Chapter Text
He is cold, shivering as he floats.
He doesn't know where he is nor how he got there.
All he knows is the iciness flowing through his veins, rain hitting his face, as his eyes close and his mind goes blank.
Warm hands grip his clothes as he feels his body move, no longer floating. His head hurts as he feels a hard surface under his back. Hands running along his body.
"What on earth..."
He sees grey.
His eyelids grow heavy again.
He is too warm.
His limbs are heavy and he cannot move. Cannot even open his eyes.
He feels like he is burning alive.
"....fever.... die during the night but he may survive...."
"....cloak....a Targaryen....Princess Rhaenyra...."
The burning has stopped but the exhaustion remains. He tries to turn his head but the blistering pain that runs through him stops him.
"If they find out he is here and that we have kept it a secret, they will come and burn the whole village to the ground." He hears, wondering for a moment who they were.
"...Get a message to Dragonstone."
The exhaustion wins.
He finally awakes with some form of lucidity, eyes opening to a warm room, lit by a roaring fire and a friendly face. A woman, he knows not who she is, smiles down on him with happiness and relief. Her greying hair showed her age, her eyes kind. She put him at ease immediately. He felt safe.
"We thought for a moment that you were not long left for this world, my prince. Quite a scare you gave us" She said as she gently raised his head, guiding a cup of water to his mouth. He drank it greedily, throat parched. Once the cup was drained she helped him to sit upright in the bed, face turning to concern with the hiss the young boy emitted, hand rising to touch his head.
"Thank you" He whispered, voice raw.
She gave him a nod as she sat down on the bed beside his hip, clasping his hand inbetween both of hers.
"Where am I?" He asked, grimacing as he tried to push the pain away.
"In the Stormlands, my Prince. One of the islands."
He tried to clear the fog in his mind, so many thoughts but none of them made sense. So many thoughts but somewhere in his brain was a vacancy that he knew shouldn't be there.
"Who...How.." He trailed off, unable to complete his sentence.
"My husband found you floating in Shipbreakers Bay. Gave him quite a fright you did. He was looking to catch a fish, not a Prince." She paused as she rubbed his hand, trying her best to give a scared and confused child comfort. "He brought you home, here, where we have been looking after you. You caught a fever after he pulled you from the sea. It has only just broken."
He clung onto her words as the fog refused to leave.
"Home" he asked softly. "Is this my home?"
The woman drew back, a shocked breath escaping inadvertently.
"My prince?" She hesitantly asked.
"Am I a prince? I don't....I don't remember..."
A large, heavy built, man entered the room. He looked to be the same age as the woman, hair and beard equally as grey as hers. The husband, he guessed. The man could have easily scared the boy if not for the expression across his face. His look of astonishment making it clear that he had also heard the question. He and his wife exchanged an alarmed look between them.
"Do you know who you are?" The man asked, voice genial, a stark contrast to how he appeared.
Lucerys paused as he looked between the two of them as he started to panic.
"No" he whispered.
They told him that they thought he was Lucerys Velaryon, son of Rhaenyra Targaryen. They told him they had sent message to his mother to let her know where her second son was so his mother could bring him home.
It meant nothing to him, the names drawing no recognition. When he thought of home he felt blank.
The woman had kept him company as the days passed, telling him tales of life in the Stormlands and stories of her and her husband. She wouldn't tell him much about himself, her husband warning that he needed to remember naturally.
He was still tired, fatigue settling deep within his bones. He often fell asleep halfway through a story, awakening a few hours later with profuse apologies. The woman was never offended, often laughing instead. The man said it was to be expected with his head causing him issues.
Three days after he woke a visitor interrupted his routine, a loud knock signalling his arrival. The woman tilted a quizzical look towards the man who, without words, left the room. He was not gone for long, returning and muttering to his wife "It's the Rogue Prince" as he once again left the room, this time closing the door behind him.
Lucerys turned towards the woman, who simply held a finger to her lips, as she tried to listen to what was going on outside.
Lucerys could hear murmurs as the man and the visitor exchanged words but he could not make out what was being said. After a moment, the door to the room opened and the man and another one, silver haired with a stern face, entered the room.
Lucerys couldn't stop himself from flinching from the man, for a brief second thinking that his hair was too short and his face too unblemished before the thought disappeared into think air. He knew nothing of the man but he knew that he was someone to be wary off.
The newcomer gave him an assessing glare as the woman rose from her seat on the bed to give him a curtsy.
"Who am I?" The man asked, hand coming to rest on the hilt of his sheathed sword.
Lucerys stared, willing himself to put a face to a name but no matter how much he tried nothing came to him. The visitor must have seen something as his face instantly softened, a look of pity and sympathy.
With a sigh he strode towards Lucerys, the woman moving swiftly out of his way as he took her place on the bed.
"What do you remember?" He gently asked, eyes focusing on the bandages around the boys head.
"I know my name......I know I'm a prince. That is all"
The visitor nodded to himself, turning towards the man and woman. "Did he remember that himself?"
The man shook his head. "No. We told him. I asked one of the village healers and they said the less we told him the better. His mind needs to heal on its own, we were told my Prince."
The silver-haired man nodded before rising from the bed, turning to face the other people in the room. He withdraw something from within his clock, a small bag which jingled as he held it out.
"A gift of gratitude from my wife, the Queen. She has asked me to convey her utmost appreciation for what you have done for her son. She would like it made clear that if you both find yourselves in need, you need only to ask Dragonstone."
The man nodded, taking the offering before silently guiding himself and his wife out of the room, leaving Lucerys with his visitor who reclaimed his seat on the bed.
"My name is Daemon. Your mother is my wife. Do you remember her?"
Lucerys shook his head. "Rhaenyra?" He questioned.
"Yes, that is her." With that Daemon tenderly carded his fingers through Lucerys' hair, the child starting to feel comfort around the other man, his apparent family. "She is so very happy that you have not been taken from her. Memories or not, she would rather have you think her a stranger then you meeting the Stranger instead."
Daemon rose from his seat.
"Its time to take you home. To Dragonstone."
Daemon had to carry Lucerys as when he tried to stand the pain in his head made his knees weak and stomach ill. Daemon said no words, simply scooping the boy into his arms as though it were nothing.
He carried him through the home that had given him refuge, the man and woman watching them both carefully. Lucerys couldn't stop himself from reaching out for the woman who had cared for him and brought him comfort from the moment he had awoken.
She grasped his hand tightly. "All will be fine my Prince. Prince Daemon will see you home safely. The whole of Westeros knows that you have nothing to fear from him. " She said as she gave him a reassuring smile, the man behind him nodding in agreement.
Daemon led him outside where he started walking towards the large red dragon who was waiting for them. Lucerys wasn't sure how he knew it was a dragon, he just did. From the frightened gasps from the man and woman, he thought he should be afraid.
He wasn't.
He was mesmerized.
Not once did he take his eyes away from the beautiful creature that they were approaching, even as the dragon trilled at them. By the time they were level with the dragon, he was struggling to control himself to not reach out to pet it, a childlike want.
A entertained laugh from above made him look up at Daemon. "You can touch him. He knows you are one of mine, he won't hurt you."
He needed no more encouragement, his arm extending out to softly touch the dragon's face, chuckling as the serpent-like dragon snorted out an exhale, warm air tickling his face.
"Does he have a name?" Lucerys asked as he wondered at the warm, hard red scales under his hand, the dragon tilting his head so Lucerys could pet under his jaw.
"Caraxes" Daemon said, Lucerys repeating the name under his breath. Daemon let him stroke the dragon a little while longer before he turned to walk along Caraxes' extended wing, placing them both into the saddle. Placed at the front of the saddle, Lucerys watched as Daemon strapped him in.
"None of the God's could save me if I had to tell your mother you survived only to meet the Stranger falling off Caraxes on your way back".
Daemon grabbed hold of the reins. "Sōvētēs Caraxes" he commanded.
Lucerys waved down to his rescuers as they rose in the air, settling himself back against the dragonrider as he felt the wind flowing through his hair.
For the first time, he felt at peace.
He didn't know what to think of Dragonstone as they approached. It looked cold and imposing. It wasn't what he had thought his home would be.
A gathering of people were stood in front of the stone castle, many clad in armour who surrounded a pale-haired woman, a crown of gold resting on the top of her head. As Daemon drew the Dragon to land on a stone bridge leading the the castle, he noticed the woman nervously wringing her hands together.
Once she caught sight of him, he watched as she seemed to collapse into herself, arm wrapping around her own stomach as she doubled-over.
Caraxes landed with a thud and in no time, Daemon had carried him down from the dragon and had placed him feet first on the ground. He had no time to thank him before he was encased in a bone-crushing hug, frantic kisses pressed to his head.
"My boy. My darling darling boy. Thank the God's." His mother whispered as Lucerys felt tears wetting his hair.
She smelt familiar but to him she was a stranger. Still he could not find it within himself to cause her more anguish and, as such, he wrapped his arms around her waist, returning the embrace.
She drew away, hands rising to his face. He saw as she went from happy to confused, unable to recognise the look her child was giving her. It caused him sadness to know he was to cause of her change, even though he did not know her.
Daemon leant towards his wife, talking softly into her ear.
Lucerys used this time to take in Dragonstone. The castle was just as imposing as it had been when he had first seen it from the air but he couldn't take his eyes off of the mountain which towered over the castle, steam and smoke giving it an ethereal magic.
He was enamoured. He noticed nothing else, not even his mother's devastation.
Aemond closed the door to the council's meeting room behind him, leaving Otto, Alicent, Aegon and the rest to plan and scheme. The false facade slipped from his face and for a moment the heavy guilt over what had happened, what he had allowed to happen, swallowed him whole.
Running a hand down his face he inhaled deeply before he made his way to his chambers, his mind replaying those final moments again and again.
He had never taken a life before and, despite his anger and hatred and pain and the false bravado he had put on in front of the council, he found it sat heavy on his heart.
He had cared for Lucerys at one point in his life and, no matter how much he tried to fool himself otherwise, the title of Kinslayer cut him to his core.
It reminded him of just how out of control things had become.
One thing Aemond needed in life, especially after he lost his eye, was control.
Without it, he was nothing.
He had not meant it.
He had not meant to kill him.
He stared into the fire in his chambers, refusing any food or drink that was brought to him. He couldn't get Lucerys out of his head, how he had looked at him as he taunted him. He couldn't stop seeing his mother's face as he told her his nephew had been killed. Her devastation. Her disgust at him as he bragged with Aegon about the loss of the strong bastard, smiling as Aegon ordered his servants to arrange a banquet in his honour.
A hollow smile.
A hollow brag.
All just playing a part like a marionette on a string, doing what was expected of him.
A creak of a door interrupted him from his melancholic thoughts, head turning slightly as his sister walked into the room.
Silently she took a seat opposite him, knowing that she was the only one who Aemond could and would speak freely to. The only one he ever really fully trusted.
Everyone thought her weird, even her own husband.
Aemond however knew she was not only the most intelligent of the three siblings but he also knew her dreams and words were not to be ignored. Pity nobody else in the Red Keep realised just how special Helaena, especially after Aegon's disaster of a coronation.
With her guiding him and he heeding her words and warnings, he knew he would be triumphant, whatever he decided to do.
"Helaena, have I caused a war?" He asked, silently begging her for honesty. Just one person to give him the truth.
She looked into the fire, considering her words. "We are on the road, but there is still change to divert the path."
Leaning foreward, she held one of his hands in between hers, eyes employing him to understand what she was saying.
"The Sea will rise on Black"
As usual he did not understand but he would not ignore her or dismiss her. Not again
"And if the path does not change?"
"We all fall onto knives and spikes".
Aemond understood her meaning this time. Death will come to them all.
Helaena patted his hand with a sympathetic smile.
"Only so much can be done when a child is surrounded by a pit of vipers. It will either be eaten alive or it has to learn to live with them. Do not blame yourself. The vipers in this castle will do what they need to do for them to survive, much like the snakes I keep in my room. Best to just play along until the vipers can be removed."
Aemond from the very beginning was raised to be the warrior, the fighter meant to defend his brother's crown from a usurper. Just as he had been trained to do.
Just as he had been taught and groomed to do from as young as he could remember by his grandfather.