Chapter Text
Daeron felt his awareness return to him slowly. First it was the feeling of soft sheets underneath him. Next it was the incessant pounding in his temple, particularly behind his right eye. Then it was the severe dryness of his throat. Finally it was the feeling of a small hand holding his, the thumb moving back and forth across his knuckles, helping tether him to reality.
He focused, making his fingers twitch. The hand holding his stilled, so he made his fingers twitch again.
"He's waking up! I felt his fingers move!" A young voice exclaimed. Daeron tried his best to think who that might be before the realization came to him. Aegon. Oh his brother must have seen him fall, he must truly think him a useless fighter now.
Daeron focused some more before finally managing to peel his eyes awake. The first thing he was able to focus on was the ceiling. It was blurry but a few blinks made it clearer. He noticed the edges of his vision limited on his right side, but filed that thought away for later. Turning his head slowly, he finally saw his littlest little brother staring at him expectantly, eyes wide with tears. To Daeron's surprise, his father was standing behind him, eyes also filled with tears. Daeron didn't think he was still worth his father's tears, not after all this time.
"Wha-" Daeron tried to speak, before a coughing fit overtook him.
"Don't exert yourself son." Maekar Targaryen spoke with a softness Daeron thought was reserved only for his late mother, or his sisters. His father helped him up gently, bringing a glass of water to his parched lips. Daeron tried not to drink too eagerly, but failed if the small chuckle from his father meant anything.
As he lay back down, Egg launched into a colorful narrative of the events he had seemingly missed out on, or indirectly caused. Daeron's mind was still fuzzy, but he understood the summary:
The Hedge knight won the trial of seven and will be serving his uncle
Everyone was impressed that Daeron had saved the Heir to the throne
Egg had somehow gotten permission to squire for the hedge knight
Daeron had been knocked out for over 2 weeks, and any longer they would have had to take his unconscious body back to their home to avoid imposing on their hosts for too long.
After Egg had finished his tale, the maestars had walked in doing an unnecessarily thorough examination. They concluded what Daeron had begun to suspect: he was officially blind, or at least partially blind. On the bright side this would at least help further convince his case that he shouldn't be a knight anymore.
Daeron would have joked about it had he not seen the distraught look on his father's face after the verdict. He would have to unpack that later. For now he received well wishes from his uncle and cousin, who seemed a little too thankful.
As the day drew to a close, Daeron had received many guests, including Egg's large hedge knight. Daeron was pleased that his brother had found someone worthy to squire for, as Daeron would most certainly not be up to the task now. At the back of his mind though, he knew something was missing....or rather someone.
It's not as if he particularly liked seeing Aerion on a good day, but no one had mentioned him and maybe he had secretly hoped that his little brother would show some measure of concern. Daeron sighed, shifting in his bed and deciding that sitting around all day was not truly worth it. Now that he was alone in his room, he could try to finally get up without being fussed over.
He made to get up, swinging his legs to the side. His legs were shaky from disuse but Daeron had navigated around town while even more unsteady, so he was sure he could handle it.
He was so focused on standing up straight and walking despite his limited sight, that he missed the fact that the door to his room had opened again.
"What are you doing?!" The voice cried out unexpectedly. Daeron startled, tripping over his own feet. As he braced himself for a fall, he was shocked to find himself being caught by a strong pair of arms. The pair of arms then began carrying him back to the bed, and hovering over his body trying to check for any injuries.
Daeron was speechless. He knew this pair of arms very well. He looked up, unable to hide the shock from his face as he watched Aerion continue fussing over him, making sure the blanket was tucked properly over his shoulders and that his head was propped up by several pillows. Daeron was so shocked that he didn't deign himself to speak until his brother finally stopped and sat down.
"I-"
"Are you insane? Why were you trying to move! There are guards outside that you can call for! You hit your head once you fool if you hit it again you will have no brain left!"
Daeron wanted to point out the hypocrisy of Aerion of all people, telling someone to listen to a maestars instructions about sitting still but instead a strangely warm feeling came over him as he took in the worry on his eldest little brothers face. It had been years after all, since Daeron had seen Aerion care enough to outwardly worry over someone.
He placed his hand onto of his brothers, running his thumb over the calloused knuckles.
"I'm fine. Aerion please. It was a moment of restlessness that is all. You know that I of all people don't like to be reckless." Daeron hoped a bit of levity would make his brother calm down, instead his mouth dropped open when Aerion began to cry.
"Reckless? No, this isn't reckless. What is reckless is jumping in-between our uncle and father's mace! Did you have a death wish? Do you not value your own life? You did not see how still you were! I thought I had gotten you killed. I thought-" Whatever else Aerion thought was lost between the now hysterical sobbing.
Daeron surged forward, enveloping his brother in a hug as he felt tears well up in his own eyes. He ran his hand up and down across Aerions back and slowly rocked him back and forth.
Sometime later, whether minutes or hours Daeron was not certain, the sobs finally calmed and Daeron let his brother go, falling back onto the pillows. He took in his brother's face, usually so put together, now red eyed and splotchy with snot and tears.
"I am fine. Please, I don't want to see you cry. I am here, and whole. A little banged up, yes, but that matters not to me." Daeron spoke softly, hoping that Aerion would not cry again. He never liked it when any of his siblings cried, but Aerion's tears were a special form of torture for him.
Aerion shuddered a bit before nodding slowly, both brothers staring at each other unsure of what to do next. Daeron knew he couldn't tell Aerion what happened was right, and he needed to evaluate some of his own life choices too. But now was not the time for this, not when they were both tired and upset, emotions too heightened. So he made a choice, one he hoped wouldn't get him maimed.
He lifted the cover of his bed, gesturing for Aerion to join him. He hesitated at first, but agreed to join eventually. They both fell asleep, comforted by the fact that they could hear each other breathing, alive and well.
Tomorrow there would be several hard conversations, as well as consequences for their actions. But tonight they slept, knowing that no matter what, at the end of the day, they could always count on each other because they are brothers, and brothers are never a heavy burden to carry.