OMG, I AM SO SORRY THAT TOOK SO LONG!!!! On Thursday I had to fly from Portland to Denver, then Denver to Wichita and since that was my first big flight and I was running on two hours of sleep, jet lag kicked my ASS for two days. So now I have been spending some time with family and trying not to worry about updating and enjoying spending that time with them.

This moving thing is far more stressful than I ever imagined LMAO. But anyways, enjoy this chapter.

Rhaenyra took the boys with her, leaving Visenya without the comfort of being with her brothers. She stayed in her seat and Brella took the spot next to her. Aegon and Helaena sat behind her with Alicent, and Rhaenys was a few seats away.

"I doubt he can beat Cole," Aegon spoke to Helanea.

"The green light shall finally touch the heart of the red," Helaena responded.

"I need a translator," Aegon groaned, making Visenya laugh to herself.

"Just feel lucky you have a wife that has such an appreciated gift," Visenya turned her head and said to them.

"See? Visenya is on my side," Helaena spoke playfully with a smile.

"Well, then maybe you should have both been betrothed. What a fine match you would have made," Aegon smirked and looked at Visenya. "How does it feel?"

"What is it you speak of?" Visenya asked.

"To have your husband so gallantly defend you. Especially with the bruise showing now."

Fuck.

In her state of anger, she forgot the dress exposed the neck bruise. Thankfully, it was healing and it only looked as if she had a shadow over her skin. But no one had asked about it, they were too busy staring at her cleavage.

"Aemond was just taking part in the sport, there was no vendetta."

"Please. He literally paid Daeron to join so he could knock him off and get to - OW!" Aegon stopped midsentence as Helaena pinched him.

Visenya stared at Aegon and frowned. "You are telling me he put himself in the way of harm to hurt Daemon?"

"Aw, is that you actually caring about him?" Aegon teased.

"He is about to go up against Cole, no one has beat him! I am not the cruel bitch you think I am."

"Visenya," Helaena giggled at her profanity.

"Apologies," Visenya smiled and turned back to the field. She was nervous now, unable to take her eyes off the match about to begin. Aemond was not experienced in tourneys, he was lucky he managed to best Daemon.

Aemond was readying on his horse, as was Cole. Aemond looked up at Visenya, holding one another's gaze until she shook her head. He didn't have to do this.

He put his helmet on and held his jousting sword as the referee called for them to charge. Aemond and Cole's horses ran at top speed and the first hit just splintered their shields, no damage done to the riders or horses. She knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to take Cole down the way he took down Daemon.

"Visenya, your lip is bleeding," Aegon kicked her from his seat behind her. Visenya had been nervously biting harder than she had realized.

The second round was called and they charged. The moment they collided, she could see Cole's lance pierce his arm but he stayed on his horse, readying for the third round.

They charged for the third round and this time, Cole's weapon sliced right through the edge of his abdomen, knocking him off his horse. Visenya was on her feet in a second as she watched the blood pool from his wound and stain the dirt.

"Aemond!" She called.

Alicent rushed down the steps of the viewing box and Visenya was right behind her. Aegon and Helaena followed but a Maester was already out to check on him.

"He had been stabbed," Orwyle said as he lifted his shitty armor.

"No shit," Aemond groaned.

Visenya suppressed a smile, becoming aware that Aegon was watching her with a smirk. "What?"

"Nothing, just noticing how much you've changed in the last year. You aren't as awful as you think you are."

Visenya's face flushed as she looked back at Aemond. Aegon and Criston Cole got next to him and helped him up to his feet, supporting his weight as they walked to the medic tent. Alicent followed close behind but was stopped by the maester.

"At this point, the mother is no longer able to care for him. It is the wife's duty to follow and aid. Your time is done."

Alicent stared in bewilderment as he spoke, seemingly unable to comprehend his words. "Excuse me, but I am his mother."

"And I am his wife," Visenya responded, holding her hands behind her back. She normally would not assert her position but at this point, she would do anything to piss her off.

"Follow me, Princess," Maester Orwyle said and promptly made his way to the tent. Visenya eyed Alicent before following close behind.

Visenya walked into the tent where Aegon was trying to hold Aemond down. "You fucking bastard, sit down! You are bleeding all over me!"

"I'm fine, let me go!" Aemond groaned and pushed Aegon off of him.

Visenya huffed and walked over to him, lifting her hand and slapping him. "Knock it off, Aemond. You are bleeding all over the ground and you are getting pale. So stop being a fucking baby and just let the maester take care of you before I kill you myself."

Aemond glared at her for moments before finally laying back on the bed and letting the maester remove the armor. "My Prince, we will need to cut the tunic off and access the wound. We might have to cauterize."

Visneya bit on her nail, looking away as his tunic was cut off. She could smell the metal rod getting ready over the fire, the stench burning her nose as it got close to the flesh. She had smelled it one other time when Jace was badly cut getting off of Vermax. She didn't like the smell then, and she still didn't.

"Princess, grab his belt. He will need something to bite on," Orwyle instructed her. Visenya grabbed the belt off of the floor and stood by Aemond's head, waiting for him to open his mouth and when he did, he bit down on the leather.

Orwyle pressed the hot metal against the wound after cleaning it and Aemond did his best not to make a noise but he was still only human and that would hurt anyone. His yells were low with pain until it became enough to lure him into unconsciousness.

"That should be enough," Orwyle said after a few moments, sealing off the flesh with the heat. Visenya looked at the wound and scrunched her nose up in disgust. She didn't realize how deep the wound was but she was surprised he hadn't passed out earlier from the bleeding.

"We can have him moved to your chambers. There is a salve that must be applied as frequent as possible and it must stay clean. There are some stitches on it now and he can not move around to the point where they will come out. You must stress this to him, Princess."

Visenya nodded and looked down at him. She blushed when she began to realize she was looking at him shirtless and looked away. "If Aegon and Cole are still outside, they can support him and bring him in."

"That sounds swell," Orwyle nodded and called the two back in. Aegon supported his left arm, and Cole his right as they carried him inside, his feet dragging against the floor. It wasn't the best method to get him in but they took the private halls to avoid the whispering watchful eyes.

Visenya set up some pillows so that he wouldn't be laying flat, and pulled down the main covers before the men set him down. Once he was on his back and comfortable looking, Cole left but Aegon remained, leaving the three siblings in silence.

But naturally, Aegon had to break the silence. "You aren't doing a good job at hating him."

"I do not know why you insist upon this matter but I do not love him."

"I didn't say you loved him, I just said that you don't hate him. You care enough to piss off my mother."

"I would do anything to piss off your mother. My hatred for her now exceeds mine for your brother," Visenya said as she walked to the settee and set some linens down to change. His wound was oozing a clear puss onto the sheets and when he was well enough to get up, they would need changing.

"I did hear about that," Aegon said, sitting down on the other side of the settee.

"Wait, he told you?" She almost yelled.

"Yes, he did. And it wasn't just to bash you. This image you have created of Aemond is unfair to him. It's not like he was bragging about how he scored. He drank so much that night in hopes he would forget it."

"I knew it." She scoffed. "I knew he was so against it because he was repulsed. He couldn't even look at me. The thought of him bedding me was just putrid to him."

Aegon rolled his eyes. "You are so stupid."

"Just go, then!" She snapped and pointed at the door.

"Gladly!" He snipped and trudged to the door, seeing himself out.

Visenya sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh and looked over at Aemond, frowning at the mess his wound was making on the sheets. She tried to busy herself with tidying the space but Aemond was unsurprisingly a clean person and there weren't messes to begin with. So she found herself refolding blankets and straightening the books on his shelves.

She didn't know how many hours passed before Aemond began to stir and opened his eye. "Fuck."

Visenya turned to him and grabbed the rag from the basin and the salve before he could start moving. "Stop, don't even think about it."

"A man can't even use the privy?" He frowned and began to shift.

"You've been sliced open and all you can think about is pissing?" She rose a brow.

He rolled his eye and looked down at the wound on his abdomen. "I never liked Orwyle. He didn't even dress it with a cloth. It's been exposed this whole time and I have been ruining the sheets. Give me the rag."

"No," She shook her head and sat next to him. "I made your mother terribly angry by being here, I can not waste it."

"I heard the whole thing, Visenya. You don't owe me any wifely duties other than passing me the ale." She nodded and walked to his desk to grab a cup and the pitcher. "Don't bother with a cup. Just bring me the whole goblet."

She brought it over to him and sat down, beginning to clean up the wound as he drank. "Anything to anger her. The look on her face was quite amusing."

"I wish I could have seen it," He winced as she wiped his skin. "Visenya, I'm sor-"

"Stop, Aemond." She closed her eyes and clenched the rag in her hand. Bringing up the night before only made her feel worse. "I don't want any apologies. I just want to go on hating each other and our mothers. We don't have to do that for a while."

"We don't have to do it ever again," He said, grabbing her wrist. She looked down at her hand and began to think about how small her hand was in his.

"Visenya, look at me."

"If I look at you, I shall cry. And I do not want to cry, Aemond. Because no matter how much I despise you, I do not harbor one ounce toward you in regard to last night. We had a plan and I know you wanted to follow it too. I know how difficult it was for you, Aemond. I saw the look of disgust on your face."

Aemond didn't answer, just keeping a tight hold on her wrist. "Stop thinking that you know my every thought because you don't, Visenya. You wouldn't begin to know what I feel. I know you don't hate me completely, nor do I you. Remember what I said about you belonging on that throne? I mean it now more than ever."

"At this point, my mother hates me. Your little stunt today did nothing to help that, Aemond. I mean, what the fuck were you thinking?!" She finally asked.

"I was thinking about a man that tried to choke you to death and went unpunished. I thought of an uncle that found my loss of eye amusing, that has continuously abandoned his duties and even threatened the person I am now vowed to protect."

"You throw that around like it means something, Aemond. You can go on hating me and those vows don't have to mean anything."

"Seven fucking hells, did you not just fucking hear me?" He snapped. "I don't hate you, Visenya. But if you continue to be an entitled shit, I might. Entitled to my thoughts, hm? Then you would know my expression of repulsion was meant for my mother and sister, not you."

Visenya couldn't decide if she believed him or not. But if she was sure of anything, it was that Aemond had never lied to her.

She used the rag to continue cleaning the injury. "If it makes you feel any better, they didn't bring you by gurney. I know that would have been quite the embarrassment."

Aemond snicked. "I knocked Daemon off his horse. Not much could bring me down off of that achievement."

Her hand paused and she finally met his violet eye. "Thank you."

Aemond held her eye contact and nodded. "He deserves to rot in the hells with our mothers."

Visenya nodded in agreement, continuing to look at him. She begin to notice that his eye was a shade of purple that could almost be mistaken for a dark blue without proper lighting but if he were in the sun or proper light, they were such an enamoring shade of purple.

"Vis," He whispered. "You can cry now. I finally understand. What happened last night was awful and you should hate me."

Her eyes burned with tears and she needed to get them out, but she was done crying. Tears no longer served a purpose in her game. But the eye contact with Aemond was making all other problems dissipate. Like, all she had to do was look at him and safety was available.

She reached forward and ran her finger across his scar.

"Aemond Targaryen, I am sorry for cutting your eye out."

Aemond was taken aback by her apology and if she were honest, so was she. She didn't know why or where it came from but it happened. It was long overdue, but it happened.

"I have wanted to apologize since it happened but I never had the strength. You never deserved it. Baela and Rhaena threw the first punches and all you were doing was defending yourself. It is not like you were about to kill them. You punched and kicked just as they did. But I picked the blade up and I am still haunted by what I did."

"Visenya -"

"No, Aemond, shut the fuck up and listen. I despise you. I still wish I could cut your cock off and feed it to your own dragon but the truth is, you did not deserve to lose your eye."

"Visenya -"

"And you should hate me for it because it is one of the many things I hate about myself. I am so fucking sorry for being such a bitch and -"

She couldn't finish. Not because she didn't want to, but because of Aemond.

He placed his hand on the back of her neck and pushed her face forward until their lips connected. Her eyes were wide with shock until he pulled away.

"Fuck, Visenya, I -"

She grabbed his cheeks and pressed her lips against his. His lips were unbelievably soft as they worked against hers. His kiss was tender as he cradled her face in his larger hands. She had never kissed or been kissed before but it almost felt natural how their lips were meant to move against each other. Almost like two puzzle pieces that only fit with the other and none else.

The overwhelming feelings were beginning to dissolve as they kissed and when she felt his tongue, she began to panic and come back to her senses. She backed away from him, her heart practically beating out of her chest. She was already haunted by the kiss they should not have shared.

"Oh my god," She gasped, her shaky fingers going to touch her lips. "I ... I am sorry, I don't know what came over me. I need - I need Orwyle."

She was panicking and Aemond was going from a confused expression to one of pain and rejection. And she felt all the more guilty.

"Visenya, please don't run."

"I can't do this, Aemond. It was a mistake."

She turned and left before she could see the heartbreak in his eye.

DON'T YELL AT ME