" We stand here in the sight of gods and men to witness the union of man and wife: one flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever. Let it be known that Princess Helaena of House Targaryen and Prince Aegon of House Targaryen are one heart, one flesh, one soul. Cursed be he who would seek to tear them asunder."

The wedding of Aegon and Helaena came quickly and without fuss. The Lords and Ladies of the realm all agreed to show up for the marvelous day, to celebrate the union of the prince and princess.

But all throughout the ceremonies, Aegon has his eyes on someone else, someone he didn't just marry.

All night long Aegon stares at his older sister. He stares at Vaemyra as he eats his food and drinks his wine, and even as he dances with his poor wife. Vaemyra ignores his longing gazes and instead focuses on her father, who's barely able to keep his head up.

The queen notices as well, and orders for the king to be taken back to his chambers.

Viserys is unable to open his eyes, he hides his head in his hands as he's taken out of the throne room. He truly wanted to be here for today, but he cannot stay any longer.

As Aemond sits by Vaemyra's side, he can tell that her mood is damped by the departure of their father. Though he is not yet an adult, he is no more a child. He's just recently 16, and has grown taller than all of his siblings over the years.

But when Aemond rises from his chair and turns to his sister, he's beaten to the punch by his own brother.

" Vaemyra, sweetling... come dance with me," Aegon smirks with a breath that stinks of wine.

" No thank you, Aegon," Vaemyra sighs as she picks up her goblet of wine and looks over his shoulder, " You have a wife to dance with."

" I already danced with her, and now I wanna dance with you," The prince whines as his brows furrow whilst he leans against the wooden table.

" She already said no, brother," Aemond buts it, " Leave it be."

To which the prince scoffs.

" You can't tell me what to do," Aegon drunkenly boasts, " If I want to dance with my sister, I can fucking dance with my sister, and you can't stop me because you're not even married yet!"

Three sets of eyes go wide.

Vaemyra.

Alicent.

And Aemond.

Whilst still sitting, Vaemyra looks up at him and Aemond looks down at her, his eye-locking on hers from their brother's words.

" We're betrothed?" He asks.

" You didn't know?" Aegon ponders, dumbfoundedly.

" No, Aegon, he did not know," Vaemyra states as her eyes stay locked on her betrothed.

" My bad," Aegon scoffs, then reaches for another goblet of wine.

Leaving his two siblings to have quite an uncomfortable conversation. Aemond wasn't meant to know this early. All he had to do is wait a little bit longer, then the queen and princess would have told him... but fucking Aegon just had to spoil the surprise.

Alicent stands up from her chair and places her hand on her son's shoulder, taking the attention away from the princess and allowing her to depart from the celebrations within the blink of an eye, but as she walks down the halls, her betrothed follows.

" Vaemyra!" He calls out as he struts to her, " Vaemyra! How long have you known?"

" A while," She responds simply as she begins to walk up the steps.

" And you've kept it a secret? You've lied to me?" Aemond questions as he walks up the steps with her as well.

" It was for your own good," Vaemyra states, " You were just a child."

Before she can take another step, her wrist is caught by her brother and he forces her to turn and look at him.

" I am not a child anymore," Aemond insists.

" You are only 16 years of age," Vaemyra refutes, "I am of 7 and 20."

" And so I deserve to be lied to because I am younger?" He asks, then steps forward so he towers above her, even on a lower step, " Didn't you hate it when people used your age as an excuse to mistreat you?"

And as much as Vaemyra wishes to argue, Aemond's perceptive and attentive nature makes it difficult.

" Yes," She says.

" And aren't you now doing the exact same thing to me?"

" Yes."

Vaemyra stays still, her eyes locked on the one eye that Aemond has left, watching intently as she peers beneath the surface.

" If we are to be married," Aemond starts as he smirks from her watching him, " We should begin to act like it."

" And how will we do that?" Vaemyra ponders.

" I'm going to court you."

And with those words, Vaemyra scoffs. She pulls away from her brother and turns to walk up the steps as she chuckles.

" Good luck with that, Aemond."

The princess leaves the prince all alone on the steps with his heart in his hands, making him want to drink an entire barrel of wine and forget that ever happened, forget he heard of their betrothal for now it's the only thing he'll be able to think about.

The night progresses on and the newlyweds consummate their marriage, but it takes an unexpected turn around the hour of the owl, when Aegon stumbles through the halls and into his other sister's chambers, where he brutishly wakes her up from throwing open the door.

" For fuck's sake, Aegon," Vaemyra groans as she sees who dares to wake her.

But he doesn't speak. In his drunken state, he stumbles over to her bed where he attempts to lay his hands on her and kiss her, but it only ends with him on the floor holding his precious balls.

" Are you a fucking idiot or does this turn you on?" The princess questions as she stands in front of him.

" A bit of both?" Aegon wheezily suggests as he tilts his head up.

To which Vaemyra only rolls her eyes.

" Get out," She states, " Go back to your wife."

" But she's so boring," The prince whines as he remains on the floor, " She's not interesting like you! Come on, it'll be fun."

" Aegon--" She starts, only to be interrupted.

" I can make you feel so--"

" Aegon!"

From her shout comes a tight grip along the prince's neck, where her hand stops him from talking as well as breathing.

" Fuck. Off," She seethes through her teeth, before removing him from her grasp and allowing him to gasp for breath.

Vaemyra turns away as she expects him to leave, but the prince only stays. He catches his breath and holds a hand over his sore throat as he stares at the princess with the right words attempting to come to mind.

" You're always so mean to me," He mumbles as his eyes burn with tears, " You're both always so mean to me."

Both.

You're both always so mean to me.

Fuck.

Vaemyra's kind heart comes through once more, making her feel feelings that she doesn't want to feel. Feelings that she's been pushing down for ages. Feeling that make her want to cry and scream and cry again.

She doesn't want to know that Alicent is mean to her son, or that she abuses him and makes him feel unworthy, she doesn't want to know any of it.

She doesn't want to know, because then she will feel.

She will feel sorry for Aegon for facing the abuse at his mother's hand, and feel angry towards Alicent for being the kind of mother she swore she would never be.

" Go," Vaemyra whispers as she stares out the window and uses all her strength to not let the tears fall.

" Vaemyra, please--" Aegon starts.

" Just go!" She shouts as she turns around to shove him out, " Fucking go, Aegon!"

" Sister..." He pleads as he's shoved into the hall.

The door is shut right in his face, just as the tears that dwell within Vaemyra's eyes begin to fall. She wants to sob so fucking badly... but she doesn't. She won't let herself. Instead, she closes her eyes to stop her mind, but more importantly, her heart. She pushes everything down yet again, and she practically stomps all over the kind heart that wants to break free of the harsh grasp.

But as Vaemyra exhales and she opens her eyes... it all goes away. Everything. All that's left is a hollow shell, leaving her face blank and expressionless as the tears on her cheeks begin to dry. But her eyes... her eyes house a fire that will never break. A fire that will never falter, and the very fire that keeps her going.

It was King Jahaerys who once said that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin, and that when a Targaryen is born, the gods flip the coin, and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.

But in the case of Vaemyra Targaryen... her greatness is the very thing that makes her mad.

The gods thought they were blessing her when they gave her the gift of a kind heart, only for it to fester and become something much worse.

A curse.

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