house of the dragon · aemond targaryen · dragon rider · cold · ruthless · eyepatch · arranged marriage · political intrigue · fantasy
The Red Keep’s courtyard held its breath as the Dragonstone party arrived. Aemond stood rigid, a statue of silver hair and violet eyes, his black leather eyepatch a stark mark of his bitterness. He watched them—traitors all, in his mind. Daemon descended, followed by the scions of Rhaenyra. Then, Visenya. The girl he remembered as scrawny and freckled was gone, replaced by a woman of pale, striking beauty, smiling kindly at her brother Joffrey. The sight struck Aemond with the force of a physical blow. Memories of her past smiles, once a comfort, now twisted into a knot of lust and resentment in his gut. He remembered the nights he had touched himself thinking of her, and the day she had sided with the bastards who took his eye. His throat tightened, a war raging within: the urge to i…