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There was a lot of noise coming from Aemond’s room. That in itself wouldn’t be odd if his ill-mannered imp of a nephew had been over to play. But Lucerys was home with his mother, and Aemond was alone in his room. Aemond was usually such a quiet boy when he was on his own.
All morning, Alicent could hear him shuffling around and muttering under his breath. A few loud thumps in quick succession sent her running upstairs to see what all the fuss was about.
She opened the door to find the usually tidy room thrown into chaos. All of Aemond’s toys, stuffed animals, and books were being tossed into piles. The only exception seemed to be the lone plush dragon that watched safely from his bed.
“Now what’s all this?” Her tone started sharp, but softened when she saw the angry look on his face. He must be truly upset about something if he was fuming in such a way.
“I need to pick which of my things I’m going to give to Luke.”
That’s odd, Aemond had never acted this way when he needed to give a present to Lucerys. It would be one thing if it were his elder nephew, but when it came to Lucerys he was always excited to find the perfect gift.
“You don’t have to choose from your things,” she reminded him. Maybe there wasn’t anything good enough, or nothing he wanted to part with. “We can go to the shops this afternoon if you like. What’s it for?”
“It’s not a gift,” Aemond said, clearly irritated. “I need to give him half of my things.”
She saw now that there were two distinct sections on the floor, a smattering of everything in each.
“What? Why must you do that, is he forcing you?” She always knew Aemond bowed to that boy’s will too easily. It was bound to get him into trouble sooner or later.
“He’s not making me, it’s just what we have to do.” The crack in his voice betrayed his distress, no matter how hard he tried to hide it behind a scowl.
Maybe a different approach was required to figure out what was going on here.
“And what if your dragon, hmm?” The toy was one of the only ones given to him by Viserys, and his most prized. The only thing not yet sorted.
Aemond bit his lip anxiously at the question. “He’ll miss Luke if he doesn’t see him, so he’ll be allowed to visit Luke’s house sometimes.”
That caught Alicent off guard. Like it or not, the two were attached at the hip. Lucerys was Aemond’s closest friend out of the few that he had.
“Why wouldn’t they get to see each other?” Had something happened between them that she didn’t know about? Surely nothing the two of them couldn’t smooth over when they saw each other next.
Aemond looked uncomfortable and refused to meet her eye. He mumbled, “Because I won’t be seeing Luke anymore.”
That’s all she could get out of him no matter how hard she pressed. Despite the way his eyes shone with unshed tears, all he would admit is that there had been some kind of falling out and they couldn’t be friends anymore.
This was unacceptable. If Aemond refused to tell her, she’d get answers from Rhaenyra and Lucerys directly. She grabbed her purse and marched to the car, ignoring Aemond’s attempts to dissuade her.
They arrived in under ten minutes. Aemond continued to sulk as he reluctantly followed Alicent to the front door. When her first knock went unanswered, she immediately began fishing her spare key out of her bag. In her opinion, this should constitute an emergency.
It became apparent why she’d gone ignored as soon as they were inside. Rhaenyra was upstairs and seemed to be deep in conversation with one of her boys. She followed the sound, and this time didn’t bother knocking when she swung open the door to Lucerys’ room.
“Rhaenyra, can you explain to me why my son is under the impression that he must give his nephew half his toys? What has Lucerys said to him?”
Lucerys, upon catching sight of Aemond half hidden behind her, promptly burst into tears. Rhaenyra narrowed her eyes into an unimpressed glare.
“What are you two doing here?” Rhaenyra snapped.
“I’m trying to get to the bottom of why Lucerys thinks it’s his right to steal from Aemond and then not speak to him anymore.”
Lucerys answered before his mother could. “I’m not stealing, he’s taking half of mine too! It’s just how this works, that’s what Jace told us.”
Looking around the room, Alicent noticed that Lucerys was indeed in the middle of sorting his belongings just as Aemond was.
“How what works? I don’t understand why this is necessary.” Lucerys seemed just as upset as Aemond. None of this was making any sense, and Alicent could feel the stirrings of a headache starting.
“It’s because… because…”
“Luke, don’t-“ Aemond spoke up for the first time since getting in the car.
But Lucerys ignored him. “Because we’re getting a divorce!”
At first Alicent thought she misheard, or that the boys were confused. But no, their actions were too specific. She turned to face Rhaenyra.
“What is the meaning of all this? Explain, now.”
With a heavy sigh, Rhaenyra retrieved a small photo album from Lucerys’ bookshelf and handed it to her.
Beside her, Aemond had started to cry in full. Lucerys, still shedding tears of his own, took his hand. They clutched at each other in comfort even as they bickered back and forth.
“Why are you crying when this whole thing is your fault? You decided this!”
“How could you tell my mom? You promised you wouldn’t!”
Alicent turned her attention to the book in her hands. This must be whatever Aemond didn’t want her to see.
Both Lucerys and Aemond were dressed up and standing together as Daemon knelt between them. Another photo showed Jacaerys, Rhaena, and Baela in folding chairs watching. Joffrey held a basket of flower petals. Laenor and Laena stood by a table with a finely decorated white cake and a bottle of grape juice with fancy glasses.
The last page was a piece of printer paper signed by Aemond and Luke with red and green crayon. The messily scrawled words declared them married.
She could taste her father’s words on her tongue. Pretend weddings were no game for two boys to play together. It wasn’t proper, and would make the seven frown upon him.
But she could see her son’s watery eyes, and felt Rhaenyra’s sharp stare. She remembered her own girlhood dreams of traveling the world hand in hand with her own best friend. She remembered how her father’s words had sounded in her own young ears and swallowed them down.
Aemond pulled away from Lucerys and stepped toward her, apologies spilling out.
“There’s no need for any of that, I just want to know what caused this fight between you.”
She hoped Lucerys might provide more insight, but he only looked at Aemond who kept his mouth clamped shut. Alicent turned to Rhaenyra imploringly.
Rhaenyra only shrugged, her eyes shifting to Aemond for a moment. “I don’t know either. As far as I know, Aemond hasn’t even told Luke his reasons.”
Aemond was still sniffling. His nose was running, his eyes puffy and face blotched with red.
“Excuse us a moment, we’re just going to get cleaned up.”
Rhaenyra didn’t object as Alicent took Aemond by the hand and led him towards the bathroom down the hall. The door shut, and Aemond started up with his apologies once more.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. Please don’t be angry.”
He looked so guilty and panicked. Alicent stroked his hair in an effort to soothe him. She took a tissue to dry his damp cheeks, then offered another for him to blow his nose.
“I’m not angry with you. Nobody’s in trouble. I’m just curious why you decided to get a…” Alicent struggled on the word, but got out a stilted “…divorce. Neither of you seem okay with it. What made you think you had to end your friendship?”
Lucerys might not be her ideal companion for Aemond, but that doesn’t mean she’s blind to how close they are. Her own feelings about them playing this little game of theirs aside, she’d rather see them reconciled.
Aemond hesitated to speak, but he knew he couldn’t avoid the question any longer. “Lucerys is a bastard. I’ve heard you say it.”
“Oh honey, you and Lucerys don’t need to worry about that. That’s something between adults.” More of a complaint about Rhaenyra than her kids, though Aemond likely wouldn’t have understood that. ”Do you even know what that means?”
“No,” Aemond admitted, and she felt relieved. It didn’t last long once he continued. “But you told grandfather that you’d die before letting one of your children marry a bastard.”
Alicent’s heart sank. She remembered not too long ago, Rhaenyra had made idle chit chat while the children were playing in the yard. She’d made a passing joke about how they might be planning a wedding together someday.
At the time, she’d bristled at the comment. Perhaps if she’d reacted differently, they’d be having a very different conversation right now. What she had done was complain to her father.
She’d assumed Rhaenyra got it in her head that her sweet Helaena should marry one of her sons. A whisper in Viserys’ ear granted Rhaenyra her every whim. This time Alicent wouldn’t stand for it. The idea that Rhaenyra felt entitled to dictate the future of Alicent’s children had made her see red.
Now, she understood where the sentiment had come from, and she feared hurting her son where she only wanted to protect him.
“I’m sorry you heard that,” Alicent said genuinely. “What I meant, and what I should have said, is that I’d never let anyone make you marry someone you didn’t like. All I want is to see you happy.”
“So I can pick?” He looked so hopeful after hours of despair.
“Of course you can.” It would be different for her kids than it was for her, Alicent would make sure of it.
“You won’t be mad, even with Luke?”
She thought of Aemond’s teary eyes, two rooms torn apart, and a photo album with her face nowhere to be found.
Was this a sign of things to come? A glimpse into her future? Aemond was but eight years old, and already keeping secrets. He hid not only his struggles, but his happy moments as well. Alicent didn’t want her son to be so wary of her reactions so much that he kept the important things in his life from her.
“No honey, I won’t be mad.” It was mostly the truth. She didn’t feel anger, but she wasn’t entirely at ease with it either. The once-clear image she’d held of his future was starting to twist and blur in her mind with unfamiliar elements and questions she’d never thought to ask.
She dare not say anything lest Aemond become upset again, but they were young yet and playing pretend. Aemond might not believe it now, but many things could change over the next decade. And if they didn’t… if they didn’t, she’d have time to warm up to the idea.
Aemond’s expression began to cloud over again. “But what if Luke doesn’t like me anymore? I made him so upset. He was crying and it’s all my fault.”
Unlikely. Lucerys could be spoiled and emotional, but he was a loyal boy who obviously adored Aemond.
“Why don’t we go back in and explain that it was a misunderstanding? If you apologize, I’m sure you two will work things out.”
They returned to the bedroom and Aemond raced over to his nephew. The two of them migrated to the corner of the room where they exchanged hushed words. They were holding hands again while Lucerys offered an apologetic looking Aemond an encouraging smile. Alicent couldn’t deny that there were far worse companions for Aemond to choose.
As she watched the boys, Alicent could feel Rhaenyra watching her.
“Aemond?” Aemond’s head snapped around to look at her with trepidation, as if he worried she might take it all back. It made her heart ache. “Why don’t you invite Lucerys over for dinner?”
Excited shouting followed as they planned how they’d spend the afternoon. Alicent had to laugh as they openly conspired to convince her to order pizza. Aemond caught her eye once more.
“Can we have a sleepover? Please? We want to build a pillow fort.”
“If Rhaenyra agrees.”
And so Alicent found a second passenger in her backseat as she drove home. Lucerys clutched his overnight bag in his lap. For the first time, Alicent felt relief at the extra presence coming into her home. She’d rather the sound of laughter than nothing at all.