CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
❪ devils tongue ! ❫

"I feel that I have failed you, as a mother."

"I don't believe that one bit — why do you?"

Rhaeynra glanced down at her fingers as she sadly picked at the fraying of her sleeves while sitting beside her daughter on a small chaise sofa inside her chambers.

After changing and fixing her hair to fit the queen status at Dragonstone, both of them hid away in the bedroom for an hour to gain some privacy. It would be the first time they've spoken in a long time – especially as women, now that Aenemera was getting older.

"Mother," Aenemera frowned while reaching over and resting her hand over Rhaenyras. "I couldn't have wished for a better mother and I'm so glad you're mine."

Rhaenyra sniffled but smiled shyly at her daughter. "I left you all alone there, you had no one to confide in. It should've been me who rescued you."

"I don't want you to feel like you could've done better." Mera shook her head. "That's not the case."

Rhaenyra turned her palms and held her daughters hands into her own, leaning down and pressing gently kissing along her knuckles. "My dearest, as your mother I can't fight the constant fear that I could've done more. I will always question if it's ever been enough."

Aenemera's forehead crinkled. "It's been more than enough. I've been humbled and educated, I gained a strong relationship with my grandfather. A husband who loves — "

She caught herself from finishing the sentence just as Rhaenyra lifted her head. Aenemera then shrugged her shoulder as if it no longer mattered, although the aching feeling in her chest was from missing Aemond. It felt like part of her soul was missing.

Guilt washes over her mother as she raises one of her hands to caress her daughter's cheek. "I can sense it."

"You do?"

She nodded. "At dinner — I pay quite the attention," she smiled sheepishly at her daughter; a soft giggle escaping her lips. "You both shared an intense passionate look for one another. He's very fond of you — he makes you laugh. But I fear I pulled you both apart now."

It was Aenemera's turn to lower her head in sadness while her mother brushed her fingers across her knuckles.

"I wanted to stay," she admitted quietly. "The floor of the coronation hall split in half and all I wanted to do was hide in his arms. It was the safest I ever felt but I knew for my safety — "

Rhaenyra tilted her head curiously at her child, reaching up now to brush a strand of hair from her cheek. "What, my sweet girl?"

With a heavy sigh, Aenemera managed to let out all the air that's been collecting inside the castle. "Otto Hightower tried to have me killed — or worse, then threatened me. He threatened our family, told me he would kill you and my brothers if I got in the way. He has some kind of evil plan to mess with Aegon's head — I just know it. He's going to sink his claws into him just like he did with Alicent."

Rhaenyra stiffened in her chair as her eyebrows creased together with both confusion and anger. Her grip tightened on her daughter's hands until the grand maester entered the room with a soft clear of his throat.

"My queen, I wanted to do a check up if I may."

Rhaenyra nodded once as they both stood to their feet. Aenemera gazed up at her mother with a soft smile as her mother rubbed her cheek before pulling her into a reassuring hug.

Aenemera wrapped her arms tightly around her mothers waist with her head resting on her shoulder.

Her mother's hand gently caressed her back soothingly while her other held the back of her head, keeping her close like she used to when Aenemera was just a babe.

When she was born, Rhaenyra refused to give her off to a wet nurse. She would hold her on her chest for hours upon hours even if she wasn't feeding. She would tell her stories while Aenemera gazed up at her with delight and curiosity. Her toothless smile always brought Rhaenyra the purest of joy.

While they stood there for a brief moment of silence just to hold each other after years of separation, Rhaenyra started to notice something different about her daughter.

She felt like she knew every inch of her daughter's body, if with years of distance she knew her daughter like the back of her hand. So when they finally pulled away, Aenemera was about to turn until Rhaenyra held her palm against her daughter's stomach.

Aenemera immediately looked down with furrowed eyebrows but laughed gently at the affection. "Something on my dress, mother?"

Rhaenyra kept her palm held over her daughter's stomach for several heartbeats before speaking. "My sweet girl, you're with child?"

Aenemera must've looked at her mother like she had lost her mind because Rhaenyra was turning towards the Grand Maester for confirmation but looked just as flustered as she did.

"What?"

Suddenly Daemon entered the room but when he noticed energy in the room was shifting oddly, he immediately stepped towards his family and placed a caring hand on the back of his daughter's head. "What is wrong?"

Grand Maester Gerardys made his way over to the group and suddenly Aenemera was feeling overwhelmed by the worry and enclosure.

She looked between her parents and took a cautious step backwards before resting her hand over her own stomach. But she couldn't confirm anything for her mother. "How do you know? It hasn't been — I haven't — "

Daemon raised an eyebrow down at his daughter and she quickly looked away with her cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

"Gerardys," Rhaenyra turned to the Grand Maester, as if he needed confirmation.

The older man stepped closer to Aenemera and replaced her hand with his own. His eyes flickered over her features curiously before slowly dropping his head with a single nod. "I believe the possibility to be true."

"H-How?" Aenemera panicked.

"I've carried seven children darling, please give me some credit." Rhaenyra murmured but Aenemera shook her head quickly with furrowed eyebrows. "How am I pregnant? It couldn't be more than a week."

The Grand Maester tilted his chin upwards as he released a deep sigh from his chest. "It happened once between Targaryen's. Some would claim it as a legend while others would speak witchcraft." He folded his hands together carefully as the family turned to him, intending to hear the entire story.

"Targaryen blood is powerful — it does wonders, yes. Sometimes it even rushes the process of childbirth — like a dragon egg."

"You're saying there's a dragon in her?" Rhaenyra asked protectively with her hand hovering over her daughter's back. Clear trauma from losing her last child had her on edge — even Daemon was ready to drop to his knees pleading to the God's.

"I would call it a miracle," grand maester smiled softly as his eyes centered on Aenemera's stomach, as well as Daemon and Rhaenyra.

"Are there concerns that need to be discussed?" Daemon asks eagerly, both of her parents falling into a strong discretion about her safety and well being while their voices slowly drowned out in the room.

Aenemera stood there with her hand hovering over her stomach before she finally decided to feel it with her own palm. She began to dissociate while her gaze was focused on the fireplace — her thumb caressing the fabric over her dress that shielded the growing babe.

A child.

Aenemera was pregnant with a child — Aemond's child. Something she didn't know she desperately wanted, but now she understood she needed to be at his side.

And she started to wonder if he possibly knew of this surprise as well.

❪ dylan ❫
can u tell i'm dragging on here? i don't want to say good bye for two years