Chapter Text
Chapter One
“Your nails are clean,” Egg snapped at his brother. Young as he was, the fury twisting Egg’s face reminded Dunk that the nine-year-old was the blood of the dragon as well. “Get off your ass and help!”
Come on now, we had a lovely ride here. A pleasant whisper of coolness protected them from the worst of the sun’s heat. Spring wildflowers decorated the sides of the road, and birds chirped their pretty songs to one another. Their little campsite was the perfect place to stop for supper, complete with stumps and fallen logs so they wouldn’t have to sit on the ground.
No need to spoil it with feuding Targaryen princelings.
Dunk set down the flint and steel he’d just used to get the fire going, then gave Egg a nudge. Not hard, just enough to jostle him a bit. “Leave him be. Keep putting in the dried grass until the flame grows big enough to start adding wood.”
Egg looked at him with wide, doe-like eyes, fear lacing his usually pleasant scent of cedar and pine. He could practically hear Egg silently asking, ‘Are you taking his side?’
Dunk shook his head, patting Egg reassuringly on the shoulder. No, I’m not. But he’s calm now, and I don’t want to give him a reason not to be.
“Don’t know why you’re complaining,” Aerion said dismissively as he sat cross-legged on a stump. With a metal tool, he meticulously cleaned each nail, catching every speck of dirt. “If not for me, you’d be eating that revolting hard salt beef we both know you despise.”
Can’t argue that.
Dunk eyed the two dressed, spitted hares. Deep into spring, they’d grown large and plump. Near enough a feast in Dunk’s eyes. All they had to do was wait for the fire to be hot enough to roast them.
Aerion may turn his nose up at manual labor, but he did like to hunt. Was quite good at it, too. His pride never once allowed him to return to camp empty-handed. He even dressed the hares himself, saving their hides.
Dunk gave Egg an encouraging smile. “We’ve been eating well since we started traveling. Hare, pheasants, duck, even deer that one time. Rarely ever ate like that with Ser Arlan unless we stayed in a castle. He was a shit hunter, and I’m even worse. We’re lucky your brother has a talent for it.”
Words that perfectly stroked his omega’s ego. Aerion didn’t take his eyes off his nails, swapping his cleaning tool for a small file to shape their sharp edges. All the while, he smiled smugly, chest puffed as he worked. The sweet scent of a happy omega wafted through their small campsite.
Egg, however, was far from appeased.
“Yes, you’re quite good at killing helpless animals, aren’t you?” he spat bitterly at his brother.
Damn…
Fortunately, Aerion didn’t react harshly, sighing heavily instead. “For the last time, I didn’t throw your fucking cat down the well. The stupid creature jumped up, slipped on the wet stone, and fell in.”
Egg balled his fists. “You saw that happen, and you didn’t save him? Cats can swim! You could have thrown him a bucket and lifted him out!”
“Why would I? It’s hardly my fault you can’t keep watch over your pets.” Aerion examined one of his nails closely, then refiled it. “I had one of the servants fish its body out later so it wouldn’t contaminate the water.”
Tears streamed down Egg’s cheeks, and he launched himself at Aerion, snarling epithets. Dunk just managed to catch him before he got within striking distance.
“Let me go!” Egg spat, but Dunk hauled him back to the fireside.
“That’s not going to end the way you want it to, boy,” Dunk warned. And I’m not going to let Aerion have an excuse to smack you.
Not that Aerion looked incensed. If anything, he was amused, eyes glittering beautifully with dark mischief. A sight that simultaneously made Dunk growl and brought a flutter to his belly.
“Must you be so cruel to him? He’s your brother.” A carefully-worded rebuke. If he chided Aerion too severely, it would only make things worse. If he didn’t chide him enough, he wouldn’t stop at all.
“He started it.” All the same, the omega let it drop, tucking his nail tools back into their little leather case. “I’m off to bathe while supper cooks.” He sneered in the direction of the river. “Best I can, anyway.”
“You made us stop to bathe this morning,” Egg yelled. “You just don’t want to help finish setting up the camp.”
“Yes, I so cruelly insisted you wash yourself.” Aerion rolled his eyes. “We have been riding smelly horses all day, sweating, and getting covered in kicked-up trail dirt. You may do as you please, but I have no intention of sleeping in my own filth.”
“Let him be, Egg,” Dunk advised as Aerion gathered up soaps and scrubbing cloths, making for the river. Once he was far enough away, Dunk whispered, “He’s got flaws coming out of his ears, but being clean ain’t a flaw.”
Egg wrapped his arms tightly around himself, stamping his feet before he plopped down in front of the fire. “I hate him,” he said. “I hate that father gave him to you instead of banishing him to Lys. I wish HE’D died instead of Baelor!”
As it always did, Baelor’s name brought a fresh wave of pain. Dipping his head solemnly, Dunk crouched down next to Egg, rubbing the boy’s back.
“Some days, I wish I had died instead of Baelor as well,” he admitted.
Whipping around, Egg stared at him with wide, horrified eyes. “That is not what I meant, ser! You were innocent! You were right to fight. You…”
“Don’t matter,” Dunk said. “Baelor might have gone on to be one of the best kings Westeros had ever seen. The realm needed him, not another hedge knight.”
Egg’s lip trembled, and he shook his head, but Dunk only rubbed his back again.
“You don’t have to love him, Egg. Don’t blame you if you resent him the rest of your life. But you gotta be careful you don’t let that anger and grief fester. Especially when you’re a prince. That’s how wars start. Wars that hurt the smallfolk we’re aiming to protect.”
And gods know I’ll never tell you that all this started because Aerion was wroth that I didn’t know he was flirting with me. Fresh from last night, that revelation still burned. Likely would for years to come.
Egg’s shoulders slumped, but he nodded, resuming his task of adding kindling to the fire until it crackled merrily, then carefully set the spitted hares over it to cook. Before long, the meat was a mouthwatering brown, fat popping and flooding the campsite with the second most wonderful scent Dunk had smelled all day.
The most wonderful scent returned shortly after, when Aerion re-emerged. Grinning dopily as he inhaled, Dunk released an aching tension he didn’t even realize had seized him. The tension of an alpha whose omega had wandered too far away for comfort.
Seven Hells, I may well be damned.
Worse, the cheeky cunt knew exactly what he was doing. He’d returned to camp shirtless, ethereally beautiful in the setting sun. Exposing the newest bite mark Dunk left on his shoulder. The alpha within let out a pleased rumble at the sight, deeply satisfied that his mark was on full display for the world to see.
Despite everything, his cock twitched, mind regaling him with fantasies of pinning Aerion down and fucking him right out in the open. But he looked away, drawing a breath to calm himself.
When they sat down to eat, Aerion surprised him further by insisting that Dunk have one of the hares to himself while he and Egg shared the other one.
“We can divide it up equally…”
Aerion rolled his eyes. “I’m not being generous; I’m being practical. You haven’t eaten all day, and you’re bigger than Aegon and I combined. Splitting the meat equally would be foolish, even if I could eat more than half a hare.”
True. And as soon as Dunk bit into the piping hot meat, his stomach let out a loud grumble, far hungrier than he’d realized.
Angry though Egg was with his brother, his pride yielded in the face of hunger, ravenously biting into his own food. Though he could not help tossing Aerion an owlish glare.
“We could have also eaten breakfast at the inn before we left if not for you.”
Dunk’s cheeks pinkened at the memory, and he took an awkward nibble. That wasn’t entirely his fault…Though what happened afterwards certainly was.
When they’d emerged from their rooms that morning, they found their horses already cleaned, saddled, and waiting for them at the front door. The innkeeper had even packed the clothes she washed, save for a fresh set for each of them, which she left at their doors.
“It’s best you leave, sers,” she’d said gruffly, refusing to meet their eyes. “Be quick about it.”
Before Dunk could ask her why they were being unceremoniously thrown out, he got his answer from a surly-looking traveler tucked into one of the back tables.
“Next time, slap a muzzle on your omega before you fuck him halfway through the wall. No one in this fucking inn got any sleep last night.”
Dunk’s face burned so hot, he nearly sprinted for the exit. Beside him, Egg went white, frozen between simultaneous horror, embarrassment, and laughter.
But Aerion? He calmly pulled away from the group, strode over to the traveler, and stared down at him with the cold derision that only a haughty prince could muster.
“You ought be thanking me,” he’d said. “Mine are the only screams of pleasure you’ll ever hear from an omega, what with a face like the backend of a pig and the stench to match. Best for all involved if you die without siring a litter of hideous piglets.”
Dunk couldn’t blame the traveler for his roar of outrage as he leapt to his feet. But nor could he truly blame Aerion for drawing his knife and punching the man in the face with it, using the hilt as a makeshift knuckleduster. Blood spurted from the man’s nose while he howled in pain.
At least Dunk managed to stop Aerion before he followed up by plunging the blade into the traveler’s chest.
Rather than looking shamed by the memory, Aerion smirked. Pleased with himself, he plucked a piece of crispy skin from the hare and popped it into his mouth. “He got off easy.”
Dunk gave him a rebuking glance. “Omega, he was annoyed that we kept him awake all night. The correct response was to apologize, or maybe just ignore him and leave.”
“The dragon does not apologize. He ought have kept his mouth shut about it.” Aerion arched an eyebrow. “And if you object to the way I defend my own honor, alpha, you are more than welcome to defend it for me.”
Dropping his gaze, Dunk took another bite, chewing slowly as he considered.
Did I fail in my duties as an alpha?
Had it been his responsibility to confront the traveler for embarrassing his omega? The comment had been doubly disrespectful due to Aerion’s station. Then again, they were at an inn, not a castle.
Perhaps I should have said something…
If Aerion was angry at Dunk’s failing, he didn’t show it, continuing to eat in silence. As he predicted, even half of the hare was too much for him to finish, and he gave the leg to Dunk. By the time they were full, the sun had long since set, and Egg retreated into his tent, shooting one last glare at his brother.
Aerion ignored him, licking a few stray droplets of grease from his lips before rinsing his hands. Making sure his nails were still pristine, of course.
Once he heard the faint sound of Egg snoring, Dunk got up from his spot and circled around the fire to kneel next to his omega. He brushed his fingers along the bare skin of Aerion’s back, grateful not to be shaken off.
“I would have protected you if he tried to hurt you,” he said softly. “Or if he kept saying things.”
Aerion snorted. “I didn’t need or expect you to protect me, Ser Duncan. I am quite capable of doing that myself.”
Dunk shook his head, walking his fingers up Aerion’s spine. “I know. But you shouldn’t have to.”
He shrugged. “I shouldn’t have to sleep in a tent on the side of the road like a vagrant. And yet there are no inns within riding distance before nightfall, and so here I am.”
Miraculously, you’re whingeing about it less than usual.
Aerion hesitated, drumming his fingers along his leg. “I’ve been telling myself I’m adapting to it now so I will be accustomed should I ever have to go to war. I’ll be expected to serve my House if turmoil brews again. The way my father did.”
The omega’s words felt almost like a rare olive branch. An invitation to a deeper conversation, something he seldom did, even after four months traveling together. Even after all the times they’d shared a bed.
An opportunity Dunk meant to seize.
“Your grandfather would expect an omega to serve?”
He laughed darkly. “My grandfather is not long for this world. Valarr will be king sooner rather than late. Given that he blames me for what happened to his father, I fully expect him to put me right on the front lines of any war that may break out during his reign.”
Unfrightened, Aerion puffed out his chest. “No doubt, my dear cousin will see it as an opportunity to rid himself of me without having to sully his precious image. I shall grant him no such satisfaction. When I am sent to war, I intend to return home an avenging dragon. Valarr will have no choice but to publicly thank me for my contribution.”
Awful lot of spite you seem to be carrying for Valarr. Your actions at Ashford did lead to the death of his father.
Dunk hadn’t planned on calling him on it. Curious though he was, he didn’t want to steer the conversation back to Baelor. But his omega seemed to hear his question, even without Dunk asking.
“He had everything handed to him,” he said, a note of bitterness in his voice.
“All you highborns had everything handed to you.”
Aerion rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. Valarr was the firstborn son of the heir. An alpha. Yet he’s a shittier knight than Daeron.”
Wincing, Dunk bit his lip. The thought of disparaging Valarr twisted his guts. “He won nine victories during the tourney.”
Aerion cackled. “You saw who they had him fighting, did you not?”
He didn’t answer. Old men. Poorly trained knights. One lordling who damn near fell off his horse long before Valarr even struck him. Not one truly formidable opponent among them.
Seeing the answer in his eyes, Aerion nodded with satisfaction. “Valarr should have been born the omega, and I the alpha.”
No, you shouldn’t have. He traced the bitemark on Aerion’s shoulder, smiling at the way it made him shiver. “Being an omega suits you.”
A misstep. Aerion stiffened, clearly taking it as an insult. But before he could wheel on Dunk, he quickly scrambled for an excuse.
“If you were an alpha, you’d just be normal,” Dunk rushed out, making Aerion hesitate just long enough to collect the rest of his thoughts. “You said it yourself; pretty much every alpha goes on to become a warrior. But until I met you, I never even knew omegas could be knights. Ceremonial knights, maybe, but not the kind who actually know how to fight.”
Gesturing to the discarded hare bones, Dunk added, “Never knew an omega to be a good hunter, either. I always thought omegas just…”
He stopped himself before he shoved his foot completely into his mouth.
“Domestic shit?” his omega teased.
Dunk nodded sheepishly, and Aerion sat up straighter on the stump, chin held high.
“Not for the son of the Anvil. When I was born with a scent, my father convinced himself he’d been given an alpha son. He taught me how to fight. How to hunt and fish. Everything. I presented as an omega when I was twelve, but by then, he was too invested to force me to learn how to darn socks. Decided to just push on ahead as if I were an alpha.”
He considered it for a moment, then added, “Only domestic thing I do want is to be a mother one day.”
Dunk swallowed. The thought of Aerion as a parent was…questionable. But parenting logistics be damned, the image popped into his head of his omega glowing and radiant. Round with a pup in his belly.
A beautiful image that both warmed and clawed at Dunk’s heart.
That pup won’t be mine. I won’t be allowed to keep him that long. He hasn’t bitten me. We’re not mates. Maekar will take him back one day.
Refusing to let himself dwell, he smiled at Aerion’s story instead. The fact that his omega was opening up to him had to count for something, didn’t it?
“You and your father are close.”
“We are. We…”
Aerion trailed off, a deep pain shining in his eyes for a split second before he blinked it away, clenching his jaw. Aerion the angry dragon once again.
“Hardening myself for war,” Aerion repeated, gaze flickering over the campsite. “The conditions there will be worse than they are here.”
Dunk sniffed. He was opening himself up to putting Aerion in a snit, but he couldn’t hold back. “Glad to hear traveling with me is slightly less awful than being at war, my prince.”
Aerion flashed him a toothy smile. “Slightly.” But Dunk could have sworn he detected the faintest hint of warmth lurking behind the wicked glee. “Less awful than I thought it’d be.”
That’s something, I suppose.
Aerion stretched out his leg, brushing his foot against Dunk’s flank. “Plenty of alphas to fuck at war. I usually grow bored with them quickly.” Another brush of his foot. “Usually well before four months.”
Meaning you’re not bored of me yet? Dunk already knew that, especially after last night. But it brought a strange flutter to his heart all the same.
Aerion’s smirk shifted from wicked to sultry. “Go and wash, Ser Duncan. I’ll wait here.”
Dunk was fully hard before he rose to his feet.
Some of his madness has spread to me, I think. Dunk shook his head as he fumbled for his soap. Such a strange thing, growing aroused at being told to wash himself. But when he and Aerion were alone, the instruction only ever meant one thing.
Keeping an eye on their camp (he could not fully trust Aerion alone with Egg just yet), Dunk washed quickly, hissing at the feel of cold water against his cock. His only delay came after he’d rinsed away the last traces of sweat and grime, reaching for his clothes.
He stared at the bundle in his hand, brow furrowed. Camp was only a few feet away. It seemed silly to redress. But at the same time, the thought of walking up to their campsite fully nude unsettled him. He settled for simply covering his groin instead, rushing back to the warmth of the fire, only for Aerion to look at him amusedly.
“Shy, Ser Duncan?” he asked.
He growled, ears going pink. “Shut up.”
Aerion tsked, rising from his stump and grabbing Dunk’s wrist. “Is that any way to speak to an omega?”
I speak to you just fine when you’re not being a cunt.
Yet he said nothing, allowing Aerion to pull him over to the stump, take the shirt from his hands, and drape it over the wood.
“Sit.”
Unable to resist, Dunk woofed sarcastically. But rather than getting angry, the omega’s eyes brightened, and he yanked on Dunk’s arm. He obeyed, and Aerion threaded his fingers through Dunk’s hair, leaning in to whisper, “Good boy.”
His cock throbbed, sending a jolt of pleasure straight through his core.
“Wh…”
“Shh.” Aerion pressed his finger to Dunk’s lips, then unfastened his pants. They puddled at his feet, leaving him pale and beautiful, skin aglow in the firelight. “Behave for me, Ser Duncan, and I shall reward you.”
Aerion gripped his hair tighter, tugging on the strands, and Dunk knew just what he wanted. An act the omega would never perform (“Dragons do not suck cock”), but one he loved for Dunk to do to him.
One Dunk was happy to do for him, reward or no reward. Because the sounds Aerion always made…
Even now, the thought made his cock throb again.
Pulling Aerion in close, Dunk kissed his chest, brushing his lips along each muscle before laving his hot tongue over his omega’s nipple. Aerion’s chest vibrated as he purred, gently scratching his alpha’s scalp and muttering encouragements.
He let his hands trail down Aerion’s back, coming to rest on his ass before tugging him in closer still. Even seated, he had to hunch to lap his tongue over the head of his omega’s cock, chest swelling with pride at the way the prince shivered.
Shivering for him. Purring for him. Soon to be crying out in ecstasy for him. The beautiful Targaryen prince brought to bliss again and again at the hands of a hedge knight. A treasure Dunk could still scarcely believe was his, even if the rose was riddled with thorns.
But just as he drew Aerion deep into his mouth, just as his omega let out the most beautiful of gasps…
*crack*
Aerion heard it the same time he did, stiffening at the sound of a branch snapping. Rather than releasing him, his omega’s grip on his hair tightened. “Continue.”
Dunk pulled away just enough to look up, letting the cock fall from his mouth with a soft pop. Much to the princeling’s annoyance.
“Omega…”
“Continue,” he growled, trying to tug Dunk’s head back down again. “If it’s an animal, it won’t approach the fire. If it’s a person, they’ll move on quick enough.”
For half a second, Dunk considered it. The taste of precum still danced on his tongue, clean and sweet. And his scent, thick and heady with lust…
But he forced himself to withdraw, reaching for his pants. “Two seconds, just to make sure it’s nothing.”
Aerion’s lip twitched, pretty face twisting in a scowl, but Dunk only hastened his movements, forgoing his shirt.
“If it were just us, I’d ignore it, but we have to keep Egg safe too. Two seconds. Then I’m right back here.
Aerion said nothing, wearing an expression Dunk knew far too well. One that left him with a sinking feeling in his belly, but he turned and ran all the same, grabbing his sword.
The sound had come from further down the road, and it took only a second to see the source: a trio of travelers, all on foot. Men. One alpha, judging by the scent on the breeze. Each of them carried a large bundle in their arms.
They spotted Dunk just as he spotted them. But when he went to lift his hand in greeting, the leader skidded to a halt, drawing a dagger from his belt. The scent of fear wafted through the air.
“Let us pass!” he snarled, stepping forth in a fighting stance and brandishing the blade. “We have no quarrel with you!”
Dunk flinched, ducking his head sheepishly and trying to make himself seem shorter than his seven feet.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, tucking his sword behind his back. “Didn’t mean to startle…”
“Get out of our way!” the leader spat again, and Dunk hastened to scramble back further. Fighting a losing battle to make himself look as unthreatening as possible.
Moving faster now, the trio half-ran past Dunk as they continued down the road, keeping a watchful eye on him as he retreated back to the campsite.
Harmless passersby, just like Aerion said. His gaze dropped to his shoes.
Perhaps it was an attempt to soothe his own embarrassment, but a nagging feeling tugged at his mind. It was late to still be out walking. And why had the travelers reacted so violently so quickly?
Because you’re bigger than an ox, and you popped out of nowhere shirtless and holding a sword, he chided himself.
But just as he brushed those ill-feelings away, they came back in spades when he returned to their campsite only to see that Aerion was not where he left him.
Dunk’s heart leapt into his throat. Egg!
He rushed to Egg’s tent. But even before he got there, he saw that, once again, he’d been wrong. Egg’s tent flap was undisturbed, and the boy snored peacefully within. More telling, the flap to the tent Dunk and Aerion shared was closed, telling him his omega was inside.
Shit…A closer glance around the campsite told him that Aerion’s clothes were now neatly folded and put into one of his bags. Yet as soon as he peeked into the tent, his hopes sank. No longer naked, Aerion had donned his nightclothes.
But I washed myself…
“Omega?” he whispered into the tent. “You were right. Everything’s fine.”
He knew Aerion couldn’t be asleep. The omega lay on his pile of pillows (the pampered brat insisted he needed a minimum of three), but he was far too stiff, as if prepared to spring up at a moment’s notice.
Dunk swallowed, dropping to his knees so he could scootch in next to Aerion.
“We…we don’t have to stop what we were doing. I was only gone a few minutes.”
No answer. Dunk sighed.
Lesson learned: he mislikes it when a potential murderer diverts my attention.
“Omega, c’mon,” Dunk said, lying down next to him and reaching out a hand. “We…”
The instant he touched Aerion’s hip, the omega started growling. Not a token growl, which Dunk secretly found adorable, but a real growl. A wordless promise that Dunk would once again be in danger of losing a hand if he did not keep said hand to himself.
Reluctantly, Dunk pulled back, and Aerion shifted amongst the pillows, tossing about like he wished he had another three.
“You’d be just as pissy if I didn’t check. Accuse me of risking your life, or something,” Dunk mumbled. Something he normally wouldn’t do, but, well…he was feeling pissy too.
Aerion didn’t reply, not even to growl again, so with a roll of his eyes, Dunk flopped onto his other side and attempted to sleep as well.
One more full day of riding, one more night of camping, then maybe a day after that until Oldtown, he told himself. Egg’ll be happy to visit his maester brother, and Aerion will like the city. Maybe then he’ll be in a better mood.
Dunk fell asleep first, exhaustion from a long-day’s ride pulling him under within minutes. He would never know that, after his breathing settled into his sleep sounds, Aerion would flip around. He would certainly never know that Aerion would spoon in behind him, wrapping his smaller body around Dunk’s large frame, craving the softness and support his three pillows could not provide.
Aerion would stop long before Dunk woke up. And if he happened to get caught? He would simply claim he’d been cold.