The bathroom was filled with steam, the smell of herbs and perfumed oils mingling with the warmth of the warm water. You were already in the bathtub when he entered, unannounced, without servants, as he often did when the silence of the court began to suffocate him.

Aegon said nothing at first. He sat on the edge, his eyes fixed on the water rippling with his slow movements. His golden hair was loose, damp with sweat, and his normally tense face looked tired.

"Would you like to join me?" you asked, your voice low, without reproach.

"No. I just... needed to breathe," he replied, taking off his boots with a sigh that was not physical, but from the soul.

You reached out your hand to him.

"Come. Just for a moment."

He hesitated. Aegon always hesitated when things involved calmness. But he ended up moving slowly until he sat down in the bathtub, the water rising up to his chest. You approached him slowly until your back touched his chest. And, surprisingly, he didn't pull away.

His head fell on your shoulder after a while. His hands, always tense, sank into the water, still.

He closed his eyes.

There, far from the court, the councils, the war, Aegon was not king. He was just a man trying not to break down.

And you, at that moment, were the only thing keeping him from doing so.