CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
❛crude nature.❜

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EARLY 130 AC ⸻ Dragonstone ⸻

DAEMON HAD been alerted of Maerella's departure just as dawn broke.

Rhaenyra had tried to push away her anger she felt with him to calm him down. Maerella leaving was a punch in the gut to her, but Daemon was far more irrational than she ever was. If she didn't attempt to calm him, he would only be the monster that people made him out to be. He would confirm the rumors, the whispers, all of it.

Much to her avail, none of her sweet soothes worked. Daemon was simply too far gone over Maerella's betrayal. It cut him too deeply.

"I must go." Daemon growled, placing Dark Sister into its sheath.

"You haven't even begun to tell me where it is you've going— in the middle of war, might I add?" Rhaenyra argued, her nimble fingers rubbing out the annoyance in her temples.

"It doesn't matter." Daemon scoffed, making no attempt to soothe anything in their relationship. "I will be back soon— before anymore blood is shed."

"Can you promise that?" Rhaenyra added, her voice firm. "How do you know? You can't guarantee it!" She concluded herself. Which, he couldn't. Snakes were lurking at every corner and it seemed as if everyday, their allies dwindled.

Daemon spoke nothing more to his wife, simply moving past her to head to Caraxes. He ignored the pleas from an exhausted Rhaenyra before she just gave up on him entirely. As he passed servants and others lurking in the shadows of his home, no one dared bat an eye his way. Anger radiated off of him.

"Sir?" A voice squeaked.

"What?" Daemon hissed through gritted teeth.

"May I prepare your dragon?" Aurelia questioned, letting her presence shift from the darkness, letting her features be noticed.

Daemon waved her off with a shake of his hand, "I will
prepare my own."

Aurelia only nodded, not wanting to disturb him any further as he was clearly unstable.

Caraxes unique shrieks and sounds filled Aurelia's eardrums as she backed away. She didn't back away from the red beast, she backed away from Daemon.

⸻

Tensions had been high in King's Landing. Aemond had been nearly chomping at the bits for a fight.

Yet tonight, he only sought warmth.

Lyria sat in their marital bed against the headboard with Aemond nude in her lap. Vulnerable. This is the most vulnerable she had ever seen him be, and he was always so gentle with her.

"It is so difficult." Aemond began, letting Lyria brush his white locks with the tips of her fingers. She hummed softly, letting him know she was listening intently.
"Being brother to the king. He doesn't deserve it."

Lyria nodded, not daring to reply. She simply wanted him to open up with her. She wanted to know everything. His fears, his happiness, what makes him tick. Usually, Aemond was a quiet man who kept it all to himself. As of late, he had become more outspoken with her. She found comfort in it.

"He is messing up everything!" He seethed, before Lyria sighed, finding now the right time to speak so he could calm his senses. "That is why you are there. You may not be King, but you can easily run the show."

Aemond sat up, resting on his hands to look up
to her, "You think so?"

Lyria nodded, smiling sweetly. "I know it. You must simply make him think everything is his idea."

Aemond nodded as his lips pursed in thought. "I think you're onto something."

Lyria grinned in reply, placing a soft kiss on his temple. "Aren't I always?"

Little did they know, Aegon was up to something else entirely.

His feet carried him quickly to the dragon pit, not caring if he knocked anyone over in the process. "Mae!"

Maerella dismounted her dragon with a heavy smile. She was relieved to see Aegon, but sad to know that her family was the cause of his pain.

"Aegon!" She grinned, trying to push the latter feelings down as she was engulfed in a much needed hug.

She had left dragonstone, letting everyone now know where her loyalties lie.

"I'm so happy you came back. Without you I— I was so lost." Aegon proclaimed as he covered her in kisses.

"I would never leave you," Mae promised, "Not for long, anyways."

"Come," Aegon spoke, taking her hand in his. "We have much to discuss."

Maerella nodded as she tried to keep her composure— tucking her obvious anxieties down.

⸻

"KINGS LANDING?!" Jacaerys screeched towards his mother. Disbelief and anger wrapped around his bones.

He had just found out that his mother had seeped through the cracks of King's Landing in order to speak with Alicent.

Rhaenyra only shook her head, ignoring his rightful outburst. She had to talk to Alicent. She had to see if anything could be done to save them from war and bloodshed.

She was wrong. Nothing could save them now.

"Jacaerys," Rhaenyra began, placing hands on his broad shoulders. "There is something I must tell you. Something . . . I should have told you when you became successor to the throne. It's a secret that Viserys told me when he named me successor. And it has passed from King to Heir since Aegon the Conqueror's time.

Jacaerys calmed himself as much as he could as he continued to listen to his mother. His interest immediately perked up, wondering what this could be about.

"Aegon the Conqueror's dream . . . " Rhaenyra began.

"He called it The Song of Ice and Fire."

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