𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃
___________

༻❦༺

𝐀elora may have been credited as the wisest of King Visery and Alicent Hightowers children, but that didn't stop her burning curiosity from getting the better of her.If Aelora wished to know something, she would find it out, one way or another.And her newest query, was how Aemond snuck into the dragon pit.

It was, unsurprisingly, rather easy to follow her brothers and nephews like a shadow to the dragon pit, slipping away before noticed.She was rather used to being invisible, always the timid and mysterious princess that cowered behind her brothers, yet soon become quite clever at using it to her advantage.

It was dark, as she expected, but certainly a lot dustier and dirty than she cared for.The hem of her baby blue dress was certain to be stained brown once she concluded with her adventures, but she, unlike Aemond, would at-least try cover her tracks as best she could.

She eventually reached the light at the end of the tunnel, literally, and found the open dome she'd watched Aegon depart on Sunfyre from numerous times before.Moments after he'd mocked her clearly jealous expression and harsh glare.

Her search for a dragon remained unsuccessful, but who was she to think I'd be so simple.If only dragonmount wasn't across an ocean, she was certain she could proudly claim a wild dragon without fear or-...

"Aelora?"

Oh gods.

Aelora took a deep breath before she turned, bracing herself to be met with a smirking Aegon, accompanied by a kingsguard ready to drag her back to the red keep, to be scolded by their mother.Much to her surprise, she was met with a face framed by much darker and controlled curls than Aegon's.Jaehaerys.

"What are you doing here?"

Her lips parted and formed into an "O", yet no words seemed to transfer from her mind and leave them, no excuse as to why she was there. "I-...uh-...I-..."

Good gods, it's like you want to get caught! She froze in thought.

"Come looking for a dragon?...perhaps?" Jaehaerys arched an eyebrow, a faint look of amusement resting on his features.

Her mouth quickly clamped shut, eyes widening ever so slightly in shock.She hadn't necessarily thought this through as much as she should've, and the awkward, panicked look on her face made that clear.

Jaehaerys thinned his eyes, suspiciously, and titled his head when he was met with only silence once more.
"Are you planning on answering me or are you just going to stand there, like you've seen a ghost, until I leave you alone?"

"No" She answered almost immediately, without even thinking, like it was a subconscious reflex.Her tone was sharp and quick, as if she was offended by the accusation.

Jaehaerys failed to suppress his grin and the small laugh that slipped past his lips, making a small gesture with his hand, for her to follow. "Then come on"

She furrowed her brows in confusion, glancing between his face and gloved hand reached out for her, as if paranoid it could somehow harm her.

"You want to see a dragon don't you?up close, that is" His grin widened, subconsciously, at Aeloras almost instant, eager nod in response.

"Then come on" He stepped the distance between them for her, firmly grabbing her hand and leading her away, before she could protest.

They walked in silence for most the way, Jaehaerys didn't think it felt awkward in anyway but clearly Aelora was itching to say something as she nervously fidgets with the hem of her dress.

"It's dark..." Her voice abruptly broke the silence, eyes scanning all around the dark tunnel yet finding nothing.

"Couldn't tell" Aelora didn't need to see Jaehaerys face to know he rolled his eyes, able to tell by the sarcastic tone of his voice.

She let them sink into silence once more, before a question appeared on the tip of her tongue.

"Where are we going?" She lowered her voice to a whisper, as if there was somebody near that could over hear a completely innocent question.

"Why are you whispering?" He mocked her whisper with a small snicker.

She didn't answer, simply averting her gaze to the ground as she pursed her lips.They remained in silence for the short rest of the walk, even as Aelora nearly tripped over her own two feet multiple times.She looked around confused, when they came to what she assumed was the end of the tunnel, yet they were still surrounded by nothing but eery darkness.

"Where-..." She was cut off by the sound of her own scream, in reaction to the echoing dragon roar that caused her to clamp her hands over her ears.

She was always the first to panic at a loud noise, her fast heartbeat and shallow breath making it easy for the panic to consume her.She was beginning to think she wasn't cut out to be a dragon rider after all.It seemed Aegon was right, for once in his life.

"Hey, hey!" Jaehaerys voice cut through the ringing in her ears, as he slowly removed her hands from her ears, delicately holding them in his own. "Aelora...it won't hurt you...I won't let it"

She gulped back nervously, eyes fixed on her shaky hands in his. "I promise" His voice turned her gaze up to meet his.

For the first time, somebody managed to coerce Aelora to walk towards something that frightened her.Though it only turned out to be Jaehaerys, young and harmless, dragon, who had simply been missing the company of its rider, it still counted for something.Even more so, when she was convinced to admire the dragon up close, going as far as grazing her hand across its white scales.

Jaehaerys fed her curiosity plenty, answering all her questions and showing off the few tricks his dragon, Myrax, could do.They were only simple and took him longer to learn than he'd like to admit, but Aelora didn't need to know that.He even made her laugh, which surprised him because Jaehaerys never thought himself to be funny, just unintentionally awkward, but he decided to not over think it and enjoy the sight of her smile, the sound of her laugh.

Unfortunately, the blissful and harmless moment was soon interrupted, like a grey stormy, rain cloud moving over the clear, summers sky.

"Aelora!"

༻❦༺

"𝐖hat were you thinking?!" Alicent screeched as she paced around her chamber, having been rambling on and on, for at least half an hour now, telling her daughter all about the type of danger she could've gotten into.

Aelora stared at the floor with a pout on her lips, watching as her legs dangled off the bed and swung back and forth.She was the last person expected to do such a reckless thing, the last expected to be scolded or in any sort of trouble with Alicent.

To make matters worse, all of her siblings sat only a few feet away, Heleana oblivious to the conversation while her brothers watched, intently, with wide eyes.Besides Aegon, who had never looked more smug and proud of himself.

"It is one thing to go alone!but with-...him" Alicent had to briefly pause, as if she were looking for the right word, as if saying Jaehaerys name was a forbidden curse she could never build up the courage to say. "Aelora, I have warned you time and time again of those-..." She paused again.

Aelora looked up at her in suspicion, then to Daeron and Aemond, who seemed to be having the same train of thought as her.They all knew what she really wanted to say, they'd have to be ignorant to not hear of the rumours, concerning the legitimacy of Princess Rhaenyra's children.Aegon didn't seem so distraught at the thought of saying it aloud, unlike others, as the chance was eagerly sitting on the tip of his tongue.

"Bastards" They all blasphemed, even if they expected and saw it coming from a mile away.

"Aegon!" Alicent whipped around to her eldest son, who simply shrugged and turned away from her glare.

Everything about Aegon screamed unbothered, no matter the intensity or sensitivity of a situation, as he leaned back in his chair and rested his legs on-top the table, subtly swinging back and forth.

"Gods, maybe your grandsire was right" Alicent mumbled, more to herself than anyone, as she rested her hands on her hips.

"Grandsire?" Daeron perked up in curiosity, being, out of his four other siblings, the one who spent most time with their Grandsire.

"About what?" Aelora mumbled, her voice barely audible, as it was the first time she'd spoken since being dragged away from the dragon-pit.

"H-...he suggested...you...and Daeron...be sent...elsewhere..." Alicent swallowed the guilt already building up in her throat, glancing between her youngest children as she awaited their reaction.

Aeloras brows furrowed, both confused and slightly frustrated.Her lips parted but before any words could leave them, Daeron beat her too it.

"Where?!" Daeron had a similar expression to Aelora, though he didn't seem as worried or upset.

"He thought...you may enjoy furthering your study's in oldtown, your great uncle proposed the idea not long ago"

While Daeron was given relief in their mother's explanation, Aelora had not yet had her concerns answered and her expression remained the same.

"What about, Lora?" Aemond finally chimed in, noticing the panic in his sister's eyes, his voice timid as he too worried about the answer.

Alicent stayed silent, licking her lips as she had yet to even look Aelora in the eyes. "Mother?" Her soft voice came out quacking with fear.

"Your grandsire, received a letter, from Borros Baratheon...offering a marriage between Aelora and his only son..."

The room fell silent, both Aegon and Heleanas attention suddenly brought back to the conversation.All eyes were wide and mouths left open and speechless.They'd all assumed if one of them were to be arranged into a marriage, it would be Aegon, at least he'd be the first.Aelora was barely one and ten, she wasn't even a woman grown yet.

"You have agreed to this?" Aegon was the first to break the intense silence, his voice dripping in disgust.

"Not necessarily" Alicent sighed, eyes still not brave enough to wonder over to Aelora.

If she had been brave enough, to look her daughter in the eyes, she would've seen how quickly the tears begun to build and glass over her, usually bright and curious, green pupils.

"He is older than Aegon?!" She slowly stepped off the bed and looked towards her brothers, as if silently asking for help, but they could only stare back with guilty expressions as they watched her bottom lip quivering between her teeth.

"He is a perfectly respectable young man, and you will one day be the Lady of Stormsend-..."

"I don't want to be a lady!I don't want to be his wife!" Aelora suddenly blurted out, tears overflowing and streaming down her cheeks.

Alicent was taken aback her sudden outburst, as it was a very rare sight for her to get angry or impatient with anybody.She may cry often and easily but Aelora wouldn't even yell at a bee if it stung her, never mind Alicent whom she constantly clung to for comfort and safety.

The other four children were continued to be left speechless by Aeloras outrage, even Helaena, who chose not to use her voice often, was wishing she could defend her little sister.

"I don't want to marry a boy I don't know!I don't want to leave my home!my family!I don't want to be you!" Aelora knew she'd gone too far the moment the word slipped off her tongue, she wanted to eat all back up that she'd spewed out and pretend it never happened.

She didn't even have time to part her lips and try form a desperate apology before a hand landed a red mark across her cheek...

A loud smack echoed off the walls and a heavy, deathly silence followed, awaiting Aeloras reaction that never came.She just stud there, her head still turned to the side as she stared blankly at the floor, tears filling her eyes yet never falling.

Alicents hand flew to her mouth when she realised what she'd done, yet made no effort to try comfort or apologise to Aelora.

Nobody moved, nobody even made a sound.

They were all very aware she treated Aegon like that, but they all knew it was different with Aelora.Even Aegon himself was shocked.If the ever innocent golden child wasn't safe of their mothers temper, none of them were.

Aegon was the first to move, his chair scrapping across the stone floor, but he didn't speak a word.He didn't even spare anybody a glance as he quickly strode over to Aelora, picked her up like she was a baby he needed to protect, shield from the world and left the silent chamber.

༻❦༺

𝐀egon kept walking with Aelora clinging to him, ignoring the questionable stares, until they reached the godswood and he stud her by the tree.He knew she always loved to read beneath it, so he assumed it would help calm her tears and clear distraught shock.

Aelora still didn't say a word, didn't even cry as she sat down on the grass and hugged her knees to her chest, gripping her dress in tight fistfuls.

"Lora..." Aegon muttered, tilting his head in concern when he noticed the tears still trickling down her cheeks, yet her face remained as still and blank as a statue.

He hesitantly kneeled down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder, a simple act which seemed to suddenly bring Aelora back down to reality and trigger her nervous breakdown.

She cried, hiccuped and mumbled incoherently as she clung to her elder brother for comfort.Aegon froze, unsure of what to do or how to react at first, until he heard her mumble a barely audible apology and it seemed to snap something in him.

He wrapped his arms around Aelora and held her as close and tightly as possible, mumbling into her hair how she should never apologise and it wasn't her fault.He'd long accepted the hatred and treatment he received from their mother, the fate he was subdued to the moment he was born, but something woke in him when he witnessed Alicents hand collided with Aeloras innocent, soft face.Something woke a sudden reflex of care and protectiveness Aegon never felt so strongly before.

Sure, he'd protected her from obnoxious children who'd picked on and shoved her before, as she didn't have the backbone to defend herself, but he never thought he'd have to protect her from the same people who put her on a pedestal high above him.Know he'd subconsciously made it a life's mission.

It was in these rare moments Aegon wished he was king, that he could actually do something to prevent the cruel fate Aelora was being tied too, rather than just empty promises he thought to himself.

༻❦༺

𝐖hile the red palm-mark on Aeloras face begun to fade into the usual rosy shade of her cheeks, her relationship with her mother had yet to mend.

She hadn't step foot in her chambers since, always hiding away with one of her siblings whenever she heard Alicent was looking for her.Not even the queens personal and most trusted guard, Ser Criston, could convince Aelora to see her mother.

As a result of this, Alicent sent Ser Criston to sit in on every visit Aelora made to Helena, which mainly consisted off hair braiding, cross stitching and occasionally tea.Not exactly an entertaining evening for a man who once fought in war and battle fields.

"How many legs does it have?" Aelora queried, thinning her eyes at the odd creature in her elder sister's hand, as she sat behind her, crossed legged.

"They are too small to count" Heleana answered in her usual soft, dreamy voice.

Aelora simply hummed and frowned, returning her focus to the multiple small braids she was creating in Heleanas silver hair.The two sisters often spent the day together, mostly in silence, unless Aelora had some sort of story to ramble on and on about.Her enjoyment of socialising and her sisters lack of seemingly worked quite well together, Aelora being a constant uplift and trusted companion for her sister while Heleana calmed her bubbly personality when needs be.Heleana preferred her own company, while Aelora constantly itched and feared of being alone, so whenever her elder sister grew tired of company she agreeably sat in complete silence, happy to just be in the same room as her.

"Ser Criston?" Aeloras perky voice broke the still silence that usually filled her sisters chamber.

The knight, who had been stud in the corner of the room watching from afar, lifted his head up at the call of his name. "Princess?"

"Do you think your hair may be long enough for me to braid?" Aeloras hand were still tangled in Heleanas hair, but she seemed to be running out of space for her delicate braids.Unfortunately for Ser Criston, he was the next closest person.

"Uhhh...I'm not quite sure, Princess, certainly not as long as Princess Heleanas-..."

"But I am running out of space, and her hair will be too wavy to braid once more if I undo them all" She whined, a childish pout on her lips along with her pleading, doe eyes.A tactic she often used to get whatever she wanted.

Ser Criston hesitated, going from fighting in wars to playing tea with two young girls was humiliating enough as it is.He'd have to return to the Queen with braided hair, instead of any news on when her daughter planned to forgive her.

Aelora grew tired of waiting for an answer and took it upon herself to get up, grab Ser Criston by the arm and force him to sit down besides Heleana.

"Princess-..."

"Stay still, this may be trickier than I thought" She hummed, tilting her head and thinning her eyes in concentration.

"I don't think-..."

"She can't concentrate unless it is silent" Heleana, surprisingly, shushed the knight on behalf of her sister.

Ser Criston quietly sighed under his breath and soon accepted his fate.He left the chamber looking as if he'd spent the afternoon being pampered and not as an acting nurse, especially after Aelora was so disgusted by the state of his dirty hands.A sigh left the Queens lips as she immediately spotted the familiar small braids scattered in her guards hair, having witnessed her sons become victim to the same situation many times before.

"She ran out of space?"

Ser Criston simply closed his eyes and nodded.

༻❦༺

(A/N)

I know Borros (Baratheon) only has his four daughters but for the sake of the plot we're pretending he has a son.

I could write an essay on Aegon and Aeloras relationship and how they both mirror Alicent. (and i probably will)

That last scene was so random and lazily written,  but I'm a firm believer of the "Criston being a father figure for the Green siblings" theory (and I also wanted a wholesome ending after that very depressing scene)

I KNOW it's been CENTURIES since I updated this book (and this is only a short chapter) I'm terribly sorry to all the starving Jay and Aelora fans,  pls have mercy, leave me alone 😞🤚

ANYWAYS, enjoy my once in a blue moon update (jk, I am rlly trying to be more active again, schools kicking ya girl while she's down)

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