This chapter is dedicated to: LostDreamWalker & sxfttargaryen

"FIRE!!"

"We need HELP!"

"Fire! There's a fire here!"

Screams filled the hallways of the Red Keep that very night. Guards and servants ran in the direction of the fire with heavy buckets of water, trying to put it out, but it was getting worse and the water wasn't helping.

"Edith!" screamed Helaena over and over, as loud as she could. The princess stood a little distance away from the burning room door and had to be held by her husband and mother to keep her from running into the fire.

Princess Edith's room was burning brightly and the old wooden door was already burned to ashes. Slowly the fire moved over the wallpaper and wooden furniture of the room and destroyed everything that was in there. The stone walls alone did not yet allow the fire to spread into the hallway, but the smoke and fumes did.

Some servants had discovered the fire and immediately informed the queen and her children.

For several minutes they had been standing desperately in front of the room, hoping for a sign of life from the princess, but none came.

Alicent closed her eyes and guiltily bowed her head. She had married the girl to her son and thus bound her to the capital. The young girl's death would forever be her fault and plague her for the rest of her life. Sighing, Alicent rested her head on her daughter's shoulder and squinted her eyes painfully. Ser Adrik stood behind her and placed a hand on Alicent's shoulder as he looked toward his niece's burning room.

They were all standing in the hallway in their sleeping clothes and had barely managed to put on a cloak or robe.

Aegon's gaze was fixed on the opposite stone wall, since he could not bear to see the flames. He could not bear the thought that Edith was in there and perhaps already dead.

Helaena could not bear this thought either, but she showed it differently by crying loudly and threatening to collapse. She had not even had a chance to say goodbye and now Edith was gone and would never return.

Aemond and Daeron seemed composed and watched what was happening as if they were not even present. "Now do something!" shouted Daeron at the knights next to him, who immediately ran to fetch more water.

All this was already taking far too long and the faster the minutes passed, the more the hope of getting Edith out of bed alive disappeared.

"Please let me get to her... please..." cried Helaena in the arms of her mother and husband. With their help alone, she still managed to stand upright. "...Edith is sick after all... She can't manage to stand up by herself... please..."

His sister's words reminded Aemond again of what a bad state his wife had been in lately and he instantly blamed himself for this misfortune. He should never have brought her back to that room.

He should have taken her to his chamber and stayed with her. Instead, he had put her life on the line and had done some errands for his family in the city. He had rarely checked on her and had not seen her for two days already.

Something inside Aemond screamed at him and hurt. He wondered if his sister felt the same and why he, of all people, got such a bad feeling.

A moon ago he would have been happy now, but now he wished to burn himself in this fire, because Edith didn't deserve that.

Aemond felt weak and helpless and thought he was going mad. He finally needed certainty and took a few steps closer, but was stopped by Ser Adrik. "Don't. You won't help her if you burn as well." Adrik tried to convince him.

"I and Edith share the blood of the dragon in our veins. We are not meant to burn." He reminded his mother's guard with a gruff tone and was about to walk past Adrik, but was stopped by his mother's voice. "Aemond! You're not going in there!" she ordered him, breaking away from her daughter and instead taking Aemond's arm to pull him towards her so he would get away from the fire.

They all knew the old stories about the Targaryen genes, but no living person had ever seen this with their own eyes, nor did they want to try it.

"Your wife is a young strong woman. She will survive this." Alicent held his arm and stroked his cheek.

"But you can't promise me that." He replied defiantly, hurt. It tortured him just to stand here and for once he didn't care what the others thought about him. Aemond worried about Edith and was terribly afraid for her.

Not only was there incredible fear outside the door, but behind it as well.

Edith and Ser Colin stood hidden behind the secret door, looking helplessly at each other. They had opened the door only briefly and immediately closed it again at sight of the destroyed room. With tears in her eyes, Edith looked at Colin and thought of the possibilities they now had.

They could go back and return safely to the Red Keep through the dungeon, but then someone would catch them and that would not end well.

The second option was to go through the fire and risk their lives as well.

For a moment Edith closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Colin, you must go back and escape across the dungeon." She said firmly.

"And you, Princess?" asked the knight, shaking his head. "You can't go back to your room. Come with me."

"No, please get yourself to safety and go to your room. I will cover you, Ser Colin. Please go now." Edith put her hands on his shoulders and tried to push him down the hall.

"You won't survive this-"

"I will. I'm a Targaryen." She interrupted, smiling at him encouragingly. "Now go, I command it...I want to see if the stories are true."

With emphasis, she pushed him away and it took a moment for Colin to actually walk back down the aisle, leaving Edith behind. Relieved, she had to sigh and then turned back to the door that led to her chamber.

Without further hesitation, she opened it again and stepped into the chamber. Immediately she was enveloped by the smoke and held her cloak protectively in front of her mouth and nose.

With wide eyes she looked around her room and turned. Everything that had once belonged to her was burning down. Every one of her possessions was lost and even her own life seemed lost as her long cloak caught fire. Startled, she quickly undid the cords and threw the cloak to the ground, where it quickly burned in the flames.

Shocked, Edith watched as only ash was left of the piece of cloth. There were ashes everywhere and even the old cupboard in front of the secret door burned down in a bright red-orange tone, so that she could not push it back again.

Carefully, she ran to her nightstand and reached for the knob, but jerked back in fright as it caught fire as well. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized she couldn't even save the letters from her family. Edith just lost everything.

The room was noisy. The burning wood crackled and rustled loudly in her ears and at the same time the girl was deaf, so she didn't notice when a piece of wood came off the four-poster bed and fell next to Edith's feet.

Startled, she flinched and jumped back. The wood had only just missed her bare feet. Only now did she notice that her feet were bare and that she was no longer wearing shoes. The whole floor was mid-wave on fire and Edith was in the middle of it. The fire had destroyed her textile shoes, but strangely enough she felt no pain, not even when the flames touched her feet.

She would have loved to cry out in relief. Her father's stories were all true, thank God, and were probably saving her life right now. Edith had never loved her Targaryen genes as much as she did now.

"Edith! Edith please!"

The called one turned in the direction of the voices and she immediately recognized Helaena's tearful voice, which seemed to snap her out of her trance.

Without paying further attention to her surroundings, Edith walked through the fire and out through the dark smoke to safety, ignoring the pain in her feet as she stepped on the last splinters of wood the fire just crawled up her nightgown and destroyed it.

Aemond had never been so glad as at this moment to see his Edith again. She literally stumbled out of the burning room. Her skin was blackened by the smoke, her hair was disheveled and her nightgown was on fire, but she never looked more beautiful than now.

Edith looked alive.

The man snatched a blanket from a man's hand and placed it protectively around Edith's body to smother the flames. Firmly he then put his arms around her delicate body and stroked her brownish hair with the black rust. He could hardly comprehend holding her in his arms. In the last moments he had been terribly afraid for her and had confronted her death.

But she was in his arms and had her arms wrapped around him and was alive.

Edith was alive.

When everyone realized this, they looked at the girl in shock until relief overtook them and they all exhaled.

Helaena was the first to run to the couple and put her arms around Edith as well. The princess was still crying, but this time with relief that her friend was still alive. She didn't like to imagine what she would have done if she wasn't.

Edith let herself sink into the embrace and wearily rested her head on Aemond's chest, while Helaena hugged her from behind and held her hand tightly.

She could hardly believe herself to have survived it. It had been horrible and she had only been in the flames for a few minutes. Never again did she want to experience something like that.

"Get the maesters immediately!" the queen ordered two nearby guards.

"No!" screamed Edith when she heard that and broke away from the embrace of Aemond and Helaena while shaking her head. "I'm fine. I don't need a maester... I'm fine!" She didn't want to go to any of the maesters now, she didn't want to go to any of those old men, and none of them should examine her, because they were probably to blame for her unhappiness.

"You should get yourself checked up." Said Aemond firmly to his wife, pointing at her smoke-stained black skin. Helaena beside him nodded in agreement.

Edith knew she was in no position to fight back against her husband and she was in no position to do so right now, so she nodded exhaustedly. "Can I... can I take a bath first?" she asked.

Alicent put one hand on Daeron's shoulder while she put the other on Helaena's and gently pushed the two of them forward. "I'll let Maester Ludwig know. He'll check on you later." The queen agreed with Edith's plan and would have loved to sigh in relief. "We should all go back to bed now. The fire seems to be getting under control."

Indeed, Alicent was right. The guards and servants had gotten the fire well under control and most of it was already out, but still it was not over.

"I will keep an eye on it, Your Grace." Said Ser Adrik with confidence and stood upright next to his queen and lover. She just nodded and left the hallway with Daeron and Helaena and Aegon followed the three hesitantly.

Left behind was a girl who had just walked through the fire and now kept her head down and stared at the ground. With her was a young man who looked after his family. He cursed them for leaving him here, because he had no idea what to do now.

In the end, it was Edith who went up the hall. She pulled the blanket tighter around her body, because she suddenly felt naked.

Aemond opened for her the door to his chamber, which was now the common chambers since the wedding and at the latest after the fire. "You go ahead. I'll join you in a moment." Aemond said in an unusually soft voice and left the chamber again.

Edith didn't even have the chance to say something back, as he was already gone. Her head was empty except for the images of the fire. She had come out of it unharmed, but her soul was wounded and her thoughts would always torment her with that memory. She still could not comprehend what had just happened.

She didn't know how long she stood in the room staring blankly at the wall as two maids came in and prepared the bath. With them, Aemond also came back into the room.

When everything was ready, he led her into the side room and carefully took off the blanket she was still clutching tightly. He then helped her out of the last remnants of her nightgown, which was really just dark threads.

Rarely had he ever been as caring to anyone other than his family as he was now to Edith. He really cared about her and wanted her to be well, it was an unfamiliar feeling and yet for once he was not uncomfortable. He had cared about her and now he continued to do so, which is why he now took off his cloak and was now wearing only cloth pants and a silk shirt.

While Edith sat in the hot water staring at the wall, Aemond sat down next to her and took a piece of soap with which he gently stroked her back, almost as if he could hurt her.

Edith turned her head in his direction and looked into his violet eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked softly.

"Helping you." He answered simply and just as quietly, without looking at her. With one hand he wet her back and with the other he gently stroked her back with the soap.

"Why?" Confused, she looked at him and shook her head slightly in confusion. "You hate me. Why are you helping me?" she wanted him to tell her.

"I don't hate you."

"Since when?" asked the girl with brownish hair, eyeing his face.

Aemond finally raised his head and looked at her with his violet eyes. "Ask again and I'll quickly change my mind." He murmured to her, leaning forward a bit towards her. Edith nodded and remained silent. She was still not in the mood to argue. Besides, she really enjoyed the way he massaged her back with the soap.

The princess also took a piece of soap and began to rub her arms and legs, freeing them from the rust and fumes.

"Aemond?"

"Yes?" he replied.

"I don't want to be examined." She confessed to him and turned to face him in the when so that he could not now reach her back.

His gaze immediately dropped lower than her eyes and he had to pull himself together. In fact, his eyes then lingered on the chain at her neck. "Tell me why." He demanded, reaching out a hand for the necklace and running his thumb over the beautiful sapphire.

It was no surprise that the necklace had survived the fire, but it pleased him nonetheless. Edith looked so beautiful and so forbidden sitting in the tub wearing only his necklace, ignoring the rust on her skin. Maybe it was the darkness and the danger that attracted him so much.

"I think someone is trying to kill me, Aemond." The girl admitted softly.

Aemond paused in his movement at her statement and looked at her with interest. "Why do you think that? Because of the fire?" He had to hide his emotion in his voice, because for a moment the thought came to him as well when he thought he had lost her.

"The fire speaks for itself." She replied, pausing to sigh before continuing. "I wasn't sick...I think I was poisoned." Edith had promised Helaena not to tell anyone about it, but she couldn't stay silent any longer. "I drank tea with Helaena and after that I was sick. Maester Ludwig kept bringing me potions after that, but after drinking this tea I always felt worse than better... I stopped drinking it quickly and recovered fast..."

Aemond listened intently as she spoke and nodded understandingly, but decided to let her finish first.

"I have to be honest that I've been faking the illness for the past few days and have spilled the tea. I wanted to find out for myself who it was and why he did it...then came-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he interrupted her then.

"Would you have believed me?"

Aemond was silent, but it was answer enough for Edith. "Got it." She said flippantly and turned back around.

"Mhm." Escaped and he started soaping her again. "I'll follow up on that, Edith." He promised her softly.

To look at him again, Edith just turned her head this time and actually had to smile. "Thank you, Aemond." She bent down and kissed his cheek.

With his help, she rid her beautiful body of the dirt and thoughts of the past moments and just in time she had put on a new nightgown and got into bed when there was a knock at the door.

Fearful and wide-eyed, she looked at her husband, who only nodded reassuringly.

Aemond opened the door for Maester Ludwig, blocking his way and his view of Edith. The latter looked at the young prince in confusion. "My prince. Please let me see her." He asked Aemond. In his hands he held a cup, as so often in the last days.

Suspiciously, the silver-haired one looked at the cup and finally took it from the old man. "My wife is already asleep, so I will give her the tea later. Thank you, maester." He replied coolly, closing the door and locking it immediately.

Edith actually felt touched by his behavior and it puzzled her greatly. When she came out of her room he had immediately put a blanket around her and hugged her tightly to smother the fire on her clothes. Then he had washed her and had now lied for her, to which he had not left her side for a second except when he had fetched the maids for the bath.

"I thank you..." she said Sincerely and watched him put the cup beside her on the bed. For a moment she got scared that he would force her to drink the potion to make him confirm her theory, but he didn't. "Really." Edith sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at him with a slight smile.

Aemond, on the other hand, opened his pants and took them off until he was standing in front of her in just his sleeping robe. He kept the eye patch on as usual and Edith was already wondering if and when he would ever take it off. Did he wait until Edith was asleep or did he accidentally take it off in his sleep?

She had already seen him without the eye patch, but she could understand that he wasn't ready yet.

With or without. Aemond was a beautiful young man as she realized.

He took the cup in his hand and smelled it carefully. His expression was still skeptical as he looked back and forth between Edith and the cup.

"I'm not going to drink it." She said immediately when she noticed his look.

"I don't want you to." He justified himself rolling his eyes and lifted the cup again to take a sip himself and test this disgusting drink.

"Don't!" Startled, Edith immediately stood up when she saw what he was about to do and slapped the cup out of his hand. The porcelain flew across the room and then shattered into thousands of pieces as it hit the floor, spilling its contents.

Still in shock, the two spouses looked each other in the eye and had to process the last few seconds. Aemond had really been ready to drink the poison himself, but Edith had prevented him.

"Have you gone mad?" she asked him, upset.

"Have you gone mad?" he asked her the counter question, pointing to the broken porcelain and the spilled liquid.

"That's poison! Haven't you been listening to me? You can't do that to yourself, Aemond! You've seen me suffer..." At the beginning her voice was still sour, but softened towards the end. The two of them might have their differences, but she didn't wish anyone what she had to go through as a side effect of the tea.

Not even to Aemond did she wish it.

"Are you afraid about me?" he asked with a smug smirk, looking down at her, making her roll her eyes. "Yes damn it!" she answered honestly, without thinking, and again the two looked at each other silently for a moment.

"You did?"

"I did."

Not a second later Aemond put his hands around Edith's cheeks and he pulled her close in this way, only to kiss her the next moment. Immediately the princess returned the young man's kiss and put her arms around his neck.

Aemond pushed the woman in his arms backwards until her knees touched the bed. Together with him, she climbed onto the bed and lay down while he bent over her, already playing with her nightgown.

As if in a rush, the couple kissed passionately and quickly took off the last clothes, which finally landed on the floor next to the broken porcelain.

No one had believed that they would ever be in this situation.

Someone was after Edith's life and it wasn't really Aemond, because he was on her side from now on and was under her control.

But neither of them cared now about what had happened and what was to come. All that mattered was the here and now and the knowledge that the two needed each other.

Like two addicts they clung to each other's bodies and kissed every inch of their partner's skin until they couldn't get enough of each other and their passion won again and again and again...

***

We have not seen each other for a long time, but here was a new chapter! :)

What do you guys think about it?

I'm still open to new ideas and suggestions for this story so I can finish it eventually...

Have a good day|a good night♡♡