CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
❪ devils tongue ! ❫

Aemond helped Aenemera get dressed in a silk robe to shield her body from the room temperature and anyone lurking around the halls late at night.

He tied the ribbon around her waist as the stood at the foot of the bed while he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Let's get you cleaned up."

"I thought that bath was for you?"

"It's ours," he corrected with a hint of a smile. "Everything that is mine is yours. The bath, the overused table, — the bed."

Aenemera slowly smiled up at him and rested her hand against his cheek comfortably. "We'll need a bigger room at some point." Aemond nodded his head knowingly in response. "Come," she whispered to him while taking his hand and guiding him to the second door that let to his bathing room.

What awaited them on the other side caught the couple off guard when they saw Genevieve standing near the tub that reflected steam from the hot water.

The maid cleared her throat and blinked up at the couple. "Your bath — my prince."

Aemond placed a hand on Aenemera's back. "It's for my wife."

Genevieve nodded in defeat as she stood by waiting for another command, her eyes never shifting away as she watched the turn to each other.

Aenemera had stepped in front of Aemond, gazing up at him while she untied the knot from her robe and revealed the front of her naked body to him. Genevieve felt her stomach churn with distaste and before she could speak, Aenemera turned her head to smile at the girl.

"You may be excused, thank you Genevieve."

Aemond couldn't take his eye away from Aenemera as it continuously looked down from her soft neck to the curve of her breasts then down to her stomach. She was glowing with the way she looked so round and full of his growing child. Absolutely nothing else mattered to him.

Genevieve nodded once and started making her way towards the door until Aenemera called out for her again.

"I'll be sure to see if the queen needs assistance next time." She referred to Helaena, thinking about a mother with two children and a husband that never really paid attention to her. Helaena needed all the proper love and  attention she could get. "From now on I'll be aiding my husband in anything he needs."

"Of course, princess." Genevieve bit down on the inside of her left cheek before quickly exiting the room before she could be stopped again to face the truth.

When Aenemera turned back to Aemond, he was smirking down at the girl with a gentle caress of his thumb against her stomach. "You glow a few galaxies more when you're jealous."

"Not jealous," she grumbled as she began to untie Aemond's own robe. "She needed to be put in her place."

He placed his hands upon her face then whispered against her lips. "And I'd watch you do it all over again." He kissed her deeply once before helping her into the tub after discarding both of their robes onto the floor.

Many candles were lit throughout the room as were the windows cracked open to allow the cool air from outside to travel though.

Aenemera had herself settled against Aemonds chest and in between his legs. Her head settled back against his shoulders while their fingers laced together in a silent dance.

"I wish for more moments like these," he whispered against her shoulder after planting a kiss there. "Moments that could last centuries."

"But then we would never age — time would simply stop."

Aemond reached up and brushed a wet curl behind her ear. "Exactly. Anything to spend more time with you, that's all I wish."

Aenemera slowly tilted her head back further to look up at her. "But then we would never get to see our child." The statement came out as a whisper but it didn't go unnoticed.

Aemond was playing with one of the wet curls between his fingers before he hovered his hand gently over her swollen stomach. "You've gotten quite far along."

The princess nervously nodded. "Weeks are turning into months — I've barely had time to adjust to these changes. I'm sick and exhausted, my body aches an unnormal amount but the grand maester can only give me milk of the poppy to soothe the process."

He furrowed his eyebrows worriedly as he used to free hand to rub his knuckles up her arm. "You've studied this I'm assuming?"

"Very few times this had happened in past years. Babes have been born with wings and scales, sometimes a tail — some don't even make it. And the mother — "

"Don't." Aemond squeezed as eye shut before shifting his body so he can look down at her properly. "Don't say it. Don't put it out there for the God's to hear."

Aenemera visibly frowned as she carefully sat up now and turned her body around so she was situated on his lip. She threaded her fingers through his hair at the back of his neck. "I think it's something for us to discuss — "

"I won't hear of it." Aemond whispered to her with a slight warning tone. "We'll accept our fates when the time comes — whatever happens, but I will save you." He held the back of her neck now and tilted their foreheads together. "If I have to make a choice — "

"Aemond, you can't be selfish." She muttered worriedly.

He inhaled heavily and shook his head. "It is not selfish. If I have the option to save one of the other, it's going to be you Aenemera."

"But if the babe is healthy — "

Aemond moved his hand from her neck to her jaw, gently cradling it with a slight firm grip to have her completely focus on him. "Listen to me," he muttered softly to her. "If there is a choice, im taking what's best. I have to make that decision." Aenemera nodded knowingly as she leaned her forehead back to his.

"I refuse to live without you," he promised.

"Then what is your wish, my prince?" She tilted backwards and rested her palms against his chest with a small smile. "Boy or girl?"

Aemond shook his head and slightly smiled at the girl with a tug of his lips. "Gender does not matter to me."

Aenemera slowly smiled wider as she traveled her fingers up his chest and towards his face, caressing the bottom of his lip with her thumb. "I have names picked out."

He hummed softly. "Tell me."

She bit down on her lower lip as she watched him carefully for his reaction. "I was thinking... Rhaenerys for a girl and — Lucerys for a boy."

Aemond's eye burned hard into her as she felt her fingers tremble with fear against his skin. His hold fell to her waist now as they sat their silently for a few moments.

She then so badly wanted to change it and tell him to forget about it — that the babe even surviving was most important rather than names. They had enough time. Or at least enough to enjoy whatever time they had together before time started to run out.

Aenemera gulped nervously and was just about to excuse herself from the tub until his arms encircled around her waist and his head tilted forward against her shoulder.

She was taken back by the action but felt his entire body weight against her naked chest. His arms held her tightly against him with his fingers digging into her back.

She wanted to speak and ask what was wrong of him but she then felt the warmth of tears gliding down her shoulder. 

Aemond couldn't find the words to apologize for the accident. He would never be able to find the right ones, for an apology would mean nothing to bring her brother back. He knew that — they both knew that. But Aemond never allowed himself to express emotions or even let someone have a glimpse behind those thick walls.

Aenemera softly rubbed his back while resting her head against his. Her eyes closed briefly as they held each other in silence.