Chapter 50: Aegon’s Wailing

"Brother..."

Helena's face lit up when she saw Rhaegar, her voice tinged with misery as she called out.

Rhaegar glanced at her, his tone neither happy nor angry as he asked, "Being bullied again?"

"Aegon wants my bracelet..."

Tears streamed down Helena's cheeks as she recounted her ordeal, her young voice trembling with anguish.

"I see."

Rhaegar nodded, rolling up his sleeve to reveal his own bracelet.

Undeterred, Aegon slapped Helena on the head and admonished, "I'm your brother, not him. Stop calling him brother."

Helaena flinched at the blow, but her gaze remained defiant as she bit her lip, refusing to cower before Aegon.

Undeterred, Aegon continued, "Stop staring at me. I'll teach you a lesson later."

Turning to Rhaegar, he reached for his bracelet and suggested, "Give me your bracelet. Then Helena and I can each have one, and I won't take hers anymore."

Watching Aegon's chubby hand reach out, Rhaegar smiled knowingly.

But before Aegon's fingers could touch the bracelet, another hand intercepted his.

"What are you doing?"

Aegon's expression changed, his voice tinged with embarrassment as he questioned the sudden interruption.

With a gentle smile, Rhaegar replied, "Since you like bracelets so much, I'll give you one."

With a swift motion, Rhaegar pulled his arm back, causing Aegon to lose his balance and stumble away from Helaena.

As Aegon fell to the ground with a soft scream, he tried to regain his footing, but his efforts were in vain.

Thud

Aegon's back was crushed under the weight of a foot, causing him to scream in pain.

"Ah! What are you doing? Let me go or I'll call mother..."

Desperately trying to wriggle free, Aegon tried to move, but his efforts were met with fierce resistance.

Rhaegar quickly rolled over and straddled him, forcefully restraining his arm and delivering a stern ultimatum: "You broke your own sister's fingers. I'm going to break my own brother's arm. Fair enough?"

"No, please, I was wrong! Let me go!"

Aegon's screams echoed down the hall as Rhaegar continued to apply pressure.

Unable to tolerate Aegon's incessant wailing, Rhaegar removed his buckskin shoes, pulled out two yellowed socks, and shoved them into Aegon's mouth.

"Your own socks, never mind!"

Rhaegar chuckled softly before grabbing Aegon by the hair and dragging him outside.

Having already given Helaena a replacement bracelet, Rhaegar had another one prepared in his cabin, especially for Aegon.

As Helaena watched Rhaegar drag Aegon away like a sack of potatoes, she stood frozen in place, torn between wanting to follow them and being haunted by fragmented memories of a terrible incident.

"Fire... Watch out for the flames..."

Overwhelmed with fear, Helaena screamed in distress, her anguished cries echoing down the corridor and catching the attention of a passing maid.

...

Rhaegar dragged Aegon all the way to his cabin, his grip tightening with each step.

As Aegon's terrified eyes begged for mercy, Rhaegar threw him inside and slammed the hatch shut.

With a scornful sneer, Rhaegar declared, "The bracelet was a gift from me to Helena. By taking it from her, you disrespect me!"

"Now it's time for you to learn the consequences of disrespecting me."

Feigning a search under the bed, Rhaegar retrieved a replacement fake bracelet from his space bracelet.

Holding the fake up to Aegon's trembling form, he taunted, "Like it? It'll be yours in a moment."

The ship sailed through the cold, damp sea air, but each cabin was equipped with a heater for warmth.

Rhaegar opened the heater and removed the iron sheet covering the coals.

The fiery coals glowed red as he dropped the false bracelet into them.

The steel bracelet quickly absorbed the heat, turning red with intensity.

Rhaegar used a rag to retrieve the scorching bracelet and approached Aegon with an evil smile, beckoning him forward, "Come, dear brother."

"No! You can't do this to me! Father wouldn't allow it!"

Aegon's screams filled the cabin as he desperately tried to back away, his mouth free of the sock.

Ignoring his protests, Rhaegar kicked him in the chest, forcing him to the ground.

With a predatory stance, Rhaegar held the scalding steel bracelet close to Aegon's face.

"Don't you like it? If I promised it to you, it's yours."

Dodging Aegon's feeble attempts to push him away, Rhaegar leaned forward and held the blistering steel bracelet against Aegon's skin with unrelenting force.

...

The handmaiden carried Helaena, who had passed out from crying, and hurried to Alicent's cabin.

Ignoring Harrold's inquiries, she banged hard on the hatch door, her urgency palpable.

When he noticed the unconscious little princess, Harrold's face drained of color. "What happened here?" he demanded.

The maid, too frantic to speak, continued to pound on the door.

Crunch-

Beneath the relentless pounding, the hatch swung open quickly from the inside.

Alicent, clad in a nightgown, emerged, her expression filled with concern as she saw Helaena's limp form.

Fear gnawed at Alicent as she took her daughter into her arms. "What happened? How did Helaena faint?" she asked worriedly.

"The princess collapsed in tears and kept mumbling the names of Princes Aegon and Rhaegar before she lost consciousness," the handmaiden replied, her voice shaking.

"Aegon! What has happened to Aegon and how is Rhaegar involved?" Alicent's distress deepened as she learned of her son's involvement, her gaze piercing the maid's.

The handmaiden recoiled slightly in fear and whispered, "The princess mentioned something about being careful with fire, but I couldn't make sense of it.

Alarmed at her daughter's condition, Alicent's eyes widened, her unease reaching a fever pitch.

"Watch over Helaena," she told the maid firmly, then turned to Harrold. "Ser, something must have happened to Aegon and Rhaegar. I'll look for Aegon; you go to Rhaegar's quarters."

With that, she dashed off, her footsteps echoing in her frantic rush.

Only two steps into her dash, Alicent stopped abruptly in her tracks.

Remembering the mishap at Rhaegar's last birthday party, when Aegon had been shoved into the cake, Alicent's eyes widened with concern.

"I'll go to Rhaegar's quarters; you look for Aegon," she ordered firmly, her voice tinged with urgency.

Sensing an imminent threat to her son, Alicent hurried to where she suspected Rhaegar might be.

Navigating through the ship's vast hold, Alicent traversed deep corridors until she reached a cluster of royal cabins set close together.

As she approached another corridor, she was suddenly assaulted by Aegon's agonized cries echoing through the passageway.

"By the Sevens," Alicent murmured fervently, invoking a prayer for her child's safety as she quickened her pace toward Rhaegar's cabin.

Arriving at the hatch, Alicent kicked it open with fierce determination, ignoring the pain shooting through her feet.

Inside, she was met with a harrowing sight: Aegon, cornered and begging for mercy, while Rhaegar stood over him, brandishing a scorching steel bracelet.

Fury coursed through Alicent's veins as she bellowed, "Stop! Release him now!"

Turning to face Alicent's wrathful advance, Rhaegar's demeanor changed and she forcibly pushed past him, allowing Alicent to cradle the sobbing Aegon in her arms.

With a clatter, the steel bracelet fell to the floor, leaving scorched marks on the wooden surface.

Alicent's shock and indignation surged at the sight before her.

Confronting Rhaegar with fury, she lashed out, "You madman! Aegon is your brother, yet you would subject him to torture with a burning bracelet!"

Rising to his feet, Rhaegar brushed off his wounded pride and retorted icily, "I am not Aegon. He may torment his sister, but I refuse to persecute my own brother that way."

He pulled the steel bracelet from the ground, seemingly unaffected by the searing heat, and cast a scornful look at the stunned Aegon.

"Only a coward would prey on defenseless girls while lacking the courage to face a true challenge," he taunted, his voice dripping with contempt.

(Word Count: 1305)