The people were gathered, dressed in black. The body of Aegon Targaryen, the eldest male child of King Viserys and Queen Alicent, Heir to the Iron Throne was placed on the fire of wood and stick, wrapped tightly in clean strips of bandages. The King's other children were there as well, Aemond stuck to his mother's side while Helaena stood with her father. Rhaenyra was at the front as well, with her own family. In her arms was her newborn babe Visenya and on her right Daemon. Viserys was on her left, clutching her dress tightly while Aegor stood before them all. The two boys had been close to Aegon and their grief was clear for all to see. Behind the royal family were the members of the Small Council and behind them were the other lords and ladies of the court.

The Septon said his piece from the Seven-Pointed Star before hurriedly moving back, for now, the funeral rites would be performed for him as would be performed for any Targaryen. For Aemma Arryn the rites were performed by her daughter, Princess Rhaenyra who commanded Syrax. For Aegon, it would be his nephew Aegor, who commanded the Bronze Fury Vermithor.

It was a surprise to all, especially Brynden who had not expected it. The egg that was placed in the boy's cot when he was born did not hatch and many had expected the boy to go Dragonless. But to all their surprise, Vermithor had flown to the capital and Aegor had claimed him easily at the age of five. He had not ridden the massive beast yet, but all whispered the same thing. The oldest of Rhaenyra and Daemon might have been the youngest to claim an older Dragon.

Aegor looked back to his mother, who gave him a gentle nod. He looked to his grandfather, who was holding his daughter's hand tightly, with unshed tears in his eyes. The Queen was not as composed, tears spilling freely as she mourned her son. Aegor and Aemond's eyes met for a second before the older boy looked away. Helaena stared at him, giving him a small smile and a nod. The two were grieving as well, but only Helaena was shedding tears.

"Vermithor!" the boy called and the dragon stared him down with his bronze eyes. It still sent shivers down Aegor's spine when he looked into those eyes, but the boy held his ground every time. "Dracarys!"

The Bronze Fury let out a throaty gurgle before opening his mouth and unleashing fire on the pyre. The Queen sobbed, clutching her second son tightly while she saw her eldest turn to ash right before her eyes.

The people were now gathered in the outer yard, making small talk with one another while enjoying a small meal. The royal family was together making small talk, but none of them looked too cheery. The Queen broke away from them after a while, her children away doing whatever they did. She sought out the only person she felt she could be open with, the person that had been there when it all happened.

"My Queen" Lord Brynden greeted her, his companions bowing to her and leaving his company when the Queen came to the man.

"Brynden" the Queen greeted, choking on her words as she did so. The Hand of the King placed his glass down and with a gentle hand on the Queen's arm led her away from the gathering, to a part more secluded and out of the sight of others, an old bench closer to the outer yard walls. "It's all my fault, I should have knocked on the door before entering. If I did he would have-" she sobbed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"The fault is not yours, my Queen. The Prince was… in a precarious position. We wouldn't know if he would have slipped still if you had knocked. Do not blame yourself for it" he said gently. The fault was not hers, it was his. He was the one who had reached into Aegon's mind and made him jump. Did he regret it? Only a little bit. But the regret was because he had to make a mother witness her child's fall to death. He did not regret killing Aegon. Especially since the boy was going down a slippery slope already.

The Queen sniffled softly, looking down at her hand as she picked at the corner of her nails. Brynden places a hand on hers, stopping her from doing it. Their eyes met and for a while, they held their gaze. "How are Helaena and Aemond dealing with this?" he finally asked.

"They are… doing as well as you can expect" the woman shrugged. "Helaena has been mourning freely, while Aemond has been bottling it up. As a man should I suppose."

"What use is bottling it all up if, in the end, you're going to explode and lash out? Especially if you end up lashing out against someone you care for?" Brynden mumbled out his question.

"If only men would think like you, Brynden" the Queen smiled fondly. "If it's not too much to ask, would you mind talking to him? Maybe you can get through to him. He hasn't been much responsive to either I or his father or his sister."

"Of course, my Queen" the man gave a small but firm nod.

The two sat in comfortable silence, content with each other's company. They were not aware that they were still holding hands until the Queen had gotten up to accompany her husband as he left to rest. Brynden got up as well, intending to find the Prince and have their little talk. He found the boy under the Weirwood tree, far from the crowd.

"You don't like the crowd?" the man asked.

"They keep giving their condolences and muttering that I'd make a good heir and do my father proud" he mumbled.

"May I sit?" the Hand of the King questioned and the boy scooted to the side.

"My brother just died and all they care about is sucking up to me. They won't even let me properly grieve" the boy mumbled.

"Well, people are imbeciles who are out for their own gains. We both know this" the man smiled. "That is sadly how the court works, always trying to one-up the other in this pit of vipers" he reached out and ruffled his hair. "You can grieve here you know. Let it all out."

"But if I let it all out what would they think? They've made this image in their heads of me being some strong boy that will do my father's legacy justice. What would they think if they see me cry?"

"I don't think your crying would change the belief they have in you doing your father justice. It certainly won't change my belief that you'd do better than he has. Regardless of what people think or say, you are allowed to grieve. You are allowed to cry and let it all out. Holding it all in? That can never be the solution to any of this."

Aemond gave a little nod, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in them. His body shook slightly and Brynden gently rubbed his back. He was there the whole time Aemond let it out in his own healthy way, letting anyone that got close to them know discretely that now was not the time to approach the boy. By the time the two left, the sun was already setting. Brynden dropped the boy off at his chambers. He made a detour to Larys' chambers, hearing from him what he wanted to tell back when Brynden and Aemond were in the Godswood. The reports were disturbing to him and he set Larys to find these 'foreign eyes'. He then went to the kitchens to grab a small snack, meeting with a certain dark-haired woman to pass on a message to her mistress before making his way to his chambers. And when he got there, he found the Queen, staring out his window.

"It's a full moon tonight," the woman said when Brynden closed the doors behind him. "Not a cloud to be seen."

"My Queen" the man bowed.

"None of that Brynden" the woman waved him off. She moved away from the window and approached him. "I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw him fall, I heard his scream and that sickening…" she stopped, closing her eyes and biting her lips.

"Should I ask the maester to bring you something to help you sleep, Alicent?" the man asked. Now that she was closer to him, he could see that she was wearing a robe. He guessed she was in her sleeping gown under it.

"I don't want to medicate myself," Alicent said harshly, "I just-" she took a breath to calm herself, "I just need someone to talk to," she said softly.

The man smiled softly at her and guided her to the chairs by the fireplace, a hand on her lower back. She sat on one of them while Brynden sat on the one opposite to her. "I am here," he said gently.

"I know" Alicent smiled back, wringing her hands nervously. She stopped and tried to relax. "Remember the day we met? Not the tourney but before that."

"In the Godswood when you were reading with the Princess?" the man asked and the woman nodded.

"I was intimidated by your eyes" the woman confessed with a soft chuckle. "But the rest of you, the rest of you fascinated me."

"Fascinated you?" he raised an eyebrow.

"You were this tall and handsome man I had never seen before. And you wore worn-out clothes but I had not seen clothes like those on any servant or common folk here. I was curious and fascinated" she smiled, looking down at her lap. "And then I saw you in the tourney. You managed to unhorse both Ser Daemon and Ser Criston. Both skilled and renowned. You lost against Ser Daemon's sword, but you weren't quite prepared for that were you."

"I came in with the intention of jousting. The mêlée did not interest me" he admitted with a smile. "I was outclassed in that one I knew."

"You didn't do too badly" Alicent defended, "Daemon was just better."

"That he was" the man admitted. The two chose the comfort of silence, staring at the burning fire.

"That day under the Weirwood tree, the day before I was to wed the King, I wanted to run away with you" the words were blurted out softly by the Queen, but loud enough for Brynden to hear. "That day when I was crying because my life was about to be flipped over its head and the only other friend I had in the Red Keep was angry at me for 'stealing' her father as she said. It was a night like this and you were there to pray. You stayed with me until I had calmed down and you escorted me to my room as well. I wanted to leave it all behind and just run away, take you with me and just…"

"Alicent."

"I know… I know" the woman chuckled. "An intrusive thought of a naïve girl" she fiddled with her fingers, "but seeing you with my children, I can't help but wonder. Maybe then my children wouldn't have to go through the pressures of royalty and I'd have them all with me."

Brynden was frankly speechless. All those years back he had found Alicent there because he had known she'd be there, from the visions he was sent. His purpose was to befriend her and keep her out of her father's influence as much as possible and not let her be isolated. Till then he had been only sowing what could be considered the seeds of friendship. He knew if he had Alicent Hightower on his side, he'd be able to do a lot to counter the doom of House Targaryen's dragons. He had not expected her to grow feelings as strong as this.

The doors to his chambers slammed open before he could reply, and both the Hand and the Queen jumped to their feet in surprise. Whoever they had expected, it had not been Helaena. And the girl looked extremely frightened and close to tears. "You have to save him" the girl begged. "He's doing it again, you need to stop him before both his eyes are closed forever."

Brynden had wasted no time in running to the Dragon Pit with the Queen and Princess in tow. He used the secret passages, not caring whether the woman learned about them or not. Guards had fallen in line behind them as they passed them by. The Dragon dome was quiet, but the doors to the pit were wide open. The carers of the dragons were all asleep, them not needing to guard the dragons since the dragons did the guarding themselves well enough. The Queen roused them from their sleep and they too rushed in line behind them.

They could the low grumble of a dragon and Aemond's voice. "Dohaeras!" the boy shouted, "Dohaeras, Sunfyre! Lykiri!" he commanded. The grumbling became quieter as Aemond commanded "Lykiri". The worry was overtaking all of Brynden's thoughts but he wondered if this was another change because of how he had played the events. The bastards of Rhaenyra and Harwin were not born, their dragons did not hatch. Aegor, who was the oldest of Rhaenyra and Daemon was born way before his time and he commanded a different dragon, Vermithor of all beasts! Could Aemond perhaps gain the loyalty of Sunfyre instead of Vhagar? Who was mourning the loss of his rider?

The thought process came to a screeching halt when they reached the inner chambers. Sunfyre was growling angrily at Aemond and the boy was slowly approaching the dragon.

"Aemond!" his mother shouted for him.

"It's alright mother," the boy said, "I think I got-" he was enveloped in streams of fire, his words cut off by his screams of agony.