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targaryen-vigilante-wizard-jedi · 11 months

Text

WITH EYES LIKE MINE

House of the Dragon (Female)Targaryen reader insert

Chapter Warnings -mentions of difficulty eating, reader-character's sleeping disorder, reader-character's depression, mentions of infertility, implied creepy old noble men (nothing is explicitly said as I don't feel comfortable writing about that but this is HOTD and she is a Targaryen). Longish chapter

Chapter 8 - Aemond's Gift

120 AC

Y/N had been forced from her bed early that morning as the servants rushed themselves in to prepare her for young prince Aemond's eleventh nameday banquet.

With what he had had to endure, Alicent had decided that Aemond deserved a truly monumental celebration.

Once she was dressed, Y/N quietly thanked and dismissed the servants before she turned to her table, which held a little royal blue box on top of it. Inside the box was her gift to Aemond. She only hoped he would cherish it as she had. A striking silk purple ribbon was hand-tied neatly around the box; it seemed some of Y/N's lessons with the haggard old septa had proved useful.

Royal blue had always been what she deemed 'Aemond's colour', and she was rather fond of shades of purple herself

Or perhaps it had been ingrained into her to dress in purple by the several men who had whispered to her father and mother on how it 'brought out the purple of her eyes' and 'complimented her ever-growing beauty'.

A knock was placed upon her door before it was opened. She hurried to hide the gift, fearing it was her brother who had entered, but to her joint relief and dismay, it was her Queen mother.

"Oh, my love" Alicent gasped, her eyes gleaming at Y/N's appearance - the servants, as instructed by Alicent, dressed her in a royal blue dress with intricate silver embroidered flowers adorning the skirts. The ends of her hair were curled and voluminous, trailing down her back. Specially made silver butterflies adorned either side of her head, holding half of her hair up.

"You look wonderful." She gave a smile to Y/N as she approached her. Y/N turned her head from her mother to hide her fully-formed frown.

She was unsure of how to respond. Just two mornings prior, Alicent had lost her temper and dug her fingers into her cheeks and jaw for defying and embarrassing the septa.

Y/N had known it would only be a matter of time before her mother would reveal her true colours once again. For the past nine years, her mother had shown nothing but disdain and hatred towards her.

Why would her daughter nearly dying change anything?

"Thank you," the young girl murmured softly, as she kept her eyes focused on the box in front of her, her delicate fingers traced the ribbon.

"The septa has taught you well,your ribbonwork is rather lovely." Alicent stood behind her, her eyes flitting between her daughter and the small gift box. Her attempt to compliment her was in vain. No compliment of hers could interrupt the tension her harsh hands had forced between them.

Her eyes caught sight of the two circular bruises on her daughter's cheek, marks left behind by her frenzied fingertips.

Before any more conversation could take place, the door opened once again, and im hobbled the King, clutching his cane tightly.

His breaths were heavy, heavier than they had been days prior. Y/N knew his health was deteriorating rapidly.

King Viserys stood still, taking in Y/N's appearance before he let a gentle yet pained smile overtake his face.

"You look so grown, my girl," the king sputtered in an emotional croak. Tears welled in his eyes from the sight. She resembled Rhaenyra so much in that moment, if only it truly were her.

Y/N may have been young, but she was no fool. She knew that her father was thinking about Rhaenyra. While Viserys had always been a fairly good father, he had never shown nearly as much love or emotion towards her (or any of his other children) than he did Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra would always be the apple of his eye, just as Aemond was her mother's.

Y/N forced herself to smile before giving her father a tight nod. "Thank you...father."

________

The feast was to begin shortly, and all of those who were attending waited patiently in the hall for the royal family to arrive.

Viserys and Alicent had hoped that they'd enter the feast as a family, but Aegon had destroyed any chance of that happening as he had arrived earlier than anyone else and was already intoxicated by the time his father and mother arrived.

"Dear Gods," Viserys grumbled, closing his eyes in discontent at his son's unabashed wooing of servants and guests alike.

Alicent kept her eyes fiercely trained on her eldest. She would berate him of his shameful behaviours later but tonight was to be about Aemond who was next to arrive.

The young prince had been late to arrive as he had been preoccupied soaring the skies with Vhagar since late afternoon.

His eye scanned the crowds who had gathered for him and applauded his arrival, but he could not find the only person he had wished to see that evening.

He took notice of Helaena, who had helped their Grandsire and the servants prepare the feast, her eyes lit up upon seeing his form, and she ran to him, embroidery in hand.

She wore a pale, long-sleeved yellow gown that had been taken in at the waist to accentuate her developing figure.

"I do hope you like my gift, I made it myself to celebrate your nameday, it is a truly splendid occasion for you, Aemond." Helaena's smile was bright as she gave the embroidery to Aemond whose lips turned upwards at the sight of the sword.

"Thank you, Helaena. I shall hang it in my chambers."

Aemond took his seat beside his mother at the longest table within the room. On his other side sat Helaena meanwhile his father sat beside his mother and Aegon begrudgingly sat beside him.

Alicent chewed her lip nervously. She knew she should have escorted Y/N herself, but she did not want to hurt their fractured relationship any further than she already had, and Viserys hadn't the energy to chase his young daughter from her chambers.

Before everyone had taken their seats, the doors opened once again. The awaited princess entered, fingernails dug into her clasped hands, with ser Criston Cole trailing behind her. She tried to ignore the gasps and murmurs and whispers as she tread into the room.

As soon as the doors opened and she entered, Aemond had first smiled at her appearance. She was wearing blue; 'his colour' as she had so often described it many times before. Silver crystals dangled from her ears and silver butterflies decorated her flowing, perfect hair, and he did not think he had ever seen her look as pretty as she did in that moment.

However, her sullen expression and bruised cheek quickly caused his smile to change to a perturbed frown.

Otto did not so much as glance at her, but if he had he would have surely smiled at the bruising on her cheek. The incident hadn't changed his cold and callous attitude towards her but at least he was honest and stood by his actions, which is more than she could say for her mother who had adopted the act of the concerned, grieving mother.

King Viserys nodded his head in her direction with a content smile on his face, pleased with her appearance.

Queen Alicent gave a tight and uncomfortable smile -her eyes were trained on the bruises even from such a distance- but she looked like a princess should, no longer unruly and messy like she had been prior to the incident.

Helaena eagerly clapped her hands together, excitedly as she took in her sister's dress - it wasn't a light-coloured dress like she would normally have worn, but it made her look regal and mature.

In an attempt to alleviate her uncomfortableness caused by the intent eyes of the seated crowds and her family she kept her gaze to the ground.

As soon as Aegon had taken notice of her appearance, he had halted his suave attempts at wooing the serving girl before him. He sat still and silent in his seat, his lips slightly parted. He was unused to his youngest sister, looking so grown. It made him feel uncomfortable and wary of his mother's intentions of dressing her so. She was a girl of nine years.

She normally dirtied her outfits with picking flowers or dancing outside, but every last detail was impeccable and untouched from her hair to her heeled feet. His lavender eyes then wandered to the crowds, to which he saw many predatory gazes ogling his child sister.

Whispers and murmurs reached his ears, some too crude to be used to describe a girl of nine years and lascivious even for a predatory creature such as himself.

It seemed that Y/N had taken notice of them, too, as her steps wavered slightly. She hated the noble men and their disgusting words.

Aegon's grip on his cup tightened before he stood to his feet, garnering the attention of his family and the crowds.

Without so much as a glance to the serving girl -who had preoccupied his attention prior-, his mother, father, or anyone, he walked down the steps and ambled over to Y/N, doing his best to stop himself falling.

The little girl finally looked up, her sullen expression remained as Aegon approached her. She thought he might have decided to take his leave, but instead, he offered his hand out to her, his eyes focused only on hers, ignoring everyone else.

Y/N looked him in the eyes and gave her eldest brother a gracious yet short nod, grateful that he had diverted everyone's attention from her even at the cost of their mother and father's disappointment.

Aemond felt a numbness surge through his body as he watched Y/N take Aegon's hand before he led her gently up the stairs towards the table.

Once they approached their seats they seated themselves, Y/N being more conscious of noise meanwhile Aegon more or less threw his chair from the table to seat himself, uncaring of his mother, father or Grandsire's scornful gazes.

The feast then began, and everyone started to eat their way through their meals, all except Y/N, whose eyes studied her small, cut hands to distract herself from the smells of the food and the cringe-worthy sounds of everyone eating.

"Y/N," Aegon's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she looked to him.

With his knife and fork in hand, he gestured towards her plate. "Eat."

As much as her brother drank, he was not oblivious to his surroundings, that was clear.

Y/N released a staggered breath before she shook her head and refuted his request vehemently. "If I eat, I'll fall asleep. The hunger keeps me awake longer."

Aegon frowned at her words, but he did not relent. "I was not asking," he paused, his face stern yet concerned. "Eat."

Y/N sighed and shifted in her seat, but she did as he said, picking up a spoonful of peas and placing them within her mouth. She struggled to swallow them without gagging, which did not go unnoticed by the older boy, but he was just relieved she had eaten.

His eyes repeatedly looked to her expectantly throughout the feast, and each time, she would place a fork full of chicken or spoonful of peas to her mouth in hopes of appeasing her brother and escaping to her chambers quicker.

As Aemond's eye glanced towards the other end of the table, he realised he was feeling the same emotions he had felt whenever seeing his brother riding Sunfyre; jealousy and rage.

Aegon had always played the role of elder brother effortlessly when it came to Y/N. He and Helaena were taunted or blatantly ignored most of the time. Meanwhile, Aegon had always ensured he had time for Y/N and vice versa.

Aemond himself did not understand their connection, Aegon had always been horrible, but Y/N had always tried to see the good in him; their pretty older brother.

More than anything, he wanted to disrupt their interactions and whisk her away from his words of poison.

Eventually, Y/N tired of Aegon's expectant stares and stood before speaking quietly, "may I be excused?" Alicent figured she needed to use the chamber pot and so she nodded.

"Of course, my darling."

Aegon wasn't as trusting as his mother, he knew that she only wished to leave the feast as much as he did.

Ser Criston, without being instructed to, approached and gently took the girl's hand and led her down the stairs.

Most of the crowds were too immersed in conversing, or their hands were dug far too deep into their meals to take notice of the Princess leaving.

Ser Criston Cole knew she only wanted to escape from such an environment, and he did, too. Feasts were not an enjoyable occasion for the guard. They served as a reminder of the poison that was Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding banquet all those years ago.

He did not like the lingering emptiness he felt as a result of that feast. Even his hatred could not rid him of it.

Y/N had dropped ser Criston's hand and exited the feast with a quickness to be admired.

She heaved a deep sigh as the doors closed behind her.

"I must retrieve my brother's gift, I did not want to gift it to him in front of everyone."

"Lead the way, Princess." Ser Criston had no understanding as to why he had grown so tolerant and accepting of accompanying and guarding the princess who had once embodied the word nuisance. Perhaps it was their shared experience of having their joy and happiness stolen from them at the hands of others or perhaps it was their experiences of pain- Ser Criston's was physical while Y/N's was a balance of both physical and emotional, leading them both to become shells of their former selves.

He supposed he should be grateful, he was a man grown when Rhaenyra broke his heart, Y/N was nine when she had been attacked and on the brink of death, her dragon had escaped and she was officially declared to be barren by a maester.

His eyes wandered to her small body that moved swiftly through the long corridors, and somehow, he knew that the worst was yet to come for a girl of Y/N's beauty and title.

He swallowed uncomfortably at his thoughts. But he would not allow himself to become concerned or care for the girl or her wellbeing, yet.

Y/N opened the doors to her chambers and grabbed the small box hastily before exiting. She turned to look at Ser Criston who looked to be nauseous at that moment.

"You look unwell, should I call for a maester?"

Ser Criston could have cursed, he did feel unwell, but he had been doing his best to hide it.

"I should be fine, Princess. I'll take you back to the feast."

"Come walk with me through the gardens. The fresh air and smell of flowers will help." She ignored his words, and before he could protest or agree, she began to walk away from him presumably in the direction of the garden.

It took a number of minutes and convincing words to the other guards until they both found themselves in the gardens. Ser Criston seated himself while Y/N wandered over to the rows of white and red roses and felt their petals with her fingertips.

"How does it feel to wield a sword?" Y/N's voice along with her words came unexpected to the guard but after a few moments he answered.

"Heavy."

Y/N rolled her eyes, dissatisfied by his answer. She did not repeat herself and only watched him expectantly.

"It is both liberating and demanding, but with time comes skill." He answered as honestly as he could to which Y/N nodded.

"And do you think a girl could wield a sword?" Her question was not meant to be amusing, but the guard snorted and gave a disapproving chuckle.

"It would take a very resilient and hardened woman to wield a sword. There are not too many of those these days."

"Visenya Targaryen was a fierce and skilled warrior, and she was a woman." Y/N offered as a rebuttal, in efforts to open his mind to the idea.

"Why do you show such interest in wielding a weapon? A princess should not be concerned with such matters." Ser Criston huffed, but he noticed that Y/N's suggestion had worked, and his nausea was dissipating. Perhaps he had eaten too quickly.

"If I were trained in the art of the sword, my brother would not have lost his eye, and I would not have nearly died at the hands of the twin-bitches." Y/N spat viciously, but the knight had chuckled aloud at her choice of words. He wondered if she had any idea of what it meant or how it would normally have been used in a sentence.

"Y/N?"

The silver haired girl spun to see Aemond standing a few feet away. She could only wonder how long he had been there and how much he had heard.

Aemond knew that the gardens were a place of comfort for Y/N, especially the area which kept the roses, which is why it had been the second place he searched when she had not returned, the first being her unguarded, empty chambers.

"Aemond." She greeted allowing herself to smile at him. Her feet were light as she approached him.

"What are you doing out here?" He had squinted his eye and looked between his sister and the guard with suspicion.

"Prince Aemond, forgive me. I was feeling unwell, so the young princess directed me to the gardens to get some air." Ser Criston explained, his voice calm and his face expressing no concern regarding Aemond's presence.

Aemond had no time to answer as Y/N held out a small box to him. "I did not want everyone's prying eyes upon us. I would have rather waited until after the feast, but since you are here -" She gestured to the box with the ghost of a smile upon her face.

Aemond's eye travelled her face, and her eyes shone even in the shadow of night. He took the box from her, his face lacking expression.

She found herself growing nervous but refrained from showing it. Even ser Criston had risen from his seated position to get a better view of the gift.

He opened the small box gently and found inside a singular dark blue rose. He smiled down at the gift, happy that Y/N had not completely changed.

Unable to contain her glee, she bounced on the heels of her feet and let a small smile take over her face. "I hand painted it -in my book blue roses represent rarity, uniqueness along with dreams, pride and mystery - there has never been and never will be a Targaryen braver, smarter or more unique than you Aemond," Y/N grasped his arms lightly and began to let the words flee from her mouth.

"You had a dream of claiming a dragon, and you did not only that, but you claimed and rode the biggest and oldest dragon in all of Westeros at the age of ten." Even though it had been meant as a compliment, Y/N could not stop the envy that she felt, Aemond had already ridden Vhagar more times than Y/N had been allowed to ride Veranys. She had only ever ridden the dragon seven times, with her last ride having been the longest.

Aemond felt his chest tightening at her words. He did not want to appear weak and so withheld any emotions that would encourage tears. He nodded, and despite the pain it caused in his cheek and socket, he smiled for her. "I love it, thank you, sister."

Y/N shook her head before speaking, "That isn't all," Once again, she nodded her head towards the box, and underneath the flower lay a small black silk pouch which at first blended with the layering inside the box. Aemond's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, wondering what it could possibly be.

He opened the pouch and had to force himself to squint at the glinting object to identify it.

"I've always said blue was your colour." Y/N's voice had lowered multiple octaves as she awaited his response anxiously, once again.

Aemond dug out the item from the small pouch and found a sapphire gemstone laying in his hand. He was about to ask where she had obtained it from.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering...or maybe I did." She whispered the last words rapidly to which Aemond shook his head, fond of her antics.

Her eyes were focused on the glimmering stone, as though its shine had captivated her.

"I've cherished it, more than any tiara, necklace, ring - I kept it hidden within my table, it's the most beautiful gem I've ever seen so it made sense to give it to you, with you being 'the prettiest child'" She did her best to speak in their mother's voice as she called him the prettiest but it was not entirely a joke. Aemond had always possessed a certain regalness and etherealness to his appearance that Y/N thought no other to have, perhaps it was his thirst for knowledge and his eloquent ways of speaking that had helped solidify Aemond's position as the most beautiful and graceful of Viserys' children -at least to Y/N and her mother-.

Ser Criston, for the first time in too long, felt his lips twitch into a smile as he watched the scene before him. For as heartless as he was, even he could not deny the sweetness of the exchange. In that moment, Y/N truly embodied her name of 'The Sweetling Princess' bestowed upon her by the nobles and smallfolk, alike. Perhaps the incident had not hardened her heart quite as much as he had thought it had, and to his surprise, he felt glad for such a possibility.

"I shall cherish it as you have done," he paused as his eye found her two brilliant lilac-pink ones. "It will be my greatest treasure." Aemond then grasped Y/N tightly and pulled her into a hug, which she returned as her arms linked around his neck.

[A nice chapter -I think- for a change. Hopefully no-one was too ooc here, that's my pet hate when it comes to stories.

While everyone seems pleasant and kind, I do intend to keep their personalities and behaviours they adopt as they get older.

The next chapter might have the characters aged up a little, but not significantly so.

I don't want to miss out on any chance of establishing concrete relationship plots between Y/N and her family.

Hope you enjoyed this one, I have tried to proofread this as best as I can but autocorrect is a pain in the neck

Thanks for reading my story so far!]

#aegon ii angst #aemond x reader #fanfiction #hotd x you #house of the dragon #queen alicent #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #helaena targaryen #dragons #jaecerys velaryon #king viserys #sad #ser criston cole #aegon ii x reader #sweet #death #despair #targaryen reader

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