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SEVEN;
『 IN THE NIGHT 』

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ㅤ I RUN THROUGH THE HALLS, DESPERATE TO FIND AEMOND. I've checked the training grounds as well as the courtyard and have returned without a sight of him. My next stop is his chambers. I've been pacing back and forth for the past five minutes. I pick at my fingernails with anticipation. He may very well be in there, or perhaps not, I do not know. I make a split second decision and tap lightly the wood of his door. I hear shuffling from the other side.

"Enter." His voice calls from the other side of the wall. I push open the heavy door. He stands in the center of the chamber, stuffing items into a bag. After a few moments of me standing there, he stops and looks up at me. I can see the sadness lingering in his eye.

"Aemond, I'm so sorry-" I do not manage to get out the entire sentence. His voice, harsh, like I've never heard it before, rips through the air. A shiver runs down my spine.

"Leave, now." His teeth grit. The way he looks at me is unrecognizable. I can see the pain in his eye and in his body language. I turn to leave and obey but I stop myself. Instead, I close the doors in front of me. I have to get out some sort of explanation. When I turn to face him, he strides toward me and reaches for the handle but I stop him by standing in the way.

"Aemond, please, just let me explain." I plead. I hope he can hear the urgency in my voice. His eye scans me. He's just inches away but I know his mouth dare not come near mine. I can feel the head radiating off his body. My eyes drift to the bag spilled out on the floor.

"Are you leaving?" I ask. My eyes drift from the things on the floor back to him. His head hangs slightly. I know the answer. He is. Suddenly, the door pushes open. I'm knocked out of the way, against the wall. The door pushes against me.

"Dinner, now, in the courtyard." I recognize Alicent's voice. She hasn't seen me, thank the gods, but I am nearly suffocating against the wall. The door swings back the other way and clicks. I slowly raise to my feet and Aemond looks sideways at me.

"Are you alright?" He asks. Despite the fact that he is pouring with anger, he still manages to ask if I'm alright. I nod. He exits through the door, leaving me alone in the room.

I massage the spot on my scapula that had hit the wall the hardest. Within a few moments I'm trotting down the hall myself. The distance from Aemond's chambers to the courtyard isn't long. The table is full aside from one extra member- Orilah. She sits next to Aemond, who has just slipped into his chair. I take in a hefty breath of air. I know what I must do. I stride over to the table like I cannot be touched. I stand next to Viserys, whom sits at the head of the table, with Alicent at the other end. Every single head turns to look at me. I keep my eyes directly on Alicent, who narrows her eyes, suspicious to what I might be up to.

"Alicent is a liar and a fox." I claim. The table falls silent. A fox is something one might call another whom has been sneaking around and participating in unthinkable activities. She places her flask of wine back on the table and folds her hands in front of her.

"She sent this woman," I nod to Orilah. "Into my chambers and claim that she was to marry Aemond, leaving my heart to break. It has been her mission, all along, to never allow me to marry Aemond. She needed a way to drive me away and send me back to Dragonstone to allow my family to be cornered there and the throne to be taken my Aegon." The words burn my lips. My eyes don't leave Alicent as the remarks part from my mouth.

She licks her lips before she speaks. "That is a faulty claim made by an emotional princess. You are just upset because Aemond has chosen someone else." She replies. Her eyebrow is raised so far up it looks like the hairs are reaching for the sky. My fingers grip the back of Viserys' chair, who shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"Mother," Aemond says, looking at Alicent. "Her remarks are true. It has never been and will never be my intention to marry Orilah. It is a plan you have devised due to the grudge you hold against Rhaenyra." His words are much more calm and collected than mine. It shocks me he's chosen my side over his mothers. She must have thought he would keep quiet from the heartbreak of seeing me with Aegon and send me off.

"Alicent, this is unforgivable." Viserys' words makes the air seem even more chilling. Every set of eyes flash to the brown haired woman at the end of the table. She clenches the handle of the fork in her hand. Her face morphs into something disgusted.

"You helped willingly. You cannot allow me to take all the blame." She huffs at Aegon. He throws his hands up in a defensive manor. Suddenly, Viserys stands up, pushing his chair aside. I shuffle to the side and allow him to stand. He does not even look at Alicent nor the rest of the table as he departs, hobbling toward his chambers.

"You ruin everything. You and your mother. You and your brothers are nothing but bottom feeding bastards." I blink. Not only has she offended me, but also my mother and my brothers. I cant believe this. I press my hands to the edge of the table opposite her and lean in, she's about ten feet away yet still she seems far too close for my liking.

"You are lucky my grandfather has put up with you for this long. You are a mad woman." I spit back at her. I feel my upper lip lifting with anger as I speak. She suddenly gets up from the table, grabs Aegon by the collarbone, and drags him in the direction of where their chambers are. Orilah gets up moments later, excusing herself. She knows better than to get stuck with me.

       I slouch down into my grandfathers seat. I feel the weight of the situation resting on my shoulders. Pissing off Alicent is one thing, but pissing off Aegon as well is another. I fear them because alone, they are a deadly force, together they very well could be unstoppable. I fear for my life now even more than I had before.

      "Alerhya," Aemond's voice rips me from my thoughts. I look over at him. "I apologize for not letting you explain, I hadn't realized..." he trails off, as if at a loss for words for how to explain the situation- which I can understand.

      "No, I apologize. It was me who kissed your brother and me who shut you out after hearing something from someone before even asking you about it." The words slur out of my mouth in a childlike way. I had hated him being upset with me, it felt like the world was crumbling around me and I was suffocating beneath the rubble.

"I was going to leave," he says. "I was going to run. I could not bare to have you choose my brother over I. Perhaps that would have been selfish for me to do without yearning your explanation." He manages to somehow apologize as well, despite the fact that I've stated this whole situation is my own misinterpretation.

       "You should not be apologizing, Aemond. This is truly my own fault." I say. I look up at the sky, through the courtyard. Signs of dusk have begun claiming the once blue softness of the sky. It has been transformed to a series of light pinks and other warm tones.

      "It's time I get to my chambers," I say and begin walking to the hall. Though, I stop and turn back to Aemond, realizing he hasn't yet moved. "Are you joining me?" I ask. Suddenly his face turns ripe and alert. He nearly stumbles out of his chair but somehow manages to continue to appear graceful. He appears next to me in a heartbeat. We walk in quiet synchrony to my chambers. I push open the doors. There's a servant woman inside already prepping my bath. I had told her this morning that I'd like to bathe right at sundown.

      The woman sees Aemond next to me and gets flustered. She politely excuses herself then practically runs out of the room, her cheeks growing a deep red. Aemond stands just outside of the entrance to the bathing chambers. I step inside, to the cool stole floors, and place my hand on the door, beginning to close it.

      "I won't be long." I say to him. Obediently, he nods. I'm aware of my methods, that doing this is being a sort of tease, although I do not much care. I push the doors closed and slip off my gown.

      I step into the bath and knot my hair on top of my head to keep it away from my face. My body is submerged underneath the murky water, unallowing of any eyes to see. Only my head and neck stick out from the water. My eyes draw closed as the warm water nurtures my body. Weariness has overtaken me so much that I do not realize Aemond enters until he's sitting on the stool by the edge of the tub. My eyes flash open as I hear him sit.

      "I did not mean to startle you." He says, delicately. Perhaps if he were anyone else I would scream and force him out, but I do not feel particularly uncomfortable. He cannot see my body beneath the water, only my face and a sliver of my neck. His eyes don't leave mine as he gets off the stool and kneels at the edge of the tub. He grabs the rugged cloth hanging on the side and dips it in the water, then wrings it out and gestures for me to extend my arm.

      I do. I hold my arm out of the water. He starts at my shoulder then drags the cloth down to my hand. The water and his touch feel like heaven. My head leans back again. I feel safe. I do not feel as though I need to fear. He makes his way to the other side of the tub and does the same on my other arm. My eyes flutter open once he stops. He is now at the opposite head of the tub. He tilts his head in asking.

       I lift my leg out of the water and drape it over the tub. His eyes do not leave mine. I cannot imagine how much difficulty something like this would take. He does not even glimpse at the place between my legs. Although he would not be able to see anything of the sort, it still shocks me that he is not even tempted to guide his eyes there.

       He washes both of my legs like there is nothing he'd rather be doing. His rhythmic motions nearly send me to slumber. When he is finished he drapes the cloth back over the side and leaves the room, only to return moments later with my nightgown. He places it on the stool then leaves the room, shutting the doors behind him.

      I step out of the tub and dry myself, then I throw on the nightgown. I pull my hair out of the cluster on top of my head and allow it to drape down my back. When I am finished, I open the bathing chambers. Aemond is sitting on the edge of my bed fiddling with a spot on his pants. I don't think about what I do next. My body takes over.

      I stride across the room and seat myself on his legs. Our faces are just inches apart. I feel his body tense as my body comes down on his. My legs stretch over his own. His eye surveys me with this sort of confusion. I grin. His hands slowly, shakily, stumble up to the crown of my head. He runs his fingers through my hair like my hair is made of the finest silks. I run my fingers around his face, to feel. I enjoy how smooth his skin is and the jaggedness of the scar across the left of his face.

       One hand brushes through my hair while the other hugs the curve between my chest and my hip. His hand fits perfectly there, like it was made to be there. His eye blinks slowly as he looks at me and his breath is hitched. I cup his chin with my fingers and lean into him. He leans toward me. I press my lips to his. His fingers on my ribs tense and his hand that had been stroking my hair falls to the spot between my shoulder and neck.

      Our lips graze and crush a few times before I need to breathe. I pull back and go to catch my breath, though Aemond does not quite seem finished. Suddenly he gets up and spins me around to the bed. I'm laying over the warm blankets now. He hovers over me, watching me. I give him a smile. He runs his thumb over my lips, as if he wants to feel exactly how I smile, how my lips push together and the indent in my cheek deepens.

      "No one compares to you, Alerhya." He says. The way my name slips from his mouth has to be the purest thing ever ever heard. It is like a wave foaming at the sea. He plants a kiss on my forehead then lies next to me on the bed. I turn onto my side and nestle my head into his chest. He strokes my cheek. His warmth surrounds me.

      The last bit of evening light slips out of the room. The warm orange colors have been replaced by cool shadows. There isn't a single candle lit in my chambers, although I pledge that the only warmth I may need is Aemond's. His hands are wrapped around me when suddenly my chamber doors fly open and a blur of light from the hallway flashes into the room. Aemond scrambles up, as do I. A knight stands in the doorway.

      "Forgive me for the intrusion," he pangs. There must be a good reason for his actions. A knight is not to enter a room unless he is allowed. "The queen seeks Alerhya. She wants the blood of the princess." His voice is frantic. Aemond looks over his shoulder at me. His eye swells with fear.

       "If the princess is to leave here alive, she must go now." My life is in jeopardy. I rush over to my wardrobe and begin grabbing at things, but a hand pulls my arm back.

      "There is no time, Alerhya." Aemond says, rushed. "Find Ghaelar and leave. Now." He demands. That is a tone I cannot quite argue with.

       "What about you?" I ask. My eyebrows wriggle up and I feel tears threaten to escape my eyes, though I will not let them. I will not allow myself to cry at the hands and actions of Alicent.

      "I will come. Do not worry." He tries to assure me, but I do not know if I believe him. I take his hand and squeeze it, then follow the knight out of my chambers. I look back. Aemond stands there, staring at me. Even in the dark of the room I can make out the exact expression of his face.

       We run and run. My legs do not hurt. I have been trained to run until I am commanded to stop. My lungs hurt, not from the speed in which I move at, but at the difficulty it took me to leave Aemond's side. We emerge out of the castle and sprint down the back way towards the dragon pit. There will be dragon guards there, so I know we cannot go into the pit. The knight dips a right, toward one of the many fields surrounding the castle. I follow him. We teach a spot of open land wide enough to have a dragon land in. He catches me up on what Alicent has declared to me.

      "She claims that you have threatened a queen and a prince, therefore you are a threat to the kingdom and you need to be brought down." He explains. I find myself at a loss for words. He tells me that I must leave and not turn back. It takes me moments to process what he is saying. Finally, he takes my shoulders with his hands and shakes me, jumbling my thoughts into place.

      "Yes, yes I will go." I say. "Make sure Aemond is alright, will you please?" He nods. I feel a glimmer of faint security in his words. He begins running back toward the castle. I place the two fingers in my mouth and blow as hard as I may. The noise that escapes my lips is sharp and loud, perhaps loud enough for the queen to hear.

      My breath rises and falls intensely as I wait for Ghaelar to appear. Through the clouds, I can see his outline. He hurdles toward me in a blur of wing and scale. There is no mount on his back. He will have to stop and allow me on and I will have to ride all the way to Dragonstone with no mount. I will not go to the dragon pit to grab his mount, I will put myself as well as him in danger.

      He stops in the field. All of the grass surrounding us whips around. He folds on his legs and I climb onto his back. I grab one of the scales on his neck, which will act as a handle. We've practiced our bare back riding a few times, but never with this much intensity. I command him to fly and he obeys. His wings flap with great strength. We rise into the air, toward the direction home. As we make it into the clouds, I feel the tears begin to prick at my eyes, threatening to escape. I will not allow them to fall. I must keep alert as I fly, tears would be a foolish thing to allow.

      I drape my arms around Ghaelar's neck and rest my head on his neck. My body feels weak. There is nothing but silence this far in the sky, aside from the flapping of wings. Those sounds double. Suddenly it sounds like there is more than one pair of wings. I whip my head around in fear. If someone has followed me up here, I am defenseless. I have nothing, not even a mount or a sword. I squint my eyes. I can barely make out the head of Vhagar, but I manage to. Her body is the largest of all the dragons. Vhargar being in the sky would mean he would need a rider. Aemond is her rider.

       I pull back on Ghaelar and he slows. Vhagar ends up next to us. "Aemond?" I call through the darkness of the night. I cannot make out a figure on the beasts back, but I hope to the gods that it is Aemond.

      "I told you I would come, did I not?" A voice says through the dark. Aemond.

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