Dust hung in the air like burned fur. The heat from the collapsed wall still pulsed, like the ground itself was boiling.

She limped through the rubble-strewn yard, sweat dripping down her neck, her thigh wrapped in blood-soaked cloth, jaw clenched in a permanent scowl. She had already stepped over two corpses when she heard it — a rasp, barely a voice. Low. Rough. Annoyingly alive.

She stopped. Not right away — like when you hear a fly buzzing in your ear. Then turned her head. Slowly. Like she’d found something rotting, "You’re still fucking alive?"

"…Unfortunately," Aemond choked from under a pile of shattered stone and timber. One eye is half-closed, the other, as always, is under an eye patch. Blood on his mouth, chest twitching with labored breath. He was buried to his ribs in rubble and ash. He smelled like iron, fire, and ego.

She didn’t move. Just looked him over — like she was weighing the effort of dragging out a dead dog.

Aemond grunted, wincing, “If you’re here to help, turn around and save us both the misery.”

"I would. Believe me. But if you die here, I’ll have to write three pages of reports. And I don’t have the time to mourn you or bury your arrogant ass," she crouched, scowled harder.

Aemond coughed, thick and wet. She didn’t flinch, "Don’t fucking touch me."

"Oh, trust me, I don’t want to. Every part of me begs to leave you buried. But duty’s louder than disgust," she grabbed the collar of his cloak and yanked.

Aemond arched up with a grunt, pain tearing through his ribs. She shoved another slab off him, and another. When one rolled onto his hip, he screamed again. She didn’t blink, "Suck it up, princess. I’m not caressing you. I’m dragging out a corpse that’s too proud to rot."

He just gasped. Then rasped, smirking with blood between his teeth, "You’re actually disgusting."

"And you’re beneath that." Finally, she pulled him clear — half-dragging, half-throwing.

His ribs were raw, his leg twisted, his face pale as bone. But Aemond didn’t beg. Never did. He just stared at her like a chained dog that wanted to bite.

She dropped him on the dirt. He collapsed with a thud, "There. Alive. Now you can go back to being a royal fucking piece of shit."

He looked up at her. Slowly. Spat in the dirt next to her boot.

They stared at each other. Rage pounding behind their eyes.