Inviolable Bindings | Aemond & Aegon II Targaryen

Chapter 39

Information regarding the dragonseeds continued to trickle in every few days. Each time word reached them that another dragon had been claimed by one of these bastards, Aemond would find himself struggling to manage his frustration and would call another meeting with Criston Cole. Viserra remained patient and joined him in support whether that was taking to the skies, sparring with him in the training yard, or even just being a quiet listening ear.

While Aemond spent his days plotting and planning with Cole, Viserra continued to visit the Queen's chambers each morning. Little progress had been made in attempting to pull Helaena from her dark mind, though she still would not let it deter her. Even if she did not speak with the girl, she felt that it was not wasted time reading through the texts that might help them navigate the complexities of war.

Most days Aegon still spent the entirety of normal waking hours sedated by milk of the poppy. The maesters did not let him spend more than a few minutes in confused wakefulness before offering the cup back to his lips. After a significant amount of convincing, Alicent had finally allowed both Aemond and Viserra to see him, though visits remained short and completely supervised. Neither knew how Aegon's mind fared underneath it all and as time continued to pass, Viserra found her worry growing.

Thankfully, Aemond had not brought up his desire to leave for Harrenhal again, but she knew that it most likely nagged at him each and every day. It had been two moons since Aegon returned to them battered and burned yet they still had not formulated a foolproof plan for the growing number of dragonriders on Dragonstone.

On an otherwise quiet morning, a raven came in with a letter detailing a large battle at sea in the Gullet. The castle immediately put itself on high alert. It had detailed that Velaryon ships sailing quietly from Dragonstone had run into several dozens of Essosi warships. It was to be assumed that the fleet requested from the Triarchy had finally arrived and upon chance, they ran into the other ships bearing the pretender queen's sigil.

Both Aemond and Viserra patrolled the skies almost immediately, looking for any indication that their enemies might be planning to attack the city at the same time. It wasn't until three days after that they received another raven with news that appeared to push things in their favor.

The Velaryon ships that were attacked by the Triarchy had been carrying the two youngest sons of Rhaenyra. While at first these ships seemed to have the advantage on the Essosi, Prince Jacaerys and his dragon were shot down and lost deep in the sea. This was followed by the destruction of each of the Velaryon warships. While one of Rhaenyra's sons had been seen holding onto his dragon heading back in the direction of Dragonstone, there was no evidence that the other little prince had made it out alive.

Aemond held the letter in his hand, reading the words over and over again. Two more of Rhaenyra's sons had been slain by their allies along with one of their grown dragons. While this did indeed benefit them in the war, there was no doubt that Rhaenyra's next blow to the Greens would be nothing other than devastating.

Handing the letter over to Viserra, Aemond watched as she read it herself. It took her a moment to comprehend the significance of this information and she too read the words more than once. As her eyes finally rose from the letter to meet his one, she realized that there was something ignited within him that she could not decipher.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, putting the letter down and taking a step towards him.

"It is time. I will leave for Harrenhal in the next few days," he began, watching as her lips instantly pursed in a straight line. "A raven will be sent to Daeron requesting that he meet me on the way. There is no doubt that he will make good time on dragonback and we should be able to reach the Riverlands in a fortnight on foot."