𝓐𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓻𝔂𝓮𝓷
"Where is he, Alicent?! Tell me where he's gone!" Elaena demands, my mother's face twisting in pain as my fierce wife's grip tightens around her arm.

"HE'S GONE! He's fled with Ser Criston just before you arrived, girl. You're too late," tears spill down my mother's face at her confession, and my stomach churns at the thought of my brother escaping death once more.

Elaena turns to me, her captivating eyes speaking the words before they fall from her lips.

"Go after him," she orders, more my Queen than my sweet girl this day than I've ever seen her.

"No, Elaena, I won't leave you-"

"He can't get away, Aemond."

I want to tell her she's mad, how could I leave her now when we were in the depths of the dragon's jaw?

Taking a step toward her Elaena nods only slightly, assuring me without saying a word.

Trust me.

Finally, with a displeased grunt I do as I'm told taking off in a sprint through my mother's chamber door but not without one last glance at her.

She's strong, she can take care of herself but that doesn't mean she should.

Cursing under my breath my mind is racing with any possible route Cole could get him out of the city. They must've made it through the passageways already but all gates would be secure... that's if the citizens of Kings Landing hadn't run for their lives.

As I take the steps two at a time, the Red Keeps walls rumble at the sound of a dragon's furious roar and I find comfort in knowing it isn't Seasmoke but another familiar cry, one I hadn't heard in months.

No, it can't be.

Throwing open the nearest door I push myself out into the crowd of people flooding the streets to take cover from the dragons who fought above in the sky.

Tessarion had a bone to pick with Vermithor, their battle unfinished from Harrenhal even though the young dragon had been riderless since my little brother's passing. And she wasn't alone, Sunfyre had joined her.

The Greens had pulled us into the city distracting Elaena and me long enough for us to dismount our dragons, but thankfully Rhaenyra was still tucked safely away until things were secure though now it could be hours until we took the city.

Think, think, how could he get out? Where would Cole take him?

I think I might be going mad when I see a lone white flash in a group of commoners and when they throw up their hood I about turn away until he turns to get a glance around, our eyes locking from across the courtyard.

Aegon.

I wasn't too late.

Leaping down the remainder of the steps he chances another panicked look over his shoulder as I dodge the terrified people, staring wide-eyed at the dragons that fought above us.

My brother tries to push aside those ahead of him but when a pair of entangled dragons spiral through the sky towards us they all turn heel, pushing my big brother straight toward me.

"NO!" He shouts as I claw closer toward him, finally gripping his dirtied cloak in my hands.

"Brother, please," but I rear back a fist slamming it into his stomach and knocking the life from his eyes.

He keels over taking to his knees to crawl away from me but I grab hold of his leg ripping him back toward me.

"You fucking monster," I growl, all of my festering anger bubbling to the surface now that I have him in my hands, begging me to let him go.

"Dragonstones nādrēsy līve, iksis ziry? That bastard has taken your city, brother and you run from her."
*Dragonstones bastard whore, is she?

Yanking him up from the ground I slam him into the stone wall before he can speak, the image of Elaena lying lifeless on our bedroom floor flashing through my mind and resurging me with fresh rage, "You would've had her kidnapped? Had my son killed when I treat yours like my own?!"

"Nothing's ever your fault is it, brother? Do you remember putting a sword through Tessa's heart? Or having my children and Daeron KILLED-"

"Daemon was wrong, I would've never let him-"

"BUT HE DID! Do you have any clue what all of this has done to our sister?!"

My older brother's face was scarred and bruised from his brush with death and a part of me wished Baela and Rhaenys would've ended this at Rooks Rest.

"And when have you EVER given a FUCK about our sister?" I ask, my blood boiling, that he could ever claim to care about the woman he dishonored daily.

My brother doesn't have a smart reply for that, he instead spits in my face, taking a run for it down the smokey alleyway but I throw my dagger, finding its mark in his upper back sending him stumbling against a crate of goods.

Taking handfuls of his shirt I lifted him up, far from through with him before I handed him over to my sister.

"Please, little brother. You've taken everything from me, just give me this one thing, my life." Aegon begs, and I can hardly hear myself think with the chaos that was ensuing around us, "I'll find a ship and sail away never to be found,"

He wasn't entirely wrong, if he'd put a sword through Elaena's heart I couldn't ever forgive him and the only son he had left was under my care, living more of a life than he could have asked for with Aegon or on the streets.

"You can have your happy ending. You just have to reach out and take it. Your little wife on the Iron Throne, your children littering the keep with dragons of their own, it's everything you've ever wanted, isn't it?"

Of course, it's all I've ever wanted.

A life with Elaena no matter what that might've entailed, but of course our dream was our children succeeding us, making the realm a better place than we'd found it.

And gods we've walked through the seven hells and back because of the forces around us, my own family being most of them.

I open my mouth to speak but the roar from the dragons fighting above sends the crowd into a frenzy and people are rushing by us, not realizing the two Targaryen princes fought just feet away from them.

Turning back to my older brother I notice the age that's crept up on him and the bags that now permanently reside beneath his sad, tired eyes.

For just a split moment I want to let him go, to give him another chance at love or life if it means it can redeem him for what he's become...

But Elaena would never be safe, our children would never be safe as long as my brother wandered the world, pining for revenge against me and all we held most dear.

I tighten my grip on his collar, my lip curling back to crush his last remaining bits of hope.

"You'll never bring me or my family pain again, brother. Never again,"

His gaze is frantically searching the streets for a savior until they rest on something behind me but before I can turn and see the face of my aggressor, there's an undeniable force that hits me over the head.

Stumbling backward into the crowd I'm thrown onto the ground hitting my already sore head against the cobblestones where everything grew black and hazy until I felt nothing at all, slipping away to the nothingness.

The neverending pits of my mind had never been a comfort even since I was a child. It wasn't until a sweet song had guided me out, a dragon's song.

Where was that song now when things had become dark and lonely? I couldn't go back to the dark not without her...

"Uncle!? Where have you gone!?"

A familiar voice is just out of reach, searching for me but it's not the voice I'm waiting for so my lips won't move, I'm still frozen in my nightmare, alone.

"Seven hells," He mutters to himself and the voice is clearer, a beacon in the pit I've slipped into and my body begins moving without my telling it to.

"Don't be dead, Uncle. Please don't be dead, fuck-"

A pair of hands helps me sit up and I'm sent back down with a pounding pain that radiates across my skull.

"Fuck," I curse under my breath and both of my hands go to the back of my head searching for blood.

"YOU'RE ALIVE, seven hells I thought I'd have to tell Elaena-"

"Is she safe? Have we won?" I grumble. I can't what time it is by the time Luke's found me but the morning sun has faded to a clouded late afternoon and the streets are bare. As far as the eye could see, Kings Landing was a ghost town.

"She's fine, everyone's fine... and we've won," He assures me, his expression less than triumphant, disappointed even.

But at what cost? He almost says, his unsaid words hanging in the clouded air.

"What's happened to you? Elaena said she sent you into the city but not what for," He asks, concern etched on his blood and dirt-smudged face.

In an effort to regain my balance, I reach for a nearby window sill, pulling myself up as I try to remember what had happened.

Elaena had sent me after Aegon, I'd found him, captured him almost until...

He got away.

I'd failed.

How in the seven hells was I going to face them now, especially her?

"I was to find my brother and bring him to her but..."

I'd failed.

Luke hadn't always been the sharpest sword on the weapon rack but it didn't take a maester to notice I'd come up empty-handed and bested, "I see,"

After a long weighted moment of silence, we start our trek to the castle.

Rubble blocked many a path and corpses of many ages and stations lined the rows of destroyed homes and markets. This is exactly what we'd planned all month to avoid but Aegon had chosen war and now my sister would be the one they blamed for all their sorrow.

Just days ago they might've been under Aegon's reign but they'd been safe, they'd been alive and dragon fire hadn't been falling from the sky.

We walked for miles enveloped by the state our great city was now in. Commoners helped one another from the rubble, children not much younger than Jaehaeryn searching for food and water where their homes had once stood and Elaena's words echo through my mind.

"Is my birthright worth this?"

Perhaps she was right to ask herself that question.

"She'd be devastated to see this. This is exactly what your mother and sister wanted to avoid," I grumble, watching the skies as Vermithor and Moondancer circle the dragon pit at the top of the hill, "What of Sunfyre and Tessarion?"

"Vermithor spit what was left of her back in the sea and it's assumed Sunfyre was lost as well,"

"Assumed? I wouldn't be surprised if he and Aegon were halfway across the Narrow Sea by now," I scoff, the disappointment in my words hard to miss.

"Isn't that a good thing? He's gone and he's left practically everyone behind. He's a coward to have left your Mother and Sister to the wrath of my mother,"

At his mention of Helaena, I snap my neck to look at my nephew, "My sister? What do you know of my sister?"

"They found her in her quarters with their daughter. She was inconsolable at first, that is until Elaena calmed her down." He assures me, watching for my reaction when he brings up my wife but I breathe a bit easier knowing they are together.

The closer we make it to the castle walls the more of our men inhabit the streets searching for any other Green soldiers they could execute.

All of the Northman tend to look the same but when I spot the tallest one of the bunch shouting orders I'm surprisingly grateful to find Cregan alive.

For the sake of Elaena of course.

"Stark!" At the sound of my voice, the whole lot of them go still but only Cregan has the courage to look at me in my eye, genuinely relieved to see that Luke's found and brought me back.

"Seven hells it's a relief to see you. Elaena's been worried sick," The Warden of the North rushes toward us, clasping a hand on my shoulder but I flinch away, my back still very much sore.

"Where is she?" I ask coaxing a chuckle out of both him and Luke at my urgency, "They've convened in the small council chambers, but where the hell have you been?" He asks, concerned but I don't have time to explain it to him neither do I want to.

"For another time, Stark. Send whatever men you have to help and feed the small folk. I'll speak with the Queen to ensure more provisions are sent,"

Cregan grants me a curt nod and heads to work, shouting out orders to his men as Luke and I head up the stairs in a brisk walk.

"Have you noticed the looks we've received in this hallway alone?" Luke asks but the truth is that I hardly notice them.

"I'm rather used to those looks, nephew. Having one eye makes one quite the spectacle." I shrug it off and his step falters out of speed with mine but my intent wasn't to make him feel guilty.

Parting ways we say our goodbyes and as soon as I step foot through the Small Council chamber doors I feel a great many eyes on me but the only person I see is my sweet song, worried sick as she sits at her Mother's right side and the Queen's hand Lord Corlys to her left.

"Aemond," She gasps in relief, jumping from her seat to run to me. Taking her in my arms I lift her in a crushing embrace, relieved to see her safe and sound.

"I was so worried, they couldn't find you- I thought maybe-"

Smoothing my hands down her stray hairs I wipe the tears that have fallen from her eyes. "Shh, I'm safe, we're both safe. And what of our boys?" I ask her, rubbing the soot from her face.

"They're fine, everyone's fine," She smiles but the exy doesn't reach her eyes, instead searching mine for something I can't pinpoint.

"Brother, you return empty-handed?" Rhaenyra calls out, the disappointment not missed by me as she stands from her seat at the head of the table donning the crown of Jaehaerys as our father before her.

The room goes silent awaiting my answer but I'm unable to speak my failure out loud. How would I tell them we'd taken Kings Landing but let the false King get away?

Glancing down at Elaena my face falls as I'm incapable of keeping anything from her.

"I had him but he... he got away. He had help," I admit, sending the old men around the table into a whispering frenzy.

My sister clenched her fists, hanging her head in shock or perhaps rage, maybe a bit of both but when I look to my song for her reaction it nearly kills me.

Elaena's usually warm, joyful eyes are void of emotion her tight grip on my hand slackening when she hears the news that my brother had escaped us yet again.

I'd failed her. She hadn't expected I'd fail her.

Lord Corlys is the first to address me, his tone timid, reluctant to address me after the previous time we'd spoken. "We're aware he had help, my prince. Only the area is a bit gray on just who helped him escape,"

Narrowing my eye at him I dare him to complete his thought, but it's Elaena who comes to my defense. "Are you accusing my husband of treason, Lord Corlys?"

"He was seen, princess." He continues, his expression less accusatory and more disappointed as he looks between Elaena and me.

"I would assume I was. I nearly beat him senseless in front of hundreds," I scoff, narrowing my eye at my sister's small council.

"But you let him get away?" Another Lord presses when her grandfather avoids my gaze but this man I don't recognize immediately.

"Not of my own accord I assure you," I respond, annoyed with my questioning.

At the disappearance of Lord Larys, Harrenhal was presumably going to be passed to House Lothston who'd helped lead our forces to victory with Daemon and Luke, but if he kept pressing me we may have to find another willing Lord to take his place.

"A solider has come forward telling us otherwise,"

"Is this soldier missing a cock? Perhaps he belongs to a certain Northern house?" I smirk and as I take a step toward the table the two guards inch forward to stop me from moving any closer.

I see now.

The looks in the hallway, why Luke was sent to bring me back... they'd thought I'd let my brother free and for a millisecond I almost had, but I would never admit that aloud.

"My Queen, Alicent claimed Ser Criston had gone with him," My sweet girl steps in front of me, eager to come to my aid but I can see the conflict written on my sister's face as her eyes dart between her council, then to Elaena and I clearly caught somewhere in between.

"He should be kept in the black cells with his mother and grandfather. If the usurper hasn't escaped the capital by now his little brother will surely help him-"

"Why does the little dog keep barking?" I ask, curling my lip back like a caged animal at the old man.

"This dog just lent their hand in taking back the capital," he replies, his pride wounded.

"Be rest assured my sister would still very much be stood where she is with or without your men-"

"That's enough. The black cells are hardly necessary, Lord Lothston. I think it best while we sort things out he be under guard in his chambers-"

"But Mother, please," Elaena begs, her defeated voice tearing my very heart in two and before I can react there are two men stepping forward to escort me out but I rip my arm away from them, reluctant to leave, "No,"

My wife flinches at the sharp edge of my voice and though I could cut through them with Dark Sister I knew it would only make matters worse.

"Sister, don't do this. Daemon trusted me to fulfill my oath, so trust me now."

She had to believe I'd never do anything to jeopardize everything Elaena and I had built.

After all the promises kept, all the lives saved I could still see that flash of doubt in her eyes, perhaps it had always been there and I'd just been blind to it these past months. Perhaps she still saw me as that scorned little boy, as my mother's son and not the husband and father I'd become.

"You're not our prisoner, brother, it's only temporary. We have a list of other urgent matters to attend to and tensions are high," my sister begs me to understand but I can't, I don't. "It's for your own safety." She continues.

"Hmph, for my safety?" I reply with more of a grunt, still unsatisfied with the outcome she's come to.

Elaena's eyes however are locked on Lord Lothston, her fists clenched tightly in her fury staring daggers at him. She refuses to look at me until I call out to her, reassuring her in the one way that I can.

"Elaena, hey, jurnegon rȳ nyke, ñuha vāedar, kostilus."
*look at me, my song. Please,

Finally, she's broken from her spell and lifts her apologetic gaze to mine. All eyes around the small council table watched our interaction but I wouldn't make her look weak in front of these vultures.

When words fail me I try to convey what I feel in a last-ditch glance through the chamber.

Believe me. Please believe me.

But they're already closing the doors behind me and pulling me down the corridor to my old apartments.

The familiar halls and doors almost sicken me as the memories flood through my mind, good and bad.

Elaena and I had fallen in love here, our first kisses and glances in this very hall.

As we approach my door I notice the cracked hinges have been replaced from our escape the morning Aegon was crowned but I remember the night leading up to it quite fondly.

I'd even bet the floral smell of Elaena's soaps still lingered in the mattress where we spent many a night draped in one another.

The guard pushes open the creaky door and I'm stunned by what we find though I should've expected it.

My rooms had been torn to shreds, tables knocked over books strewn about the floor and littering the fireplace.

I'd hoped my homecoming would've felt more comforting, but this?

When I go to take a step forward one of them clears their throat, motioning to Dark Sister at my waist.

If they were worried about me taking their lives I'd hardly need my sword to commit the deed.

"My sister said nothing of disarming me. I'll be keeping my sword, gentlemen. For my safety of course," I smirk, pushing through my bedroom door. Once the door is slammed behind me the silence of my rooms is deafening.

There was so much to be done, so many people I'd wanted to see and touch for myself to assure their safety but I'd been sent to my rooms like a goddamned child.

"FUCK," I curse taking off my armor piece by piece until I've tossed it all into a haphazard pile on the floor.

At first, I address the damage in a way to keep my mind busy but the handiwork is obviously of my older brother. I imagined he'd drink and come here to let out his rage when he couldn't get his hands on me.

Collapsing onto my old bed I wonder if Helaena is kept prisoner in her apartments just down the hall. Elaena and I hadn't even had a moment to talk before I was rushed from the rooms.

I'm not sure how long I sit there in front of the fireplace staring into its wild flames but after what seems like a lifetime there's movement at the door.

I reach for my tunic, prepared to throw it back over my head when the door shuts softly behind my visitor.

"Elaena," I breathe, recognizing her silhouette even in the dimness of the candlelight. "I wasn't sure you'd come,"

She'd bathed, dressing herself in fresh clothes that hugged her perfectly sloped curves. Shrugging her shoulders she chuckles under her breath, "I wasn't sure I should, but I figured these are just as much my chambers as they are yours." She giggles, a light blush enveloping her cheeks.

My smart, smart girl.

"They'd have my head come morning, Princess." I tease, keeping my voice low, almost predatory as I slowly cross the room to meet her.

"I'd have theirs first," she repeats my own words back to me and I'm sent back in time to the very moment I said it.

The sun shined so bright that day I knew it was a promise of what was to come because she was coming to Kings Landing, coming back to me.

My lips tip up at the memory and I can practically smell the fresh flowers of the garden and feel the warmth of the sunshine on my skin. I'd barely known her as a young woman yet but that afternoon I'd offered my complete protection, the ire between our families of no consequence compared to how deeply she'd nuzzled herself beneath my skin.

"I wanted to come sooner but I had to get the boys settled and Helaena of course. Are you hungry? I sent for our dinner it should be here anytime now," She only stops to take a breath when I cradle her small round face in my hands.

I want to ask her a million questions but I start with Helaena, concerned my sister might've made her and my niece prisoners as well.

"How is she and Jaehaera? Luke told me she'd been a bit... erratic when we took the city."

"They're fine. Baela and Rhaena have helped make them feel as comfortable as they can possibly be with their home in rubble... I don't know that Jaehaeryn even realizes that the girl he plays with is his big sister."

"Hmm, I'd like to see them."

"Have you already forgotten you promised him and Joffrey a swim in the fountains? Tomorrow morning we'll be having breakfast together in the gardens after everyone's well rested." Elaena smiles up at me and I know it's an attempt to distract me from our current situation but I can't shake the sour mood.

"Are you sure your mother will allow such a thing? Her prisoners wandering about the keep?" I scoff, my eyebrows furrowing out of annoyance with my big sister.

"You're not a prisoner, Aemond, she's made that quite clear to me."

"Clear? The guards at the door say otherwise, Elaena-"

"What do you know of House Lothston?"

Her question shocks me and I've already forgotten the pathetic lord from the small council chambers. I wrack my mind for anything I can think of but all I know of the House were its roots in Harrenhal, "Only that he's a prick, I'm afraid. It's a minimal house from what I can remember, why? What is it, my song?"

"I don't know yet, but I don't trust him. Something about him... what if you are in danger, Aemond? What if Aegon's influence lingers?"

My little love peers up at me through her long eyelashes with a worrisome expression settling in her violet eyes and suddenly I don't mind the guards at my door if it helped ease Elaena's worried mind.

"I'm to be your King consort one day, I will always be in danger, as will you. But I'd prefer it if you kept the protecting to me,"

Leaning forward slowly I rest my forehead on hers, our noses brushing as I bring our lips closer, desperate for a taste of her but when our fingers interlock at our side, I notice her palm is wrapped with gauze.

I yank away from her, pulling up her hand to examine it.

"Did my mother do this to you?" I snap, anger coursing through me, "What else has she done? Is this all?" I worry, pushing her cloak off her shoulders to the floor to look her over for myself.

"It's fine, I'm fine, Aemond." Her soft voice calms me, steadying my quickly rising chest with the mere touch of her fingertips.

"I had him right in my hands... I hesitated for a second, only a second, and Cole must've taken it. I didn't even see him coming you must believe me-"

"Of course, I do," pressing a single finger to my lips she grants me a sad but understanding smile. "I never doubted your intentions. I have in the past but I've learned my lesson,"

Once the words leave her mouth I find myself breathing smoother, a prideful smile taking up most of my dirtied face.

"But it doesn't matter what I think, Aemond. Half of the council demands your head for treason," the tears she'd been so bravely holding were slipping down her cheeks and the cold air was sucked from the room.

After everything we'd been through, all of it could be brought to an end in mere days, hours if my sister saw fit.

"And what do the other half of those imbeciles say?" I ask softly.

"This may surprise you but you have quite a few people fighting for your life out there, Cregan being one of them, my grandsire. He hasn't forgotten our time at the Stepstones," She tells me, crossing her arms over her chest Elaena's quite right, I'm shocked.

"And Luke, Luke's he's nearly as petrified as I am." Her voice trails off as she turns her back to me gazing out my window at the damage below.

With my free hand, I take her silky hair between my fingers, untangling the intricate braid on her shoulders. I ran my fingers through her wavy white-blonde locks her long eyelashes fluttered closed, the tension from her body fading and I could almost forget the armed guard waiting just outside my door.

"You were phenomenal today. When I think you can't amaze me any more than you already do," My words are a mere whisper in the wind but she hears every syllable, leaning into my touch as I trail my fingertips down the curve of her chin.

Gods she was beautiful.

And strong, so damned strong.

"Aemond," My name is a desperate plea from her soft lips and though I'd tasted them only hours ago it felt like it'd been a lifetime.

"I know, my love. Today's been a bit of a mess hasn't it?" I sigh, tipping up her chin to meet my gaze.

I expected tonight we wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed as we have since the day I returned to her in Winterfell, her mother would see to it we were kept apart but no one ever succeeded in keeping us apart for long.

***