His mother had woken him up. Alicent was mad about something, but as hungover, or perhaps still drunk, as he was, Aegon didn’t understand what he had done to make her so upset, nor could he remember.

Then, Alicent had slapped him. And Aegon started crying like a little boy. It hurt when his mother slapped him, said he was no son of hers. They acted like he didn’t care but Aegon did, he cared enough about his mother’s and father’s approval that he couldn’t help the tears that dripped over his cheeks.

Even after Alicent left, Aegon stayed in bed, knees tugged to his chest and his head buried between them, still unable to stop the tears. He just wanted someone to still love him, but deep down he knew he was too terrible for anyone to do so.