The aftermath after Darya took Aemond's eye. 10 year time jump. I hope you guys like it 🥰
Things were chaos after what happened between them, the guards had taken them all to the great hall where a maester was called to tend to Aemond. Darya could not look at her uncle, hating that things had gone so far. She did not want to hurt him, but she could not allow him to kill her brother. She knew that most of what happened was her fault, she should have never allowed her brother and cousins to go after him. She should have called for a guard sooner, now they were all in trouble.
The king was in a rage, yelling at the kingsguard and demanding to know what had happened. She was not afraid to admit she was afraid and wanted her mother, but she did not know where her mother was, nor her father.
The queen was kneeling next to Aemond as the maester sowed the boy's eye shut. "It will heal, will it not, maester?"
"The flesh will heal," The man answered with a deep sigh. "But the eye is lost, your grace."
Darya stopped herself from sobbing at the look on the queen and her grandsire's face. She had taken her uncle's eye, that was not something that the queen or uncle would be inclined to forget. To Darya's surprise, the queen's anger turned to her eldest son, and the slap she gave him echoed around the room.
She heard hurried footsteps and looked towards the stairs where her grandmother and grandsire were. The princess looked distraught as she searched for her granddaughters. "Baela, Rhaena! What happened?"
Her grandsire Corlys looked around before walking closer to her and her brothers. Darya did not say anything, but relief filled her when the doors opened and her mother walked in, followed but her uncle Daemon.
"Jace, Darya!" Her mother ran to them, looking at her eye, which was almost swollen shut at this point, and checked Jace over. "Who did this?"
Everything became chaos after that, with her brother and cousins throwing accusations as everyone attempted to talk at the same time. Darya stayed quiet, knowing that she would not be heard over the yelling and there was not a lot that could be said. They had attacked Aemond and she had taken his eye, there was no excuse she could give for that.
"SILENCE!" The king's voice made everyone grow quiet, but not before Jace told their mother that Aemond had called them bastards. Her grandsire moved closer to her uncle. "Aemond, I will have the truth of what happened. Now."
"What else is there to hear?" The queen did not like her son was being questioned. "Your son has been maimed, her daughter is responsible."
Her mother immediately jumped to her defense. "It was a regrettable accident."
"Accident?" The queen spat, glaring at Darya, before looking at her mother. "Princess Darya brought a blade to the ambush. She meant to kill my son."
Darya did not defend herself and did not out that her brother was the one who had the blade. She did not want to cause any more trouble than she already had.
"It was my son and daughter who were attacked and forced to defend themselves!" Her mother moved to stand in front of them. "Vile insults were levied against them."
"What insults?" The king turned to look at her mother.
"The legitimacy of my children's birth was put loudly to question." While Darya appreciated her mother's defense, she was not sure that was an excuse for what she had done.
The king was not pleased. "What?"
Her brother stepped beside their mother. "He called us bastards."
The queen's face paled a bit and everyone in the room went quiet. Her mother was not happy to leave it at that.
"My sons and daughter are in line to inherit the Iron Throne, your grace. This is the highest of treasons." Her mother took a step towards the king. "Prince Aemond must be sharply questioned, so we might learn where he heard such slanders."
Darya sucked in a breath and her hands shook. She might be young, but she was not stupid, she knew what her mother's words meant. She wanted Aemond to be tortured until he confessed. She wanted to cover her ears as the queen argued over her son's comments and what had happened. The queen brought up her father's absence and Darya did not miss the way her mother tripped over her words when she attempted to explain what had happened. She tried to tune everyone out, not wanting to hear anything else, she did not want to be there any longer.
The king's voice brought her back to the present, forcing her to pay attention. "Who spoke these lies to you?"
Darya did not miss the way her uncle's eye went to his mother and the queen paled even further. For a moment she was sure Aemond would tell the king the truth, that he would admit it was his mother who said those things, but his words surprised her. "It was Aegon."
"Me?" Her eldest uncle looked completely shocked and the queen looked relieved.
"And you, boy?" The king moved closer to Aegon. "Where did you hear such calumnies?" The older boy did not say anything, just stood there looking at Aemond, until the king was on his face. "AEGON! Tell me the truth of it!"
Her uncle jumped and Darya could not help but feel bad for him. "We know, father. Everyone knows, just look at them."
She hated all of this, hated what it had come to. Her grandsire yelled, but she paid no attention. She wanted out of there, she wanted to be back in Dragonstone where she was safe and happy and people did not look at her like she was something stuck to the bottom of their shoe. She heard Alicent call for her eye but did not pay attention, her eyes had not moved away from Aemond, from the horrible wound she had given him. He would be scarred for the rest of his life, he would never get his eye back.
She heard people screaming and looked up just in time to see her mother step in front of her and grab the queen's hand, which was holding the Valyrian steel dagger belonging to her grandsire. As soon as it had started it was over and Darya stared at the blood running down her mother's hand, dripping on the ground.
She felt hope when Aemond attempted to console his mother, telling her the loss of his eye had been worth it since it had helped him gain a dragon. For a moment she truly believed that there was a chance her uncle would forgive her, that he would allow her to apologize. Those hopes were dashed by the hateful look her uncle gave her and she knew he would not forgive her.
Things went from bad to worse when a couple of days after the king and queen had left her father appeared dead. Her grandmother and grandsire were heartbroken and Rhaenys looked at her and Jace with even more hate, like Laenor's death was somehow their fault. She hated Driftmark and she hoped to never return.
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10 years later.
Being in the water helped her relax and let all her worries melt away, it felt almost as good as being on dragon back. Darya spent more time on the air than she did on the ground, but a lot of the time she spent on the ground was in the water. The more time she spent away from the castle, the better.
As she grew many things became clear to her, one of them being the fact that she was truly a bastard. No matter how many times her mother told her she was a Targaryen and that was all that mattered, Darya was not stupid. She was Harwin Strong's daughter, with his brown hair and pale skin. She tried not to think about her real father if she could help it, because when she thought of him all she could think of was the horrible way in which he had died. She loved her mother, but that did not mean she was blind to the precarious position her mother had put her and her brothers in.
After returning from Driftmark, her mother had married Daemon and the man had become their father. Darya tried to stay out of their way as much as possible, she had pulled away from most of her family since what happened in Driftmark. She still spoke to them and they spent time together, but things had not been the same since that day. She hated what she had done and part of her blamed her cousins and her brother. She had sent several letters to Aemond, apologizing for what happened. Even if her uncle had not liked her before that, it did not mean he deserved to lose an eye for it. Aemond had never answered her letters and part of her knew that it was for the best. She stopped writing to him a few years prior, if he did not want to accept her apology she was not going to force him.
Darya walked out of the water and grabbed her clothes. She made sure her cloak was in place, the last thing she wanted was to walk down the halls in her wet, transparent chemise. Her mother would never let her hear the end of it. She made it to her chamber and thanked her sworn shield before walking in and coming to a stop.
Her mother was sitting on her solar and just lifted an eyebrow when she saw her. "I should have known you were swimming."
"I did not know you needed me." She threw her clothes aside and walked towards where her bathtub had been placed. "I went flying and then decided to swim for a bit."
"I do not like that you spend so much time alone." This was a familiar issue between her and her mother. "You should spend more time with Rhaena."
"I spend time with Rhaena." She took off her wet chemise before stepping into the tub and sitting down. A sigh left her mouth her the hot water enveloped her, immediately relaxing her sore muscles. "I cannot take her dragon riding with me yet, Arrax is not large enough for two."
"I know that." Her mother moved closer to the tub before sitting next to her and immediately started washing her hair. "We will be leaving for Kings Landing in the morning."
Darya tensed and for a moment she could not say anything. The last time she had been in Kings Landing was when she was ten and was hoping she would not have to return. If things had been bad before, they were even worse after what happened between her and Aemond. She could not walk down the halls without people whispering and pointing at her, not that she cared what people thought, but her mother would not allow her to kill them.
She took a deep breath. "Why?"
"Since Corlys is ill, Vaemond Velaryon is challenging Joffrey's claim to Driftmark." She had known that would happen sooner or later. Vaemond had been trying to get Corlys to change his mind since Laenor died. "The Hightowers are the ones making the decisions now, so we will need to be there for our voice to be heard."
"Do I need to go?" She knew it was a stupid question, there was no way her mother would allow her to stay in Dragonstone. She would want them to present a united front. "I wish to stay here, I do not enjoy Kings Landing."
"I know, my love." Her mother continued washing her hair. "But you will need to be there with us, we need you. Your grandsire also wishes to see you, especially now that he is unable to travel."
Darya did not say anything. She had known it would not be possible for her to stay behind, but it had been worth a try. The only person she was looking forward to seeing besides her grandsire, was her aunt Helaena. She felt bad for the poor woman, being married to someone like Aegon, and was hoping her uncle was not mistreating her.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (34 years old.)
Darya Velaryon (15 years old.)