Chương 2: Rhaenyra
Aerys had gotten bored again by the time he was brought to his mother's chambers. His mood was sour, his thoughts swirling with annoyance at the mundane routines of life in the Red Keep. The stone corridors, once a symbol of power, now felt like a cage he was all too familiar with.
His mother, Queen Alicent, was seated by the window, the warm light of late afternoon casting a soft glow on her face. Her green dress, adorned with intricate golden embroidery, rustled as she turned to see him.
"What happened to you? Did you get injured?" She fretted, her voice laced with genuine concern as she rose from her seat, eyes widening at the sight of her son covered in blood.
"None of it is my blood. It's just from a pig." Aerys replied, his tone indifferent, as if the bloodstains were as inconsequential as dust. He hoped the carcass of his first kill would be cooked for supper. Urrax, too, should be satisfied with the portion he had commanded the Dragonkeepers to bring him. Somehow, they had become a little more obedient since this morning.
Alicent's brow furrowed in confusion and worry. "Then how did it get onto you? Did those rascals throw pig's blood onto you? Did they push you on a butchered pig? If they—"
Aerys cut her off with a sharp laugh, a sound that echoed harshly against the stone walls.
There was no doubt which boys she was calling rascals. The way she spoke reminded him of a housewife on her way to quarrel with a neighbor over whose son attacked whom. Perhaps she was, except this quarrel would burn the entire continent if allowed to fester.
"Mother." He insisted, his voice firmer now, pulling her attention fully onto him. "Look at me. The blood is on my hands and shoulders. Not my head, not my chest. It is on my hands."
He saw the realization dawn in her eyes and smiled, a cold, almost cruel curve to his lips. "That's right, Mother. It was me. I saw a pig, and I got annoyed, so I went and killed it with my own hands!"
Alicent's face tightened with a mix of shock and disapproval. Her hand, usually so graceful, clenched into a fist at her side. "That's enough out of you! Go and get yourself cleaned! I will get the truth from the guards myself."
Aerys only laughed, a hollow sound that left an uncomfortable silence in its wake.
"And don't leave your chambers until I tell you to!" She shouted as Aerys left to take a bath, her voice strained with frustration.
In his chambers, he found a maid already waiting, and he commanded her to draw a bath with hot water. As she worked, he stripped down, inspecting his bloodied hands with detached curiosity. The heat of the bath was scalding, but he added more hot water until it was warmer than was comfortable.
It had become his habit to test how much heat his body could handle, as if seeking the limits of his Targaryen blood. He wondered, idly, whether his skin could survive being burned, but he had resisted the temptation to find out. For now. One day, he knew, if he got angry enough, he would likely put his hand in the fire just to see.
Once he was bathed, Aerys had another bucket of water brought to him and then sent the maids away. The room, with its tapestries and rich furnishings, felt suffocatingly familiar. He moved to the walls, his bare feet silent on the cold stone floor, and began his experiment.
It was one of his newer ideas—dropping water at the edges of the walls to see if any of it drained away into hidden nooks or crevices. In the bath, it had yielded nothing, but now, in the privacy of his sleeping chambers, he tried again. He took the bucket and carefully poured a little water along each wall, eventually finding a decorated panel whose bottom edge drained a small amount of water beneath it.
His heart quickened with the thrill of discovery, though his expression remained cool. He checked the rest of the walls but found nothing more. The room was a mess by this point, water pooling on the floor, but he waited until the draining stopped before calling the maids to clean it up.
Evening came, and his food was brought to his chambers. He was still not allowed to leave, and a part of him resented Alicent for the constraint. Yet he knew if he tried to run now, the next time, there would be guards posted outside his door. Urrax endured this confinement; so would he. Especially now that he had something to occupy his mind.
It took him until midnight to figure out the mechanism to open the secret door. Despite feeling tired, he armed himself with two daggers and began exploring the hidden passages. The air in the secret corridors was cool and damp, the walls narrow and oppressive. The flickering torchlight cast eerie shadows, but Aerys pressed on, driven by curiosity and a simmering anger that never quite left him.
By the time he became too tired to continue, he had managed to locate the passages leading to the rooms of Aegon, Rhaenyra, and Mellos. Satisfied, for now, he returned to his chambers, his mind already plotting his next move.
The next morning, Aerys was awoken by a squire sent by Criston Cole, telling him that he was late for his morning practice in the yard. Assuming he was now allowed to leave, Aerys dressed quickly and made his way outside, the cool morning air a welcome relief from the stuffy confines of his chambers.
On his way to the yard, he encountered his sister Rhaenyra, her presence commanding as always, though her face bore the signs of fatigue. By her side was Lucerys, the younger boy's wide eyes filled with trepidation as they met Aerys's gaze.
"Hello there, sister!" Aerys smiled pleasantly, though the warmth didn't reach his eyes. He then turned his gaze to his nephew. "And you too, Lucerys!"
The younger boy stepped back, almost hiding behind his mother. Some people just didn't like his smile.
"Aerys," Rhaenyra frowned, her voice tight with disapproval. "I see that you're out and about."
Did she know about his brief incarceration? Probably. Aerys's absence would have been easily noticed, especially after he was publicly seen walking around in bloodied clothes.
"So are you, dear sister. I was distraught to learn that you had taken to bed after Joffrey's birth." Aerys's tone was light, almost mocking. "You really shouldn't have been running around, carrying the babe up and down the stairs so soon after his birth. It's no surprise you overexerted yourself."
Rhaenyra's glare could have cowed anyone with a lick of self-preservation. Aerys, however, was undaunted, his smile widening.
"You take much after your mother, half brother." Rhaenyra gritted out, her teeth clenched so tightly that Aerys wondered if she would crack a tooth.
"Ah, now if only I had a friend as devoted as my mother does too." Aerys replied, feigning wistfulness. "Truly, to think that you'd overexert yourself just to share the joy of your son's birth with your closest friend? I weep in envy."
He shouldn't really be antagonizing his sister, he knew. He hadn't always used to. When he had first realized that this world was different from the book, he had had hope. His mother was much younger, and his sister much older. They had even been friends for a time.
He had thought that the Dance might be averted. But then Rhaenyra continued to have the exact sons she did in the book, and the Small Council took the exact members it did in the book, and Aerys knew that things going to shit was just inevitable.
So he stopped caring. It was almost freeing in a way. Things would have become a clusterfuck if he did nothing, so anything he did, no matter how absurd, would likely be an improvement.
Except for Rhaenyra's dental health, because she had started to grit her teeth whenever she spoke to him.
"Perhaps you would be more likely to make friends if you kept your violent tendencies in check," Rhaenyra said, her voice cold, as Lucerys nodded from behind her. She turned to leave, thinking she had had the last word.
Not while Aerys still drew breath.
"About that, I wanted to say my apologies to Lucerys." Aerys's tone was contrite, almost humble.
Rhaenyra and Lucerys turned back to him, suspicion in their eyes.
"I am truly, very sorry for scaring you with my behavior yesterday. When I saw you bring out that pig, I had thought you wanted us to take turns battling the beast, so under that misunderstanding, I went and took my turn first."
He then put on a confused expression that mirrored his sister's.
"But if that was not your intention, why did you bring a pig with you?"
Little Lucerys looked panicked now, his face pale.
"Oh well, you must have had an important task for that pig; perhaps he was your friend? Regardless, you have my apology for the incident!" Aerys smiled at them, then turned and ran off, leaving behind a flustered Lucerys and an increasingly angry whore
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực