It Will Come Back
Chapter 2, Superficial
Two sides of a family fight for their own claims to the Targaryen inheritance. Amongst the endless infighting, forced pleasantries and PR scandals, Jaya Velaryon finds herself face to face with a demon of her past, namely Aemond Targaryen. Love and hate are not emotions easily unlearned.
Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist
Aemond Targaryen x Jaya Velaryon (OFC)
Warnings: 18+, dark elements, targcest (uncle x niece relationship) toxic family dynamics, angst, violence, blood
Words: 8029
A/n: Also available to read on AO3, if you're that way inclined.
Two months later…
Jaya sat against the headboard of her bed, flicking the old silver lighter open and close, watching the flame flicker and die, over and over again.
A synthy 80s song played through the speaker on the dresser as her cousins fussed in front of the mirror on her vanity. They were rummaging through their makeup bags, applying shimmering eyeshadows and rich red blush with their fingers.
The whole summer was ahead of them and Rhaenyra had insisted on starting the season with a garden party, primarily to celebrate the twins. Jace was a little anxious about his impending exam results, but Jaya was sure she had done well– a remarkable feat given how distracted she had been lately.
She closed the lighter and let her thumb rest on the engraving of the three-headed dragon.
If she thought hard enough, she could still taste Aemond on her tongue.
She had always thought her first kiss would be intense, like the way it was in movies, music swelling, two mouths crashing together out of love and desperation, unable to hold back after wanting something for so long.
It had been intense, but not as overwhelming as she thought it would be. It was softer, wetter, clumsier. It felt simple, like a firm hand on her waist, like an unashamed glance across a crowded room, like an embrace. It felt like a natural extension of something that had already been there, a different action with the same intent.
She found her mind replaying that moment an awful lot, in front of the mirror as she got ready for school, while her friends droned on about drama that seemed so trivial to her now, as her eyes moved over a textbook when she was alone in her room.
It was most vivid in the quiet space between waking and sleeping, when she was curled in on herself under her thin bed sheets, resting a hand on her stomach and pretending it was his. She could still feel it then, the hot air of his room, his body pressed into her back, the shape of his lips and the movements of his mouth against her neck, the way she shuddered at his fingertips trailed down, just below her navel but never further.
Sometimes her mind would imagine more than she remembered. She could picture it so easily in her head, his hand slipping underneath the hem of her underwear, his fingers teasing over the heat between her legs, all while he kissed her neck, dragging his teeth over her skin and letting out little pants and grunts…
But that was wrong. So fucking wrong.
Years ago, when they were children, Aegon used to joke that she and Aemond were in love.
She remembered playdates, family get togethers and formal events, spending the entire time by Aemond’s side. Everything they did, they did together, exploring the gardens of Dragonstone and climbing the apple trees at Queen’s Lodge, playing with dolls and flicking through books, hiding in quiet corners and exchanging secrets.
She remembered sleepovers, when all the kids would bunk together in the lounge, and she and Aemond would never fail to find their way into each other’s arms. She remembered having her head on his chest, clinging onto him like she wanted to be beneath his skin, letting his heartbeat lull her to sleep.
She remembered being small and looking up at Aegon, thinking she could never possibly catch up to his height. “You could get away with that a few hundred years ago. Our family used to be famous for it you know, marrying cousins, brothers and sisters, uncles and nieces.”
At the time she didn’t really know what he meant. She just knew she wanted to be close to Aemond.
It had taken Aemond two days to call her after the party. He was always the one to reach out first and she would only have to wait. She spent those forty or so hours with an unrelenting headache and a twisting feeling in her stomach. She was so anxious that she had done something wrong and the pessimist in her worried she might never hear from him again.
He finally called on the Sunday, in the evening, after she had eaten dinner with her family. He asked if Alysanne was alright and she told him what she knew, that Jace had taken her home and Sabby had spent the night with her. Alysanne maintained that she had enjoyed her evening.
“And what about you, Zaldrīzītsos?” Aemond had asked.
She could hear the sound of his breathing on the other end of the line, waiting for her to respond. She looked down at her hands where she sat on the bed, curling her fist around the duvet and digging her thumbnail into her skin.
She felt cold and a little nauseous. She felt restless and unsure. She wanted to feel him again and she knew it was wrong.
“I’m fine,” she muttered.
He would have known she was lying but he didn’t press her any further, and the kiss was not mentioned at all.
She hadn’t seen Aemond and Aegon as frequently over the last couple of months, but that was to be expected over exam season. Aemond had a habit of shutting himself away from the world when he wanted to focus on something. Jaya’s approach to exams was a little less intensive, but she knew she didn’t need any extra distractions.
The moment Aemond’s exams had finished they had gone back to being on friendly terms again. He texted her daily, called her several times a week, but she hadn’t seen him since the party, and suddenly “friendly” didn’t feel like it was enough.
The sound of Baela’s voice made her jump. “Are you getting ready or what?” she asked, eyeing her through the mirror.
Jaya firmly flicked the lighter shut again and placed it on her bedside table as she shuffled off the bed.
‘The Daemon Targaryens’ as they were affectionately known by the rest of the family, had a house between King’s Landing and Driftmark. Jaya saw plenty of uncle Daemon; he was often in town for work, spending his weekdays in his apartment at the Red Keep and occasionally coming for dinner at Queen’s Lodge. She had seen less of Baela and Rhaena since they left Peremore’s, being two years older than her and Jace. Baela had gone to Pentos to study International Relations and Rhaena was training at the Sunspear Ballet School in Dorne, but they always came back for summer.
People had often told Jaya that she and Jace were a more obvious pair of twins than the Targaryen girls. She had their mother’s soft, rounded face compared to his strong, sharp jaw, but they had the same brown curls, the same hazel eyes, the same nose, the same smile, the same pouty frown, the same stubbornness.
Despite looking incredibly alike when they were children, Baela and Rhaena’s features differed to the point where they hardly looked like siblings. Baela’s eyes were violet and sharp like Daemon’s while Rhaena’s eyes were wide and doe-like like Laena’s. Baela was short and strong, Rhaena was tall, graceful and lean, built like a dancer. Baela kept her silver hair cropped close to her head, and Rhaena’s was usually in braids or locks.
For the evening, Baela had opted for a blue silk shirt, offhandedly tucked into brown dress pants. She liked bold eyeliner, dark lipstick, heavy gold jewellery and black boots.
Rhaena looked like she had stepped out of the pages of a fairytale. She wore a dress she had found in a vintage shop in Dorne, pale pink, covered with floral patterns and rhinestones with a wide, flowing skirt. Her silver hair was brought into a perfect ballet bun and her accessories tended to feature pearls and flowers plated with silver.
They both looked incredible, and here Jaya was, still in the shorts and t-shirt she had changed into after her shower, with only half an hour to go before the guests would start arriving.
She had something specific in mind, a white summer dress with flared sleeves and fitted, flattering top. The sleeves and the skirt floated around her as she moved and glanced at her reflection in the mirror and the windows. She felt ethereal and fleeting, “like a ghost,” Rhaena said.
“White?” Baela said with a quirked eyebrow. “Aren’t you worried you’ll spill wine on it?”
Jaya tried not to grin as she finished her makeup with some sheer lipgloss. “I’ll just be very, very careful,” she said.
The house was ready for guests, empty of any clutter or indication that it was actually inhabited by their family. There was a lot of noise coming from the kitchen and by the front door, Steffon Darklyn, Rhaenyra’s head of security, was muttering to a few members of staff. They passed through the conservatory, a room of red sofas, vintage rugs and potted plants, with a tall glass ceiling and French doors that led out to the patio.
The garden looked like something from a wedding catalogue, a picturesque scene of fairy lights, candles, canopies, tables covered in white tablecloths, bouquets of red and white roses. A charming instrumental hummed somewhere in the background, waiters waltzed between tables with canapes on silver platters as the guests sipped on champagne and red wine.
There were plenty of interesting guests, the Celtigars, the Bar Eammons, even Jeyne Arryn had made an appearance, some distant cousin of her mother’s. She noticed some of the board members were present too, Jasper Wylde, Lymon Beesbury, Tyland Lannister. One by one, they went to greet Rhaenyra.
Her mother was a vision of silver and red, her long hair pinned away from her face and cascading down the back of a designer dress. She shook each guest by the hand, embraced them warmly, then smiled. It was a routine she had picked up from Viserys, he knew how to make people feel like they were his friends.
Daemon and Laena hovered beside her, taking sips from champagne coupes. Daemon was a little more transparent with his reluctance for formalities. He had more of a practical approach to business, head of the bank’s legal team, despite the lack of qualifications. He shook Lymon Beesbury’s hand and only spared a smug glare for Wylde and Lannister.
“Oh look!” Rhaena cooed, pointing towards the orchard. Sunset was still a few hours away but the light was dimming. Jaya and Balea turned and sighed at the sight of the fairy lights that had been strung around the branches and the tree trunks.
“It’s going to look so beautiful once night falls,” Rhaena said.
The first thing they did was find the boys. Luke and Joffrey had found themselves a table at the very edge of the party, and poor Jace had been cornered by Jeyne Arryn and a few of their mother’s friends. When Jaya went to save him she was roped into the same conversation she was about to have all night. “Hello darling, don’t you look pretty and grown up? How’s school– oh no, you’re finished now, aren’t you? When do you get your results? Still set on KLU? What was it you wanted to study?” Responding to them was making her brain feel numb.
She heard a bit of a fuss being made over the arrival of the next guests, Corlys and Rhaenys Velaryon. They stood just outside the doorway for a moment, Corlys in a teal suit and Rhaenys in a silver gown that tastefully matched the grey streaks in her otherwise black hair.
Jaya grabbed Jace’s hand. “Excuse us,” she said with a smile and brought him with her to join their mother as she welcomed their grandparents.
The Velaryons had a history that intertwined with the Targaryens, descending from a line that led across the Narrow Sea to Old Valyria. Corlys liked to say he built his business from the ground up, but the truth was it was built on family connections and the small fortune that came with marrying Rhaenys Baratheon. But what did it matter, the story he told? People revered him all the same, the CEO of the largest shipping company on the continent, an esteemed member of the board of directors of Dragon Bank, with links to some of the most prominent families in the country.
Suddenly she wondered where her father had got to.
Corlys and Rhaenyra were in good spirits, laughing over a joke Jaya and Jace had just missed. Rhaenys was holding Laena’s hands in hers, asking about the girls and everything else there was to catch up on.
Corlys’ face lit up when he saw the twins. Of course, it was ridiculous to think that a grandfather would play favourites, but sometimes she wondered if she was Corlys’ favourite. A giant of a man, he hugged them both tightly, while Rhaenys met them only with a polite peck on the cheek.
He asked the dreaded question of exam results.
“A few more days,” Rhaenyra said, “but it’s not as though we’re worried.”
“Good, that’s what I like to hear,” Corlys said. “Jace, your mother tells me you have plans of going to White Harbour?”
“Yeah,” Jace said, though he did not sound entirely convinced himself. “I’ve applied for communications, but they have a lot of optional modules. I was thinking about doing some classes in drama or business or something.”
“Well, the world needs communicators,” Rhaenys said rather dryly.
Daemon snickered. Laena tapped his arm to make him stop.
“What about you, Jaya?”
“I’m set on KLU,” she said. “PPH.” Politics, Philosophy and History, the same as Aemond. In her mind there had never been another possibility.
This Rhaenys seemed a little more impressed by.
“Set on changing the world, are we?” Corlys said.
Jaya smiled somewhat performatively. “We’ll see.”
“She’s always had big ambitions,” Rhaenyra said. She smoothed her hand over Jaya’s head, like she used to do when she was little, and pressed a light kiss to her temple. “My smart girl.”
Corlys, Rhaenys, Laena and Daemon all smiled. Jace hummed and glanced down at his sneakers.
She went to the bar before she joined the others at the table. She asked for a gin and lemonade with lots of ice. Sweet and cold, it went down easily and gave her something to do with her hands, a hard surface to tap her nail against should she start to feel nervous.
Laenor was still nowhere to be found. People would start to notice, maybe they would ask questions.
When she came back to the table, Baela and Rhaena were laughing with Luke and Joffrey. Jace was a little removed from the others, slouched back in his chair, fiddling with a piece of silver cutlery laid out on the table.
She sat beside him and offered him some of her drink. He shook his head with his brows furrowed and his lips pressed tightly together.
“What’s wrong with you?” she said, realising how accusatory she had sounded. The gin was probably to thank for that, so she placed her glass down on the table. Besides, it was nearly empty.
Jace tilted his head and looked at her, sad or angry, she couldn’t really tell.
“I don’t know if I did enough to get into White Harbour,” he muttered.
They’d had this conversation before. He could never say why he was so sure he wasn’t going to get in, but it was just nerves, surely. He was getting in his head, overthinking it.
Jaya placed her hand on his shoulder. In a way it felt strange to see him like this when he was usually so self-assured, or at least he acted like it. “There’s nothing that you can do now. If you stress about it or you don’t, the outcome isn’t going to change. So you might as well stop beating yourself up about it.”
“Yeah, well, we can’t all be perfect like you.”
That made her pause.
Jace could be serious and stubborn, and he liked to act like he knew better than her, but he was a sweet person really. He had a natural charm, people were drawn to him and found him easy to like. But there were these little moments, like the party at Maegor’s Square, like now, when he could be so spiteful.
Why? What had she done to prompt it now?
Jaya huffed in disbelief. “I’m not perfect,” she said.
Jace tutted. Anger flashed over his face, she could see it, and he moved his mouth as if to say something but stopped himself.
He leaned back in his chair. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t get it.”
“What don’t I get?”
“Nothing. Forget it.”
Hot tears stung her eyes, but she wasn’t going to cry, not in the middle of a fucking party.
She glanced up and saw Baela looking at them.
“Look, if you’re really worried, there’s things you can do. You can appeal, you can go through clearing, you can do a foundation year or, I don’t know, figure something else out altogether.”
Jace glared at her expectantly.
“You don’t have to go to uni straight away,” she said. “Maybe take some time to figure out what you want.”
Jace folded his arms. “It’s fine. I spoke to mum about it. She said there’s nothing we can do until we get the actual results. But once we know, well, arrangements can be made.”
Jaya frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Look at who we are, Jay. Look at who are family is. Between mum, Viserys and Corlys, I can figure something out.”
“Buy your way into White Harbour, you mean?” Jaya said. Of all the places to buy your way into?
“It’s not like that,” Jace huffed.
“No? What is it like then?”
Jace chuckled bitterly to himself and went back to fiddling with a polished dining knife. Jaya pressed her nails into her palm. She hated it when Jace was like this, when he tried to pretend he knew more than she ever would. But she knew more than he gave her credit for. She knew how to get under his skin.
“You’d be no better than Aegon, you know?” she said, softly and simply.
Jace stared at her, and she stared back, her mouth not quite in a smile, her eyebrows raised in false innocence.
“He didn’t get the grades for KLU. Otto had to buy him a place. Now look at him, he’s been there four years and what has he got to show for it?”
“Oh but I thought you worshipped uncle Aegon,” Jace sneered.
“I don’t worship him.” She felt like a child when she said it.
“But you follow him like a fucking dog. Aemond too, you were all over him at that party.”
Her stomach dropped. “I was not,” she said in a small voice. They both knew she was lying.
Jace leaned into her. “Don’t you fucking dare compare me to him, to either of them,” he hissed. “They’re not good people, Jay, and you know it. You saw what Aegon did to Alysanne that night and you let it happen. They’re fucking desperate, the whole lot of them.”
Something else caught his attention. He was looking behind her, towards the patio and the glass doors to the conservatory.
Viserys had arrived, and the air suddenly felt cold.
His wife, Alicent, as beautiful as ever with her big brown eyes and her full lips poised in a gentle smile, entered beside him, clinging onto his arm. She was an image of radiance tonight, light catching in her auburn curls, the silky fabric of her sage green dress and the gold necklace on her collar.
Sometimes Jaya wondered why Viserys had bothered to remarry all those years ago, and why he had chosen a wife so much younger than him. Alicent was eighteen when she got married, the same age Jaya was now, and nineteen when she had her first baby.
She was followed by her father, Otto Hightower, Viserys’ stoic right-hand man, tall, thin and dressed immaculately. Then by a man with dark hair and stubble in a grey suit. Jaya had seen him at the Red Keep and remembered him as Criston Cole, Alicent’s personal head of security.
Then came the four siblings with silver hair; Aegon, for once in a shirt and not a white tank top and tracksuit bottoms; Helaena, in a pretty pale blue dress and large butterfly earrings; Daeron, in a cobalt blue shirt and black jeans; and the last to walk through the glass doors was Aemond.
Excitement ignited under Jaya’s skin. Usually seeing Aemond made her happy, though seeing him now felt somewhat terrifying.
But there was no reason for it. He was dressed in all black, one hand in the pocket of his slacks, a suit jacket slung over his shoulder. His short hair was styled neatly and swept away from his face. He was scowling, casting a seething, sceptical gaze over the scenery and the guests. Nothing unusual.
Behind them came Lyonel Strong, and his son, Larys.
The twins simultaneously held their breath, waiting for another man to join them, but the face they were searching for did not appear.
Jaya quickly glanced towards her mother. Rhaenyra smiled softly, and went to greet Lyonel and Larys directly. It seemed like a warm welcome, but she could tell when her mother’s moves were calculated. There were eyes everywhere here, and she couldn’t be seen to be on such icy terms with the Strongs.
“Oh shit,” Jace whispered under his breath. “What are they doing here?”
In the first few minutes of their arrival, between making his own greetings of the guests, Viserys kept looking back to speak to Lyonel, and not Otto, which struck her as unusual.
“He’s back at Dragon Bank?” she wondered aloud. Rhaenyra hadn’t mentioned anything about it, and usually she kept her eldest children updated on the developments of the family business. Dragon Bank was more of an empire, one which spanned centuries. It mattered who was involved, and who wasn’t.
She hadn’t heard much about Lyonel Strong since his son Harwin left the company and moved back to Harrenhal, according to rumours and the gossip magazines.
They didn’t have much more time to speculate before the four Targaryen siblings were heading towards their table. Aegon led the pack, arms wide open, a glass of champagne in his hand already.
“Jacey boy!”
“I’m getting a fucking drink,” Jace grumbled and marched towards the bar, but not before Aegon managed to ruffle his hair.
She caught Baela’s eye again and turned her head away, hoping she’d take the hint. Instead she came and sat beside her.
“What’s his problem?” Baela muttered as the others joined them. Daeron and Aegon sat with Luke and Joffrey, while Helaena sat beside Jaya. Aemond tentatively lowered himself into the chair beside his sister.
Jaya reached for her glass and downed the rest of her drink. It only tasted of sugar and lemons and she wanted another one. “Where do you want to start?” she said.
Jace eventually returned from the bar with a bottle of beer, just as Rhaenyra announced that dinner was about to be served. Seeing he had been displaced, Jace sat with Rhaena.
Waiters came and placed fish dishes, summer salads and bottles of fine white burgundy and chablis on the table before them. She only picked at the food and allowed herself one glass of wine. The last thing any of them needed tonight was for things to get out of hand.
It had been a while since she had seen Helaena. She had spent the last three years in Highgarden but she had graduated a few weeks ago. Alicent had sent photos.
She turned to Helaena, who often had her eyes on her plate or nowhere at all. She kept catching Aemond’s gaze and tried not to smile.
“How are you finding being back home?” she asked.
Helaena’s eyes went wide and she sighed heavily. “I miss having my own space.”
Between their apartment at the Red Keep and their weekends spent at Dragonstone, Jaya guessed space shouldn’t have been much of an issue, especially now that Aegon and Aemond weren’t living with them.
Jaya followed Helaena’s gaze as she looked at her parents, sat with Rhaenyra, and sighed again.
“I don’t often feel happy at home,” Helaena said.
A chill slipped slowly down her spine, a sudden wave of sadness. She caught Aemond’s eye again. He looked solemn now, but was half distracted by Aegon and Baela as they started to argue about politics over the table.
“I don’t suppose you were supposed to tell me that,” Jaya muttered.
“No, not really,” Helaena said, looking down at her fingers. She went to pick at her lavender nail polish but suddenly snatched her hands into her lap and hummed to herself.
Jaya placed a hand over Helaena's. “I’m glad you did.”
With a quick breath, Helaena seemed fine again, her eyes so much more alert than they were before. “I’m going back to Highgarden in September to start a PhD– did I tell you about that yet?”
Jaya smiled through the brief bewilderment and the rapid changes in topic. “Um, no, actually, I didn’t know you were doing PhD.”
“Oh, I thought Aemond might have told you,” Helaena said.
Aemond turned to them again at the sound of his name. “My mistake,” he said. “We’ve all been a bit distracted recently.”
The music and the chatter died down as Viserys Targaryen tapped the handle of a silver knife against his glass. He walked towards the patio, followed by every pair of eager eyes in the garden.
“He’s doing a speech,” Aemond said.
“Fucking fantastic,” Aegon mumbled, having just finished a glass of wine and already pouring himself another.
Jace shot Aegon an ugly glare.
“How good it is to see you all here tonight,” Viserys said, his voice clear and commanding, opening his arms like some benevolent King addressing his subjects. “It fills my heart with joy to be surrounded by friends and family alike...”
Jaya felt Helaena tense beside her. Aemond hadn’t even turned to face his father. He stared down at an empty space in front of him, keeping one hand on the table, tapping his index finger against the cloth.
“... and tonight, we are here to celebrate the achievements of two remarkable people, some of the most dear to me in all the world.”
The guests awed at his generosity. Jaya thought she was going to throw up.
Viserys was watching them and raised his glass. “To Jacaerys and Jaya, my wonderful grandchildren, who have now finished their exams and will begin their studies at university. I know you’ll both go on to do great things. I love you both, so dearly, and I wish you the very best.”
This was met by a chant of “hear, hear!” followed by the clinking of glasses.
But Viserys wasn’t finished just yet.
“I’m reminded especially, in these precious moments, the importance of family. The importance of trust, and a bond with those you love. When I see these faces before me, I am reminded of the foundation upon which our ancestors built our esteemed institution– the family business, we call it. Strength. Unity. Family. And I am firm in the knowledge, as we approach our fifth centenary, that the future of Dragon Bank is in very safe hands.”
The garden erupted into applause, enthusiastically from Rhaenyra, Daemon and Corlys. A little more politely from Alicent and Otto.
Her eyes met Aemond's again. There was something unsettling about the way he watched her, eyes wide, alert and somewhat sad. She followed him as he slowly got up from his seat, taking his jacket from the back of his chair. Heat bloomed in her cheeks when she realised he was coming over to her.
She felt his hand on the back of her chair as he leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Come with me,” he said, offering his hand.
She followed without question and without looking back.
Aemond’s hand was tight over hers as they moved through the party. Some of the guests had started to mingle now that dinner had moved on to dessert, platters of fruit and pastries. Viserys was talking to some of the board members, Lyonel by his side, far too distracted to notice his dear granddaughter being led towards the patio. They passed through the glass doors and into the house. She immediately noticed how quiet it was inside, but all the noise and excitement was happening in the garden.
There were all sorts of hiding spots in the house, archways and alcoves, places they would make use of as children. He slipped into one such spot, between the doors and a marble archway that separated the conservatory from the main hallway. It didn’t make them invisible, but it was quiet, barely lit by the light of the chandelier in the hallway.
It was a snug space too. Aemond leaned his back against the wall and pulled her in to join him. She was close to his chest, with perhaps less than a foot of space behind her before she’d be against the other wall.
“What are we–”
“Shh,” Aemond ordered, holding his finger against her lips.
Jaya couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “What are we doing?”
Aemond withdrew his finger from her lips and came to take both of her hands in his. “I’ve missed you,” he said.
Her heart leapt but she kept calm. “You’ve spoken to me most days lately,” she said.
“No, I mean…” for a moment he seemed to lose his train of thought, his eyes, dark in the low light, drifting slowly over her face, her neckline and back to her eyes. He squeezed her hands as if to remember. “I have something for you.”
He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a small, square box. He offered it to her and she hated that she would have to let go of him to take it.
She lifted the lid and stared in wonder at a pendant lying on a bed of blue velvet. It was simple and exquisite, a single pearl and a small sapphire. She looked up to Aemond. He was watching her with a small smile.
“May I?” she said.
Aemond huffed a laugh that made a warmth bloom in her chest. She was close enough to feel his breath running over her neck and shivered at the memory of the party, his bedroom, just him.
He delicately took the pendant from the box and revealed the gold chain to her. She could feel herself being drawn in by everything about him, the care with which he moved his fingers, the concentration in his eyes when he looked at her, the secretive smile on his lips.
Maybe it was the gin and the wine but she felt lightheaded and her hands were trembling.
Aemond brought the necklace around her neck and leaned over her shoulder to close the clasp, his chest pressed against hers, his fingertips brushing over her skin. She tried to steady her breathing as she consumed the familiar scent of him, mint, smoke, leather and the perfume that smelled like a forest in a bottle.
Her hands moved of their own accord, settling on his shoulders to keep him close.
Aemond paused. With the necklace secure he dragged his hands over her shoulders, her arms, coming to clutch her by the elbows, but he didn’t let go.
Jaya took a deep breath and titled her head towards his neck.
Aemond shuddered. Then pulled away, slowly, but only until their faces were inches apart.
Seconds dragged by, maybe they were minutes, and she lost herself to him, his sharp blue eyes, the pleading look of his brow, the curve of his lips and the slight flare of his nose as he breathed.
He kept his hands on her arms, tracing circles on her skin with his thumbs.
She had never known her heart to beat this fast, to feel so terrified and yet so content.
“Do you like it?” Aemond muttered.
She brought one of her hands up to hold the pendant, feeling over the curve of the pearl, the cut edges of the sapphire. “I love it,” she said. “It’s like me and you.”
“How so?”
“Pearls are of the sea, like the Velaryons, like me.” She reached one hand up to the side of his face, moving her thumb over his temple. Of all his siblings, he was the only one with blue eyes instead of violet. “And a sapphire, like you.”
“That’s a beautiful way to put it,” Aemond said.
“Did you really not think of that before you bought it, or did you just think it was pretty? How superficial of you,” she added with a grin.
Aemond smirked. “Maybe you’re just smarter than me.”
“No, I doubt that,” Jaya said.
They smiled at each other then settled to silence, as the noise of the party raged on in the distance.
He placed his hand against her cheek. “I’m just so proud of you, Jay,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper; it didn’t need to be any louder. “I’m so proud of everything you’ve achieved, everything you’re going to achieve.”
She leaned into his touch. She felt light and heavy, happy and sad.
“Results are still a week off,” she said.
“And they’re going to be perfect, I know they will,” he said. He shifted his hand when her eyes dropped to the floor, urging her to look at him as his thumb traced circles on her cheek. “And we’ll be at the same university together, won’t that be wonderful?”
It would only be for a year. Aemond would be graduating the following summer. That thought inexplicably filled her with dread.
“Yeah,” she said.
Suddenly she realised her back was against the wall and Aemond’s hand was on her waist. His thumb traced lower, to the corner of her lips. She became weightless with anticipation, with wanting. It was all very gentle, subtle, easy to back away from, if that was what she wanted. Only she didn’t want to.
Aemond didn’t need to lean in far before their lips met. Once again she found herself stunned at how easy it was to kiss him. She didn’t think about what she was doing, she just let herself feel him, move with him as his lips grazed hers, as his tongue slipped into her mouth.
She could barely breathe and she didn’t care. He tightened his grip on her waist, simultaneously pushing her further into the wall, pulling her into him and pressing his body almost completely against hers.
The hand on her cheek came to the side of her neck. He titled her head and she followed, letting him kiss her deeper, harsher, hungrier.
She held onto him as much as she could, his jaw, his neck, his hair, always pulling herself into him, rocking her hips against his when they started to move.
He trailed kisses down to her neck, until he found a soft spot that had her sighing and squirming. She gripped onto his shoulders for purchase and she felt him chuckle against her skin.
He took her by surprise when he slid a hand under her skirt, along her thigh, to hitch her leg around his hip. She let out a short whimper, soon muffled when Aemond pressed his lips back to hers in a bruising kiss.
It felt good to kiss him, run her fingers through his perfect hair, take a breath just to see the flush of blood in his cheeks, the dark, desperate look on his face. His hand trailed further along her thigh, teasing and gripping at her flesh. The wanting feeling in her gut was starting to become overwhelming.
“Do you like it?” Aemond breathed, digging his fingertips into the flesh of her ass. “Do you like it when I touch you like this, Zaldrīzītsos?”
It was wrong. So fucking wrong, but she never wanted this feeling to stop, balanced on a knife-edge, standing on the brink of something dangerous and thrilling. It could be their little secret, kept between the sheets of his bed, in the gloomy corner of this house, in the stolen glances and the parts of her mind that felt incomplete without him.
“Yeah I do,” she uttered, “I really fucking do–”
“Jaya!”
Aemond dropped her leg instantly. They stared into each other’s eyes, terrified that they might have been caught.
“Jaya? Aemond?” Rhaenyra’s voice called through the conservatory. She hadn’t passed through the doors but her heels were clicking against the floor, dangerously close to their hiding place.
Aemond took a step back from Jaya, running his fingers through his hair.
She fixed her dress and wiped the smeared lipgloss from her mouth.
Just as Rhaenyra appeared in the hallway. “Oh there you are,” she said, sparing the briefest of glances for her brother. “Come outside, Viserys is asking why you haven’t greeted him yet.”
“Right,” Jaya said, “of course.” She could feel the warmth leaving her skin as she stepped away from Aemond and followed her mother back into the garden.
Three of them were stood together, Daemon, Corlys and Viserys, three of the most powerful men in the Seven Kingdoms, all smiling when they saw her. Sometimes these ‘talks’ with her grandfather were hard to decipher. You could never be sure if it was in a familial or a business capacity. Something about their smiles felt forced. Business, she guessed.
Viserys hugged her and made a big show of it, but it was brief and his arms didn’t feel too tight around her.
“The woman of the hour!” he exclaimed, “my beautiful granddaughter.”
Alicent was sitting at a table with her father, Criston Cole hovering over her shoulder. The three of them seemed to be rather interested in this interaction.
“Your mother’s been telling me all about your plans for September?” Viserys said.
She spotted Aemond in the corner of her eye, walking back towards the table. “Yes,” she said brightly, “I can’t wait to start.”
“And still be close to home, of course,” Viserys said.
“She’s always been ambitious,” Rhaenyra said, putting her hand on Jaya’s shoulder.
“I’m sure all the hard work will pay off,” Corlys added, “you’ll go on to do great things, Jaya.”
She tried to hide the confusion in her face. All this praise was making her suspicious. She brought her hand to her chest, letting her fingers clutch at the pendant hanging from her neck. “Thank you,” she said, “I mean, I hope so.”
Viserys chuckled, but then his expression faded into something more serious. He glanced between Corlys and Daemon. “You know, it’s important to consider the future, to have faith in yourself and your abilities, wouldn’t you agree, Jaya?”
“Yes,” she said, without thinking.
“I have faith in our future,” he said, and she knew the only thing he could have meant was the bank. “I have faith in your mother, who’ll one day, hopefully not too soon, succeed me.”
“Oh dad,” Rhaenyra said.
Viserys’ piercing violet eyes moved to Jaya. “And I have faith that one day, someone just as intelligent and capable as Rhaneyra, will take over from her, and continue to protect this incredible legacy we have been gifted.”
Jaya felt her heart in her throat. She looked to her mother and Rhaenyra smiled, and nodded.
Viserys obviously had his favourites, Daemon, Rhaenyra, now Jaya dared to think she might be included in the illustrious list, if he meant what she thought he did.
“That would be incredible,” she said quietly.
“If you’re in King’s Landing, we could easily get you some work at the Keep, an internship, shadowing, something like that,” Viserys said, his voice instantly switching into something more formal. “We can get you on the payroll if you’d like as well, it’s a good look to have income.”
“Come on Viserys, don’t bore the girl with business,” Daemon said with a chuckle.
“Of course not!” Viserys said, “but you know how it is, Jaya, you always have to be switched on, to an extent. You’ll learn that soon enough.”
“Yes,” she said with a smile.
His eyes dropped to her neck. “What a pretty necklace,” he said. “End of exam gift?” he asked Rhaenyra.
She suddenly realised she was still holding it and dropped her hand. “It was from Aemond, actually.”
Viserys smiled and said nothing.
“That’s very sweet of him,” her mother said.
With that she was dismissed. Viserys and Corlys wandered off into a corner, muttering harshly to each other. Daemon and Rhaenyra shared a pointed look and rejoined Laena, Alicent and Otto at their table.
Aemond was chatting casually with Baela, while Helaena and Rhaena were enthralled in their own conversation. Baela mentioned that the others had all gone up to the orchard. She and Aemond were intending to join them but wanted to wait for her.
They walked on either side of her as they headed away from the main party, along the dark path to the brightly lit orchard. They could already see Daeron, Luke and Joffrey climbing the trees, Aegon and Jace sitting on the grass drinking from bottles of wine or champagne.
“Classy,” Baela muttered, to Jaya and Aemond’s amusement.
The light faded as soon as they left the main area of the party. All the lights and the candles couldn’t reach the path to the orchard and they stepped a little unsurely along the old cobbled path and overgrown grass.
At some point Jaya tripped over a loose stone. Aemond grabbed her arm with two hands in a tight grip. He kept hold of her, even when they continued walking.
She tried not to think about his hand on her bare skin, her hip brushing against him, his eyes burning into the spot on her chest where the pendant fell– she only hoped Baela didn’t notice.
“What did Viserys want?” Aemond asked.
Guilt twinged in her chest and her gut. “It was just a chat.”
“Hmm.”
Jaya scowled payfully at him. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing with Viserys is ever ‘just a chat’,” he said.
A sudden noise caught their attention. It was something loud and alarming, maybe a shout.
Her feet kept walking but she felt frozen.
Aegon and Jace were standing face to face, their faces obscured by light and shadow. It looked like they were arguing. Aegon was clutching a bottle in one hand, swaying and pushing his hair back,the way he usually did when he was drunk. Jace kept stepping closer and closer to him.
“I don’t like the look of this,” Jaya said.
“They’re just pissed,” Baela said. “They’ve been going through bottles way too quickly.”
Suddenly Aegon reached his arm out, maybe to hit him or grab his shirt, but Jace didn’t give him the chance and shoved him back by his chest.
Aemond moved immediately, rushing to separate them. Jaya instinctively gripped Baela’s hand and they did their best to keep up with him.
Her heartbeat pulsed in her head. She watched Aemond put himself between them, keeping Aegon behind him and outstretching his arm to Jace.
Jace started shouting again, something she couldn’t decipher, but his voice was getting clearer the closer she got. She had to get closer.
He shouted something that made Aemond freeze. She could see something was off, the way he tensed, and slowly lowered his arm.
Then he lunged forward, fists flying, knocking Jace to the ground.
Baela screamed. Luke ran for Aegon and neither of them held back. Daeron wrapped his arms around Joffrey and dragged him away from the fighting.
Jaya felt it in her throat when she screamed, Jace’s name, then Aemond’s, with more raw fury than she ever thought herself capable of.
Joffrey was safe.
She couldn’t think about what Baela was doing, she just knew she was behind her then she was running in another direction.
She knew had to get Aemond off Jace, but she didn’t want to go touch him, or go anywhere near him. He moved like a feral animal, blind with rage, pummelling his fists into Jace’s face.
She caught glimpses of Jace, the whites of his eye, red blood running from his nose and pooling in his mouth. He tried to spit some of it into Aemond’s face and claw at him with his fingernails but there was nothing he could do to deter him.
She couldn’t understand it, why everything had escalated, how quickly Aemond had changed, how he could be capable of such brutality, and she was furious.
Blood burning in her veins and coomon sense long since abandoned, she grabbed Aemond by the shoulders and yanked him back as hard as she could. Somehow she managed to avoid his flailing arms and Jace’s attempts at retaliation, shoving Aemond onto the ground.
She knelt beside her brother, trying to wipe some of the blood from his face, checking to see where the cuts were and if anything was broken. Her hands were trembling. She wasn’t used to seeing this much red and it was staining her hands, her pretty white dress.
Daeron and Baela had put themselves between Aegon and Luke, still trying to scrap at each other like dogs. Jaya looked for Joffrey and found him running back to the party, shouting for help.
Only then did she spare a glance for Aemond.
He was utterly stunned. He stared back at her, eyes dark and starry with the reflection of the lights on the trees, a panting mess, with bruised knuckles, blood and scratches on his face.
Hot tears ran down her cheeks effortlessly and tasted bitter when they met her lips.
He hauled himself to his feet, flexing his hands and checking his knuckles. Good. She hoped it fucking hurt. She hoped his hands would be covered in bruises for weeks.
Eventually Aegon and Luke stopped struggling. The pulsing in her head stopped and the orchard was quiet once more, the vacant space filled with heavy breaths and Jace’s groans of pain. Jaya cradled him in her arms, promising help would be there soon.
There was shouting coming from the party now, movement and figures heading for the orchard. Gods, their parents were going to be livid.
She heard Luke take a breath before he screamed it. “FUCKING MONSTER!”
Her head darted to look behind her. Luke was too far away from Baela for her to stop him. There was another empty bottle lying on the grass. He grabbed it by the neck and smashed it against a tree trunk.
Sharp side raised, Luke ran towards Aemond.
She didn’t hesitate and put herself in front of Luke, seizing both of his wrists. She suddenly realised how much taller he’d grown lately; he towered over her and she was struggling to match his strength.
“Luke!” she shouted, “drop it! Fucking drop it!”
Luke’s face was twisted in fury and anguish, he didn’t even seem to have heard her. He tried to twist out of her hold and she grabbed the bottle instead.
Her hand slipped. Her arm moved behind her. She felt the impact of the bottle against something hard before it sliced through a softer surface. Something warm and wet splattered over her hand, her arm, her neck, her hair, her dress, everywhere.
It took her a moment to register the scream. It was low and guttural, forcing itself through the throat of someone who usually took pride in his unbreakable resolve.
She was still clinging to the glass when she turned around to see Aemond on his knees. He had one hand on the ground and the other cradled his left eye. Dark blood oozed through his fingers.
She might as well have lodged the sharp end in her own chest.
A/n: Hi! a quick note from me. This chapter was a bit of a struggle to write but I'm really happy with how it turned out! Chapters 1 and 2 take place before the prologue, and then Chapter 3 is going to jump ahead six years. Then we're building up to the events of the prologue. So thanks for reading and stay tuned 😚
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