Rhaenyra and Daemon."

Aemond looked impressed but did not speak. He was deep in thought, his forehead creased as he stayed silent. Aegon shrugged with a smile. "You have my vote, but I would prefer to see anyone on that throne besides myself. I do not want it."

Visenya nodded and looked at Aemond. "I want you as my King regent. I can not do this alone. They will rip me apart."

Aemond looked at her and she thought she caught his eye trailing to her lips but shrugged it off. "I will do it. I will put you on that throne. But you can't continue angering my mother as you did today."

"You'll need an heir, so hopefully last night worked," Aegon said.

Aemond and Visenya looked at each other and then back at Aegon. "Don't count on it."

"Why?"

"I might have drank moon tea," Visenya mumbled.

"Well, then you know what has to be done. Mother won't do this if there isn't an heir."

"Let me try to stomach that thought. In the meantime, I will play nice with her."

Aegon nodded and stood up. "This has been delightful, but my energy has worn out and I would like to sleep off today's ale. Try not to kill one another, please."

He left the room before they could respond and Visenya was left with the silence between them. "Viseny -"

"Stop, Aemond."

"No, Visenya, you are going to shut that annoying mouth for a few moments so that I can say something. Can you possibly behave for once?"

Visenya glared at him and crossed her arms. "Fine."

"Good. Visenya, you have annoyed me since I was a child. I thought you were a crybaby that needed to be broken down and rebuilt stronger. But in these weeks after watching you and watching Daemon treat you like a dog, I realized I was wrong about you. You weren't broken completely, you were always strong. I was a fool to think I needed to fix you. I realized had I not bullied you, we could have been close."

He took a breath before continuing. "We were always so similar. We were both alone, the outcasts of our family, and we had no dragons. We needed someone and we could have been friends at the least. So Visenya, I am sorry. I am so sorry for being a terrible uncle and a worse person. You were right, you are not to blame for being born a bastard. You are not to blame for your mother's sins. And you are not your mother."

Visenya relaxed where she was sitting, trying not to be tense around him. "Aemond, maybe we shouldn't be sorry for being the way our mothers made us. You were only acting the way you were taught."

"But maybe if I was as smart as people presumed, I would have acted on my own. When my father asked me who I heard the rumor of your brothers being a bastard from, my mother shook her head and I know she intended for me to take the blame. At that point, I knew I was alone. So I gladly called her out. So now you have to be doomed to this marriage."

Visenya shook her head. "We can find peace with one another. We may never love the other but we have respect and I believe we can be friends."

Aemond's smile was pained like he was stung by her words, but she knew he had just been injured. "When it comes to war, do you really think you will be able to sway your brothers?"