I was enjoying that!" Rhaenyra exclaimed, her purple eyes training on the departing dwarf before she turned towards Alicent.
She had long white hair that came down to her slim waist, while a long black coat adorned her pale skin.
"What are you doing here, Rhaenyra?" Alicent asked, holding Aegon in her arms, who was staring at her.
Rhaenyra narrowed her eyes at her friend's question, "I was reading!" she said, turning towards the large book in her hands, "The Tales of the Targaryen Might!"
Alicent pursed her lips, from years before; right after her marriage, she felt as if she were losing her friend, little by little.
'She's stubborn…..' The Queen consort mumbled inwardly, her green eyes wavering slightly, 'But I wish that we could go back to the way things were…'
But deep in her heart, she too knew that maybe that would not be possible, not any more. But she hoped nonetheless.
Meanwhile,
Aegon watched his sister intently; he had intended to leave her alone and not bother with her, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it wasn't correct.
'Haah, leaving her alone would bite me in the ass later!' He exclaimed inwardly, his eyes glinting,
'Even if I win the dance, it would come at a cost! We would have less dragons than the blacks, and armies are a waste against dragons! To win means to sacrifice one of us….'
Looking at his mother, his gaze softened, 'I cannot bet on such a thing.' He mumbled inwardly.
SIGH
Sighing to himself inwardly, he placed his hand on his mother's cheek and said, "Mama! Down!"
Alicent turned towards him, her eyes narrowing slightly, but still, she let him down nonetheless, thinking that he might want to play in the grass.
"The king wants you to be there, Rhaenyra," she said after placing Aegon on the ground.
SLAM
Rhaenyra slammed the book closed, anger seeping into her cheeks as they reddened slightly, "The king… wants me to be there?!" she asked, a hint of ridicule in her eyes as she glared at Alicent.
BADUMP
Alicent's heart thumped at her friend's outburst; she clutched her fingers, biting her lip, "I-I…"
Tension rose between them as they both stared at each other; Alicent wanted to say something.
She wanted to say she wanted her friend to be there at her son's nameday, yet she couldn't. She felt a lump in her throat, her heart welling up with guilt. The reason? She didn't know.
But before this could escalate further, Aegon's voice broke the tension between them as he exclaimed, "Sister… Aegon… Lift!"
Both the women turned towards Aegon, who was standing in front of Rhaenyra with his little arms high in the air and his eyes shining brightly.
'Well, prevention is better than cure, I guess,' he mumbled inwardly before he repeated, "Lift!"
Rhaenyra stared at her brother blankly, quite surprised that he had asked her to lift him up.
He is her rival! A thief! A usurper! The one who is going to steal her birthright!
Yet…yet her eyes wavered, looking at him; he is her brother! Her friend's son! And, more importantly, a two-year-old child.
The heir was conflicted, biting her inner cheeks as a battle raged in her heart. But Aegon was persistent, using his pure, innocent eyes as his ultimate attack.
And at the end, Aegon won, 'Ugh, only this once!' Rhaenyra exclaimed inwardly as she put the book aside and lifted Aegon into her lap.
"Hehehe!" Aegon giggled as he moved around, making himself comfortable, which surprised the women, especially Alicent.
Using it as a chance, she walked toward the and sat beside Rhaenyra and said, "Looks like little Aegon likes you!"
"Why do you say that?" Rhaenyra asked with a slight frown, turning toward Alicent.
"Well," Alicent replied, her lips curling into a proud smile, "Aegon never smiles!"
"Mhhm?" Rhaenyra hummed in confusion, how is that a proud thing?
"Ahem!" Alicent, noticing her friend's expression, cleared her throat and added, "You see, Aegon doesn't smile at ones that he doesn't like!"
Her chest puffed up in pride while her smile widened, "He only laughs for me! Only smiles for me!"
….That is a weird thing to be proud of, but still, Rhaenyra didn't wholly believe her words; she turned towards Aegon, still smiling at her.
"Even the king, his father only received blank stares from him!" Alicent added; she then caressed her son's cheeks, "So I'm surprised to see that he smiles at you."
She then looked at her son and asked, "Aegon, do you like your sister?"
'I mean, not really,' he mumbled inwardly, 'but then, I guess I can't say it out loud.'
"Yes! Aegon like!" He exclaimed out loud, putting up the brightest look possible.
'I think Otto proposed that I should marry her?' He thought inwardly, 'But then Viserys, that coward of a king, felt so repulsed that he rejected it!'
Narrowing his eyes, 'Hah! What a load of bullshit! If he had used his dick for a brain, the dance would've been prevented! And that whole fuckery could've never happened! The Targaryens breed with their own siblings, much less half-sisters!'
But Rhaenyra, oblivious to Aegon's inner thoughts, stared at Aegon. Her eyes quivered as conflict rose in her heart.
She knew he wasn't lying, as a two-year-old is incapable of it. As for Alicent preparing all of this, she didn't think her friend would stop so slow.
And this made her even more hesitant. What should she do? Should she push him away? But he's just a two-year-old, who doesn't know anything! He didn't do anything wrong!
Alicent's smirk faded as she looked at Rhaenyra, 'What happened so suddenly…?' she wondered inwardly.
Her heart ached, watching her friend; she thought they could go back, and she would amend whatever had gone wrong between them.
The trio soon fell into an awkward silence, each staring at the other with conflicts in their hearts, each with a thousand thoughts flooding their minds.
'W-What should I do…?' Alicent exclaimed inwardly, her eyes darting around as she tried to think of something.
But then, as a saving grace, a maid's voice came from behind them, saying,
"Your Graces, His Grace asks you to hurry. The carriage is ready and the lords are waiting at the hunt!"
Alicent bit her lip, her heartbeat quickening, "W-We should go…"