What remains in the quiet
pairing: Aemond Targaryen x wife!reader
summary: In the dead of night, two intruders enter your children’s room and force you to reveal which child is your son. Terrified for your daughter’s life, you point them to Bearys. While they carry out the murder, you flee with Aevyra through the cold halls to Aemond’s chambers. You wake him and tell him what happened in simple, broken words. He leaves to deal with the killers, and when he returns, he finds you still awake, holding your daughter in his bed. Though shaken, he stays with you, offering quiet protection as the night settles around you.
warnings: child death, killing of readers son
a/n: based on the Helaena scene that left me heart-broken. I also changed the names of the children.
The children's room was quiet, and only a little candle on the dresser in the corner next to the chair spent a little bit of light. Aemond had long gone to bed without saying goodnight to the kids or you.
You sat beside your daughter, Aevyra's, bed, holding her as she leaned against your chest, half asleep. Bearys, your son had already drifted to sleep, and now his quiet snoring filled the room.
Suddenly there were footsteps outside the room. They were too heavy for a servant and unfamiliar in general. After so many years in these surroundings, with the same people under one roof, you had learned to recognize the footsteps of servants, guards, and several other people, but these were different, none you had ever heard before.
The door opened carefully, and two big shadows announced two men who came in and closed the door behind them with fast movements. One of them glared at the other as he stepped on a loose baseplate that should have been replaced ages ago. They were dressed in normal clothes, no armor or noticeable weapons, but their faces were hardened, and one of them had a faded scar on his left cheek.
You just looked at them, not daring to scream or move.
Aevyra stirred faintly in your arms but didn't wake.
„Why are you here?“ you asked, your voice soft and gentle, almost polite.
One of the men, the one without the scar, moved closer. „We just want an answer, little dove.“
„Which one is the boy?“ the other one asked.
You didn't answer, just stayed silent, and hoped that they would change their minds and go again, but of course they didn't.
Your gaze drifted first to your daughter in your arms and then to the bed of your son.
The man with the scar stepped closer, clearly growing impatient.
„I- I have a necklace.“ Your finger worked on the closure of the jewelry. „You can have it.“ One of them shoved it out of your hand.
„Now tell us, where is the son?“
You couldn't think straight, blinked, and tried to find an answer. You swallowed and trembled while raising your arm and pointed to the other side of the room. The men moved over to the small bed with fast steps. You didn't dare to look in their direction.
It all happened so fast but so slow at once.
Next to you, you noticed a child shifting. Waking up.
Your finger pulled down the blanket, leaving her in just her sleeping dress when you picked her up, carefully pressing her head against your shoulder so she wouldn't see the scene in the corner of the room. You turned to the door, quietly opening and then closing it again after you had stepped out. The cold night air met your face and sent a shiver down your body. The corridor in front of you blurred as your eyes began to fill with tears. With your naked feet, you ran over the ice-cold stone to the bedroom of Aemond.
„You can't enter-“ One of the guards tried to stop you, but you just went past him and pushed open the door to your husband's chambers.
Aevyra's face was still buried in your shoulder, but you heard little sobs from her. Her hands clung to the fabric of your dress, leaving them in folds.
The room was dim, and Aemond was in his bed, sleeping, tangled up in his bedsheets. The door closed quietly behind the two of you, and you stepped beside Aemond's bed.
Aevyra shifted again; a quiet 'mama' was whispered into your ear, but you didn't answer her.
„Aemond,“ you repeated yourself anxiously and brushed your finger over his naked arm.
His arm moved faintly, then snapped under his pillow and found the grip of his dagger.
You quickly moved away from him, not wanting him to hurt you or your daughter.
„What are you doing here?“ he asked, still half-asleep, as he saw his wife and daughter. He threw away the dagger, and it landed somewhere in the room with a loud metallic sound, making you shake.
„What is it?“ He now stood up, just wearing his sleeping gown. His eyes drifted to the child in your arms, then back to your eyes. „Do you know what hour it is? She should be asleep,“
„They killed the boy,“ you simply answered, not meeting his eyes.
There was a long silence while he tried to fully understand the sentence you had given him.
Aemond turned away and looked around the room. His hands drove over his face, his breath uneven like you had never noticed it before.
„Stay here,“ he instructed you and got dressed before leaving the room.
You moved over to Aemond's still warm bed and got into it, pulling the blanket over the kid's body and over yourself.
Half an hour later, Aemond came back into the room. He closed the door as quietly as possible after seeing his daughter asleep in your arms. The fire in the fireplace was now only dim glowing ashes and not warming the room anymore, so he took the blanket from a stool and placed it gently over you after seeing you still shivering in shock.
„They will receive their just punishment tomorrow,“ Aemond said and sat down beside his wife.
Your gaze shifted to him slightly, not fully looking at him. Your hand still brushed over your daughter's white hair like it had been the past half hour.
His eyes followed the movements of your hands, then his own fingers found their way to his daughter's hair.
„You should sleep too.“ His words were soft and gentle.
Aemond guided your head to his chest, letting you rest against him with your full weight.
„You're safe here, my beautiful queen,“ Aemond whispered before pressing a kiss on top of your head and taking your daughter out of your arms to place her on the other side of his chest so you could fall asleep fully.
