On the day they were supposed to start moving again, Rhea was awoken by a terrible commotion outside of her tent, the sounds of swords clashing and people screaming. Jolting out of her bed, she scanned the tent, looking for Aemond but he was not there, and neither was his sword. She remembered he was supposed to patrol the surroundings and did not wake her as he had left in the small hours of the morning. He couldn't have been gone long as the light outside indicated. She grabbed her own sword and peered outside. There were Tully banners, as well as Rhaenyra's own sigil on a few of them.
"Fuck", she muttered.
She heard voices get louder and louder as she decided to leave her tent and try to find the King and his brother. She had to reach the dragons, that way she could spot the brothers more easily, she could use dragonfire and end this attack at once. As she turned a corner, she came face to face with a band of her enemies. She was one to three. She gulped and lifted her sword towards them. There was no way she would go down easy. She swung at them, her sword clashing with theirs, and managed to fatally wound one of them.
Two remained and they were big, huge men. She swung at them again but the smaller one dodged her and caught her hands, blocking her from doing anything else.
"Know who that is?" He asked his companion and the man shook his head.
"Some bitch who's gonna get what she deserves, am I right?" He laughed and Rhea looked at him with a disgusted look on her face.
"No, you idiot. She's that Reckless cunt, the one-eyed bastard's wife." The other announced both proud of having found her and revolted at who she was.
Rhea tried to scurry away but the taller one hit her on the back of her head and she fell to the ground, a heavy breath leaving her lips as her body and the floor touched.
"Pretty sure if that kinslayer fucker hears we got his lady, he's gonna come out of his hiding place. What do you reckon?"
Both men dragged Rhea towards a nearby clearing and began shouting they had gotten hold of her, more and more of their fellow men rushed to them. They all erupted into cheers as they laid eyes on the princess, claiming it would grant them a lordship if they brought her back to Winterfell to their Queen, dead or alive.
Most of the Green men were on the other side of the battlefield, working their way through it, getting rid of any enemies they came across. Aegon was among them, fighting. He had chosen to fight against his own demons in the short span they had settled here, and while things weren't easy, he had to admit feeling the pain he had suppressed, however painful, was better than numbness. He used his turmoil to fuel his every movement in battle and the release he felt was unlike any other. He knew Rhea was somewhere on the campsite and he intended to find her.
Soon, him and his men reached the clearing the rest of the Blacks had gathered and he spotted her, kneeling in their centre. Two of them held her down, their swords at her throat. The taller one from before gripped her hair tight, pulling it as she tried to stand up. They had taken her sword and thrown it away from her. She was helpless, this time. Still, she looked resolute and would not show them she was scared. If she was to die, she would not die a victim, she would die with her head held high. As the tall man pulled her head again, she spat at his feet, her mouth turned in a contemptuous grimace. He knelt before her and slapped her until her bottom lip split and she tasted blood, spitting it at him again.
"We'll bring this bitch with us to the Queen, and we'll be off, right lads?" He yelled towards Aegon and his troops.
Aegon walked fiercely towards them.
"You will do no such thing," he said confidently. "What you will do, however, is die crying for your mothers."
They all laughed at Aegon and lifted their heads as he did, searching for what he was looking at. Rhea smirked as she saw the blue of a pair of wings she was more than acquainted with. Of course, she thought. Vhagar would have been too obvious a choice, they would have spotted her too soon. Aemond rode on Sapphire's back and the dragon's breath drew fire above the clearing. In a moment of panic, the Tully men let go of Rhea and ran to safety in the nearby forest, all thinking one of them had kept hold of her, letting her get to her sword and by Aegon's side.
"Are you okay?" She asked the King as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "I think they'll try and get us from the flank."
Aegon nodded.
"Are you okay?"He asked, turning his gaze from the sky towards her.
She nodded as well. She was bruised, of course, but nothing she wouldn't heal from quickly. Aegon's hands were bloody, mostly not from his own blood and his face was focused.
"Whose idea was it to fly Sapphire?" She asked as she looked around them, readying herself to fight again.
"Mine," Aegon said proudly.
Rhea shot him a proud smile and squeezed his shoulder.
"Good, really good, Aegon," she smiled and charged as the Blacks ran towards them.
Aemond circled above them with Sapphire and fire descended on the men under them, leaving them to burn, screaming in flames. His eye was fixed on Rhea and his brother, they were fighting with their backs pressed against the other's and doing a good job at it. As his gaze was on them, he didn't notice one of the Black archers aimed at him.
On the ground, Rhea yelled as her sword cut through a man's stomach and she ran to prevent the archer from shooting. Aegon turned his head towards her, his men were doing well, they were sure to win this and leave for Winterfell in no time. He saw her struggle with two Tullys and fail to get to the archer on time. The arrow left the bow in a swift movement and Aemond barely had time to dodge it. He lowered his gaze and noticed the archer load his bow with a long, thick steel arrow, one made to kill dragons. He commanded Sapphire to fly higher but the dragon wouldn't listen, he wanted to fly lower and spot Rhea. Aemond struggled with the reins, urging the beast to answer to him.
As the archer stretched back and Rhea was still fighting for her life, Aegon sprinted towards him and tried to tackle the man to the ground. The archer lowered his bow and both men brawled as Aegon tried to prevent him from shooting Sapphire and his brother. As he turned his head to find them above the clouds, the archer cocked his arm and his fingers were ready to let go. If he shot that arrow, it would kill Sapphire and his brother in the fall. In a split second, Aegon jumped on the man and, surprised, the latter let go of the arrow, launching it straight into the Green King's heart. Aegon looked down at the fresh wound, the arrow punctured his stomach and went out in his back. In one last moment of clarity, he lifted his sword in an immensely painful movement and put his sword through the archer, killing him on the spot.
Aemond flew closer to them all and ordered Sapphire to breathe fire again. All his men, having heard the command, went to safety and, as the Blacks tried to retreat, Rhea lifted her eyes and they fell on Aegon. He had fallen to his knees, blood spitting out of his mouth as he drew difficult breaths. Rhea picked up her sword and ran to him, tears already trying to leave her eyes but she wouldn't let them. If Aegon was to die, she wouldn't let him see it pained her, she would comfort him.
"Aegon," she whispered, taking his head in her hands. She was kneeling beside him and she could see the life already fading from his eyes. "No, no, no, Aegon, stay with me."
The King smiled a sad one and lifted his bloody hand to her face, cupping her cheek one last time.
"Aemond is king, now," he enunciated painfully.
He coughed and Rhea placed her hand behind his head, giving him support so he wouldn't fall entirely.
"Don't be silly, Aegon, you'll be fine," Rhea tried to believe what she said but she knew very well it was the end for him. He knew it too.
"I won't, but you have to promise you will. See, I did something good, at last." He said. He looked happy, relieved that his death was a meaningful one. He was happy he would get to see his sister-wife, Helaena, and their children again. He'd be reunited with Marian and their daughter, he repeated to himself as he felt himself fade.
"Aegon-"
"Crown him, crown my brother," Aegon coughed again. "And rule together."
"Please don't leave me, Aegon," Rhea begged her friend.
Aemond, who had seen his brother sacrifice himself, ran towards them. The battle was over, they had won. Aegon had to know, he had to know he had done something good.
Aegon's eyes closed and Rhea tried to shake him awake just as her husband got to them. She let out a loud sob as she realised her oldest friend was no more.
Aegon was dead.
Aemond knelt by their side and clung onto his wife's shaking body, she was crying louder than she had for years. She wouldn't let go of the King and she kept asking him to come back. His older brother was gone and while they hadn't always seen eye to eye, he knew the world was a darker place without him in it.
After what felt like an eternity, Rhea lifted her head and saw the Green troops around their dead King's body. All of them had a grave, defeated look about their faces and stayed silent to pay their final tribute to their King.
Later that day, when the campsite had been cleared of all the Black allies, the greens put together a funeral pyre for their dead, and a separate one for Aegon. With a torch, Rhea and Aemond lit the both of them up and stayed silent as they burnt, bidding one last goodbye to someone they had known and loved their wholes lives. Alicent, back in the Red Keep, would be devastated to hear of her first son's passing, they thought. Taking her place back next to Aemond, Rhea slid her hand in his and he looked at her, crestfallen. This war had taken too much from them. From that point, they would cling to one another more than ever, they would never let the other out of their sight.
The next day, the surviving greens gathered in and outside Aemond's tent and all stood solemnly as Aemond knelt before his wife. She had a crown in her hands, the Conqueror's, the same one Aegon had been crowned with. They shared a look, a mix of pride and grief and she placed herself directly in front of him, the crown hovering over his head. He had ditched the eye patch a few months ago and he looked like a true king, proud and beautiful.
"With this crown, and with Aegon II's blessing, I hereby name you King Aemond, first of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm," Rhea announced as she placed the crown on her beloved's silver hair.
He looked as if he had been born for it, like it was always meant to be him. The one who would lead them to the future they wished for, the one true King in Westeros.
"My King," Rhea said softly, a proud tear leaving her eyes, bowing her head to the new sovereign, vowing she would always do everything in her power to ensure his position as King. She would let no one challenge his legitimacy, the vows she had sworn before meant nothing any more now that her husband, the man she loved and would die for, was King. There were no Greens or Blacks any more, just Aemond.