She held her mother's free hand as the maester stitched the wound made by the Queen. Her brothers had stood watching as their mother winced with every new seem, tightening her grasp on her daughter's hand with shuddering breaths. No one had spoken since leaving the hall. Prince Daemon had skulked off somewhere after a quick surveil of his own daughters' wounds. Baela and Rhaena would surely be regaling their grandparents with their version of what had happened in the tunnel. The whole thing still seemed like a horrid chapter from someone else's life.
Jaedys could no longer feel the right side of her face. She had yet to observe herself in a looking glass, but the quick glances her brothers still sent her way told her that it would not be a pleasant sight that greeted her when she finally did. She wanted sleep more than anything, but the maesters had forbidden her to sleep until the next night just to be sure there was no injury to her mind.
As the seaside dawn emerged, their father finally found his way to her mother's chambers. She had seen her father look discomforted and guilty before in her life, but not quite with the gravity his features held when his eyes landed on her temple. Her mother had bid them to give them a moment to speak in private, ordering Jade not to go to sleep. Jade had nodded and left the chamber without a word to anyone. She had not forgotten with whom her mother had entered the hall the night before and the lateness of the hour. Now, however, was not the time to recall this knowledge.
The eerie silence that settled over Driftmark unsettled her. Such a beautiful place had been overtaken not just by grief. A palpable danger seemed to seep within the very walls. Making her way down her grandsire's halls felt more perilous now than it had the day before. She stopped at one of the windows in the corridor to look down at the bay. From her vantage point she could see the horses and carriage houses making their way to the port with haste. After the myriad of treasonous events that had erupted within the House of the Dragon, she was unsurprised. She noticed that the King's standard had not yet left. He must still be here.
Unable to seek refuge in slumber, she thought it would be wise to clean herself lest she go around frightening the few people who remained in the castle. Jace and Luke had gone down the opposite hall, she assumed to see their dragons. She did not desire to follow them, she who was more glaringly dragonless after last night. It was also obvious to her what they would be saying and how, without hesitation, they would cast her beloved Aemond as the sole villain of the affair, glossing over their own stupidity.
With a sigh she made her way to her chambers. Opening the door, she found two maids inside filling the bath.
"Good day, Princess. Your mother thought you might want to wash," said the taller of the two.
"Yes, thank you. I can wash myself," she replied. Neither maid went to leave, and she looked inquiringly at them.
"She insisted you were not to be left alone," replied the shorter of the two apologetically. Jade nodded and absentmindedly began to undress for the bath. She didn't linger in the tub, uncomfortable with her grandsire's strange servants. It was a pity as the hot water was quite forgiving after what she had been through the last few hours. The water felt wonderful running through her hair, and she could feel the dried blood fall away.
"Do you want us to…?" the taller maid motioned with a washcloth to her right temple. Jade snapped out of her own thoughts and shook her head lightly.
"No, I can do it if you'd be so kind as to hold a looking glass for me," she replied softly.
"Of course, Princess," she replied giving the girl the cloth while her counterpart went to the dressing table to retrieve the mirror. Jade closed her eyes listening to the shuffling. She inhaled deeply the lavender and sage wafting from the hot water and braced herself for what she was about to see. She tried to picture what her face had looked like: soft round face, big brown eyes, freckles, thick eye brows. Would she be forever disfigured as Aemond was? She had never thought herself vain, but now that she was faced with the possible loss of it, the thought occurred to her that she quite liked her face.
"Princess?"
Jade opened her eyes. They were unchanged, but tired and bloodshot if anything. Her nose, freckles, and brows were just as she had left them, too. Yet crawling out of her hairline on her right temple like a malevolent creature were three gnarled, angry red gashes. Smaller red cuts webbed out of them like the tributaries that littered the Riverlands. These had not needed stitching, but the three larger lacerations were garish and seemed to ripple across her temple like cracks in ice. With her eyes she traced them back to their point of origin where the stitching was more clustered. This was the place where Aemond had struck her. She wanted to weep or hide or vomit. Until she had looked herself in the face, Jaedys could pretend this was all a story; something she'd been told had happened to someone else. The ache in her body had been the only indication she was not alright. Yet now as she sat in the tub looking at the horrible wound which would surely scar, she wanted to sink down and sob.
"Princess," asked the maid that had passed her the washcloth, "Would you like me to do it?"
"No," Jade heard herself reply, "I'll do it."
Jaedys walked down the hall in a black velvet dress and warm cape. The maids had styled her hair in two braids down her back and paired her mourning clothes with onyx earrings. The light reflected off the Blackwater and brightly into the halls of her Grandsire's home as she made her way purposefully to Aemond's room. She had dreaded this, but needed to see him and knew not when they would be together again. In truth, if last night's events had happened between her and anyone else, Aemond would have been the first person she went to that morning to unpack the whole affair. Given the circumstances, she had felt quite lonely the last few hours.
When she finally came to his door, Ser Harrold Westerling was stationed outside.
"Good morning, Ser," she said quietly.
"Hello, Princess," he said stiffly and eyed the stitches on her face, "My apologies for last night."
"You had no fault in it, Ser. You owe me no apology."
"All due respect, my Princess, it is necessary. I failed you and the Princes. I should have protected you from each other and I will carry the shame of your scars for the rest of my days," he said solemnly.
"You did not have the watch," she replied, "And as I've said, I require no apology from you, Lord Commander. You have always guarded me well as you did my mother."
"That is kind," he said swallowing thickly, "I think it would be wiser to turn around though, Princess."
"I only wish to see him," she said in a pleading voice.
"The Queen has ordered that no one but she and the maester be allowed to enter," he replied apologetically.
"Please, Ser Harrold," she said feeling her voice shake, "I have to see him. You're all leaving today and I need to see him before he leaves."
"Princess, I really can't–"
"Open the door, Lord Commander," came a voice from inside the chamber.
The Lord Commander looked torn but obliged, cracking it open just so. "My Prince, your mother said–"
"Last night my father ordered that no one stand in the way of my amity with Princess Jaedys. Surely the King's orders outrank those of the Queen," she heard Aemond say decisively. Ser Harrold Westerling sighed and looked between the two children. Resignedly, he held the door open for her to pass.
"The door will remain ajar if it pleases your Highnesses," he said testily. Jade gave him a small smile and walked into the chamber. Aemond was lying on the large iron bed gazing out the window to the left of the chamber looking out at the bay. From the angle she observed him, she could almost pretend he was still intact. His injured eye hidden in the tilt of his gaze, he might have just been happily taking in the sights.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"About as good as you are, I imagine," he replied in a tired voice. She nodded and could not think what to reply. After a moment he spoke again, still looking out the window. "She won't stray too far from me," he said softly, "as if she knows what's happened. I've read about dragon bonds my whole life, pictured what it might be like, but I never imagined…"
Jaedys followed where his eye was trained and felt a jolt in her stomach as she was violently reminded of last night's happenings. She looked spitefully down at her feet. "If the choice was mine, I wouldn't have left you either."
He heard the slight edge to her voice and turned to look at her inquisitively. She was in another black dress; the color of their house suited her even if it was for mourning. Her hair was prettily done in braids, and he could smell the lavender she must have bathed in. His stomach flipped twice: once at how lovely she looked, and a second horridly at the sight of what he had done to her.
"Does it hurt?" he asked her gently. She was touched. He had lost an eye and yet here he was inquiring as to her own pain.
"Not much," she lied.
"You're a bad liar," he jested smally, "Have they given you any milk of the poppy?"
"No, they won't let me sleep for a while yet."
"Oh, yes that makes sense," he said awkwardly, "They've given me quite a bit."
"That's good," she replied with similar discomfort, "Otherwise you'd probably be in a lot of pain."
"Are you angry with me?" he asked after a moment feeling rather stupid at the question.
"I don't know what I feel," she said still looking at her feet.
"Don't lie," he whispered. Her eyes lifted to meet his for the first time since their time in the hall the previous night. The left side of his face was bandaged. She could smell the ointments the maester must have put on his wound. Even obscured she could just make out the beginnings of red puckered skin peeking out.
"You're feeling much bolder, aren't you?" she replied with the same edge. "What brought this on, I wonder?"
"So, you are angry at me. Might I remind you it was I that was attacked by our cousins and your brothers."
She shook her head and pressed her lips tightly. "I know this. I was there, wasn't I? It was I that bled beside you on the ground, wasn't it?"
"I didn't mean to strike you," he said mournfully, "You know I would never–"
"You would have struck Jace though," she interjected.
"He attacked me," Aemond shot back.
"He was on the ground defenseless when you acted!" she argued, "If I hadn't come between you, then dragonrider wouldn't be your only new title this morning."
There was a slight pause before he turned his full gaze at her haughtily sitting up straighter in the bed. "So that's what you're really angry at? That I have a dragon? Are you stupid? You're not angry that I nearly killed you, but that I got a dragon before you? I thought you of all people would be happy for me."
"Don't be thick, of course I'm angry at what you did to me. But that was an accident. You meant to claim Vhagar, when only hours before we had made promises to one another," she whispered angrily.
"I can't believe you're angry at me as if it's all my fault," he said incredulously.
She scoffed shaking her head before erupting, "I'm angry at the whole affair! I'm angry at the twins for being so stupid and attacking you! I'm angry at Jace for being a loyal idiot and following them! I'm angry at you for being so mean and provoking their ire! I'm angry that my baby brother felt like he had to pick up that knife to protect me! I'm angry at myself because I could have stopped it all and I bloody froze because I love you and I love my brothers and I didn't know what to do!" She was crying now, everything she had kept inside not just from last night, but from the past weeks spilling out of her.
"Jade–"
"You were supposed to wait for me," she wept, "We were supposed to claim them together!"
"I secured our future! I did it for us. Our letters were being intercepted and we were about to be separated again. It was only a matter of time before you were betrothed to someone else or I was. Claiming Vhagar meant that no one would stand in our way."
"Don't you dare say that you did it for me! You know what it was I wanted. You claimed Vhagar for yourself. Had we done things my way we'd have gone to Dragonstone together and done things the right way. You just couldn't wait–"
"The right way?! Do you hear yourself?" he balked at her words, "I acted as a true Targaryen would. I saw a path forward to get everything I wanted, and I took it without regret."
"And it turned out rather well, didn't it?" she said spitefully.
"You should be thanking me. Your mother would understand. She takes whatever she wants unrepentantly. This…this is your father talking," he said dismissively.
"Don't. You said enough about my father last night," she said dangerously low, "Tell me…is that how you truly see me?"
"I said that to Jace and Luke, not you," he muttered.
"You cannot mean to call my brothers bastards without impugning me as well," Jade cried, "If that is what they are in your eyes, then so am I."
"No," he defended, "I have never thought that of you. You are not them. They have been cruel to me. They've been Aegon's playthings and taunted me all my life!"
"So you hurt them because you cannot touch Aegon?" she accused, "Everything you said and did because you cannot hurt the one person you actually mean it for."
He was quiet for a moment. Then his voice came out in a low bitter hiss, "I said it because I could. I did it because I could. I ride the largest dragon in the world! I am a trueborn Targaryen, the blood of Old Valyria. And what are they by comparison? The ill-begotten whelps of some inconsequential Riverlord's house."
She felt as if he had stabbed her, as if he had struck her again. The stitches ached as her faced pulled into a teary grimace.
"Then there is no future in this. I am their blood and must therefore be as lowly to you now as they are. We are finished then," she said angrily.
He rose from the bed and went to her desperately, "No, you are precious to me. You are fierce and beautiful and the only one who has every seen me as the Prince I could be, all I was meant to become. And when we are wed, no one will dare question your birth or value. If they did, I would burn them where they stood."
She shook her head, "When we are wed? How can you think…after last night…Aemond, you broke my heart. It doesn't matter if you say I'm different, I am no better than my brothers. You called them bastards and almost killed them."
"And your brother took my eye! Did he apologize? Did your mother? Did my own father when he dismissed it all so easily? No. Instead my mother is as some kicked dog for trying to avenge my honor, for being the only one to react appropriately to my maiming," he said savagely.
"She wasn't the only one who cared! But don't you see what you've done?" she questioned sadly, "Don't you understand that they'll never support us now? Not our friendship nor anything else. Don't you see how you've wounded us?"
"Why can't you see that I've made things better for us?" he demanded, "My father has as good as betrothed us to each other. My actions were that of a conqueror, just as we always talked about. I was never playing at a children's game. I didn't realize you were."
"I wasn't playing a game, but there could have been a better way," she said shaking her head, "Look at what has happened. Why can't you just be sorry?"
"Because I'm not sorry," he said taking her by the shoulders. "I have lost my eye and I will have what is owed to me. I have Vhagar and I have you."
She shoved him off her and glared at him. "You do not have me. I am not some prize you are given just because your father wills it so. That dragon outside may be irrevocably bound to you, but I made no such sacrament."
"You are promised to me," he said wildly, "Not just in courtship. We bled together last night, clasped our hands and bled for one another. By the rites of Old Valyria, you are as my wife now and I will not let another take you."
"You are mad if you think I will ever forget the poison in your words or the murder that was in your heart last night," she said contemptuously.
He clenched his fists angrily, swallowing the break of his own heart, filling his words with fire and blood. "I would not have you forget," he said venomously, "I would have you remember what happens to those that stand in my way."
She laughed derisively, "Are you threatening me? You may have become a lot of things since you claimed that dragon, but you don't scare me, Aemond. You are no villain."
"I would never threaten you," he said growing more angry at the mocking in her voice, "But your brothers have made it clear they are willing to spill my blood. They have painted me a villain and mean to stand in our way."
Jaedys shuddered at his implications, but held his gaze steadily and moved closer, "I see now that there is only your way and that my feelings don't much matter to you anymore. Not now anyway…" She looked at him closely for a moment, swallowing her sadness, using the anger and jealousy inside her like wind carrying her forward, "I hope it was worth it. I hope you and Vhagar are quite happy together."
She pulled herself away and bolted from the room before he could catch her. She heard him follow as she continued her paces, could hear what must have been the Lord Commander holding him in his grasp to prevent him exiting his confinement.
"I did it for you! You know I did!" he yelled after her, "We belong together, Jade! They would have kept us apart! You know I did it for you! Jade! If you leave me now, I'll never forgive you! I did it for you!"
She sobbed heavily as she stormed away from him, his words haunting her as she went back to her mother's chambers. They were empty when she arrived, neither of her parents to be found. Jade didn't stop sobbing when she got there, nor had she stopped hours later as she watched the royal standard depart from Driftmark with three dragons following close behind.