#aemond goes to the godswood he frequented in his youth | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sincerelyourswhistledown · 2 years

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Okay just coming to add into this crack ship that I absolutely ADORE.

So what happened in Storm’s End still happens, Vhagar still ends up with his Arrax Ala Carte meal with a side of Lucerys. But Aemond is horrified by what happens, he didn’t realise he didn’t actually want to kill Lucerys until AFTER he dies. Aemond confesses to his mother what happened and he looks so lost and filled with so much grief, he doesn’t know WHY he’s crying all he knows is that Lucerys is dead. His nephew is dead, the small, bright boy that followed him around the Red Keep like a little lost puppy during their youth is dead.

Alicent listens and for the first time in her life she makes a decision for herself and for her children.

She’s seen what politics and her father has done to her children. Halaena can barely stand her touch, Aegon drinks and whores himself to an early death, and here is Aemond. Her sweet, dutiful boy desperately holding on to her hands, broken and down on his knees as he mourns for the nephew he claimed he HATED.

Looking at him now, she finally understands why Lucerys’ death affected Aemond so much. Why it looks like the world has fallen down on him and why it feels like his heart was ripped out of his chest.

It’s because that’s exactly what she felt staring at Rhaenyra after her father announced his intentions towards Alicent.

Her boy had killed the love of his life and nothing could be done to undo it.

Lucerys is dead, Aemond is a shell of his former self and she knew that if she didn’t do anything the realm would be plunged into a war that had never been theirs to fight. Alicent makes a decision then and there, she would save her family. She moves quickly and in secret, it’s almost offensive to know how little Otto Hightower sees his daughter as a threat. A mistake really, Otto Hightower dies a painful death one night and the maesters declare the cause of death as a bursted belly and if the Queen Dowager and maesters say so then who were they to argue? She send a raven but doesn’t bother waiting for a reply, instead she drags Aegon and convinces Aemond to bring them to Dragonstone.

Up in the air, she imagines she’s on a different dragon, sitting with a different dragon rider with paler hair and lilac eyes she’s spent her entire youth gazing into, flying up up and away to see the great wonders across the narrow sea and eating only the tastiest cakes.

The gentle nudge from Aemond breaks her away from her daydreaming and brings her back to the present. They had expected the open hostility and the guards waiting for them, swords raised as they landed on the ground. But Rhaenyra has always been kind, even with red rimmed eyes and grief sitting heavily on her shoulders she allows them to speak and explain. Aegon bends the knee, Aemond bends the knee, Alicent bends the knee and Rhaenyra is crowned Queen.

It does not fix everything, does not bring back Lucerys or heals the grief felt greatly by those who loved him but it does stop the Dance.

Aemond thinks his sister a nobler woman than all the men in the realm combined. She does not ask for his head, despite Daemon and Jacaerys’ demands, instead she strips him off his title as Prince and exiles him and Vhagar from Westeros. Aemond does not think the punishment too harsh or too much, in fact he felt as if his sister had given him a slap on the wrist. If you asked him, no torture, no beheading, no eye mutilation would ever be too much for what he did to Luke. Besides, he was never planning to stay. The Red Keep is no longer home, gone are the halls that were once filled with Lucerys’ laughter and the rooms that were brightened by Lucerys’ smile are dulled, the castle is empty. Silent.

Aemond spends his years flying from place to place, lost and aimless. He spends his years mastering the art of the sword, learning new cultures and languages, and mourning Lucerys. He carries Lucerys’ memory with him like a gaping wound, raw and painful. Losing his remaining eye would have hurt less.

If there was one consolation, Aemond thought, at least he died hating me.

“It’s exactly what I deserve.”

#okay so I got tired #but basically aemond spend his life in constant grief bc I like him like that #therapy what therapy #aemond learns to live with seeing lucerys’ ghost everywhere he goes #he sees it as penance #but also another gift he’s undeserving of #bc he’ll take whatever part of Lucerys he can have #and seeing Lucerys’ ghost isn’t as much of a punishment as it is a blessing #decades passed and aemond receives a letter asking him to come back for jacaerys’ coronation #rhaenyra isn’t dead she just wants early retirement #aemond goes to the godswood he frequented in his youth #it was where he hid back when he was weak and dragonless #it was also where little luke would follow him to #they would spend their days together with Luke’s head on his lap as they ate the sweets luke charmed out off the cook #that’s when he sees it #sitting on the exact same spot they used to in their youth he sees the carved initials #L + A #it had most likely been carved after the vhagar incident or else aemond would have seen it #it had only been after the vhagar incident when he stopped coming to the godswood #which is why it didn’t make sense #luke hated him and aemond knew that #so why did he carve the initials #why did he mark the sacred godswood tree like this #if luke died hating aemond then why did he carve their initials where only he and aemond could find it #tracing the carved initials aemond once again feels the grief return #only this time it was tenfold #because maybe luke didn’t die hating him #lucemond #lucaerys velaryon #aemond targaryen

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