The Crownlands

IC:

"Oh, I hate you." Victorya said, face unusually tinged with a hint of red, her normally pale complexion brightened slightly by the effect. "You're an ass."

IC:

"You started it!" Aelix protested, trying to grab the pillow before she could do real damage with it.

"I'm permitted! Unlike you, I have no other options!"

Aelix caught the pillow on her next strike and then pulled it, sending them both plummeting into each other. Aelix's forehead touched against his sister's with surprising, graceful softness, and he met her eyes with his own laughing violet gaze, grinning like he had gone mad.

"I'm sorry. You left yourself wide open for me and I went for it. Okay?" he asked, moving one hand cautiously away from the pillow and putting a hand on her cheek, placing his thumb near the fading dimple by her embarrassed quarter-smile. "I'm sorry."

IC:

"Don't apologize, it was funny. Doesn't mean that you're not an ass."

IC:

"I blame you. You're my muse."

"Apparently you have a very bitchy, boring muse."

"We make each other look better by comparison," Aelix jested again with a quiet, wry wit, before his smile faded and he leaned in to kiss her again. "At least she's not plain."

IC:

"Careful, dear brother. Two kisses in under half an hour, I might start to think you were a would-be suitor." She said teasingly, a dry smile tugging at her lips.

"And yes, she is very much plain. Have you seen her wardrobe lately?"

IC:

"Garments cannot make a horse a beauty."

IC:

Victorya rolled her eyes slightly at the quip, a slight smile playing about the edges of her face. "That's hardly much better, in this regard. If I really wanted to attract any male attention, I'd probably have to become a whore, or dance naked through the camp."

"Not worth the effort."

IC:

"I do, dear brother, and I love you dearly. But," The Targaryen added with a small smile, giving Aelix a slight hug. "One day, you'll find someone amongst your horde of potential suitors that you'll marry, and settle down with. And by that point, I'll probably either have been married off..."

"Or I'll be a grown woman past her prime still sleeping down the hall from her older brother, the liability no one would like to talk about. All the reason to enjoy the years of normality I've got, eh?"

IC:

There was a long pause, Victorya's eyes studying him carefully. Aelix slowly turned and started to stand, but found his departure barred by a tight grip on his wrist.

"Oi, Aelix." She said softly, gently tugging him back down. "What's wrong? And don't give me that "nothing" answer. Other people might not catch it, but I'm your sister. I know you."

IC:

For a few long moments, Victorya was completely silent. Then, finally, she pulled him into an embrace, holding him tightly to her chest. She was still silent, and all Aelix could hear was the steady beating of her heart, and the slow rise and fall of her chest.

"No, you won't. You won't die. Do you know why?" A momentary pause, bad then she spoke again, slightly quieter. "Because I won't let you. Because if you do, I will personally wage a campaign against the gods themselves to get you back."

"But it won't come to that. Because you know that if you die, I'll avenge you or die trying. And I know for a fact that you'd rather suffer a thousand deaths than let that happen." Another pause, before she gently kissed the top of his head.

"You're going to be okay."

IC:

"Why? Why would anyone want to be king of this place?" he asked quietly as her lips brushed his ivory hair.

"The men here are cravens, cravens and assholes; the entire continent is held together by agendas full of death and blood and a few schemes to soak it all up. There's no such thing as peace or hope or love in this place, and Aegon wants a Targaryen dynasty here to last all time. I can't think of anything more miserable in the world."

"I don't know." She admitted quietly, rubbing his back comfortingly. "We needed to go somewhere. I don't know why Aegon chose here, and frankly, I doubt I ever will. It's above my pay grade. I am, in the end, just a pawn in the schemes of those with more influence."

"And now we're stuck with the bill, and that leaves, in my eyes, two clear choices; find a way to escape, or find a way to keep the people I care about safe, no matter how many ruined lives I have to step over to do it."

"Spoken like a true Valyrian. We'll make a dragonlord out of you yet, Princess," Aelix jested softly, looking up at her. "However, sweet sister...I may have lied just a minute ago; I just thought of something worse than a million lifetimes spent tethered to this place."

"What?"

"The rest of one lifetime, without my sister at my side."

IC:

Victorya smiled, a warm, affectionate expression. "Don't worry, that won't happen. Years from now, when you're married and you want me to leave you alone for a while, it still won't happen."

"I'll be occupying your spare bedroom to the end of time, no matter how annoyed you become by the arrangement."

IC:

"..."

"Hey, Aelix?" She asked after a moment, pausing before continuing. "You'd tell me if something was wrong, right? Or if I ever misunderstood you?"

"I love you, dear brother. But frankly, your current behavior... Worries me."

IC:

Violet eyes searched his face intently. Something still didn't seem right, but perhaps that was her own worry rather than reality. Slowly, she drew him back into another hug, a smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

"Good. Think positive; when you get back, I'll finally get off your back and stop worrying so much. If you're lucky, maybe I'll even vacate the tent long enough for you to bring someone back for... Ahem, celebration."

A pause, though she started to open her mouth, as if trying to decide how to say what she wanted to. "By the way... Oh, never mind. Nothing important. You've got bigger things to deal with."

IC:

"It's not important." She protested, rolling her eyes slightly. "If I bothered you with every thought of mine I spent even a second thinking of mentioning, you'd never get anything done."