Disclaimer: I disclaim.
Thanks to everyone who left a review. Thank you, Oberon Sexton – my most constant reviewer.
One to Love
Chapter 8
The next day…
The veil of doom was all over the Red Keep. No one dared say something, lest they attract a Targaryen's notice. These days, notice meant anger.
The day was dark and unpleasant. The sun was nowhere to be seen. The only people Rhae encountered were servants and, very rarely, a noble lord or lady who bowed, averting their eyes.
Rhae lifted her chin up. She wouldn't show weakness to anyone. Still, it was depressing to think that the Red Keep must have looked like this through the blasted Spring Sickness.
She headed for the stables where she was met with more bows and averted eyes. This saddened her further, the thought that she was unwelcome here, when only a week ago, she had been a constant presence here with her Lightfoot.
"Prepare Lightfoot for a ride," she ordered, and the stableboy looked at her uneasily.
"Are you going on a ride, my lady?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Of course. What, is there an order that I should not be allowed to?"
He blushed. "No… no, my lady, of course not."
"Then prepare her," she commanded. "I'll be waiting in the yard."
"Are you sure it is the wisest move to go out?" a familiar voice asked and Rhae bristled, ready to fight.
"Since when have you become my mentor, brother dear?" she asked.
Aerion smirked, taking in her green riding gown, the string of pearls on her neck and the deep violet shadows under her eyes. Her cheeks were sunken and yellowish.
"Well, Father seems to think you cannot be trusted to make decisions for yourself," he said.
'If he has appointed you my guardian, I want to hear it from him," Rhae cut him off. "I'll be outside," she said to the grooms and went past Aerion, to the vast space of the yard.
Unfortunately, he followed her.
"Have you had any visitors lately?" he asked. "I wanted to pay you a visit, to make you feel less lonely now that your husband is… detained… elsewhere. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to you."
"These were my orders," she said and looked at him with her hands on her hips. "I prefer to keep chosen company and you do not make the list."
He laughed. "We'll see how long it will last. Aegon is nowhere near to being released and the rumours have it that you… let's say your riding a mare is said to be subpar to your zest in riding… mounts."
Rhae gasped and swiped at him but he pushed her hand aside. Furiously, she yanked it free and lashed at him again.
This time, Aerion caught her hand and held it in his left. He raised his other hand and hit her with such force that Rhae fell to the ground. Aerion bent down and caught her by the hair.
"No!" someone yelled. "Rhae! No! Let her go!"
Aerion got her to her feet, holding her by the hair, escaping her attempts to strike and kick him. The next moment, his hands were about her throat, choking the breath out of her.
"No!" Aemon shouted again and came running, holding what he could find – a wooden block. "Let her go, you scoundrel! Don't you dare touch her!"
He landed the block in Aerion's back once, twice. "Let her go!"
Aerion jumped aside and took his sword out, aiming for his brother's face. "You'll get your due, too, because I am fed up with all of you!"
Daella came running towards them and stood frozen, horrified. Aerion aimed a blow at Aemon's eyes but he caught the blade with his bare hand. "Let go!" he yelled, and tried to pull the sword from Aerion's hand, not noticing that his own was bleeding heavily.
Aerion poked again, this time against Aemon's cheek. He barely managed to turn his head aside, still gripping the blade.
"Aerion!" Daella screamed and everyone instinctively turned toward her.
She flung the water from the nearest bucket straight in Aerion's face. Out of instinct, he flung his hands back, looking at her with an expression of utter astonishment. She bared her teeth. She looked like a witch, with her black hair falling wildly.
Then, she threw the bucket at him and jumped him, pushing him backwards. Aemon and Rhae who was still holding her throat, ran for them and the next moment, Aerion was on his back, crushed under three pairs of arms hitting and pummeling and three pairs of legs kicking. To his honour, he gave them some back.
"What's going on here!"
They registered their father's voice and Daella jumped back… not to apologize but simply to get a better aim for her kicks because as it was, Rhae was in the way…
"Why are you standing like graven images?" Aerys exclaimed. "Separate them!"
Daella fought and kicked, splattering the white Kingsguard cloak with mud. The knight looked helplessly at Maekar. "Hold her!" the Prince barked. "Everyone, stop it, do you hear me! Daella, stop!"
They heard; they just didn't want to obey. It was harder to pull out Aemon but finally, he was put next to his struggling sister, his arms pinioned, Ser Roland Crakehall looking with concern at the blood gushing from the boy's hand.
While Ser Willem Wylde was pulling her back, Rhae tried to aim a final punch at Aerion but the knight carried her off. "Calm down, little princess," he said, still stunned. He hadn't seen such a scene in the royal family since Daemon Blackfyre and Aegor's Bittersteel's fights with Prince Baelor and Prince Maekar, well before the official beginning of the rebellion.
"That's enough!" Maekar shouted. "Calm down. That's enough. Daella, for gods' sake! What are you looking at?" he suddenly asked and followed his brother's gaze… right to the purple bruise on Rhae's cheekbone and the ten fingers clearly imprinted at the sides of her neck.
Aerion had just gotten on his feet when his father's fist sent him back right where he had been.
A few hours later…
"I wish you could have seen him, Egg. The wretched scoundrel!"
"I imagine," Egg said, an expression of bliss on his face. "That will do."
They both laughed and moved closer to each other on Egg's bed, as they had done when children and sharing secrets. "And then," Aemon continued. "Daella yelled that things cannot go on this way. Choose, Father, she said. It's either him or us!"
Egg almost choked. Daella being this brave? The kind Daella? "And then what?" he asked. "What did Father say?"
"He was so livid that he seemed willing to solve the matter upon the spot, with Aerion's blood. Before he could say something, Uncle Aerys took charge. He said we should all calm down and deal with the problem. Rhae exclaimed that while Aerion was in the Red Keep, nothing can be dealt with. It was obvious we couldn't live under one roof with Aerion, she said, and that was why either he would leave, or we would. Otherwise, we would risk killing one another, she cried."
Egg's eyes went wide. Fratricide was a topic that was never brought up in their father's presence. He listened with horrified fascination what Aemon had yet to say.
"Yesterday, we quarreled, I exclaimed. Today, we fought. What will happen tomorrow? Things might get worse! Please, Father, please! Uncle, a decision should be made, I said. At this point, they all looked at me and Father asked, Why are you here, Aemon? Go and get this wound dressed. 'No way, I said. I'll wait until enough blood flows to cleanse the touch of this thing's sword…'"
It was hard but Egg managed to take a breath and stared at his brother. "You didn't say it!"
"I did. Then, Aerion said it was easy for us to threaten that we'd leave because we'd do it anyway – Rhae would go with you, Daella will wed Baratheon and I'd leave too. Yes, I said. Yes, if you stay here, I won't have a choice and I'd run to the Wall if I must because I can't stand you, Aerion…"
"Oh no!"
"Oh yes! So, after all was said and done, Aerion is leaving for Summerhall."
Egg winced. "Poor Daeron…"
"Poor Daeron indeed…"
Aemon became serious. "Now," he said. "Let's talk about you."
Two days later…
"Don't touch me!" Egg said. "I'll go on my own…"
The gold cloaks looked at each other, then looked at their captain and finally, at Ser Willem Wylde.
"Tie him," the knight ordered. "These are the King's orders."
Egg nodded. "The King's orders… I see. What are they going to do with me, Ser Willem?"
The Kingsguard did not answer. "You can't tell me?"
Ser Willem came to check the ropes. "I am sorry, little prince," he said, almost inaudibly. "Stay strong."
Not surprisingly, these encouraging words did not do much for Egg's strength.
They loaded him up into a horse cart with a bundle of hay and distinctive stench of horse piss. Even the corresponding wetness was there. Egg held his head up, refusing to acknowledge the conditions.
They brought him to the square in front of the Great Sept of Baelor. It was filled with people – five, ten thousand, more… And there was a wheel of torture. Egg's eyes went wide at the sight of the two men with whips. Aemon had warned him but this? Surely his father and uncle did not mean…? Not in front of the populace?
They took his clothes off, leaving him only his breeches. He went for the wheel alone, his eyes inevitably drawn to the crowd on tribunes high above him. King Aerys looked sad. Queen Aelinor was very pale in her dark velvet gown. Next to her, Daella was shaking. Maekar looked calm but his hands betrayed him. Only the effort not to grip them together could keep them this still. Aemon was looking straight at Egg, trying to encourage him. Aerion was not here – obviously he had already been packed off to Summerhall. Rhae was not here either and that was good – for a moment, Egg had thought that they might have forced her watch.
They tied him to the wheel and spun it round. Sky and earth started spinning, human faces also started spinning.
The fist whip came down when the wheel was lowering him down. The second – when it was lifting him up. Egg gritted his teeth, concentrated on one thing and one thing only: that he wouldn't scream. He wouldn't, he wouldn't, he wouldn't…
He woke up back in his horse cart. His back was burning, his feet were burning too, he wouldn't be able to walk for days. Somewhere from the sky someone was reading: "By His Grace's will… Prince Aegon… breaking the custom and the royal authority… committed a crime for which he was whipped… But lest someone thinks that the King of Westeros scorns the Faith's rules and love between spouses, he acknowledges the marriage between Prince Aegon and Princess Rhae Targaryen… and grants wine to the people…"
Everyone cried out. A rumbling started – the carts with the huge barrels were coming. But Egg was listening intently for the end of the sentence. Aemon had told him what it would be but not how long it would last. "For breaking the customs, though, Prince Aegon and Princess Rhae will be exiled from King's Landing for three years. For this period, they cannot enjoy the privileges of their birth and no lord or lady of the land is allowed to acknowledge them as royal blood…"
Egg closed his eyes. It could have been much worse. Three years would pass quickly.
Around him, people were already drinking. A gold cloak lowered a ewer over Egg's cart. That was the beginning of the wedding feast.
Two weeks later…
It was still dawn when the two figures headed for the gates of the Red Keep. They were simply dressed in black, leading only a brown horse and a gentle mare with them. They had almost no money or possessions about them, save for what Aemon had given them. Those of the servants who knew they'd leave today had gathered on windows and doorways to see them off.
From the window of the presence chamber, Aelinor also watched, her eyes brimming with tears that would stay unnoticed in the faint light. As if they knew she was there, both Egg and Rhae turned back and looked at her. She waved at them and they waved back. Then, she felt a hand on her palm. She didn't need to look back to know it was Maekar. She squeezed back just as strong and silently leaned her head against his shoulder.
Suddenly, Daella came running through a side door, cried her siblings' names, pressed them both in a quick hug. They both clung back. She passed them a pouch that Egg was tempted to refuse but then looked at Rhae and thought better. He was used to living on the way. She was not. She was strong-willed and of heathy constitution but she didn't know a thing about the life of wanderers. She had only ever been taught to be a princess.
He looked at Daella and she shook her head to stop him from talking. "I still haven't forgiven either of you," she said. "It's just… take care of each other, you hear?" she said and headed back inside. They looked after her until she disappeared from sight.
"Will we ever come back?" Rhae asked when they were near the last gate.
"We will," Egg said.
