"Mommy!" Four year old Aelin calls out to her mother, Alicent, when she heard her voice "Mommy! Over here!"
Queen Alicent Hightower was with Ser Criston speaking to him about decency and how Rhaenyra is shaking the Targaryen and Velaryon name by birthing another dark haired Strong bastard. They heard Aelin's voice, looking over a servant is holding Aelin as they go for their morning walk "My sweetling" Alicent goes over and takes Aelin from the servant "going around for your daily walk?" Alicent looks into Aelin's blurry eyes wishing that her daughter could see or even knowing what Aelin's eyes look like.
Aelin nods her head "We were going to feel the flowers later today, help me feel which flowers are which"
"Hopefully none of the roses" Alicent looks at the servant.
The servant shakes her head no "I was planning on having the princess feel the flowers: hyacinths, peonies, tulips, and lavenders"
Alicent nods her head in approval "Mommy? Is Ser Criston Cole beside you?"
"He is" Alicent confirms "how do you know?"
"I can smell him" Aelin says smiling before waving her hand "Hello, Ser Criston"
"Princess" Ser Criston greets her
"Is it true Rhaenyra" Aelin asks "birthed another bastard?" The adults are silent as they stare at the little girl "Why are they considered bastards? Is it because Rhaenyra spends too much time with Lord Commander Harwin Strong than her own husband?"
"How" Alicent asks "do you know Princess Rhaenyra spends more time with the Lord Commander?"
Aelin's cheeks heat up as she blushes "I...maybe" putting her hands together twiddling her thumbs "went out late one night...and I....and I may...maybe" not wanting to tell her mother the truth.
"Aelin" Alicent's voice is firm
"I wanted to walk by myself" Aelin says at last "not be carried around, so I went walking and then I heard noises between Princess Rhaenyra and the Lord Commander" the adults stare at her.
"Aelin" Alicent sighs sadly "you can't go walking by yourself, you might hurt yourself"
"But maybe" Aelin asks "I could start walking with a servant instead of having be carried everywhere?"
"Aelin"
"Please mommy" Aelin grabs Alicent's hands "I don't want to be carried around for the rest of my life" Alicent thinks it over, what her daughter is asking before conceding.
"Alright" Aelin smiles brightly clapping her hands together.
"Gisla" Aelin turns to the servant by her side "Can we go to the courtyard and listen to my brother's spar?"
"How about we visit the gardens?" She suggests when she notices the horrified face the queen is making at the thought of her baby who can't see by weapons.
"Alright" Aelin agrees, she holds her hand out "Bye mommy, bye Ser Criston" waving her free hand as the servant leads Aelin to the gardens.
Alicent stares at her daughter's retreating form "The Princess Rhaenyra flaunts her entitlement around that" her voice filled with anger and hatred "that my daughter who can't see, she can hear the rumors and apparently knows what goes on between the two"
"The Princess" Ser Criston says "is brazen and relentless. A spider who stings and sucks her prey dry. A spoiled cunt" Alicent gives him a look saying he must not speak of such things "That was beneath me your grace, I apologize"
"I have to believe" Alicent says "for the sake of my children, that in the end honor and decency will prevail. We need to hew to that and to each other"
Aelin who is walking with Gisla through the gardens, hears her older sister Helaena talking about legs "Helaena" Aelin calls out.
Helaena looks up smiling seeing her little sister "Aelin" Aelin feels the breeze Helaena waves over, so Aelin runs over to her sister. Helaena catches Aelin "Mother letting you walk around?" Helaena guides Aelin's hand so that Aelin can feel Helaena's face.
Aelin nods her head "We're here to identify flowers" placing her hand downs, a centipede starts to crawl up her hand and arm "is this a bug?"
Helaena smiles "It's a centipede"
"How many feed does it have?" Aelin moved her other hand to pet it "it's hard"
"Those are the scales" Helaena tells her "it has nearly a hundred legs, the scales are brown"
Aelin gasps "Is it like a dragon?" Deep down Aelin wishes she could mount a dragon but knows her mother won't let her go near a dragon or have a dragon egg be near her.
"In a way" Helaena takes the centipede away from her "here's a hyacinth" handing her sister a hyacinth she plucked.
Aelin takes it and feels the flower "What color is this?"
"A light purple" Helaena says "what do you feel?"
"It's smooth" Aelin puts the flower to her nose "and smells sweet with some aquatic accents with tiny bits of a spiciness but mostly a sweet smell" she leans over and grabs a lavender "What's this? It feels like a Hyacinth but not as fat, it's more skinny and taller"
"It's a lavender" Helaena and Aelin look over hearing Aemond's voice "Mother told us you were visiting the flowers"
"Hey" Aegon picks Aelin up taking her from Helaena "it seems your finally being let outside" the siblings know that Alicent has been making it so that Aelin can't go outside of the Red Keep even if it's to see the gardens.
"Yeah" nodding her head, Aelin holds her hand up and Aegon guides her hand to his face "Is it true Rhaenyra had another bastard?" Aegon scoffs sitting down, the siblings sit around Aelin. Helaena brushes Aelin's hair before going to braid it.
"Where" Aemond asks, Aelin's hand goes to his face "did you hear that?"
"People talk" Aelin says "but also is Rhaenyra in a relationship with the Lord Commander?" They stare at her "I heard them once talking in hushed tones about loving each other" the older siblings share a look, worried that if Aelin says this to the wrong person she could get hurt.
"Don't say this before father" Aemond warns "you could get in a lot of trouble"
"Why?"
"Because" Aegon says "Rhaenyra is father's favorite and that she could do terrible things"
"Can I see you guys train?" Aelin whispers
"You can't see us silly" Aegon taps her nose
"But I can hear" she reached over and grabs Aegon's ear, not pulling it hard but tugging it lightly.
