Work Text:
His mother grabs his chin tightly, pressing her nails against the thin flesh.
“Didn’t I already tell you to stay away from those brats?” she says, forcing him to look into her eyes. “They are not worthy of your company, Aegon!”
Aegon doesn"t understand why his mother doesn"t like his sister"s children. They are as much princes and princesses as he and Helaena. Even more so, considering that they are the children of their father"s heiress, but their mother seems determined to keep them away, no matter how much Aegon claims he enjoys Myrtys and Jace"s presence.
“How many times do I have to remind you that they are not your friends, Aegon! The brats will grow to see you as a threat to their position!” The mother continued screaming. “In the same way that Rhaenyra will not be friendly with you forever! She will put you to the sword the instant the king dies to secure her power!”
Aegon felt tears forming in his eyes, saddened by his mother"s words and pained by her grip on his chin.
“Do you understand, Aegon? You will always be a threat to Rhaenyra and her brats, so you need to stop acting like a child to be ready to take your rightful place on the throne when the king dies!” His mother suddenly lets go of him, destabilizing Aegon"s balance, and he falls to the ground with a thud. “You are the rightful heir, Aegon! You have to start getting this into your head or we will all die!”
The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Aegon"s mother, leaves him alone in his chambers, crying.
Aegon, despite his six name days, likes to think of himself as an intelligent boy. He knows letters and numbers well and can even communicate coherently in High Valyrian with his father and sister and his dragon. Despite this, he doesn"t understand why his mother is always talking about how Aegon"s sister is going to kill him when she becomes Queen, when Rhaenyra is kind and calm to him and his mother is the one who hits him and scares him.
Still with his face stained with tears, Aegon leaves the rooms he began to live in since Aemond was born and the nursery became very full with Helaena, Aemond and the sister"s babies. Two at once! Aegon remembers being overjoyed at the birth of Jace and Myrtys, because it meant more friends for him! But Aegon"s mother forbade him from playing with them, but Aegon does it anyway.
Jace and Myrtys are still babies, but Aegon loves them and Helaena"s company and they let him play with their dragons, who were born for them, unlike Aegon, who had to wait to get a dragon from the Dragonpit. Their dragons still live with them because they are hatchlings like them, but Aegon"s lived in the Dragonpit, which made him sad and his mother happy.
The guard outside Aegon"s room tries to stop him from leaving, but Aegon is quick and still small, making him able to escape the hands of his mother"s guard.
Aegon runs aimlessly through the corridors, trying to lose the guard. Aegon doesn"t remember his name, but he knows he"s one of the twins. He looks over his shoulder to see if the guard is still following him, but he doesn"t have time to be happy about the fact that he no longer sees him behind him, because Aegon knocks into someone passing by, falling flat on his butt.
He"s already sore from his mother"s scolding from earlier — and the previous ones as well — so the fall makes Aegon"s entire body hurt. He feels the tears rising in his throat and tears starting to wet his face.
“Prince Aegon? Are you hurt?"
Aegon looks up when the words come out warm rather than angry, meeting the worried face of Aegon"s sister"s husband. What"s his name again? Aegon is sure it starts with L, but he can"t be sure of the full name because his mother only calls him Velaryon Sword Swallower, although Aegon doesn"t know why. No one can swallow a sword and still lives.
Aegon sniffles.
He raises his arms, asking his sister"s husband to carry him in the same way Aegon saw him doing with Jace and Myrtys. He wastes no time, placing his hands under Aegon"s arms and lifting him with ease.
Aegon settles down, hiding his teary face in his shoulder. “Nyra,” he grumbles, saying his sister"s name as best he can. Despite his age, Aegon is still not able to say his sister"s name out loud correctly and the fact that he has lost two front teeth doesn"t help. "Take me to Nyra?"
“Do you want your sister?” he asks and Aegon thinks he looks a little surprised. But even so, he starts walking. “I believe she is in the gardens with the twins.”
“Jace and Myrtys?” Aegon asks, becoming cheerful.
The sister"s husband laughs. “Yes, Jace and Myrtys.”
Aegon remains with his face hidden the rest of the way, but he is much calmer than when he left the chambers. His sister’s husband makes funny comments and Aegon feels calm in his company. He knows he is a good father to Jace and Myrtys, different from Aegon"s own father who ignores him most of the time.
Aegon wanted him to be his father and Rhaenyra to be his mother.
When they arrive at the Gardens, Aegon looks up and quickly spots his sister, laying in a comfortable chair with a book in her hands. Jace and Myrtys were near her feet, sitting on the floor with a black and red blanket. Jace"s dragon, Vermax, was flying overhead, while Myrtys"s dragon, Merax, was next to her.
They seemed to be playing with the wooden seahorses they had gotten from the lord father of their father.
There was a guard near Aegon"s sister, but his cloak was yellow instead of white. He was also much taller than Aegon"s mother"s guard, and he looked stronger and his face wasn"t grimacing like his mother"s guard always was.
“Dear wife, the little prince was eager to meet you,” said his sister"s husband, setting Aegon down.
Aegon didn"t want to leave the arms of his sister"s husband.
He looked at his sister, although he kept his face down, a little embarrassed. She lowered the book, revealing his swollen belly. Was she with child again? Aegon remembers her with her swollen belly just before Jace and Myrtys arrive.
“Will Nyra have more children?” he asks her, pointing to his belly.
"Did you not know?" she asks him back, rubbing her belly with a small smile on her lips. “Yes, Aegon. You will have more nephews or nieces soon.”
"Nephews? Nieces?" He is confused by the word.
“Yes, Aegon. As I am your sister, my children are your nephews, when they are a boy or nieces when they are a girl." She teaches him. “In the same way that you are uncle Daemon’s nephew and I"m his niece, because he is our father"s brother. Didn’t you know the term?”
He shakes his head and the sister looks at her husband with an expression that Aegon cannot understand.
“But I believe that this was not the origin of the little prince’s desire to find you,” the sister’s husband says.
“Well, Aegon. Is Laenor right? Is there something else you wanted with me?”
Laenor! That"s his name, his sister"s husband"s name. Aegon is happy that he remembered the first letter correctly.
But at the same time, he feels sad, because he remembers why he ran out to look for his sister in the first place.
“Nyra, can you be my mother too?”
His sister looks at him, surprised. Her eyes go wide and her eyebrows raise.
“Aegon, you already have a mother,” the sister responds a little later.
Aegon is saddened by his sister"s lack of confirmation.
“I know, but she scares me and hurts me,” he confesses to her. “And you don’t do that to Jace and Myrtys.”
“What does your mother do to you?” The sister asks, surprise leaving her face, forming an expression very similar to her mother"s expressions. “Aegon, does your mother hurt you?”
Aegon feels the tears returning to his eyes.
“She squeezes my cheek and my arms,” he tells his sister. “She also says that I will be put to the sword if you are Queen, then she shakes me when I say I don"t believe it.”
Rhaenyra sits down and stretches her arms and Aegon doesn"t think twice before placing himself between them, resting his head on his sister"s breasts. She hugs him and strokes his hair affectionately, something his mother never did.
“Aegon, I am so sorry about this.” She says it. “And I promise, I promise , that she will never lay her hands on you again, nor will she have the chance to do the same to Helaena and little Aemond. Do you believe me?"
“Yes,” he whispers to her.
She pulls him away and looks him in the eyes, but she doesn"t squeeze him like her mother does, she just puts her hands on his shoulders.
“And I want you to believe me when I say that your life will never be in danger and I will always protect you, little Aegon. You are my brother,” she says, stroking Aegon"s face and Aegon smiles at her.
It"s much easier to believe her than her mother.