I feel like this chapter is a bit shorter but we get a brief section in Aemond's POV at the end.

"At this point, she is not far from fifteen. If she does not bleed by then, we will have to ahead and marry them and then hold the bedding when she bleeds."

She regretted this round of snooping. Walking the halls late at night helped her relax but when she stumbled close to an open door, she had to listen. But hearing Alicent and Otto speaking to one another and the matter of their conversation made her blood boil.

"We will be lucky if they ever have children," Alicent responded.

"You have grown to like her, haven't you?" Otto asked.

"When I see her, I see a child that has suffered from Rhaenyra's sins. Her wild sons were reckless and careless but she is different. The rumors about her and Daemon are true, she flinches any time a man goes near her, poor thing."

"Don't get attached. Don't you remember the same girl you hated when she cut your son's eye out? You sliced her mother's arm in an attempt to take her own."

"I figured you of all people would be able to recognize a young girl being manipulated and used by her parents. Just another piece on this board."

"Careful, Alicent. Is that not what you are doing with Aegon? You keep convincing him he needs to be king, that is using him as a piece."

Visenya's mouth widened in shock but a hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her away from the door and down the hall. She kicked and pushed against the figure and when he finally released her, she turned to hit him but a knife was pressed to her throat.

"If you make a noise, we will both get in trouble!" Aemond hissed.

She looked down at the blade and rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"You shouldn't have been listening to that, I know you will just write your mother and tell her just like you do everything. It took me a few weeks to figure out your angle but I see it now, spy. The way you ask everyone more questions than necessary."

Visenya folded her arms and started biting the inside of her cheek. He would surely tell Alicent and she would be deemed a traitor and probably 'taken care of' by her own personal army of lackeys. Aemond held her fate in his hands and she could easily take the heat or she could convince him of the truth. But in the end, she valued her life too much to lie.

"You're not exactly correct or wrong in that assumption," She mumbled and rubbed lint off her skirt.

"If you elaborate, I might spare your life."

"Fine. My mother and Daemon wanted me to spy no different than your mother would if the roles were reversed."

"So I am right," Aemond responded.

"No, just because it's what she wanted doesn't mean it's what I am doing. Sure, I send ravens. But they are full of lies."

Aemond tilted his head with a frown. "How do I know you are telling the truth?"

"If I had been honest in my letter about the real condition of Grandsire, she would have been here within a day. Instead, I told her that he hadn't progressed much and was attending court once a week. That is how I keep my mother away."

Aemond eyed her suspiciously. "Why? I still don't understand what your personal end goal is in these lies."

"It's simple, I have picked no side except that of my own. I don't live for her anymore, I live for me. Lying to her keeps her on an island and away from me. Bonding with your mother keeps her from trying to kill me. It's purely selfish."

Aemond still didn't look sure. "How do I know you won't send her a raven as soon as you get to your room?"

"Because if I told her your mother was planning to usurp her throne, she would be here before the hour is up and everyone you love would be forced to bend the knee or die," Visenya responded.

"And what about you, Princess? Have you bent the knee to your mother?" He asked.

"She's my mother, Aemond. I don't wish her dead."

"But you seem unsure," Aemond mused.

"I just don't think she would be a good queen but Aegon would be a worse King."

Aemond scoffed. "On that, we can agree."

"Aw, we agreed. Does that make us friends?" Visenya smirked.

"In your damn dreams."

"I don't dream, Aemond. When I dream, I am a dragon. Not any dragon, I am my dragon. But if he is asleep when I am, I don't dream."

Aemond's brows scrunched together. "How did you do that with him? Why wouldn't Vhagar connect like that?"

"Because you claimed her for selfish reasons and never attempted to connect deeper than that. When I connected with Grey Ghost, it was because, for a brief moment, I believed I was a dragon and I could feel a hole in my heart. I tapped into that and touched his snout, I wanted to connect. I'm sure you could learn if you could acknowledge your emotions."

"I don't have sappy emotions. I have hatred and determination. You didn't mind contributing to my hatred," he responded.

"Funny how you bullied me for not being a dragon for years and when I finally did, you hate it."

"Seven hells, you took my eye! It's not like you cut my face, you full-on removed the eye from the socket, Visenya."

I'm sorry, she wanted to scream. It was one of the few dreams she had before claiming Grey Ghost. The sound his eye made as it fell, the way it felt when his blood sprayed across her face, and the way he screamed in pure agony. It was his screams that kept her up.

"Well, I guess we can't all be perfect," she said.

"And yet despite that, you are a far cry better than your mother. You don't hold yourself above the rules."

"I'm not entitled. I don't feel like the throne was my birthright," Visenya said.

"But you should be angry. Your mother, a woman, was given the role of heir because she was the firstborn despite her gender. But you, her firstborn daughter, were passed over because you are a woman. Explain the logic, niece."

"I can't," she sighed. "But by believing I'm not entitled I am keeping myself grounded. I have been told my whole life I look exactly like she and I don't want to be her, so I am not entitled. If I was angry about it then I would hate my brother and I would be rageful. So I know I am a passed-over daughter that might have a claim to Dragonstone, married to a second son who has also naught to inherit. We're ironically one and the same."

"I could handle living my days on the island," he said. "You should get back to bed before you or I am found."

"I suppose," she sighed and turned her back.

"Visenya," he called softly. "You should braid your hair more often. It makes you look less like her."

She blushed madly at his comment, taking it as a compliment. She didn't want to look like her mother. Her mother rarely braided her hair, she always wore it down. Everyone that was old enough to remember commented that she looked just like her mother, the most beautiful young lady the realm had seen. But she didn't like it. She had the classic Valyrian beauty and that brought on the unwanted attention.

Maybe part of 'being a dragon' was owning the attention. Aemond never looked at anyone as they stared at his eyepatch. He held up his head and ignored them like they were fleas.

Let them whisper.

She made her way back to her chambers and lay down, staring at the ceiling. For once she wished she could dream of her loved ones. She had been away from her brothers for months and missed them even if they didn't miss her but she had no way of knowing. She missed Laenor. Gods, how she missed Laenor.

She got up and walked to her dresser, pulling out the sea rock necklace, and placing a kiss against it.

"I know I don't believe in any of that Faith shit but I just have to try. I have to try because you're not here. They took you from me, I'm convinced of it. They killed you. I just want you back, Father. Daemon is worse than we ever thought. You would have never laid a hand on me."

The tears fell from her cheeks as she closed her eyes.

"I finally got a dragon. He's magnificent. Had he not approached me I would have flung myself from the tallest window on the tallest tower just to see you again. But now I have to marry Aemond. I suppose it could be worse. He's dreadfully awful but he has small moments. He promised not to bed me. It's his brother that's a whoremonger. I don't know what Aemond wants from me. You once told me when I was young that I needed to find my inner dragon and I can't. I'm too afraid."

She leaned against her bed as she sobbed, clutching the necklace so tight that it almost pierced her skin. She lay on her bed, holding the necklace close and letting out her emotions.

"Princess," Brella whispered, shaking her shoulders. Visenya didn't realize her crying caused her to close her eyes and fall asleep. When she opened her eyes, Brella looked concerned and the sun was shining through the window.

"Oh. I didn't realize I fell asleep."

Brella chuckled and took in her appearance. Her braid was half tangled and not even in the braid. Her robe was still on and her eyes were red and puffy from the night crying.

"We definitely need to get you ready for breakfast. The prince has requested that you meet him at Blackwater Bay after to learn how to defend yourself."

"No!" She groaned and covered her face with her pillow.

"I'm afraid he insisted on the matter. So get up, Princess." Brella walked over to the basin and got a rag wet with cold water.

Visenya walked over to the vanity and allowed Brella to wipe her face off with the rag. When she was done she went to get her hair fixed up and Visenya held her hand up. "I want an elaborate braid. Nothing fancy but I want braids a Targaryen woman should be proud of."

"Yes, Princess."

"Please call me Visenya. We are friends, Brella."

Brella smiled and got to work on her hair, pulling and yanking with each strand. She could tell Brella was making multiple braids and combining each one.

"There you go. No one can look at that and not admire it. It suits you. Your waves made it easy to curl them into braids. Now let's get your clothes before the queen has a fit that you are late."

Visenya walked down the halls after Brella picked out her dress. She wasn't looking forward to breakfast because she wasn't entirely hungry. Not that it mattered, Aemond usually had breakfast delivered to his quarters because he woke before everyone else.

But when she entered the dining hall, Aemond was sitting at the end of the table.

She swallowed thickly and walked in, holding her head up just like she practiced on her way to the dining hall. She would learn to act above everyone else.

"Good morning, Visenya," Alicent smiled.

Visenya gave her a curt nod. "Good morning."

She could feel Aemond staring at her but she didn't give him the satisfaction of looking at him. She sat down in her seat which was next to his and looked down at the porridge and eggs.

"Niece, your hair looks nice," Aegon said.

"Thank you. My handmaiden is absolutely divine. I had just read a book that talked about classic Targaryen women who always had elegant braids and Queen Visenya wore eloquent war braids."

"And what war are you fighting?" Aemond asked.

"Se sȳz bona mazverdagon nyke emagon naejot dīnagon ao."
The kind that makes me have to marry you.

She finally looked at Aemond and he glared. "You still sound awful. Do you think two weeks of learning alone and the last two weeks of learning with me have been enough to make you fluent? You sound like a baby."

"Aemond, she has made much progress," Alicent defended her.

Aemond kept glaring at her, clenching his fists. Why did she have to be so difficult? Was it not enough for her to take his eye?

On behalf of his mother, he had even tried to be decent. The unique book and trying not to be overly hateful but then she would do this. He told her to braid her hair so she walks in acting holier than thou, immediately insulting him.

And yet, for some reason, the fights were the highlights of his day. Every day she had something to complain about or some reason to be bitchy and it kept life chaotic. Life was dreadfully boring but he could count on her bitchiness.

He didn't like weak Visenya, always hiding and crying. That was boring and most girls were that way. He was the only sibling in his family that took pride in their Valyrian lineage and valued it more than anything. And it just so happened that many Targaryen women were known troublemakers. He wanted that in a woman.

But in a woman that didn't take his eye.

What right did she have to take it? He was worthy to claim Vhagar, she was rightfully his. Visenya's half-sisters were stupid to think a dragon could be stolen, even Visenya knew it. But he had bullied her, he had mocked her to tap into her rage and yet it was he who was the victim of that rage.

And despite his hate, he knew that it was the loss of his eye that formed him. He doubled down on his training and started becoming a formidable warrior. He dived deeper into his studies and learned more patience for losing an eye took patience just to recover.

So part of him felt like it was Visenya's fault that he was this way. She was the reason he got strong. He bullied her as a child because he had his own insecurities and he used to be the receiving end of the jokes.

But now he liked seeing her angry. He liked to piss her off because it made his days less boring and she still owed him. Grateful or not, it was also her fault that he had to adjust to seeing out of one eye. For weeks and months, he was in terrible agony. It was her fault he still received headaches and pains from the scar because her blade went so deep into his socket.

So while she inadvertently caused him to improve, she also caused the worst thing that ever happened in his life. And for that, there was a debt.

"Mother, she still has much more to go," He responded.

Visenya glared at him and he smirked. It amused him that when she got angry, her jaw clenched like she was refraining from physical violence. As if she could cause any damage. She was short and thin, she wouldn't even be able to hurt Aegon and he hadn't trained in years.

"Maybe I need a better teacher," Visenya responded.

"Good luck finding one here. Although I do hear the Rogue Prince is an exceptional speaker of the language," He continued to smirk as he sipped his water.

And that struck a nerve that seemed to bother her more than anything else and Aemond felt a flash of guilt. If the rumors were true, that the Rogue Prince had truly hurt the girl many times, then Aemond felt like he had gone a bit too far.

But then again, Visenya pointed out many times that Aemond had a father that didn't love him. But Aemond had never been hit around or abused and that was something he didn't understand. He could understand the neglect and manipulation, but not that.

"Aemond!" Alicent hissed. "You can't say that."

Aemond stood and set his napkin down. "This is why I eat breakfast alone. Visenya, I will see you at the Bay."

He stormed off, wishing he hadn't said it.

can we just all agree that young Rhaenyra/Milly Alcock (my fc for visenya) is just fookin gorgeous???ALSO!!!! seasmoked made an amazing edit for this fanfic and she has it on her tt and I have it on my tt, @tristan.mayy