VALAENA ENTERED THE keep with a soaked dress and puffy eyes. She uselessly tried wiping away the stained tears on her face as she strode through the corridors with Ser Donnel closely behind. They had not spoken since they left the mountain, and perhaps it was best left unspoken.

She turned the corner and resisted the urge to turn and flee when her eyes caught onto the familiar head of white hair that was so prevalent in her family. Her pacing slowed as her cousin caught sight of her, surprise crossing his features as they stopped before each other rather awkwardly. 

Although younger than her, Aemond towered over Valaena's small frame as he stared down at her. His eyes glanced over her rather frazzled appearance before clearing his throat.

"I didn't see you at the funeral," Aemond broke the silence first, watching Valaena's gaze wander everywhere but on him. 

"I didn't realize it had ended already," Valaena deflected as she fiddled with her hands nervously.

"People are simply offering their condolences now," Aemond informed her, watching her head nod in acknowledgment as she glanced down towards the floor.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Aemond blurted out after an awkward silence had passed.

Valaena froze at his words, hands dropping down to her sides as she slowly looked up to meet his gaze. Sympathetic purple eyes met her own as she felt her breath catch in her throat and her eyes began to water again.

Nothing else could be said even as Aemond opened his mouth to speak again, Valaena pushing past him quickly as she ran away. She could hear Ser Donnel giving the prince his apologies before hurrying after her. Valaena paid no mind as she rushed into her room, slamming the doors firmly behind her. Ser Donnel would not enter no matter how worried he was, and that was exactly what she wanted. 

She threw herself onto her bed, shoving he face into a pillow before releasing a loud scream that became muffled.

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The last thing Valaena expected was to be shaken in the middle of the night to find her bed crowded by younger children. A soft groan escaped her lips as she rubbed her eyes, tiredly opening them to reveal her sisters and cousins gathered around her bed with wide eyes.

"Has something happened?" Valaena rushed to sit up in her bed, releasing a yawn as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"I told them not to wake you," Baela explained, opening her mouth to continue only to be interrupted.

"Mother always said we could go to you," Lucerys butted in, catching Valaena off guard as he stared at her with wide, frightened eyes. She hadn't seen him since he was a baby, and now he was almost seven years of age with dark curls. He probably didn't even remember her, and yet she had fond memories of watching him play in the gardens during her time spent at the Red Keep.

"It's an emergency," Rhaena pleaded, pulling Valaena's attention away as she looked upon the faces of the four children at her bedside. "Someone's stolen Vhagar."

Valaena furrowed her eyebrows as glanced between the children, wondering if she had heard them right.

"Stolen?" Valaena questioned. She was under the impression that dragons could not be stolen, only claimed. Perhaps she had missed a lesson from her father somewhere when he spoke of dragons. She wasn't overly fond of remembering the details he sprouted, only wishing to forget about dragons and their existence. If only to forget that she was a disappointment for not having one.

"He was supposed to be mine to claim," Rhaena continued with tears in the corner of her eyes. "Please, Valaena?"

Valaena knew she could not resist the pleadings of her sisters, much as she hated the very idea of being near a dragon. She released a loud groan, throwing back the thick covers as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The children moved back as she hopped onto the cool stone floor, grabbing her coat from beside the bed and shrugging it on. She hurried to the door, the children following closely behind as she threw open her bedroom doors.

The hallway was eerily silent as they stepped into the hall, her eyes squinting at the bright torches littering the hallway as her vision blurred for a few moments. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she glanced down both sides of the hallway as she found there wasn't a knight in sight. Ser Donnel had been with her all day, so it was no surprise that he wasn't on her night patrol. Why there were no other knights outside her rooms, Valaena had no time to wonder.

A warm hand grasped her hand, pulling her attention away as she was surprised to find it was not Rhaena at her side. Her younger cousin, Lucerys Velaryon had been the nervous child to reach for her hand, his own shaking in her grip.

"Come on," Valaena muttered as she began leading the children down the corridor.

She may not have ever gone down to the dragon pits of Driftmark, but Valaena certainly knew where they were. She had been terrified of accidentally stumbling upon them when they lived there, and had taken it upon herself to memorize the layout of the castle.

Valeana tried to ignore the fear creeping in the back of her mind as they descended down the dark staircase to the dragon pit, knowing if they were to run into any dragons she would be useless. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, she felt her steps slow and her heartbeat quicken. Jacaerys stepped out ahead, peaking around the corner as she felt Lucerys squeeze her hand even tighter.

Baela shuffled forward next, joining Jacaerys in trying to catch the new rider of Vhagar. Valeana swallowed thickly as she watched them move away from the cover of the wall and through the dragon pit entrance. She tried not to let her nerves show as she followed after them, Lucerys pressing closely to her side as he walked with her.

"I don't like this," Lucerys echoed Valaena's own thoughts as they continued down the tunnel. No one answered as another set of footsteps echoed throughout the tunnel, but this time from another direction.

"Perhaps Lucerys is right," Valaena stated as she glanced around the pit uneasily. "We shouldn't be down here without-"

Her words trailed off as Aemond appeared down the end of the tunnel, a smug look on his face as he caught sight of them.

"It's him," Rhaena accused angrily, Aemond seeming unfazed as he carelessly threw his cloak off.

"It's me," he responded as he looked upon the disheveled children in front of him. Valeana could feel the tense atmosphere growing as a knot grew in her stomach, stepping in front of Lucerys slightly as she felt things were about to go terribly wrong.

"Vhagar is my mother's dragon," Rhaena spat at her cousin as Valaena couldn't help but think was. Vhagar was her mother's dragon. Not anymore, not since her death.

"Your mother's dead," Aemond's harsh words brought a frown to Valaena's face as anger bubbled in her chest. "Vhagar has a new rider now."

"She was mine to claim," Rhaena's voice lifted into a yell, the anger clear in her tone as she curled her fists at her side.

"Then you should have claimed her," Aemond shot back, uncaring about her feelings as he continued. "Maybe your cousins can find you a pig to ride. It would suit you."

"A pig?" Valaena muttered confusingly just as Rhaena lunged at Aemond with a loud yell. "Rhaena, no!"

Valaena was too late to stop her sister's attack, watching as she was easily shoved to the ground. She quickly stepped backward with Lucerys, trying to cover his eyes as Baela landed a solid punch on Aemond that caused him to stumble back several steps. There was a brief moment of silence before Aemond lunged forward and landed a blow on Baela that sent her flying to the ground.

"Come at me again and I'll feed you to my dragon," Aemond threatened, only angering the others further as Jacaerys charged at him next.

"Jace!" Valeana exclaimed to no avail as she watched him land a punch. It wasn't quite as effective as Baela's punch, or perhaps Aemond was just prepared this time "Stop it all of you!"

She was ignored as they fought each other, exchanging a few blows before Aemond was able to kick Jacaerys to the ground.

Lucerys took advantage of Valaena's distraction as he ran from her loosened grip before she could stop him, releasing a loud scream while he ran at Aemond. Being twice his size, Aemond had no problem punching Lucerys to the ground with a single blow as Valeana released a gasp. Jacaerys used the opportunity to catch Aemond off guard, coming back and shoving him to the ground before punching him repeatedly. The others joined him as they all ganged up on Aemond as Valaena watched helplessly.

She glanced around the dark tunnels of the dragon pit, wondering why there were no guards. It should have been impossible for so many of the royal family to have been left unattended. Valaena looked back at the group, finally springing into action as she ran up to her sisters and cousins to try and pull them off Aemond.

"Stop it," Valaena ordered as she tried, and failed to pull them back. "That is enough, all of you."

"Stay back, Valaena," Jacaerys ordered as he harshly shoved her away, causing her to stumble back a few steps.

It was no use. Valaena may have been older than all of them, but she was smaller and weaker.

She stumbled back as Baela was pushed back onto her, sending them both sprawling to the ground as she felt a sharp pain to her head. Her vision darkened for a slight moment as she sat upright, the world spinning around her. Valaena reached up to her forehead and winced at the pain that followed.

"Valaena, are you alright?" Baela knelt worriedly by her side as Valaena pulled her hand away to reveal blood-stained fingers.

Valaena didn't answer as her eyes trained behind her sister, her blood boiling as she watched Aemond grab Luke by the neck. A rock hovered above their heads in his hands as he seemed prepared to smash it into Lucerys' head. He was saying something, but Valaena didn't care as she rushed onto her feet. The next moment she found herself throwing herself forward, using her momentum to throw both her and Aemond to the floor together.

It worked as he lost his grip on Lucerys and the rock, hitting the ground harshly as Valaena landed on top of him. Aemond stared up at her in shock, surprised a small girl could take him down. His eyes narrowed at the wound on her head, confusion spreading across his features as he didn't remember fighting Valaena at all.

"Get off me, bastard," Aemond spat as he easily shoved Valaena off him, ignoring the small squeak of surprise that escaped her lips as she fell onto the sand.

"Don't call her that!" Lucerys screamed as he rushed at Aemond.

"Enough!" Valaena shouted as she found herself between Aemond and Lucerys, reaching out and grabbing Lucerys before he could do any more harm. Her breath was heavy as she felt her head throbbing from her head wound, but pushed past the pain as she tried to gain control of the situation.

The others had paused momentarily in their fight, staring at the young girl as they all tried regaining their breaths. Aemond narrowed his eyes at Valaena's back, his blood boiling at the thought of a bastard defending him. He reached down and picked up the rock he dropped earlier, his fingers squeezing around it until his fists were a pale white. He strutted towards Valaena, unsure if he was actually going to hit her over the head with it, but would never find out.

"Valaena, watch out!" Jacaerys warned, rushing forward and pushed her out of the way of danger as he charged Aemond. It was then that Valaena noticed the knife in his hand and her stomach dropped in horror.

Aemond dodged the knife easily, kicking Jacaerys to the ground as the knife was knocked out of his hand. Lucerys struggled against Valaena's grip, ignoring her shouts of protest as she fought back. It was no use as Lucerys finally slipped through, launching himself towards the knife. Valaena glanced up at Aemond, who held a rock above Jacaerys as he prepared to attack him with it.

Valaena hesitated.

It happened so quickly that she wondered if she had seen it at all.

What she did remember was the screaming. And the blood. There was so much blood. Valaena felt her stomach churn and bile rise in her throat as Aemond fell to the ground, blood gushing from his eye at an alarming rate.

"Oh my god," Valaena muttered, horror washing over her face as she watched Aemond whither in pain on the ground.

Shouts rang from down the tunnels as Valaena glanced between Aemond and Lucerys. They only had a few moments before knights would swarm them and realize what had happened.

Valaena didn't think as she rushed towards Lucerys, who stood over Aemond as he breathed heavily. The knife was gripped tightly in his hands, soaked in the blood of his uncle.

"Are you okay?" Valaena reached up, stroking Lucerys' face as she looked for any signs of injuries. She reached up and wiped the blood from his face, erasing any sign of what he had done. She did not receive a response, but it did not matter. He was not physically injured and that was all that mattered at the moment.

Valaena reached down, grabbing the knife from Lucerys' hand and taking it into her own.

She stepped back just as the guards entered the tunnel, their voices frantic as they took in the scene before them. The Targaryen prince bent over screaming in pain as his face bled while the bastard stood before him with a bloodied knife.