HELAENA
"You look sick," Helaena said to Aemond as he lay in his bed.
Her brother's face was milky pale, the sapphire in his eye glowing with a strange light. He was even thinner than before, the skin hanging off his bones. Aegon had been generous, and given his brother a chamber that could match his own. Curtains woven of golden silk and red Myrish lace covered the balcony, and the featherbed was lined with a tiger's fur.
Aemond had thrown his cotton blanket on the floor, his face lying in the shadows of the satin draperies. He was staring up at the ceiling when Helaena entered, turning in his bed to greet her with stony eyes. Helaena picked up his blanket and tossed him it. He did not catch it, his eyes never leaving her.
"Have you come to kill me, Helaena?" he asked.
"Why would you ask me that?" Helaena was expecting something sharp from Aemond, but not that.
"I thought Aegon came to kill me when he visited," Aemond answered,"but he did not. The gods would not spare me twice, so you must be coming to kill me."
"Are you saying that I am the same as Aegon?" Helaena asked.
"I may be confined to this chamber," Aemond laughed,"but I am not deaf. When Cadmus comes every noon to look over me, I have him answer my questions. He proved most eager to do so. You and Aegon are the perfect king and queen, are you not? Gathering together at Maelor's bed, your love turning to magic that hatched a dragon. A dutiful mother, kissing Jaehaera goodbye as the caring father escorts his daughter for half a hundred leagues. It is altogether a lovely image."
"You should have been in it," Helaena said,"Jaehaera was asking where her favourite Uncle Aem was."
"Spare me the comfort," Aemond snickered,"I do not think she sees me as her favourite uncle anymore. I have not spoken over five words to her in over a moon."
"I told my children that it was your duty as Master of Ships," Helaena said,"and the brother of a king who is fighting a war." She grabbed a chair and pulled up to Aemond's side,"They think you the hero who won the Stormlands."
"What did you say to them?" Aemond asked,"That I was a hero because I forced a boy to cut out his own eye?"
"I told them the story that any one of the smallfolk know," Helaena said,"The story of the One-Eyed Prince, who knew that the traitors sought to starve the realm and flew at once to secure the city's bread. He met the traitor prince who wanted Lord Borros to starve the city, and sent the Strong scurrying home with his tail between his legs. The One-Eyed Prince was the reason there was bread in King's Landing even as Princess Rhaenys cut out the northern Kingsroad and the Goldroad."
"You need not flatter me, Hel," Aemond said,"Cadmus told me that wagons up the roseroad were carrying bread as well."
"Aye, but only one batch has arrived," Helaena said,"It has only been half a fortnight since Lady Alayne had declared her son's banners for us. As opposed to the hundred batches which arrived from the Stormlands, it is clear which is more important."
"Very well," Aemond said, as his voice remained stony,"I am glad you did that for me, Hel. You have my love, if that is what you want."
"I want you to know who is more important," Helaena said,"You have a wife waiting for you in Storm's End, a promise you made to Lord Borros to win his banners. I heard Lady Floris is a lovely girl."
"So you have truly chosen Aegon," Aemond said,"I thought that would never happen."
"It is not a matter of choice," Helaena said,"It is a matter of duty. Aegon is the king, I am the queen, and we have a war to fight. We cannot squabble within our own house."
"It is a matter of duty," Aemond laughed again,"You are right, Helaena. Let me go the Stormlands and wed this girl, and all of us will be happy."
Aemond was not convinced, Helaena knew. "You speak of being confined here," Helaena said,"but Aegon did not command the guards to keep you in this chamber. So the only one who is confining yourself here is you."
"You are right," Aemond said,"I have naught to do outside. When I wed the Baratheon girl, I shall give her good little sons and daughters. But until then, I am content to stay in my bed."
"You are wrong, brother," Helaena said,"There are matters outside which require your attention. Have you ever wondered where Vhagar went after you abandoned your dragon?"
"I presume back to the Dragonpit," Aemond said,"She knows the way."
"Your dragon flew out of the King's Landing," Helaena said,"At first, we feared that Vhagar meant to fly to Dragonstone and join the traitor queen, but we soon found that the dragon was content to roam the countryside. And a dragon's roaming means snatching up livestock, burning homesteads, and terrorizing the smallfolk in every field within twenty leagues of King's Landing. We also need Vhagar should our half-sister ever threaten King's Landing."
"You want me to tame him," Aemond said.
"Who else could?" Helaena answered,"Jaehaerys volunteered, but he is a foolish boy. I forbade it, telling him that he already had Shrykos."
"The One-Eyed Prince," Aemond chuckled,"the famous dragonriding hero without a dragon. That would be a cruel jape."
"Would you tame Vhagar?" Helaena asked.
Aemond bit his lip, and Helaena began to hear the wind blowing on the curtains. "Have the stables prepare my grey horse," Aemond said after a long moment,"I have not ridden Smoke in so long that I fear he is dead already. I will ride on the morrow morning."
"I will have servants attend to your horse and organize your escort," Helaena said,"Vhagar was last sighted two miles up the Blackwater Rush, feasting on the livestock of Lord Antony Turnstable of the Foggy Ford. The lord has sent us three ravens already."
"I will make certain that the fourth pair of wings will be Vhagar," Aemond climbed out of his bed.
"Is there anything else you need?" Helaena asked.
"Yes, Hel," Aemond smiled,"I need a meal."
"I trust Aemond is well," Aegon greeted Helaena in his chamber. Ser Criston was helping Aegon out of his armour, raising her brother's black breastplate over his head. Beneath, he was wearing a white tunic inlaid with golden silk threaded in the likeness of a curling dragon.
"You should have a squire to help you with your armour," Helaena said,"The Kingsguard are bid to guard the king."
"And trust a boy whose allegiance I do not know in my close counsels?" Aegon asked,"I thought you were the one of wisdom."
"Then pick a boy whose father is known to be loyal," Helaena said,"I hear Bywater, Trant, and Cresten all have sons of squiring age. Trant's second son is an especially good archer, and I think you would like him. He is currently squiring for Ser Lazarus Selmy, but I think Selmy would be eager to give his squire to the king. Any one of them are loyal lords."
"If they are already loyal," Aegon said as he took off his steel boots and switched on leather ones that Ser Criston brought him,"What use is there in honouring them?"
"There is a difference, Aegon," Helaena said,"Between men who will not stab you in the back and men who will die for you in a war.'
"Which kind of man do you think Aemond is?" Aegon walked to the cedar table and poured them two glasses of water. He handed one to Helaena, and she took a sip.
"He has agreed to hunt his dragon,' Helaena said,"and agreed to wed his bride."
"So he is the second kind," Aegon said as he took a sip from his own cup,"I told you, Helaena, that we can trust our brother. Here's your proof."
If anything, Aemond is still somewhere in between. "You do not know him as I do," Helaena said,"His mood shifts as the moon turns. Anyone who has a prick of sense knows that the words he speaks do not come from his heart. You know by looking at his sapphire eye, and today it was gleaming bright."
"That is a good omen," Aegon said,"If there is anything which would drown our cause, it is a loss of heart. I am glad to see that fire still burns within our brother."
That fire can burn us just as much as it could burn Rhaenyra. "I am glad, also," Helaena did not wish to dwell on Aemond,"How fared the Small Council meeting?"
"Grandfather tried to marry Jaehaerys to a Hightower," Aegon said, turning to Helaena with sharp eyes,"Why was Jaehaerys at the council?"
"Mother wanted him there," Helaena said,"and there was no good cause to refuse what she claimed was a good lesson for the Prince of Dragonstone."
"You should have been bolder," Aegon said,"It took a dragon's arrival to make Grandfather think better of his plots. In the future, Helaena, one of us at least needs to be present for every council big or small. We were almost caught off guard this time, and there should not be a next."
"Grandfather has good cause to discuss Jaehaerys's betrothal now that Jaehaera is to wed a Tyrell," Helaena said,"I hope that you had good cause when you overturned him."
"Jaehaerys will wed a Lannister, just like Daeron," Aegon said,"Tyland Lannister is a craven who sways where the wind blows, and the furnace wind always comes from a dragon."
Do not speak so openly of this. Helaena stepped close to Aegon, her words almost a whisper,"Tyland may be a craven, but who is to judge the mettle of his brother Lord Jason? We should not flee the grasp of one house only to fall into the trap of another. Especially not the Lannisters, who are as fickle as the gold beneath their rock."
"That gold the Lannisters has promised us as dowries," Aegon said,"and Sunfyre shall hold them to their promise."
"They are not like to abandon their investment," Helaena whispered,"but…"
Aegon cut her off with a wave of his hand."We have more important matters than the Lannisters to deal with," Aegon said,"It was an icy council after the fiasco of our son's betrothal, until Lord Strong's report turned our heads away from Jaehaerys."
"It is our half-sister," Helaena knew at once.
"Rhaenyra is gathering her strength on Dragonstone," Aegon nodded,"Jacaerys and Joffrey have returned from Driftmark, and Lord Strong's agents in the Riverlands report that Princess Rhaenys has departed Harrenhal towards the east. Our half-sister is taking again to the skies on Syrax, as is Prince Daemon's Caraxes. Lord Strong tells us that even Stormcloud and Moondancer are flying with riders."
"So we are back at the beginning of the war," Helaena said,"and we have not gained the advantage of kingdoms. Half swore to us, aye, but the other half followed our half-sister."
"We are not at the beginning of the war," Aegon said,"The balance has shifted in favour of Rhaenyra. There have been rumours that Rhaenyra has sent out a call for riders of the wild dragons on Dragonstone, the smallfolk naming it the Sowing. Lord Strong confirmed those rumours, informing the council that Rhaenyra has four more dragons at her disposal. And these are no hatchlings like Maelor's. Vermithor and Sheepstealer are almost as large as Vhagar. Silverwing and Seasmoke have never seen war, but they are grown and accustomed to riders, and could be turned to war in an instant should their riders wish so."
"Rhaenyra is gathering her strength on Dragonstone," Helaena muttered,"which could only mean that she is…"
"Preparing an attack on King's Landing," Aegon slung off his sword and gave it to Ser Criston,"A battle we would assuredly lose."
