Prologue
The wind is strong, blowing harshly as the silence between the two once close siblings grows and grows.
Aemond's fury is clear, the mocking smile on Maegelle's lips drawing out his fury some more. Her brother-in-law Daemon is silent for now, deciding to see what happens.
A roar makes them look up, the mocking smile on Maegelle's mouth widening. 'It was true than.' Maegelle says, her long silver hair bound into an intricate bun, the crown on her head keeping it all together. She is what most people would picture as a Targaryen princess, but Aemond knows the clothes, jewels, and crown is just another ploy to throw him off.
He knows how deadly Maegelle, just like her dragon Vhagar, can be.
It is once more clear that Rhaenyra is the one that pretty much raised Maegelle from an early age, and not Alycent, as she should have. When it came down to it, after all, his sister chose the pretend queen Rhaenyra instead of the rightful heir, Aegon.
"Aemond, please do not engage in battle with them!' The very pregnant Alys cries out from a distance, trying to come closer to the group of three people, very clearly in a standoff.
'Do not be foolish, woman.' Maegelle sneers, her head turning as her cold and angry gaze falls on Alys, the pregnant woman stopping in her tracks. 'You may be pregnant, and you may be carrying my asshole of a brother's child, but you are no friend to me."
Daemon's mocking grin widens, a sliver of fear appearing in Aemond's eyes.
'I will not hesitate to burn you or my bastard brother.' Maegelle's cold tone turns vicious, and once more Aemond realizes the sister he once knew, is long gone, their bond destroyed by his growing jealousy and resentment over the years.
Maegelle's ringed fingers grab the folds of her dress, the sides opening into slits and showing black leggings and black riding boots underneath.
'I knew already, back then, that you were jealous.' Maegelle continues once more, something akin to hurt and regret in her eyes, but it is gone in mere seconds. 'I knew already the moment Vhagar rejected you, and chose me, that you were jealous.'
Daemon shakes his head, turning to Caraxes, the red dragon snarling at Moondancer, the vicious silver dragon that calls itself Aemond's dragon.
Rhaenyra's uncle-husband mounts the beast, his gaze falling on Maegelle, whose eyes flicker to the sky.
Another roar follows, and then the sky turns red, a giant shadow falling over them. Vhagar lands behind Maegelle, her head appearing on the left side of her rider's face, low enough so that Maegelle can hold the dragon's snout.
'Is it all worth it?' Maegelle asks, after another tense-filled silence, nothing else heard apart from Vhagar's warning growls and Moondancer's vicious' answers.
'Dividing a whole kingdom, and a whole family, over a throne?' Maegelle whispers, but her voice is cold, angry, furious. 'Because your bitch of a mother was too power-hungry to recognize the true heir our late father chose?!'
Aemond takes another step, but it is Alys' shout of anger and shock that answer's the princess' statement. 'Do not speak of the Queen Dowager that way, you whore!'
Vhagar's head turns and her intelligent eyes fall on Alys' eyes, as if she's sizing up her next meal. 'Ah, ah, ah,...' Maegelle tuts, another mocking smirk appearing on her stone-cold face. 'Tread carefully, Alys.' Aemond jaws ticks, motioning to his lover to step back.
'Vhagar will not care that you are pregnant, dear.' the nickname is mocking, full of venom. 'Your bastard child will just be an extra snack to fill Vhagar's stomach.'
'Are you threatening her?!' Aemond interrupts, taking another step towards Maegelle, but he is stopped by Dark Sister appearing, the steel cold against his neck. 'Be careful, bastard. Do not start a war I'll have to finish.'
The amusement is long gone from Daemon. He looks serious, and Aemond realizes the man is preparing for war.
'Your bitch of a mother is no queen to me. Only Rhaenyra is. I will make damn sure she is sitting on that throne at the end of all this, no matter the cost.'
Vhagar snarls once more, her huge body enveloping her rider, her gaze still on the trembling Alys. 'I might very well die today. I am aware of that.' Maegelle says, as her fingers grab Vhagar's spikes.
She climbs up with practiced ease on the gigantic dragon, Daemon doing the same as he mounts Caraxes.
'Let me ask you this, brother.' Maegelle's grin is wicked, her eyes steel-hard as she looks at the boy she once called her sibling. Better to burn all the bridges while she still can.
'Are you willing to die for Aegon?' Maegelle shifts, Vhagar opening her wings, ready to fly up in mere moments.
'Because I sure am. And if I die today,' Maegelle's vicious smirk is mirrored by the vicious one on her uncle/brother-in-law's face.
'You can be sure I will be taking you, and that bitch you call your lover, with me.'
