6: Lower

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
As soon as the court dismissed, Lyanna headed back to her chambers. Her nose wrinkling slightly at the feeling of the splatter of blood slowly drying on her face. She was almost to her door, the quiet hallway lit dimly by torches, when she felt his presence. Heat spread across her back as her steps halted, butterflies erupting in her stomach as she turned and saw him standing there. 
"Aemond."
He let out a shuttering breath at the sound of his name on her lips, his eye briefly closing before he once again met her gaze. 
"I..." Aemond trailed off, as if searching for the right words. "I'm sorry."
Lyanna's eyebrows rose slightly in shock at his statement before a smile slowly fought its way onto her face. She leaned forward slightly, mimicking confusion. 
"Apologies, My Prince. I didn't quite catch that."
"I am sorry," he said again, this time stepping closer to her with an intense look on his face. 
The action startled her more than the words themselves. Gone was the timid boy she had once known, although she could see faint traces of him in the man before her's expression. He was anxious. Nervous. And as Lyanna's back hit the wall behind her and he stood towering in front of her, even in a position so clearly assertive, the woman knew she had all the power. She looked up at him, her gaze tracing the scar running down his face as his own traced the scar along her collarbone. 
"I'm sorry for abandoning you. I'm sorry for letting my fears get in the way of our..." Aemond cut himself off with a rasping breath, his eye screwing tightly closed as he braced one hand on the wall beside her head. 
"Our?" Lyanna questioned, using this opportunity to lift her hand up and softly trace it over the lower half of his scar. 
Aemond jolted at the touch, his eye flying open and staring intently at her face as her hand crept closer and closer to the patch over his ruined eye. He seemingly held his breath, Lyanna looking to him for permission as her fingers brushed the edge of his eyepatch. He nodded, stepping even closer as his hand dropped from the wall and came to settle on her shoulder, his thumb caressing the edge of her own scar as she lifted the patch. 
Lyanna stared in awe at the sapphire that rested in his eye socket. The blue shining in the faint torchlight and reminding the woman slightly of her own bright blue eyes. 
She caressed the scar gently, Aemond leaning into her touch as she drew small stars around the area with the pad of her finger. The prince's gaze never once left her face, mesmerized by the softness of her features. Hopeful at the love in her eyes. 
"Lyanna..." His voice whispered, a plea as he leaned so close that their noses brushed. 
It was an odd sight indeed, should anyone walk by. A prince that was almost universally feared due to his scarred face and irritable demeanor, practically melting into the hands of a lady with blood splattered across her face. A wolf and a dragon. An odd match, but one that was seemingly written in the stars. 
"You hurt me. You knew how I felt about people leaving and you did it anyway," the Stark woman muttered, her conviction and fierceness gone and in their place the sadness that she always tried her best to keep hidden. "Why?"
"I was jealous," Aemond admitted in a soft voice that no other had ever heard, his thumb still caressing the edge of her scar while the other raised to cup her face. The pad of his finger traced the outline of her lower lip, blood smearing slightly but neither of them paid it any mind. "I was convinced that any day, we would receive a letter announcing your betrothal to another and that would mean you would leave me. So I left first. It wasn't until... until today that I realized that I wanted it to be me. Me who would be your husband. Me who would be the object of your desire, just as you are mine."
There was silence then, Lyanna letting out a shuddering breath that fanned across his face. Her face tilted slightly, their noses brushing as she leaned toward him. 
"You're an idiot..." She muttered, a small smile on her face as her eyes fluttered closed. 
When their lips met, Lyanna swore she felt as if she was soaring through the sky. As if she could do anything, as long as she had him by her side. When they pulled away, he had blood smeared on his lips. The red shone in the torchlight, making him look like a predator that had been feasting on his prey. 
Lyanna swallowed thickly, threading her fingers through his hair and pulling him toward her. 
Her lips met his neck in a needy fervor, trailing up and up as he let out a short gasp of surprise. His hands wrapped around her waist and hauled her into his arms as her lips started tracing his scar, carrying her into her chambers and locking the door behind them. Only when they were in the true privacy of her chambers did his start returning the favor. Pushing her up against the wall, his lips claimed hers with an intensity that rivaled her own. Both of them were breathless but couldn't bare to pull away, Aemond's lips trailed to her neck. 
Lower. 
He savored her taste as he covered her own scar in kisses, as she had done with his. His breath came in gasps as she tugged on his hair, causing him to press his face into the crook of her neck and let out a quiet moan. 
"Aemond..." Lyanna gasped out, her heart racing. 
He was louder this time. 
"Aemond, we can't," the woman said, breathing hard and hating herself as she said it. No matter how true it was. "We can't do this. Not yet."
"Not... yet?" The man questioned, detaching himself from her neck and staring up at her with a flushed face that made her want to say 'fuck it' and keep going anyway. 
"Marry me."
The proposition was out before she even knew what she was saying, knowing it may have been a bit out of nowhere but she honestly didn't give a shit. If there was one thing Lyanna Stark knew she wanted, it was Aemond Targaryen. 
"Marry me," she repeated, feeling the need to repeat herself because of the wide eyed expression of the man that was currently holding her against a wall. "We can be together. Husband and wife. We'll never have to leave each other again. Never have to hide how we feel."
A smile that threatened to split his face in two slowly spread across Aemond's face, laughter bubbling up from his chest as he stared at her in awe. His body shook with joyous laughter, looking the absolute happiest that Lyanna had ever seen him. She wished she could listen to the noise forever. 
"Of course," he finally answered, setting her gently on the ground so he could cup her face and press his lips to hers once again. "I love you, Lyanna Stark."
"And I love you, Aemond Targaryen."
"Say it again," Aemond ordered, his voice reverent as he stared down at her. 
"I love you," she repeated, her own smile over taking her face as she brushed his hair out of his face. 
Aemond's hair had come undone in the heat of the moment, the strands now all hanging unbound. Framing his face with the color of freshly fallen snow. Lyanna didn't know if she'd ever seen anything so beautiful. 
"My name. Say it."
"Aemond."
An uneven breath and the Prince sunk to his knees before her, his hands trailing down as he went and gripping her thighs as his knees hit the ground. Lyanna stood there in shock, waiting for an explanation but all she got was Aemond pressing his lips against her clothed hip. His hands gripping the hem of her dress as he kissed her other hip, pressing his lips against her stomach and...
Lower.