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SIX;
『 THE OTHER BROTHER 』

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ㅤ     AEMOND HAS TO GO BACK TO HIS CHAMBERS. Although it's been only minutes since he's departed, the loneliness begins to creep back in. He's the only one here that I can truly trust. I can trust Viserys, perhaps, but I won't be able to express anything to him in between his coughing fits. I step out of the bath and pull on my nightgown, which clings loosely to my damp skin. I wring out my hair then tiptoe over to my bed. I peel back the sheets and wrap myself in the comfort. Each time I blink, I see Aemond's face, his smile. The simple thought of him makes me smile like a mad woman.

A knock echoes around my room. Of course someone has decided to barge into my chambers after I've bathed and decided I'm done being social for the evening. I sit up in the bed and pick up the candle on the tray next to me. I tell them to enter. The door swings open.

I'm surprised that I don't recognize the person who enters. "Forgive me, princess. I hadn't realized you were asleep." The woman says with a curt nod. She has flowing black hair, dark as a ravens, and these black eyes that seem like pools of infinity. She has a sharp face, slim nose, and full lips. Her eyes are upturned, a perfect slant. Her figure is slim yet her breasts crowd her chest. She seems to be the image of a perfect woman.

"It's too late now," I say. "What brings you into my chambers at this hour?" I ask. Her eyes widen. She turns and closes the door to my chambers. She walks slowly in my direction and stops before she gets too close. The light of the candle in my hand just seems to illuminate her beauty.

"It has been drawn to my attention that you and Aemond grow quite close." She says. Her voice is unthreatening, but there is tension behind it. My posture straightens at the mention of his name. I nod.

"Indeed we have." I say in response. Her eyes drop to the floor for a few moments, then they bounce around the wall behind me, then finally back to me. She picks at her fingernails in a childlike way.

"Aemond and I are having affairs. You likely do not know of me as I am from Karhold, but I have been here for months winning his favor." She explains to me. I blink. Suddenly the doors to my balcony whip open. A stream of wind blows inside. My heart bleeds in my chest.

"He says he will marry me by the end of the winter storms." Her words burn like a fire. My thoughts swarm in my mind. It has been a ploy all along. Aemond has never seen me like I thought he had. His words have been lies. I don't know why he would do such a thing. Perhaps for revenge. Perhaps he's been on his mothers side all along.

"Leave me." I say. The woman scrams out of the room quicker than a horse being whipped. The moment the doors slam shut I find tears welling in my eyes. I sit the candle down on the bedside table and stand up, trying to gather myself.

My feet don't feel like my feet. I feel unbalanced. When I stand I nearly fall over. I steady myself on the edge of the bed. Sobs escape from me like I've never felt so much pain in my life. I clench my heart with my hands and burrow my head into the edge of the bed. I kneel to the ground. No one can hear me. No one will help me. I don't force the tears away. I let them come down like they may never stop. I run my hands through my hair. It's the same way he had run his hands through the strands. Suddenly I want to rip my hair out.

I slowly get to my feet and shuffle back to my bed. I wrap myself beneath the blankets, like a shield. I shut my eyes and try to sleep to pull the pain away, but every time I close my eyes I only see his face. I grit my teeth and get out of the bed. I wipe the tears from my cheeks and eyes and open the doors to my chambers. The halls are a ghostly place. I glance around and see no one.

       I manage to make it to the training yard without breaking down. I grab a handful of daggers and align myself with the hay-man target. I throw the daggers with the force of a dragon. I hit the man time after time in the head, a direct hit. I stride back to the man and collect the daggers. I walk back to the spot I had been throwing before and this time shut my eyes and blindly throw them.

I throw the first three then open my eyes. They've all made it into the hay. I close my eyes again and throw the next dagger. This one doesn't hit the hay. I can tell simply because I don't hear the satisfying sound. I open my eyes to see Aegon standing next to the hay man, holding the dagger inches away from his face. He does not look scared, or even phased. He reaches his arm across and sinks the dagger into the hay man's head.

       "I believe killing a future king is a high sentence." His words cut me. He is almost the last person I want to see tonight- Aemond would be the first with Alicent directly behind. I roll my eyes and continue throwing the rest of the daggers beside me. Once I've thrown them all, I march back to the hay man and begin to collect them, trying my best to ignore the man hovering over me.

       "I presume you've been introduced to Orilah then." I don't know who Orilah is, but I can only assume it's the woman who just waltzed into my chambers and ruined everything for me. I yank one of the blades from the hay then stop and look at him. His gaze is cocky as ever.

      "What do you want, Aegon?" I ask, impatiently. His eyes narrow momentarily. He shakes his head, as if he means to say nothing. I walk back towards where I had been standing, this time with some daggers in my hand.

       "You still have to marry." He says. I stop in my tracks. I hope that he certainly isn't entertaining the thought of my marriage to him. I'd rather dig myself a grave and bury myself in it. I turn my head to him, slowly, looking over my shoulder.

       "There are plenty of suitors for me in Westeros." I say back in an aggravated tone. He shrugs and crosses his arms over his chest. I ignore the muscles that bulks from his biceps, at least, I try to. I pray it's too dark for him to see my eyes scan across his body.

"True," he cocks his head to the side. "But why travel when the future king of Westeros stands before you?" His words make me want to scrape my ears off my head. I cant stand him. My mother will be the queen. He will be nothing but a prince his entire life and he needs to accept it.

"You will never be a king, Aegon." I spit at him. "Every fool prince dies before he can become king." My words seem to do nothing. He sarcastic cradles his heart with his hands and juts out his lower lip, as if my words have actually said anything to offend him. Alicent has made him think he'll actually manage to obtain the throne.

      "You should watch the way you talk to your future king." He raises an eyebrow at me. He's pissing me off even more. I take one of the daggers from my hand and throw it at him. To my displeasure, he managed to dodge the blade whirring past his head. He widens his eyes and throws his hands up in the air.

      "What was that for?" His voice is raised but not threatening. He doesn't scare me. I still see the boyish nature beneath the skin. He cowers behind his mother like a shield that cannot be penetrated.

      "For being a bitch." I reply with a fed-up smile. He lets out a long sigh.

      "My brother isn't an option for you, Alerhya," his words sting my open wound. "You need to marry powerful or your family is ruined. Their fate rests on your shoulders." A shudder goes through me. The thought of being wed to Aegon is an image straight from a nightmare. I cant imagine a life with him, let alone a happy life- the life I thought Aemond would provide for me.

      "I can marry a Stark prince and I'll be happy. I'd rather kill myself than be your bride." I fire back at him. He blinks in surprise at my words. I'm not bluffing. I would truly rather fling myself from a cliff and hit every rock on the way down then marrying Aegon and bearing his devil children.

       "A stingy Stark prince?" He asks. "When you could have me?" His ego is so high up it needs to be shot down with an arrow. I've had enough of him. I drop the daggers off in the crate and begin walking back inside from the courtyard. I heard his footsteps behind me and yet I don't bother to turn. I know what he wants.

Thanks to my advantage in speed I manage to make it back to my room before he can catch me. I shut the doors to my chambers so he can't get in. He isn't like Aemond, he won't knock, he won't wait. Within a few seconds he'll roll his eyes and waltz somewhere else, probably to get a beer. Entering my room again makes me think of Aemond. My eyes flash to the balcony, where his hands touched my hips and his lips pressed against mine. The doors are still open from the burst of wind that has blown through.

I walk over and push the doors closed. I climb back into the bed and pull the blankets around my body. Shivers run through me from the cold, yet at the same time my blood boils at the thought of Aemond. I cannot fathom that he had the audacity to touch me and whisper those meaningless words to me whilst all along he's had a woman to marry. I swear to the gods that the next time I see him I will hurt him. I won't be able to contain myself.

༻❁༺

       PAIN DRAWLS AROUND MY EYES AS I TRY TO OPEN THEM. I had cried more as I went to sleep, therefore my eyes sort of crusted together from all the liquid. I use my fingers to pry them open. It's painful but bearable. It seems that only pain follows in the wake of the news about Aemond. I lift myself out of bed, although I don't want to. I have a duty to preform while I'm here, to marry, or at the very least become promised.

       As I'm making my way towards my wardrobe a knock taps at my chambers doors. I stiffen at the thought of it being Aemond. He wouldn't be around this early. I allow them to enter and they so. It's a servant woman. She tells me that breakfast will be in an hour in the dining quarters. I ask her to help me braid my hair and she accepts.

      I dress in some of my finer silk, a blue and white patterned dress. She braids my hair into this complex bundle of bumps. As she does, I pat on my pigment. I know I will see Aemond this morning. He likely does not know that I know of his activities. I presume he's thought to kept it a secret up until the last moment, when he's supposed to marry Orilah, then leave me alone. At least I learned sooner rather than later.

      She finishes braiding my hair and I think her. I slip on my shoes then make my way down to the dining quarters. The doors are propped open as I round the corner. Immediately my eyes land on Aemond, who sits across from his brother. His eyes focus in on me. I make my way to the seat across from Aegon. He sure seems rather delighted that I've chosen to sit next to him. I don't glance once at Aemond. I keep my eyes down on my plate, on the warm foods in front of me.

       For once, Alicent does not have much to say. This time Vierys does most of the talking, and the coughing. He tells a dreadfully long story about his younger days. It's been an hour since I finished eating and no one has excused themself to leave. Viserys has yet to stop talking.

      "Excuse me," I say with a polite smile. "I must depart and go back to my studies." I say to my grandfather. He nods with a smile back and waves me off. I push back the chair I had been sitting in and take off quicker than I thought possible. Even at a walking pace I seem to be running.

       "You're a quick walker." A voice says from behind me. It's Aegon. I stop in my tracks and turn toward him.

      "Maybe it's because I'm trying to get away from you." I snap at him. He takes a step closer. He's close enough for me to slap him. Although unfortunately I cannot do that. I think he may have me beheaded if I lay a hand on him, on his precious future king face.

      "Wouldn't you rather be close?" He takes another step towards me. I take a step back. My back slams into the stone wall. He has me cornered and I'm weaponless. He presses his hand against the wall next to me. I can smell the beer on his breath, which shouldn't be possible considering how early in the morning it is.

       He's leaning closer and I'm preparing to punch him in the gut when I catch a figure in my peripheral vision. I turn my head slightly. It's Aemond. He's standing at the end of the hall with his arms crossed, looking at his brother and I. Aegon hasn't quite figured out that his brother stands behind him. His lips are drawing closer. Perhaps I'm a bad person for what I do next, or maybe I'm just vengeful.

       I lean forward just the slightest bit. My lips touch his. My eyes flutter closed. I feel nothing of the chemistry I felt with Aemond. I could never like Aegon in such a way, with such desire and passion. His hand holds my jaw in a tight way, not in the sensitive and caring way that Aemond had. I turn my head to the side and our lips break. I look to where Aemond had been standing. He's gone now.

      "Touch me again and I will kill you." I whisper to Aegon. He seems to think I'm kidding because his hand touches the outside of my thigh. I can see it in his eyes that he thinks I want him, that I have fallen into his trap of lust.

      I grab his hand on my thigh and twist it around his back. I push him against the wall. His left cheek is squished against the stone. My body poured with adrenaline and anger.

       "Like I said," I whisper into his ear. "Touch me again and I'll kill you." I let go of his hand and it drops to his side. I wait a few moments before releasing him from the wall. He shakes his hand off and stares at me in this horrified way. He staggers down the hallway, most likely to go and beg and plead to his mother to get rid of me. I decide to follow him.

        I stick in the shadows, somehow. Perhaps it's because of all the people surrounding me or perhaps it's because of my abilities to blend in to my surroundings. I follow him to the gardens. I spot Alicent and Orilah, of all people, conversing. I duck behind a group of hedges as Aegon approaches them from the other side of the grass.

       "Mother," he cries like a child. "That psycho nearly broke my hand." He's being so dramatic. I hadn't even twisted it enough to fracture his wrist. It's more than obvious that he hasn't known great pain in his life, if he thinks that was anything close to breaking his hand.

      Alicent turns toward him and grabs his hand and places a kiss on the skin. "I'm sorry, dear. Hopefully she'll be gone soon enough." She says sympathetically. I also hope I'll be gone from this horrific place soon. I've never hated a place more in my entire life.

      "But she believes that you and Aemond are to marry?" Alicent asks, turning to Orilah, resuming their previous conversation, I assume.

       "Indeed. She reacted with great emotion. And if I can get Aemond close enough, and for her to see, she won't believe anything else." The black-haired beauty says in response.

       "I kissed her in the hall and Aemond saw. He was mortified." Aegon laughs. Alicent smacks his hand. He winces and looks at her in confusion.

       "You aren't supposed to go off and do that, Aegon. You listen to my exact direction. Idiot son." She barks at him. His eyes widen, seemingly sad, and he takes a heavy seat on the bench next to them, nursing his hand.

       "Yes," Alicent says, turning back to Orilah. "Corner him and make sure that she sees. Make sure that she suffers." Alicent's words slip off her tongue like a poisonous snake.

       A shudder runs through me.

      All of this has been a ploy. Aemond was never meant to marry Orilah. It's a plot Alicent has made in order to keep me unmarried, which could fracture my lineage. She knew Aemond and I were getting along so she had to ruin it before he could ask me to promise myself to him.

      I knew she was mad, but never this mad.

       Aemond had just seen me kiss his brother right in front of him, knowing he was standing right there. He's been wondering why I've been ignoring him and not sharing his glances at dinner. He thinks I've fallen for his brother instead of him.

      I have to fix this, before it's too late.