Violent Delights (HotD- AemondxOC fanfic, Ewan Mitchell fanfic) smut warning

Chapter 33

Chap 33

A fortnight later Aemond snuck them out of the Red Keep in the early hours of morning. They had made a beeline for their bakery, their special spot on the Street of Flour, where they broke their fast among the smells of fresh baking bread and the sweet aroma of homemade jams. They spoke of mundane things, made jests and laughed together. They did not spend the entire day in the city as they did on rare occasions but headed straight back to the castle once their stomachs were well satisfied. Aemond collected their cloaks, Maela revealing her robin's egg blue dress that she had worn to Helaena and Aegon's pre-wedding luncheon. Aemond kept both cloaks in the crook of his elbow as they walked back through the halls of the castle, often ducking down forgotten corridors to avoid being spotted and drawing suspicions about where they were returning from.

It was in one of those very corridors that Aemond stopped and stared at a very particular door. Maela waited for him to come back from his thoughts so they could continue on their way, but instead he approached and pushed the door open. She followed, her curiosity getting the best of her. She thought she was the one who knew all the hidden places in the Red Keep, she never assumed Aemond might have a secret spot all his own.

Stepping in behind him she saw clutter piled from the floor all the way up the walls. Various objects were haphazardly laid about, in small clusters that alluded to someone attempting to sort the mess at one point.

"What is this place?" she asked as she craned her head upward and spun around to capture everything. There were paintings on the walls, tables covered in statues of dragons and people being burnt alive. Some were people on their knees holding up their hands, cupping fire in their palms – pyromancers of Old Valyria she realized.

"After my half sister abandoned the capitol and took refuge in our ancestral home my mother removed the more. . . unsavory reminders of House Targaryen's history." Aemond explained as he ran a finger over the frame of a painting that depicted a dragon burning a village to the ground, women screaming in the flames while clutching their children. Maela recognized it, the painting used to hang in the library.

"I did notice she added more seven pointed stars around the Keep as well."

"Hm." He nodded, "The Crown oversees all of Westeros, and most of Westeros follows the Seven – save the North. My mother thought it would be beneficial to show the lords and ladies of the court that their culture was respected by the Crown they swore fealty to."

"A culture which is also her own."

"Is that so wrong?" he questioned gently as he turned to face her as they both moved about the room. "To show the people we can respect all cultures, all religions?"

She shook her head smiling, "No. It's why the Crown has always had Westerosi wedding ceremonies is it not? To show respect to the traditions of the people which we rule over."

"Hm." He hummed once more and she had to turn away. That little sound, how was it possible it had such an effect on her? And only when it came from Aemond. "Do you think about Westerosi wedding ceremonies often?"

She giggled, "Considering your mother and I are in the process of planning one? Of course." She noticed him look down at another table of statues, baby dragon skulls, and scrolls. "Do you? Think about our wedding?"

"From time to time. Mother has not outright asked my opinion on anything yet though."

"She does seem to be dragging her feet on it."

"She's afraid." Aemond confessed, remembering the chat he had with his mother just before his seventeenth nameday. I have spent two years regretting the last marriage I arranged for my children. "She does not want to rush you and I and risk turning us into another Aegon and Helaena."