𝓔𝓵𝓪𝓮𝓷𝓪 𝓣𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓻𝔂𝓮𝓷
2 Months Later,

In the two months that pass the fever spreads through the realm, crippling the growing economy that my mother had so intricately built in her time as a Queen.

Jaehaera and I struggled through the first month of her illness, even Stormfyre could be heard from the dragonpits where she cried for her rider.

We'd come to learn that though steam had eased the senses, cold water was what kept the fever at bay. Once that was discovered maesters across Westeros enacted the same technique, saving people where they could but resources were bare to none and with the expected resurgence of the Stepstones our people were dying but the hundreds.

With my sickness, Aemond had waited as long as he could to make his return to the Triarchy, but not without Joffrey who insisted on an adventure outside of the capital to learn firsthand the reality of our politics.

My mother and I had held our breath until the very moment they arrived home, our hearts forever stained by the loss of my brothers.

Thankfully Visaera is flourishing in Driftmark with her Aunt Baela and Uncle Luke taking her under their wing as Princess Rhaenys had taken Baela to ward when we were children, growing fonder of one another by the day.

However, it was the boys in the family that missed her most. No one challenged Aelyx and Jaehaeryn as she did, in both their studies and the courtyard where their Uncle Joffrey kept a watchful eye over them.

This week Jaehaera was finally breaking free from her fever but she still struggled to sleep alone, her nightmares reminding me of my own when I was younger.

Over the years my visions had grown fuzzy, less specific and I hated to admit I was grateful but it seemed my niece was now burdened with the gift, keeping her up night in and night out just as I had at her age.

This evening Aemond was spending the night camping in the Kingswood with the boys, taking them hunting as Viserys had when he was younger, but that left Jaehaera, my mother, and I to ourselves for a quiet evening in the Red Keep.

Cuddling into my side Jaehaera adjusts the cool washcloth on her forehead, looking up to me when I finish the song I'd been singing for her.

"Why did you stop, Aunt El? Could you sing one more? One I haven't heard before," She asks sweetly.

Not so long ago my niece could barely talk, her throat raw from coughing and vomiting from the months of mucus that the maesters claimed built up in her head.

But here she was, smiling, her face flushed with color and life back in her lavender eyes once more.

"Just the one," I agree, pulling the blanket tighter around her.

"The dead of night chills coldest to the bone
No dragon fire hot enough to keep you warm
Bones beneath cold ground repurposed, reused,
The sun torn asunder will rise no more

The longest night that ever was
The longest night they've ever seen
The sun torn asunder will rise no more

The dead of winter chills coldest in your home
No heath of fire will keep you warm
Bones beneath cold ground repurposed, reused,
The sun torn asunder with rise no more

The longest night that ever was
The longest night they've ever seen
The sun torn asunder will rise no more"

Once I'm assured she's finally fallen asleep I sneak out from under her grasp and go for the door, however I'm not alone.

Just on the other side of the door, my mother waited patiently.

Nearly jumping out of my skin my mother has to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"I'm sorry to have scared you, my love. I only just heard what you were singing and had hoped to hear some of it for myself," 

A hot blush comes to my cheeks when I realize I've been overheard.

Falling into step with me, my mother locks our arms, leading me down the hallway as Ser Darklyn trailed just a few feet behind us.

"If you're willing, I'd hoped we could spend the evening together."

Like a little girl, I'm ecstatic, excitement bubbling in my chest.

I wasn't an only child for long and it was quite rare that I ever had my mother to myself. Though at first, I hadn't always understood, with age I'd realized that in some instances our duty was bigger than ourselves.

"You don't have any meetings? No letters to write or read?" I ask but she only chuckles.

"When you're Queen you'll come to learn that there will always be meetings to be had or letters to write, but tonight I wish only to be your mother."

Linking our arms tighter my mother leads me to her chambers.

I imagined she'd spent many lonely nights here by the fire, though I would avoid silence at all costs, haunted by the great loves she'd encountered in her life.

Motioning me to the loveseat across the fireplace I snuggle up in my usual corner that I'd often sit in as a child when visiting my grandsire. The dreary apartments smelled the same, even still his old models still occupied the center of the apartments.

My mother notices my distraction, smiling to herself, "I'd mentioned moving it once to the libraries but Aelyx begged me otherwise. 'It'll be ruined!' he said... I think he expects it'll belong to him one day when he occupies these chambers." My mother speaks of my son fondly, taking the empty seat beside me.

"We don't speak of it often, but I know he thinks of it often... being my heir."

Aelyx would surely be a strong King one day, a force to be reckoned with his sister and cousins by his side, and, gods be good, Uncle and Aunts to guide him when I'm only a memory.

"I imagine it's all he thinks about, eager to make his mother and father proud. He is your son after all,"

"As I am your daughter,"

My mother cups my face and once more I'm a small child desperate for her approval and affection when I'd had it all along.

"When my father named me heir there was something he told me that I've never passed on. With your many visions and nightmares, I thought it best to keep it from you. I see now that I should've told you long ago but now, I believe this information is more vital than ever,"

My heart stops when my mother's expression fades to something gravely serious.

Locking eyes I show her I'm listening intently, waiting for her to continue.

"As we know our histories Aegon looked across the Blackwater from Dragonstone and saw a rich land ripe for the capture... but it was not only ambition that drove him to conquest." My mother glances up from the roaring fire in the heath to gaze at me with warmth but something else settled in the irises of her lavender eyes unsettled me.

"Just as Daenys foresaw the fiery end of Valyria, Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. It's, to begin with, a terrible winter and whatever dwells within will destroy the realm as we see it and all of Westeros must stand against it with a Targaryen on the throne to unite us all."

Fear crawls up my throat when the pieces begin to fit, the years of nightmares I've had to endure while even Aegon the Conqueror shared the same curse.

"Aegon called his dream... The Song of Ice and Fire."

And my mother had never told me.

Reaching for my hand she must have noticed the fall of my face, "Even as a young girl your nightmares terrified you. If you knew that there might have been some truth to all of those dreams, you would've lived your entire life in fear. It might've been wrong to hold such things from you... but I never wanted to dull your flame."

Tears cascade down my face but my mother reaches to wipe them away, "And how I am so very proud of your bright beautiful flame,"

"Why now?" I ask, managing through the lump in my throat.

"When I'd given you that book those years ago I wasn't so sure of where its contents would lead you but this evening when I heard that song... Elaena, I worry that this is our terrible winter."

I cock my head to the side in question, wondering how I could've misconstrued the songs in my book.

"Our people starve, they die by the hundreds from this Winter Fever and darkness threatens to tear apart our rule at every corner of the Realm. As you know we must make the hard decisions, I only hope you can understand."

I'm not sure what to say so I keep my mouth shut, nodding my head to my mother the queen yet I have so many questions that I fear not even she has the answers to.

***

When the boys arrive home early the next morning I haven't had a blink of sleep, anxious that the thoughts of death would only seep into my nightmares, showing me the downfall of our realm before it was yet to happen.

Meeting them in the courtyard they're surprised to see me but excited nonetheless.

"Mother, Mother!" Aelyx calls out, jumping down from the wheelhouse to greet me with his cousin right behind him.

"Jaehaeryn and I learned to hunt! Father! Tell her!"

Aemond had done a miraculous job the past couple of months at distracting the boys from not only the absence of Visaera but also the winter fever that had sunk its claws into Jaehaera.

My husband greets me with a sad smile, happy to see me but disappointed in my lack of rest.

"You'd be proud. It wasn't without a bit of clashing but they worked together quite well," Aemond's chiseled lips tip up into a smile as he presses his kiss to my temple.

"How is she?" He asks quietly, referring to his niece whom he was softest to, the remaining piece of his sister.

"She's better. Sleeping in, even."

"Does that mean we can see her, Aunt El?" Jae asks, just as worried about his half-sister.

"Later perhaps. I'm sure she'd love to see you two," I smile, wondering to myself how I'll manage to stay awake through it all.

"That gives you plenty of time to spar in the training yard-"

Aemond's order is immediately met with annoyed groans but once my husband raises an eyebrow at them, our boys straighten up, making for their chambers to change.

Staring after them proudly Aemond wraps his arm around my waist to turn my body to his and steal a small kiss.

"I'm beginning to think you're even harder on them than my father was on my siblings and me growing up," I smile up at him sleepily.

Slowly he traces the curve of my jaw, his gaze following the heartfelt motion as if he's hundreds of miles away.

"I only want them to be equipped for the worst," He whispers.

After a long moment of hesitation, I say the name neither of us had uttered in months.

"Aegon, you mean?"

Nibbling at his lip he merely hums in response.

There had still been no sign of Aegon, not even a whisper or a murmur since the murder of Helaena, and for months it had driven the both of us mad.

I hated to admit it but I'd even wished he was dead, never to be heard from again but then we'd always live in fear, never sure of his whereabouts just as we have all these years.

"If he ever comes back, we'll be ready." Aemond assures me, "All of our children will be equipped to protect themselves. We've seen to it,"

In a moment Aemond's prior ease is replaced with tense shoulders, the idea of Aegon threatening our family a figment of our darkest nightmares.

Could I tell him of my mother's warning?

Or was I destined to carry this burden on my own as she has?

"He has no dragon, no men to stand behind his claim, especially now that the Realm has been at peace for nearly 12 years," I point out, unsure whether I'm convincing him or myself.

Aemond bites at his lip, contemplating his response carefully, "Soldiers and dragons we can handle, it's what he schemes in the dark with Larys Strong that worries me." He frowns, his gaze trailing down to my necklace.

Twirling the black sapphires between his fingers, his delicate touch lingers around my neck.

"Come. I'd like to have a bath with my wife after my long night in the woods," Aemond's lips brush against the soft skin of my neck with every other word and I'm covered in goosebumps from head to toe, my knees going wobbly at his palm resting just below my breast.

Uneager to disagree I nod, but he watches me for a moment longer, his mouth tipping up into a grin to whisper against my ear, "Good girl,"

My grip on his arm tightens at his sultry tone, and my deep-seated attraction to him rushes to the surface bringing a hot blush to my cheeks.

As I follow him up the stairs to our corridor my mother's words dwell in the back of my mind.

Whatever dwells within will destroy the realm as we see it.

An absolute darkness, that will swallow us whole.

***

The next morning we'd spent the sunrise in one another's arms where I'd felt most safe, even if my nightmares from the evening before had woken me in a sweat.

"Were you aware of the frequency of the letters between Visaera and Jae?" I ask him, staring at the ceiling of our chambers.

The birds had already begun to chirp outside on our balcony where the brisk morning breeze blew through the curtains.

"Not in the slightest. Dare I say it? They remind me of another certain couple I'm quite familiar with..." Aemond replies, his low husky voice vibrating through his chest as he plays with my hair, twisting my starlight locks around his long fingers.

"Hmm. There's still plenty of time to tell. She may very well find a Velaryon knight that catches her eye, or maybe a Stark-"

"That's quite enough of that, nuha vadar." He groans, shaking his head to rid himself of the idea of our young daughter fawning over a Stark.

Baela and Cregan had made out just fine, though we were still impatiently waiting for their wedding. Baela was ever the frequent flyer, uneager to commit to married life in the North where she would inevitably settle when she wed the Warden in the North.

For a few peaceful moments, he traces his fingertips down my collarbone, until his fingers delve further south to the tops of my breasts where my nightgown lay in his way.

"Have you ever read about 'The Song of Ice and Fire'?" I ask him, the question stumbling from my parted lips now that we're talking so openly.

Aemond's eyebrows narrow in deep thought but he shakes his head, "It's nothing you've found in the book?"

Frowning I shake my head back at him and we're swallowed in silence once more, deep in thought.

"There was this once... before Viserys passed, one of the very last times I spoke with him was the night we wed."

Sitting up in shock, I hang onto his every word listening intently.

"He spoke of a song and I'd assumed he'd meant you but... how could he have known what I called you in the privacy of our chambers?"

Aemond seems even more confused than ever but this simple memory of his father means perfect sense to me after what information my mother had passed on to me.

Closing my eyes, the crashing buildings and flames that occupied my nightmares flashed before me once more and my stomach churned.

Sitting straight up I think I might vomit but Aemond turns my flushed face to him, "What is it? You haven't been yourself since we've returned from the hunt,"

My husband's handsome face falls, his narrowed violet eye trained on me with concern and I fold.

"The night of Rhaena and Luke's wedding, we all spoke of the song I'd translated from our book of Valyria... my mother heard me singing that very same song to Jaehaera last night." I begin, observing his reaction.

"She'd told me..." I'm not sure exactly what to tell him, fearing betraying my mother's trust, so I tell him all that's necessary to know.

He'd saved Lucerys after all, stopping my initial vision from coming true.

"There have been prophecies passed on from ruler to heir for generations since Aegon's time in Westeros. Of a darkness that will threaten the realm as we know it,"

Aemond's face goes pale and his broad chest stiffens at his lack of breath.

"She believes it's come in the form of this winter fever that this is what the prophecy warns about,"

"Then it's safe to assume the worst is yet to come," he mutters to himself, his deep voice crackling with doubt.

"How long do you suppose she's known of this?" He asks.

"I imagine your father told her when she was named heir before he passed."

I can't be sure why at first but the idea that my grandsire trusted my mother with this information so young made me wonder what I'd done to make her think I was so weak.

"And alas, our Queen has waited until deaths at our door to divulge this prophecy, this song." I scoff, twisting at the rings on my fingers, "Did she not trust me? What if I'm much too... soft to be what the realm asks of me?" I ask softly, more for myself than I do for Aemond who is speechless, wide-eyed staring at me with a puzzled expression.

"Elaena, you know she only wished to protect you-"

"But what good will that do when I need the strength to stand against the dark and the cold? If my father were here he'd know just what to do," I throw my hands up.

"Maybe if I weren't so weak I could've avenged them, perhaps they wouldn't have died in the first place- any of them!" Going for the balcony I push open the doors, gulping fresh air but it doesn't help any.

Aemond follows me staying a safe amount of space away, giving me room to breathe but the view of the city before us only crushes me further, the hundreds of specks of lives reminding me just how much was on my shoulders.

A familiar twist in my gut sends me spiraling, the thought of my many ancestors watching me with either great pride or great doubt I can't decide which.

"Elaena," Aemond's voice is distraught, hesitant on what he should do when he sees me in such peril but when he takes a small step closer I take one back away from him.

"Being Queen is something I'd been preparing myself for all my life but this? How am I to prepare for such a threat? As if my nightmares were worse before,"

I'd distracted myself for the entire afternoon and evening but everything seemed to crash around me this morning, everything I'd been balancing so carefully.

"A wife, a mother, a Queen, now a savior? When even my own mother waited years to tell me-"

"Elaena," he calls for me more sternly, ending my pity party in its tracks.

"You feel alone. You feel hopeless in the face of the unknown foe, but that couldn't be further from the truth." When I don't turn to look at him right away he turns my face himself as if to convince me further, "Whether this darkness comes one month from now or a hundred years from now, you will not carry this weight alone. Never,"

I would not carry this burden alone.

I must let that sink in, realizing there wasn't a single instance that Aemond hadn't protected me, protected this family and we would not face this darkness alone, no matter how frigid.

"And perhaps there's still time to become more familiar with this prophecy. We have books to scour and songs to translate, and if Jaehaera can become the image of perfect health we can help others around the realm,"

"How can you be so optimistic?"

Aemond chuckles softly, the corner of his lips tipping up in his familiar smirk.

Placing both of his hands on my waist, he holds on tight, his fingers digging into my skin.

"We have to be, my song. The world we leave for our children and grandchildren is of the utmost importance and I have faith you're perfectly fierce enough to face whatever comes, it's time you see that yourself." 

Staring up at him in awe I can't imagine where he finds the strength to be so hopeful after the grim months we'd had.

After all, I would not rule alone, Aemond would be my King after all, and my siblings would fill my council.

I will not carry this burden alone.

***