His Darker Side

houseicedragon asked:

Request for an angsty one shot with Aemond and an OC or anyone.. 😄😇 I can't help it I love torturing my already tortured little war criminal 😫😈🖤🩸

You ask and I shall give! This one was hard to write my goodness. But let's be real, Aemond is his own worst enemy.

Aemond x f!reader | angst | A Strong toast | Aemond gets a little physically agressive | Reader gets a glimpse of his darker nature

You often walked with Aemond outside the high walls and fetid stench of King’s Landing. On this clear summer’s day the two of you, brushing shoulders, left through the city gate and you breathed in a deep lungful of fresh air.

“You exaggerate how bad it is, Y/N.” Aemond teased, looking sidelong at you with his one violet eye.

“The reek is awful! Your nose must be broken.” You were always glad to escape the confines of the Red Keep, especially so when Aemond was able to join you.

More often than not, he was too busy to accompany your frequent escapades. The first time you’d asked him to come along he had looked at you quizzically, eye roaming your form. “You look like a boy.” Was all he had said to which you answered dully. “Yes, Aemond, that’s rather the point.”

It was dangerous for a woman to roam the streets alone, so you took to disguising yourself as best you could to avoid unwanted attention. Aemond did much the same, wearing a hood to cover his long silver hair.

The two of you had known each other since you’d come to King’s Landing from the North, to be his sister’s lady in waiting. You were older than he by a few years, and through the course of your unexpected friendship, often used your seniority against him, teasing that you were wiser and smarter…much to his obvious annoyance.

Aemond’s moods reminded you of the sea, tempestuous and hard to predict. You could tell he made an effort to be as kind as he could be to his mother, sister and even yourself but when Rhaenyra and her children visited King’s Landing, he became downright unpleasant.

That is why you were surprised when Aemond had caught up with you just outside the Red Keep, as you made your way in the direction of Flea Bottom.

“Think you could escape without me?” He panted, catching your elbow.

“Your family just arrived, Aemond. I expected you to be…busy.” You had wanted to say “brooding” but decided not to push your luck.

He made a disgruntled “hmm” noise in the back of his throat. “They are no family of mine.”

You had wisely kept your mouth shut as you continued down the street and out of the city.

The two of you spoke only a little, not like your usual banter, you could tell Aemond’s mind was elsewhere. Before long, it was time to turn away from the green hills and trees and back toward the city. There was to be a private dinner tonight for Aemond and his family, and the sun was already beginning its western descent.

You were not invited, of course, so once back inside the fortress you turned to make your way to the kitchens you liked to snag food from. Aemond caught your arm as you brushed past him. “I wish for you to accompany me.”

Startled, you looked up into his face, his expression, stony, gave nothing away. “It’s a family dinner, I am certainly not invited.”

“I just extended to you an invitation, though it is less a request and more of a command from your prince. You will be part of my family soon, if I have any say in the matter. Now go get dressed. I will meet you outside your rooms.”

Head reeling with the implications of what he’d just said, you nodded numbly and proceeded to your chambers. Deciding on a gown of green to hopefully appease the Queen at your unexpected presence, you quickly got dressed, brushed through your hair, dabbed some rouge on your lips and cheeks, before exiting your room.

Aemond was indeed waiting for you, leaning against the wall with arms crossed, clad in a black leather jerkin and dark green trousers. His usual brown eyepatch, you noticed, had been swapped for a black one, and his straight silver hair gleamed in the torchlight. “You look radiant.” He extended an arm to you, which you took gratefully.

“Tell me the real reason you wish me to come with you, I will be out of place there.” Your fingers gripped the slippery fabric of his sleeve.

“Not as out of place as some.” Aemond growled through his teeth.

He led you into the intimate dining room reserved for the family of the king. Queen Alicent and Rhaenyra already sat at the table, stiffly avoiding each other’s eyes. Rhaenyra’s children and their betrothed were standing on one end of the table while Otto, Helaena and Aegon were standing together at the other. Helaena was busy showing Otto something with evident delight, but Aegon marked your entrance with interest.

Alicent also noticed your arrival on the arm of her son and stood to greet you, a confused half-smile on her lips. “Lady Y/N, it is a pleasure to see you. This is a family gathering, I’m afraid. Aemond?”

“She is my guest for tonight, mother.” Aemond released your arm as you curtsied to the queen, making his way over to Aegon. “I wish for her to be here.”

Alicent’s eyes flicked from you to Aemond before she gave a sigh, “So be it. Y/N, please be welcome.”

She gestured to the table, retaking her own seat and sharing a look with Rhaenyra. You walked to be closer to Aemond, hovering uncertainly as a servant brought up an extra chair. He was engaged in conversation with his brother at the end of the table, long fingers jabbing at the wood of the table, his voice low. “What were you thinking? You have a duty to your house, to Helaena.” You had never heard such venom in his voice before.

Aegon was quick to defend himself, his answering whisper sounding aggrieved. “I got her a present from Dorne to make it up to her.”

“That’s not good enough.” Aemond hissed, but any further argument was interrupted with the arrival of the king.

The decrepit man didn’t even seem to take any notice of your presence, for which you were grateful as everyone took their seats around the long table.

Helaena, turning to take her seat to your right at last saw you and made a happy little noise. “Y/N! I am so happy you’re here!” She squeezed a hug around your shoulders. “Aemond won’t stop talking about you, so I’m not all too surprised.” She leaned toward you conspiratorially, lowering her voice. “I hope this is one of many family dinners you join us for.”

“Sister.” Aemond’s said sharply, tapping his fingers on the table. Helaena gave him a sweet smile and shrug of her shoulders before returning attention to her plate.

His eye flicked to your face before returning to stare at his nephews. The look he was giving them unnerved you, and by the uneasy shifting in their seats, you weren’t the only one.

A round of toasts were made, beginning with Rhaenyra toasting her once-friend Alicent. The atmosphere at the table was uneasy, made even more so when Aegon leaned over to whisper crude things in his nephew’s ear. The dark-haired boy, Jacaerys you remembered, slammed his fists on the table and stood, clearly enraged by what Aegon had said. To your left, Aemond rose silently from his place at the table’s end, looking with menace at the younger boy as though daring him to continue. Jacaerys had the good sense to make a toast of his own, trying to diffuse the tension and retook his seat. Aemond slowly sank back into his own, never taking his eye off the boy.

You knew the reason for his behavior, his hostility. Aemond had told you about that night, shortly after he claimed Vhagar and the following events that led to his eye being cut out.

Trying, in your own way to soften his mood, you reached out under the table and touched the hand that lay on his knee. He jerked it away from you abruptly, causing a splinter of pain to pierce your heart. Aemond only glanced at you a moment, his expression cold.

You felt a small hand rub circles into your back and leaned into Helaena’s comforting touch. You were careful from then on to pay close attention to your food, fighting the dejection creeping into your chest. Beautiful music began to play from the musicians positioned in the corner of the dining room, Jacaerys asked Helaena for a dance. You half-hoped Aemond would ask you to dance as well, but you knew it to be a foolish thought. You felt much like a pawn in a game of chess as you stirred the food on your plate listlessly, it was not something you had ever thought he would make you feel.

Another slam on the oak table made you jump as Aemond rose from his seat yet again, taking his full goblet in hand and raising it to the room.

“Final tribute.” He said evenly looking from one nephew to the other. “To the health of my nephews. Jace…Luc…and Joffrey. Each of them handsome, wise…” He paused a moment, choosing his next words with care. “Strong.”

“Aemond.” Alicent chided sharply.

“Come!” Aemond continued with a small smirk on his lips. “Let us drain our cups to these three strong boys!”

You mirrored Alicent and put your head in your hands. You didn’t need to see the ensuing fight, you heard the clattering of dishware, the impact of a fist on flesh, someone falling to the ground, and at last Daemon’s voice cutting through the mayhem with a sharp “wait!”.

Pressing your palms hard against your eyes before looking around, you stood and took in the tense scene. Aemond stood facing Daemon who had interjected himself between the prince and the Velaryon children. With a “hmm” of annoyance, Aemond walked out of the room, his fists clenched. Perhaps against your better judgement, you followed his retreating form.

“Aemond.” You said, he did not heed your voice as you jogged after him down the empty corridors. “Aemond!”

You caught up with him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Aemond whirled on you like a viper, hair wild about his face, and slammed you against the stone wall. The breath was knocked out of your lungs as one of his hands came to rest against your throat while he placed the other beside your head. “You are exhausting my patience, Y/N. I do not wish to be followed and chastised as I know you intend.”

“You deserve to be followed and chastised. The way you behaved was ridiculous.”

Aemond withdrew the hand next to your head quickly before slamming it back against the stone wall. He took your wrist roughly and dragged you with him down the hall and into his chambers. You hadn’t been in his rooms before, they were very large and well-lit, but you didn’t get much chance to take in the change of scenery before Aemond rounded on you.

“What I find ridiculous is how those bastards get to inherit titles and lands they have no right to.” He began to pace, running a hand through his hair. “And when anyone dares voice what we all know to be true,” Aemond stopped and turned to you, “they are cut down from behind!”

You swallowed, remembering all too well the events in the throne room that took place earlier that week. “That doesn’t give you the right-”

“I have every right!” Aemond shouted, he crossed to you in two strides, taking your chin roughly between his long fingers and yanking your head up to look at him, his breath hot on your face. “They are bastards, Y/N, yet suffer no consequences. Their mother sleeps with whomever she pleases and suffers no consequences. They take my eye! And suffer no consequences!” With his free hand, Aemond gripped his eyepatch and pulled it off his head.

You wished you had breath to gasp, from fear or wonder you knew not which. In the socket of his left eye Aemond had placed a sapphire of shimmering blue. It caught and refracted the firelight in the room, seeming to glow from within. Your own eyes widened as he revealed his face to you, and Aemond seemed to drink in your expression with a sort of wild delight. “I will have his eye in return, or his life.”

Your voice escaped from you in a soft whisper. “Aemond, no.”

His face fell as his purple eye flicked between your own. He released your chin. “Go.”

You reached for him one last time, but Aemond stepped back from you, avoiding your touch like it was something unclean. “Go back to my sister, to your books and your delusions that I am a better man.”

“Aemond-”

“Leave me!” He hissed at you, his curved mouth twisting in a snarl. The sapphire eye flashed crimson a moment from the torch light and you spun for the door, fear racing in your veins.

You all but ran down the carpeted hallways and into your room, sinking to the floor against the heavy door at your back. You buried your head into your arms, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Never had you imagined Aemond to have such a bitter, dangerous side. There were whispers at court of a more unhinged part to the prince, but there were always gossiping at court. Your heart was heavy with the thought the barbed words had had merit.

Aemond was a broken boy which made for a deadly and dangerous man.

Now you saw him as he truly was.