The moon fell and the sun rose upon King's Landing once more, and Alyarra Stark did not close an eye at all after the night in which Jaehaerys' head was torn off from his body.

She sat against the wooden frame of the bed, craddling Baelon to her chest, and she prayed. All night long she prayed for repentance and for the Gods, old and new, to protect her son from any harm and evil. She held on tightly to her son, afraid that any moment he would be torn off from her arms like Jaehaerys was from Helaena's.

Alyarra sobbed quietly as she looked down at her baby. She had been so close to losing him. She could not even begin to imagine the pain and grief that Helaena must have felt; and she felt guilty because she knew that those men came for Baelon. Yet she couldn't help but feel gratitude that her son was not the one taken. Was she a terrible person for that?

Baelon fussed in her arms, and she looked down at him, planting a soft kiss on his forehead in an attempt to calm him down. "You're okay..." She whispered, tears spilling from her eyes as she tried to quiet him down.

The door to the bedchamber opened and closed and in came Aemond, his frame stained with blood. Alyarra looked up at him as he came to the side of the bed, staring down at their son stoicly. "Did you..." She trailed off as she looked up at him expectantly.

"One of them was seized at the Gate of the Gods." He informed her. Aemond wanted to reach out and touch his son; to hold him, but he did not wish to stain the babe with the blood of that man.

"Is he..." She asked, her eyes falling to Aemond's hands that were painted red with blood. "No. Not yet. Criston is dealing with him now." Aemond answered.

"I've ordered for Baelon's cot to be brought in. He'll be sleeping with us from now on." Aemond told her as he shuffled about the bedchamber. He shed his clothes, as Alyarra looked out to the balcony.

"Where were you?" She asked, her gazed fixed on the rising sun as he stopped his moving. "You were gone for hours , Aemond." She pressed, and she could see his back muscles tense. She referred to the hours before Jaehaerys' murder.

"I was with Cole, training." He answered yet she knew he was lying. Alyarra placed Baelon down on the bed and tucked him in between the plush pillows. She stood up and moved behind Aemond, arms crossing over her chest.

He could see her through the mirror, staring at the back of his head angrily. "You were not there, and yet you dared shame me because I wanted to keep him safe. Do you see now what I meant?" She asked him, her tone clearly disdainful.

"What you did was sneaky and treacherous, Alyarra." Aemond spat, turning to meet her burning gaze with his own fiery one.

"What I did was to save Baelon's life! Jaehaerys is dead. Your nephew's head was taken from his body, do you understand that?! Because of what you did." Alyarra said angrily, looking up at Aemond with so much anger, more than he had ever seen in her eyes.

"They were going to take Baelon's head! Rape me! And yet you dare say what I did was treacherous?! What I did was logical... and you... you don't even care about what happened." She knew the accusation was a strong one, but she did not care.

Aemond's face contorted in pure rage, he turned away from her and slammed his left fist into the looking glass in front of him, causing it to come shattering down unto the ground.

Baelon's cries filled the bedchamber, and after she glared at Aemond, Alyarra rushed to their baby boy. "Sh... my sweet child." She cooed and Aemond could only watch her as she comforted the child he had failed to protect.

"I do care, Alyarra. More than I do about anything in this godforsaken world. He is my life, my soul; and you dare claim I do not care?" He asked, the disdain more than evident in his voice.

"Then let us go! Send us away! Aemond, this war will only grow fiercer and colder. Blood will continue to shed and your sister will soon come for King's Landing... We can not be here. She will only show us cruelty after what you did." Alyarra pleaded and he shook his head instantly.

"Enough! You are my wife and you will do my bidding! You will stay with me and so will my son, and I will hear no contest. Do you understand that?!" Aemond was speaking in a firm voice; commanding her, ordering her to be submissive.

"You will get us killed! I hope you know that!" She snapped back as she craddled Baelon. Aemond's nostrils flared as he stared at Alyarra, and without a word he went into the bathchamber and slammed the door shut.

Alyarra rolled her eyes at him and continued to craddle her son.

She didn't understand where this all went so wrong.

-

Alyarra dressed herself for the day, and left Baelon with his wetnurses, but only because ten guards had been assigned to the young prince.

Benjamin accompanied her down to court, and she was well nervous. She knew that the night before had been a terrible tragedy and she was not ready to face the reality of it all.

When she got there, she entered the hall to find Aegon sitting the throne with a stoic expression on his face. The hall was bustling with lords and ladies alike trying to get his attention or their word in, but they were notedly ignored as he stared at absolutely nothing.

Aemond stood at his side, Otto and Criston at the other one. All of them were listening, or atleast trying, to every member of the court and their thoughts and suggestions about the attack on the Red Keep.

Alicent stood solemnly by Aemond's side, her gaze vacant as she stared at nothing in front of her. Alyarra felt her heart ache as she eyed the Dowager Queen, and as her eyes roamed the room, her gaze met Aemond's.

His eye was rather hard on her and then he averted his gaze away from her and down to Tyland Lannister who was angrily speaking to him. Everybody was livid at what had happened, it was evident.

"We hear you! All ratcatchers shall be put to the sword." Otto announced suddenly, trying to quiet down the court.

"We have to attack Dragonstone." Aegon spoke up as he stared ahead of him, his eyes focused on nothing in particular.

"That fat whore's head must be mounted on spikes and burned to ashes." He spoke angrily, his nose cringing up in sheer disgust.

"I want her head and her bastard's heads! All of them! I want her dead. All of them! My brother and I will mount our dragons and burn that castle to the ground." Aegon stated, hurling the goblet he had been holding to the floor in front of him.

Alyarra gulped as she stared at Aemond, who was standing with his head held high as his brother spit all sorts of curses and insults about their sister.

"My Kin-" Aegon cut his grandsire off with a cold glare. "I am assigning a new Hand of the King." Aegon stated nonchalantly.

Gasps were heard through the hall at the news, and Otto Hightower was certainly caught off guard by this. Alicent too looked up in surprise to her son, and Aemond had his brows furrowed in confusion.

Would Aegon name Aemond hand? The idea made Alyarra sick for some reason. The pressure of the war had weighed so much on him already, being Hand would only worsen their already sick relationship, she was sure.

"Criston Cole will be named Lord Hand effective immediately. Your inaction is to blame for the start of this war. The Great Houses should not be flaking and kneeling to my sister; and that is your own fault." Aegon told his grandsire bitterly.

Otto looked simply stunned as he looked between his grandson and the new Lord Hand. Whispers adorned the Hall as the nobles looked at the scene in front of them, and Ser Criston was the first one to speak.

"It is my honor, your grace. I will fulfill my duty loyally as I have always." He said with a nod of the head.

Alyarra's mouth curled into a snarl as she stared at the new Lord Hand. He was terrible, and surely the war will only worsen with him at Aegon's side.

The court was soon dismissed and the members of the Small Council were called upon by the King and his new Hand. Aemond walked solemnly to the council chambers with his mother next to him. They went into the chambers and Aemond sat down across from his grandsire, who looked humiliated and baffled.

Each member sat down around the table awaiting for Aegon and the new hand, and soon they came into the room. Aegon slammed the door behind him angrily and slumped in his seat with Criston by his side like a shadow.

"I have advised the King on a new plan to action to counter our attack on the blacks. Instead of attacking Dragonstone, we will send Arryk Cargyll to infiltrate the castle. He will pose as his twin brother, Erryk, and kill Rhaenyra from within." Criston explained as the members of the council listened intently.

"What happens when they notice both twins are in the castle? Erryk won't disappear." Aemond asked as he looked at his drunkard brother.

"He will have to be slaughtered by Arryk." Criston answered plainly, a statement that made Aemond raise a brow. "And he will?" He asked and the new hand nodded his head.

"The attack that took place the last night has been a blow dealt too low to our cause. Cruel and unforgivable. We must act and soon, yet we must not be foolish with our actions. Though we have Vhagar, we can not just appear above Dragonstone skies. They have a larger number of dragons to their cause. We must be cautious in our avenging of Prince Jaehaerys." Criston answered with a confident tone.

"If we do ever plan to attack, we have to gather a larger army. Stark still proves a burden and problem. If he decides to engage, this war might just be well over." Jason Lannister spoke up suddenly, and Aemond already knew where this was going.

"Perhaps negotiations must be made with Lord Cregan Stark." Larys Strong was the next one to speak, and this only made Aemond snap his head towards him.

"I second that notion. We have something valuable in this castle. We have his sister, the only other Stark alive apart from his newborn babe. Surely that counts for something." Maester Orwyle chirped in.

"That counts for nothing. My wife will not be used as leverage in this war." Aemond stated firmly, his gaze moving to his brother who was already staring back at him.

"Think with a cool head, Prince Aemond." Criston said condescendingly.

"My wife will not be traded off to the North. That is final. One more word of her being used as leverage to negotiate with Stark and I will leave on dragonback to Essos and never be found again, is that clear?" Aemond slammed his fist on the table angrily.

"Perhaps we send Cregan Stark a warning then. Not Lady Alyarra... but something that lets him know what happens whena we are betrayed." Larys suggested and each person in the room turned to him.

"What about Lady Catherryn Mormont? Lord Jeremiah Mormont is one of Stark's most trusted advisors. Surely sending his daughter's head on a pike will send a loud and clear message." Larys spoke and Aemond's heart dropped.

Catherryn was Alyarra's best friend. She could not be killed, it would kill Alyarra. Everyone remained quiet until Criston Cole spoke again.

"I agree. Lady Catherryn is a traitor in the way she spoke of the King, and she must be put to justice." He said easily, and Aemond looked to his brother to try and gauge what he was thinking in that head of his.

"What the fuck does Catherryn Mormont have to do with the murder of my son?" Aegon asked with a snarl as he eyed the lords around the table.

"Mayhaps we do not know. She had been speaking with her father for a few days. Perhaps she had to do with what transpired the last night." Larys suggested stupidly; and Aemond frowned at those words. Was he fucking serious?

"That is not a valid accusation. There is no way to prove that Catherryn had anything to do with the murder of my nephew." Aemond stated firmly.

"And there is no way to prove that she was not." Jason Lannister countered easily. This could not happen.

"This could be declared an act of war. We can not do this, not to Cregan Stark. Who knows what sort of counter this will gain. We can not shed any more blood, not after last night." The voice of reason was the Dowager Queen, who had been silent this entire time.

"Blood is what needs and will be shed, mother. It is undeniable now. Blood must be shed after what they did to my son. They must all die." Aegon snarled angrily.

"Not an innocent girl's blood! No more bloodshed! I will not allow for it!" Alicent slammed her hand on the table angrily.

"Well that is just too bad, mother. Because I believe your days of ruling are over. I am the King, and I say off with her head."

-

Alyarra was patting Baelon's back to get him to burp when Aemond came into their chambers. She gave him a pressed smile and continued patting her baby's back. "How is he?" Aemond asked quietly as he moved to tug off his doublet.

"Fine. He has gasses, says the wetnurse. He is quite fussy for it." She answered and turned slightly, showing Aemond the babe's face. His gaze softened as he eyed his son and then he took him from her arms and craddled him himself.

"One thing we did get right, hm?" Aemond asked as he stared down at his son lovingly. Alyarra smiled slightly and nodded her head. "The one thing." She said meekly.

Silence filled the chamber until Alyarra decided to speak up once more.

"What did the council decide? Will you be attacking Dragonstone?" Alyarra asked quietly. Aemond shook his head as he bounced Baelon on his arms.

"No. Criston came up with a new plan to infiltrate the Dragonstone castle. Let us just hope it works." Aemond answered stoicly whilst Alyarra nodded and moved to prepare Baelon's cot.

"I do have to tell you something of importance, Alyarra. And I need you to sit down for it." Aemond told her whilst he moved to set Baelon down in his cot.

"What?" She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest in confusion. Aemond gulped and took a deep breath.

How did one tell their wife that her best friend in the world was going to be beheaded a week from now? There was no way.

"Love... they... they deliberated over Catherryn's case..." Aemond trailed off, and by the pale look on Aemond's face, she could tell sonething was not right.

"What is it, Aemond? Tell me!" She ordered as he pressed his lips together and moved to grab her hands in his.

"Alyarra... Catherryn is to be beheaded the next week."