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Aemond had always been the most dutiful of her children.
A breath of fresh air after Aegon, whose head was weakened by praise and pleasure, and her sweet Helaena, who could not be bothered by anything but her bugs and her sewing. Her Daeron was a friendly boy, well behaved for the most part, but too mischievous.
Her second son had been sweet, almost demure as a child. The incident made him cold, vengeful and bitter, but still he always paid her mind, unless he was suddenly thrown into one of his rages. In that case, she would simply have to soothe him and wait for him to come back.
She did not have to worry for Aemond, not in the way she constantly had to watch over Helaena, worry herself bloody for her youngest who was so far from her, and make herself sick in her efforts to keep Aegon somewhat in line.
So one could imagine her shock when the Grand Maester came to her and told her that her son was with child.
Her unmarried, unbonded, uncourted, unspoken for omega son.
Aemond had been strang as of late, she could admit that. He was quiet, and stayed shut away in his solar. He had not paid many visits to the training yards, something that was not actually too strange. Sometimes Aemond fell into spells of melancholy, and would lose interest in everything he had once liked. Though, it had not happened in quite some time.
And it was only his swordsmanship he had seemed to grow tired of. He still frequented the library, he went to Vhagar-though not as much-and he still visited with Helaena and her children, he still wrote to Daeron, he still wrestled Aegon into submission when he was being particularly difficult. Strangely, the alpha was most agreeable for the last few months, and bent to Aemond’s will after just a few sharp tongued commands without hands needing to get involved.
Alicent did not believe it, but then she saw the evidence for herself.
Aemond was not just with child. He was mere weeks away from his delivery, skillfully keeping it hidden from his family- how he had, she did not know. She had noticed his changed taste in fashion as of late, but had not thought too much of it. Helaena was always trying to get her brothers to branch out from normality when it came to their clothing, as that was another one of her interests. Aemond was her only omega brother, he could wear pretty gowns if he so liked, though he never had before. Alicent had just thought her daughter had finally gotten to him.
What was worse- Aemond would not confide in her.
Now that it was all out, Aemond made no attempt to hide his bulging belly. He wore long, sheer dresses that clung to his skin and left nothing to the imagination. He walked around cradling his midsection like it was a trunk of gold, purring happily, unbothered by the chaos that had erupted all around him.
He had not even been bothered by his grandsire, red in the face, more worked up than Alicent had ever seen him, and that was saying something, demanding to know who had put this babe in him.
There was nothing to do about it now. Alicent knew that. As did her father. They could do nothing but wait.
They did not have to wait long.
The babe came just two weeks later.
The midwife had said they were early, and despite everything, Alicent prayed that the child would live. She held Aemond’s hand and saw him through his labors. Helaena had sat on his other side, coaxing him in a whisper soft voice, sweeping his hair out his face whenever it fell.
Aegon had shown up as well, towards the end. He sat in a chair in the corner of the room, watching the bloody mess with an amused grin, wineskin in hand, teeth stained red.
When the babe was handed to Aemond, all fell silent. Even Helaena snapped her mouth shut, a slight tremor in her jaw as her eyes widened a fraction.
The babe was very large. Larger than any of Alicents children when they were born. Alicent had heard as her boy tore open, heard his shriek of agony mere seconds after, felt him squeeze her hand so tightly her bones ground together.
Many midwives had told her the first was the smallest, though that was not what happened with her. Aegon was her biggest, Aemond was her smallest, and then Helaena, and then Daeron. If Aemond ever had to carry another child, and the midwives' word was true, she feared for her son's life.
While it was shocking, the child's size was not their main concern.
The babe was hardy, brown haired, and brown eyed.
Aegon laughed.
Alicent wept.
Aemond seemed to not take notice.
He merely cooed at the fresh boy laying in his arms, his quivering lips lowering to press themselves against his forehead that was covered with dark, matted curls.
“Lovely.” Aemond could be heard whispering, not letting the boy go even while he worked on the afterbirth. “Isn't he, mother?”
“Yes, my dear.” Alicent got out through her tears. “Terribly lovely.”
“Will you want to hold him?”
“Yes, of course.” Alicent sobbed, and took the little dark haired bastard into her arms, cursing Rhaenyra to the deepest pit of the seven hells that there was.
Aegon was still laughing. Helaena seemed to have recovered, however, and asked her younger brother while the afterbirth was finally freed from his body,
“What will you name him, brother?”
“I thought of Aedrian the moment I set eye on him. I am unsure though. What do you think, mother?”
“Aedrian is a lovely name.” Alicent sniffled miserably, and Aedrian reached out and trapped her little finger between his tiny fist, squeezing it with his newly discovered strength.
“It is no wholly Valyrian but-”
A bastard has no need of having a Valyrian name , Alicent nearly said.
“We have to do something, Alicent.” Her father told her hours later, as they both watched Aemond sleep, the babe laying in his cradle just beyond the foot of the bed. Aemond had started shrieking when the nursemaid had tried taking the babe to the nursery, so he stayed where he was.
“What can we do, father?” Alicent asked around the migraine that had quickly formed after most of her tears had stopped. “The boy is here now.”
“He cannot keep it.” Otto said, eyes shifting back and forth between his grandson and great grandson like a rat preparing to flee from a darkened corner in a room full of cats. “What will happen to him if he does? No one will take in a bastard they can't even pretend is their own. Aemond has many potential suitors who would have done a favor to the crown, would he have simply told us in advance. Stupid boy, getting to be as empty headed as his elder brother.”
Alicent pursed her lips. She did not like these insults directed towards her children.
Her father was right, to a degree. Aemond keeping the babe was unwise. It would hurt his marriage prospects.
And yet, she knew Aemond would be destroyed if the child was taken from him. He had even insisted on feeding him from his own breast, despite all the trouble they had gone to for arranging a wet nurse on such short notice.
“We will figure out something, Father.” Alicent insisted. “No one yet knows of this incident. If we handle it quickly and quietly-”
“You best hope that is possible, daughter.” Otto said darkly, and then stalked out of the room.
Despite what he said, her father soon made an attempt to have the child taken away in the night.
And thus he made it certain that things could not be handled neither quickly nor quietly.
To summarize,
Blood soiled the halls of the Keep, and the whole of the court watched as a rumbled Aemond rocked his sobbing babe in his arms as he returned to his chambers, wearing nothing but his stained chamise and an open, tattered robe that had been thrown on in a great hurry.
Her father made a few more attempts, only for them all to end the same. With Aedrian back in his mothers arms, safe and whole, while the servants made quick work of tidying the unsightly scene left behind in their prince's wake.
Her father then began mumbling about marrying Aemond to Daeron once it was a good time to have him return from Oldtown if all other hope was lost, and made sure to stay out of Aemond’s way for quite some time after that.
The babe grew quickly. He was a plump little thing, all round cheeks, curls, and honey sweet giggles. Something possessed Alicent when the boy was present, because she seemed to forget all her worries concerning his mere existence, and relished in his company up until the moment he was removed from her sights.
He looked nothing like his mother. There was nothing of her Aemond in him at all. He was dark haired, dark eyed, so common, almost plain, the very picture of-
And yet there was the sparkle of stars in the near black abyss of his dark eyes, an impossible sheen to his hair, a certain pitch of his voice, all that reminded her of Aemond still.
She could not say she entirely agreed with the way the boy came to be, but she did love her youngest grandson.
She would have been worried of her father potentially coming up with more schemes, but she had bigger concerns lately.
Aemond had begun to once again venture to the Dragonpit whenever he was able. Alicent knew what he was searching for. He wanted an egg for his babe. Usually Dreamfyre laid a clutch every year, but she had not thus far, and the ones from the year before had either gone to Maelor or already turned to stone.
Her husband was in no condition to give or take away his blessing, and Alicent did not think it her place, so there was no one to get in Aemonds way as he made his search. There was Aegon, perhaps, but when she had brought it up with her eldest, he had turned oddly sober and said what Aemond was doing was perfectly natural. Any decent omega of their blood would want to go and get their babe an egg.
Vhagar was well past her egg laying days, and yet her son had even gone and checked her, or so she had been told by the Dragonkeeper that regularly brought the lazy beast her food.
"He needs one soon." Aemond fretted, low and to himself as he rocked the cooing babe before the long windows that looked out over Kings Landing, out over the Dragonpit. "Soon or it will be too late. It will not hatch. It won't hatch. His cradle is already too cold.”
Perhaps if you ever laid him down in it it would be warm, Alicent thought to say, but did not. She did not have much room to talk. Aegon and Helaena had overwhelmed her, and though she had tried her best, she so often had handed them off to the nursemaids for a moment of peace. Aemond had been different. She almost lost him, and he was so quiet and well behaved, she could almost pretend he was one of her dolls that she had been made to set aside long ago.
“Calm, brother.” Helaena said, not looking up from her embroidery. She was making dragons to place on the blanket she had made for her nephew. “He will have a dragon.”
“When?” Aemond demanded.
“Sapphire and silver.” Helaena answered him happily.
Alicent looked anxiously at her son for his reaction, but he merely nodded without looking at his sister and continued to stare out the window.
Doom fell upon them then, sudden and without warning.
Rhaenyra had decided to take her yearly trip to King’s Landing far sooner than was normal, leaving Daemon and his daughters back on Dragonstone to attend to things, and bringing her three eldest sons along with her for company.
They arrived early, when Alicent was still in her bed. Her handmaiden woke her, sharing the news of four dragons being seen on the horizon.
Her father had heard the news as well, and they met briefly in the hallways before she left to welcome them, and he left to…make arrangements so certain things were not exposed.
Alicent accompanied Rhaenyra and Joffrey, who even at one and ten hardly ever left his mothers side, one hand clinging to her skirts, all throughout the day. Rhaenyra was with child again herself, but the smell of milk and sweetness did not fully conceal her alpha scent, sharp and strong, though somehow still tender.
After some time together, Alicent noticed that her scent had turned even sweeter, though she could not be certain as to why.
Supper was served on time, and once again the King had suddenly managed to put together the strength to rise from his bed long enough to be put into a chair and carried to the dining hall.
It was going well. Alicent was doing her best to not look over at the elder two Velaryon boys, trying to not obsess over figuring out which one it was. Which one of them who had debased her son, which one of them had shamed him, which one of them that had seen a child be put inside him and then not remained dutifully by his side, which one of them had not fallen to his knees before her and begged and pleaded and wept so she would let them have her sons hand.
The doors to the hall opening in the middle of their meal was the first sign of danger.
A babe’s squall was the second.
Then the third, which was Aemond, once again dressed in nothing but a nightdress and a silken dressing gown because anything else took time for him to get out of and therefore made it much harder to nurse, stalking in while carrying Aedrian on his hip.
Aegon sat up in his seat with a broad grin like he was a spectator at a particularly boring tourney who had just seen a lance get put through a knight at the shoulder. The show had begun, she knew her son was thinking.
Her husband let out a confused little mumble that quickly died down into nothing, while Rhaenyra blinked and tilted her head in confusion, looking around for some kind of explanation. Jacaerys’ fork had fallen to his plate with a great clatter, and Lucerys was choking on a mouthful of wine.
None of them seemed to bother Aemond, who simply walked around the table, sat Aedrian in Rhaenyra’s second son's lap, and then went to his seat at the other side of the table at the end. Uncaring for Aegon’s shrill giggling and the stares that followed after him, Aemond helped himself to the platters set out before him and began serving himself.
Lucerys was staring down at the babe in his arms with all the horror of someone who had never seen one before, though he held the child with all the expertise of someone who was an elder brother three times over.
The hall was quiet for so long that it seemed it was impossible for even Aemond to pretend he had not noticed. When he did look up, it was not with confusion, but with annoyance, and it was directed towards his perplexed nephew.
“Are you not pleased?” Aemond asked, looking up from his plate with a raised brow.
“What?” Lucerys almost squeaked, face quickly turning red. “No!” He almost shouted. “No, no, I am- I am pleased, uncle. Very, very pleased.”
“Do you not wish to know the name of your son, my lord?” Aemond continued once Lucerys had fallen silent again, staring at the babe who had begun to chew on the edge of his embroidered sleeve.
“Y-yes, of course.”
“I have named him Aedrian.”
“A lovely name.” Lucerys gasped out like someone had punched him very hard in the stomach. Alicent would have liked to have been the one to do it, if such was appropriate of a noble lady. She should have known it was him. That boy was always ruining her son. He could never stay away, could never let her son be free of him.
“Do you wish to change it?” Aemond asked, though it was clear he had no intentions to actually do so even if Lucerys said yes.
“No, you did beautifully.” Lucerys said. He was looking at his mother now, and she looked back at him, an expression so unreadable on her face that Alicent don't even know where to begin to unravel so she could make sense of it.
“Shall you have your mother hold him then?” Aemond smirked, leering down the table. Aegon was shrieking with laughter. Helaena was busy with a large red beetle that was crawling from one hand to another, and her father had gone so white Alicent worried a healthy flush would never cross his cheeks again.
“Yes!” Aegon spoke up, happily showing his “support” for his younger brother. “Hold the babe, sister. Your very first grandchild. Or perhaps you’d like to do the honors, Jace. Your first nephew! Congratulations. Though I can assure you you grow tired of them after the first, and then even that one becomes boring.”
A flicker of something painfully obvious-distress and confusion-crossed Rhaenyra’s face for a brief instant, and Alicent found herself climbing to her feet.
“Enough!”
//
By the next morning, all had calmed.
Alicent was having tea with her father, Rhaenyra, and Lucerys in the latter’s chambers.
Alicent did everything in her power to ignore her son's scent in the room. It was a mere few hours old. Her son had spent the night with the prince in his chambers. Underneath Aemonds scent, there was also Aedrian, so mother and son both had come and paid Lucerys a visit then.
“I am sorry, my queen.” Lucerys broke the long silence all around them. “If I had known-”
Alicent silenced him with a glare that she knew she should have not sent, but it did what she wanted, and quieted the boy.
“It is not your fault, sweet boy.” Rhaenyra spoke up immediately, reaching out to stroke his hand.
Alicent breathed in sharply, making the alpha look over at her quickly.
“I am not trying to imply that the fault lies with Prince Aemond, however…”
“Yes.” Otto spoke then, surprisingly agreeing with the princess. “All would have been easier if my grandson had made us all aware of this….situation, sooner.”
“He was frightened.” Alicent said, a bit too loud to be completely appropriate.
One of Rhaenyra’s eyelid’s twitched faintly.
“Prince Aemond….was frightened?” Rhaenyra repeated slowly.
“Yes.” Her son had actually not shown any fright until he was laying in the birthing bed, but none had to know that. “The situation he found himself in was very confusing. He was overwhelmed.”
“Confusing?” Rhaenyra repeated again, though this time it was her lips that twitched into an almost smile. “I…could imagine…”
“I understand, your grace.” Lucerys said. “Aem- Prince Aemond was under a lot of stress, and his health was of utmost priority. I only wish to have known so I could have been by his side.”
“Well.” Alicent sniffed. “All was well, so it was unnecessary.”
Lucerys nodded. “I am thankful it was so.”
There was another long pause where they all sipped at their tea, and poked at the cheese and cakes that were laid on the table. This time, it was her father who broke it,
“Speaking of priorities,” He said. “I think it….paramount, that we turn our attentions next on how to move forward with-”
Just as the night before, they were interrupted by the doors suddenly opening. Once again, it was Aemond, freshly washed though he still wore clothes more so meant for bed and the privacy of his chambers. He had Aedrian with him, as he always did, and also just as the night before, he walked around the table, presented the babe to Lucerys, who hurried to put down his cup, and then walked across the long room to the bed. They all watched as he spread himself across it and made himself comfortable, purring happily as he pulled a pillow to his face.
Alicent watched her son, listening to the troubled sigh of her father, the small, awkward laugh released by Rhaenyra.
Finally, she turned back around and found that Lucerys yet had not. He had the babe tucked underneath his chin, and held tightly in his arms. Aedrian was gumming away on the edge of his fathers sleeve once more. While the babe did that, the alpha watched Aemond, who had quickly fallen asleep amongst the pillows, blankets and furs, with a tender, vulnerable, torn open look on his face.
That would do, she supposed.