Aemond watches as Lyanna flies off with Vhagar. His shoulders slump as he thinks back on their argument earlier. It could've been handled differently. They always knew how to agree and find common ground in such situations. But it is like Lyanna is not willing to meet him halfway.
He tried his best to be the Warden of the North in her stead, to rule as she would, but not even that was acknowledged. Not even a thank you. He knows he is a good strategist, better than Lyanna. He studied this for many years, and always listened to his superiors about warfare and their stories of being knights and warriors. He is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
With a growl he pushes himself away from the window, turning his back on the shape of the dragon getting smaller over the horizon. He has more important things to worry about now. While Lyanna is off trying to save her brother from an arranged marriage, he will take up the duties of welcoming her men, even if some still don't like or trust him.
He will talk to her when she is back.
Aemond first makes his way to the nursery, where the twins are playing with their wooden toys, Elise sitting on the floor with them.
As Aemond enters she quickly jumps up and bows her head to him, "My Lord," she greets and takes a step back from the babies.
"Elise," he greets her and hunches down next to Talisa, stroking her hair back that is falling over her face. She is still very small but her features already show more Stark than Targaryen. Not that he minds, he loves that his little girl looks so much like her mother.
"How are they doing?" he asks Elise and looks up, his eyes falling on her belly before looking at her eyes. It must bother Lyanna that her closest friend is expecting a baby.
"They are doing well, My Lord. Rhaegar is showing some symptoms of a cold, but nothing he won't be able to handle."
Aemond looks at his son with a smile. He stands up and folds his hands behind his back.
"Please inform me about anything regarding the children," he turns around and walks away but stops at the door, "Elise,"
She watches him turn around again and draw her shoulders back.
"If you suspect anything with Lyanna, if she is behaving strangely, I would appreciate it if you will come and tell me."
She frowns, "In regards to what?"
His cold eye burns into hers, "She died, Elise. Do I need to say more?"
She swallows and looks away, shaking her head in the process. She hates how nervous he makes her.
Aemond stares at her a little longer, making sure she understands her assignment before leaving the nursery. He likes the idea that Elise is afraid of him, remembering the night in King's Landing when he was looking for Lyanna and ended up breaking down her door and threatening her and her family to tell him about her whereabouts. Even though Elise is a good friend to his wife, he wouldn't have done it differently. He needs to uphold his reputation, people need to fear him.
Aemond stop in his tracks when he sees Jace coming around the corner towards him. Lyanna wants him to welcome this bastard into their home with open arms, but she will hardly know how he treated him if she is not here.
"If it isn't my bastard nephew." he says as Jace stop in front of him, "Tell me, do you enjoy manipulating my wife?"
Jace smiled, "I won't let your words upset me. I am merely here because I care for Lyanna,"
Aemond sneers at him and before he can compose himself he pushes Jace up against the wall, hearing his breath escaping his mouth in a groan. He presses against Jace's neck with his forearm while his hand still grips his tunic. He can see Jace's eyes widening.
"Say that again, Nephew," he growls.
Jace swallowed, "I am here because I care about Lyanna."
Aemond pulls him away from the wall for only a second before slamming him back against it, knowing he hit his head against the cold stone.
"You might have Lyanna swayed with your sweet words of care and affection, but I can see straight through you. You are the spawn of Lyanna's greatest enemy and you expect everyone to trust you!" their faces are inches from each other as Aemond tries to intimidate the younger boy in front of him, "I can't wait for the day Lyanna sees through you as well and allow me to kill you. Maybe I will feed you to my dragon or kill you slowly as I watch you bleed out in front of me."
Jace laughs, "Good luck to you then, Uncle. Lyanna will never allow you to do it, no matter how much you hate me."
Aemond can feel his blood start to boil, wishing he can rip his throat out with his bare hands. The smug expression on Jace's face only adds to the fire burning in his blood.
Aemond lets go of Jace's tunic, stepping away from him, "Stay away from my wife, Bastard. Or you will be sorry."
He struts off towards the Throne Room, taking deep breaths to calm down.
"Maybe I should just steal her from you then. I think we will look better together than the two of you."
Aemond balls his fists, feeling how he slowly loses control over his temper. With a swift motion, he spins around and walks back toward Jace. His fist collides with Jace's jaw with a sickening crunch.
Jace fall to the ground, his hand cupping his face. He can see blood oozing through his fingers.
Aemond hunches down next to him, "Next time I won't be so nice."
He stands up, signaling to the nearest guard coming down the hall.
The guard bows his head at him, "How can I be of service?" he asks Aemond.
"Take him to Maester Arwen, he had an unfortunate accident."
He doesn't wait to see how the guard helps Jace up, he has better things to do with his time.
°°~~°°~~°°
Lyanna climbs down Vhagar's ropes, landing softly on the sand as the wind blows her hair across her face. The heat of the sun is already forcing her to take off some of her layers. She should've dressed differently for the Dornish weather.
She watches as the gate of the city opens and a few soldiers come rushing towards her. Her eyes scan over the city, which is very well fortified with high stone walls. Not too far from where she landed Vhagar, she sees a part of the wall that has collapsed. She wonder what happened to it.
The soldiers form a half circle around her, standing with their spears at their sides as the leader of their group steps forward toward her.
"Please follow me, our King has been waiting for your arrival." the soldier says.
She can't keep the surprise from her face as she follows them into the city, hearing the thick metal gates closing behind her. This is her first time in Sunspear, having only heard stories about how it looks like here. She must say she pictured it differently. Where she thought it will be a dry and sandy place, there are beautiful gardens all over the city instead. Fountains squirt water into the air creating a beautiful scene. It makes the city itself feel much cooler than outside.
It is so green here, she thinks to herself as she looks around her in wonder. It reminds her a lot of the gardens of King's Landing.
They approach Qoren Martell, who is sitting on his throne watching how one of the most beautiful women he has ever laid eyes on walks toward him.
Lyanna can see how Qoren is busy undressing her with his eyes. She expected nothing less from a man who has so many lovers. His reputation is well-known all over Westeros.
"Queen Lyanna Stark," Qoren says and stands up slowly, walking down the few steps below his throne. He approaches her, looking into her grey eyes, feeling how he is getting sucked into that raging storm.
"Beautiful," he whispers and traces her cheek with his index finger.
Lyanna takes a subtle step back, "King Qoren, thank you for welcoming me into your home."
He smiles and drops his hand, "You are always welcome here." he gestures with his hands around him, "You can even make this your home as well."
Lyanna only smile at him, "Thank you for the offer, but I wouldn't be able to survive in this heat. The North will always be my home."
Qoren closes the gap between them, breathing down on her as he stares at her mouth.
I should've brought Aemond with me, she thinks as she nervously tries to step away again.
"Are you sure, Lyanna? The heat from the sun won't be the only thing that will be warm when you live here."
She suppresses a laugh, "I am sure, thank you."
She tries very hard not to be rude to the man in front of her. She still needs him to withdraw the betrothal.
"I can promise you, I am a much better lover than your husband," he says as his mouth moved towards hers.
"That's enough," she says and pushes him away gently, "I am not here to discuss my sex life with you, Qoren. Can we please behave civilly?"
Qoren can't help but want her more, something about this woman make him want to forget about all of his other women.
He nods, "I assume you are here about your brother's proposal to my daughter."
"If you know that then you must also know that I am here to discuss on how to get him out of that proposal."
Qoren starts to walk around Lyanna, circling her like a vulture ready to dive down and devour its prey.
"You see," he says, "I gave them something very valuable in exchange for my daughter's hand. If you want to break that promise he made, then I expect something better in return."
Lyanna waits patiently for him to tell her what she already knows he is going to say.
Qoren's hand trails over Lyanna's arm, "The only thing that you could give me-" his fingers lock around her bicep, "Is you."
Lyanna look down at his hand, "I am already married, so unfortunately I am off the table. There must be something else that I can give you. We have many things in the North that are very valuable."
But Qoren just shakes his head, "No, I don't want riches." then he sighs, "I don't expect you to marry me. I only need one thing from you. Your body. Give it to me and your brother will be released from his promise. I have always wanted to share my bed with the famous Queen of the North."
Lyanna closes her eyes. She remember this scene so clearly, just like the Weirwood showed her. Unfortunately, it didn't show her what decision she made. Lyanna desperately wants her brother to be released from this stupid betrothal, but is she willing to go behind Aemond's back and do something that she wouldn't want him to do? Will he even be able to forgive her if she does?
She shouldn't even be thinking about this, the answer should be no. But she still blames Aemond for getting her into this situation in the first place. She can't flaunt her body around like she is some common whore. No Queen does that and no person should ever expect something like this from her.
But violence and the use of power will get her nowhere. She can't kill him, it will only make it worse.
Slowly she release the breath she was holding as she open her eyes to stare at the lustful ones looking back into hers.
Cregan, Aemond, forgive me, she thinks as she makes up her mind on what she must do.