thank you for all ur lovely support last chapter lmao. it had been planned since the very beginning and I am sorry, but I also loved all the comments. Writers love when their readers have such an outcry bc that means we made you feel something with out words.
An excerpt from A Dance With Dragons, as told by Maester Munkun
When the young princess Laenora was killed at the age of five, Queen Visenya's screams were heard throughout the palace. Her dragon, Grey Ghost, shook the castle with his roars as he breathed fire into the air. Even the girl's young dragon, Verlys, cried out in pain. When news broke of her death, there was an outcry in the cities. The young innocent princess was favored on all her trips to the streets with her mother, and a hatred for the Black Queen began. But the Red Queen, save for her daughter's funeral, had not been seen in a Fortnite. Some say she went mad with grief, but it was not madness for her to grieve the loss of her child that she had to watch her brutally murdered.
Two Weeks Later
Aemond
He walked through the quiet halls with a tray of food in his hands, making his way to their chambers. When he opened the door, the stench still made him wince. But he never said anything, he didn't really say much.
It's not like he could, Visenya didn't speak. At first, it was because she lost her voice from all the screaming. But when she regained it, she still didn't utter a word.
He set the tray down on the nightstand next to her side of the bed as she lay there, staring at the covered window. Her eyes were open but desolate. She hadn't left the bed in a Fortnite, except for the funeral last week.
"Look upon the work of Rhaenyra the Cruel!"
"Visenya, it's been two days since you've eaten," He finally sighed. She didn't move, she didn't even act like she heard him. She was gone, his Visenya was gone. Not like he was any better, but Visenya was on the urge of letting herself die.
He watched the silent sisters wrap her, keeping her head as close to her body for appearances. He was on the verge of losing the contents of his stomach and he'd never cried so much.
Blood and Cheese, the names of the intruders, were locked in the black cells until Aemond was ready to torture them without immediately killing them.
"My King, the body shall be ready for her funeral tomorrow," One of the maesters said.
Aemond wrapped his hand around the maesters neck and let out what sounded like a strangled growl. "No, no. Shut the fuck up! My daughter ... my little girl shouldn't be having a funeral! I should be having to burn my little girl before I even turn five and twenty!"
"Aemond," Daeron said behind him. "It's not their fault."
Aemond turned to Daeron, enough fury in his eye to scare his little brother. "I need you to swear on Mother's life that you didn't stab Jacaerys."
Daeron nodded. "I did not hurt him and whoever did is to answer for this. And if they are lying about him being hurt or the nature of his accident, they will pay."
"I think it was Daemon, but Vis ... she does not."
"Where is she?"
"The same place she's been. I told her, but she still hasn't regained her voice."
The sound of her screams haunted him in his sleep. He slept on the chaise to give her space, but he was aching. He wouldn't tell her, he couldn't.
When the silent sisters finished, Aemond made his way out to the shore of Blackwater Bay where Grey Ghost and Vhagar were. He sat at the shore, listening to the waves as he allowed himself to cry. Vhagar laid her snout next to him as he yelled and screamed, wishing he had gotten there sooner.
Everything reminded him of her. Even his own dragon, which Laenora was obsessed with. The halls where he'd hear her little feet run on, and even Maegor, her identical twin. He'd probably seen Laenora in him for the rest of their lives.
And poor Maegor. It was a miracle Visenya didn't lose the baby, but she wouldn't even allow Maegor to enter the room. He understood why, but their son was in pain. So if he wasn't on the chaise at night, he was with his son. They didn't talk much, but they just lay on his bed together, looking at the ceiling.
"Tomorrow, I want you to stay next to me or your mother at all times. It will be a public funeral as we make our way to her pyre."
"But Mama doesn't want me anymore."
Aemond shook his head. "No, son, that isn't it. Your mother ... she is taking this hard. She carried you both in her belly for eight moons, she grew you and loved you before anyone else. When you become a father one day, you will understand what that is like. But I hope you never have to see what your mother had to see. A bond between a mother and child is one neither of us will ever understand."
Maegor kept staring at the ceiling. "I can still feel her, Papa. I think it was a bad dream and we all just need to wake up."
He clenched his eye shut and held in his tears. His cursed left eye still produced tears, but it hurt to try and close his eyelid.
"It was supposed to be me, Papa."
Those words were still screaming in his mind two weeks later. His own son of five felt guilty. He shouldn't have to worry about these things.
"Visenya, I get you might not want to eat, but you are still pregnant and we still have a son that needs us. He thinks you don't want him."
She closed her eyes at his words and shook her head, the tears starting again.
He pulled her into his lap, ignoring the smell of her not bathing. He barely even left the bed to relieve herself. The number of times he changed her clothes because she urinated would make any other grown man sick, but Aemond needed to take care of her. It distracted him.
So did the small council. In Visenya's absence, Aemond was named King Regent.
"There are rumors Visenya has gone mad and is not fit to lead," Munkun said.
"Some even say this is why women should not lead."
"Maester Munkun, you do not even have children. Most of you do not, except the Hand and Luke. None of you understand her pain. There should have been guards! Where was her Queensguard? Does no one watch out for Helaena? This should not have happened!"
"She was napping, My King, The knight stationed had gone to relieve himself and when he returned, she was already gone."
"I should have been there when she woke up. I should have run faster. If I heard the screaming, so should you all!"
"You can't blame yourself," Daeron said.
"I can, Daeron, because not only was she killed, but her entire head was cut off! Do you know what it's like to pick up the head of your child? None of you do!"
Aegon's face turned green as he looked at his hands.
"Visenya is the Queen, but until she is well enough to rule, I am the best you have."
"You are regent now, then. We need to respond to this act of war." Luke said. "My niece will be avenged."
"Give me time to process this or I will burn down their fucking families, even the children."
Aemond rocked her in his lap as she cried, sobbing for their daughter. Aemond kissed her forehead and ran his fingers through her greasy hair. "I'm going to draw you a bath, and you will feel better."
She didn't respond, just watched the wall as he walked away to draw her a bath. He put in the lavender oil and extra soap for her and walked back to her. He lifted her up to her feet and she weakly walked with his help, her hand going to her bump.
"There you go," he whispered as he lowered her into the tub. He started washing her hair for her, kissing her temple as he went along.
"You don't have to do anything, my love, I'll always take care of you."
Aegon
As he sat in the lounge with Helaena, he looked over at her and reached for her hand. "I haven't been the father or husband you deserve."
"We've never been fit for each other," she said.
"But so much of that was my fault. I drink too much and I never attempted to be better. All I did was get you gifts and that is not enough."
"It's is for me. It shows me you think about me. I'm not like Visenya or Brella, I don't need a marriage of passion."
"That's because I've never shown you passion. It's been quick, and I've never prioritized your pleasure. If you give me a chance, I can be a better husband."
Helaena looked at him quizzically. "What started all of this?"
Aemond, Daeron, and Aegon were in the small council room, just talking about useless things. About their dragons, about childhood, things that didn't matter.
"PAPA HELP!"
Aemond was on his feet in seconds and they were running down the halls. He'd never seen Aemond run so fast but he was quicker than Aegon. They could hear the screams down the hall and Aemond entered first.
When Aegon entered behind him, he saw the decapitated body of his niece. He immediately bent over and threw up, but helped apprehend one of the intruders.
But his eyes wandered and he looked at her again, and he saw the way Visenya was reaching and screaming. It was enough to make him dizzy. He was sick every time he looked at her little body. That was not fair, how could the Gods deem this appropriate? What had that little girl done to deserve this?
And his own daughter wasn't much older. He was not close with any of his children, and this scared him. For once, he was scared for his children, and he was scared for Helaena. The reality of this war was sinking in and his fear was crawling up his spine.
Visenya didn't deserve this as a mother, and neither would Helaena if it happened to their children. And that made him wonder how much time he had left with them. He was always jealous of what Aemond had, a loving marriage and a family. It took seeing his dead niece to make him realize he had what he wanted all along and he was neglecting it.
"I saw her, Hel. I saw the fear in her dead eyes. I stepped in her blood, none of it was fair. It's haunted me every night since. I can't sleep, and drinking doesn't even fix it."
Helaena nodded and looked at him. "You are truly a normal man, Aegon. You have the same tastes as every man before you. But I know you think me simple and plain. I am your chore, and you are my duty."
He squeezed her hands. "Let me be a better version of that man. If anything were to happen to one of us or the children, I would want you all to know I tried and changed my ways."
Helaena looked around the room, her eyes landing on the children. "I would like another."
"I will give you as many children as you desire. I will listen to you explain every bug, and I will enjoy looking at every needlework."
"Where is my husband and what did you do to him?" She grinned sheepishly.
Aegon broke out into a grin. "Did you just make a joke?"
"You are not the only one that can change."
Visenya
Emptiness. Sorrow. Pain.
"Mama, save me!"
She was slipping from reality, stuck in a dark loop of pain. She forgot she was pregnant, she forgot to do anything for herself. She couldn't remember the last time she ate, and it felt like days between each of Aemond's visits, but it was truly only hours.
She wanted to reach out and speak, to tell him she was hurting. But she did not have the strength or energy to make a move. She knew he was hurting too, and she wanted to support him, but every time she blinked she saw blood. She saw the moment where her eyes filled with pain and then they were gone.
Her only comfort was that her baby did not suffer. They were quick. One of them tried reaching for her head but the other had stopped them so that they might escape. Were they going to take her head back? Spoils of war.
After that, she never saw her baby again. She became hysterical and hyperventilated to the point of passing out. So Aemond was the one who had to pick up their daughter's head.
"The silent sisters are wrapping her this morning. I am sure you do not want to watch but if you do, I am getting ready to go," Aemond had said the following morning. Her funeral was already being planned for the next day and she would have to appear.
She didn't answer, she just stared at the wall.
Brella arrived the next morning, eyes red and puffy, to help her dress in black for the funeral of her daughter.
The funeral of her second daughter.
Maybe it was a gift from the gods. Elaena and Laenora would never have the chance to be hurt the way Visenya had. But Laenora had already started living. She was happy, and her little curls would always bounce because she was always running around.
Visenya did not speak as Brella dressed her and pulled her hair up in a bun, placing a black veil over her hair and face. Aemond did not say anything as he helped her walk down the stairs, her body too weak to walk alone.
She saw the cart with the wrapped body of Laenora and she let out a wail once again, falling to her knees. Aemond picked her up and helped her into the carriage. Maegor sat on the other side of Aemond and looked at his mother. "Mama?"
She just stared at Laenora's body, her ears ringing.
"Mama can not speak right now, she lost her voice," Aemond explained to him.
As the wagons started to move through the city, people cried out for the fallen princess. "Look upon the work of Rhaenyra the Cruel! Slain a child of only five!"
When they made their way to the same hill where her grandmother Aemma's funeral was, Grey Ghost and Vhagar appeared.
Visenya was the one who was supposed to give the order. Grey Ghost was supposed to light the pyre, but Visenya could not speak the words, nor could she even think them.
Aemond watched her struggle and looked at Vhagar. "Dracarys."
Vhagar let out a cry, mirroring her rider's pain, and lit the pyre of Laenora Targaryen. How fitting it was, considering Laenora was obsessed with Vhagar. It now made more sense for her to be the one to lay her body to rest.
But no one else would ever be at rest.
The day after her bath, Aemond sat in the rocking chair where they once sat with the twins when they were babes. He had a book open as he read to her, a new routine he found himself doing. He was reading about Nymeria and her ships this time. After last night's bath, it was Jaehaerys and his royal progress.
"Aemond?" Her voice croaked.
His eyes shot up and he was kneeling at her side within seconds. "Yes, my love?"
"Do you still love me?" Her eyes watered with tears.
Aemond caressed a hand over her hair and he shook his head. "Absolutely and wholly, Visenya. I have never once harbored any ill feelings towards you since ... this. Not once. I love you, I still need you more than this world needs the sun. And one day, when you are ready, we can start to heal together."
"What if I do not want to heal? I never want to move on from this, and if I heal, that means I am accepting it. I do not accept this Aemond! I want her back!" She cried.
Aemond cried for the first time in front of her since the funeral. "No one gets that more than me. But if you keep doing this to yourself, we could lose a third child. I could lose you. Please do not let me lose so much in such a short time. I am begging you. I will be right behind you to hold you, but that means you must leave this cursed bed. Maybe just try once a day."
Visenya swallowed the lump in her throat and she cupped his cheeks, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "Your scar looks irritated."
"The tears, and trying to close my eyelid too much."
She leaned forward to kiss his sapphire eye. "How the gods have always cursed us. To take your eyes and allow you to still cry is a cruel joke. And then to take both of our daughters."
"The gods have no mercy, that is why they are gods." He spoke.
She found comfort in being by him, a comfort that seemed foreign to her. "Will you lay with me?"
"I think maybe we should try getting up. There's a letting for you, one addressed to only you and not even the small council."
"I do not want to read it," She mumbled. She really didn't have the courage to tell him that her reading was slipping. For the past years she had become a strong reader, he had helped her with her ailment of struggling with all the letters. Dyslexia, the maesters called it. But in the past two weeks, she had not read and her mind was so jumbling she could not focus. So when she saw a word, all the letters were out of place.
"Why, Visenya?"
She shook her head. "I said no."
His eyes narrowed in confusion and she knew he could practically read her mind, they were that connected. "Is it the dyslexia?"
"I am just out of practice, Aemond." She admitted embarrassingly.
"Then I will help you." He stood up and walked over to their desk, grabbing a rolled-up piece of parchment. He kneeled back next to her and opened it.
Immediately, she found it difficult to read. But Aemond was patient. He helped her with every word and never got frustrated with her.
"That says 'how', Aemond."
"No, it says 'who', Visenya," He smiled softly.
She groaned and continued to read it with him. Eventually, she made it all the way through.
"'To the Rightful Queen of Westeros, who was hurt so badly. I pledge myself to you, and I pledge my sword. I promise to avenge your child.'"
"There was no clue as to who sent it," Aemond said.
"If I cannot protect my own child, how am I supposed to protect Westeros?"
Rhaenyra
Two weeks of no retaliation. The Red armies were gathering, but no battle had been declared. Not that the Red Queen was well enough to send the order, that was the word Rhaenyra had received.
"I should have never let you do this," Rhaenyra said to her husband.
"She responded exactly how I predicted. She is too weak to be queen."
"And what happens when she gets up and commands bloodshed? You have doomed all of us! That little girl was innocent, she was good and kind!"
"So was your son, Rhaenyra, who still lies in a coma," Daemon rolled his eyes.
"I never wanted you to kill our grandchildren. Daeron's whore was a better idea. You truly never loved our daughter, did you?"
Baela entered the Dragonstone throne room with a parchment. "Sorry to interrupt, but a raven came only addressed for you both."
Daemon grabbed it and handed it to Rhaenyra. She opened it up and noticed there was no identity of who sent it.
To the kinslayers Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen,
I'm coming for you, you will pay with the fire and blood that your house so loves. I'm coming for you, don't think you can hide from what you've done. I'm coming for you, don't think your weak claim to the throne will save you now with what you have done. I'm coming for you Pretender Queen of Blood and Prince of Death. You will meet the gods. Years ago you were warned. Warned to heed my advice, to love the Daughter that so wanted your love. But on deaf ears, you never listen to anyone but the killer at your side. You have committed sins against your rightful heir since the day she first drew breath. Now I will ensure that all of those sins are paid for with Fire and Blood. I'm coming for you.
Rhaenyra's hands shook as she looked up in fear. She knew that handwriting.
And she knew she just doomed everyone she loved.
this chapter was very hard to write, ngl