Standing before the tall reflection glass that was carelessly left at the corner of that immaculate chamber, Irina sighed looking at her ill-fit dress, which hung loose everywhere around the curves of her body. After her horrendous adventure in the wild with Orys, a year or so ago, she had never thought her weight would drop in the count of stones like this, where the sleeves of her dress were slipping off from her shoulder. Gaunt face with hollow eyes stared back at her, and somewhere deep down her heart, she couldn't look at herself in the mirror. This was someone else. The Maester said it was the stress and the process of healing would always take something away.
It took something away, that much was true, and she would have been happy if her flesh was the only thing that she had lost in the process. She ran her fingers across the face, the tiny boney sticks trying to trace the supple skin along her cheeks to get a momentum while reeling in the presence. She wished to hold the reins on controlling her own fucked up head to feel control over her emotions that was splayed everywhere. "Just get past this day! Focus!" She whispered hollowly to herself, letting out a long sigh not to look back at the past or worry about the future, and prepared to spend another day, in that empty chamber, which she happened to learn it to be Visenya's.
Even as a child, she had never entered for the fear of getting cursed, so she had no idea that this prison belonged to her sister's. Even bigger than her father's solar, no… Aegon's solar — now that he was the Lord, Visenya held the vastest space, but it was mostly empty. It appeared more like an architectural spectacle that deserved to be admired but not fit for living. Apart from the reflective glass, the chamber had no amenities required for a lady to enhance their beauty. Not that Visenya would require anything to be enhanced.
Rather, the walls were bedecked with random words from the Valyrian tongue that Irina warned herself not to spell out, suspecting it to be some sort of cursed magic. Apart from the broken wooden cupboard, curtsey of Aegon's wrath, which had held numerous tiny bottles which should have been filled with some potions, there was nothing else other than the bed, the hulky tome that she became fond of reading in her time inside and the purple orchid.
In fact, had she ever managed to sneak into this chamber, as a child, as she had always desired, she was sure she would have died of a stroke seeing the state of it. No wonder Aegon never visited Visenya's chamber. The awful darkness gave chills down from the top of her head to feet. The purple orchid that was in an old pot that never died, even when no one watered. The locked ironwood door wouldn't budge even if Aegon would thrash it madly at night although there was no latch from inside at all, which was the only reason she preferred to stay in this chamber rather than switch to her isolated tower, even though she knew every illusion here was a result of some strange magic. Even her birds refused to come by the porch even if Irina tried with zeal to enter, they would refuse, screeching and fluttering their wings in the air. They didn't like it here… even at times, she was desperate to get out, her own fucked up head screaming her to instinctively run away from danger, as though the chamber was consuming her soul, burning through her heart.
She stayed only to never come across Aegon's path. The thought of Aegon kept her anxiety burst beyond the limit. Avoiding him staying in the same castle was damn difficult, but that was the only thing she had asked of Visenya to help with when her sister had asked if she was in need of any support. "Never let him in! Don't let anyone in", Irina had said. Feeling tremendously safe inside the bubbled chambers and having no urgency to step outside in the past two weeks had kept her more safe and sane. Not that Aegon left her alone after she had shunned him away. He came every single night to visit her, probably hoping to comfort her, speaking to the door, and although she managed not to let the sound of a whisper out, she heard everything that he uttered to the empty night.
There would be desperation in his voice, a troubled guilt every single time he spoke, of how he failed in protecting her. He often recited how he failed to do his duty, which was to protect his family. Irina assumed he meant it in a brotherly love or duty as he preferred to address. Not that it made her uncomfortable. He was indeed feeling desperate to reach out to her. And she was sure it was only because he had no clue of what happened to Rhaenys. Else, things would have been exceedingly different, such as him flying on Balerion to East instantly on taking down all blue bearded men for daring to touch his wife.
Probably, it was that anger which forced her to shut him away, the very anger that he was not roused to such temper for Irina as he might be feeling for Rhaenys that made her stubborn and rebel against him.
The content feeling on hearing him plead gave a fresh relief surge throughout her skin. She wouldn't deny of feeling a need to be protected and comforted by him, hearing his voice when he would beg by standing outside, which was something she hadn't thought Aegon was capable of doing. In fact, she had a hard time accepting that Aegon stayed by the door every day trying to coerce her to open, telling sweet words like confronting a little child.
It was hard to resist when she knew he was caring for her wellbeing. At the same time, Irina wanted him gone. Visenya's advice burned throughout her heart, every time she hoped to make peace with him. Aegon loves Rhaenys. He will always love her. Deep down in her heart, she believed Aegon indeed loved Rhaenys. She had seen them together in that horrible trial period of serving Rhaenys and knew how he cared for Rhaenys. Could anyone love me for who I am? I have nothing to love and now I am not pure either. If Irina would let him in her heart, he would hurt her repeatedly. And she didn't want to be hurt anymore. None of this stopped him, though.
Irina never knew he would feel remorse for her to such extents of always standing by the door at night, thrashing the ironwood till his hands would hurt. That had put her in shock. Some nights he was angry, some nights he was silent with sadness, but he was always present on the other side of the door for the whole night. Taking all the control of their peculiar relationship first time to herself and see him get panicked like a fish out of water with no control to himself, the same life that he had been forcing her to live under his mercy had made her slightly satisfied and all credits should be only given to Visenya, who had so far kept her promise in never allowing anyone, other than the gray-haired maid who would clean everything and bring her food.
The maid was under Visenya's service who never spoke, aged with wrinkly faces, doing only the duties assigned to her. The old woman became Irina's curiosity at times because the woman never uttered a word. Only would sign, asking if she needed to be fed, or helped to the chamber pot, or needed to be given a bath. She had no idea if the maid was mute, not that she was going to provoke a conversation when the woman had those haunting eyes on her that subtly implied the pity to her body. Pity for having to bear some strange men's abuse. If that was the care this world would offer, she would stop speaking to everyone, and secretly she wished the Gods would actually confirm her that the maid was indeed mute, so she would sleep peacefully knowing the woman wouldn't be spreading her state all around the castle. Perhaps the old woman was mute, which could be the only reason Visenya had allowed to clean and maintain this ghastly chamber.
Content with that explanation, she walked to that curved long porch, which directed to the courtyard unlike her lonely tower, which was facing the beauty of the vast sea, and looked down at Ser Quenton who was drilling the men under his command. If she was not reading the tome, or flying in her bird with no destination in mind, she accustomed herself to sit on the porch and hear the voices of men and boys, fighting amongst themselves to gain glory with their strength. No one ever looked up to see her. She always preferred the corner and only a silhouette would be visible for them if they peered, unlike her clear view of their stances in training or the sharp audible pitches from which they passionately struggled to learn.
It was a usual day, but mostly young boys were present, and they were all getting trained by knights with wooden lances and swords, a few of whose faces she recognized but the rest of them were not so clear to her sight. A few boys were given lances to form a line and form a position of defense against their opponents. Their wooden shields were not powerful ones like true knights carried, but this was part of training them and it looked almost silly from far when they started quarreling amongst each other while failing to knock out their opponents. The knights had to clout the young boys' heads to pull them off of each other.
It was after an hour when she heard loud tempered voices that sent spine-tingling fear, and she rose instantly to gather the source of where or rather whom it was coming from. In black scaled shirt, and silver-gold hair, she made out Aegon at a distance, but he was not the one whose thundering voice pierced her ears. They were too far for her to know, but her heart leaped realizing exactly whose voice it was. She thought her heart would jump out of her rib cages, feeling the new sensations all along her skin of hearing Orys speaking in his formidable tone.
Truthfully, she had shut down her emotions of wondering about him, hardening her feelings by repeating in her head that Orys would not be caring for her anymore. He hadn't visited her even after she sent her silver chain through the bird. When she realized he didn't even visit her in all those six months, she pushed him away from her mind, so it wouldn't hurt much. But hearing his voice brought tears to her eyes, that streamed uncontrollably and she wanted to run to him, hug him, fight with him for not sparing a day to visit her.
She ran to the door, but it was locked and she knocked a thousand times, only to remember it was a cursed door as a result of her stupidity and she had to wait till Visenya would come. Panic filling her throbbing chest, she ran back to the porch and screamed from the top of her lungs for Orys, hoping that he would just hear and come for her. No one heard her through the wind. Not even a small bee turned for her voice, which was feeble like a whining cat from the never-ending sobs that was lurching from her chest.
Gripping the iron metal hard, nails raking through the steel, she tried to gather her wits, which was not in control at the moment, leaping through excitement to be with someone who she had known and loved since a child. Switching beneath a jay which was far away, she flew down to him chirping in wind with excitement to see him in all flesh, and he looked up his head with astonishment.
Before she decided to understand why he looked horrible, with those long grown beards, or unattended hair, she sensed the tension in the air when Aegon broke the silence, as Orys held her bird body and strangely gave a sob in despair.
"Did you get a chance to question them?" Aegon asked.
"Nah!" Orys shrugged. "They weren't man enough to face my sword. Drank something from a vial and dropped dead with a blue face and red-eyes. How can I question dead men?" His voice was sarcastic, eyebrows curving in defense against Aegon's. He was in anger at their brother. It was evident with the way his nose flared as he started patting her feathers.
"This has to be stopped… and immediately! We need to gather information on who is behind these attempts. They come to our home and touch our women!" Aegon seethed, but he appeared lost in thoughts for a while, after which his eyes wandered to her bird body, sensing she had come for Orys. Did some more men come for dragons or rather dragon riders? The thought only urged her to come back to the locked chamber and be inside of it quietly and safely. Although Aegon's eyes still laid on her, he still continued speaking to Orys. "We will speak about this after you and your men, refresh. Visenya has been asking about the same. I need to decide how we move from here. We will not let random men invade our place for dragons." Aegon said, clearly ignoring the tension in the air. She could feel everything and she knew something was not right. Screeching miserably, she flew over and over Orys's head, wishing he would stop speaking about irrelevant people and visit her first. Was he still angry at her for spoiling his holdfast? Was that why he had never come to visit in all those days?
"Dragons?!" Orys clenched his fist. "I give no fuck about dragons now, Aegon!" He hissed, catching the flying bird in front of his eyes, capturing her fluttering feathers gingerly knowing very well she was inside of it. "You said I can see her." His voice broke, reminding Aegon of the unsaid promise. "And right now, I need to see her." He sighed, closing his eyes, taking a moment. "Have you forgotten the promise, already?"
"And you should very well remember on what terms the promise was given," Aegon replied in his stern lordly voice, with no ounce of friendship. Skeptically looking between the bird and Orys, Aegon motioned his hand towards the direction of Stonedrum tower, asking Orys to refresh first within which he would send Visenya to speak with Irina first if she was ready to meet him in the first place. Irina instantly returned to her body, waiting by the door for them to come.
Each second felt like years, her head spacing out while the possibilities of being insulted, stabbing her heart. Would Orys enquire about what had happened by the shore? Should she explain to him the whole ordeal again? Suddenly, she wished no more to see Orys. She could ask Visenya to not let him in at all. Aegon seemed to be super confident that Irina would not see Orys, probably thinking how she never let him come in.
Her fingers brushed along the stone walls, and she came to the spot of her favorite place, the one where swords were sorted according to height and hungover in an oval shape, varying in sizes and thickness. Spears, war-hammers, lances, even wooden swords were gracing that splendid space, next to the golden armor fit for a woman's body—Visenya's body. Her eyes traveled from one to another, fingers sensing the coldness of the steel at every turn, and finally, it came to the last one, the slim, shiny, Valyrian steel—Dark Sister, the name that was befitting Visenya herself.
She had been killed by both the Valyrian steels of this house, and although, in front of Blackfyre, Dark Sister was lame and small, the artistic beauty was nothing compared to Blackfyre which was boring and big. It was for a woman's hand. Curiosity overpowering her senses, her fingers slid into the hilt first, a small smile curving her lips in the excitement of doing something that Visenya would have not approved, the mischievousness gleaming in her blue orbs that reflected back from the black steel when she inspected.
There was an attraction, pulling her toward the metal, and she craved to touch it, as though it was something she had been missing from inside, but when her finger grazed the tiniest bit, she felt a horrible pain in her chest, just like the time, when she was pierced by Visenya and Aegon at different times, while skin changing and she instantly pulled back her hand, almost tripped running away from the sight of the blade, her blood boiling in anger for no reason.
"Is it burning through you?" Visenya asked, her arms crossed, standing by the door.
"No…" She lied through her teeth and wondered how Visenya had managed to spin a magic around that steel to give such horrible pain. The undying flower pot itself was an answer, but she gave nothing away to inform Visenya of her pain.
"Orys wants to see you," Visenya informed, moving towards the cupboard to pick a new attire for herself. "Do you want me to let him in? He insists you want to see him too."
"Where do you stay?" Irina questioned, taking time to process if she should see Orys. Visenya tilted her head, unclear of the question asked. "I mean, I have taken up your residence. I just wondered where do you sleep or reside in."
"In your tower," Visenya answered, leaving to the bath chamber for changing her attire. By the time Irina started chewing on her options, standing by the porch, Visenya came out in ring-mail, replaced for the silk she wore, braiding her hair. "Do you like it here?" Visenya looked out at the courtyard at a distance, hearing to the clanging sounds of wood against wood. "Aegon likes your tower more. He says the salt wind and sea are much more soothing over to hear the metal clanging sounds from this chamber." Her sister gave a curious smile at Irina's direction. "He wants me to bring you back to your tower."
Irina disliked that smile that was indirectly poking around the guilt of getting involved with her husband. Irina would have apologized at other times, and although she gave some respect for Visenya, she didn't want to be pointed out like that. "I like it here. But I don't want to trouble you. You have helped me more than I asked for. I am ready to move if that's what you want."
"That's what Aegon wants, not me. Are you going to avoid him forever and get locked up in this chamber? I must admit I am having a good time playing around when he requests me to let him in but this time around the year is not really good to prod his pride."
Visenya had informed every day of how Aegon and Rhaenys had been asking to let them in to speak. Irina had ignored it most of the time, hoping it would all fade away. "What do you mean by this time around the year?" Her interest piqued.
Visenya glanced at Irina, before binding two of her braids together. "He doesn't stay in the castle this time and leaves to Gods know where until the storm calms. Don't you know that?" Irina shook her head, completely aware she had literally no knowledge of who he was or what he would do. "He probably will leave in a day or two and generally would take a moon to return. During which I will be governing the duties of this castle as the Lady of Dragonstone, a title which I deserved from the day I was born but awarded only after willing to marry our stupid brother because I was not blessed with a stick between my legs."
Visenya clenched her jaw tight, leaning on the rails of the porch, staring blankly at the empty ground. Irina was last born in this family and to the second wife, which was why there wasn't a day she wondered about Aegon or him inheriting the position and wealth until her father wrote a will. Not that she wanted this for herself, but that one careless action by her father had set many things into motion which was not liked by her siblings, especially Visenya. The scarred memory of standing on the cliff clinging to life and death made Irina to take a few steps away from Visenya, who she knew that wouldn't flinch away in taking anyone's life if it came to inheritance.
"Father never cared if I was a boy or not. He taught me to swing a sword as any man would and asked me to take a dragon even before asking Aegon." Irina scrunched her nose, remembering how her father often advised her to stay away from the dragon's lair, warning every time to not go near Dragonmont. Only after he gave her the dragon egg, did she forget about taking Aegerax? The egg that never hatched, proving to everyone that she wasn't a true dragon at all. "When Aegon was born, I stood by my mother's birth bed-chamber the whole night, chanting prayers and holding my father's fingers asking thousands of silly questions of how small the baby would be, or would he break if I lifted in my arms or if he would start playing with me from the next day. Father would only give away a faint smile. As we grew up, I trained with him and taught him all the tricks I learned in swinging a sword. He always looked up to me, following me everywhere, taking the fancy of every word I uttered until my mother said to us that we would be marrying one day and Aegon would be the lord of Dragonstone and he would be my master."
That was how Irina was taught, too, by the ministresses whom her father brought from the East. Not that her father was any different to her. He had asked her to obey his orders without questions, but it was all in good heart. No one would want to see their daughter climbing down rocks to play with strangers.
"And the brother that I loved vanished from that instant, replaced by my master, who left me to find companionship in Orys. After all, I would be beneath him, you see! And I am just a woman." Visenya's words came out in contempt, her anger curving in her brow. The pain of being rejected for her gender so clear in her face, the pain of being second in line even when she was capable, and even a step above their brother in skills, flaming through her purple orbs. "At one point, I made peace with it, hoping we will share everything after we marry, until his sudden interest shifted to Rhaenys, the perfect sister who will bend to his wills and whims unlike me."
Irina walked away, not really liking this topic. Not wanting to hear about Rhaenys or how the relationship between the three had bends and twists. She cared for none of them when they had always forgotten about her existence. "You really are enjoying this. Aren't you?" She bit her lips tightly to stop telling something irresistible.
"Oh, I always love a little show. But to see their perfect relationship tumble down like a sandcastle, by you… especially by you… That's beyond perfection."
"I am not the reason for it." Her throat constricted her voice to come out, looking at the way how others would see this. "He doesn't love me, you said the same. And Rhaenys…"
"What do I know about love? I left the man I loved for six years, only for holding power and riding a dragon. You know the story very well about Daemon and me. Aegon said the same when our father married your mother, that our father can't love a woman like her, who is beneath the status of a Targaryen." Irina held her anger, hearing about her dead mother being insulted by these stupid siblings. "But then Lord Aerion proved everyone wrong writing away the whole inheritance to you."
"Why are you saying to me the things that I am aware of already?"
"Aegon has a fancy for you, that much I can be sure. He hasn't left this chamber at night, muttering like a fool in love, begging me to let him in. I assume this is the first time he stayed away from Rhaenys." Irina bent down seeing her toes, knowing this wasn't the first time. He had spent a few nights before too, leaving before the sun would come up. "Make peace with him. We have more things to concentrate on, especially in the East. I can't have him swoon around you like a puppy."
"Are you ordering me?"
"No… Advising you! He is not going to let this go and the sooner he marries you, we can finally put all this mess a rest and travel East."
Irina stared at her sister blankly, the prospect of being married spoken like just another event of life by Visenya herself. "Why do you want him to marry me?"
"Because I know what you're capable of." Visenya's eyes became too dark as though she can stare into Irina's soul. "Besides, I assume you want the same. Don't you?"
Do I? She wanted before all of this happened. She didn't know why she wanted to spill her mind, but then when Visenya who never spoke a word until a moon before bared her heart a little, it wasn't that difficult. Be it a stone or Visenya, she just wanted to admit a part of her mind. "I don't know. I want what I had before our father died."
Visenya crossed her arms, walking towards the pot on the table. "This was the only thing that I kept as a reminder of our father." Giving a light touch to the purple petals, Visenya turned at her with a frown. "Don't make more and more foolish choices, Irina, like all the times and get yourself killed. I won't spare you if I have to choose between this house and you."
A warning puzzle again, threatening her with death. Her sister was capable of it. This would be how her life would be, always dangling in a thin rope of life and death. Death didn't fear her, but the fact that Visenya could threaten her to kill, even while she held all power, made her feel less in control. A knock on the door cleared her mind, and she asked Visenya to not lock the door anymore. If there was going to be a confrontation between the world and her, a door wouldn't stop that from happening. And the open offer by one of her sisters to marry their husband made her feel less comfortable in her skin. They were up to something and she had to find out the truth and keep her life in control.
Pulling her sleeves one more time to her shoulders, she carefully stepped into the adjacent chamber to see Orys, forcing the voice in her head to mute for some time. He was sitting by the fireplace, staring down at his toes, stroking his ink-black beard while still feeding the jay that she had sent before with few grains in hand.
"Have you gone into the wild again, without me this time?" She asked to break the ice and with a forced smile, but when he looked at her, he offered no smile at all. His head tilted a little to have another look at her face, which she knew had a few marks of the assault left still, and she instantly covered her cheeks, flushing red in shame.
This was a mistake. Now, he would ask questions about what had happened. She felt so ill to stand there, unable to meet his eyes. Were those eyes accusing her of all the mistakes? He took careful steps towards her, the general loud thuds of his boots not actually present at the time, speaking volumes about his calculated behavior. She couldn't lift her face, even with mere inches of his presence, and tears were threatening to fall down. "Where the fuck is the other half of my sister? Did you eat her in hunger?"
She looked weirdly at him, and when his glossy white teeth were visible, she forgot all her worries and jumped on him, laughing all the way till her stomach hurt, both from the wounds crushing his body and from the laughter.
Unable to bear the pain, she lowered her legs to the carpet and his eyes became too moist that he took his time to compose himself. "Is something hurting you? I will call the Maester."
"Its fine, Orys. This is nothing that I can't bear."
Orys swallowed and moved his head all around the chamber, trying awkwardly to speak something. "I have been feeding the parrot you sent me with your chain. It accompanies me everywhere I go."
Birds… Of course, he would speak about birds. They spoke for some time like that, about birds, galleys and his holdfast, the twins of his maid who used to play with her and the knights in his service. Finally, he lost his cool and started swearing as she expected he would do.
"If Visenya hadn't killed that bastard, I would have served his eyes in a platter to your birds." His fisted hands were flexing in and out, eyes steaming in red-anger. "Until I get my hands on who is behind all this and bring them to your feet, I will not rest, Irina. I promise!"
Irina gave a fainted smile, remembering it was all Rhaenys and there was no way he could do that without getting burned from the dragons.
"You don't hate me, right?" He asked holding her shoulders, seeking rescue through his guilty eyes. "I should have come for you, fought harder with him. I was a fool to take everything as he said. I was a true fool!" He flinched with his last statement. He was scolding Aegon. It was obvious that something transpired between them and it was nothing sweet.
She ignored all those and took asylum placing her cheeks on his heart. "Its fine, Orys. I am happy that you are here, now. I missed you all these days."
"I missed you more, Irina. After you left, it didn't feel the same there, in the holdfast." He became silent again, not letting her out of his hold, and she curved her brow, wondering what happened. "Will you come there and be with me?" He asked, and she smiled, knowing how silly that question was.
"Of course, I will come." And it had hit her, what Aegon would do if she left. "Perhaps, after getting Aegon's permission."
His forehead creased, not liking the answer. "What if he won't allow you to?"
She shrugged his hand away from her shoulder, trying to put distance between them. How much ever the truth was hurting her, denial was not going to help. Visenya was right. She truly had no choice in deciding her life. When she stared up to Orys to convey the same, his curious eyes were tracing the old teeth marks on her shoulder and she instantly moved away several steps from him, adjusting her sleeves.
"This seems to be an old scar." He pointed out, and she got furious and defensive of invading her private space in her own body. "Who bit you?"
"No one."
"Did Aegon do this to you?" He shook her body, and she felt so uneasy of discussing any of it with Orys. "What else did he do to you? Are you a maiden any more or did he force you to be with him?"
She slapped his hand away, getting angered. "What has gotten into you?"
"Did he take your maidenhead?" Orys screamed through clenched teeth.
"No, Orys!" Aegon's voice entered, and they both turned around to see him standing by the door, his arms crossed across his chest. "She is still a maiden, the Maester himself confirmed. But I don't understand why you have to worry about it." She couldn't breathe properly, her chest heaving up and down, hearing two men speak about her maidenhood, as though they owned the rights of it.
"I am her brother, the one who cares for her," Orys replied crisply, not yielding.
"Glad that we are in agreement, brother!" Aegon replied with a smile. "But as the head of this family, and your liege lord, I ask you to find Visenya to do the duties that are allocated to you. Don't involve in something that doesn't concern you."
Orys jaw quivered, the insult of it getting into his bones. "Everything you said to me was a lie when I came month after month to see her," Orys stated with a blank stare at Aegon.
"I told no lies, Orys. Irina didn't want to see you, at that time. Leaving this castle and being with you alone in your holdfast, was spoiling her name, and she learned the importance of holding her reputation."
Irina gawked at Aegon, unbelievable with the way he was lying through his teeth. "Reputation…? My ass!" Orys spat. "Where is her reputation now?" Orys panted. "What fucking reputation are you speaking about, after all this assault? Who is going to believe that she is not tainted? Which Lord will come to marry her?" Her heart crunched little by little, unwilling to hear that her brother was valuing her worth only by the thin layer in her body. "And you bastard! You laid your hands on her when you are already married to two women?" Orys pulled Aegon's collar within a flicker of her eyelids, ready to challenge him for a battle.
"Careful, now!" Aegon warned before pulling Orys's arm away from his body. "I am letting this slide one time, for the friendship I hold for you."
Before they both chanced to fight against each other, calling for the whole castle's attention, which wouldn't end in Orys's good, she yelled at them to stop. "I want neither of you anywhere near me. Both of you can leave and fight in the pit if you want. Not here! not in front of me! Enough of you both pretending to care for my feelings."
"Come with me, Irina, to my holdfast. Let me see for myself if our brother's fire will melt my armor." Orys pulled her arm, and she had to drag her feet to a halt before shrugging away from him.
He stared back with wounded eyes. "Are you not listening to me? I want to be left alone." Orys was just hurt, she knew. And his words were just a wounded brother's care. Understanding Aegon had lied to him every time he had come to visit her, she felt her anger vapor away for Orys. Had she known Orys came looking for her, she would have gladly met him against all odds. She took his calloused hands in her hold. "I can't see you fighting Aegon, Orys. He is our brother, he doesn't hurt me, as you assume. I am safe, happy, and fine. Well taken care of. I will come another time when I feel better. Please, let this go now!"
She had to plead for him to leave. He huffed like a giant dragon, directing his anger now and again at Aegon's direction, who watched at her like a hawk staring at its prey. Finally, Orys left, throwing warning at Aegon's direction, asking her to be careful and seek him out for help, if needed, cursing every single person he knew of.
A moment later, she turned towards her chamber, not ready to face the demon in the chamber. But the demon wouldn't leave her, though. Aegon pulled her wrist, making her to lose her balance. And within a second he managed to keep her in his arms, as his mouth started to invade hers, caressing her cheek with his thumbs. She hated the way he kissed. She hated the way she was enjoying his tongue sliding against hers, making her lose control and lean towards his lips. More than that, she hated that he somehow successfully made her send away her loving brother and chose him while picking sides.
Could it be because of all those nights he stayed by the chamber? Could it be because of those simple gestures of caring for her? She sobbed, not having a good feeling of what he made her to be.
"He will come around, Irina. Don't shed tears for him. I have been waiting to see you every night. To speak with you. To touch you. To hold you."
She glared, her eyes darkening. "How could you presume I would side with your lies? You refused to let Orys see me, by saying I was not wishing to see him. Have you got any idea how much I suffered in that tower? I could have spoken with him, spend some time with him. He was always there for me, even when I was invisible to your eyes. You let me feel alone. You took everyone away from me. My friends, Orys, and placed your stupid guards in that tower, not letting me take a step outside. How could you do that?" She screamed, pushing him away with all her force.
"Did you not just tell you were happy here? Now, what has gotten in your head?"
"Happy? Will anyone be happy to get locked up and lose their freedom?" There was no point in explaining to him. He would not understand. "When I asked you to leave me alone, I meant it, Aegon. Which part of it, did you not understand?"
"The part that I know you need me, yet you chose to shut me out because you feel incredibly satisfied hearing me beg for you. And I am shameless to come every night and sit by this door hoping that you would change your heart. That's one stone heart, woman!"
"Stone heart?" She hissed. "Yes… I am the evil monster you think I am. I give a horse shit about what you think of me. Right now, I want you gone from my life. You have already taken a part of me and those monsters took some more part. I just wish you will leave me and go on with what you do."
He didn't utter a word in response. And when his arms extended to touch her hand, she shrugged away. "What's wrong with you?" He asked with his empty thick voice, noticing the way she cried. "Come here to me." When he held her waist, hoping to pull her close, she screamed, her heart shredding to pieces remembering the evening, when that tinkled monster would not let her go and kept kicking her stomach.
"Don't touch me! Please! I beg you."
"Okay, I won't. I won't. I won't touch you, Irina." He said raising his arms above to show he won't come near.
But her tears wouldn't stop and she gathered herself into a corner, pulling her knees to her chest, not knowing how to get rid of this terrifying feelings. Suddenly, her heart went out for Rhaenys. Her sister endured the worst, and that knowledge was helping her a little. To know that there was someone else who had shared the same pain. And now, she had to meet Rhaenys too.
Once she went inside, Aegon himself shut the door from out, giving her his sorry purple orbs. He really was trying to connect with her. Would he ask her to marry him, as Visenya said? Would Irina want to marry him? There was something about the way he lied today, that made her doubt everything he declared to her. Did he lie to her like this all these days? Feeling too heavy of thinking, she closed her lids, hoping to find it sooner. "I can't get hurt again. I won't let anyone hurt me, again."
I am super happy that you guys are enjoying this story. Keep reading :)