✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘳𝘰- 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: - :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

It was hard not to talk to anyone about her new experience. She had promised Aegon, but it was like another guilt on her shoulders. But since she didn't feel any better after confessing about the kiss to Helaena, she kept an iron silence.

Things had happened that she had never dreamed of. Edith had so many positive feelings inside her that she was even afraid she would never feel them again. But despite the fear, she had felt an unknown lust and desire, and she did not know how far she would have gone if Aegon had not stopped.

Prince Aegon. A person she just couldn't figure out.

That night she had slept through the night for the first time and had not woken up with swollen red eyes as usual. Even in her dreams, the thought of what had happened had not let her go, and so she had gotten up with a satisfied smile and gotten ready for the day.

Feeling pleased and hoping that Aegon was now eating out of her hand, she took the day slowly. She lay in the hot tub longer than usual while eating her breakfast, then got dressed.

Over her dark pants she put on a leather robe, which she buttoned up the front and put on a golden belt. The robe resembled a dress that reached her knees, but unlike a dress, it had slits so that the lady could move sufficiently. Daemon had given her her first such robe when she arrived in Dragonstone and since then it had become her favorite garment, which she reluctantly traded for a dress.

Except for Daeron and Aegon that night in the city, no one in King's Landing had ever seen her in pants or in such clothing, and somehow that frightened her. She herself had not seen any lady here like that. Edith very much hoped not to offend anyone or to feel the Queen's wrath.

After a quick glance and an admiring stroke over her dragon egg, she left her chambers. On her way through the castle, she nervously brushed the few strands that had fallen out of her pinned-up hairstyle behind her ears. But surprisingly, no one seemed to notice the girl. No one gave her a word or a glance, not even the guards at the doors, and she didn't know if she should be happy about it.

She hurried through the many hallways and alleys until she finally arrived at the Dragon's Pit. She had last been here with her father and sisters. the memory of it pained her, since now she was all alone. Fearlessly, Edith descended into the dragon pit, as she had never been afraid of these beautiful animals - not even when she didn't know she had dragon blood in her.

A blond dragon keeper was the first to take notice of the girl and immediately approached her. "I'm afraid this is no place for a lady." He instructed her in a serious voice, but his gaze was fixed on the ground.

Stunned, she looked at the older man. The two of them were still standing quite near the entrance where it went down to the dragon pit, and yet the roar of the dragons could be heard. The man winced and seemed very frightened. "I am of the dragon's blood, so let me through." She replied to him. Never before had she tried to impose her will on the grounds of her ancestry. The words inexplicably gave her more power and she wanted to show it.

"My lady, you do not understand. I am not allowed to let anyone through. Prince's orders." He explained himself in a shaky voice.

Now Edith became curious and raised an eyebrow questioningly. " Which prince?" she demanded to know, standing just in front of the fearful man, and due to his intimidated posture, she was almost taller than him.

"Prince A-Aemond." He answered her. Edith would have liked to sigh in annoyance, but she suppressed it. She wanted to finally look at the dragons here and get to know them, but even that Aemond screwed up for her. But she could play that game, too.

"Is he here yet?" she asked with a feigned delight, her eyes wide. "How nice! We've arranged to meet here and we want to be undisturbed. You can manage that, can't you?" The girl didn't wait for an answer from the guardian and walked past him into the pit. He didn't even stop her and stayed at the top, just as she had commanded. Power was already an incredible feeling.

There were only two ways her stay in the dragon pit would end. Either Aemond would burn or she would.

Above the pit, political decisions were made and weddings used to be held, while below lived the most beautiful creatures. Scattered torches hung on the stone walls, providing some light. Briefly she considered taking one, but decided against it. Fire would only draw attention to her and she wanted to see Aemond first before he saw her. After all, no one knew what he was like.

Edith passed real caves, but only a few had dragons in them. At the sight of the poor animals, which had chains around their necks, she became sad. Amazed, she took her time looking at the dragons, trying to remember as many details as possible, which might be important someday.

Some dragons reacted immediately and raised their heads at the unknown visitor, but most just lay there quietly. The corridors were uneven and wide and at the same time so twisted and dark, but eventually the way became brighter and brighter. In a large cave, a yellowish dragon lay in a nest made of straw and similar materials, and right in front of him was none other than Aemond Targaryen.

The straw was spread all over the cave and so it rustled softly as Edith slowly entered. The quiet rustling did not go unnoticed, of course, and Aemond turned around. Immediately his soft expression changed into an annoyed one. " Why the hell are you here?" the prince demanded to know. Despite the fact that it could be seen how annoyed he was by her presence, his voice was soft and empathetic. A strange contrast as Edith thought.

Before Edith could answer, the dragon in front of them stirred and from its mouth came an almost agonized sound. He looked very tense and hunched over as if he wanted to breathe fire, but not a bit of fire left his mouth.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Edith anxiously, ignoring Amond's question. With slow steps, she walked towards them, eyeing the dragon carefully.

"Her." Aemond corrected the girl with a roll of her eyes. "Not long now and she will lay her eggs. You should go again and not stress her."

Edith now looked from the female dragon to the prince. Now she understood why he spoke so softly and gently, because he didn't want to upset or stress the dragon unnecessarily. She had never believed that Aemond could be concerned about anyone but himself.

The female dragon's whining made Edith wince and immediately she was worried. She had never seen a dragon lay eggs before, but she had always hoped it would never be as painful as it looked and sounded. As if automatically, she moved closer to the dragon and carefully placed a hand on the hard skin of its neck, watching closely for any reaction from the dragon.

"Don't be afraid. Everything will be fine." She then repeated softly over and over in high Valyrian, stroking her neck again and again to reassure her. The dragon did not resist.

As if fascinated, Aemond watched the girl with the dragon. For a long time he cared for the female in secret, but never before had he seen her let a human get to her so quickly. He simply blamed it on the pain the dragon suffers and that she surely didn't notice the difference, through that, not to be offended.

Her father had taught her a lot about dragons, only he had never told her about such a situation. Edith was really out of her depth and had no idea how to help the poor creature, other than just being with her and petting her.

Aemond, on the other hand, filled water into a trough in case she wanted to refresh herself. He even brought a dead raw lamb, but the dragon paid no attention to this. Edith, on the other hand, turned her head away in disgust, choosing not to ask where he had gotten this so quickly.

"What is her name?" Edith asked at some point, still speaking in Valyrian. For a while now, the two had been silent. They both cared for the female in their own way, and for once had no desire for an argument or a power struggle.

"Myrax." Aemond did not look at the girl as he answered her. In his hand he held a piece of straw, which he was playing with, sitting on the floor leaning against the wall.

"You have a really beautiful name, my pretty brave one." The lady directed her words to the dragon again. Aemond was still silent and for once did not make fun of Edith. On the contrary, at that moment she reminded him of his own sister Helaena. She also talked to the animals as if they were human beings.

Time passed, but neither of them left his position and by now had become accustomed to the presence of the other. Never before had they spent so much time together without arguing.

In the cave it was very warm and in the meantime Myrax kept spitting small flames, which increased the temperature even more. Edith would have lied if she said she wasn't sweating, so she finally took off her leather robe and stood there in just a blouse and pants.

"Are you undressing again?" asked Aemond in a contemptuous tone, pointing to the previous day where she was standing in Helaena's room in only her night robe when the two princes entered. Momentarily her thoughts drifted back to Aegon and to his tongue....

"Don't ignore me." Aemond threw straw at the girl like a child, which brought her back to reality.

Startled, she looked down at herself and then at the young man. She quickly remembered the dragon and that she had better not scream now. "I'm not sorry you're too easy to ignore, my prince." She replied instead with a cheeky undertone.

A satisfied grin formed on his lips almost as if he had been waiting for a sassy reply all along. "How good that applies to both of us." Said the young man with the eye patch and took off his robe as well, he too was wearing a shirt and pants underneath.

The eyepatch was known to be Aemond's trademark and definitely made him look more dangerous, added to that was his height and trained stature. Unwittingly, Edith began to compare him to Aegon and when she realized this, she turned her red head to the side. The two brothers hardly seemed to have any resemblance to each other except for the typical Targaryen features, even in behavior they were so different and at the same time so alike.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" another tease, but Edith tried to use it to distract herself from her own thoughts.

"Mm. If I'm an asshole, why, are you here with me, petting my dragon?" asked Aemond in a sarcastic tone, his lips pulling into a grin.

The girl was indeed still sitting in front of Myrax, stroking her scaly skin. Aemond sat next to the two of them with some distance between them, looking at her provocatively as Edith turned her head back in his direction to look at him. "She isn't. Vhagar is your dragon." She reminded him. A dragon could have many riders, but a Valyrian could only bind to one dragon.

"True, but bound or not. The dragons belong to Targaryen with Valyrian blood." The young man explained to her, pulling his legs to his body and casually placing his arms over his knees.

"You can't own a dragon." Edith repeated the words her father had told her once. Myrax was panting exhaustedly and still lying there restlessly, but the lady's touch seemed to do her good somehow.

"A bastard can't do that, true again. But to a Targaryen, dragons are family." Aemond looked her superiorly in the eyes. The voices of the two were still at a normal tone and volume, though they were already bitching at each other again.

If the words were coming from anyone else, Edith would definitely be hurt right now. Her parents had a secret love affair before her mother traveled north to marry a Stark. A few moons later, she gave birth to Edith.

Strictly speaking, the girl was really a bastard, an illegitimate child. But her parents had made up a story about a secret marriage so that Daemon could publicly acknowledge his firstborn, and this story had been announced to the court by King Viserys himself, declaring it true. Thus Edith was no longer a bastard or Brandon Stark's daughter.

Edith felt all her life like an impostor, which had to slip into different roles. As the acknowledged daughter of Daemon Targaryen and the future Lady of Dragonstone, she had power with her name, but not with her brownish hair and blue violet eyes.

She loved dragons. These creatures fascinated her greatly and she could not imagine ever living without them again. Edith would never forget the first time she flew on one with her father a few years ago. She would love to fly away and climb into the air again.

"Why do you always have to talk about yourself?" said Edith angrily, her lips twisting into a line. She hated to be mean, but Aemond and the others left her no choice.

Her words made Aemond laugh, leaning against the stone wall behind him. "Did my words hurt you, bastard?" he challenged her.

Edith would have loved to get up, rip off his eye patch and hurt him until he had no eye left, but she sat still and looked at him thoughtfully. "No. You should try again, Prince Cocky."

Aemond already opened his mouth to counter her as well, but he was interrupted by Myrax, who was now writhing and roaring. The dragon then suddenly moved so fast that neither of the two humans could react. With one of her legs she kicked in Edith's direction and the girl could only protectively hold her arms over her head as she already slid across the stone floor.

A pained sound came from Edith's lips as she stopped a few feet away from Myrax. Her shirt tore a little on her back and arms and the ground left abrasions on her skin there, but she couldn't be angry with the creature. She had sat that close to Myrax while she was in pain.

Surprisingly, Aemond didn't run to the dragon to calm it down, but ran to the girl and carefully turned her onto her back as she lay hunched over on her stomach. "Still alive?" he asked, putting two fingers to her neck to feel her pulse.

Annoyed, Edith opened her eyes and could only laugh sarcastically. "Unfortunately for you, yes." She replied and slowly sat up. The movement made her sores on her skin tense and cause her pain. "How bad is it?" she asked cautiously.

Aemond took a quick look at her back and arms, then just shook his head. "A few abrasions, not deep. Should be gone in no time." He answered her question calmly. Edith almost felt touched that the prince had looked right after her and was now kneeling beside her.

"We should help her." She then said resolutely and stood up again. Aemond watched her carefully and also stood up to support her if necessary. Fortunately for both of them, Edith needed no help.

"Myrax obey. Calm yourself." Aemond turned his word to the dragon in Valyrian, but it roared loudly and did not seem to hear him. "Myrax stop it." Edith then tried in a loud voice, but she too received no response from the dragon. "Should we maybe leave her alone?" Edith looked at Aemond questioningly, for she had never accompanied a dragon while laying eggs and was at a loss.

"I can't leave her alone." Answered Aemond to her in a worried tone and walked closer to the dragon again. Edith had never seen him as worried as he was at that moment, and it impressed her.

Edith also followed him with slow steps to Myrax, who was not pleased with the two Targaryens and showed it by spitting fire. The girl was the only one to flinch in fright and seemed to understand the warning, but the boy did not. "We should go now." Decided the lady in a decisive voice, but Aemond did not listen to her and walked closer and closer to Myrax.

Myrax didn't like the closeness at all and turned her head and long neck in Aemond's direction. At the latest this should have been the last hint for a warning, but the prince was a stubborn one and remained standing confidently. "Myrax obey-" Aemond couldn't speak any further, as yet another charge of fire came from the dragon's mouth, and this time directly in the young man's direction.

"Aemond!" gasped Edith, startled, and she could only watch as the fire hit him.

Fire could not hurt or kill a dragon, not even a Targaryen, and yet Aemond cried out in pain. This sound immediately gave the girl uncomfortable goose bumps and she felt cold despite the high temperatures in the cave.

Aemond immediately stumbled backwards and fell on the floor. It was almost like déjà vu, only this time Edith ran towards him as soon as the fire went out again. She knew it was stupid, but she knelt protectively in front of Aemond and thus sat with her back to Myrax, but she could not think of the danger now. She had to help him, just as he had helped her a few moments ago.

He tore his eye patch from his head and protectively placed a hand in front of his missing eye. Immediately his painful moans quieted. Edith was still startled by the situation and quickly took his eye patch in her hand to give it back to him, because he certainly didn't want to show himself hurt like that. But when she had the eye patch in her hand she dropped it again, startled. The leather was scalding hot, but not broken. Quickly she understood why he had taken it off.

The hot leather must have burned terribly in his old wound. Nevertheless, this surprised the girl very much, because she had really always believed fire could not hurt a Targaryen. She eyed him attentively, scanning him for injuries, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.

"Aemond?" she asked cautiously, leaning over him with concern. "Why don't you say something?"

"Shut up." He answered her curtly. Relieved, she exhaled. Aemond was still Aemond.

"Let me see..." she asked him softly, putting her hand on his, which still protected his missing eye. She would never admit it out loud, but at that moment she really cared for him and even felt a little sorry for him, even though it was his own fault.

"Why? So you can take my second eye too?" Angrily, he looked at her with his one eye and pushed her away from him, then stood up.

Sighing, Edith regretted her sudden leadership care for the prince again and looked at her wrist with the big ugly scar he had given her back on Driftmark when she had almost lost her hand. "It's okay to still be mad, but you could at least let him help you once." Edith said as she also stood up and handed him his eye patch.

"I don't want your help." He explained to her, annoyed, and took his eye patch again, but did not put it back on. Aemond briefly turned his gaze to Myrax, who by now had calmed down and was curled up next to them. "Get the hell out of here! You're just spreading chaos and trouble everywhere."

Startled by his suddenly loud voice, she winced unintentionally and all she could do was nod. Aemond really hated her and she could understand that, after all it was mutual. Edith still felt sick at his words; even though he was right again.

"I didn't mean to bother you, I only ever wanted to help!" Defended the girl with the brownish hair, but this the Targaryen didn't seem to want to realize.

"You are an annoying little whore. I can't wait for the day you're finally gone, and if I have to arrange it myself." Aemond breathed grimly in her ear, looking so dangerous that Edith became afraid for the first time. His dangerous demeanor intensified as he stepped close to her and pushed her against the stone wall, letting go of his eye so he could grab her shoulder with both hands. The impact against the wall hurt and made her abrasions burn.

Edith didn't want to, but when she saw his face she had to take a shocked breath. Where once Amond's left eye was, there was no wound or anything, there was now a beautiful blue sapphire instead of an eyeball.

"Do I have to repeat myself? Get the hell out of here." Aemond's hands were tight around her delicate shoulders and his grip was firm and painful. Edith, however, did not give him the satisfaction and did not show him her pain. "It is best to leave King's Landing at once." Added Aemond.

Now Edith's patience thread was bursting. She let a lot of things slide, but he had no business pushing her against the wall and making demands! "Then I suggest you take me back to Dragonstone yourself! No one will let me out of the capital!" She answered him angrily.

Maybe Aemond and not Aegon was the key to her freedom and back home? At least she had to try.

"I'll do that with pleasure." Smirked the prince spitefully and let go of her, at the same time taking a few steps backwards to put distance between himself and Edith again.

"My Lady!" Several men from the city guard suddenly appeared in the cave. "You must come with us." Immediately the men got the attention of the two and Edith immediately became afraid that something had happened.

"What's going on?" asked Edith, nervously approaching the men in armor.

"The queen is waiting for you." Answered another man, but he did not give her an answer to her question.

"What happened." She now demanded to know in a serious voice, reaching for her robe and pulling it back over her shirt. Aemond did the same with his. It must have seemed strange to the guards that the two of them were alone and now putting their upper robes back on, but Edith didn't care now.

"The queen will tell you." Again, no real answer. Edith sighed in annoyance and walked over to the men as she buttoned up her robe.

"What have you done now?" teased Aemond cheekily. He stood behind her with his arms folded behind his back and had his eye patch back on. "Oh shut up." Edith retorted sourly and left the cave, but none of the guards followed her and so she twisted around again.

"You queen awaits you both, my prince." The guards looked to the prince and then made way for him as he stormed angrily past them and Edith. With some distance the lady followed him and behind her the guards walked. Rarely had she felt so uncomfortable and ignorant as she did now.

***

a new chapter!
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