𝑨 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 // 𝑨𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝑰 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒚𝒆𝒏

74. A Serpent Within The Keep

The voices around were not heard, it was as if all the sounds around were forbidden to be heard as everything just blurred.

Alyssa is rolling her eyes with fatigue, she couldn't let go of focus now, she couldn't let go yet. She needed to know what was tormenting her sweet girl.

She was standing outside her daughter's chamber with Aegon and Alicent and it was completely silent where they stood. The queen walked slowly back and forth, her fingertip lingered to her lips. Aegon stood completely still, his body leaning against the stone wall and his face blank.

However, it showed in Alyssa, her anxiety and her lack of appetite and sleep that has only gotten worse over the weeks. She was standing by the window in the corridor that overlooked the training yard. Which was also empty at the moment.

They said it had just been a cold, why is it like this then?

She felt so guilty, She didn't understand why but somewhere inside her she blamed herself for this,

If I hadn't been out with Aelys in the cold for so long every day she would never have gotten sick, had I been a better mother and kept an eye on her I would have noticed.

~~~~

As a child, Aegon had always been told not to cry, it's not for men to cry, the hand grandsire had told him.

Once when he was a little boy, he had done something to anger his mother and made her give him such a hard slap across the face that it had formed a purple mark on his cheek. When his grandsire had found him crying in the library that night, he had told him to become a man, stop crying, and become a man.

Otto himself had given him a blow, not as hard as his mother, but enough for him to hurt. He had then dared Aegon to cry again, but then he refused. Since then, he hadn't cried in front of anyone but Alyssa. If the truth were to come out, he was terrified that she would find him pathetic, but she hadn't.

Right now was one of those situations where, just like a few days ago, he wanted to throw something at the wall and watch as it went into a thousand pieces. Aelys's illness had only worsened and it cut into his soul.

He wanted to cry and get it all out but he refused, refused to give it to himself. Right now, he regretted his actions in the cam two weeks ago. When he had screamed and blamed it all on Alyssa. He hated the evenings when he was going to sleep because he slept by himself again after four years. Only when she had asked to sleep in separate rooms had he said no right away, but he also knew that arguing with her was completely pointless and he could either give her the space she needed and give her the solitude she wanted and needed or keep her in their room and make her dislike him more. For him, the choice was obvious, but no less difficult.

In moments like this, they would be with each other, help each other through these difficult situations, but she stood on the other side of the corridor and didn't seem to hear a sound of what anyone said or did. He wanted so badly to pass the time and hold her so that they could give each other strength in such a terrible situation, but surely she would not appreciate it after the fight they had the previous night.

He took his td and observed her while she stood by the window and he could immediately see from her body language how tired she was. Her eyes were red from the lack of sleep and she could hardly hear when someone addressed her. Her long hair was braided in a sloppy braid that went down to her waist and she wore a green dress with tight long sleeves and square neckline.

Even though she didn't look like she usually did, she was still the most beautiful woman in his eyes, even if he couldn't say it or show it to her now.