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mendes-bae · 2 years ago

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A fair exchange – part seven

series masterlist ; part six ; epilogue

Part seven summary: Blacks besiege King's Landing.

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x (F) Targaryen!reader

Warning: incest, CHARACTER DEATH.

This is not the true ending of The Dance of the Dragons, it's just a reinterpretation ⚠️

Author's note: ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE! this is my first time writing a fic in English, so beforehand, i'm sorry 👀

All the rights belong to the showrunners of HOTD and George R.R Martin, author of Fire and blood & Song of ice and fire series ‼️

Word count: 1530

Velarys descended from the sky on Vaghnar's back in front of King's Landing entrance.

The siege of the capital was carried out by land, sea and air, cornering the Greens in the Red Keep. The armies of the Valley, The Reach, Dorne, and the soldiers sworn to the Targaryen Queen waited at the gates of the city while the fleet of the Velaryon waited in the bay. Queen Rhaenyra's war council had agreed that this was the best strategy to defeat the usurper who called himself king, Aegon, her half-brother.

Syrax, Caraxes, Vermax and the other dragons that the Blacks had been able to recruit flew over the city, Velarys could see their shadow covering houses and roads.

Spies loyal to her sister had confirmed that the Hightower dragons were in the royal pit, so it was Vaghnar and his rider's job to guard the entrance and prevent the beasts from leaving or the keepers from entering to the cave. Vaghnar was twice the size of the other beasts that fought in the Dance with Dragons (a name that many had begun to use to refer to the Targaryen civil war), second only to the legendary Vhagar.

Vaghnar's footsteps echoed from streets away and his footprints left craters in the ground from the force that the animal made when he walked. As he rounded corners his tail struck tall buildings and houses, people who were bold enough to step onto their balconies or peek through doorways were scared away by the roars of the colossal two-headed dragon.

When Vaghnar reached the dragon pit with Velarys on his back, the Targaryen princess swung herself from the saddle and was once again amazed at the power of her dragon: Vaghnar scaled the hard stone walls, his huge claws snagging into the walls of the pit with enough force to keep him and his rider suspended in the air.

He reached the top quickly and both heads roared in the direction of the royal fortress. The white-haired woman could see how panic grew in the city and how the guards began to leave the castle, dressing in their armor in the process, since it had barely dawned an hour ago, the Blacks had taken advantage of the darkness of the night to spend unnoticed and avoid the sentinels, taking the Greens totally by surprise.

The ships of the Velaryon were seen on the shore of Blackwater Bay preparing their catapults and readying their archers, the horses of their allies entered the city gates with banners flapping in the wind, and the dragons of the Blacks surrounded the Red Keep.

Surrender was Aegon's only way out, Velarys thought.

The Targaryen princess had to face soldiers who were either brave or foolish enough to go near the pit and run into Vaghnar. The beast saved her from several arrows directed at her just by lifting one of his thick wings, enraged spitting blue fire and burning the Hightower soldiers.

Perhaps a few hours had passed, she did not know for sure as she had lost track of time, but when she looked at the great castle she could see that the banners of Aegon II had fallen, in their place at the entrances and on each spire at the columns of the castle hung banners bearing the crest her sister had chosen: a quartered with the three-headed dragon of the Targaryens, the falcon of House Arryn, and the seahorse of House Velaryon.

That was her signal: they had taken the castle.

"Sōvegon, Vaghnar" Fly, Vaghnar, Velarys ordered.

The dragon spread its enormous wings and took flight.

When he was meters from the fortress, Vaghnar scrambled down and leaned down so that Velarys could dismount from his back.

The Hightower soldiers were kneeling in rows and their swords and armors are stacked in a corner at the foot of the stairs leading to the palace entrance.

Velarys looked up to see Aegon, who was kneeling at the entrance to the Red Keep with his head bowed and his hands behind his back, while the audience that watched him be crowned in that same city years before would watch him die.

The princess herself noticed the absence of the rest of his family.

"Where are Otto and Alicent?" she asked Jacaerys, who watched from a distance the orders that his mother gave to her soldiers.

"The cowards decided to spend the rest of their lives in prison" Daemon answered before his nephew could say anything.

It was either that or be burned alive by Syrax, his sister's dragon.

She thought in the sweet Helaena who had ended her life last year, the war had ravaged her, and her heart eched.

Rhaenyra approached her family with a serious expression on her face, her father's crown on her head, displaying an aura of superiority.

"What about Aemond?" Velarys asked with concern.

Ever since they had met on Claw Isle that afternoon when she had confronted him about Lucerys's death and told him of the loss of their son, each had returned to their respective sides not entirely sure that continuing this war was the best course of action. But the damage had already been done and everyone's fury had exploded. The best they could do was to intervene so that all of this did not explode in their faces, and it had not turned out that well, because the war had lasted longer than they expected and countless innocents had lost their lives.

"I will not be the one to decide his fate" Rhaenyra said looking at her.

Daemon looked at the sisters with indifference, because if it were up to him, Aemond would have died the moment the guards notified him of the discovery of Lucerys's body.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Velarys surprised.

"As much as I want to kill him with my own hands, I will not be the one to end his life. That would make you a widow" Rhaenyra said firmly.

"You put my husband's future entirely in my hands?"

The Targaryen Queen only nodded once, turned her back straight and walked up to her dragon.

As Velarys watched the execution of Aegon II, she pondered the fate of Aemond Targaryen.

￮ ੭ 𓈒 ˙ 🐉🐉🐉 ˳ ⊹ ˚ 𝅄

Velarys entered the room where Queen Alicent had locked her in when her father had died. Aemond was leaning against the same window she had leaned against spending her days of mourning he daughter watching the banks of the Blackwater Bay.

The prince heard the footsteps of someone behind him and turned to see who had entered the room that he previously shared with his wife.

Velarys had taken off her armor and was wearing a simple black dress, it had no decorations or emblems, only silver buttons that contrasted with the dark fabric.

"Are you coming to take me to my execution?" Aemond asked, since from the window he could see how Rhaenyra cut off his brother's head for being a traitor.

"No" the white-haired woman said simply.

She approached her husband and handed him a neatly rolled scroll.

Aemond took it and unfolded the paper. Velarys watched as his eye read the delicate handwriting of the Queen's hand.

"That is...?" He asked when he finished reading.

"A pardon signed by the Queen herself"

Aemond's jaw dropped.

"But, I committed war crimes…" she cleared his throat. "And I killed her son. I deserve death."

Velarys played with the only ring that adorned her delicate middle finger, one of her mother's favorites and which she inherited when Aemma died, along with many other pieces of jewelry belonging to her personal collection.

"Maybe, it's your lucky day"

"I don't understand... she want to spare my life?"

Velarys guided her gaze from her silver ring to her surprised husband.

"You want it"

His wife smiled.

"All Rhaenyra asks is that you leave Westeros immediately. You will become an exile.

"She wants me to give up my titles." Aemond turned to look at the scroll.

"It is the only way that no heirs are left and try to take what belongs to her again"

"I will no longer be Aemond Targaryen"

Velarys shook his head.

"Just Aemond"

"And where will I go?" he rolled up the parchment again.

"We could go to Essos" Velarys suggested.

Aemond didn't believe his ears.

"Would you come with me?"

The princess shrugged.

"I have nothing left to do here... I just want to forget"

Velarys walked over to her husband, reached out her arms and wrapped him in a tight hug, her cheek against his beefy chest.

"Make me forget, Aemond" the princess whispered.

The prince rested his cheek on his beloved wife head and then left a long kiss.

"Maybe the Gods will finally let us live a happy life"

Velarys sighed and imagined what her life could be like from now on.

Epilogue

Taglist

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