HOTD: The Healer Prince SI Chapter 4 (Patreon)

CHAPTER 4

VISERYS TARGARYEN

Viserys watched as his brother looked over his wife. Aemma had a smile on his face as she stared at him. Grandmaester Mellos watched from the side. His brother was still covered in his riding leathers. He had asked to be taken to Aemma first, and Viserys could only nod.

The years away had changed him. He was no longer the dismissive, agitated boy Viserys thought him to be. He had grown up to become a seemingly confident and if the bewilderment on Mellos’ face was any indication, a highly skilled man.

Viserys saw him reach into his pouch and take out something he had never seen. Aenys put two tubes to his ears and placed one end on Aemma while closing his eyes, seemingly focused on what he was hearing, as he moved the end to various places on Aemma’s body.

After a while, he took it out of the ear and smiled at Aemma as he began to move towards him.

“Let’s take this outside,” Aenys spoke to him in a hushed tone. Viserys’ heart dropped as he heard those words. He nodded and went up to kiss Aemma as she hissed in pain from another contraction.

“Is everything okay, Viserys?” she asked him, and Viserys just smiled in assurance.

“Of course, everything is fine,” he reassured her. She nodded, and Viserys walked out of the room along with Melos to find Aenys pacing just outside.

“So, what is it?” Viserys asked his brother. Aenys stopped pacing and looked up towards him and Mellos. His face contorted with fury.

“What have you people been doing? Did you guys even consider that she was fit for birth or not!” he hissed at them both. And Viserys stilled as he heard those words.

Mellos answered from his side.

“My Prince, we have taken every precaution and paid attention to every detail in caring for the Queen,” but Aenys cut him off.

“No, you have not! For god’s sake, even an untrained acolyte could tell that she is severely anemic, not to say anything of the general weakness. Have you listened to her heart? It is almost bursting,” and Viserys recognized that tone quite well. It was the same tone their father used when he lost his temper, rare as that might have been.

And while Viserys could not understand what he was saying, he knew the news was not good. He frowned at the Grandmaester as he asked Aenys.

“Tell me what you think in simpler terms. Will she be fine? Will my son be fine?” Viserys asked him. And Aenys did not reply immediately. And when he did, Viserys felt his world shatter around him.

“Things are quite complicated. The babe’s position seems to be a bit abnormal, and while I can not be sure there is a high chance that there may be some complications with the umbilical cord,” and even if Visery did not understand it completely, he knew that things were quite dire. Aenys seemed to consider his words for a moment before continuing.

“Moreover, if this continues as is, there is a high chance that neither Aemma nor the babe will make it,” and now Viserys was shocked once more. He could feel his eyes burning as he felt helpless at the situation. It was as if his whole world had come crashing down.

“Your grace, I have been doing this for decades. And while the prince may be more famous, I have cared for the queen for a long time. And I believe that she is progressing normally,” Mellos’ words gave Viserys some hope. He looked at Aenys once more, who just shook his head.

“You called for me because you thought that I could help you. I flew from almost across the world just to make it in time, so you can either trust me or listen to Grandmaester Mellos,” while Viserys wanted to believe in the good news, he knew he could not.

Not this time.

“Firstly, I need to tell Aemma the news, then both of you should discuss what you want. If you let me act now, there is a good chance that I could save her life though given her history, I believe that it will be highly unlikely that she would be able to conceive after this,” and Viserys was shocked to hear such odds.

“If you decide not to act and wait for it to progress normally, then I can make no assurances, for it will be out of my hands,” and Viserys was shocked as he heard those words.

“Your grace, I implore you to listen to me. The Queen is doing just fine. It would be prudent that you listen to my advice and listen to my advice and ignore the prince,” Mellos spoke from the side, yet Viserys chose to ignore him.

And with a nod, Aenys entered the birthing room again, with Viserys at his heel. Aemma lay on the bed hissing in pain, somewhat startled as she saw them both enter. Her eyes lacked the light Viserys had fallen in love with. And after observing their faces once more, she asked in a small tone.

“Will you finally tell me what is wrong?” and Viserys could not find the words. Yet Aenys spoke out, sparing Viserys the pain of delivering such gaunt news.

“We need to talk about your child Aemma?” He closed the doors behind them. He then moved and stood to her side as he continued.

“There seems to be a complication….”

0000

CORLYS VELARYON

“That was quite an entrance, I would say,” Rhaeneys commented from the other side of the table. And Corlys had to agree. The Prince’s entrance had been dramatic. Landing in the middle of a tourney on a dragon’s back. It was quite exciting.

“I would have to agree. But I have not seen him since he vanished with the King. Do you think everything is fine with the Queen?” he asked as he thought about how the Prince had been taken to the Red Keep immediately.

“I do not know, but his return will change a lot of things. I can feel it,” and Corlys agreed with his wife.

Aenys Targaryen. The Healer Prince. It was quite a special name now. With connections to so many of the free cities and considerable wealth to his name. All obtained through his own hard work and grit. Corlys had great respect for the man who had carved out an identity for himself. And another thing that he had forgotten. Unmarried as well.

“Why do you think the King took so much time to call him back? King Viserys values family quite highly, then why would he take so much time to call him back?” he asked Rhaeneys the question that had been plaguing his mind. While Viserys had made several excuses. He was the King, and Aenys was his brother.

Rhaeneys just shook her head at that.

“I do not know. While Aenys and Viserys were never overly close like with him and Daemon, there was never any animosity between them, from what I can recall. I just think it was just Viserys wanting to preserve the last vestiges of our departed grandfather,” and Rhaeneys could be right. Viserys was known to be a little indecisive. Maybe he did not want to revert the Old King’s orders. Or he did not want him to return for other reasons.

And Corlys frowned as he saw the commotion outside as he spotted several guards running. He got up and made his way out of the door.

“What is going on,” he asked the servants that were running.

“Nothing, my lord, we are just searching for the Prince,” the servant replied.

“Which Prince?” Corlys asked with a frown.

“Prince Aenys, my lord,” the servant replied. But

“Why? Wasn’t he with the King and the Queen?” he questioned further. The servant shook his head as he replied.

“No, my lord, he had left the chambers some time ago. We are searching for him because Queen Aemma has gone into labor. The King has asked for Prince Aenys,” and Corlys’ eyes widened as he nodded his head. The servant continued walking after giving him a bow.

He walked back into the room.

“What happened? What is all this commotion about?” she asked him, and he replied.

“The Queen has begun her labors. The servants were looking for Prince Aenys for some reason,” and he could see Rhaeneys worry slightly for Aemma as she prayed in a small voice.

“May the seven bless her! She has suffered enough in the last ten years,” and Corlys agreed with her. The child bed had not been kind to the Queen. It had taken quite a toll on her.

0000

RHAENEYRA TARGARYEN

“I don’t think we should do this, Rhaeneyra,” Alicent spoke up once more as they walked towards Godswood.

“Come on, I am sure I saw him come this way,” she said in a hushed tone. And they continued moving towards the Heart tree in the center of it. And she had seen right. There beneath the largest tree of the Godswood, on a bed of leaves of rusted blood color, lay a man that had only come back to the castle a couple of hours ago. And Rhaeneyra finally got a detailed look at her uncle.

He was still dressed in the clothes he had been wearing on his arrival. Though he had put his weapon to the side, Rhaeneyra’s eyes narrowed as she saw the sword tied to the belt. It did not seem like a regular steel sword.

“Look, he seems to be resting. We should not disturb him,” Alicent spoke up once more as she pointed to her uncle. And while Rhaeneyra wanted to know more about her father’s mysterious brother. This did not seem like the right time. So, she decided to listen to her friend and turned around to leave. But just as she had turned, she heard a foreign voice.

“Leaving without even greeting me. Well, that seems a bit rude,” and Rhaeneyra turned to see her uncle getting up from his place. He dusted out the leaves from his clothes and began to walk towards her. Rhaeneyra noticed Alicent stiffen slightly beside her and was a bit perturbed by her reaction.

He reached in front of her and Alicent and finally got a close look of his face. His face seemed a slimmer version of her father’s. He did not have huge bulging muscles like some knights but had a leaner look, just like his other brother, uncle Daemon.

“It is good to see you after such a long time, Rhaeneyra, and you as well, Lady Alicent,” he said with a bow, and they returned the greeting.

“It is good to see you as well, uncle, and I hope we have not disturbed your rest,” she said, followed by Alicent.

“It is good to see you as well, my prince.”

Her uncle waved off her apology.

“It is fine. It was just that the castle had changed quite a bit from what I remember, so I decided to visit the Godswood to have a sense of familiarity,” he said while around the Godswood with a nostalgic smile.

“This was my favorite place in the whole castle,” he added with a bit of sadness.

“Did you come here often before you went away?” and Rhaeneyra had barely kept the word exile out of her mouth. And he nodded as they began to walk towards the Heart tree.

“Yes, it was the only place where I could sit and read without worry. The rest of the castle was always filled with a bit of commotion in those days,” his voice still held the sadness from before. He then turned to face her friend.

“Lady Alicent must remember a bit of those days. She had arrived at court during that time as well,” and Alicent nodded her head.

“Yes, the castle was filled with quite a bit of commotion, but it hasn’t lessened much with the passing of the years,” Alicent replied. Though Rhaeneyra noticed how her uncle was looking at Alicent with a narrowed gaze. Alicent was looking down, her hands chipping her nails, showing her nervousness. But why?

But then Rhaeneyra remembered the major reason he had been called back.

“Have you checked my mother? Is everything well with her?” and Rhaeneyra did not miss the way he had stopped suddenly. And as she looked at the conflicted expression on his face, dread pooled in her heart.

“She is going to be fine, right? Right?” she asked once more. But no affirmative reply came, and just as she was about to speak up again, he spoke up.

“While I can not promise anything concrete, know that I will do everything in my power to make sure that she is…” he stopped, and Rhaeneyra frowned as she heard the thrum of people rushing towards him them. Her uncle had picked up her belt and taken out the sword.

Rhaeneyra’s eyes widened as she recognized the distinct smoky pattern on the steel. She had seen the pattern in the swords wielded by her father and uncle Daemon. Dark Sister and Blackfyre.

The sword was valyrian steel. But how? And just as she was lost in the thought, she saw a couple of servants appear, their breathing haggard from their hastened pace.

“What is going on?” her uncle asked, and the servants replied quickly while still gasping for air.

“They are calling for you, my prince. It is the queen. She has started her labors,” and Rhaeneyra’s eyes widened as she heard those words. Her uncle, though, immediately put the sword back in its sheath.

“We can talk later, but I must go now,” With those words, he began to rush towards the main corridor. And Rhaeneyra just stood there worried for her mother. Alicent wrapped her arms around her.

“Your mother will be fine. She is being cared for by the best of the realm,” and that was true. The accursed foreboding that something was about to go wrong did not settle down in her gut.

May the Gods have mercy on her mother.

0000

With my rushed pace, I reached the doors of the queen’s chambers. The shouting coming from the inside heightened my growing worry. I had advised them to let me operate earlier and maybe try later for another child. But both Aemma and Viserys had not been convinced. They had decided to go forward with the pregnancy. I rushed through the doors and saw Viserys kneeling beside her bed with Mellos and several maidservants crowded around the Queen.

Idiots.

“What is going on?” I asked immediately as a servant presented me with a bowl of boiled water mixed with the distilled spirit I had given him earlier. Viserys looked up at me, and I saw the sheer worry in his eyes. Mellos walked towards me in a rush.“You were right. The child’s position is making natural difficult. It seems we will have to take it out.”

Aemma screamed again.

“AHHH! HELP ME! PLEASE JUST STOP THIS! HELP ME, VISERYS!” she screamed, and I saw Viserys looking at me. I went forward and checked the position myself once more. And it was not normal, just as I had guessed.

“What can we do, Aenys?” Viserys asked me once more. And I tried to think of a safer solution. My thinking was hampered by the sheer exhaustion and weariness I was feeling. I pinched my thigh to maintain my focus as I ran through several options. Finding none, I turned towards Grandmaster Mellos.

“Mellos! We are going to take out the babe from her belly, as I had said earlier,” the man nodded. I immediately began to give instructions to the servants to prepare the things I would need.

With my instruments on a table by the side, I stood in front of the unconscious form of Aemma.

“Let’s do this,” and made the incision. Praying deep in my heart for any Gods to not make my visit a waste. I had come to Westeros, riding at breakneck speed just to make it in time. Let it all not be a waste.

After a long time, I passed the babe to Mellos. Its heartbeat was slow and sounds like a deep buzz on auscultation. This was not good. It was a genetic defect in its heart.

“My prince, she is bleeding too much,” and I looked and saw the sheets drenched in red. This was not going well, not well at all. And I was shouting instructions once more.

“Get me a cleaned-up flagon, and fill it with water, clean water!” as I tried to measure her pulse. And finding none, I jumped up on the bed. My hands cracked her ribs as they pushed down on her heart. Trying to maintain the blood supply to her brain.

“Mellos! Push the flagon into the uterus. And continuously fill it with water, make sure that it fits firmly before stopping!" I was continuously pushing down on her heart. Mellos hesitated a bit before speaking.

“My prince, she is gone. There is no pulse.”

“DO WHAT I AM SAYING!” I screamed, and the old man rushed, and I did not stop. With each push, I could feel her cracked ribs, yet I did not stop. I could not stop.

“It is done, my prince. The bleeding has stopped,” came Mellos’s voice, and I stopped the compressions, placed my hand on her neck, and found a feeble pulse.

It was weak like the last embers of a dying flame. But it was there.

Behind me, I saw Mellos’s eyes widen as he felt the feeble pulse himself, his face struck in sheer amazement. But before I could bask in my victory, the strangled voice of one of the maidservants broke me out of my reverie.

“Grandmaester, the young prince! He isn’t breathing!”

Aenys turned to face the child, and just as he was about to walk toward the prince, he stumbled as his body began to shut down. He tried to stand up, yet his vision began to darken as the chamber was filled with voices again.

He saw the silhouette of the Grandmaester and tried to speak up, hoping he would understand,

“Hear…. It’s the he….” And it was all he could get out before a week’s exhaustion finally caught up to him, and his world descended into utter darkness.

0000

BOOOM! This was super fun for me to write, though I don’t know why.

Hope you guys enjoy.

Please comment away your thoughts.