Soon enough the rest of the Greens and Blacks gathered into the hall and helped themselves to their various foods and drinks Cregan had set out for them.
Aemond was sitting exactly opposite of Elia, his eyes glancing back at her every now again. He found it strange, how Elia seemed to be in conversation with Alicent more than her own mother. Rhaenyra was busy speaking with Daemon who looked as though he wasn't enjoying being in the North.
Aemond then moved his eye over to Theodore, who even though he was talking with Lucerys, had his eyes set upon Elia, a hungry, lustful gaze on the Baratheons face. Aemond's fists tightened at such, he hated how Theodore dared looking at her in a way a man would look at a whore in a brothel, like he wanted so badly to have her in his bed and even though Aemond wished to have Elia in his bed all the same, it wasn't just mere lust, but something much deeper that he had yet to understand.
Aegon noticed Aemond's glare and chuckled, taking a quick gulp of his wine before speaking, "We should do it now while everyone's busy" he whispered, leaning over to his brother.
Aemond looked at him sourly, "We?."
"Am I not going to help you? It sounds rather fun I'd hate to miss out" Aegon said with a grin.
"Come if you wish, I don't care, but don't make things worse, you'll be the reason we get caught if anything" Aemond said seriously.
"You've always thought so low of me brother, you just watch, I'll be great help" Aegon said, confidence in his tone.
"For someone who's going to commit a crime of high treason, you seem oddly enthusiastic" Aemond said.
Aegon didn't reply to this, he continued on downing his wine, intending on getting drunk for the evening.
....
Elia was becoming rather drowsy and tired and decided on going to her borrowed chambers to get some sleep. She pushed herself up from her chair and gave Alicent a soft smile, "I'll be taking my leave for the evening. I'll see you in the morning nice and early for our ride?" She asked.
Alicent nodded as she took Elia's hands, "Absolutely, sleep well Princess" she said.
Elia gave the Queen one last smile before turning and putting a hand on her mothers shoulder to get her attention, "I'm going to bed now, goodnight mother" she said, using her other hand to hold Rhaenyra's.
"Of course, goodnight dear" Rhaenyra said, giving her daughters hand a squeeze before turning back to Daemon.
Elia tucked her hands behind her back as she glided out the doors of the hall and stepped into the frosty night air. Snowflakes fluttered about in the breeze, some catching on her face and melting against her skin, making her shiver a little more.
The door opening and closing behind Elia alerted her and she quickly spun around to see who had stepped outside after her.
Aemond stood gazing at her, seeing the most perfect of opportunities to sneak off with her, "Running off to bed already?" He asked in a taunting voice.
Elia groaned, "If you must know, yes I am, sailing on ship is always exhausting" she said as she felt her legs becoming rather limp, having quite a few cups of wine earlier also wasn't helping her state.
Aemond noticed the Princess was becoming rather wobbly and quickly stepped forward and grabbed her upper arm to keep her standing securely. "Come on then, you'll probably pass out and freeze to death out here if I don't bloody escort you" Aemond said in a displeased voice, though in truth, he didn't mind in the slightest helping Elia to her chambers.
She held tightly onto Aemond as he walked alongside her at a slow pace, allowing her to take her time at walking to her chambers. The cold snow stung at Aemond's hands as they held Elia's arm gently, but he ignored the frozen headache swirling in his fingers, all for the Princess. He would put up with this frozen pain against his skin all for her, and he never thought he would find himself doing something so selfless for anyone.
As the two approached the door to Elia's borrowed chambers, Aemond stepped in front of her and pushed open the door so she may get inside without fuss. Elia's fingers trembled as they kept gripped on Aemond's arm as she moved past him and stepped into the warm room that had the fire already lit, presumably by Cregan.
Aemond quickly closed the door behind them to keep the cold air out. Elia managed to let go of Aemond and support herself enough to hobble over to her bed, where she flopped down onto it. She hadn't realised how tired she really was and felt like she would fall asleep any moment now.
Aemond noticed how drowsy Elia looked, and he figured she'd find it hard to get herself ready for bed. He hesitantly stepped towards her and crouched in front of her. She frowned at him, wondering what he was doing, but her questions were soon answered when Aemond began untying the laces on her boots.
"You don't have to-" Elia went to say when Aemond cut her off.
"I doubt you'll be able to do it yourself without falling on your face" Aemond said in an abrupt manner.
"Well-" She went to go on further but stopped her words when she felt Aemond tug at her boot and then pull it off her foot to throw it aside before getting to work on the other.
"Just be quiet and let me get this over with" Aemond said as his fingers twisted and twirled against the laces before finally the second boot came loose. He pulled it off Elia's foot and threw that one aside as well before pushing himself off the floor to stand back up. "Goodnight Princess" he said in a tone that expressed no emotion, making it impossible for Elia to judge what he was thinking.
Aemond turned on his heels and made his way towards the door, pulling it open before disappearing back into the darkness of the night.
Elia wanted to go after him and say a thank you, but by the time she went to stand herself up, her body had already given into the exhaustion and she quickly feel down onto the pillows, falling to sleep almost instantly.