A/N: Hello all. The fluff of the last chapters give ways to this one.
Hope everyone is fine during the Wuhan Coronavirus chaos. Be sure to follow CDC guidelines for the duration of the crisis. Stay safe and cautious, everybody, and rest assured. Us authors will provide proper content to last y'all during it!
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Chapter 25: Shattered Bliss
"Muna happy?"
Head turning at the little Princess' sweet voice, Lyanna grinned. Leaning down to kiss who was in effect her daughter on the forehead. "Aye, little dragon. Muna is very happy."
Rhaenys was a ball of excitement that morning. Eager to return to Dragonstone, she had burst into Lyanna's room and never left her side - chattering on and on about all the wonderful things in Rhaegar's Keep. Only now, when she sat on the bed and watched her new mother pack did the inquisitive hatchling observe how Lyanna acted. "Cawse you mawwy kepa?"
Closing her eyes, the she-wolf could only sigh and smile dreamily. Everything felt different now - running her hands along her waist and hips, join of her legs throbbing with a pleasant soreness. Gods… if I knew it would be this good… Lyanna shook her head ever so gently. No, only Rhaegar could make me feel this way. So lovingly and deliciously sated… turned from a maiden into a woman fully grown and flowered. A welcome haze settled upon her as she put away the riding trousers and training breeches she insisted on packing herself. As eager as her daughter to journey to Rhaegar's own Keep…
"Muna… Muna!"
Laughing at her insistance, in one motion Lyanna scooped the child up. "Oh, sweetling." She pressed motherly kisses to Rhaenys' cheek and forehead. "You are a precious hatchling and muna loves you."
"Wuv you too, muna," mumbled the Princess.
A tiny tickle made Rhaenys giggle. "Alright, what shall we do now?" With Elia likely sitting over Egg, it was apparently her that would sit over Rhaenys and Lyanna was looking forward to it.
But even the wild she-wolf couldn't have been prepared for what the little dragon asked next. "Make me a bwabe brudder."
Had Lyanna been drinking anything, she would have sprayed it all over the walls of her and Rhaegar's chambers. "What…" Did I hear her right? "You want to make a babe brother with me for yourself?"
Rhaenys nodded eagerly. "Egg is fun! Want another lwike Nymwiah!" The butchering of Queen Nymeria's name in reference to the stories Elia read to her of the mighty female warrior and her brother generals only served to emphasize how innocent the request was.
Unable to contain herself, Lyanna began laughing uproariously. Trying her best not to drop Rhaenys as she doubled over with mirth. "Oh sweetling…" Still giggling at the request, she set her daughter down on the bed. "While I would love to give you a babe brother or sister…" Instinctively, her hand drifted down to her abdomen. Imagining little Jon or Visenya potentially growing there at this moment. "That's something only muna and kepa can do… alone."
"I can help!" Rhaenys chirped a little too enthusiastically. "I tells kepa to huwwy to make babe!"
Simply thinking of the image threatened to destroy Lyanna. Biting her lip to bite back the chuckles, she ruffled Rhaenys' hair. "You'll find out when you're older that…" A different image, one of dark and sultry skin mixing with her pale alabaster and Rhaegar's silver hair, all intertwined on the bed in various stages of undress… the she-wolf shuddered, shaking her head to compose herself. "...One doesn't want one's daughter to be present in… babe-making." Lyanna's final answer was far different from what she first wanted to say.
"So no wittle brudder?" Rhaenys looked devastated.
"Tell you what. Why don't you go into the closet and find me your favorite pair of riding trousers. Then I'll take you on a ride on Winter when we're on Dragonstone." Eyes brightening, the giggling Rhaenys dashed off to complete the task. Smirking to herself - not to mention a little wet from the image - Lyanna bit it back as she kept packing. Resolved to burn off the desire with Rhaegar the next time she saw him.
"Where are your servants?"
For the second time in the space of ten minutes did the she-wolf turn on a silver stag… the first was for her dragon-blooded, adorable daughter. This time, a raspy, bitter voice caused a far different reaction in Lyanna. "Your Grace," she murmured, dropping into a low curtsey as the King stood before her. Trying not to tremble. "You honor me with your presence."
While the formalities were a must in front of Aerys, he clearly wasn't in the mood. "Where are the damn servants? Or that wildling Mormont bitch, or the perverted Dornish slut?!" He grabbed a folded riding dress from the chest and threw it against the wall. "A Princess of House Targaryen, made to pick up after herself like some smallfolk tramp? Someone's head will be on a pike for this."
Unable to stomach if Dacey or Ellaria ended up executed over this, Lyanna braved the inferno of her goodfather. "Your Grace, it is nothing. I dismissed them." About to rip a pair of socks, Aerys dropped them. No longer angry, but staring at her quizzically. "I like packing for myself. It's relaxing."
Pursing his lips, to her relief the King shrugged. "Northerners. They're all mad." Aerys chuckled, looking at the image of Aegon burning Black Harren. "I was always a proper King and Prince. Squire dressed me each and every time before battle - if those under you don't know their place, they will try and destroy you. Never forget that, gooddaughter. You must show them their place, with the pit and gallows if necessary."
The exact opposite of what she was taught, but Lyanna nodded anyway. "I shall reflect on your advice and change my behavior accordingly."
"Good." Aerys didn't know what possessed him to come here. That Red Witch doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about. As if some wolf like Lyanna could ever gain control over one of his dragon eggs…
"I finds one!" Lyanna watched with a barely concealed dread as Rhaenys skipped out of the closet, a pair of woollen trousers clutched tight to her chest. She skid to a halt at the unfamiliar person in front of her - Aerys rarely mixed with his own children, let alone his grandchildren. Rhaenys didn't know who he was, only that he was scary. "Muna?"
"What is that you hold, child?"
The King's voice was calm… a deathly calm. One that put Lyanna on edge, unknowing of what he would do. "You did well, Rhae. Hand it to me…"
A raised hand stopped her cold. "I want to know what the child has brought for you." He beckoned Rhaenys closer. "Give it to your King." Looking at Lyanna, who nodded reluctantly, the Princess gingerly complied. "Homespun wool?" It was a mutter, but Lyanna could hear the dripping contempt. "Northern rags? Why did you bring this?!"
Rhaenys trembled at the shout. Sure, Kepa, her Munas, and Grandmother Rhaella would often raise their voices when she was far away or naughty, but never this… vicious. "Um… I's find riding twawsers for muna."
Aerys curled his lips in disgust. "Half-breed Dornish. Can't string two words together." Wait… false dragon…
"The Princess means that I shall be riding around Dragonstone. Learning about my husband's keep, your Grace." A bead of sweat formed on Lyanna's forehead in spite of the winter's chill.
He snorted. "A Princess doesn't ride, and neither does a Queen. My bitch mother… my…" Aerys stopped, realizing he was just about to say Jenny's name. Just the mere mention of her by even his own voice stoked his fire. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?! This little brat is already at a knife's edge of being a smelly whore like her mother!" He gestured violently at Rhaenys, who was beginning to tremble in fear. "This," he lifted up the trousers. "Wildling rags! They smell of mud… it all smells like mud and piss!"
Lyanna finds it being thrown at her, mind spinning at how this whole situation spiraled into something… dangerous. Rhaegar… where are you?
This woman would never be a proper dragon's wife, not if Aerys let the wolf remain within her. My weak father let his wife walk all over him… never again! "My weak-willed son may condone this whorish behavior, but I will not!" The King would teach her the same lesson he taught Rhaella the night of the betrothal feast.
It wasn't just Aerys whose dragonblood pumped hotly at that moment. "Lweve muna alone!" It was a loud shout, completely genuine and spontaneous from the young Princess. Utterly terrified, but instinct telling her she had to defend her new mother.
Aerys' eyes were wide with fury. "This is not your concern, brat!" he bellowed, hand shooting out to shove her to the floor. Sending Rhaenys to the ground.
Horrified, Lyanna was up before she could stop herself. "She's just a child!" A protective mother wolf, her hands grabbed at Aerys' arm. Righteous, but not wise.
His violet eyes - so loving and kind in Rhaegar and her children, but crazed and malevolent in the King - were blazing. "You dare touch me? You don't touch me!" She would never forget his reaction, when disrespect turned into something else entirely. Aerys drew back his hand and smacked her across the cheek with such force as to cause her to stumble back. Falling upon the bed. "No wildling cunt deserves to be graced by the King!"
Trembling, eyes filling with tears, Lyanna had no idea what to do. At that moment, she felt he could kill her. "Your Grace… forgive me…" But her voice only infuriated him more.
He was a blur as he lunged at her, one moment glaring at her and the next atop Lyanna, grabbing her by the throat and smacking her over and over again with a snarl. "You little bitch, you and the Dornish whore's false dragon will never have what's mine!"
Hiding behind the bed, Rhaenys had curled into a ball and cried.
Screaming, trying to block his attacks, Lyanna pleaded for salvation. Rhaegar… help me…
Outside, standing by the door in protective fashion, the two Kingsguards heard everything inside. It took everything within Jaime not to draw his sword and run Aerys through - each cry of pain from their beloved Princess causing him to cringe. "Can't we stop this?" he whispered harshly to Gerold.
"No." One who didn't know the Old Bull would think him emotionless, but Jaime could spot the pain in his eyes. The agony that his vows strained against his conscience.
Another cry of pain, this time from the little one. Princess Rhaenys. "It is our vow to protect the royal family."
What Gerold told him would haunt Jaime for the rest of his life, "Not from him." But unlike many, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard wouldn't let it continue. "Find Rhaegar, now." Jaime didn't need to be told twice before he raced off.
The compulsion for Ned Stark was to wake at the crack of an early autumn dawn. Ready for their duties, whatever they may be. But where he was now, two slender arms wrapped around his neck and soft lips melding to his, Ned honestly couldn't care about duties. "Cersei…" he breathed into her mouth as he bucked into the tight sheath of her cunt.
Cersei moaned against his lips. "Don't talk." She wanted no words, nothing to interrupt how madly wonderful she was feeling. So deliciously full. His cock thick inside her, rubbing on her sensitive spots as the heavy wool of her dress was bunched up at her waist. Hurriedly hiked up in their desperation to feel each other once more. "Please…" She got her wish when he trailed his lips down her neck. Head falling back and spearing her fingers through his hair.
Mauling her like a drowning man desperate for air, Ned doubled his pace, lips crashing together to swallow her moans. Pushing deeper as Cersei's legs looped tighter around his waist - humping furiously to take him all in. Ned grunted, her clenching channel forcing his release.
Breathing rapidly, Cersei's head fell onto Ned's shoulder. Feeling his heavy body slump against her and press into the wall… and it felt amazing. Bittersweet. An entire night of lovemaking, more bliss than she had ever felt, only to end soon. Perhaps she should have sent him out… "I can't believe I let you ruin my dress."
Ned chuckled throatily. "My sister's clothes look good on you, lioness." She couldn't very well leave the Red Keep wearing the dress she wore last night. "Rodrick Cassel will ensure you arrive at your manse without being noticed."
"I would prefer my brother do it." Her lover easing out of her, Cersei at once felt a sense of emptiness. Fighting the urge to just pull him back to the bed.
"If you want to leave without being noticed, Jaime Lannister isn't the way to go about it." Seeing her sigh, Ned kissed her brow. "I'll be remaining in the capitol for another week." This woman was turning him mad, but he couldn't keep away. "Can we…"
"Yes."
Sighing, the second son of Rickard Stark felt the weight of the last moon on his shoulders. Letting the cool air of the ocean calm his mind. It was if he was punishing himself, falling desperately for a woman who would never be his. The daughter of a man so ambitious that even a Lord of high standing or a Prince not within the line of succession would be refused without delay. You're destroying yourself, Ned. Both his father and his goodbrother would need him for alliances… but he knew that after Cersei Lannister, none would compare.
Watching Cersei leave, Ned simply stood there for what seemed like an hour. Retreating to the well rumpled bed where they had engaged in their amorous encounters - his first taste of a woman… Ned would remember the night for the rest of his life. If only things were different… gods… But he would recognize reality. Move on he would have to do, much as he hated it.
Emerging from his chambers, Ned was just about to head to the kitchens for something to eat when Ser Jaime raced into the corridor, trailed by Ser Arthur and… "Brother!" Rhaegar's face was ashen, stricken in terror. Darting into his way, he grabbed the Prince by the shoulders. "What is going on?" The look on his face, it was as if a tidal wave was about to wipe out King's Landing.
Rhaegar blinked, frantic as he croaked out the answer. "It's Lyanna." Face going white, eyes wide in fear, Ned barely needed to glance at the others once before bolting for the royal apartments.
Ser Gerold was waiting for them. "Get inside, now." He couldn't stand up to the King, but the Prince could. Even before they entered they could hear the King's screeches. "Mine! Mine!" Aerys straddled Lyanna on the bed, hands tight around her throat. "The dragons are mine, whore!"
On him in a flash, the King thrashed about as Rhaegar grabbed him around the waist and hauled him off of Lyanna. "Father! Father!"
It was no use. Aerys had descended into a full fit, almost convulsing in his enraged delusions. "My eggs! My dragons! The wolf cunt and falseborn bitch won't steal them from me!"
Ned was by Lyanna's side in an instant. "Lya… Lya." He paled further at the dark bruises on her neck, rippling as she wheezed in needed air. "Gods." Pulling her into an embrace, Ned felt her sobs on his tunic.
"Fetch Pycelle," Rhaegar ordered, Gerold and Jaime having gotten ahold of the still ranting King. "Have him fed milk of the poppy and let his Grace recover." His father's snarls echoed through the hallway, increasingly faint. He won't remember any of this. This had happened before and Rhaegar knew what to do, though never had Aerys been violent during a fit.
Elia immediately appeared, face contorted in apprehension. "What in seven hells was that? I heard his Grace…" Peeking inside, she saw Lyanna in the state she was in. "Gods, Lya!" Ned just managed to get up when Elia embraced her sister-wife. Rhaegar not far behind. "I'm so sorry…"
"How…" Lyanna's voice was hoarse from tears and trauma. "How could this happen?"
"Shhh," Rhaegar soothed. "You're fine now."
Watching the loving moment, Ned heard a voice from behind the bed. Walking over, he saw a heartbreaking sight. "Princess Rhaenys?" The little girl, normally filled with life, was a trembling wreck. Tucked into a ball in the corner, shaking all over. "Come here…" She only shook harder. Ned dropped into a crouch. "It's alright, Princess. It's Eddard Stark, Lya's brother." They had only met a few times, and Ned didn't think she remembered him.
But Rhaenys, even in her agony, was smart. "Muna wolf?" She pointed at the direwolf emblazoned on his leathers.
Ned nodded. "Aye. I'm your muna's brother wolf." Seeing her mollified, the Princess burst into tears just as Ned picked her up - the quiet wolf merely holding her close.
The ship had left the docks of King's Landing only an hour before. Bearing the Seahorse sigils of House Velaryon, the loyal crewmen gladly complied when Rhaegar ordered them to set sail immediately - compared to runs from King's Landing to Qarth, ferry service to Dragonstone was easy. The haste had left much of their baggage still in the Red Keep to be brought over on a second voyage, but none of Rhaegar's household complained one bit. Rhaella and Rickard made sure they leave for Dragonstone at once.
For Rhaegar and Elia, it was clear before them why such action was needed. "Is she?"
Sighing from within her narrow bed, Lyanna gently pushed back the curtain of raven hair to see the serene form of the sleeping Rhaenys. "Aye, she's finally asleep." Her cheeks were puffy, tear stains marring them. It broke Lyanna's heart. "Rhaegar… I'm so sorry…" she choked out not for the first time.
Gingerly so as not to wake his daughter, Rhaegar leaned down to press his lips chastly on Lyanna's. Pouring his love and affection for his new bride. "Shhh, my love. It's not your fault… never your fault."
Standing at the foot of the cot, Elia bit her lip. Watching her family in such pain and anguish. Rhaenys had been inconsolable since Ned had first picked her up, bursting into tears every few minutes that led both her and Rhaegar to spend half an hour trying to quiet down. And Lyanna… Elia had seen many horrible things as the gooddaughter of Aerys II Targaryen, but the vibrant Lyanna Stark with hollow, emotionless eyes was likely the worst.
Aerys would always leave me in this state… But looking upon the bruises on Lyanna's neck, Elia finally considered that it could have been worse. Her abuse had been nothing but verbal and emotional, never resorting to the physical. Gods, it will only get worse…
"I'll be the death of both of you," Lyanna sobbed as Elia tuned in back to their conversation. "I'm nothing but a liability."
Elia was quickly by her side. "Sister, don't try to understand his madness." Alone with Rhaegar, they were always candid - it didn't change with Lyanna in the room. "You'll never grasp what causes him to do what he does."
But Lyanna wasn't calming down. Her voice was a half-whimper, half-rasp and it broke their hearts. "I hoped it wasn't too good to be true… I dreamed…" Rhaegar cut her off with another kiss, this one desperate and loving. Trying to purge her of such thoughts. Elia gently caressed her arm, wishing she could do more… imagining being in Rhaegar's stead… No, damn you Oberyn. Ever since he put those thoughts in her head, they popped up at the most inoppertune times.
"Muna…" The soft whisper broke them all out of their concentration, giving the three a heads up when Rhaenys began thrashing. "Where muna?!"
"I'm here, sweetling, I'm here," Elia murmured, moving to hug her.
But Rhaenys didn't calm down. "No. Where my muna!" It was only when she saw Lyanna's grey eyes that she ceased her thrashing, throwing her little arms around her. "No go, muna. I wuv you. No monster get you…"
She knew it was selfish in the moment - after seeing Lyanna being strangled by the King, and gods knew what vile words Aerys had screamed, Rhaenys needed to know Lyanna was alright - but it did hurt. My babe not wanting me… wanting Lya more... Eyes closing, she rose. "I have to put Egg to bed." Kissing Rhaenys and Rhaegar's cheeks while squeezing Lyanna's hand. Quickly making her exit.
As Rhaenys drifted back to sleep, Rhaegar kissed their foreheads. "Goodnight, my loves…"
"No." Lyanna pulled him back down, urging him to hold her. "I'm sorry, my love. Please don't leave me… I need…" Her tears returned, strong personality fading in her vulnerability. "I can't lose any of you… I can't…"
Rhaegar's arms enveloped the both of them. "You have us… you have us till the end."
Pale moonlight streaming through the open porthole, Elia paced back and forth in the cabin. Fists balling at her sides, lips curled in a barely suppressed rage - the more she thought of it, allowed the swirling cauldron of pain and anguish and jealousy to fester within her, the more her anger simply grew and grew to replace it. He's escalating. Rhaella hit, Lyanna assaulted, Rhaenys… It was an image that tore her insides out just to look at, and an image that Elia resolved never to see again. Never again… not on my Lyanna… The fact she referred to her possessively didn't register, so seething was her rage.
Not hearing the steps along the hall, Elia nearly jumped when the door opened. Her husband walking in, brooding frown planted on his lips. Of course he's brooding. He looked so handsome when brooding, but at that anger-fueled moment Elia could only see the passivity, the introverted withdrawal of an indecisive coward. "Well?" she asked, harsher than intended. "How are they?"
"Lyanna is finally asleep. She had to hold Rhaenys, lest our daughter wake screaming." Sensing Elia's rage, he hoped mentioning their daughter would calm her - Rhaegar himself added her mood to the chorus of reasons to hate himself. "She loves Lyanna so much already, as much as she loves us. It brings me joy."
"Joy?" Already on a knife's edge, his attempt to calm her simply set Elia off. "You actually feel joy right now?!." He said nothing, stoking her anger further. She loved Rhaegar, loved him desperately, but at that moment her long suppressed rage just spewed out like a shattered dam. "Your father attacks her and you did nothing!"
Rhaegar was silent. Head hanging in shame and regret. Every bit of their energy had been spent caring for Lyanna and Rhaenys, it only made sense to him that Elia scold him now. "There was nothing I could do," he said simply. "I told the Kingsguards to protect her, but my father's health is declining…"
"He's turning into a monster. The madness consumes him, and your cowardice just puts Lyanna and our children into the way!"
There wasn't anything he could say to that. "We're going to Dragonstone. We'll be safe there."
The mighty, dashing Dragon Prince - image of Aegon the Conqueror… not as Elia saw him in her fury. "Look at you, pathetic." Any other time, saying such would leave her in physical pain, how deep her love for him. The love we truly shared, taken away by that monster. But all was just too much. "I don't know what lies you told yourself to excuse leaving me to the vultures, of letting your Hand spread lies to foment chaos, but I won't let you do the same to Lyanna!"
"Leave you to the vultures?" Hearing that made Rhaegar stand, his ire peaked. Eyes narrowing. "What about Connington? What in Seven Hells do you mean by that?"
"Oh, now he rises," Elia spat sarcastically.
"What in the fuck did Connignton do that you blame me for?!" he asked incredulously.
"Oh, you mean when our daughter overheard him speaking of how Lyanna was going to take her from me?" Elia smirked at his gesture of shock. "Faced with the truth of how you left me alone and unloved while your father drove a girl of five and ten close to slitting her wrists?" She watched in satisfaction as hurt crossed his features, only for the dragonfire in him to combust it into rage.
He clenched his fists. "I never denied you anything, Elia. Comfort, love, affection…"
She laughed bitterly, grinning. Smile not reaching her blazing eyes. "You really believe that, don't you? You moronic bastard. Stupid bastard! Are you just going to do the same for Lyanna as you did with me, sit around and diddle your thumb up your ass when your father kills her?!"
"I'm not going to let anything happen to either of you, not anymore!" he exclaimed hotly. Mind already being driven to the breaking point. Confronting the lies he had told himself for over a decade.
"Oh? And how are you going to do that?" She sauntered up in his face. "By burying your head in the sand and not saying a damn thing like with me?!"
"OF COURSE NOT!" he thundered, rocking the ship. The blood of the dragon in his veins was now on fire.
"Are you going to send her away? Make her sleep alone without any comfort?" Elia knew Rhaegar blamed himself for how Aerys treated her, but she was too angry to care.
"No! I'll comfort her to the best of my abilities! Like I tried to do with you!"
"You barely tried! You left me alone!"
"You forced me away!"
"I was five and ten!" Elia gasped. "I didn't know any better, I was a scared girl who needed her husband to love her, and you were never there!" She would not cry…
Neither would he… "Because it was my fault!" He punched one of the beams, shattering it into splinters and bloodying his hand. Face red with rage at her… or himself. "Your pain was my fucking fault and I have to live with that for my wretched life!"
Mere seconds of boiling tension passed before Rhaegar's hand surged forward. Elia felt fear for a split second that he would strangle her, but instead an even greater surprise as he harshly yanked her by her wavy black locks and crashed their lips together. Tongue forcing its way into her mouth as she gasped.
Smack!
Rhaegar stumbled back, hand shooting to his cheek, now sporting a throbbing red mark from where Elia slapped him.
Her hand throbbed, having shot up at pure instinct… but at the look in Rhaegar's eyes… a fiery intensity. Elia had seen such in Aerys, but there was no madness or violence in Rhaegar. Only heat, fire, passion… lust, love, desire. Mouth opening to yell at him, nothing came out. Tongue going dry as she gazed upon him. His stare going straight to the now uncomfortable join of her legs…
It was difficult to determine who had moved first, but in an instant their lips had crashed together violently. Rhaegar shoving her against the hull of the boat, grabbing her wrists in one hand and brutishly pinning them on the beams. Elia wasted no time with his open mouth to invade harshly. Tongue seeking out his to suck it roughly. Wetness flooding her core at feeling his cock press against her. Not only was she powerless to resist, but Elia responded so eagerly to him.
Pinning her with his entire body, Rhaegar's hand blazed down the lithe curves of his wife's figure as he took command of the kiss. Fingers reaching the portion of her dress at her core, his eyes darkened from lust when Elia simply spread her legs apart. He hiked up her dress, Elia screaming into his mouth when his fingers speared inside her.
His hand collapsing to hold up her dress, Elia wasted no time. Her fingers attacked his tunic. Needing him bare to her. The Dornish Princess felt a desperate ache to feel his skin against hers, aching to be filled... it had been so long since they last coupled. Even then, their lovemaking was only barely pleasurable. An obligation and a release. Not this… animal passion.
Just as she managed to rip his tunic off, Rhaegar stilled his fingers. Noooo… Elia bucked her hips hard, trying to impale herself.
"My princess…" Normally formal or affectionate, Rhaegar's honorific for her was holding back a torrent of lust and hunger.
My sweet husband… He was the perfect gentleman, but Elia needed the dragon to be awoken. Burning off her anger and his in the furious flames. Staring at him, her eyes black with desire, she dug her fingers into the hard muscles of his back. Nails raking deep gouges. Drawing blood.
It snapped whatever self-control he had left. Roaring, Rhaegar sunk his teeth into her shoulder, so consumed in lust for his Dornish beauty. How could I deny myself this breathtaking woman? As with Lyanna - her beauty equal to yet different to Elia's in his mind - his dragonblood demanded that he claim her for all the world to see. Drinking in how she screamed for him, nails still raking into his back. Hands grabbing at the silk only to rip it clean off her.
A shudder coursed through Elia, in awe at how desperate her husband was for her. How he literally tore her dress to shreds. Yes, Rhaegar, yes… Grabbing his shoulders tightly as he left bites along the swarthy skin of her neck and breasts. Leaving bruises as he lifted her with only a grunt. Screaming when his cock without warning thrust to the hilt in her cunt like a battering ram.
Somehow they made it to the bed without falling over as the ship rode the waves. Falling atop the sheets in a tangle of writhing limbs, kissing like starving beasts. Elia biting his lip so hard that it split, Rhaegar pinned her down and simply slammed into her. Mine… mine… mine... Thrusts hard and violent, claiming her that night as he had Lyanna the night before.
She clawed at his back. She bit his shoulder. She wrapped her legs tight around his waist to force him deeper. Silently screaming as his cock kissed her womb, defiling her… and Elia loved it.
Fingertips bruised her hips, Rhaegar driving hard and fast towards his release.
Teeth sunk into the muscles of his shoulder, sucking hard to drown out the ecstacy rippling through her body.
For over four years they had borne Aerys' abuse in silence. Endured hateful things that they screamed at each other. Smiling yet it never truly reaching their eyes. Burying whatever feelings and affection within them for self-preservation, all the cold, empty nights… Now, Rhaegar roaring into Elia's mouth and Elia's walls clenching tightly, they simply unleashed it all. Vented their anger, frustration, and suppressed lust in one fiery climax.
Elia gasped out a breath when Rhaegar rolled off of her. A sheen of sweat drenched her skin, bruises and love bites marring the olive-toned flesh. In spite of their past couplings being quite good, Elia had never known such pleasure - such intimacy. Gods… this is what it should have been… Like Rhaegar and Lyanna's couplings, which she couldn't help but overhear the night before to her shame - and not a little arousal. Every time she heard the moans, pleas, and shrieks of total rapture… that was the real act of lovemaking, something Elia hadn't truly appreciated until now. Until she simply let loose upon her husband… My husband…
Before she could marshal her remaining strength to turn and face him, Rhaegar made the first move. Pulling her to him, a possessive hand wrapping around her waist. The two of them flush against each other. Elia felt a gentle kiss pressed on her forehead. "I'm sorry, Elia," Rhaegar said, voice low.
The Dornish Princess melted. Cuddling close to him. "I'm sorry as well."
"You don't need to be." Reaching down, Rhaegar tilted her head up so he could meet her glistening brown eyes. "I was so scared, Elia. Scared of what my father would do to my family that I said and did nothing…"
"Oh Rhaegar…" All anger and bitterness washed away, Elia cupped his cheek. Softly kissing his jaw. "His actions were not on you, his abuse not your fault. I was so young, but so were you." Eight and ten when they married, only a year older as Lyanna was now. "You were as much a victim of him as I was." Elia hadn't seen it when they were married - it was only years later that she noticed just how much Aerys put on his shoulder. The vitriol he faced.
His own eyes were wet with unshed tears. "I suppose I knew how much you were hurting, enough to think I was doing the right thing by keeping my distance… by punishing myself. It was my fault." He attempted to pull away, ashamed at himself and how he had hurt Elia.
But Elia refused to let him go. "No." Gently, Elia eased him into the crook of her neck. His pain and self-loathing was breaking her heart - she couldn't see him like this. He's become everything to me… even when I was blind to it. "You cannot blame yourself, Rhaegar. I was wrong too, please forgive me." He was quiet, too quiet and it continued to feel like a stab in the chest. "Rhaegar please… I love you." There, the truth was out.
Her world warmed again when he murmured into her shoulder. "I love you too, Elia." There they rocked together on the bed for what seemed like hours. Elia still felt the weight of their history on her shoulders, but sunlight shone on their relationship for the first time ever. "I also love Lyanna as well."
A flicker of jealousy filled her before it left. "I know, my love. I wouldn't want you not to." She pulled back, kissing her brow. "You're the blood of the dragon. If anyone can love two it is you." She cupped his cheek again. "She's getting the worst of Aerys' wrath. Promise me you'll protect her."
"I promise." Smiling wanly, Rhaegar leaned down to kiss her lips. The two of them losing themselves in their passion. "I missed you, wife." Sharing intimacy with Elia, it felt like his life was falling into place.
"I missed you, husband," Elia moaned into his mouth. Shifting to unleash a flurry of apologetic kisses upon the fading handprint on his cheek.
"I'm going to overthrow my father."
Elia continued to desperately kiss him for several seconds… only to pull away with wide eyes. "What did you say?"
"You heard me, my love." Falling exhausted to his back, wincing at the open gouges in his back, Rhaegar pulled her against his side. Relishing the feel of her nude body on his. This felt nearly right, close to the way it should have been - driving him towards the brutal truth. Towards his destiny. "It is time that I take the throne."
A/N: Well... we all knew Aerys would snap. Looks like this is what it took to break Rhaegar from the lie he told himself.
At least one good thing came out of it. Elia and Rhaegar finally got it all out and are back in business.
Next up, some really big drama and more smut! Be sure to comment. I might update sooner if y'all do :D
