Chapter Text
Aegon was thinking about finally taking to bed when he heard the roar of a dragon from his guest chambers at Driftmark. He felt a spark of jealousy. It sounded like someone was having fun at least. What he would give to be on Sunfyre right now. He had no amusement. His cunt of a grandfather had forbidden the servants to bring him any wine, and this desolate rock was utterly bereft of brothels, although he’s not sure he’d want to see what passed for a whore in this dreary place. The point is Aegon was painfully sober and even more painfully bored.
Aegon eyed his guest chambers critically. They were richly appointed in a way that demanded your attention. He rolled his eyes. Corlys Velaryon was not subtle. He heard another roar and blew out his candle as he went to the window. His eyes widened. The dragon was barely distinguishable in the dark, but it could only be one beast. Only Vhagar was that massive. Her bulk blotted out the moon as she flew through the night skies.
He grinned as he realized what must have happened. He had heard that Vhagar was depressed and sulking after her rider’s death. She would not make such a racket without a new rider. Clever Aemond. Clever.
Aegon poked his head out of his chambers and scoffed when there was no guard, let alone a Kingsguard, in sight. Corlys apparently cheaped out on hiring guards and Aegon’s own were lax. Aegon hurried alone through the hallways of High Tide, making for the entrance to the keep. He couldn’t wait to surprise his brother. Finally, they could fly together and Aemond would understand why Aegon always snuck out and skipped his lessons.
He found that at least the Entrance Hall had some Kingsguard. “Ser Harrold,” Aegon called.
Ser Harrold Westerling looked up. “My Prince, you should be abed.”
“I was Ser. Until I noticed my brother had snuck outside. Has he come past you?” Aegon asked.
Ser Harrold became ramrod straight, “He did not use the front door, my Prince.”
Aegon was about to respond when they heard yelling and screaming from a side corridor. Ser Harrold and the other Kingsguard rushed to the sounds, and Aegon followed. They came to a side entrance and he saw his brother on the ground, clutching his face and screaming. His nephews and cousins were there and Luke had a knife at his feet.
Ser Harrold rushed to Aemond and Aegon followed. “My Prince, my Prince Let me see.” Ser Harrold said. Aegon wanted to hurl when Aemond moved his hand away from his eye. Blood was pouring out of his face, and Aemond’s left eye was a mess. “Gods be good.” Ser Harrold cried.
Aegon turned to the other Kingsguard. “Get the maester! Now! And wake my father and mother.” The Kingsguard rushed off.
“Aemond.” Aegon whispered. His brother whimpered, and Aegon took his hand. He searched for something, anything to say. “You sure showed me.” Aegon gave the best smile he could muster. “Claiming Vhagar at ten. I am so proud of you brother.”
Aemond’s good eye stared at him and his lips twitched before another shot of pain hit him and his face convulsed. “Thanks, Aegon,” he whispered.
Aegon heard a roar from the grounds. Oh. Oh no. “Aemond, I know you are in pain, but I need you to focus. Can you feel Vhagar? Can you feel the other sharing your mind?”
“I’ve felt it since I stepped on this island.” Aemond whispered.
“She is angry.” Aegon said. “You must calm her. Concentrate on the feeling inside your head. That new presence in your mind. Are you focusing?”
Aemond murmured, his good eye closed. “Good,” Aegon said. “Now direct calming thoughts to her. Tell her that you are alright. She is feeling your pain. Your dragon is your other half. You are two souls forever intertwined. You do not need to speak the words for her to feel you.”
The roaring slowly petered out from the grounds. Aegon smiled, “Good, Aemond! You are a natural, brother.”
Aegon kept holding his hand and spouting off about dragons and flying and everything he knew about Vhagar, trying to distract Aemond. The next half hour was a rush. The Maester moved them to the Hall of Nine and began stitching Aemond’s face.
Eventually the doors burst open and the King hobbled in, Mother on his heels. She rushed immediately to them and took Aemond’s hand from Aegon. Aegon heard the King yelling at the Kingsguard in the background. “What happened?” His mother demanded.
“I noticed Aemond was out of bed and outside the castle. I rushed to the entrance hall and alerted the Kingsguard but we heard screaming from a side entrance. By the time we got there, Luke had slashed Aemond with a knife.” Aegon explained.
His mother trained her glare on him, “And where were you?”
“Mother.” Aemond interjected. He whispered, “Do not blame Aegon. I snuck out without telling anyone to claim Vhagar.”
“He should be immensely proud, Mother.” Aegon smiled at his brother. His Mother grimaced before trying to smile at Aemond. She turned to the maester, “It will heal, will it not, maseter?”
Maester Kelvyn shook his head. “The flesh will heal. But the eye is lost, Your Grace.”
Two sets of doors burst open. Corlys and Rhaenys rushed through the first and made a line directly to Baela and Rhaena. The other door was more curious. His older sister entered with Prince Daemon. Aegon’s lip curled as he eyed her, she wore the same clothes as earlier but they looked haphazardly reapplied. She had even missed a button. So Aemond wasn’t the only one sneaking out to have fun tonight.
Speaking of his brother, Aemond grabbed Aegon’s hand in a vice grip and pulled him closer. Everyone else was distracted and his brother leaned in to whisper, sounding panicked, “I called them bastards, Aegon. She’s going to kill me.”
And sure enough, their older sister was bending down as her whelps whispered in her ear and her face turned murderous. Aegon gave his brother’s hand a squeeze and smiled to reassure him as everyone in the room started yelling over one another.
“Silence!” The King yelled. “Aemond, I will have the truth of what happened. Now.”
Aemond was panicked, and Aegon could see his Mother gearing up for a speech. As if that’s what anyone needed right now. Aegon squeezed his brother’s hand again and said, “May I speak, Father. Aemond has been through a lot this night.”
The King nodded. “Aemond snuck out of the Keep and claimed Vhagar tonight.” Many sets of wide eyes were trained on Aemond. “I noticed that he was gone and that he had claimed his dragon and rushed to congratulate him. Is it not an incredible accomplishment, Father? And for him to claim your own father's dragon, the spirit of Baelon the Brave continues in your line.” Aegon smiled again at his brother.
Even Viserys softened and turned to Aemond. "Yes. Congratulations Aemond. I am very proud. You have proven your boldness. I would be glad to tell you stories of my father and Vhagar." Aemond looked shell-shocked, his remaining eye wide and his lips quivering. It may have been the first time Viserys had ever offered to spend time with his brother.
Aegon snuck a glance to his cousins and they looked mutinous. They clearly viewed Vhagar as only their mother's dragon. The morons. Aegon continued before anyone could interrupt. “But when my brother returned he was ambushed by my nephews and cousins.”
His nephews and cousins did not look regretful, although it was hard to tell with Luke as he continued to clutch his nose. Baela in particular looked like she would happily take Aemond’s other eye if someone would only hand her a knife. “A scuffle broke out as Aemond was attacked by four of his kin. Prince Lucerys took Aemond’s eye with a knife and almost became a kinslayer.”
The King turned to Rhaenyra’s brood. “A regrettable accident,” Rhaenyra said.
“Accident!” Alicent cried.
Aegon cut in, “And did Prince Lucerys bring a blade to this ambush on accident?”
Rhaenyra’s glare focused on Aemond. “Vile insults were levied against them. They were defending themselves.”
“What insults?” The King cried. Aegon nearly rolled his eyes. Of course, his father would latch onto any out Rhaenyra gave him.
“The legitimacy of my sons’ birth was put loudly to question.” Rhaenyra simpered to her father. Jace also piped up, “He called us bastards.”
Rhaenyra looked ready to keep digging Aemond’s grave deeper. Aegon squeezed his brother’s hand and yelled, “And I would have called you worse you little whelp, for the insult you made against Prince Aemond.”
Rhaenyra paused. “What insult?”
“My nephews and cousins accused my brother of stealing his newly claimed dragon.” Aegon said. “And they attacked the brand new rider of Vhagar.”
“He did steal her!” Rhaena yelled. Aegon crushed a smirk that threatened to appear. Hook, line and sinker you little cunt.
Aegon turned on her, “You foolish little girl. A dragon is not a slave! Did you feel Vhagar in your pitiful little mind? No, you did not. A dragon is not a thing you can possess. A bonded dragon is your other half. Two souls intertwined so closely that only death may part them. Aemond felt Vhagar in his mind the moment he stepped on this island. Vhagar could never be claimed by another.”
He trained his glare on this little girl. He would have felt a little bad, but Rhaenyra had been gearing up for Aemond’s head. He needed a distraction, and he was good at ridicule. “Moreover, you could have killed everyone in this keep, you stupid wench. You knew that Aemond just claimed Vhagar, the largest dragon in the world, and you decided to ambush and attack her brand new rider, who had not been trained to control the connection? If I had not been there and if Aemond was not such a natural, Vhagar would have torn through this keep like a hot knife through butter to get to her rider. Even now, Aemond holds back a pained, wrathful dragon to protect your worthless hide.”
He glared at Prince Daemon and his older sister, “Uncle, Sister, I cannot believe you have raised children so uneducated in our family’s ways.” He made a show of looking around the room, “Where even is your husband, dear sister?”
The King, who had been watching raptly perked up and glanced around the room. “Yes. Where is Ser Laenor?”
Rhaenyra looked to the King, but she had lost her earlier footing. “I…I do not know, Your Grace. I…could not find sleep. I had gone out to walk.”
Aegon smirked at her. “Curious. I thought I saw you enter with Prince Daemon. Were you on a walk together, sweet sister? The wind must be harsh to have blown your clothes into such disarray.”
Aegon wanted to roar like Sunfyre when he saw the King narrow his gaze on his brother. If there was one thing that could distract the King from fawning over his daughter, it was his anger at his brother. Said brother was glaring angrily at Aegon, but Aegon was used to such looks.
“Were you with my daughter, brother?” The King asked.
“I fail to see how that matters.” Daemon replied.
“We are at your wife’s funeral Daemon!” The King shouted. He glared at Rhaenyra and Daemon, “You two must control yourselves and your children. They must understand what it means to be the blood of the dragon.”
Daemon sneered at the censure. Aegon caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw his mother marching forward. He quickly snagged her arm and pulled her close, looping his arm through hers. She startled and glared at him. “Don’t you dare make a scene,” Aegon whispered. “Aemond said it, and if the King remembers, he is going to ask how he knows it. And Rhaenyra will want his head. Right now, Rhaenyra and Daemon are cowed. Let it cool your vengeance.”
“Your brother has been permanently maimed,” his mother whispered, although it was still too loud for Aegon.
“But he has a dragon now.” Aegon said pointedly. “And his attackers have been humiliated publicly. You cannot demand more. The King will not allow it.”
Aegon kept a firm hold on his mother’s arm, prepared to drag her away if it became necessary. However, she remained silent as the room slowly dispersed. His sister shot him a furious glare as she left, but he just smirked at her and she turned around and led her brood out.
Aegon offered to help his brother to his rooms, mostly to get them both out of there. Aemond was on enough milk of the poppy that he had to lean on Aegon for support as they walked. Several paces behind them, there was the clink of armor as a Kingsguard trailed them. At least someone had learned something.
“Thank you,” Aemond whispered as they walked. “Thank you for tonight, Aegon.”
Aegon smiled, “I know I’m a little shit sometimes.” His brother’s gaze narrowed. “Fine, I know I’m a little shit all the time, but I still love you brother.”
The sun was just creeping over the horizon and the sky was a mosaic of golds and glittering purples and reds. Aegon smiled as he remembered when he first saw Sunfyre and claimed the beautiful dragon who shone like the Dawn. “You’re going to love flying,” Aegon said. “There is nothing quite like it, the freedom of the first flight and the roaring presence of your destined in your mind. It’s transcendent, and I am most sorry that they robbed you of that memory, Aemond.”
Aemond smiled up at him, “I have gained much more. A dragon.” He paused. “And a brother.”
Aegon tightened his arm around his brother. “That you have.”