✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘻𝘻𝘢 - 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

Daeron had just looked at her and had gotten up from the bar stool when he had seen Edith's helpless look. He had put an arm around her and then taken her outside and, finally, protectively back into the Red Keep. The young man hadn't asked why she wanted to leave so soon, and for that she was grateful.

She knew even the whole evening shouldn't have been, but she was to blame for that. She wanted to see the city at night, and instead, in her drunken state, she looked for Aegon out of curiosity. Her plan to tease him briefly and then leave turned into a normal conversation and a make out session.

She had actually kissed this idiot.

Daeron had walked her to her room, where she had given him back his hat before saying goodbye and going inside. Edith didn't even bother to change and just lay down in her bed. Tired, she just took off her boots and fell asleep very quickly.

The next morning she was awakened by a worried maid. It was the same girl who had brought her and her family the letter from the king asking for a dinner.

Ediths felt woozy as the girl opened the curtains and let the sun shine into the room. It was far too bright and she was still far too buzzed from all the alcohol the previous night, so Edith pulled the blanket over her head. "Are you not feeling well, my lady?" the maid asked anxiously.

"Please let me sleep some more." Asked Edith quite sleepily. The maid then pulled the blanket away from her and opened Edith's right eye with two fingers to check her pupils. "My lady." Escaped her startled, but she quickly regained her composure. "I'll run you a bath and have some food brought in. Maybe some strong brew too..." she muttered and left the room for a moment. She then came back shortly after with breakfast and two more girls brought in bowls of hot water one by one.

The young lady's head was on fire and only unwillingly she let the blonde maid put her in the tub. The hot water really did her good and she closed her eyes as she was washed. She had never felt like this before, but she had also never drunk so much, her mother had always been very protective. But her mother was no longer here.

One of the girls then brought Edith some tea, while another smeared something on her forehead and the third girl washed her. At the latest when she took the first sip she knew that this was no normal tea. "What is this?" she asked after choking it down. It smelled unpleasant and tasted almost as bad as the beer yesterday, plus there were bits in it. "Drink up, my lady. You'll feel better afterwards." Replied the blonde girl, giving her an encouraging nod.

Edith felt so miserable as she drank the cup with a lot of effort. She was totally hungover and had to be helped by three maids. It was pathetic.

But as the maid had said, a little later the girl was feeling much better. She was fully dressed by now and her hair was up and she had even eaten something small. "Thank you. To all three of you... Please... don't tell anyone about this." She asked, ashamed and with her shoulders drooping. Last night had definitely taught her a lesson. "Of course, my lady."

She was grateful to the three for everything, but she was also glad when she was finally alone. The girl with the brownish hair took a deep breath and then shook her head before kneeling in front of her bed and pulling out a box. The box she had received from her father.

In her youthful recklessness, she had let herself be tempted to do something she did not understand, but she could not blame Aegon alone. After all, she had kissed him first. For whatever reason she had done this. But she was not allowed to forget why she was really here, and was not allowed to neglect her task.

She remained sitting on the floor as she opened the box and took out her first dragon egg of her own. It was so beautiful that she could only look at it in admiration and carefully stroke it. She could not neglect this task either. Edith really needed a dragon of her own, but she should also get acquainted with the other dragons in the dragon pit just in case.

The egg reminded her a lot of her parents and her siblings and instantly she felt lonely and a twinge in her whole body. She missed them all so much that she even had a tear rolling down her cheek that she couldn't stop. She quickly brushed it away and put the egg back safely in the warm box, which she slid under her bed again.

She didn't know if her parents had already arrived back on Dragonstone, but she decided to write to them and so she went in search of a library shortly after. It took Edith a long time to finally find the place she was looking for, and then she looked around for paper and ink, since she hadn't brought any of her own.

The old library was smaller than she expected, but there were shelves everywhere, filled to the ceiling with books. The room was very winding because of the many shelves and it was hard to get an overview. Finally, she found a shelf with various rolls of paper and inkwells and took something from it. She hoped that no one would be angry about it. She would have to get her own quickly. But Edith found not only what she was looking for, but also something she wasn't looking for. Or rather someone.

Aemond was sitting at one of the tables, brooding over a thick book. Similar thick and large books were spread all over the table, and next to it lay a notebook of some sort.

Curiously she eyed the tall young man, as the sight was an inexplicable one to her. She had seen Aemond fight with a sword and even fought him once. Edith had assumed he would do nothing but train all day, she had never believed that he had ever had a book in his hand, but she was taught otherwise.

Hoping at least to provoke him a little, she walked up to him with her paper and showed herself to him. "You can read? How shocking." She said, playfully amazed, and put her things on the table in front of Aemond's and sat down.

Aemond raised his head and immediately it could be seen and felt that he was annoyed by her presence, then he eyed the paper and the inkpot in front of her. "And you can write? Shocking." He mimicked her and then looked at his book again. Only with difficulty could Edith stifle her grin. It had been a simple retort from him and she was almost disappointed.

When she realized that he was ignoring her, she took the feather in her hand and began to write. Nothing much had happened yet, at least nothing she wanted to tell her parents, but she felt the need to give them a sign of her being alive. It was so unusual for her to be so far away from them.

For a few minutes each of them went about their business, trying to ignore the other. But especially Aemond was very annoyed by her presence, as she made him angry without saying anything and he couldn't concentrate, so he decided to stop her from her activity as well. "What do you think you are doing?" he wanted to know from her.

Innocently the girl looked up from her paper, this time she was really innocent and had written quietly. "I'm writing to my parents." She answered honestly and lowered her head again to continue writing.

"Are you going to ask them to pick you up again?" joked the Targaryen with the long silver hair. Even though she wanted nothing more than to return to her family, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction and show him her pain. "Dream on, but I can say hello to them from you if you want me to." She replied cheekily, playing with the quill in her hand, because she didn't want to keep writing if he kept interrupting.

Aemond grimaced sourly and shook his head at her, then picked up his book again. Now it was Edith who tried to stop him from what he was doing. "What are you reading?" She wasn't really interested, but it was the first thing that came to her mind so quickly.

"I'm not reading, I'm studying." He improved her in a flippant tone and pointed to the pages, but Edith couldn't make out what he was supposedly studying. Even seeing him in front of her with all those books it was hard for her to comprehend. "Don't distract me."

"Don't distract you? You just spoke to me!" she defended herself indignantly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. It was one of the many not lady like behaviors from her.

"But you sat down with me." Aemond said, pushing his book up a bit so he could rest his elbows on the table. The girl looked disgustedly at the young man. "Don't you dare blame me." Edith warned him slightly sourly.

"I blame you for everything, no matter what you do." He explained himself, looking her intimately in the eyes. It was an unfamiliar intense eye contact between the two, which was almost uncomfortable.

"Why do you hate me so much?" she asked softly and slightly hurt, putting down her feather. She suddenly couldn't be bothered to write. Aemond had always hated and despised her, as had his older brother Aegon. At some point Edith had also started to have the feelings towards the brothers and with her provocations towards them she tried to protect herself.

"You still have to ask that?" he asked with a snort and a shake of his head. He did that a lot as Edith had noticed in the last few days. Or maybe he just did it with her? "Look at me and tell me why I think I hate you." Edith did what he asked of her without meaning to. Aemond had the typical Targaryen features, as well as the beautiful violet eyes and silver hair. If she did not know him, she would certainly have called him handsome and attractive.

The girl had none of these, although she was also a Targaryen. Only her eyes, which were a mixture of her mother's blue Tyrell eyes and her father's violet eyes, indicated the genes. And of course her behavior, appearance and confidence.

Then her eyes fell on his dark eye patch, which he had been wearing for several years since he lost his eye. "You despised me even before that." She replied, pushing up the sleeve of her dress so he could see her scar. "Mm, Now look at me. I can't hide this with an eye patch!" Edith stood up angrily and bent over the table, supporting herself with her hands, and at the same moment Aemond mimicked her and stood up angrily as well.

"This is only what you deserve. I lost my eye and you only almost lost your hand. You still have it, you can still use it. But I..." complained Aemond with a grim look. But despite his look Edith could see how much he seemed to suffer from it and she instantly felt guilty again.

"It was never my intention." She said quietly, so that Aemond thought he had misheard her. Surprised, he looked at the girl, who avoided his gaze and looked at the table instead. "I'm sorry for what happened then." She rarely and reluctantly admitted when she was wrong, but she had no reason to feel worse than him. He was right now, because he really had lost something that night. "But you attacked Luke and stole Vhagar from my sisters." She then followed up because of her broken ego.

Aemond laughed bitterly and then grabbed her by the neck. They were still standing bent over the table when he did so. The man didn't squeeze hard, he just held her tight, but still Edith was shocked by his behavior and instantly licked her hands around his hand, however she didn't resist.

"Be careful what you say, bastard." He hissed at her, giving her an almost animalistic look. This side of Aemond had remained unknown to her until now, but she already hated it as much as any other side of him.

"Ohhh so that's what you're about?" she laughed out, teasing him deliberately, knowing he literally held her in the palm of his hand and had the power. "The King, your father, has only proclaimed what is True and what is mine. I am no more a bastard than you are, Aemond."

But Aemond visibly did not believe her and now finally let go of her neck. Even though he hadn't pressed hard and she had gotten air, she could feel the warmth on her skin and guessed that redness could still be seen briefly.

"You're jealous, aren't you? Because I will inherit Dragonstone after your father. Or is it because we might have to get married? Oh yes, that must be it!" Edith provoked him further when she found his sore spot. "It is because I have the power to determine perhaps to become your wife."

"I will kill you before that ever happens. Be sure of that." Aemond replied. It was obvious he didn't want to marry her even before he said it, and Edith believed his every word. Fortunately, she too would do anything to prevent that from happening.

"I am." Said the girl with brownish hair confidently. "Just to annoy you I'm considering choosing you."

Aemond fell silent after her last words. His face was red with anger by now and he had placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. Even here and now to study, he had taken it with him almost as if he had guessed she would be here as well. "You wouldn't."

"I would." She replied cheekily and had to grin a little. Though the thought crossed her mind fleetingly, she would never choose him, nor his brother Daeron. Edith would not marry. Never.

Although the sight of him with his hand on the hilt of his sword was somewhat impressive, she didn't let on and sat back down. Surprised by her sudden retreat, Aemond looked at her and watched as she started writing again, as if nothing had happened.

"How does it feel not to be wanted?" he asked suddenly when he had sat down again. Surprised, Edith looked up and felt a twinge in her heart. With his question he had definitely found her sore spot. "Neither I nor my brother will marry you, and neither will anyone else."

Edith had always been an outsider and she didn't want Aemond at all, she didn't even like him, but his words already hurt her a lot and she had to swallow and take a deep breath in order not to show him her true emotions. She remembered Helaena's words from yesterday when she had described him as gentle. Inwardly, she laughed again at that. Aemond was hurting. All Edith had ever done was to protect herself.

Quietly, she packed up her things and got up to leave. It felt like fleeing, and it probably was. "I could ask you the same thing." She replied poorly, but without a final word she didn't want to leave either.

Without letting him have another word, she left the dusty library. In her arms she held a stack of papers, the quill and the inkwell. She would take everything with her to her room so she wouldn't have to go back to the library so soon and so she could avoid him a little. But it seemed like the Targaryens were everywhere, just always the wrong ones.

She had just walked a few steps when someone approached her. Aegon stopped immediately when he spotted the girl, but Edith wasn't in the mood to argue with him now either and wanted to walk past him, but Aegon held her by her arm. "Wait."

"Why?" she wanted to know annoyed. Briefly she let her gaze wander over him and noticed that he was still wearing the clothes from last night. He also looked very pale and had dark circles under his eyes almost as if he hadn't slept. "Are you just coming back now?"

Instead of answering, Aegon just let go of her arm and that was answer enough from him. She could still smell the alcohol from last night on him and it made her nauseous, but she said nothing, wondering instead if she had been in a similar bad state this morning.

"Yesterday there-"

"There was nothing." Edith said quickly, and so interrupted him. She had successfully blocked it out for a moment until she saw him. Now in his condition, she wondered even more why she had kissed him. He suddenly didn't seem as attractive as he had last night when she had been drunk. "Just forget it like I did."

"Like you did. Okay." He said without resistance and she had actually expected more. She had thought he would be pissed and freak out like Aemond just did when he saw her again, but he didn't. Aegon also looked at the girl in front of him as she looked at him. Something had changed in him since last night, which he absolutely hated because he didn't understand it. He too had more than enjoyed the kiss.

Then his gaze lingered on her neck as if hypnotized and out of reflex she grabbed her free hand there. Judging by Aegon's look, redness could probably still be seen and she very much hoped that no bruises would remain, although he had grabbed too gently for that.

"Who did that?" demanded Aegon of her, and at last she could see him getting angry, though she was still somewhat surprised at his reaction. Challengingly, she then looked at him and maintained her straight posture. "Why are you mad, because it wasn't you?" the girl said, letting go of her neck again so he could look at it.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" the prince asked sarcastically laughing before turning serious again and asking once more who it was. But Edith didn't have to answer, because the culprit was just coming out of the library.

Aemond looked surprised to see the two of them in the hallway and stopped to lean against the doorframe. "Have you found another prince to harass? I hate to tell you, but he's already married." Aemond's voice sounded cold and emotionless as always when he spoke to Edith.

"Did you do that?" now Aegon asked his brother. He was pretty much standing between Edith and Aemond now and his brother didn't miss his condition and appearance either. "That almost sounded like you were worried about her, brother." Retorted Aemond thoughtfully, but with a grin. "She deserved it."

"Why are you such a pain in my ass. Someone would think you were obsessed with me!" Edith fought back against his teasing. She'd had enough of him and enough of just standing by. "Just don't keep getting on my nerves! Both of you!" She asked in frustration, turning around and just leaving the two brothers standing there.

She had woken up totally hungover and just wanted to write a letter to her family to ease her homesickness, but she hadn't been able to do that either. It was the second day that she was alone here and already she was constantly kept from her tasks.

How was she supposed to raise her dragon and prevent a war?

***

A hard time is waiting for Edith....

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