The fire from the candles at the dinner table had gone out hours ago. The hour was late. Seldom for the sounds of guards changing shifts and a few rats running around, the castle was overcome by silence.
Most of the royals were long asleep by now.
Most.
Four empty bottles of wine lay scattered across the floor, some still had some drops left, which now were left for the rodents to enjoy. Visenya reached for the fifth bottle - the last one she got ahold of from the kitchen while the servants were busy cleaning up after dinner.
She examined the bottle closely, swinging it around, up and down, her eyes following the red liquid inside. But her thoughts were elsewhere. Perhaps examining the chaos that took place during dinner or boiling in the anger she felt in the throne room. Anywhere but here, enveloped by the silence of her room.
The window in her room was wide open, letting in the sounds of the restless city into her halls. The night breeze got rid of the comforting warmth. Visenya sat leaning on the end of her bed, looking up at the stars through the window sorrowfully. The night sky always reminded her of Laenor.
The day that her father left her and her brothers forever.
Visenya hated staying awake at night. The dark sky reminded her of the person she'd never see again. It reminded her of the person she was when they parted. How she cried and stayed awake each night, hoping he'd return. How each shadow made her heart jump, hoping it was Laenor. She often silently wondered if he, wherever he was, was looking at the stars the same time she was, if he was thinking about his daughter as much as she was of him.
Either way, the day had been hard; she was not about to sulk through the night as well. Least not alone.
Barefoot, with the wine bottle in hand, she carefully opened the door of her chambers. One of the older guards, perhaps older in age than her own grandsires, was assigned to guard Visenya's doors. She poked her head through the slit in the door to check if he was there. To her luck, the man looked as if he'd been long asleep, peacefully resting his head on the wall.
Visenya stumbled down the hall, her head spinning from the mix of darkness, alcohol, and adrenaline that was hitting her all at once. She squinted her eyes to make sure it was the right door she was about to knock on, since even drunk she realized knocking on the wrong door wearing only a nightgown and holding a bottle of wine could certainly look... Interesting.
"Baela..." she whispered in a sing-songy voice. "Baela, wake up." Visenya closed the door behind her and came closer to Baela's bed to wake her and try to get her to join in on the drinking.
Visenya started grabbing around the bed, her hands the only way to search for her half-sister's face in the dark when suddenly, a significantly bigger yet still familiar hand grabbed Visenya's to stop her from reaching for Baela, making her jump back and hit her head on the closet standing behind her.
Visenya fell down with the wine, spilling some on herself in the process. Two silhouettes got up from the bed and quickly rushed to her side, making Visenya pale in the fear that she stumbled into her parents' room rather than Baela's.
"Seven hells, what are you doing here?!"
"Jace?" Visenya's anxiety turned into excitement. "What are YOU doing here?" She tried to look at him through the darkness in vain, but a moment later, an all-too-bright flame took over the whole room. Baela held out a candle, still too asleep to really understand what was going on. Visenya looked back and forth at Baela and Jacaerys, quickly realizing the situation she had interrupted. She smiled to herself as Jacaerys helped her stand up from the floor.
"I came to offer some company for Baela tonight... And some wine, but I see you have it all covered, brother." Visenya stumbled onto Jacaerys, leaning onto him in a half-hug as she taunted him.
"Are you alright, sister? The dinner..." Baela came closer, brushing the loose hair out of Visenya's face.
"Don't." she stopped her hand, her eyes sobered up and lost the cheerfulness in a second. "I wish not to speak of it today, my loves." Visenya quickly hid her anger with yet another drunken smile. "I simply wish to stay drunk a while longer, and if you two..." she waved the bottle to them in an offering manner. "do not wish to join me, I shall find someone who will."
Baela took Jace's hand to lead him back to their bed. Jacaerys kissed her hand lovingly, turning her to go back first without him as he stopped Visenya before she left Baela's room.
"Can we talk about this tomorrow? Please." He put his hand on her bottle, ensuring to get her attention.
"I'd never judge you two for not waiting; Lord knows I haven't-" Visenya started rambling, her voice getting louder, clearly forgetting the time and place she was at.
"I know. I meant Vaemond." Jace smiled at her, trying to be more compassionate and less fatherly, as Visenya and Lucearys always mocked him to be.
Visenya bit her lip at the name.
"Sure."
"Goodnight, Visenya; please be safe." Baela whispered from underneath her covers.
"Promise." she whispered back, winking at Jace to give him a glimpse of reassurance as well.
Stumbling back to her chambers while chugging her last bottle of wine, Visenya thought of a way to brighten up her mood.
She entered her room and shuffled through her chest that she had brought with her from Dragonstone. Finally, she took out the brown dye and started smearing it onto her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror. In Dragonstone, to avoid further attention, she had mastered glamour magic. Nothing dramatic; she still could not change herself into a completely different person or a man, but still, it was effective enough to make her unrecognizable.
Not tonight.
She was far too drunk to try to remember the words, and trying to find dragonglass candle would just take up more time. Besides, she might need it for more serious matters, if such arose. The dye would do. The princess had not been in King's Landing for more than 5 years; no one would recognize her even without the dye.
So she put on a cloak, big enough to hide the sheer nightgown she had on underneath, and looked for the right brick on her wall.
Maybe it had been 5 years, but she'd never forget how to sneak out of her room.
As the brick sank into the wall, making the wall slide open, revealing a secret hallway, Visenya finished her bottle and snuck down the passageway.
.
.
.
"Come now, forget that hateful bitch. You're about to be a married man, brother! You'll teach her to behave when she's yours." Aegon pushed Aemonds' shoulder, in his own way, trying to cheer him up. "We shall celebrate!" he stood up quickly, but fell right back down, as his head was seeming to spin faster than he could realize.
Aemond remained silent, watching the fire burning in his room. He wasn't sure why he'd let Aegon in. He wasn't sure why he'd let his brother pour him one after another cup of wine, and talk about all of the ways Aemond could make Visenya "pay" for how she acted after she becomes his wife.
His.
He did not understand why she interested him so. Perhaps it was simply having something new, curious in his life. He had spent all these years living between the same walls, seeing the same faces each day. Even when they were children, Visenya would rarely show herself to anyone but her family. She was but a shadow, running around the halls, giggling with Helaena or reading in her room. He knew nothing of her or she of him and that satisfied them both. But something was different this time. He wanted to know who she was. What she was. But the more time he'd spend around her, the more she made his blood boil.
And yet...
He rubbed his fingers together as Aegon kept mumbling about celebrations, joys of marriage, and brothels.
"...You have to bed at least three before your wife, every man in Westeros knows that!" Aegon laughed at his own genius remarks, more so talking to himself now than his brother.
"Let's go." Aemond stood up swiftly, extending his hand to Aegon, who now lay on the couch, eyes closed, still mumbling.
But Aemond's words made Aegons' eyes pop wide open. He took his brothers hand and stood up with his help, still not sure if he'd fallen asleep and began to dream this. Aemond was always the golden child. He was taller, stronger perhaps even smarter... And yet that was not the reason Aegon was so eager to ruin their mother's favorite's innocence. No, the reason was Aemond never really had anything in common with Aegon. In a way, getting him to a brothel was his way of bonding with his younger brother. At least in the only way he knew how.
Aegon led the way through the town towards his favorite brothel, greeted by the mistress of the establishment, he tossed her a bag of gold as a standard thanks for her discretion, even though his frequent visits were an open secret in the kingdom.
The moans of women and groans of drunk men echoed through the halls, as Aemond tried to keep the bubbling-up regret down. He kept his hood up tightly, trying to make sure his silver locks stayed hidden. Aegon, on the other hand, took off his cloak and most of his clothes almost as soon as they stepped through the doorframe. A habit of sorts. He turned to Aemond and ripped down his cloak, tossing it to the side.
"No one gives two shits who you are here, brother. Relax and go and find a hole to stick it into." He kissed Aemond on the cheek sloppily, to which Aemond roughly pushed him away. For a person in a brothel, he seemed deeply disgusted by his brother's affections. Aegon disappeared into one of the private rooms, leaving Aemond no option other than to keep moving through the premises.
He sighed and took out a flask of rum, quickly chugging it down. As he wiped his mouth free of the burning sensation, he went deeper into the brothel, following the sounds of pleasure coming from the mouths of men and women alike.
Everything in his life was a calculation. A race. A point to prove. So this was no different. He went around looking for a worthy mate for more than 10 minutes, but most women seemed to disgust him. On his walks, he'd noticed a few young men heading towards Aegons' private chambers. He'd wondered for a moment if Visenya's dig on Aegons' interest in Jacaerys was more than an insult...
Fucking Visenya.
Even here, surrounded by tits and bare asses, her smug face haunted his every move. The mix of the rum and the wine was starting to get to him, as the walls spun around him. The noises started getting louder, as more and more sweaty bodies pushed against him, people tugged at his undershirt from behind, others called for him in the far front. It was all too much to handle, he was either to run away, or get it over with.
A silhouette with long brown hair stood facing her back to him, making out with another woman, gently pushing her against the wall. Aemond's eye followed the movement of her hands, her fingers running a trail up and down the other woman's thigh, her other hand deep in her hair.
Everything felt quiet for a moment, before realizing he grabbed the woman by the shoulder and turned her to face him.
She froze.
He did too. Before he could speak, or think or apologize for his aggressiveness, or perhaps look a bit more clearly into her eyes, she leaned into him, her hands wrapping around his neck tightly, pushing him even closer onto her.
Losing balance, he held onto her waist to not fall down, smoothly guiding her next to a wall for support. Her waist, her fingers, her smell... It all seemed so vaguely familiar yet he wouldn't allow himself to be anywhere else with his thoughts rather than this moment.
With each breath, the woman exhaled more heavily into his mouth. His hand traveled across her whole body, exploring each curve, hungry to take what little clothing she had on off. His other hand was deep in her hair, pushing each other as close into one another as possible, but still, it didn't seem enough. He took his hand out of her hair, and grabbed one of her legs to lift it, wrapping her around him, now fully trapped between the wall and himself. His mouth traveled down from her mouth to her neck, her hands digging deep into his scalp expressing pleasure. The blood in his veins seemed to be growing hotter, as the lower part of himself started pushing harder and harder against her thinly covered cunt. His hands let go of her legs, and slowly started to raise the sheer dress she had on up to her stomach.
Her deep breaths almost stopped in an instant, as she unwrapped her legs and let go of him, taking the prince by surprise, the whore pushed him away and ran into the shadows.
Still out of breath, and his blood rushing, he tried to grab her hand, or at least find her, wondering if perhaps he had scared her. But to no luck, even rushing out of the brothel into the street, Aemond could not find a sign of her.
At least she kept his mind off of Visenya.