@dreamsweaving sent ; please don't go. ( from dreamsweaving )
had he been told that days had passed since he'd been informed of their son's murder, he would have been inclined to believe it, with the fatigue that pervaded every bone of his body. rage had been all-consuming for the first hours, voice raised until his throat hurt, deaf to any and all words unless they were to bring him news that the villains who had come into his castle, past his guards and into alicent's chambers were locked within the black cells. he cared none for any of their excuses or their reasons, their calls for rationality or reason. why should he heed any one of them when it was them that had failed so greatly in their responsibilities? no news had come, however, despite all the reassurances that they would find two men, and anger had to give way to grief when he had no tangible target for it. silence had taken over, refusing anyone unless they brought the news he had asked for.
there would have been those who would have criticised the king for the time it took him to come to the queen's chambers, for the hours between the tragedy and bringing himself to helaena but to claim it was for a lack of caring for her would be wrong. he would, if he could and if it would have aided her, brought her the heads of the two rat catchers. it would be fair to suggest, however, that seeking her out was selfish as much as it was compassion. the silence of empty rooms had been suffocating, and while he did not need her to fill that silence, he did find some solace in the shared grief that only she could understand.
the candles had nigh on burned down to stubs by the time he stood again, the quiet rustling of fabrics and boots on stone pavings the only sound in a long while to break the pervading silence. her voice halted him in near an instant, unexpected and yet not unwelcome, when the request was something he could deliver upon. a quick nod but he didn't sink back into the chair yet, opting, as tentatively as aegon had perhaps ever done anything, for the space left beside his wife instead. "tell me once you'd rather i left."
