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𝘍𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦 & 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵 - 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

A restful and dreamless night lay behind Edith and for a long time she had not felt as refreshed as she did right now. Nevertheless, she couldn't help yawning as she went into the dining room.

She had already been to check on her mother and her new brother and fortunately they were doing well after the eventful hours yesterday.

"Good morning, sister. Good morning, boys." Greeted the girl with the brownish hair. Edith sat down next to Rhaena and poured herself some tea.

"Good morning." Came from those present in the room and Edith was greeted with a warm smile. Next to Rhaena, Jace and Luke were already eating breakfast. "How are you?" wanted Edith to know from the others.

"Fine, did you sleep?" said Rhaena, handing her a basket of bread, from which Edith took a slice and began to spread it. She nodded slightly and it was hard to hide her smile. It was as if she had never been away. "Better than it's been in a long time." She replied.

The four young people laughed and talked as they usually did, and Edith tried to soak up much of that energy, because soon enough this would be over. She was reminded by the two young men who now came into the room that it was.

Aemond and Daeron came into the room and while the younger of the two grabbed a slice of bread with a grin and sat down at the table, Aemond stopped at the door. "We won't bite." Jace commented on the silver-haired one's behavior, trying to encourage him to come to the table. "Or maybe we will. Figure it out, right?" added Luke with a laugh.

"Hmm." Came out of the mouth of the oldest in the room. Reluctantly, he sat down at the table next to his brother and across from Edith and Rhaena. The girls exchanged only a glance and then rolled their eyes.

With the arrival of the two guests, the mood at the table tilted and the smiles disappeared from their faces. "Did you sleep well?" asked Edith, getting over herself to say something.

"Great, I don't know the last time I slept that long. Isn't that right Aemond?" answered Daeron for himself and his brother, as Aemond ignored those present and ate his bread. Daeron didn't let that bother him and nodded in confirmation for him. "Right. How's the babe?"

Edith was surprised at his question, at his empathy, but then she remembered that Daeron was not a bit like his brother. Maybe her uncle was right and he would be the better choice, only unfortunately that was out of her hands.

"Safe and sound." She then said quickly, without further comparing the two.

"Didn't you say you were all eating together? Half of your family is missing." Aemond stated with a low tone, looking at every face at the table.

"Mother has already eaten." Answered Luke for Edith, looking at his uncle with the same look. Between the two of them, between the different sides, there was still an unspoken enmity that would probably last forever.

It was immediately clear to Edith that Rhaenyra had gotten up extra early to eat so she could avoid her half-brothers. Rhaenyra was so lucky to have such power. None of the children were allowed to act that way either, much to Edith's regret.

Edith rolled her eyes. Aemond annoying her was no surprise to the others and Rhaena wondered how it was that they were both still alive with their rivalry.

"We should all go for a walk? So we can all finally understand each other?" suggested Rhaena then. She just wanted to help, wanted everyone to be happy, but a walk was perhaps not the right suggestion among the young people. No one seemed excited about a walk and being forced to spend time together.

"I would much rather travel back today. It's a long ride." Replied Aemond, without looking at anyone. He then lightly nudged his brother with his elbow.

Daeron looked at his brother. By now his grin and good mood had disappeared. He liked Dragonstone and would like to know more about this place. "We could, but first we will accompany Lady Rhaena and her family on the walk. At least I will." Daeron said firmly.

It was not often that he defied his brother and Aemond had not expected this reaction. A flame flared up inside him. He wanted to go home, wanted to get out of here and away from these people and away from Edith. But to everyone's surprise, he forced himself to smile and nodded. "Of course, you're right, brother."

The rest of the breakfast was spent in silence for the most part and then everyone parted ways to change clothes.

Finally, they all met outside the walls of the black's safe home to go for a walk. Even Aemond came.

In Daeron's face one could see his famous smile again as he took Rhaena's hand, placed it on his arm and walked ahead with her. The others followed the two with serious faces.

Edith walked between Jace and Luke, trying to create as much distance as possible from the silver-haired man. It was creepy to her that he was here. She had never imagined walking with him, but the two of them were not alone.

Only Rhaena and Daeron seemed to get along well, and at one point Luke ran forward to join them. Aemond walked right behind the three of them with Jace and Edith behind him at some distance.

"How are you doing with having to leave so soon?" He wanted to know from her. Edith had her arm wrapped in Jace's arm as they walked.

The two had always been close and for a time she had fancied him too, but that time was long gone. Now there was only one, maybe two, who had stolen her heart.

"To be honest, I'm not comfortable with that, Jace. After all, there's a wedding waiting for me there." She told him honestly and he could understand. "My wedding." She corrected herself with a sigh.

The worst part was that she didn't know who her groom was. It was definitely not Aegon and that almost broke her heart. She missed the poor boy terribly and she felt bad not to have said goodbye to him after he had fought for her.

"I would love to help you. Maybe I should have stood up for you more back then." Jace said with remorse. For a long time these thoughts plagued him.

The girl felt touched, although the boy was not to blame for her situation. "Jace..." Edith dragged out his name while looking at him touched.

"No, I mean it. I should have asked Mother to betroth me to you." Sighed the young man, placing his hand on hers, which was still on his arm. "Please don't say that." She begged him with her big eyes, only looking ahead for a brief moment to make sure her sister couldn't hear them. That would break Rhaena's heart.

"Rhaena really likes you a lot and you should honor that. You should be happy." She whispered to him encouragingly. She liked him a lot, but he wasn't Aegon.

Jace stopped and held her gently, making her stop too. The others continued walking.

"I know but-"

"No! I don't want to hear any more of this, Jacaerys. I'm going to get married and so are you." She said in a serious voice. Never would she put her happiness, above her sister's. "Do you understand me?"

"Do you understand me?" He repeated her words, looking at her seriously. By now the others had disappeared around a corner and had not yet noticed their absence. "Edith, don't you remember? You know I would start a war for you." Jace reminded her.

He had told her that once before a few years ago when they had shared their first kiss. The two never shared more than a kiss and Jace behavior confused her a lot. Did he have feelings for her?

"I don't want to know... I want to prevent a war, not start one! Excuse me." Said the girl with brownish hair, then she detached herself and continued walking, but she didn't get far, because Jace held her by her hand and pulled her into his arms. "I'm going to help you whether you like it or not. I'll do anything." He promised her, resting his forehead against hers.

She was suddenly very uncomfortable being so close to him. She put her hands on his chest and gently pushed him away from her. "What if Rhaena sees us? She might take it the wrong way!" She warned.

Jace didn't seem to take it as seriously as she did and totally misunderstood her behavior. "Are you really concerned about your sister or are you concerned about him?" Jace eyed her intently and took a step back to put distance between them, which Edith was honestly glad of. "But which of the two? Or is it Aegon? I was there during the conversation yesterday." He inquired.

Of course, he thought that Edith returned Aegon's feelings after the conversation yesterday. She had told her family about Aegon and what he was willing to do for her. It should have been clear to her that her family thought that now.

Outraged, she looked at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "How can you ask me such a thing! I'm a lady, Jace!" She reminded him of her status, but really, she didn't want to respond further to his question.

"Forgive me...that was inappropriate." He immediately said and lowered his head to avoid looking at her out of shame.

"Let's forget about that. We both have duties to do." Edith shook her head slightly and continued walking, only to stop again when she saw Aemond standing a few meters in front of her. Inwardly she was annoyed that she hadn't been more attentive and hadn't noticed him, because she didn't know how much he had heard of the conversation.

The girl raised her head self-consciously and walked past the silver-haired without a word to go back to her sister and Luke, her heart pounding loudly in her chest as she did so.

Behind her, the two young men exchanged a look until Aemond followed the girl and Jace followed with slow steps.

"So...you and Jacaerys?" teased Aemond with his cheeky grin.

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes and didn't respond to his cheeky words. He had no idea of what he was saying or thought he saw. Jace's sudden behavior was curious, after all, and she didn't understand why he wanted her all of a sudden now. Maybe it was just the desire for something he couldn't have, like she felt that desire for someone else.

"Are you still mad at me about yesterday?" Aemond looked down at the girl and eyed her.

"I'm always mad at you, Aemond." She replied with a snort. In his presence, she couldn't help but roll her eyes, but it gave her a headache - as he always did.

The young man once again eyed the girl carefully. "Of course." He snorted and looked forward again.

Edith looked forward again now, too, though she could literally feel Jace's eyes burning into her back. "They seem to be getting along well." She murmured more to herself than to either of the boys, but Aemond heard her and followed her gaze.

Daeron and Rhaena were still walking ahead with some distance between them and seemed to be having a good time. You could even hear the girl's laughter all the way over here, and a knot tightened in Edith's stomach. Should she really marry Daeron, she hoped she would get along with him as well.

In the first days in King's Landing, she had spent a lot of time with him and Helaena, but as quickly as he was suddenly there, he was gone again. According to Helaena, he was hanging around the streets of King's Landing a lot at the moment, spending less and less time with his family.

Edith believed Daeron would be the most cooperative husband among the possibilities.

"Are you jealous?" he asked provocatively, laughing. Behind the two of them, Jace could be heard snorting. Only briefly did Edith look back and then back at Aemond. "You tell me, are you?" she replied just as cheekily and walked forward with quick steps to her sister, Luke and Daeron.

"There you are. What have you guys been up to back there all this time?" Luke looked at her with interest and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad she was here in the front now, too. It had been almost awkward for him, as Rhaena and Daeron had been talking exclusively to each other alone.

Edith just shook her head and raked Luke's arm. "Better to not ask." She only said.

Luke just grinned awkwardly and nudged her. "What's King's Landing like?" he inquired. He didn't know of a better topic they could talk about. "I don't want to talk about the capital...tell me something nice. Something from here!" she asked him.

"Something nice... let me think..." Luke pondered, his eyes settling on Rhaena and Daeron beside him. "I think our life here is no different than yours there." He reported to her in a very quiet voice. "Soon Baela will come and then our marriage will be unavoidable, too. Mother says she's planning a double wedding..." Luke didn't seem at all excited about his mother's plan, but everyone knew he would do anything for his mother and he would fulfill his duties.

"You don't sound happy with it?" asked Edith worriedly, but Luke just gave her a meaningful look. "Baela is not the woman I chose, but I will do my duty and be a good husband to her... We are in the same situation. I don't think I need to say more..." the younger one explained himself.

Edith understood him more than anyone else ever could. Neither of them felt it was fair to be a pawn in their parents' game. Forced to stand on one side.

"Hey Luke. Why don't you show me where our dragons are? We could fly a round too." Daeron looked past Rhaena to Luke and seemed genuinely interested. Luke hesitated, visibly confused as to why he was asking him and not Rhaena, but then slowly nodded. "Alright, right now?" asked Luke. Daeron nodded with a laugh, put an arm around Luke's shoulder and pulled him away from the group until Luke took the lead and led him away.

Rhaena looked after the two with a smile. "He's really nice." She commented to the young man, looking after him almost dreamily as Edith had to realize. "Please don't tell me you're falling in love with him, sister." Asked Edith seriously. Daeron was charming, funny and kind, but he was still Alicent's son, who quickly lost his interest in something.

"Don't look at me like that, Edith... I know what you're thinking, but the attention is nice. I often feel alone here since you and Baela left." She justified herself with a sigh. Everyone had a lot to do at the moment, a lot to organize and figure out, plus Aruna's difficult pregnancy and birth.

At the moment it wasn't hard to be overlooked and Rhaena wasn't alone in that.

"And Jace is never that charming. He just sees it all as his duty." Added Rhaena. Understanding, Edith nodded and put an arm around her younger sister. "Soon this will all be over. Maybe we won't have to go through all this..." she encouraged the younger one and herself as well. "We should talk to Father."

The two girls turned to Jace and Aemond, who by now were behind them again.

"Where did they go?" wanted Jace to know from them, looking in the direction where his brother and the prince had disappeared. Aemond also looked curiously at the two girls.

"They have gone to the dragons and now we will also go. We still have an appointment." Answered the girl with the brownish hair, then took her sister's hand and walked with her back into the castle. The two boys quickly parted their ways too.

~~~

"I want to help you so much, but my hands are tied. I announced the marriage in front of the whole council and the most important people of King's Landing... You agreed to it, Rhaena. Why this change of heart?" Rhaenyra wanted to know from the young girl.

The two of them had sought out the princess and were suddenly not sure if this had been the right idea.

"I don't know either..." said Rhaena then quietly. She suddenly wasn't as brave as she had been a few minutes ago. "I just thought... if you can stop Edith's wedding, then... I don't know."

Rhaenyra sighed in disappointment, and was also a bit distressed. "We haven't come to a solution yet. You know it's a lot to do right now... and I can only offer you to postpone the wedding until we have a solution for it." Rhaenyra then said.

You could see how hard this was for her and how unfair she thought it was that she couldn't do more for them.

"Okay...thank you, princess." The silver-haired girl leaned back in her chair, disappointed. She would do her duty, like everyone else, but with everyone out to stop Edith's wedding, Rhaena herself had gotten hopeful.

The door of the common room was opened and a weakened Aruna came into the room with slow steps. "What is this?" she wanted to know. In her arms she held her newborn son and beside her walked her husband.

"Aruna, what are you doing here? You should rest." Rhaenyra immediately went to her sister to support her like Daemon and then put a pillow on one of the armchairs and helped the weak woman to sit down. "Daemon!"

"Don't look at me. I tried to stop her, but you know her." Defended Daemon himself to his niece. Aruna had always been stubborn and when she set her mind to something, not even her husband could stop her. "This is about my daughters and I demand to be present! So what's this all about?" she demanded with a serious face. She was upset that no one had told her.

"Rhaena and Edith don't want to get married." The princess enlightened the lady.

"Nor should they if they don't want to. We'll have to think of something else." She defended her daughters. She loved them so much and wanted to protect them from everything, but she feared that she could not protect her children from everything.

"We've already talked about this, Aruna. We debated it for a long time and our plan with Edith is going well." Rhaenyra sat down on the armchair opposite her sister, while the girls sat on a sofa and Daemon sat on the armrest from his wife's armchair. "The only thing we got out of it is that the bastard wants to get into my daughter's bed." Commented Daemon.

Edith felt bad at her father's words. She had done her best to get information in the capital, but she had not succeeded.

"I'm sorry to have disappointed you. Perhaps I can find out more if I-"

"No, Edda. You will not return to the capital to- to- No." Aruna interrupted her eldest daughter. Baby Viserys slept peacefully in her arms, unaware of the tension in the room.

"Mother, I don't have a choice after all... Aemond and Daeron will bring me back and if they don't, then the Queen will send guards here." Edith shook inwardly at the thoughts. It was a terrible idea, but at the moment there were many more worse things. "I can stop this war!" She wasn't that sure, but she wanted to appear confident in front of her family.

"We'll lock the boys up so they can't escape. They can send as many soldiers as they want, ours are stronger and will stop them. I will stop anyone who tries to get close to you." Daemon was beside himself and stood up during his monologue. He ran a hand through his silver hair and then propped one arm against the back of the armchair. Frustration had lain dormant in him for too long, so now he couldn't hold it back.

Edith sighed. She was touched by his reaction and protective instinct, but that didn't get her anywhere. "I have to go back to the capital. I have to finish this, father. Please." She asked her father as she stood up and took his hands. "I don't want to do this either, but I gave my word."

"Your word is under my word, Edith."

"Daemon!" warned Aruna to her husband with a serious look, looking up at the two of them.

"I don't want to leave here either, father! But I can't help you here." Edith looked pleadingly at her father and then to her mother and Rhaenyra, hoping they could help her.

Rhaenyra understood her cry for help and agreed with the young girl. "She is right, uncle. What other choice do we have?" she asked those present in the room with a sigh, then stroked her aching forehead.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Aruna agreed, placing her hand on her daughter's, who was still holding Daemon's hands. Rhaena agreed with her stepmother with a nod.

"Me neither, but I can do this. Just give me time." Asked the young girl, looking seriously at each of those present. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest when she said that and she could hardly breathe, but she swallowed the evil thoughts and tried to give herself courage. "I'm flying back to the capital and I'm going to do everything I can."

"I hope you're really doing all this of your own free will and because you want to help us..." her father reflected softly, squeezing her hands.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Edith looked at her father in confusion.

"I mean... I hope you don't fly back because of someone." Daemon justified himself and looked at his daughter seriously. "Do you mean Aegon? Father no!" she said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. She swallowed hard before continuing. "I'm doing this for us."

Her family nodded and seemed to grow calmer. Satisfied, however, still no one was.

Maybe she wanted to travel back. Maybe she wanted to see someone again.

She had just been gone a day, and she especially missed Helaena a lot. Her first friend and probably the only one she will ever have.

And then there was still Aegon, who was surely waiting for a clarifying talk with Edith. After all, he had risked a lot to help her and she hadn't even thanked him, but had simply left.

And the promised wedding was also getting closer and closer, driving her madder by the day.

Her skin on her forearms was already all red from the nervous scratching on her skin. Only when her skin hurt as she bathed later that evening did she notice her self-inflicted injuries.

***

Aruna is and will always be my favorite character♡
I love her so much and she complements Daemon so well!:)

What do you think about this chapter?

And about Jace sudden reaction?

Until the next chapter, have a wonderful time!