Chapter Text
Prologue
"There will hardly be one who will die for a righteous person, though perhaps there will be one who will dare to die for a good person.” Romans 5:7-8
Wandering in the dark corridors of the Red Keep, what would come to be a new habit for a certain prince who was looking for a way to escape the many responsibilities and scoldings that would come his way as soon as his mother discovered that he had run away from his classes, again. What he did not know was that that night and the ones that would follow, he would have a new companion, one that he never expected to see in his life, something that would change many things both in his present and in the future...
Year 119 A.C. Red Keep.
Aegon I
I strolled through the corridors of the Fortress evading any possibility that any guard, servant or even my brothers by orders of my mother are looking for me, it is true that I should not have escaped again from the lessons, but I was tired of spending so boring classes, instead of being able to go out and play as I wanted, I do not know why they insist on putting so much effort on me, when despite being 13 years old, for some time I know that no matter what my father does he would never put me above my "dear" older half-sister.
Sometimes I wonder about if my siblings or I would have been Baelon or any son as long as we were born from queen Aemma, maybe things would have been different for all of us, the truth I don't have an answer for it and I don't know if I want to know the answer, it's weird that I think about these things now, at this moment, maybe it's the effect of the wine, that for some time now has become a bittersweet way to escape from all these situations that torment my mind, what should be a way out now seems to be the thing that is helping me the least, more when I realize that I am in front of that "room".
"Queen Aemma's rooms", when I was 6 years old I wondered why the servants came in to clean those rooms when nobody occupied them, I tried to enter out of curiosity, but I was caught by my father, one of the few occasions where he addressed me the word and when he shouted at me for the first time telling me that I had nothing to do there, was when I discovered that those rooms belonged to the late Queen Aemma, rooms which the King did not want anyone else to occupy, not even the new queen, which is why mother had her quarters on another side of the castle.
I remember that from that day on I always tried to stay away from that area of the palace, not only because of my father's words, but also because the servants whispered that in those rooms you could still hear the pitiful cries of Queen Aemma, either because of all the children she lost or because of the dreadful death she had, it was also the moment when I discovered the true cause of death of the queen, the official version and that my half sister knows is that Queen Aemma bled to death as soon as Baelon left her, but like many things in this court, it was also a lie painted to hide the dark background behind it.
I could not continue immersed in my thoughts when the voice of one of the Cargyll twins was approaching where I was, so when I saw that there were neither guards due to the change of shifts, nor servants nearby, I decided to enter those rooms to hide, behind the door I could hear the steps of the guard leaving the place and when I was about to leave I decided to take a look at the mysterious rooms, they were large and you could tell they were very well maintained, even the smell of incense that they must have put a while ago could still be felt.
As strange as it may seem, despite being a room that belonged to a woman who has been dead for more than a decade, they gave off a feeling of tranquility, in the dressing table there were many things, from different bottles with perfume, makeup, some papers, the jewelry box with the exposed jewelry, it was as if Queen Aemma had never left; What caught my attention the most was a beautiful gold and sapphire necklace that was shining on a shelf above some books, without knowing why it was out of place, I took it next to the book where it was and that is when I realized that it was Queen Aemma's Diary, it was not the right thing to do but curiosity was stronger and I was ready to see its content when a voice came out of nowhere:
— Who are you?
I almost screamed and when I turned around there was no one there, seriously, this was starting to scare me, so at the risk of looking crazy or stupid, I said:
— Who's there?
He didn't ask the same question again, but said:
— I am here
The voice came from the balcony and when I approached I saw a woman that I had never seen before, but at the same time she looked so familiar: silver hair, lilac eyes, very pretty, she looked slightly like Rhaenyra...
No, impossible, it can't be, I was about to ask when she said the same question:
— Who are you?
I was speechless, I didn't know what to say, barely as a whisper, I answered:
— Aegon...
And before she spoke again, I managed to reach to say:
— You are Aemma, right?
She answered with a serene:
— Yes...
I didn't know if this was a product of alcohol or I was really going crazy, but I was talking to my half-sister's late mother in the middle of the night!, the last thing I remember is that everything went dark, hoping that it was all a bad dream, what I didn't know is that this was the beginning of something that I didn't think would have to happen....
What happened?
Whar joke has been presented?
The gods have very cruel ways of playing games
But there is no choice but to accept
This unusual presence
You can change the end
Or the blood will flow
And tears will fall