-Chapter 147-
-POV Aemon Targaryen-
"Ahhh," I sighed as I fell onto my side.
"Now... I remember... why I had forbidden you... from coming back to my chambers," Jeyne said, catching her breath beside me.
I smiled softly and then said:
"You realize that only makes me want to do it again even more."
"You'll just have to go see your wife for that," she said in a provoking tone, one she rarely used—at least not since she had given birth to Aerys.
"And what are you?" I asked with a smile, which made her roll her eyes before pulling the sheet over herself.
"Tell me why you came," Jeyne asked, changing the subject.
"What makes you think I came here for anything other than what we just accomplished?" I teased.
'It was always satisfying to tease someone who always fell headfirst into your trap,' I thought, watching her with a satisfied smile at the corner of my lips.
"Stop it, we both know that since Aerys was born, you haven't touched me more than three times. So go ahead, tell me why you insisted so much today," she said, this time in a serious tone, having surely noticed the playful glint in my eyes.
I looked at her for a few moments, not understanding her sudden change in attitude.
She hadn't pushed me away, nor had she been against what had just happened.
'She even enjoyed it,' I thought, unable to grasp this sudden hostility.
'I thought we had moved past this stage,' I told myself before sitting up.
"Fine, you win," I said before proceeding to recount my discussion with Alicent and her brother to Jeyne.
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-POV Jeyne Targaryen-
After listening to what had happened between them, something caught my attention:
'How dare he speak to Aemon like that?'
'If he spoke to him that way, it means he had solid confidence… or at least he believed he did,' I thought, observing Aemon, who looked unbothered as he told me this story.
"What does he think he knows about you?" I asked.
"Not much," Aemon said nonchalantly.
"What do you mean, not much?" I asked, slightly annoyed that he answered without really answering, especially since he was the one who had come to me for advice.
"Do you remember the tournament where I killed Criston Cole?" he said, looking up at the ceiling with a distant look, as if seeing something else.
I asked in a rather sharp tone:
"The same tournament where you killed Jessamyn's brother and stole everything that belonged to me? How could I forget?"
"I didn't kill him," Aemon said, snapping out of his trance and glancing at me.
"You had him killed. To me, it's exactly the same," I replied, struggling to recall that period without feeling anything other than immense anger towards him for killing my best friend's brother.
'The father of my child,' I thought, regretting having accepted this agreement that bound us until the day of our deaths.
Not because he was as monstrous as Maegor the Cruel, but because he was the complete opposite.
Over time, it had become difficult to keep hating him.
I felt it more and more as time passed.
The more my love for my son grew and the more united we became, the more that fiery anger lost its intensity.
"Fine. During that tournament, I made a request to Larys," Aemon said, not lingering on the topic.
"Your little pet rat?" I asked, since that was the name he had given him.
"Hmm," he responded.
"What did you ask him?" I asked.
"I asked him to swap his brother's lances so they were made of hard wood," he said.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds, then sighed at the audacity he had had to attempt something like that at his age, right under the noses of the greatest lords of the realm and even the king, who was the victim's brother-in-law.
"You also had Otto Hightower's son killed at that tournament without anyone knowing," I said.
"No. To be completely accurate, I didn't have him killed," Aemon said, playing on words before continuing:
"I simply expressed a wish to Larys that Gwayne Hightower be injured… possibly severely."
"Why?" I asked, as I couldn't recall any conflict between him and the queen at that time.
He shrugged and then said:
"Alicent tried to use me to resolve the conflict between her and Rhaenyra."
"So, you had him killed—"
"Stop with that. I didn't have him killed. I do bear some responsibility for his death, but believe me, if Harwin Fort hadn't tried to injure him badly, he would have ended up with nothing more than a few bruises—at worst, a minor shoulder fracture, but nothing serious," Aemon said, frowning.
I quickly rolled my eyes before continuing, ignoring what he had just said:
"So, to recap, you were involved in Gwayne Hightower's death, and you hid it from Laena and her family."
"No, Laena—I told her a long time ago. And I'm fairly certain her mother has known for quite a while, too. I once alluded to it in front of her, and she didn't seem surprised," he corrected me, as if it should have been obvious.
'How foolish of me, as if you could ever hide anything from your precious Laena,' I murmured inwardly before continuing:
"So, you didn't tell Laenor, and now you want to know what I think, considering that this set off a chain reaction leading to Joffrey Lonmouth's death and two attempted murders by the Greens on your brother-in-law."
'Ironic how it's coming back to bite him, considering he tells Aerys every day that all actions have consequences,' I thought, slightly raising my eyebrows.
"I'd like an outside opinion," Aemon said.
"An objective opinion," I corrected him before asking something that had been on my mind:
"Why didn't you go to your mother?"
"No particular reason, I just wanted your opinion," he said.
'He's lying,' I thought as I observed him, though I couldn't figure out why—or about what exactly he was lying.
I remained silent for a long moment before finally saying:
"Are you going to give in to their threats?"
Aemon looked at me without saying a word, his gaze making it clear that the question didn't even deserve an answer.
A firm stance that I liked, so I asked:
"Today, how many dragons are on our side?"
"Urrax, Vhagar, Meleys, Sheepstealer, and I think I can convince Daemon to stand with us alongside Caraxes," he said, which slightly surprised me, as everyone knew it had been years since they had gotten along.
'But maybe, just like with Aerys, Baelon could be the link that helps mend their old grudges,' I thought.
I shrugged and then said:
"So, no matter what they do, we have the upper hand across every part of the realm. Aegon will never turn against us, Rhaenyra and Laenor won't be able to do anything to us even if they act outraged once this information becomes public knowledge, and Viserys the Weak will remain as he has always been—weak and apathetic in front of us. Because you are no longer just a prince, but the Hand of the King, and you hold the power."
Aemon smiled softly without saying anything, so I continued while turning away:
"Strengthen that power quickly and let them stir as they please. Once the tournament arrives, they won't dare act against us, because we have all the power needed to reduce them to ashes. All they have is the word of a man condemned to death for treason."
Hearing no sound from Aemon's direction, I thought he would leave, having gotten what he wanted.
But I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, and Aemon whispered in my ear in a satisfied tone:
"I love when you say 'we'."
I rolled my eyes and wanted to retort something, but for some reason, I held back.
'We have a son together, idiot,' I thought, doing my best to suppress the ever-growing sense of security I felt whenever I was in his arms.
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N.A : A little Stockholm Syndrome for Jeyne Targaryen.