The morning after was similar to the previous night. Edith stayed with Aemond, because she quickly understood that only he could protect her.

The old maester Ludwig kept trying to gain access to the couple's chambers to continue giving Edith the dreadful tea and to examine her, but Aemond would not let him in.

Better said, Edith managed to convince Aemond not to let the old man in.

After last night's findings, not only her head was spinning, but more importantly, so were her thoughts.

In front of her burning room, the entire royal family and her uncle Adrik, except for the king, had stood looking at the flames in shock. No matter who of them, they all seemed to have been seriously concerned about the young woman.

This was something Edith had not expected.

She had indeed wished that she would mean something to Aegon and Helaena. But she had never believed that Aemond or Alicent could ever have positive feelings toward her. But her eyes had not deceived her yesterday, and neither did they at noon when they all ate together.

For everyone present, eating together was unusual. It was a new tradition Aemond had started after seeing it happen with Edith's family in Dragonstone. He did it for her sake, but often they had not dined together after that visit.

Lunch passed in silence. No one dared speak about what had happened the previous night. Otherwise, Otto Hightower had an irrelevant conversation with his grandson, Prince Daeron, who did not seem very interested.

Edith would have loved to hear something important, something that would distract her and help her family, but they only talked about changes in the city, such as the restlessness of the inhabitants and the increasing poverty. Otto didn't seem to care how people were doing outside the Red Keep. People were starving and working themselves to death, while the Royal Family was dining here and probably more than half would be left.

Edith would have liked to say something, but she dared not raise her voice. It was not yet the right time and she still lacked confidence in her counterpart.

"Your uncle Ser Adrik filled me in this morning on the state of your things in your old room. I don't think there's much left, but I'm sure you'll want to check for yourself, isn't that right?" Alicent cleared her throat and took a sip of wine to soothe her dry throat, after all, now that she had brought up the subject that was on everyone's mind.

Edith looked at the queen with her wide eyes and then nodded slowly. "I would indeed like that very much." She agreed. A tight knot formed in her stomach at the thought of her burning valuables, but she had to see for herself what was left.

"Will you accompany me?" she asked quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear, addressing Aemond. For understandable reasons, Edith did not want to be alone now, and who better to protect her than her own husband?

Aemond sat close to his wife and it actually touched him that she asked him of all people and not his sister and Edith's best friend Helaena. He understood the reason why, but he wanted to keep the belief that she wanted him near her.

"Prince Aemond will already accompany me and Prince Daeron." Answered the king's hand for the prince.

All eyes at the table now turned to the old Hightower with a curious look. He had talked about the city all the time, but he had not mentioned that he wanted to go there today.

"You didn't say anything about that yesterday." Aemond stated annoyed. "Aegon can accompany you. I'd rather stay with my wife, because of the circumstances."

"Because of the circumstances? Aemond, it was just a fire and no one was hurt. I need you and Daeron and I refuse to discuss this with you any further. Perhaps Prince Aegon can accompany your wife if she is not feeling well, or perhaps she should finally get examined." Otto said in a disgruntled tone, looking at his grandsons seriously before turning back to his food.

Aemond just sighed, knowing there was nothing he could say that would change Otto's mind.

"I will gladly accompany Princess Edith and ensure her safety, brother." Aegon grinned at his younger brother with a mischievous smile and you could instantly see in Aemond's face how much he would have liked to grab his brother by the throat.

But he had no choice but to nod. "That would be exceedingly kind of you, brother." He muttered in a bad mood. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving Edith alone with Aegon, having suspected a possible connection between the two for some time.

"Thank you." Edith said without addressing anyone in particular. She also forced herself to smile politely. "How long will you be away with my husband, Lord Hand?" she then boldly wanted to know from Otto.

Actually, she just wanted to know how much time she would have today to visit Ser Harwin and take care of him. Aegon would get rid of her somehow and if not, Helaena would surely help her without asking questions.

"'Unsure." The older man answered her briefly.

"I wonder what happened to your guardsman, Edith? Ser Adrik was unable to find him yesterday." Alicent changed the subject. Her reddish-brown hair was pinned back sensibly as always, and the green dress fit her body like a second skin.

Edith nervously stroked her own green dress under the table. She had no choice and now had to wear the dresses the Queen had given her as a wedding present, since her own dresses did not exist anymore.

"Ser Colin was not feeling well yesterday. I suppose I infected him and I couldn't stand to see him struggling. I sent him to bed early." Replied the young woman with the brownish hair. She hadn't bothered to tuck her curls away this morning and had only tied them with a simple ribbon to keep her hair from falling in her face.

You could see that Alicent didn't believe her daughter-in-law, but she decided to nod and not contradict. She would look into the matter independently and find out why Edith was lying to her.

Not only did Aemond suspect a secret from his wife, but so did Alicent. Only that the two suspected something different and yet the same.

Only they didn't know that they were both wrong and Edith's secret was so much bigger.

When everyone was done eating, no one said goodbye. Without a word, everyone got up and went their separate ways. It was a strange feeling. Back home in Dragonstone, Edith's family would have sat at the table for a long time and they would have talked or at least said goodbye.

Aemond and Daeron followed their grandfather Otto into the city, as already announced, for whatever reason. Maybe at some point Aemond would finally tell Edith what he had to do for days in the city, at the same time she didn't know if she wanted to know or not.

The queen took another exit and disappeared into an unknown hallway, closely followed by her sworn guard Ser Adrik and her daughter Princess Helaena.

A grinning Aegon and an unsettled Edith were left behind, who were the last to leave the room and went directly to Edith's old chambers.

"This may not be an appropriate question, but are you okay?" the silver-haired man asked uneasily, after they had just been in silence the whole way.

For some unknown reason, Edith felt strange. So much had happened in the last day and the fire was the high point. It was not yet clear to her who and why she was being targeted, but it was certain that someone wanted to see the young princess dead.

Edith knew that Aegon was not the mastermind behind the actions, but she was once again unsure who she could actually trust here.

"You know you can talk to me. Don't you remember what I said?" Aegon put a hand on her shoulder to hold her down, preventing her from leaving.

"Of course I remember your words." She answered him, looking up at him with a sigh. His words at her bedside had been on her mind for days and as much as she wanted a future with him, she didn't know how to make it happen without losing herself. "To every single word, Aegon. But now is not the time." The young woman broke free from his grip and took the last steps to her chamber.

At least a few hours ago it had been her chamber.

"What is it not the right time for? To talk or for us?" Aegon wanted to know, his voice sounding impatient and somehow nervous. Did she now want his brother after all, and not him? Just the thought drove him crazy. "Edith?"

"Ssh!" She put a hand over his mouth, silencing him. "'Here the walls have ears. Have you forgotten that?" she whispered to him. It was true, because at every corner someone could stand and listen and no one wanted to imagine what happened then.

Besides, she didn't want to answer his question.

Edith took her hand away again and slipped through the curtain that was hung in front of the room, where the door had been before. Probably they wanted to prevent the view of the room in this way and not let the smell spread.

In the room itself everything was black. The colorful wallpaper and curtains were gone and only dark stones remained on the walls. Everywhere lay remains of the furniture and Edith's valuables.

Of the bedside table, where Edith had tried to save her family's letters in the fire, nothing was left. Neither were the boxes in which she had packed her things with Ser Colin the previous morning for their official move to Aemond's chambers.

Everything was gone and there was nothing left to save.

Cautiously, Edith stepped over the puddles and ashes. As she became aware of the magnitude, her heart broke into a thousand pieces. She felt as if she had lost the connection with her family. Every word exchanged, her mother's self-sewn clothes, and the first pair of leather pants given to her by her father were gone.

Aegon was silent as he followed her into the room and only when he saw the tears in her eyes and on her cheek did he step closer to her and put his arms around her petite body.

"It's all lost." She cried in his arms. She couldn't manage to pull herself together and be strong. "I've lost everything."

"You haven't lost everything, Edith. You survived and that's all that matters. The clothes and furniture can all be replaced, but not your precious life, my dear." Whispered Aegon encouragingly in her ear, holding her tightly and securely in his arms.

"But I lost the letters and valuables from my family." She sighed. Aegon was right. Nothing was more important than her life, but why did it just hurt so much to see everything destroyed? "Aegon, someone did this on purpose." Edith broke free from his embrace and wiped the tears from her cheeks before looking into the young man's violet eyes.

"I think so too... Helaena told me everything." He confessed to her, looking uncertainly at the floor for a moment before looking into her violet blue eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? I just found out tonight from Helaena! " he said hurt.

Shocked, Edith looked at the prince. So Helaena had told him their shared secret and the suspicion about the poisoning, so a connection to the fire was not difficult. As much as she wanted to be mad at the two of them, she couldn't. After all, she had also confided in Aemond last night.

"Because we wanted to investigate alone. We couldn't have known how badly the tide would turn." Edith sighed and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress, only to tighten her grip on the dark green fabric and wrinkle it again.

"Does Aemond know?"

"I just told him last night, too." She answered him with a roll of her eyes. Of course he was thinking of his brother now and getting jealous, but Edith had no head for this now.

"I made you a promise and I will keep it. Now I want you to promise me something, and that is to always be honest with me. I want to be the first to know about something from you, I want to be the first by your side and I want to be the one who kisses you awake in the morning." Aegon murmured in her ear and caused her pleasant goose bumps. Then he leaned further towards her and pressed his lips firmly on hers.

He kissed her like there was no tomorrow, barely giving her moments to catch her breath, but Edith returned the kiss with just as much feeling. How could she not? Aegon was the man of her heart.

At least, that's what she believed.

"Promise me." Repeated Aegon breathing heavily as they broke away from each other.

She only nodded, for she needed to catch her own breath first, but that was not enough for the young man. "Words, I need words, dear."

"I promise, Aegon. We'll make it happen." It burst out of her, or rather straight from her heart, and with it Edith's list and her endless promises expanded.

Many promises contradicted each other, but at the moment she said them, only that made sense and she didn't think of anything else. Edith lied to herself, but now was not the time to think about all that. There was still so much to do before she had to face the consequences.

Satisfied, Aegon smiled at his chosen one and couldn't be happier. To show her, he kissed her again and again and again. Laughing, Edith returned each of his kisses until they both again became aware of their surroundings and how easy it would be to get caught now.

"Do you have a napkin with you?" she asked him, eyeing him intently.

"Like a tissue?"

"I need a napkin so I can wrap something up." Edith gripped tightly into the fabric of her dress as she justified herself to him, her eyes fixed on the floor where her bed once stood. "So...do you have one with you?"

"Of course." Aegon slipped his hand into his tunic from the top and pulled out a white piece of cloth, which he handed to her.

His mother had advised him as a young lad to always have a cloth with him. At the time, Aegon had been very young and Alicent had still seen the good in her firstborn. After his heady youth, the queen had stopped having hope that he would find a good wife on his own. She thought he might become the hero in a young woman's life or have a big heart and need a tissue to comfort a small child.

Of course, Aegon had acted against his mother's will even then. The end result was a forced marriage to his own sister.

"What do you need it for?" the prince asked curiously as he leaned over to watch the young woman.

His curiosity was well-founded, for she was using the piece of cloth differently than what it was sewn for. Edith knelt on the floor, unfolded the white cloth and carefully placed something inside.

She did not need to answer, since what she now held in her hands was answer enough.

"Where did you get a dragon egg?" His voice was low, as if he was afraid someone could hear them. Carefully, he knelt beside her and eyed the burnt egg.

"My father gave it to me before he traveled back to Dragonstone." She told him, looking dreamily at her egg. There was nothing left of the beautiful color. The egg was black like everything else in the room.

Carefully she turned it in her hands and looked at it, but the heat from the fire didn't seem to be enough, because the egg was intact except for a slight crack at the top. Only this was not large enough to free the dragon.

"I have to get it to hatch before the dragon doesn't survive it." Edith looked deep into Aegon's eyes. You could see how worried she was about this little creature. "Can you please take me to the dragon pit?"

To be honest, she would rather be alone right now to process what she had seen. Edith had lost all her valuables in the fire and that was a traumatizing experience. But she had to take care of the egg now. She desperately needed a dragon and the egg given to her by her father was her only chance at the moment to have a creature of her own.

Edith only hoped that once the dragon hatched, it would grow quickly and come to strength before the situation in the capital got worse.

"I'll take you anywhere, my dear." He breathed lovingly into her ear, gently stroking her cheek.

She returned his gaze only briefly before standing up and pressing the egg in the cloth tightly against her chest. She ignored his amorous look and the dirt on her skirt.

"We should go before the others come back." Suggested the girl with the brownish hair and left her former room almost in a hurry.

Aegon, of course, immediately followed her through the corridors of the Red Keep. He didn't question further where Prince Daemon had gotten the egg for his daughter, and he didn't ask her why she hadn't told him about it yet.

Maybe the two of them really weren't ready to share their secrets yet, although they were already creating secrets of their own with each other.

***

A new chapter! :)
I hope you are not too angry with me that only irregular chapters come at the moment...

You can still tell me your wishes and ideas. You can also write me privately.

I wish you all the best, see you in the next chapter.♡♡