Jacaerys Velaryon X You - Blog Posts

TAKE ME OUT.

+ . jacaerys velaryon x f!targaryen!reader

synopsis. once is an accident, twice is a mistake, three times is an addiction. and jacaerys is an addict. though you are too.

3 + . contents. no use of y/n or any variation. cunnilingus. p in v. missionary. period/canon-typical incest. creampie. infidelity. fluff. maybe angst if you squint. 3.3k words.

In his mind that first time will forever remain. Like a painting made of oils behind his eyelids, through the grooves and dips of his brain. When you had come to his aid after a particularly rough and hostile confrontation with your husband Aemond. Jacaerys knew you were as Helaena was – not of the serpent behavior of your brothers or mother. You were kind, gentle. Aiding him as if you were a cat licking the wounds of a kitten despite his two years held over you in age. Jacaerys can still remember the way you apologized for Aemond, the way you explained that he was not all bad and he was only upset by the sureness of “bastards taking the throne”. He can still recall how warm he felt when you quickly apologized for using such a word, overexplaining the way in which they were of Targaryen blood no matter what anyone said.

But what Jacaerys can remember most vividly is the first time he kissed someone. The moment his lips caught yours. His aunt who was once his childhood friend, a girl he rode the dragon with first, a girl who he’d allow to play with his sword. A relationship torn by opposing views and scrutinizing eyes. And a relationship he so selfishly mourned and grieved for feelings past that of family and friend – that he took initiative to – for once – be selfish.

Despite how vivid the night was, Jacaerys often finds difficulty truly seeing the painting beneath his eyelids and draping his brain. But the sounds are there. The sound of your soft moans and skin hitting skin, the sound of his name leaving your lips around air of pleasure and need. Then the touches. How your hands felt in his choppy hair, how soft your hand was in guiding his cock to your cunt warm and fitted perfectly to him. The ghost of your lips. Jacaerys can remember such details so vividly he could retell the tale in High Valyrian.

He also remembers the oath you both made. When the panic from him and tears of guilt from you subsided and you both agreed to never speak of what happened – to forget it.

For a while you both did good. Six months and nothing occurred. Until Rhaena and Lucerys’s wedding celebrations and Jacaerys found his hands woven in your hair and his cock sheathed in your throat.

Then again. An oath, a promise that nothing would happen again.

Jacaerys should’ve been strong when you came to him in search of comfort from the rain three months after that second incident; you’ve always been so terrified of the rain because with rain comes thunder. He should have been strong-willed and turned you away or at the very least offered to comfort you where anyone could see you two, where guards were around. But Jacaerys was weak again. He was weak and desperate, the effort of guiding you to the library not enough to stop what pulled the two of you like flames to dry grass.

You wound up bent over a table, dress bunched around your hips and cheek pressed into the oak.

No more oaths were made, no more promises.

You both couldn’t cheat, sin, and lie. Even if the two were sin all the same. Jacaerys indulged, by Gods was he selfish – greedy and desperate. In your embrace he did not care of damnation, he found more than enough Heaven for an eternity buried in you with those pretty eyes gazing up at him and soft hands clutching him like you might die if you let go. Jacaerys indulged like Aegon did with his wine. You were something more intoxicating and inescapable than the most alluring of sins and vices. Truth be told, Jacaerys was willing and ready to die for his sins, to pay and to spend the rest of his eternity in an inferno of suffering.

Jacaerys cannot – he could not – ever repent. For that he would need to be sorry.

Unfortunately, your remorse was there. Your guilt. From constant visits to the sept, to trembling around Aegon, to being unable to look at Jacaerys for days after any interaction of the lurid kind – Jacaerys knew you were feeling a need to repent for the sins you were committing. And eventually, unfortunately, you soon put a stop to it all. In the afterglow of orgasm with his seed spilling between your thighs and his arms around your waist.

To say he was crushed would be an understatement. Jacaerys was devastated to know you wished to end things. Moments of not just sex but love – an intimacy unfathomable to any unfortunate enough to not feel such an embrace. But Jacaerys respected your wishes, he respected the fact that you did not wish to continue in adultery, infidelity, sin and depravity with your nephew while having two children and a husband. No matter what a cunt that husband was, Jacaerys accepted it. He knew he could accept anything for you, even if it meant mourning you despite your life still vibrant and forever present in the Keep.

A year. He’s shown restraint, his relationship with you has moments of fleeting looks and lingering touches but you are both as you were. Aunt and nephew, caring and adoring one another despite what many obstacles may offer to such a relationship. Twelve months. Jacaerys has been looking for a betrothed, a bride to take before his coronation to take the Iron Throne. It isn’t a necessity, no, it never is for a man yet he still searches. He ignores the manner in which every option to even brush his interest resembles you in one way or another. Three-hundred and sixty-five days. You’ve grown close, you spent time together plenty and he spends just the same means of time with your beautiful children. A year and Jacaerys has been so obedient, a gentleman as he was raised and a man of honor and strong-will just the same.

Nothing’s set him off. Not the beauty of you in your gowns. Not your breastfeeding. Not the manner in which you touched him. Not the close calls of close proximity – not even a drunken stolen kiss from him. Jacaerys has shown resilience and strength, he’s shown himself to be a man of honor and strong-will in the face of something only the Gods would be cruel enough to dangle before him.

So why now? Why now is his heart racing, his heart thumping, his skin burning – why now does he feel the same as the night he first kissed you?

“Nephew?” Your voice is clear in the air, slicing through his clouded thoughts and mind.

Jacaerys brings himself to the present, over a year later from the moment everything changed and he blinks with a hard shift of his adam’s apple.

A small smile twitches up at the corner of your lips, you hold your pointer finger between the pages of the book in the beautiful library. Adorned in sleepwear, hair let loose and skin free of expensive jewelry and intricate fabrics, you’re a glowing painting in the candlelight. “I’m surprised to see you here.” You hum, voice quiet beneath the silence of the Keep where all sleep.

Where most sleep.

Jacaerys, having sought escape from a restless bed, nods as he steps closer towards you. “I–hope I’m not disturbing you, aunt. I couldn’t sleep. I never can when it’s too cold.” He honestly speaks with tentative and cautious steps. When you smile softly, a slightly pulled-back smile, you wave a hand over. Jacaerys melts internally and his steps become far more comfortable as he walks over to take the seat beside you on the beautiful chaise of smooth crimson velvet and golden accenting along the mahogany details. “What keeps you up?” Jacaerys asks, knowing he should simply leave as your eyes fall back down to the book you peel open.

Sighing gently, you shrug loosely and your eyes trace the words while you speak to him. “I’m unsure. I’ve been plenty restless as of late.” Then you look to him and scrunch up your nose at him. “Have you wished ill upon me for my teasing early this day? You do know it was your fault you fell.” You muse with a smile on your lips, setting aside the book and shifting closer to him.

Jacaerys’s soft laughter fills the air and he shakes his head, his eyes noticing your own taking notice of the small scrape against one of his high cheekbones. “If you had not tripped me, I wouldn’t have fallen.” The prince pointedly remarks. “I forget how serious you are of threats to take your sweets.” He grins, brown eyes gazing into your beautiful features. You roll your eyes but he can see the concern in your brows. Can you feel the warmth of his skin? The fisting of his hands in his nightcloths? Perhaps you may even see the need in his gaze?

“Well – do not toy with such matters again.” You remark, seemingly satisfied with what you see. Leaning back, your knees still touch his leg. “Does it still hurt? You should have seen the maester.” Falling into a soft murmur, your words just barely reach his ears the moment the pads of your ring finger and middle finger brush along the shallow scrape his face took against the stone wall of the corridor to the kitchen. In the wake of your touch follows fire.

Jacaerys’s heart thumps in his ears as he looks along your features, you look along his just the same. Tension settling in the air is palpable for the heir to the throne. Thick and hot like the breath of a dragon before fire should hit the flesh. It’s selfish and cruel of him to wonder if you’re feeling the same, looking at him expectantly with your fingertips just ghosting over the injury he can no longer feel. Truthfully, entirely, one could shove a spear through him right now and he wouldn’t feel it. All he can feel is you.

All there is – is you.

But he can’t have you. It would be wrong for him to indulge, to capture your mouth and find his way on top of you. Jacaerys cannot go against your wishes, against your wants. Even if you’re giving him those eyes. Half-lidded. Even if you’re breathless with parted lips. Even if you’re still gently touching his injury numb and static beneath your fingertips. Jacaerys cannot take what he wants, he cannot be selfish any longer in this situation. Especially not here, not where any one might catch you two. Not when you wished for such sinful things to never happen again. Jacaerys can’t.

“Kiss me.” You almost whine.

Now he can.

Hands calloused at the upper palms grab your face immediately, lips catching yours for a kiss so bruising he can almost feel your teeth through the flesh.

Jacaerys’s dark eyes screwing shut and darker eyebrows sewing upwards as you take his face. One hand cautious of the injury while the other grips his face like he’s your source of air. The time of tentative and slow kisses was gone long ago and even with just shy over a year apart – it still is gone when Jacaerys feels your tongue slip into the hot cavern of his mouth. A moan leaves his mouth to echo in your own, one of his hands slipping to grab at your hair at the base of your skull against the scalp.

Fisting your hair and pushing himself forward, you lie back on the chaise. Wet, hot, open-mouthed kisses fill the silent air of the library as Jacaerys’s hand not fisted in your hair begins to undo the soft satin lacing at the back of your dress. Your thighs spread and his knees press into the cushion of the chaise, dress bunching along your upper thighs to bring space for his hips between them. Jacaerys feels the fabric loosening, he feels your hands slipping down to undo the fabric of his trousers, your tongue, pants from your nostrils against his cheek, the heat of your face…

Jacaerys feels everything but guilt and remorse.

Yet still, he pulls away despite his inner need screaming and shouting at him. Your wide eyes look up at him, his fabric loose and low on his hips and your own loose and low along your shoulders and breasts. Panting raggedly, heavily, your brows twitch and hot gaze is questioning. Jacaerys nods gently as the hand not supporting his weight beside your head now comes to cradle your cheek. A thumb smooths your swollen lower lip. “Are you certain?” Jacaerys asks, his voice hoarse with lust and love.

Your gaze softens and your shoulders relax, looking up at him, your tongue flicks out and catches the skin of his thumb. Jacaerys shudders. “I’ve missed you. I could not be more sure.” And Jacaerys leans down with a shuddery exhale.

Soft pink lips ghost your jaw and soft kisses become hot and wet ones along the base of your throat. Trembling hands tugging down the fabric of your neckline and revealing breasts he’s ached and yearned for. Eager, warm hands grope and squeeze at the soft flesh and your soft moans fill the air. Pure ecstasy rolls off your tongue as he gropes at the flesh, fingers catching hardened nipples between them and rolling them. When a cheeky pinch is a bit too hard, you choke out a whine and your hips jerk upwards. Jacaerys’s mouth dances along collarbones then down towards your sternum.

But he shifts his mouth and catches one of your nipples in his hot mouth. Your body arches up into him and he basks in your responsiveness. Tweaking at your other nipple while his tongue flicks and works along the one in his mouth, your sounds keep his trousers up with the hardness of his cock tenting the fabric.

Jacaerys is a man starved and you are not his meal but the God blessing him with one.

When his head finds solace beneath your dress, the scent along of your wet cunt makes him dizzy. You’re panting raggedly already as his lips kiss at your sensitive inner thighs and fingertips ghost the flesh. The way you twitch and whine in annoyance brings a smile to his lips. But he can’t handle teasing you, doing so simply pulling him taut all the more and his mouth finds you again.

Basking in the taste that envelopes his mouth, Jacaerys holds your thighs as his tongue licks up your folds to flick against the sensitive clit throbbing and aching already. Your moans echo in the library, hands grasping the golden lining of the chaise lounge seat and the cushion beneath you. Jacaerys should care more about your volume, you should care more about your volume. But neither of you do care. Especially not the prince that feels your cunt clench around his tongue that basks in the gummy feeling of your walls while his nose moves against your clit.

“J-Jacaerys!” You cry out when he pulls away. “Wh–What–why–”

“Shh shh…” Jacaerys pants raggedly once he slips out from beneath your dress. You look up at him on the brink of tears and he shakes his head. “I want us to come together.” He whispers hoarsely, licking his mouth with a stickiness off his chin and along the bumped bridge of his big nose. Your brows sew up and you wet your lips, looking down as Jacaerys shoves down the rest of the fabric.

With his cock unsheathed, you mewl and writhe beneath him, hands ready to snap the wood and rip the cushion when he presses his thumb to his cock to slip up and down between your folds. The throbbing, weeping cockhead breeches your entrance and Jacaerys nearly comes then and there. Choking out a “Fucking Gods–” while you arch up into him with a cleaner swear of “Help me, Gods”. The feeling of your wet cunt around his hard cock makes him dizzy, slowly easing himself to his mess of dark pubes leading to a dark happy trail. Your head leans back against the armrest of the chaise.

“M-Move–” You almost immediately beg with a whine when he’s buried to your clit.

Jacaerys pants through clenched teeth, hands pressing into your thighs to keep them spread wide. “I–need a moment or I will release.” He confesses with a crooked grin on a flushed, sweaty, glistening face as dark eyes look down at you lovingly and sheepishly. You smile and laugh softly, panting raggedly with your own disheveled appearance. Jacaerys’s heart swells, his body aches feeling you clench him.

Then gently, he takes your hands and leans down. Your eyes shut and your fingers interlace with his own as his forehead presses to yours. Slowly, he begins to rock his hips for a steady and slow pace of thrusts. You moan out against his mouth, your nose pressing against his own. Steadily, he begins to quicken his pace, hands holding your own tightly. And in a blur you’re both messes of moans and wetness, the most obscene of sounds filling the library and perhaps even heard down the corridor but neither of you seem to care.

Clinging to you, embracing you as you lie back, Jacaerys grunts with each hard thrust that smacks his tense balls against your ass. You moan and cry against his throat, your hands grasping the fabric of his upper clothing against his shoulder blades as your clenching and loosening and clenching cunt satisfy his hard cock just as his tip satisfies that most sensitive point of your insides. Jacaerys is unsure how he’ll ever stop this, how he’ll ever be able to simply let you go – but that isn’t his worry now as his thrusts grow sloppy and harder.

“I–I need to release–” Jacaerys grunts, he’s felt you holding off the last ten minutes. You always liked to finish together. Nodding with desperate whines, he tries to pull back but you lock your legs around him and his eyes widen. Pulling back, looking down at you with hands bunched in your dress, Jacaerys meets your face contorted in pleasure and euphoria. “What are you doing?” He makes no effort to stop or slow down as your back arches up into him.

Nodding, you reach up and hold his face. “In me. I will take the aftermath of consequences of the moon tea but ri-right now you–I need to be full of you, Jacaerys.” You choke out in a raspy manner, your thumbs smoothing his cheekbones. Jacaerys moans out, nodding as he leans down. “I love you.” You gasp against his mouth as he holds your hips and kisses along your face.

“I love y–you–fuck!”

Jacaerys’s cum fills your wet and needy cunt only seconds before you release a wet mess all over his length with a squeal of climax. Your legs fall limp on either side of him, his cheek against your temple and your hands interlaced with one another now.

Panting raggedly, spent bodies against one another, Jacaerys waits a few moments as his length softens in you to pull out. You gasp shakily and squeeze his hands, he pulls away his hands to fix your dress. The hem down to cover you and the neckline up, then the laces as you weakly sit up. He plants kisses where he can. Your temple, your cheek, your shoulder, your breast. When you’re covered, he sheathes himself and looks down at you – using his sleeve to wipe the sweat from your dazed and ditzy expression lolled to the side.

“Are you well?” He asks softly.

You look up at him and you pant softly, gently brushing away his curls with a soft smile. For the first time, Jacaerys does not see guilt or remorse in your gaze. All he can see is love and care.

And damnation is worth every fraction of it.

“Wonderful.” You reply, leaning into his touch.

Jacaerys smiles and he leans down, kissing your cheek.

“I love you.”

And you kiss his jaw.

“I love you.”

Ten Minutes

modern!Jacaerys Velaryon x reader

The sound of jacaerys' alarm disturbed the quiet that had settled in over the night. His hand shot out of the blanket and grabbed his phone, turning off the alarm.

Jace glanced at the corner of the screen. 5:50 a.m. In ten minutes he'll have to wake you up so you both could get ready for the day.

He let out a small sigh and shut his phone off before placing it back on the nightstand.

Jace rolled over so that he was laying on his side, facing your back. Thankfully his alarmed hadn't woken you up. He reached out and wrapped a hand around your waist. Jacaerys gently pulled your back to his chest and leaned forward to press his nose to your head, breathing you in.

Ten more minutes and he'll have to wake you up. Ten minutes spent with you.

The Prince - Chapter Four

A/N: Hello friends! This chapter is one of my favorites, full of angst and longing (my favorite things to write). I got to write from Rhaenyra's perspective, too, which was a new challenge. Please let me know what you think and if you'd like to be tagged! Thank you for all your support of my writing! It's been so long since I've been invested in a story and part of that is due to your encouragements. <3

Pairing: Jacaerys Velaryon x Reader Word Count: 3.8k Synopsis: Things come to a head, as a tense argument breaks out in the Dragonpit. Jace reaches out to his mother for help.

Tag List: @rinisfruity14, @gaiaea, @rexorangecounty

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

The next few days pass in a blur. Jace is embarrassed; you rejected him. But more than anything he is frustrated. You didn’t reject him because you don’t share the same feelings, you did so because there is not a chance for the two of you to be together. Jace can’t change the fact that he is a prince, and even if he wasn’t betrothed to Baela, you are still titleless.

The truth of what you said in the gardens settles within him. So few got to marry for love. But his intentions have still not changed. He will keep fighting for you, he will find a way to change the current situation.

He spends the next few days staying away from you, shielding his pride, and coming up with a plan.

When he arrives at his mother’s door, a few nights after the garden, he doesn’t even realize he has come there, until he is knocking on the door. He is let in right away, and he finds his mother dining alone, smiling at something Elinda says.

“Mother,” he says. He cannot remember the last time he came to his mother’s chambers like this, upset and unexpected. His mother looks up with a smile, at the sound of his voice, but it falls when she sees his face.

“Jace?” she asks, standing up, “What is it?”

“I request an audience with the queen,” he says, straightening his spine, hoping to emphasize the severity of his arrival. A hesitant smile breaks across his mother’s face, and she lets out a chuckle.

“What is this?” she asks.

“Please,” he says. Something in her face changes at his look. She gives a curt nod to the maids, and they scurry out of the room. Once they are gone, Rhaenyra leans against her dining table, looking at him with curious eyes.

“You have the floor, Jace,” she says. He takes a breath, giving himself one second before he throws his entire life into disarray.

“I want to end my betrothal with Baela,” he says.

Rhaeynra knows Jace completely. He is part of her, after all. Her first son, her rock in so many ways during the war. But sitting at the head of her table the next day, watching her son speak with Baela, she is seeing someone new.

Jace has had a hard life. He’s seen so much heartbreak – chief among them, the loss of his brother. But through it all, he has always been a prince. Strong when he needs to be, with a kind heart, and a devotion to duty. She has never known him to bock at responsibility, in fact, he often seeks out more. He is the example of a perfect prince, a perfect son.

She chides herself for not realizing sooner that something has changed with him.

She remembers vividly the day he came back from the North, so many years ago. Just that short trip had made him grow up so much. She had foolishly assumed it was only due to the loss of his brother, that had flung him into adulthood. But he had grown on that trip, excelled with the lords and ladies he met with, brokered deals for her, and apparently, had fallen in love.

There were thralls of guests at her table, but Rhaenyra didn’t pay them any mind. She barely even looked at Daemon next to her, or Joffrey on her right. All night, her eyes were on Jace, and his were on you.

Rhaenyra didn’t know much about you. You arrived in King’s Landing about two months back. When Jeyne Arryn had requested you to take ward here, Rhaenyra had thought little of it, so entrenched in the war. Even when you had arrived, she didn’t think much of it. There were so many faces coming and going in the Red Keep, you were just another one, albeit a beautiful one.

She knew that you were close with her younger boys, and Rhanea, too. She had seen Jace spending time with you, but she hadn’t noticed his feelings. She sees them now, though.

You are a beacon for Jace. Every move you make, whether it’s to laugh at your tablemates, or simply flicking your long hair over your shoulder, Jace’s eyes follow. And to Rhaenyra’s surprise, your eyes search for him just as often. A few times, your gazes collide, and a blush forms on your cheeks.

She thinks back to Jace’s words in her chambers. She had been completely blindsided. They had grown apart, now that he was older, and the war was over. They had begun to explore separate paths. But she thinks, even if they had been as close as they used to be, she still might have missedthe change.

“I want to end my betrothal to Baela,” he says. Rhaenyra looks at him, speechlessly, shaking her head to make sure she heard him correctly.

“What?” she asks.

“I want to end my betrothal.”

“Where is this coming from?”

“I have fallen in love,” he answers. She studies his face, as if she hasn’t seen him until now.

“With whom?” she asks quietly.

“Y/N Arryn.”

She believes him now. She had been worried, when he told her, that he was being compelled by lust. But watching him now, it was true love in his eyes. And beneath that, lay a sadness she knew all too well.

Rhaenyra wants him to have everything. He deserves everything. But he is a prince, and he has a duty to his country to marry well and produce noble heirs.

If it had been another highborn lady he was betrothed to, the choice might have been easier. But this was Baela. Rhaenyra loves her, and she knows Jace does, too. Just – not in the way he feels for you.

“What would we tell Baela?” she asks.

“I- I don’t know,” he says, shaking his head. “But it’s killing me, not to be with Y/N.” Rhaenyra frowns at her son, cupping his cheek gently with her hand.

“I made a promise to Rhaenys years ago, that I would wed our families together.”

“I know,” Jace says, his voice hollow.

She searchs his face for a long moment. She wants to tell him no. There is no way it would work out, but he had already seen so much heartbreak in his life. And she knew the pain of an arranged marriage.

So, she hadn’t told him no. She told him she had to think about it. But she saw, it wasn’t going to be an easy answer, either way.

The next morning, Jace finds you reading in a corner of the castle, alone. It is the first morning you’ve spent in so long without Rhaena at your side, talking over suitors, or meeting with those suitors themselves.

Seeing Jace, at first, makes you blush, remembering the night in the garden. But then you settle when you realize how much you’ve missed him. He has become one of your closest friends here, regardless of the feelings you have grown for him, and not seeing him the last few days had hurt.

“Good morning, My Prince,” you say as he sits across from you.

“No one is here,” he says with a frown, “You can call me Jace.”

“Why are you up so early, Jace?” you ask. He gives you a soft smile and sighs, hopefully letting out the tension in his shoulders.

“I couldn’t sleep. I thought I might see Vermax, go for a ride,” he says.

“Is it tiring to ride a dragon?” you ask.

“It can be, I suppose. Although Vermax is gentle, when he wants to be.” His eyes flick to yours, and for some reason, you get the sense you aren’t just talking about his dragon anymore.

“It’s hard to imagine a creature of that size being gentle,” you say, closing your book.

“You should come see for yourself,” he says simply.

“What?”

“Come with me to the dragon pit. I’m sure Vermax would love to meet you,” he says with a smile.

“I don’t desire being burnt alive,” you say quietly, leaning in conspiratorially. Jace laughs softly, the dimple in his cheek prominent.

“Vermax would never hurt you if you’re with me,” he says. “I promise.”

“Well, I did come to King’s Landing to further my education. Feels wrong to come all this way and not see its dragons up close.”

The entire walk down to the pit, you are anxious. Your heart thuds and your breathing is shallow. You are starting to regret your agreement in coming down when Jace grabs your hand for one second and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“You’re safe, Y/N,” he says as he guides you into the entrance of the Dragonpit. The look in his eyes makes it easier to believe him.

The pit is dark, even at the first light of morning. The temperature is at least ten degrees warmer, and there are sounds you can’t begin to distinguish coming from somewhere deep. Jace leads you to a long platform that looks over a slope. Glancing down at it, you see the tread of giant clawed feet. You take in a quivering breath as Jace greets one of the dragon handlers and requests that Vermax be brought out.

“Doing alright?” he asks, coming to your side.

“Yes,” you say, in an unconvincing manner.

“Vermax is on the smaller size,” he says lowly, “Although I wouldn’t repeat that to him.”

“Even small dragons are massive,” you say. Jace looks at you with a smile, opening his mouth to say something, when you hear a sound coming from the dark entrance to the pit. You move behind Jace out of instinct, as a very large green dragon walks towards you. Jace laughs to himself.

“You’re alright,” he says softly as the beast comes to a stop. Vermax turns his attention to Jace and lets out a breath of steam. You grasp onto Jace’s shoulders, momentarily terrified.

“Hello to you, too,” Jace says with a laugh. You sigh when you realize the steam must have been a sign of affection.

Vermax moves his massive head closer to the two of you, close enough that Jace can pat his snout. You want to shrink behind Jace, want to run, but you know that quick movements around a dragon are not wise.

With his other hand, Jace reaches behind himself, and grabs hold of yours. He doesn’t let it go.

“Do you want to say hello?” he asks, and you aren’t sure if he’s talking to you or the dragon. Vermax’s eyes look to you then, and a shiver of fear races over you. “I promise, he’s scarier than he looks.” Vermax chuffs in response to Jace.

Slowly, you move to Jace’s side, dropping his hand for only a moment to switch which one you’re holding. You give yourself a moment to relax before meeting Vermax’s eyeline.

“Okay, now slowly raise out your hand,” he says. You do as he says, your limb shaking at the movement. Vermax’s snout, which is a good five times larger than your hand, sniffs at the palm. You wait with bated breath, until he nudges against it, and lets you rest your hand on him. You let out a sigh, relaxing as Jace smiles.

Now that you’re this close and settled, you realize that Vermax isn’t entirely green. There are spikes of orange-red that run down his neck. The contrast is striking.

“Oh,” you say with a sigh, “He is beautiful.”

“I’m in love with you,” Jace says in response. You whip your head to him so quickly, something in Vermax’s demeanor changes. Jace tenses and puts out a hand to the creature, at the same moment, pulling you back a step. It’s only a second, and then Vermax eases. Jace turns back to you and reads your wide, sad eyes.

“Whatever you’re going to say,” he says, “Don’t. It’s going to hurt me, and Vermax won’t like that.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” you say, whisper soft. Jace shrugs.

“I don’t either.”

“We talked about this in the garden, it’s not something—” You stop when Vermax shifts again. Another breath of steam washes over the two of you, but this one somehow feels warmer, deadlier. Jace sweeps you behind him, holding you close to his back.

“Y/N is our friend,” he says to the beast, his words firm. “Our friend,” he says, and this time, chances a glance back at you at the word, friend.

“Maybe I should go,” you say. You realize you are still holding onto him, and then how much you don’t want to let go.

“He’ll settle,” Jace says, his hand covering yours, resting on his shoulder.

“Yes, but will I?” you ask, making him let out a tut of laughter.

“Alright. I’ll be back in a moment,” he says to Vermax. The dragon trills in response. Jace takes your hand and guides you back towards the Keep. “Don’t worry, everyone feels like this when they meet a dragon for the first time.”

“He really is beautiful,” you say, “In the most terrifying way possible.”

“Vermax is well tempered,” he says, “Be grateful you never saw Vhagar.”

“The stories were horrifying enough,” you say as you come to a stop outside the door to the castle. Your hand is still in Jace’s, the Dragonpit far behind you. You drop it, trying to do so indiscreetly, but Jace notices the absence and sighs.

“You were going to kiss me, you know. Back in your chambers,” he says. You stutter over a response, shaking your head in disbelief.

“There was one moment, yes,” you say, “But then I came to my senses.”

“No, Brigitta walked in,” he says, stepping closer to you. “That’s why you didn’t. And now, you can't even hold my hand.” He gestures around the empty space. “No one else is here!” he shouts. Below, Vermax calls out in response.

“You don’t get it,” you say softly, trying to keep your frustrations at bay.

“What don’t I get?” he asks.

“Do you know what I risk, just being alone with you? You are our crown prince, Jace, there is very little you can do to damage your reputation. If one person gets the wrong impression about us, if we give in to this feeling—” You stop when he moves closer still, his eyes alighting. 

“I would be ruined,” you say. “It wouldn’t matter that you are the prince. I would be tainted goods.” He snarls at the description.

“Y/N,” he starts, but you reach for his hand, stopping him.

“Jace,” you say breathlessly. “I wish there was a way but—”

“What if there was?”

“There’s not.”

“I asked my mother to end my engagement.”

“You what?!” you ask much too loudly, stepping back from him.

“I assumed you’d be pleased,” he says, hurt etched into his features.

“What did she say?”

“She is considering it,” he says. You sigh, leaning against the rocky cave wall. “There are a lot of moving pieces.”

“Of course there are. You and your family just went through so much grief to assure your mother’s claim to the throne. Why risk any of it again?”

“Because I love you,” he says plainly.

“We shouldn’t even be discussing this. We need to forget this; you need to forget me.”

“You act like it is so easy,” he says, approaching you again, “Tell me, have I confused your feelings for my own?”

“No,” you say quietly. “It’s not easy, at all. But what makes it harder is the fact that you keep bringing it up. You keep giving me hope,” you say, meeting his eyes. His are wide and nearly pull you in with the affection you find there.

“But there is hope.”

“Your mother is not going to cut Baela out like that,” you say, “And even if she did, I am no queen.” He looks at you sadly, like he wants to argue.

“You would make a good queen, Y/N,” he says delicately. You scoff. “Don’t you think I’ll be a good king?” he asks.

“Of course I do.”

“Then you know that I wouldn’t make the wrong woman queen.” He moves closer, taking your hands in his. He studies the way your hands fit into his, before speaking. “But even if my mother doesn’t agree, who is to say we have to be married? That we have to fight our feelings?”

“You’re suggesting I become your whore,” you say, face paling as you pull away from him.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he says, reaching for your hand. You stay just out of his reach. “You would be taken care of—”

“Think of what you are saying,” you spit, “I would be an outcast. I would be your whore, and Baela your lady wife. Any children I bore you would be bastards. Is that what you want?” you ask. You think there might be tears forming in his eyes.

“Of course not,” he says firmly.

“As much as I wish things could be different, Jace, I just don’t foresee them changing. But you wound me, every time you get my hopes up.”

“You are not the only injured party, Y/N” he says. “What would you have me do?”

“Let me find someone else,” you say quietly. “Let me do what I came here to do and then I’ll be gone.”

“And I’ll just have to watch you with someone else?” he asks in disgust.

“Is that not what you just suggested I do with Baela?” you ask. He groans, gripping the railing along the walkway tightly.

“So, let’s say I agree to let you find someone else.”

“Let me?” you ask incredulously.

“That I stop fighting for you,” he corrects with a roll of his eyes, facing you again. “What if my mother changes her mind?”

“She won’t.”

“What if she does?”

“By then, it won’t matter to you anymore!” you exclaim.

“What?” he asks, brow furrowing.

“These feelings will die, if we let them. You’ve had this crush for so long, you think that our story must end with us together, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“Y/N,” he says with a shake of his head.

“Let’s just call this what it is – an attraction that we danced around for too long.”

“Do you think me so foolhardy? That I would confuse lust with love?” he asks, taking your face in his hands, so you can’t turn away from him. “I am not that boy you met in the Vale years ago.”

“I know,” you say, putting your hands around his wrists.

“I have laid with women before.”

“Jace.”

“I have even thought I was in love,’ he says. “But never, did I feel anything close to this.” You close your eyes with a sigh, leaning into his palm. His thumb brushes your cheek as he frowns at you. You are speechless. You believe him, want to believe that his hopes can come true, too, but the logical part inside of you is more insistent than your heart.

“I just—” you start, sighing when his face falls. “Jace,” you say smally. He pulls away from you, retreating. “I think we need some time apart, to figure things out.” You are certain there are tears in his eyes now. He bites the inside of his lip and nods.

“I’m sorry, I—”

“Don’t be,” he says.

“Jace,” you say, “We have to try.”

“Okay,” he says with a shrug. He looks so broken, you don’t want to leave him there, but you know there is nothing you can say right now to make him whole. You slip out the entrance, and it’s not until you get to your chambers that you let your own tears fall.

You are filled with so much anger. Anger at your father for fucking up your life in the first place. Anger at Lord Yorbert for arranging your initial betrothal. Anger that Lord Blacktyde left you so cautious about your next match. And anger that no matter how much you know you need to stay away from Jace, you can’t seem to.

You think you know the reason why, but you aren’t ready to face it yet.

Jace spends most of the day flying. The fresh air and altitude seem to clear his head a little. The moment in the Dragonpit never fully leaves his mind. He wants to do what you ask, because of the pain on your face, the pain he could practically feel himself.

But he loves you and doesn’t want to be apart from you. He thinks he might go see his mother when he lands, plea to her again. He needs advice at least on how to navigate this next bit.

When he gets to the Dragonpit, though, his mother is already waiting for him. He dismounts and moves hurriedly towards her.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, breathlessly.

“There is trouble in the Iron Islands,” she says. “It seems skirmishes have been breaking out since my ascendence.”

“Ser Tyland?”

“He’s there now, fighting for what he claims is Lannister territory.”

“You want me to go lend our assistance?” he asks. She searches his face, a sad smile on her own.

“It will be dangerous.”

“I assume so,” he jokes, making her laugh to herself. “I’ll be careful,” he adds.

“I know you will.”

“I’ll leave tonight,” he says, “There’s just something I need to do first.” She examines his eyes, like she knows what he has to do, but she doesn’t argue. She just nods and leans in to kiss his forehead.

“Thank you, Jace.”

Night has fallen over the keep, and it is improper for him to go to your chambers this late, but he wants to see you before he goes. He must. The hallway is empty, save for one guard posted at your door.

“Your Highness,” he says, standing up straight. Jace knocks on the door and your maid, Brigitta, comes to answer it a full two minutes later. She does not look surprised to see him.

“Your Highness,” she says in greeting, curtseying as the door shuts behind her.

“I need to speak with Y/N,” he says. The color drains from Brigitta’s face.

“I’m sorry, My Prince, Lady Y/N does not wish to see you,” she says, whisper soft. Embarrassment floods his cheeks at the uncomfortable looks the guard and Brigitta give him. He isn’t sure why he is shocked at this answer, you had said that you needed space.

For one horrible second, he thinks about ignoring your request and ordering his way into the room. But he knows that would just make you angry.

“Very well,” he says with a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Brigitta says again.

“Don’t be. Can I request a favor?”