#jena mertyns

[lya-dustin]

(@queen--kenobi) Oh the bed prompt #8, dealer's choice as the pairing!

ohh I love that perse💙💙💙

⁸⁾ in a fit of anger after a mission gone wrong, both characters sleep in the only available bed because no one was chivalrous to offer to take the floor

Desperate Measures

cw: mentions of murder, poison, sex, implied sexual abuse, referenced domestic abuse, mentions of court intrigue

Jena Mertyns knows damn well what awaits her if she does not do this.

She has no brothers and while Andal law prohibited a cousin or an uncle inheriting before a daughter, Jena knew they would just marry her to her brute of a cousin and call it a day.

After all that was what they did when she was six and ten a decade ago. And now Casper Mertyns was dead by her own hand only to have his odious brother dispose of his bride after she finally birthed a healthy son and brought the matter to the King.

Jena could not become Byron the Brute’s wife nor lose Mistwood to that fucker. She didn’t kill her drunkard of a father and her cruel husband to lose her freedom and rights to Byron of all people.

The only way to keep her title and lands away from her goodbrother was to seek a husband with the power to shift the small council’s favor to her and give her the son Casper the Cunt lacked the virility to provide her with.

Not necessarily a lord paramount nor the heir to a greater house, the son or a member of the King’s Privy Council would do. But Beesbury’s sons are wed, Larys Strong would kill her before she can kill him, recently widowed Cousin Jasper is too new to his post, Tyland Lannister was happily married to a Reyne and, while she would give her right arm to fuck Criston Cole, the Kingsguard were sworn for life and chances are he will end up fucking the queen the moment Viserys croaks.

Which left only two men.

The Queen’s brother, heir to nothing but some meager holdings and also said man’s father.

But Ser Otto had not been in his rooms and his staff too difficult to bribe which resulted in this change to her plans.

Come morning she will be betrothed to Ser Gwayne Hightower and plenty of red-haired babes will stand between her and her goodbrother soon after.

“I heard rumors of your promiscuity, but never heard the part where you chase your victims, Lady Jena.” Gwayne enters his room to find her in a half-laced kirtle on his bed.

“Then it is your lucky day, Ser.” The dark-haired woman plays up her seductive nature as he makes to leave only to find the door locked from the outside, just as she had paid his manservant and guards to do.

“Night, you mean.” The red-haired knight groans when he finds himself too high up in the tower to successfully climb down from it. “I will not fuck you, but I will not let you sleep in my bed.”

“And I will not leave this bed, you may put your sword between us if you fear I will steal your virtue.” She moves to the side and pats the place where she expects her soon-to-be husband to sleep.

For the crime of fucking some of her father’s creditors to keep herself alive and fed, she has been branded a whore. As if the world wasn’t filled with women who had to fuck a man they didn’t want to stay alive, or in the Queen’s case, on their father’s orders.

He will forgive her and marry her; he is known for the chivalry his father pretends to have.

And now because she will not marry Byron and suffer under him like she suffered his elder brother and her own father, she has done to Gwayne what some men do to gain a wife.

“Why are you doing this?” Gwayne asks as he undressed behind a screen as if a naked man were something unknown to her.

“I need a husband who is well-connected enough to keep Byron from claiming me and Mistwood.” The Stormlander does not beat around the bush, her prey is captured, and the trap shut too tight to prevent escape. “Your father would not wish to lose the chance of gaining a real inheritance for you as well as a foothold in the Stormlands if the offer presented itself.”

“Then why not seduce him?” the red-haired man pulls on a cotton nightshirt over his head now having completely tossed away his court clothes.

“I tried; his room is too closely guarded.” Jena’s answer results in stifled mirth.

“So, you consoled yourself with trapping me?” he asks, and she answered with a yes.

“Upon reflection, I realized I needed to change my course if I wanted to succeed. While it is impractical to wed a man too old to manipulate and too young to die of perceived natural causes—” Jena explains her schemes inner working.

“Perceived natural causes?” he laughs knowing how easily it came to her to admit she’d kill her husband the moment he became a burden.

“He has been removed once; the second time will include the removal of his soul from his mortal body. Most bet it will be Daemon Targaryen who does it, others think your sister might dine privately with Lord Larys again and make him Hand.” The dark-haired lady states the obvious. As good at hiding as the Green Queen is, she forgets the Master of Whisperers was publicly seen entering her chamber and in a fortnight his father and brother were gone along with Harrenhal’s century long repairs.

Gods, Jena loathes when people deny their own capacity for evil. Alicent Hightower may claim innocence all she wants, but no one who plays these sorts of games lasts a single round without blooding their hands directly or indirectly.

Jena should know, one sexual favor three years ago paid for the poison in her husband’s drinking horn and soon enough it will be Byron’s turn. If her dear goodsister wishes, it could go into King Viserys’ favorite goblet and his daughter’s wedding wine.

“I never resort to tricks like this, when I want to fuck a man all I have to do is look at him and he will cross mountains and oceans to find my bed.” She holds his gaze to show her boast holds grains of truth.

No matter how many prayers are held, and Seven-Pointed Stars appear, a cunt opened more doors than a chest full of gold dragons. Something Ser Otto confirmed when he sent four- and ten-year-old Alicent to Viserys’ bed almost six and ten years ago.

“Then why not seduce me that way? You were quite impressive at eye fucking me during yesterday’s service at the Sept.” the Knight asks finally giving up and laying on the bed with her.

“Byron’s petitioning the King for my hand tomorrow. Killed his wife for the occasion and everything, I cannot afford to have the Council rule the way they did back then.” This interrogation was not what she had planned, but she supposed Gwayne is not the type to rush into the battle without a strategy. “Trust me, I would have had you on your back by the next service if the situation allowed it.”

“You are a bold one, but I do not believe your appeal is that powerful, Lady Hightower.” He turns on his side and takes in the sight of her finally getting to the part she wanted: the part where they fuck.

“Shall we put it to the test, Lord Mertyns?”

----

[lya-dustin]

tbh if she wasn't paired with Gwayne(or Jasper Wylde in the og fic she appears in) she would've snapped up Yorrick and become his very own Lady Macbeth and made herself queen consort of westeros

i feel if my oc Jena and Yorrick would team up to kill Daemon if they met (Jena poisoned her dad when she was 16 to take Mistwood for herself after his gambling addiction and alcoholism led him to sell her to his debtors )

---@lya-dustin

POV, you are Aemon Royce getting picked up from your 8 year long fostering by your older siblings & the random Stormlander they picked up in order to go commit patricide

[queen--kenobi]

Elayna, Jena Mertyns has a crush on you

Send "____ has a crush on you!" to my muse to see their reaction

Elayna's eyes widen, and she blinks. It doesn't take her too long to recover from her initial surprise. A shy smile creeps onto her face, her gaze cast away a bit. She fidgets with her hands a bit.

"Oh, I'm... surprised. It's not bad! I just wasn't expecting that at all." Elayna pushes a stray hair out of her face. "I'm actually flattered."

[julyzaa]

Share 5 facts about an OC

Okay doing this about my second fave blorbo from my brain(the first will always be Eva)

Thanks btw🩷🩷🩷

Jena Wylde

(Nee Mertyns)

Gif by @nastasyafilippovnas

She was supposed to inherit the Lordship of Mistwood but her father the late Lord Mertyns gambled it away to his nephew and because Otto Hightower was hand during that time, it was ruled as perfectly legal even though it went against most inheritance laws in westeros

She can shoot a crossbow and owns several

Her favorite color is red as it goes well with House Mertyns colors, white and gray

Jena and Jasper Wylde(her second husband)have an unusually healthy relationship despite him being like 15 yeats older than her and her being Aegon’s mistress(and before that Aemond’s)

She totally killed her first husband

[lya-dustin]

wasn't tagged but this looks like great fun

throw together four pictures that represent your most current OC(s) and people can ask questions about them and tag people.

going with my hotd ones for now

Aemma

Jena Mertyns

tagging: @aemma-velaryon @queenmeriadoc @theredwolf159 @noeverse @mischievouslittlecreature @selfproclaimedunicorn

[lya-dustin]

👑 for Jenna because I love an unconventional choice

this ended being longer than i thought lol

Queen Jena

or Ser Otto learns not to fuck with 20 year old mean girl, Jena Mertyns (aged up for the occasion)

cw: mentions of past sexual abuse, past domestic abuse, Jena is a CSA victim, infidelity, murder, manipulation

If Ser Otto expected Jena to go quietly in the night, he was sorely disappointed.

What better way to humiliate the man than by taking his daughter’s place?

“But father---” Alicent hides her fears just as Jena once did.

It was the sort of fear that led Jena to let herself be raped by her father’s creditors and accept Casper as a husband when he lost Mistwood to him at a horse race.

Another reason to get rid of the blasted man. Jena’s first order of business will be to poison him or set thieves upon him.

“Your father won’t know, now go to the princess, she needs you just as you needed her when Lady Alyrie died.” Jena cannot seem to hold onto the anger she had towards the four and ten year old girl who called her a whore when gossiping to her friends.

Really with a father like that, it was hard to hate the little girl.

“Your Grace, forgive your servant’s boldness, but I just could not sleep knowing you are alone with your grief.” Half meant, he deserved to suffer for what he did to Good Queen Aemma.

But it works, and the next morning the Court is afire with the gossip that Lady Jena Mertyns was in the King’s bed. Before the queen’s ashes are cold, a new queen is crowned to quiet the wagging tongues Jena herself set about.

Gwayne is heartbroken, Alicent relieved she wouldn’t bed an old man for the rest of her life and Ser Otto sent packing for attempting to send his young daughter to seduce the king and defaming the new queen.

Rhaenyra is never named heir, and lives her days freely knowing her stepmother has given her father enough sons to keep Prince Daemon ---now Lord of the Stepstones--- away from the throne. Why would she care when she gets to spend her girlhood with her favorite and has a stepmother to manipulate her father into letting them do as they please?

Rhaenyra was wed to Harwin Strong at Jena’s suggestion and now was a satisfied wife with a man good in bed and a goodsister who keeps her from dying in childbed.

Jena’s four children are wed to anyone who would make people think twice to set them against each other.

Prince Aegon weds Tyshara Lannister, Helaena weds Rhaenyra’s eldest son, Aemond weds Cassandra Baratheon and becomes Lord of Mistwood and sweet Daeron weds Daemon’s daughter, Rhaena, and will inherit his goodfather’s seat.

The Dragons do not Dance, not when Queen Jena ties every loose end there is to prevent a civil war the moment her rather dull rotting husband dies.

The rotting sickness wasn’t working fast enough and she worked very hard to find the strongest strain of it to contaminate Viserys' favorite drinking horn with it.

“Do you think anyone suspects it was you?” Gwayne asks as Viserys dies from the too strongly prepared Milk of the Poppy he takes for his leprosy just on the other side of the bedroom wall.

“No, Rhaenyra adores me and Daemon is too busy being Lord of the Stepstones with Lady Laena to care who did his brother in.” the dark haired queen assures her sworn shield and long-time lover.

Once her mourning days are over, the Queen Mother will wed Ser Gwayne Hightower and ensure her gooddaughter knows the Court won’t be hers until Jena is sitting in a pretty vase next to her dull second husband.

[lya-dustin]

(@queen--kenobi) 🌹🌹🌹

Thanks Perse 🖤

Gwayne had then suggested Alicent fill the vacant role of Chief Lady-in-waiting with Jena --- who he claims runs a household with the efficiency of a general. An excuse to keep them here at Court so little Daeron isn’t separated from his family so soon.

“You were my first, you know.” Gwayne admits after boldly fucking her in an empty stable to celebrate their upcoming nuptials.

“And now you’ll be my last.” The bans had been read at the service, everything was being prepared for a simple, yet fine wedding worthy of a Hightower and they had gone out riding together to come and fuck in the same stable she took his maidenhead when they were eight and ten.

---The Lady and the Knight, a sequel to Desperate Measures (Gwayne Hightower x Jena Mertyns(oc))

[lya-dustin]

Who infodumps and who listens? For a couple you don't talk about as much

for my new ship: Gwayne and Jena.

Jena infodumps, she knows everything and is this close 👌 to throttling show!Alicent who she finds incompetent.

[lya-dustin]

(@queen--kenobi) 🌹🌹🌹

thanks Perse 💙

cw: mentions of past sexual assault of a child, pedophilia, just westeros being a shitty place to live if you're female, oh and murder

pairing Jena x Gwayne

“Who was your first?” he asks, knowing Jena’s infamy began when a giggling Lady Alicent revealed to her cousins of what Jena’s goodmother had revealed to Ser Otto. No name was given, there was no need for it, all that mattered was that the recently widowed heiress Gwayne Hightower fancied was not worthy of him.

“A bookmaker my father owed money to.” The laughter dies with her sober words.

Everyone assumed it was something scandalous and consenting, no one seemed to understand that a five and ten year old girl may not want to fuck a disgusting old man for pleasure.

No one knew how much she delighted in seeing the fucker die from the poisoned wine the Maester of Mistwood had taught her to prepare.

And when her soon-to-be goodsister finally fucks the uptight Ser Criston, Jena may get her revenge on the prudish queen and spread a rumor of her having a common born lover.

For old time’s sake.

[lya-dustin]

gave the dolldivine scenemaker a try thanks to @noeverse and played around a bit to create (L to R): Septa Teora(as close i could get to a royal septa's robes and a rainbow colored belt), Aemma (in the Alicent Dress she wears in All is Bliss to Otto's Funeral), Aemma in the blue dress she wears in the Bridgerton Aus and Jena Mertyns in Hightower colors

[lya-dustin]

📻 + Jena (my queen 👸)

omg Jena i love her

[lya-dustin]

Growth

Or Aemond breaks up with his mistress/friend with benefits, Lady Jena Wylde but doesn't tell her why.

Takes place in my fic, All is Bliss

Cw: abuse of power, mentions of nonconsenual sex and Aegon being show!Aegon

Thanks @emilykaldwen for the request of "I am sorry that you found out this way"

“Couldn’t you be man enough to say it to my face?” Jena took his book away to make sure she had all his attention.

Aemond had broken things off with her, he’d sent an impersonal message through the page who delivered their correspondence and with Aegon’s permission gave into his desire for his brother’s wife.

“I am sorry that you found out this way.” He apologized out of guilt of tossing Jena, his friend and former lover, out of his life like that.

Normally he wouldn’t have cared, Aemond wasn’t raised to truly care about other people’s feelings especially people his mother doesn’t like.

But Aemma cared, she didn’t like hurting others and he supposed being in her constant company had infected him with empathy.

“You could have told me, instead I am told just as Aegon tells me I am to be his new mistress.” There is no mention of her having consented.

Doesn’t surprise him one bit. Aegon never waited for a yes because it could be a no and knows mother won’t ever dare to stop him because she can’t give grandsire a perfect puppet if she corrected his most heinous habit.

Aemma had admitted she had never even been asked if she wanted to have marital relations with him when he visited her chambers.

If Rhaenyra ordered Aegon’s death when she ascends the throne it might actually be what he deserves.

“I had not expected for Aegon to do that, usually he waits longer and plies ladies with drink to get a drunken yes from them.” The one-eyed prince has never lied to Jena, made no sense to start that now. “I am sorry if this has hurt our friendship, Jen.”

“I suppose I can forgive you, your brother, is well, your brother.”Jena is taken aback by his words, surprised as he is about this new trait of his and assumed he’d misspoken earlier.

He only ever apologized to his mother, Helaena, and Criston, one or twice to Daeron and never Aegon.

“One can hope.”

“And considering how bad Aegon is in the sack, I can forgive sweet princess Aemma from stealing you away. Gods know the girl needs to have a good fuck every night to endure your family.” Harsh, but nothing she hasn’t said before. “If the gods are good, your seed will be as useless as your brother’s.”

[lya-dustin]

Fic masterlist

Hotd

Someone will remember us (aemond targaryen x oc, aemma velaryon) completed ,rated: M

All is Bliss (in the Court of Aemma the Great) Aemond x Aemma, completed, rated M

Whatever souls are made of (aemond x aemma one shot series)

To the ends of the earth (aemond x aemma au)

Aemond x Reader inserts

Hotd big bang spring 2024

Cupid kills with arrows (arranged marriage/loosely based on queen charlotte au)

Shock and delight (bridgerton au)

Sun (one word prompt, shock and delight)

Castle (one word prompt, rhaenicent)

Hotd bigbang road 24 prompts

Sweet mother (table sex gate ft rhaenicent) rated: M

Desperate Measures (Gwayne Hightower x Jena Mertyns(oc))

The Last Kingdom

Osferth masterlist

Aethelred x reader

Magnificent Century

Au list

Dune

Queen of Light, King of Darkness (Feyd x OC)

The Last Wolf of Lankiveil (part 2 of Feyd x Nurbanu(oc))

Broken (feyd x nurbanu one shot)

Saltburn

A Comedy of Nonmathematical Errors (Michael Gavey is secretly Felix Catton's twin) hiatus

Rings of Power

I Sang of Leaves of Gold (gil galad x maia!oc, rings of power)

the moon lives in the lining of your skin(gil galad x erinti, silmarilion)

The Stone Table (gil galad x erinti smut)

The Scion of Kings and the Lady of Flowers(Gil-galad x reader)

Balcmeg (au where Gil-galad and Erinti adopt a baby orc)

[lya-dustin]

All is bliss

Chapter 9

Cw: mentions of underage sex, refrenced statuory r*pe and loss of bodily autonomy(basically just a regular day in westeros)

Gif by @behindfairytales

Taglist: @mercedesdecorazon @darylandbethfanforever9 @sweethoneyblossom1 @aemondx

Jena Mertyns of Mistwood had risen in court using her gods-given gifts of charm and beauty in record time.

Lord Jasper Wylde had no need of more children ---he had a total of nine and twenty children with the bulk of them being illegitimate--- and while the Ironrod was prodigious with his cock, he was not a prince.

Bookish, violent, and misunderstood Aemond had been her second lover.

The first being her now husband who educated her in the ways of carnal pleasures.

She had been only six and ten when it began, Jena had been a Mertyns by birth and heir to Mistwood given her cousin ,brother of the first Lady Wylde, died without issue less than ten moons onto their marriage.

Ironrod had already had her by the time she arrived at court that year to make her case on the matter of her husband’s will, so she knew there was no one else to seduce to gain what was rightfully hers.

But then she met Aemond.

Aemond who was pleasant company when he wasn’t being the cold and indifferent prince with a talent for violence.

Aemond was she is very sure was a man maiden when she first brought him to her bed weeks after his sixth and tenth nameday.

She made him a man and now he had left her in the dust and replaced her with his six- and ten-year-old niece a year later.

Of course, Jena was a beauty with hair like ebony, a sharp tongue and powerful allies, but Princess Aemma with her silver gold ringlets, sweet demeanor and high rank had made her lose her coveted spot in both court and Aemond’s heart.

You are a servant, she is a queen, her husband had said when both began to feel the loss of her status as the One-Eyed Prince’s mistress.

They did not feel the waning of their influence for too long.

Not now that Prince Aegon out of spite had bent her over a card table after his little wife fucked his brother like she loved him.

Love.

The one thing few have and that you sure as hell do not find with your husband.

This morning she received jewels, gold and a gelding as dark as her hair.

Aemond had not been as generous, how could he be when a second son had less than the firstborn?

“Did you like the gelding, Lady Wylde?” Princess Aemma smiled sweetly as she asked.

She could be a bitch; marriage had made her a delightful creature.

The Pearl of Dragonstone had been as sweet as naïve as her goodsister, only the Pearl’s sweetness had begun to melt away to reveal sharp edges after her return from the progress.

A shitty husband and goodmother does that to a girl.

“Yes, his highness was rather thoughtful to gift me such a beautiful horse.” Jena thanked her knowing this faux kindness will leave once she hears the rumors of her and Aemond.

Jena had the advantage of the court gossip mill and friends amongst the ladies.

Aemma spent so much time playing the lord of the castle and bettering the lives of the smallfolk she had not bothered with making the vapid hens her friends like Jena had done.

Her name was not enough here.

Not when Alicent Hightower ruled with an iron fist.

The girl giggles, “He deserves no such praise, Lady Wylde. The gelding was my gift to you.  He wanted to give you a mare, but the gelding seemed more fitting.”

Ah, so it is true then! The lady catches onto the meaning quickly.

Oh, poor, stupid, Aemond.

He was being used as a stud and fell in love with his brother’s wife.

Really the mummers in Braavos could never write something as good as this.

“Yes, even more than you think, your highness. I heard you have acquired a stud worthy of a kingdom, a stud I broke in myself, I might add.

Rode him till he cried for mercy the morning your highness returned from the progress.” Jena lowered her voice and tried not to look too gleeful when the princess was caught unawares by her words.

She didn’t know, sweet Aemond had not told her about her.

“I suppose I should thank you; he is a great fuck.” The princess tries to shake off the surprise and returns fire like a natural when a handmaiden comes to tell her letters from Dragonstone had arrived for her. “Good day, Lady Wylde and I hope your new gelding satisfies you as much as he satisfied me.”

Nothing like fucking the same man to bring out the bitch in you.

“Bitch.” Jena mutters knowing she can hear her.

“Princess Bitch.” Aemma corrects with a disarming smile.

This will be the start of an interesting friendship.

Because her mother will be returning to court, Aemma must get her tonic ---which is a vial she must drink without fail once a week--- early and have enough in supply for the next moon.

Even meeting Aemond’s former lover has not hampered her joy at having her family and her ladies returning here.

Even grandmother is supposed to be coming for a visit.

Something about Uncle Vaemond wanting to contest grandfather’s will.

Why he’d do so when grandfather is perfectly fine and Baela and Rhaena are above him in the succession, is not said in the letter.

But that is a question for another day.

The first question of the day is why the apothecary’s shop is closed?

And the second is, why is Ser Criston here?

“Your goodmother has had me follow you ever since the agreement.” He says keeping things vague as if their silver hair peeking from their hoods and hats didn’t give them away already.

They wore hooded cloaks and while Teora in her Septa’s robes could hide her, they were too fine to not draw attention to them.

“I was buying fertility tonics; it is not my fault it did not work. If you will excuse me, Ser, I need to find another apothecary willing to keep their mouth shut for a reasonable price.” Aemma lied and tried to return to her unmarked carriage without him tailing her.

She had known the carriage was a bad investment.

“Lord Strong had the apothecary questioned, the ruse is up, your highness.” The Dornish knight whispers as he helps her into the fucking carriage like a little girl caught running off to cause mischief.

“Fuck.” Aemma mutters and gestures for him to join them inside the carriage.

“Language, Aemma.” Her Septa chastised her as if that even mattered now and she tells her so.

“I cannot, will not, have a child. I would rather have Silverwing burn me alive than give Aegon an heir.” Aemma digs her nails onto the leather seat to stop herself from crying at how much she fucking loathes the hand she has been dealt. “I do not want to live my mother’s life.”

“It is for the better of the realm, your highness.” He repeats the same phrase she hears from the septons, the maesters, the members of the small council and now the man who fucked her mother and has the audacity to call her a whore.

“As if that makes it any better!” She scoffed at his words. “My mother did the same and was branded a whore, by her no less! Her grace may feign to be righteous and good, but whatever hell my mother will burn in, it is a consolation to know Alicent will be right there beside her.”

The knight tries to counter her, spread the gospel about poor queen Alicent who only wants to protect her children and make the perfect puppet king for her father because gods forbid that woman grows a damn spine and tells her father to go fuck himself.

But Aemma does not listen.

Once she is queen, she will send her on a long walk off a short pier.

[lya-dustin]

All is Bliss

Chapter 44

Cw:tourney accident, pregnancy

Gif by @joncons

Taglist @mercedesdecorazon @alexandria-millie @watercolorskyy @sweethoneyblossom1 @darylandbethfanforever9 @ewanmitchellcrumbs

In the ensuing chaos, the tourney is utterly forgotten.

Jon Roxton is arrested, Aemond’s horse put out of its misery and the prince is taken to the maester's tent at once.

None is more concerned than the queen.

Not his mother ---who is pacing back and forth as they await the maesters’ diagnosis--- but his goodsister who holds his unresponsive hand in tears.

She loves him. It is clear to everyone who saw it and will hear it from the spectators.

Loves him in a way most people do not think is even possible.

Even Jena cannot fathom why she’d be so careless with it and come running to his side as if she were his wife.

Besides, the horse and his armor withstood the worst of the damage. Aemond managed to jump off his horse before it crushed him.

He hit his head, sprained a wrist and while his tourney armor was beyond repair, it served its purpose.

He was out cold but won’t be down for long, Jena’s seen worse falls.

“I can administer something to soothe the queen, the excitement of today will be bad for her health.” The maester suggested and Aegon agrees as he stands using his cane.

Aegon can walk now, short distances, but he was back on his feet. Just in time to rule the realm now that his brother will be leaving to fight by the end of the week.

Whatever dark arts used to heal him had left almost no trace of his injuries, no one could heal as quickly as he did.

He remembers seeing Alys and his mother chanting and painting him with Ellyn’s blood in his nightmare.

Alicent had slit Ellyn’s throat, the crime described exactly as it looked when Jena found her dead in her crib.

The nurse hadn’t been lying, the queen and her witch had taken her life and somehow given it to her father.

Not that anyone would believe her, Jasper thinks she is grasping at straws. Can’t do shit without concrete evidence and save for a dead nursemaid’s testimony they had nothing.

“When will he wake?” Alicent asks after Jena gently pries Aemma from Aemond’s bedside and guides her to a chair where servant girls attend to her.

They are to be taken back to the castle, but until then Jena must know everything they need to know.

It was no accident; Bold Jon was a seasoned fighter.

“We do not know; he may wake up in the evening or any moment. The force of his fall was quite strong, Ser Jon was aiming to kill.” Orwyle answered as he took over his care and talked just loud enough for Jena to hear.

Aemma was too distraught to care, but Jena had the hearing of an owl like a true Mertyns.

They had more allies than they knew of. Jena would be shocked if she didn’t expect it. No one wanted war, only the men who had never seen it did.

That and second sons who think they deserve everything because they have cocks.

“Why would Roxton kill him? He’s sworn to Peake, they are brutal men, but they are our men.” the queen asked in confusion.

Jon Roxton was nowhere near as sharp as his ancestral blade and made a good tool, a good hired knife.

Unwin Peake had to be behind it.

The Roxtons of the Ring were sworn to House Peake of Starpike. Not Dunstonbury or Whitegrove, the two cadet branches further deeper in the Dornish Marches, no, Roxton was a blood relative of Unwin Peake, Lord of Starpike.

Peake was Ormund Hightower’s second in command. An ambitious man with no scruples who had his eldest daughter be wedded and bedded at the age of fucking twelve. Poor little girl had died in childbirth the same year she flowered just so her father could take Dunstonbury from his younger brother.

Now came the question Jena cannot answer:

Why?

Teora scolded her like a child after finding her outside his rooms. “I have half a mind to tie you to your bed, young lady. You need to rest; all this worry isn’t good for the babe.”

“I need to see him; I promise I will do everything you say if you just let me see him.” Aemma bargained with her and let her see him.

She had gotten that fluttering feeling again.

It was a bad omen; she was sure of it.

What if he dies?

“You heard the maester, he is fine. He will wake up soon and reprimand you for being so careless about your own health.” Her septa continued, assuring her he is fine, and she is just letting her fears get the best of her.

“I can feel it in my belly, Teora. I felt this fluttering inside me when he rode against Roxton and now, I’ve felt it again.” The queen admits quietly, and the septa’s face softened. “It is a bad omen; I know it in my heart.”

“Aemma, my love, that is no bad omen.” Teora took her hands and tried her best not to cry as she spoke. “That was the quickening. That bad feeling you have is your babe moving inside you.”

The faith and the sages said a babe in your womb is not a life nor has a soul until it begins to move inside its mother.

The babe inside her had become a living thing today, just as it’s true father was brought to the brink of death.

A greater reason to see Aemond.

And she does, sees him lying in his bed with some scrapes and bruises from his fall.

His sapphire is on his bedside table on a clean handkerchief, his tourney armor gone and left in his breeches and shirt. Save for the bandages on his wrist and his foot, he is fine.

Or so he says as she cries in relief to know he is not dead.

“I should be angry with you, what is this I hear about you making yourself sick with worry?” he tries at levity once everyone else is ordered out of his rooms and she joins him in bed at his offer.

“I couldn’t help it, when I saw where his lance was aimed, I feared the worst.” Aemma leaned her head on his shoulder and held his hand tightly in hers. “Felt it in my womb that he was aiming to kill you. Then I felt it again when we arrived back here, I thought it was a bad omen and that surely you were dying.”

“As you can see, your bad omen was wrong. My armor took the brunt of the damage, thank the gods.” He said softly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and letting his hand rub her stomach. He does that often, finding it wondrous and strange to know their child thrived despite the world being as brutal to her as it was.

“It also wasn’t really a bad omen, the fluttering in my belly was Aenys. Our son is, by standards of the faith and most philosophers, alive.” Aemma moved his hand over where she last felt him move. As luck would have it, the babe moved just enough for his father to feel him under his hand.

“Aenys, second of his name.”

[lya-dustin]

"i am sorry that you found out this way." - for whomever yells the loudest in your head first!

Thank you 🖤 😊

It is called Growth featuring Aemond and his former mistress, Jena Wylde (formerly Mertyns)