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Princess Viserra Targaryen, tenth-born child of Queen Alysanne Targaryen and King Jaehaerys Targaryen, she was the fifth-born girl, and according to all the people who locked eyes with her, she was the most beautiful of all the children; born in 71 A.C, Princess Viserra, had a will of her own as well, but she never screamed and certainly never cried. Sly was one word used to describe her. Vain was another. Even as a little girl, Viserra had been the most beautiful of the queen’s daughters. Great lords, famous knights, and callow boys had danced attendance on her all her life, feeding her vanity until it became a raging fire. Her great delight in life was playing one boy off against the other, goading them into foolish quests and contests. To win her favor for a joust, she made admiring squires swim the Blackwater Rush, climb the Tower of the Hand, or set free all the ravens in the rookery. Once she took six boys to the Dragonpit and told them she would give her maidenhead to whoever put his head in a dragon’s mouth, but the gods were good that day and the Dragonkeepers put an end to that. Viserra was beautiful, all men agreed, blessed with the deep purple eyes and silver-gold hair of a true Targaryen, with flawless white skin, fine features, and a grace that was somehow eerie and unsettling in one so young. When one stammering young squire told her she was a goddess, she agreed. She was not quite close with some of her brothers and sisters, she was closest to her older sister, Saera, who was like her, adventurous, beautiful and aware of her beauty, the two oft spent hours and even days making sure they both looked unreachable; they both also formed a strong bond in the fact that they seemed to both be hated by their parents.

Princess Saera Targaryen, the ninth-born child amd fourth-born daughter of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne, Princess Saera came into the world, red-faced and squalling, she proved to be a trial from the very start; tempestuous, demanding, disobedient. The first word she spoke was no, and she said it often and loudly. She refused to be weaned until past the age of four. Even as she ran about the castle, talking more than her siblings Vaegon and Daella combined, she wanted her mother’s milk, and raged and screamed whenever the queen dismissed another wet nurse. “Seven save us,” Alysanne whispered to the king one night, “when I look at her I see Aerea.” Fierce and stubborn, Saera Targaryen thrived upon attention and sulked when she did not receive it. Saera had all the courage that her sister, Daella, lacked, along with a voracious hunger…for milk, for food, for affection, for praise. As a babe she did not so much cry as scream, and her ear-piercing wails became the terror of every maid in the Red Keep. “She wants what she wants and she wants it now,” Grand Maester Elysar wrote of the princess in 69 AC, when she was only two. “Seven save us all when she is older. The Dragonkeepers had best lock up the dragons.” He had no notion how prophetic those words would be. Septon Barth was more reflective, as he observed the princess at the age of twelve in 79 AC. “She is the king’s daughter, and well aware of it. Servants see to her every need, though not always as quickly as she might like. Great lords and handsome knights show her every courtesy, the ladies of the court defer to her, girls of her own age vie with one another to be her friends. All of this Saera takes as her due. If she were the king’s firstborn, or better still his only child, she would be well content. Instead she finds herself the ninthborn, with six living siblings who are older than her and even more adored. Aemon is to be king, Baelon most like will be his Hand, Alyssa may be all her mother is and more, Vaegon is more learned than she is, Maegelle is holier, and Daella…when does a day go by when Daella is not in need of comfort? And whilst she is being soothed, Saera is being ignored. Such a fierce little thing she is, they say, she has no need of comfort. They are wrong in that, I fear. All men need comfort.”

From a young age, Saera and Viserra knew that they were all their parents despised, King Jaehaerys would ignore Saera as if she was nothing but a fly in a tree outside the Red Keep, if she screamed he would order a maid to take her away to her mother; he would groan loudly if Saera spoke more than four words with him in the room, and never once bothered to know exactly what his daughter liked, why she preferred to wear black and red, why she was so loud. Perhaps if he had shown her the love and attention he showed his eldest son and heir she wouldn't have become so mischievous. The border between innocent pranks, wanton mischief, and acts of malice is not always discerned by one so young, but there can be no doubt that the princess crossed it freely. She was forever sneaking cats into her sister Daella’s bedchamber, knowing that she was frightened of them. Once she filled Daella’s chamberpot with bees. At seven, she learned when and how to steal into the kitchens to make off with cakes and pies and other treats. She slipped into White Sword Tower when she was ten, stole all the white cloaks she could find, and dyed them pink. Before she was eleven, she was stealing wine and ale instead. By twelve, she was like as not to arrive drunk when summoned to the sept for prayer. The king’s half-witted fool, Tom Turnip, was the victim of many of her japes, and her unwitting catspaw for others. Once, before a great feast where many lords and ladies were to be in attendance, she persuaded Tom that it would be much funnier if he performed naked. It was not well received. Later, far more cruelly, she told him that if he climbed the Iron Throne he could be king, but the fool was clumsy at the best of times and prone to tremors, and the throne sliced his arms and legs to pieces. “She is an evil child,” her septa said of her afterward. Princess Saera had half a dozen septas and as many bedmaids before she turned thirteen.

This is not to say that the princess was without her virtues. Her maesters affirmed that she was very clever, as bright as her brother Vaegon in her own way. She was certainly pretty, taller than her sister Daella and not half so delicate, and as strong and quick and spirited as her sister Alyssa. When she wanted to be charming, it was hard to resist her. Her big brothers Aemon and Baelon never failed to be amused by her mischief (though they never knew the worst of it), and long before she was half-grown, Saera had learned the art of getting anything she wanted from her father: a kitten, a hound, a pony, a hawk, a horse (Jaehaerys did draw a firm line at the elephant). Queen Alysanne was far less gullible, however, and Septon Barth tells us that Saera’s sisters all misliked her to various degrees. All except for one, Viserra, she saw the way Saera was and recognized it for what it was, a plea to receive half the attention her siblings received, at least a portion of the attention that Daella received when she had a nightmare, a portion of the attention Vaegon got for being so intelligent, a portion of the attention Maegelle received when she recited an entire chapter of the Seven-Pointed Star. She had once snuck into her sister's chambers, Saera was a few weeks shy of ten-and-thrre, while Viserra had only recently turned nine; her purple nightgown contrasting perfectly against Saera's green nightgown. While Saera never explained why, Viserra knew Saera chose the color green in order to match her mother's usual green gowns.

"Serra?" Saera called, her silver hair slowly being combed through by Saera's hair "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to someone" Viserra explained, playing with the ruffles of her sleeves "May I come in?"

"Of course" Saera hummed, tapping the area of her bed to signal for her sister to sit down there.

Viserra closed the doors behind her, her feet slapping against the floor as she climbed into Saera's bed, at the feet of the bed, slept Saera's hound, which she had named Jaenara, by the window, slept her cat, which she had named Daenys, and in the corner of the room, on a perch, slept Saera's hawk, which had been named Meraxes. Saera left her brush on her bedside table, before turning back to her younger sister.

"What happened? Did that idiot jester call you Rhaenys come again, again?" She asked, annoyance seeping into her voice.

The jester Saera spoke of, was none other than Tom Turnip, he often called Viserra "Rhaenys Targaryen, come again" And joked that perhaps Viserra should not claim a dragon, as she could end up like the Queen; the first time he made that joke, Viserra cried silently, something only Saera caught. She had immediately yelled at the jester for insinuating her sister would be killed on dragonback, and even cursed him for poking fun at the death of one of the first Targaryen Queens of Westeros; the jester did not joke that way again, or at least didn't do it in front of Saera. Viserra would always feel upset at the jokes, for she wished for nothing other than a dragon for herself, Alyssa, Baelon and Aemon had them, so why couldn't any of them have one either? Someone telling her that she didn't deserve a dragon for she would die on it, felt horrible.

"No, he has not bothered me again, ever since you had those boys push him into the river" She explained, calming her sister down "I just... Do you think that, mother hates me?"

Saera seemed taken aback by the question, in her experience her mother was never nothing but a bit cold, she wouldn't loudly exclaim her annoyance at Saera, unlike Jaehaerys, but she also did not actively express her dislike for them, she mostly ignored them. Saera also couldn't quite tell much about her mother's feelings towards her, she knew her father disliked her, that much was obvious, but at least she could annoy him into giving her some sort of attention; Queen Alysanne, however, remained stoic whenever her daughter spoke or tried to get a reaction out of her. And as Saera had come to realize, any attention is good attention, so her father giving her the gifts she demanded was a form of attention for her, which was good enough. She knew Viserra, like her, struggled to receive attention from their parents, who juggled ruling a country whilst raising a total of nine living children, with one of them being a newborn. But she didn't know why it was that she believed their mother hated her, as she would've suffered what Saera suffered in terms of their mother's cold personality and their father's lack of care about them; perhaps a bit more cold due to the fact that she was younger, but still, she shouldn't believe they hated her.

"What makes you think so?" Saera hummed with worry, tucking a strand of silver-gold hair behind her sister's ear.

"I heard her talking to father about me" She explained "She said I was vain, shallow... She said I was as cold as Queen Visenya"

Saera cursed her mother in her mind, she knew of the history between her mother and Queen Visenya, of all the things that happened after King Aenys' death, she could not believe her own mother would compare her nine year old daughter to the woman who imprisoned her and lead to the deaths of three of her siblings.

"Serra" She sighed, softly gracing her sister's cheek "I know how much it hurst to be insulted and called horrible names. I know it hurts you that our mother herself also does too. But I need you to trust me, and know that this pain will not last forever"

"How long did it last for you?" Viserra was quick to follow up.

Saera remained silent for a fee seconds, before speaking again.

"I do not really know... All I know is that, after some time, the pain just fades into the back of your mind. Like an old dress, you receive more dresses and you wear the new dresses so often that the old dress is forgotten, pushed to the back of the closet." She held her hand, softly caressing it with her finger "I don't know if it helps, but to me you're the furthest thing from vain. They call us vain because we know our worth, we are the blood of Old Valyria, we are the daughters of the King; they call us vain because we recognize and know who we are, and they hate he fact that we don't swoon for those who tells us things we already know"

"But what if I want to swoon?" Viserra asked her sister "What if I want to fall in love with someone who calls me pretty and beautiful?"

"Then you'll soon do" Saera hummed "Serra, someday you will find someone who loves you for who you are, who does not wish to hold you back nor wishes to make you feel like nothing" She smiled softly "Someday, the day is going to come for you to find your love"

Viserra blinked away the tears in her eyes, before reaching forward, embracing her older sister.

The two sisters were thick as thieves, often brushing the other's hair and giving the other company whilst their father ignored them and their mother switched from hating them to loving them and the other way around; Viserra and Saera only grew more confident in themselves, Viserra found out about Saera's involvement with her own friends, Jonah Mooton, the heir to Maidenpool, Red Roy Connington, the fifteen-year-old Lord of Griffin’s Roost, and Braxton Beesbury, called Stinger, a nineteen-year-old knight, the finest lance in the Reach, and the heir to Honeyholt. The princess had female favorites as well: Perianne Moore and Alys Turnberry, two maids of her own age, became her dearest friends. Saera called them Pretty Peri and Sweetberry. For more than a year, the three maids and the three young lords were inseparable at every feast and ball. They hunted and hawked together too, and once sailed across Blackwater Bay to Dragonstone. When the three lords rode at rings or crossed swords in the yards, the three maids were there to cheer them on. Saera had told Viserra once that she loved all of them like their mother loved their father, they made her feel good, and the idea of having to choose one of them destroyed her, for she wished she could marry them all.

Like Saera, Viserra had also found a man to be interested in, her own brother, Baelon, who had recently become widowed after the loss of his wife and sister in childbirth, Alyssa had passed away in 84 A.C, her death breaking their mother's heart once again. Baelon was an attractive man, fearless, kind, sweet, caring, he made her laugh and he held her a handful of times, her love for Baelon was bigger than any other love she felt. Even when she allowed other boys to fond over her and melt under her gaze, she never felt any form of attraction towards them, they were nice boys who all wished for her attention, but they were not something she wanted, she didn't know exactly what she wanted, but she knew those boys were not for her, Baelon was the only one she wished to be with and the only one who did not melt under her gaze. If anyone else asked her, it was because they were no dragons, and she would not marry someone who was not a dragon; if Saera asked her, Viserra told the truth, her heart only burned for Baelon, she did not want him out of selfishness, she did not want him to annoy her mother, she wanted him for him. Before Alyssa passed away, she refused to be around Baelon, she saw how strong Baelon burned for Alyssa, amd she did not wish to come between them; but Alyssa was now gone, and a selfish part of Viserra hoped that Baelon would now finally see her.

On a warm spring night in 84 AC, moons after Alyssa's passing, shouts and screams from a brothel called the Blue Pearl drew the notice of two men of the City Watch. The screams were coming from Tom Turnip, who was lurching helplessly in circles trying to escape from half a dozen naked whores, whilst the patrons of the house laughed uproariously and shouted on the harlots. Jonah Mooton, Red Roy Connington, and Stinger Beesbury were amongst those patrons, each one drunker than the last. They had thought it would be funny to see old Turnip do the deed, Red Roy admitted. Then Jonah Mooton laughed and said the jape had all been Saera’s notion, and what a funny girl she was. The watchmen rescued the hapless fool and escorted him back to the Red Keep. The three lords they brought before Ser Robert Redwyne, their commander. Ser Robert delivered them to the king, ignoring Stinger’s threats and Connington’s clumsy attempt to bribe him. Saera's other friends had been taken in for questioning, soon, almost all of her maids, septas and others had been taken in for questioning; several discoveries had been made that night, and by the end of it, Saera had been called by the King. Viserra had hidden in one of the hidden passageways in order to listen to the King, she heard of all the things Saera did, though she knew them already, she knew she would soon need to play the role of the foolish sister who knew nothing of it.

“What have you done?” the king said, when at last the princess ran out of words. “Seven save us, what have you done? Have you given one of these boys your maidenhead? Tell me true.”

“True?” said Saera. It was in that moment, with that word, that the contempt came out. “No. I gave it to all three. They all think they were the first. Boys are such silly fools.”

Jaehaerys was so horrified he could not speak, but the queen kept her composure.

“You are very proud of yourself, I see. A woman grown, and nearly seven-and-ten. I am sure you think you have been very clever, but it is one thing to be clever and another to be wise. What do you imagine will happen now, Saera?”

“I will be married,” the princess said. “Why shouldn’t I be? You were married at my age. I shall be wedded and bedded, but to whom? Jonah and Roy both love me, I could take one of them, but they are both such boys. Stinger does not love me, but he makes me laugh and sometimes makes me scream. I could marry all three of them, why not? Why should I have just one husband? The Conqueror had two wives, and Maegor had six or eight.”

She had gone too far. Jaehaerys rose to his feet and descended from the Iron Throne, his face a mask of rage.

"You would compare yourself to Maegor? Is that who you aspire to be?” His Grace had heard
enough. “Take her back to her bedchamber,” he told his guards, “and keep her there until I send for her again.”

When the princess heard his words, she rushed toward him, crying, “Father, Father!” but Jaehaerys turned his back on her, and Gyles Morrigen caught her by the arm and wrenched her away. She would not go of her own accord, so the guards were forced to drag her from the hall, wailing and sobbing and calling for her father. When Viserra saw this, she rushed through the passageways, reaching the hall where her sister would be dragged to in order to reach her chambers, Viserra was smaller than the guards, but they were carrying a crying Saera, meaning she had enough time to reach her chambers first. She ran up the stairs, her silver-gold hair flying freely behind her, her feet ached as she skipped a stair at a time, trying to avoid being seen by the guards who cartied her sister to her chambers, she dodged the maids and servants that were in the way, but occasionally bumped into one of them; she could see her brother, Baelon, who was holding his youngest son, Aegon, she ignored Baelon when she passed him by, leaving his question of what was wrong unanswered. She did not care if she was behaving unlike a lady or a princess, titles be dammed, at this moment, she was not Princess Viserra Targaryen, she was not daughter of King Jaehaerys Targaryen and Queen Alysanne Targaryen, she was only Viserra, sister of Saera. When she made it to Saera's chambers, she quickly hid underneath the bed, her skirt only barely fitting under it before the door was opened by the guards, and her sister was pushed inside, though no longer weeping, she was still crying.

"Saera" Viserra exclaimed once

the doors were closed.

Saera turned around, her hair now messy from her struggling against the guards.

"Serra" She sighed, before she rushed to her younger sister, and joined her in a warm embrace "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean it"

"Saera it's fine, it is fine" Viserra tried to soothe her "I know they are furious but it will pass, we both know their fury never lasts"

"This one will" Saera argued "You should've seen how mother and father looked at me, they looked at me as if I was the one who killed our brothers and sister" She sobbed.

The sisters remained trapped in the warm embrace for some more time, Saera's sobs caused the girl to shiver and shake as her tears stained Viserra's periwinkle gown; Viserra had only ever seen Saera cry like this before in a handful of occasions, when her hound died of old age, when Daella died and when Alyssa died. But these tears were stronger, she was not grieving the loss of a loved one, but was grieving the future loss of her freedom.

"Serra" Saera called for her "I need you to listen to me right now... I can no longer stay here"

"What?" Viserra frowned.

"Mother and father were furious, I know they'll send me with Maegelle to become a septa. So it is best if I leave now" Saera explained.

"No" Viserra sighed "No no Saera, listen to me" She spoke quickly and desperately "Their anger might simmer down if you stay here, you don't know if they'll do it"

"But I know" Saera whispered "We have both heard the stories of what happens to women like us, sent away to become septas, exhiled, beaten down until we become quiet... I am a dragon, and dragons do not do well in captivity, we need to fly and be free... I hate the fact that my freedom has to come at the expense of no longer being with you, but I promise, I will come back"

Viserra tried to argue further, but her sister was set on her plan, and nothing made Saera change her mind; she had been kicked out of her sister's chambers a few hours later, when the halls were emptier. She eas questioned by the guards, who asked her how she got into Saera's chambers, but all she said was "I was there before all of you, it is not my fault that you did not notice me" The night of the very next day, Saera attempted her escape, she slipped away whilst visiting the privy, donned a washerwoman’s robes, stole a horse from the stables, and escaped the castle. She got halfway across the city, to the Hill of Rhaenys, but as she tried to enter the Dragonpit, she was found and taken by the Dragonkeepers and returned to the Red Keep. Alysanne wept when she heard, for she knew her cause was hopeless. Jaehaerys was hard as stone. “Saera with a dragon,” was all he had to say. “Would she have taken Balerion as well, I wonder?” This time the princess was not allowed to return to her own chambers. She was confined to a tower cell instead, with Jonquil Darke guarding her day and night, even in the privy. She was made to watch from the window of her cell as her father killed Stinger, Jonquil Darke, her gaoler, made certain that she did not turn away. A fortnight later, Jaehaerys and Alysanne gave another of their daughters over to the Faith. Princess Saera, who was not quite seventeen, departed King’s Landing for Oldtown, where her sister Septa Maegelle was to take charge of her instruction. She would be a novice, it was announced, with the silent sisters.

Viserra and Saera wept as they were separated, Aemon and Baelon tried to argue with their father, but it proved to be futile, and Saera was sent away; Viserra became more rebellious after her sister was sent away, she wished nothing but to humiliate her father more than anything. She flirted with any boy who crossed paths with her, lords, heirs, lowborns, any boy who stuttered whilst speaking with her, would be flirted with by the princess. Prince Baelon was the only sibling who tried to stop her, as he knew how close Saera and Viserra were, he had once entered her chambers to have a conversation with her, but he could not say more than two words before Viserra shut him up with a hiss. Baelon knew of his sister's feelings for him, she wasn't obvious, that was for sure, but Alyssa had told him about the way Viserra stared at him longingly, despite the wedge between Alyssa and Saera and Viserra, Alyssa could recognize that Viserra was trying her hardest to not break Baelon and Alyssa up, and for that, Alyssa was thankful for. Not because she thought Baelon would leave her for Viserra, but because she did not wish to kill her sister. After Alyssa told Baelon of Viserra's feelings for him, he became much sharper, carefully seeing the way she behaved around him, she would often carry a tiara in a pouch, and would only put it on if she would bump into Baelon, she would become much quieter and would often try and behave in a way that would try and make Baelon desire her, but Baelon only ever desired Alyssa, in life and death. It was because of this that Baelon was shocked to see the way Viserra glared at him, as her eyes were usually hopeful around him.

"Before you tell me that you understand what I am going through think very well" She threatened "We may have lost the same siblings, brother, but you lost the idea you had of Saera, I lost Saera as a whole"

"Viserra" Baelon sighed "I don't know exactly how your relationship with Saera was, but I know it was close... When I lost Alyssa I felt devastated, and I know it is cruel to compare your pain to mine. But I want you to have what I lost" He explained "Hope. Mother and Father may try to get her back later, and if they don't then when Aemon becomes king, he will get Saera back. And you will both claim a dragon"

Viserra threw a brush at her brother, who barely dodged it.

"Do NOT attempt to shut me up with false hope. Father had Saera be questioned in the throne room as if she was a lowlife criminal instead of his daughter, he has done nothing but kill his children and ruin them. Look at Daella, look at Gael, Maegelle, Saera! You do not understand our pain! You and Aemon will never understand us! Aemon will be king and you'll be his hand! To father you are bigger than the Gods! So do not compare me to you EVER!" She shouted, her eyes becoming full of tears "And if I ever get a dragon" She sobbed "You better pray mother and father are long dead by then, because the first thing I will do to them is feed them to my dragon" Baelon emerged from his sister's bedchambers, knowing it was dangerous to even give her a dragon, but knowing it would be more dangerous to leave her without a dragon, for it was a lack of dragons that killed his sister Daenerys and forever left his sister Daella terrified of her own shadow.

Chapter Text

Despite his failed attempts, Baelon continued to seek to comfort his sister, knowing that, in times of grief, a strong embrace was all one needed; Viserra was annoyed at her brother, but found that every time she yelled at him, she felt better. After that, they would often hold conversations, and Baelon would occasionally allow his sister to yell at him in order to let go of all her grief; he delivered letters to Saera, written by Viserra and allowed the sisters to keep in contact. He could see how much better Viserra was doing by then, and he saw how hope was restored in her; until, in 85 AC, Baelon went to deliver Viserra's letter to Saera, and found out that she had escaped. According to what he was told, Saera fled from the motherhouse in the dead of night and made her way down to the docks. When an older sister came upon her during her escape, she knocked the woman down a flight of steps and leapt over her to the door. When word of her flight reached King’s Landing, it was assumed that Saera would be hiding somewhere in Oldtown, but Lord Hightower’s men combed the city door to door, and no trace was found of her. It was then thought that mayhaps she would make her way back to the Red Keep, to beg pardon from her father. When she did not appear there either, the king wondered if she might not flee to her former friends, so Jonah Mooton and his wife, Perianne, were told to keep watch for her at Maidenpool. The truth did not come out until a year later, when the former princess was seen in a Lysene pleasure garden, still clad as a novice. Queen Alysanne wept to hear it. “They have made our daughter into a whore,” she said. “She always was,” the king replied.

Viserra, furious by her father's comment and lack of care, nearly went down to the Drangonkeep just to claim a dragon to kill her father, perhaps Balerion, she would kill her father in the name of her sisters, her aunts and cousins; when she killed her father she would do it in the name of Daella, Saera, Gael, Rhaena, Aerea, and her own grandmother, Alyssa. Before she could even set foot out of the Red Keep, however, she was intercepted by Baelon, who stopped his sister and took her away from the main hall, and into his bedchambers, where his youngest son, Daemon slept in, along with his older brother, Viserys; young Aegon having sadly died a few moons after Alyssa. Baelon was careful when he closed the door behind him, doing so quietly in order to not awake his sons; Viserra knew exactly why he took her here, it was to ensure she wouldn't scream, as she hated waking up the children with her screams. She turned to face her brother, but he simply raised his arms, showing he wished to not start an argument, normally he would let her scream in order to let go of all her anger inside her before they had a civil conversation to aid Viserra know what she was feeling, why she was feeling it and hie to express it and handle it. Viserra huffed, but did not say a single word, letting Baelon speak.

"I am as mad as our father as you are" He was quick to say "But we cannot afford a reaction, best we can do is simply remain quiet long enough until the Stranger comes"

"Well he is not coming fast enough" Viserra growled.

Baelon bit his lip softly.

"I must go to Dragonstone soon so that Viserys and Daemon can spend time with Rhaenys" He explained "I wish to take you with me, take you to Dragonmont, and let you claim a dragon"

Viserra turned to look at her brother, her eyes wide in shock.

"But it needs to be kept a secret. All servants and maids serve Aemon, so they'll be quiet, but you cannot mount it as often as you'd like to" Baelon warned.

Viserra frowned.

"Most dragons are here in the Dragonpit, especially the hatchlings" She pointed out.

"Not all" Baelon hummed "The only ones here are the ones that were hatched here, but in Dragonmont there are many more hatchlings and younglings. You may claim whichever you prefer"

King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne were unaware of their son's plan, and thought nothing of it when he took Viserra away with him, the only one to question it was Alysanne, who knew of her daughter's feelings towards Baelon, the Queen had always been against those feelings, for she believed Viserra wanted Baelon only to insult her deceased sister, Alyssa. Alysanne attempted to make Baelon leave Viserra behind, perhaps worried that Viserra would try and seduce Baelon; but despite her wishes, Baelon still took Viserra to Dragonstone. There, she met her brother, Aemon, and his good-sister, Jocelyn; her relationship with Aemon was more so cordial than anything else, he was almost two decades older than her, thus obviously would not seek her out to bond, especially since he had had a daughter only three years after Viserra was born. Yet, he received her with open arms, for she was now the only sibling who still spoke with them or wasn't dead, out of thirteen children, six had died, three no longer spoke with them and Gael never left her mother's side; the chance of at least knowing a thing about one of his few remaining living relatives excited Aemon. Jocelyn and Aemon stayed with the children, while Viserra and Baelon went to claim a dragon for Viserra. Viserra knew her brother was just grasping at what little remained of their family, but she couldn't stop the naively hopeful side of her from thinking that Baelon may return her feelings.

The dragon that bonded to Viserra was not Balerion, for she wished to allow her sister Saera to claim him, or at least try to, her dragon instead, was the one belonging to her deceased aunt, Rhaena Targaryen, eldest daughter of Aenys Targaryen, and rightful heir to the Iron throne, Dreamfyre; when Viserra emerged from the Dragonmont on top of the enormous Dreamfyre, Baelon feared for his father's life. Dreamfyre was larger than Vermithor himself and proved to be fast and swift, if Viserra wished to, she could kill her father; but she chose not to, instead, she flied around Dragonstone, swimming through clouds and sinking into the ocean blue sky. Whilst she flied, she could not help but think of how it would feel like to fly alongside Saera; despite her sister not writing to her, Viserra could not help but yearn for her, her heartstrings pulled at her to try and find Saera, to get her home, to get her back to her side. There was not a day in which Viserra did not yearn for Saera, she did not care if her father sent her away after discovering she had claimed a dragon, if he exiled her, she would find a way to find Saera. To find her home in her sister's comforting embrace and dance to the melody of her sister's soothing voice. She looked to the east, considering the possibility of flying away and find Saera, but she did not. Saera was probably happier away from the tyranny of their father, and who was Viserra to steal her happiness?

Despite the joy of finding and bonding to a dragon, Viserra would not be happy for too long. In 86 AC, Queen Alysanne announced the betrothal of Viserra, fifteen years of age, to Theomore Manderly, the fierce old Lord of White Harbor. The marriage would do much and more to tie the realm together by uniting one of the great houses of the North to the Iron Throne, the king declared. Lord Theomore had won great renown as a warrior in his youth, and had proved himself a canny lord under whose rule White Harbor had prospered greatly. Queen Alysanne was very fond of him as well, remembering the warm welcome he had given her during her first visit to the North. His lordship had outlived four wives, however, and whilst still a doughty fighter, he had grown very stout, which did little to recommend him to Princess Viserra. She had a different man in mind. Her brother, Baelon. Queen Alysanne knew of Viserra's love for Baelon and knew that no other man would ever win her heart, and certainly not her maidenhead. “She has no interest in kissing games, nor boys,” the queen told Jaehaerys. “She plays with them as she used to play with her puppies, but she would no more lie with one than with a dog. She aims much higher, our Viserra. I have seen the way she preens and prances around Baelon. That is the husband she desires, and not for love of him. She wants to be the queen.” If the princess was intent on marrying her brother, the queen was equally determined to prevent it. Her answer was Lord Manderly and White Harbor. “Theomore is a good man,” Alysanne told her daughter, “a wise man, with a kind heart and a good head on his shoulders. His people love him.” The princess was not persuaded. “If you like him so much, Mother, you should marry him,” she said, before running to her father to complain. Jaehaerys offered her no solace. “It is a good match,” he told her, before explaining the importance of drawing the North closer to the Iron Throne. Marriages were the queen’s domain in any case, he said; he never interfered in such matters. Frustrated, Viserra next turned to her brother Baelon in hopes of rescue, if court gossip can be believed. Slipping past his guards into his bedchamber one night, she disrobed and waited for him, making free with the prince’s wine whilst she lingered. When Baelon found his sister in his bed, he was shocked to find her so drunk that she could not even tell the difference between the ceiling and the floor.

"She'll make me marry him" Viserra moaned in a groggy manner, swaying as she held onto Baelon's wrist "Please... Save me, brother" She pleaded "I don't want to end up like Daella"

Whilst Baelon's heart still burned for Alyssa, he knew what he had to do, he had already lost too many siblings, he would not be the reason behind his sister's death, after all he had already killed his first wife; he had laid Viserra down on his bed, covering her naked body with the sheets, and left to find his mother. Baelon had found her and his father in the gardens, talking about Gods knew what, perhaps about Viserra's future marriage to the old Lord; Baelon had expressed his desire to take Viserra as his bride instead. Queen Alysanne was immediately against Baelon's idea, she tried to send her son away with the many things she said to Jaehaerys about Viserra; Baelon shut down every single one of those reasons his mother gave. "She does not love you, my son, she only wishes to be Queen", "Then why isn't she following after Aemon?"; "She'll become tired of you soon, just like she did with most", "What marriage has not ended that way? We have both seen the different marriages in Westeros, there is nothing that assures you that she will become tired". Finally, Queen Alysanne was convinced by a single phrase said by her son "Why do you want Viserra to become like Daella?". When Viserra awoke, she did so to find her brother looking down on her, sympathy in his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" He questioned, humming when Viserra groaned "Yes, the morning after a drunken night is always horrible" He said, handing her a glass of water.

Viserra covered her naked frame with her bedsheets, realizing that she hadn't been dressed yet, but she felt nothing between her legs, no ache, no pain, no stretch, none of the things she heard older ladies talk about. She looked up at her brother.

"Did you not... "

"Take your maidenhead?" Baelon guessed "No, you were not in the right state of mind for it. I also did not think it would do us any good to bed one another before our wedding"

Viserra choked on her water at the word.

"Before?" She asked through coughs.

"I managed to convince mother and father" Baelon explained "We will marry in a fortnight, mother is explaining everything to Lord Manderly"

Viserra let go of the glass as she jumped to hug her brother, tears of joy streaming down her face as she cried and thanked her brother, over and over again; Baelon returned the hug. When the two let go of one another, however, Baelon wore a grim expression on his face, for he knew the conversation that would follow would not be fun to have.

"Listen, Viserra" He began, and Viserra already knew what was to come "I know how you feel about me, and I swear I tried to feel the same for you... But my heart still beats for Alyssa. We will consumate our marriage, and act like a married couple outside, but I cannot bring myself to feel the same for you. And it would be unfair for me to string you along to make you think I may feel the same for you" He knew it was hard on his sister's heart, but he didn't want her to live with the hope of something that would never come.

Baelon was met with a cold nod from Viserra, who refused to meet his eyes, Baelon tried to comfort his sister the second he heard a quiet sniffling sound, but he was stopped immediately by her, as she pushed him back and asked for him to leave and find one of her chambermaids to bring her back her garments, for she had brought nothing but her nightgown the night before. When news of Viserra's and Baelon's betrothal spread, reactions were mixed. Aemon was understanding of his brother's reasoning, but that did not mean he agreed with his actions "Our Velaryon cousins could've married her" He pointed out "You could have asked for me to aid her and I would've convinced mother to wed her to one of them"; "And then what?" Baelon retorted "Wait until our sister dies like Daella and Alyssa? Wait until she escapes for a better life like Saera?". Prince Aemon had nothing to say after that. Jocelyn was more so pitiful of Viserra, whilst she wasn't the closest to the girl, she knew how she felt, having to witness the deaths of so many girls at the hands of selfish Lords who cared about nothing other than burying their cocks and producing more heirs than they could count. Gael, as per usual, agreed with her mother, for all she knew about Viserra was what Alysanne said about her.

Viserys and Daemon, Baelon's sons, were adamant on their father marrying another woman, Prince Viserys was nine-years-old, whilst Prince Daemon was five; Prince Daemon was quicker to warm up to Viserra, as he had been three-years-old when he lost his mother, and had little to no memories of her. Prince Viserys, however, was against his father marrying Viserra, Viserys had been witness to the grief Baelon experienced after he lost Alyssa, he heard his father promise his mother he would never love another woman ever again; he despised the idea of Viserra replacing his mother, and had thrown a fit when Baelon announced he was to marry Viserra. During the wedding ceremony, Prince Viserys was seen pouting and even sniffling, singers, however, oft omitted that part from their songs, and focused most on how beautiful Viserra looked. Just like Baelon said, he consumatted the marriage with Viserra, who had downed a bottle of wine in order to make sure it would not hurt as much as she heard it would; witnesses claim Princess Viserra cried when she beded Baelon, not out of pain, but out of love for the prince, and whilst Baelon cried as well, he did so out of guilt for trapping his sister in a marriage with a man who did not love her like she loved him. When Queen Alysanne discovered that Viserra had claimed Dreamfyre, a fortnight after the wedding, she reacted the same way a dragon would, though nobody is sure which story is true. Some claim the Queen shouted and cursed and even wept, telling her husband that their sister was punishing them for their crimes, "What crimes?" The king huffed "Her inability to become a dutiful bride was not our fault"; the Queen yelled at her husband, for their sister's hatred for them had clearly found its home in Saera's and Viserra's souls. Others say that she did not scream, but wept silently, mumbling and apologizing to her sister for hurting her in her life. Others claim that she had nearly mounted Silverwing in a fit of rage. Whilst we do not know what story is true, we know, that the Queen was not pleased.

An exact moon after the wedding night, Viserra realized that she had skipped her blood, she had chosen to wait, in case it was just late, but her blood did not come that month, nor the other, and halfway through the year, Viserra announced that she was with child. Prince Daemon was joyous for getting to have a younger sibling, he even asked if he could aid in the naming if the babe, his love towards Viserra seemed to surprise many, for the Prince was known for being cold, yet he adored Princess Viserra like no other; his love was the light of Viserra's life, and whenever she was with Daemon, she felt her heart slowly heal. Prince Viserys, however, was not pleased, he had thrown a tantrum that shook the grounds of King's Landing, he had locked himself in his chambers and broken many things; by the time the guards managed to kick the doors open, the room was full of smoke, for the princeling had thrown his sheets and other objects into the fireplace. Prince Baelon, though not in love with Viserra, was a dutiful husband, and only became more so after he found out of her condition, he had ordered maids to always follow Viserra around to ensure she was safe; one day, an owl had arrived from Essos, a letter, written by Saera, wishing to meet her sister again. Viserra managed to forget the pain she felt over her loveless marriage, just as Saera told her so many years before; until one night, near the end of the year 86 A.C, she woke up in more pain than ever before, her bedsheets wet and her child wanting to be born right then. Viserra gave birth to a dead girl, who she named Asterea. And in the wake of 87 A.C, a funeral was held for the baby girl.

Viserra became engulfed in grief, locking herself in her chambers as she wept for her daughter, Dreamfyre was unconsolable, roaring a broken call for the perished child, her pain shared by her rider. Prince Viserys was cold at the news of his half sister's passing, he was said to have reacted as if someone told him that they would be eating steak that day instead of boar; Prince Daemon, however, was more compassionate towards his stepmother, often asking for his father's aid in collecting flowers for his mother, for he had seen the maids do the same to Rhaenys whenever she was ill. The princelings, at their young ages, did not understand the situation as a whole, all they knew was that their stepmother was with child, she went to give birth, and there was no child anymore; "It is easy to call Prince Viserys cruel and vile when one hears of his reaction" Septon Barth wrote "But at the young age of five, he was nothing but a child who lost his mother and brother suddenly and horribly; he was nothing but a grieving child who did not understand his pain. Prince Daemon, on the other hand, was simply a child looking to have a mother, for he could not remember life with one". Princess Viserra never looked to have another child, her heart too broken to find another one, but that did not mean she did not try; stories tell that the Princess would beg her brother to try for another child, hoping that one would live, and Baelon, in a hazed guilt, tried to make up for the pain he brought Viserra by trying to give her a child. But those children were never born, her blood would not come for a handful of months, before they came back. After a year, they simply stopped trying at all, and Princess Viserra became nothing but a stepmother to Daemon and Viserys.

Despite what many believed would happen, Princess Viserra was quite strict in keeping Alyssa's memory alive, she would always tell maids and servants to share memories of Alyssa, she hung all the paintings of the Princess and would spend hours showing them to the boys and telling them stories of the late princess. Prince Viserys soon grew more fond of his stepmother, though he never called her mother, unlike Prince Daemon, who had taken to calling Alyssa "muña" And calling Viserra "Mother". Viserra, at the age of seventeen, had become more mature, but would oft go back to her sly self when it came to defending her family, especially her stepsons and niece. One time, a lady had insinuated that Rhaenys would grow up to be like Alyssa, which was not something to be insulted by, according to Viserra; however, the lady then lamented that Rhaenys would probably never be able to find her own Baelon, a man who loved her despite being boyish. Princess Viserra had sneered at the lady, looking her up and down before she spoke.

"I honestly wish she finds someone like your husband, who loved you regardless of how you are outside and inside" She hummed.

She kept in touch with Saera, trying to convince her sister to return to her, to live with her as a family, she promised dragons, she swore she would give her the remaining pets that Saera owned, which now only where her pony, her hawk and her horse. Saera declined all invitations, explaining that she would most definitely be beheaded by the king if he found out, instead, Saera offered Viserra to come visit her in Lys; an offer quickly taken up by Viserra, who flied off to Essos in order to reunite with her sister. Saera had grown a lot in the four years she had lived in Lys, her usually velvet garments had been replaced by sheer lilac gowns to combat the heat of Lys, Saera had also explained that she wore her septa gown for a whole year as a way to punish herself for having abandoned Viserra and her sisters. "Can you believe mother has started sending men to look at what I do?" Saera huffed during their conversation "Apparently she has been playing them a hefty amount just to know what I do in a day". Viserra frowned, for Alysanne had never spoke of Saera again after her escape "How do you know?" She had asked, Saera grinned "She has her contacts, I have mine" Was all she said. During another one of her visits, Saera gifted Viserra a sack full of books, "All of them from Old Valyria" She had grinned "Our surviving ancestors brought them here before the Doom, read it, sister. I have way more from where those came from. Give me a few more years and I might just be able to rebuild Valyria". And rebuild it she did, as in the remaining two years of the eightieth decade after the Conquer, Princess Saera managed to find scriptures on the religion of Old Valyria, their Gods, their values, the mythology. She gave them all to Viserra, claiming that those books needed to be back in Dragonstone.

In the 90th year after Aegon’s Conquest, the king and queen shared one of their last good times together, as they celebrated the wedding of their eldest grandchild, Princess Rhaenys, to Corlys Velaryon of Driftmark, Lord of the Tides. At seven-and-thirty, the Sea Snake was already hailed as the greatest seafarer Westeros had ever known, but with his nine great voyages behind him, he had come home to marry and make a family. “Only you could have won me away from the sea,” he told the princess. “I came back from the ends of the earth for you.” Rhaenys, at six-and-ten, was a fearless young beauty, and more than a match for her mariner. A dragonrider since the age of thirteen, she insisted upon arriving for the wedding on Meleys, the Red Queen, the magnificent scarlet she-dragon that had once borne her aunt Alyssa. “We can go back to the ends of the earth together,” she promised Ser Corlys. “But I’ll get there first, as I’ll be flying.” “That was a good day,” Queen Alysanne would say with a sad smile, through the years that remained to her. She was fifty-four that year, but sad to say, she did not have many good days left. It is not within the scope of this history to chronicle the endless wars, intrigues, and rivalries of the Free Cities of Essos, save where they impinge upon the fortunes of House Targaryen and the Seven Kingdoms. One such time occurred during the years 91–92 AC, during what is known as the Myrish Bloodbath.

In the city of Myr two rival factions vied for supremacy. There were assassinations, riots, poisonings, rapes, hangings, torture, and sea battles before one side emerged supreme. The losing faction, driven from the city, tried to establish themselves first upon the Stepstones, only to be hounded from there as well when the Archon of Tyrosh made common cause with a league of pirate kings. In their desperation, the Myrmen next turned to the island of Tarth, where their landings took the Evenstar by surprise. In a short time they had taken the entire eastern side of the island. By that time the Myrish were little more than pirates themselves, a ragged band of rogues. Neither the king nor his council felt it would require much to drive them back into the sea. Prince Aemon would lead the assault, it was decided. The Myrmen did have some strength at sea, so the Sea Snake would first need to bring the Velaryon fleet south, to protect Lord Boremund as he crossed to Tarth with his stormlanders, to join with the Evenstar’s own levies. Their combined strength would be more than sufficient to retake all of Tarth from the Myrish pirates. And if there proved to be unexpected difficulties, Prince Aemon would have Caraxes. “He does love to burn,” the prince said. Lord Corlys and his fleet set sail from Driftmark on the ninth day of the third moon of 92 AC. Prince Aemon followed a few hours later, after bidding farewell to Lady Jocelyn and their daughter, Rhaenys. The princess had just learned she was expecting, else she would have accompanied her sire on Meleys.

“Into battle?” The prince said. “As if I would ever have permitted that. You have your own battle to fight. Lord Corlys will want a son, I am sure, and I would like a grandson.”

Those were the last words he would ever speak to his daughter. Caraxes swiftly outdistanced the Sea Snake and his fleet, dropping down out of the sky on Tarth. Lord Cameron, the Evenstar of Tarth, had fallen back into the spine of mountains that ran down the center of his island, and established a camp in a hidden valley from which he could look down on the Myrish movements below. Prince Aemon met him there, and the two made plans together, whilst Caraxes devoured half a dozen goats. But the Evenstar’s camp was not as hidden as he hoped, and the smoke from the dragon’s fires drew the eyes of a pair of Myrish scouts who were creeping through the heights unawares. One of them recognized the Evenstar as he strode through the camp at dusk, talking with Prince Aemon. The men of Myr are indifferent sailors and feeble soldiers; their weapons of choice are dirk, dagger, and crossbow, preferably poisoned. One of the Myrish scouts wound his crossbow now, behind the rocks where he was hidden. Rising, he took aim on the Evenstar a hundred yards below, and loosed his bolt. Dusk and distance made his aim less certain, and the bolt missed Lord Cameron…and struck Prince Aemon, standing at his side. The iron bolt punched through the prince’s throat and out the back of his neck. The Prince of Dragonstone fell to his knees and grasped the crossbow bolt, as if to pull it from his throat, but his strength was gone. Aemon Targaryen died struggling to speak, drowned on his own blood. He was thirty-seven years old.

Chapter Text

How can my words tell of the grief that swept the Seven Kingdoms then, of the pain felt by King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne, of Lady Jocelyn’s empty bed and bitter tears, and the way Princess Rhaenys wept to know that her father would never hold the child she was carrying? Far easier to speak of the wroth of Aemon's three siblings, Prince Baelon, Princess Viserra and Princess Saera; Viserra had gone looking for Saera the day the news reached her, and came back with her sister to claim a dragon and avenge their brother. The trio came down upon Tarth on Vhagar, Dreamfyre, and Balerion, howling for vengeance. The Myrish ships burned as Prince Morion’s ships had burned nine years earlier, and when the Evenstar and Lord Boremund descended on them from the mountains, they had nowhere to fly. They were cut down by the thousands and left to rot along the beaches, so every wave that washed ashore for days was tinged with pink. Baelon the Brave played his part in the slaughter, with Dark Sister in his hand, whilst Viserra and Saera burned everything and everyone to the ground. When they returned to King’s Landing with their brother’s corpse, the smallfolk lined the streets some screamed their names and called them heroes, others were shocked to find that Princess Saera was, not only back, but also with child, her third, to be exact. It is said that, when the three siblings were reunited with their parents, tears were shed like the skins of snakes. Queen Alysanne begged Saera for her forgiveness, whilst King Jaehaerys simply sat, almost frozen in a corner whilst he cried, his eyes staring off into space; Baelon wept for his brother, for all the lives they claimed that day, still did not bring him back to life.

Seasons came and went in the years that followed. There were hot days and warm days and days when the salt wind blew bracing off the sea, there were fields of flowers in the spring, and bountiful harvests, and golden autumn afternoons, all across the realm the roads crept onward, and new bridges spanned old streams. The king took no pleasure in any of it, so far as men could tell. “It is always winter now,” he said to Septon Barth one night, when he had drunk too much. Since Aemon’s death, he always drank a cup or three of honeyed wine at night to help him sleep. Princess Saera was now a recurring presence in Dragonstone and King's Landing, her three sons, were also constantly visiting their families; her eldest had been born in 89, he had been born with streaks of gold hair amongst a sea of silver, he had been named Daenys, after Daenys the dreamer. Her second son was born in 91 A.C and was named after the eldest daughter of Princess Rhaena Targaryen, Aerion, the oldest septas were all quick to mention just how similar he was to King Jaehaerys in his childhood. Lastly, her third son, born only a few moons after the death of Prince Aemon; his hair was pitch black, but his eyes were like two purple amethysts that shined brightly in the sun, he had been named Viseryn, after her deceased uncle. Despite her now healed relationship with her family, Saera declined the offer of becoming a princess again "I have a kingdom of my own in Lys" She proclaimed, proudly, for she had moved to Volantis, and now owned her own pleasure house.

When Septa Maegelle and Archmaster Vaegon heard of Saera's claiming of Balerion, they descended to King's Landing in order to seek answers to their questions; Vaegon did not care for a dragon of his own, but he could not and would not pretend like he did not care that his two whorish sisters claimed a dragon of their own "Vaegon" Saera hummed "Isn't it time for you to get over your jealousy towards me? It is not my fault that I was intelligent, beautiful and well liked while you were a bookworm... Perhaps if you spent less time sucking your own cock, you would have time to claim a dragon". Maegelle found her sister's lack of punishment unfair, "The Seven were betrayed by her!" She shouted "She turned her back on The Seven, they will punish her! So should you!" At that, Viserra was ready to jump in, but Saera stopped her "Why would I be punished by Gods I do not believe in? I pray to the fourteen Gods of Old Valyria" At that, both Maegelle and Vaegon were taken aback, for nothing remained of Old Valyria, something they pointed out "I found many books and scrolls on Old Valyria, its religion, traditions, tricks to make a dragon grow faster and bigger... If you'd like, I could give them to you". Archmaster Vaegon, always hungry for knowledge, locked himself in the library with all books for an entire moonn, he had to be force fed by maids and servants, as he would not stop reading; Maegelle, however, only read the book of the Gods, the Fourteen Flames. By the end of the week, she could recite all prayers from the book and knew everything of every God and Goddess; she even renounced to her role as a Septa, and began to preach for the Fourteen Flames.

What followed were years of battles between the Faith of the Seven and the Targaryens, for they had been betrayed by them, as Aegon renounced to his faith when he became king; whilst Jaehaerys and Alysanne tried to handle everything, Maegelle and Saera joined to bring back the faith of the Fourteen Flames. Well, Saera found an abandoned church, Maegelle did most of the other things, such as hiring for it to be reconstructed and teaching different women and men how to become Daughters and Sons of the embers which were the Septas and Septons of the Fourteen Flames. By the year of 92 A.C, Maegelle had become the Mother of the Flames, and the Sanctuary of the Fourteen Flames was opened; hundreds and hundreds of people switching to the religion of their Valyrian ancestors, including the Targaryens. Queen Alysanne was taken aback by how quickly Maegelle had abandoned her faith, as she had always been a devout follower of the Seven, she had once spoken of it to Saera, during one of their conversations.

"Vaegon I understand, he is hungry for knowledge" She hummed "But Maegelle, I thought it would be harder to get her to change her mind on the Faith of the Seven."

"After some time we all doubt our Faith" Saera explained "I knew my escape shook her faith, but she still held on tightly; but after the deaths of our sisters and brother, and the fact that my actions did not suffer the punishment she was told I deserved by the Faith, I knew it would be easy to get her to change. And now look at her" She smiled "Proud preacher of the voices of our ancestors"

In the year 93 A.C,  the issues with the faith were settled, they would not interfere with the reigning of the continent, and Jaehaerys would not speak of the Fourteen Flames. Prince Viserys, now at the age if six-and-ten, was told that he had to claim a dragon, but the prince refused, claiming the only dragon he wished to have was already claimed; and that dragon, was Balerion. The old dragon had stopped growing at last, but he was sluggish and heavy and hard to rouse, and he struggled when Saera urged him up into the air, even in his last battle, he was not as swift as he was in his youth; now, he could only fly thrice around Dragonstone before landing again. She had intended to fly to Volantis, but she did not think the Black Dread had the strength for it. Less than a year later, Balerion was gone. Neither Saera nor Viserys wanted another dragon nor dragon egg, Saera claimed that only Kings and Queens had dragons, and she wished to not be a Queen; Viserys, on the other hand, simply said that Balerion was the dragon meant for him, and that in another life, he knew he would've claimed him, so he would not claim another dragon. Maegelle and Saera returned to Essos, Saera to Volantis, and Maegelle to Braavos, where the Sanctuary of the Fourteen Flames was, Vaegon returned to the Citadel; The three of them all left with a common phrase "I will not follow in the line of succession", if, Gods forbid, something happened to Baelon, the throne would be passed down first to his sons, then Maegelle, Vaegon, Saera, Viserra and finally it would pass down to Rhaenys; now that the three of them were strong on their claim, the Iron throne would have an easier trip.

Whilst the two parents managed to regain their children, they did not know peace, for they now entered their final years of life. Septon Barth died in 98 AC. Grand Maester Elysar preceded him by half a year. Lord Redwyne had died in 89 AC, his son Ser Robert soon thereafter. New men took their places, but Jaehaerys was truly the Old King by then, and sometimes he would walk into the council chamber and think, “Who are these men? Do I know them?” His Grace grieved for Prince Aemon until the end of his days, but the Old King never dreamed that Aemon’s death in 92 AC would be like the hellhorns of Valyrian legends, bringing death and destruction down on all those who heard their sound. The last years of Alysanne Targaryen were sad and lonely ones. In her youth, Good Queen Alysanne had loved her subjects, lords and commons alike. She had loved her women’s courts, listening, learning, and doing what she could to make the realm a kinder place. She had seen more of the Seven Kingdoms than any queen before or since, slept in a hundred castles, charmed a hundred lords, made a hundred marriages. She had loved music, had loved to dance, had loved to read. And oh, how she had loved to fly. Silverwing had carried her to Oldtown, to the Wall, and to a thousand places in between, and Alysanne saw them all as few others ever would, looking down from above the clouds.

All these loves were lost to her in the last decade of her life. “My uncle Maegor was cruel,” Alysanne was heard to say, “but age is crueler.” Worn out from childbirth, travel, and grief, she grew thin and frail after Aemon’s death. Climbing hills became a trial to her, and in 95 AC she slipped and fell on the serpentine steps, breaking her hip. Thereafter she walked with a cane. Her hearing began to fail as well. Music was lost to her, and when she tried to sit in council meetings with the king she could no longer understand half of what was said. She was far too unsteady to fly. Silverwing last carried her into the sky in 93 AC. When she came to earth again and climbed painfully from her dragon’s back, the queen wept. More than all of these, she had loved her children. No mother ever loved a child more, Grand Maester Benifer once told her, before the Shivers carried him away. In the last days of her life, Queen Alysanne reflected on his words. “He was wrong, I think,” she wrote, “for surely the Mother Above loved my children more. She took so many of them away from me.”. “No mother should ever have to burn her child,” the queen had said at the funeral pyre of her son Valerion, but of the thirteen children she bore to King Jaehaerys, only four of them would survive her, Aegon, Gaemon, and Valerion died as babes. The Shivers took Daenerys at the age of six. A crossbow slew Prince Aemon. Alyssa and Daella died in childbed, Muña Maegelle, that gentle soul, died in 96 AC, her arms and legs turned to stone by greyscale, for she had spent her last years nursing those afflicted with that horrible condition; a girl she had taken under her wing following after her to become Mother of Flames, or Muña, as the title was called.

Saddest of all was the loss of Princess Gael, the Winter Child, born in 80 AC when Queen Alysanne was forty-four and thought to be well past her childbearing years. A sweet-natured girl, but frail and somewhat simpleminded, she remained with the queen long after her other children had grown and gone, but in 99 AC she vanished from court, and soon afterward it was announced that she had died of a summer fever. Only after both her parents were gone did the true tale come out. Seduced and abandoned by a traveling singer, the princess had given birth to a stillborn son, then, overwhelmed by grief, walked into the waters of Blackwater Bay and drowned. Some say that Alysanne never recovered from that loss, for her Winter Child alone had been a true companion during her declining years. Saera still lived, but she rarely could visit, for she would forever be treated as a nonexistent object by Jaehaerys. Vaegon was an archmaester at the Citadel. A cold and distant son, he had grown to be a cold and distant man. He wrote, as a son ought. His words were dutiful, but there was no warmth to them, and it had been years since Alysanne had last seen his face. Only Baelon and Viserra remained near her till the end. Her Spring Prince and Beautiful Princess visited her as often as they could and always won a smile from her, but Baelon was the Prince of Dragonstone, Hand of the King, forever coming and going, sitting at his father’s side at council, treating with the lords; and Viserra was either raising her stepsons or training to be a good Queen “You will be a great king, even greater than your father,” Alysanne told him the last time they were together. "And you, Viserra, will be an even better Queen than me" She did not know. How could she know?.

After the death of Princess Gael, King’s Landing and the Red Keep became unbearable to Alysanne. She could no longer serve as she once had, as a partner to the king in his labors, and the court was full of strangers whose names Alysanne could not quite recall. Seeking peace, she returned once more to Dragonstone, where she had spent the happiest days of her life with Jaehaerys, between their first and second marriages. The Old King would join her there when he could. “How is it that I am the Old King now, but you are still the Good Queen?” he asked her once. Alysanne laughed. “I am old as well, but I am still younger than you.” Alysanne Targaryen died on Dragonstone on the first day of the seventh moon in 100 AC, a full century after Aegon’s Conquest. She was sixty-four years old. A death followed Queen Alysanne's, but it was not the death of her husband. In 101 AC Prince Baelon complained of a stitch in his side whilst hunting in the kingswood. The pain worsened when he returned to the city. His belly swelled and hardened, and the pain grew so severe it left him bedridden. Runciter, the new Grand Maester only recently arrived from the Citadel after Allar was felled by a stroke, was able to bring the prince’s fever down somewhat and give him some relief from agony with milk of the poppy, but his condition continued to worsen. On the fifth day of his illness, Prince Baelon died in his bedchamber in the Tower of the Hand, with his father sitting to his left, and his wife to his right, both holding his hand. After opening the corpse, Grand Maester Runciter put down the cause of death as a burst belly. All the Seven Kingdoms wept for Brave Baelon, and none more so than Princess Viserra and King Jaehaerys. The Princess had sent to fend Saera and Vaegon, flying in order to take them faster, during the funeral, when the pyre was lit, Viserra and Saera held one another, while Vaegon simply looked forward, not blinking, not crying, he looked like a wooden statue; King Jaehaerys wept for his son like he never wept before, for he no longer had his wife to soothe him. And with the death of Baelon, a new discussion had to be made regarding the Iron Throne.

"I am the firstborn of the firstborn" Princess Rhaenys pointed out.

King Jaehaerys had called for a council meeting with all the possible heirs, Prince Viserys Targaryen, as firstborn son of the previous heir to the Iron throne, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, as the firstborn daughter of the firstborn son and original heir to the Iron throne, and Princess Viserra Targaryen, as only daughter who had not renounced her claim to the throne, and daughter of the current king. Each had brought a supporter for their case, Maesters, Septas, Lords and Ladies, Princess Rhaenys had her husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon, with her, Prince Viserys had his wife, Aemma Arryn, with him, and Princess Viserra had her brother and sister. All of them were made to plee for themselves, if they were convincing enough, then they would become the heir to the Iron throne, but if there were still doubts, a voting would be done to determine who would become future King or Queen. Princess Rhaenys spoke of the fact that her father was meant to become King after Jaehaerys, and she was the firstborn of her generation, she was also married to Lord Corlys Velaryon, who was Lord of the second richest House in Westeros and who had allies in Essos. Prince Viserys spoke of the fact that he was the oldest boy, and his father was set to become King prior to his death, with Jaehaerys naming Baelon his heir before the Prince passed away. Finally, came Princess Viserra's turn, nobody expected much from her debate, but they were surprised when they found that her debate was almost two hours long, detailing why she would be a best option for monarch, as she had attended multiple council meetings and trained to become Queen, unlike her niece and eldest stepson. In the end, she also took one of the many books of Old Valyria, and pointed out that the order of succession would always be parent-child-sibling of parent- children of sibling of parent; so, following tradition, the order should be, Viserra, then Rhaenys, then her eldest child, then Viserys, and then his eldest child.

The way that Viserra spoke shocked all witnesses, for she spoke with grace and patience, like a true Queen, many even compared her to Queen Alysanne's ability to express herself during different debates; she spoke like a true diplomat, like a true member of the royal family, during the debate, gone was the sly girl that managed to manipulate boys into doing her bidding, instead, stood a cunning and intelligent woman. The decision was not easy to make, after the full day of the tree heirs pleading their cases, the court began to debate on who would follow after Jaehaerys; this debate lasted an entire week, the only times they were not debating was when they went to go to sleep, break fast, eat lunch and dine. The court was divided in three groups, those who supported Princess Viserra's claim, those who supported Princess Rhaenys' claim and those who supported Prince Viserys' claim; the most common reason as to why some wished to pick Viserys was his sex, he was a male heir, who already had a daughter, and who's wife was still young and able to give more heirs. Princess Rhaenys' claim had been defended by some due to her union with Lord Corlys, her claim would unite the Houses even more and would give the Targaryens the power of the dragons and the sea; those who supported Princess Viserra used the King's own story to support the princess, "Your sister was skipped over for you to have the throne" One lord said "Saera and Vaegon have both declined the offer to follow after you in the throne, your sole heir right now, is Viserra". After an entire week, the verdict came, and Viserra was chosen as heir to the Iron throne.

"But who will follow her?" Asked Lord Boremund Baratheon, who had come to support his niece.

"I intend to have Princess Rhaenys as my heir" Princess Viserra was quick to speak up "We will follow the order of the line of succession, when I die, Princess Rhaenys will follow after me, after her death, her own children, Laena and Laenor; if her children die, Gods forbid, at an early age and with no heirs, then Prince Viserys will follow them, and after him, my granddaughter, Rhaenyra"

Of the last years in the reign of King Jaehaerys, little and less need be said. Prince Baelon had served his father as Hand of the King as well as Prince of Dragonstone, but after his death His Grace elected to divide those honors. As his new Hand, he called for Viserra, in order to teach her as much as he could on how to lead the Seven Kingdoms; Princess Viserra, of thirty years old, had no children of her own, she had had a total of four children who died, one a stillborn, born with scales instead of skin and a kinked tail, the other three all miscarriages. Her relationship with her stepsons had grown healthier with the passage of time, she had grown closer to Prince Daemon, and oft flied with him, as he had claimed the dragon that belonged to his uncle, Caraxes, the blood wyrm; with Viserys, however, she had grown civil, the man no longer despised the Princess, but due to the wedge between them during the formative years of the prince, they were not as close as Viserra was to Daemon. Viserra also oft coddle her daughter in law and niece, Aemma Arryn, Daella's daughter, much like Viserra's sisters, Aemma did not have a dragon, as she oft spent her time in the Vale, with her father, Lord Arryn; Viserra had become joyous when Aemma announced her pregnancy, and had selected a hatchling for her granddaughter. The hatchling belonged to a clutch laid by Vhagar, the egg a bright yellow, the color of lemons; from the egg hatched a beautiful yellow dragon, that was unnamed and unclaimed.

"She is the sun that came after many rainy days" Viserra said about her granddaughter "It is only fair that she has a dragon the color of the sun"

Lady Aemma had suffered several miscarriages and the death of one son in the cradle over the course of her marriage (some maesters felt she had been married and bedded too young), but she had also given birth to a healthy daughter, Rhaenyra (born 97 AC). In the year 103 AC King Jaehaerys I Targaryen died in his bed, his Grace was nine-and-sixty years of age, and had reigned over the Seven Kingdoms since coming to the Iron Throne at the age of fourteen. His remains were burned in the Dragonpit, his ashes interred with Good Queen Alysanne’s on Dragonstone. All of Westeros mourned. Even in Dorne, where his writ had not extended, men wept and women tore their garments. Many consider the reign of King Viserra to represent the apex of Targaryen power in Westeros. Beyond a doubt, there were more lords and princes claiming the blood of the dragon than at any period before or since. Though the Targaryens had continued their traditional practice of marrying brother to sister, uncle to niece, and cousin to cousin wherever possible, there had also been important matches outside the royal family. There were more dragons than ever before as well, and several of the she-dragons were regularly producing clutches of eggs. Not all of these eggs hatched, but many did, and it became customary for the fathers and mothers of newborn princelings to place a dragon’s egg in their cradles, following a tradition that Princess Rhaena had begun many years before; the children so blessed invariably bonded with the hatchlings to become dragonriders. As a first order, Viserra called for her sons, their wives and her niece.

"Your grace" Her family bowed to her.

"It is not necessary for you to treat me as such" Viserra waved her hand "I call you, not as your Queen, but as your stepmother, mother and aunt" She always called herself Viserys' stepmother and Daemon's mother, as Viserys was never comfortable calling her his mother.

The family all sat around the round table to the council room, there, Queen Viserra ordained for marriage alliances to be made, Princess Rhaenyra would marry Lord Laenor Velaryon once they were of age, Lady Laena Velaryon, as she was to become Queen after Rhaenys, would become wedded to the next Boy born into the Targaryens. She had also chosen to create her own council, with Rhaenys as Hand, Lord Corlys as her Master of ships, Prince Viserys as her advisor, Prince Daemon as her Master of whisperers, for she knew how often her son spent his time in the taverns in the Street of silk. Viserra had asked her sister, Saera, if she wished to become a member of her council, Saera declined, as she did with all offers that would tie her to the throne. "I will be your eyes and ears in Essos" Saera wrote to her sister "Anytime someone plots against you or our family, I will be the one to warn you, I have found many allies in Essos, so when the time comes, just tell them that I sent you, and they will join you in whatever you want, whether it is a battle, sanctuary or a simple celebration". The year 103 A.C marked the beginning of a new era for House Targaryen, Viserra had become the first woman to sit on the Iron throne, but she would not be the last one to do so, for she would be followed by Rhaenys Targaryen, and then, life would have it so that Rhaenys would not be followed by her children, but instead, she would be followed by Rhaenyra Targaryen. And thus began the "Century of Queens", for only women would sit in the Iron throne for the next hundred years.

Chapter Text

The relationship between House Targaryen and the continent of Westeros shifted greatly with Queen Viserra's ascension to the Iron throne, many men refused to respond to the word of a woman, the Faith despised the Queen, for she had aided in the betrayal of their religion at the hands of the Targaryens when they returned to their ancestral religion; yet despite this, nobody could deny the great power that Queen Viserra had over the people, at thirty-two years of age, Viserra had shown she was as intelligent as she was beautiful. One of the first things she did as Queen was dissolve many forced marriages, starting by the marriage between her son, Prince Daemon Targaryen, and Lady Rhea Royce, after which Lady Jeyne Arryn had sent a raven to the Queen, warning her that the relationship between the Vale and House Targaryen would suffer greatly from this act, to which the Queen responded "When your uncle and predecessor killed my baby sister, Daella, by getting her pregnant, even though he already had four heirs, the relationship between our Houses remained the same; be thankful Lady Rhea Royce can still live freely and marry someone she actually wants. That is something my sister was not able to do". The man she was once betrothed to, Lord Theodore Manderly, also received a letter from the Queen "Whilst our marriage never existed, I hope there are no grudges between us, perhaps we could allow for an alliance between your descendants and mine, if you wish for one to be formed, raven me, and we shall discuss it further". Queen Viserra, like her mother had said, became a loved Queen by all women in Westeros, though hated by most men, who mocked her and called her "The barren queen". She sent out a set of laws, which declared that the title of "Head of house" Would belong to the firstborn child, whether they were daughter or son, and that a marriage must be approved by both members of the union before it was both formed and consummated. Singers would refer to Queen Viserra, and the years of her successors, as "The semicentury of Queens" As both sky and land, were ruled by women for fifty years.

"My Queen" Called one of Queen Viserra Targaryen's guards one fateful morning in 105 A.C.

Queen Viserra had been busy playing with her granddaughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who, much like her grandmother, won the hearts of all who knew her, whether they were Lords, Ladies, lowborn people or simple travelers, so much so that she was dubbed "The realm's delight". Much like her maternal grandmother, however, Rhaenyra was shy, though not terrified of everyone, she would often wear rings to play with whenever she felt anxious or scared; Queen Viserra always said that her granddaughter had not been born as fearful as Daella thanks to her dragon, who she had named Syrax. More often than not, one would find Syrax cuddling Dreamfyre, for she had been born out of one of the many clutches laid by Dreamfyre. The night before, Rhaenyra's mother, Princess Aemma Arryn, had gone into labor. Queen viserra found the fact that her niece had been made to become with child at the young age of eleven an abhorrent act, and had nearly broken the marriage between her stepson and niece, but was stopped by the two, who did not wish to break the marriage; though Princess Aemma probably did so to avoid having to be sent back to the Vale to be made to wed another Lord. When Princess Rhaenyra was born, after years of miscarriages, the Queen hoped that the two would stop, but every year, Princess Aemma would announce she was with child, and every year, she would lose it. When Princess Aemma announced another child, Queen Viserra yelled at her stepson, berating his lack of care towards his wife, who had buried more children than she was able to name; but Prince Viserys swore that this baby would be born healthy, and would be their final child. Queen Viserra growled at that, but made her stepson swear on the Fourteen Gods that he would respect his wife after this child was born. When the guard rushed into the throne room, with a look of fear in his face, Viserra knew of what had happened immediately.

"You useless cumfilled cunt!" The Queen bellowed as the palm of her hand met the face of her stepson.

Princess Aemma Arryn passed away at the young age of twenty-three years old, leaving behind a weeping eight year old daughter behind, along with a twenty-eight year old widow. Princess Aemma had not had the chance to claim a dragon of her own, for she spent many days and moons weeping the loss of another one of her children, and the ones she did not grief, were ones she was in the early stages of pregnancy, and was too weak to walk long distances, let alone ride a dragon. Princess Rhaenyra was the light of Princess Aemma's eyes, for she was the only child who had not died before or after birth, and Rhaenyra loved her mother greatly, even writing songs about how much she loved her, singing them only to her mother, slapping any hand who tried to take and read the lyrics of her songs written on parchment, claiming they were only for her mother's to see and hear. The young girl screamed as she cried over her dead mother, and it took Princess Rhaenys and Prince Daemon to take her off her mother's corpse, as the little girl clung to her mother with all her might as she called for her to wake up. When the prince and princess took her out of the chambers, Queen Viserra turned to her stepson, and slapped him so hard that one of her rings actually cut his face. Prince Viserys had tears in his eyes as the Queen yelled at him.

"Your father and mother have to be disgusted with you right now!" The Queen yelled "You have seen what has happened to women who are made to birth children too young! Look at my own sisters!" She sneered.

"I had to have an heir!" Viserys tried to argue.

"Was Rhaenyra not enough!? Was your daughter, the only one of your children who lived, not enough!?" Viserra shouted, her own eyes leaking and red "You are as disgusting as all the men who killed their wives for a child! Do you think your father would stand for the things that you've done? That you've made your wife do!?"

"My father also killed my mothe-"

"YOUR FATHER" Viserra interrupted her stepson "Nearly killed himself when Alyssa died, and he begged the maesters to save her instead of Aegon... Had Alyssa lived, your father would've refused to bed her without making her drink moon tea the morning after"

Viserys sobbed, as he clenched his hands in a tight fist.

"Had my mother lived, my father wouldn't have married you" He spat "And how could he be disgusted when he bedded you despite your miscarriages?"

Viserra huffed.

"You act just like my father did, as if you knew everything" She spat "Your father wedded me to stop me from being sent to marry Lord Theomore Manderly, he did not do it out of desire, but out of sympathy. Had Alyssa lived, she would've asked him to marry me too and do with me as Aegon did with Visenya. And all the times he tried to have a child with me, he did so to try and make me happy." She declared "Your father had no love nor lust for me, only sympathy and pity." She spat, her eyes red and swollen.

Her silver hair hit Viserys in the face when she turned around, walking towards the door. Though before she left, she turned around, and glared at the Prince.

"Had your father not shown sympathy, he wouldn't have married anyone else in his lifetime... You better do one thing right and not marry anyone else, you have an heir already, any child you have with someone else will be nothing but a prince or princess. But as long as Rhaenyra lives, she will be heir above any other child your seed produces"

Princess Aemma Arryn was burned by the flames of Dreamfyre at sundown, with Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen laying all the songs she had written for her mother on top of her body, making her songs follow her mother's spirit, to make sure that, when Rhaenyra died of old age, her mother still remembered her songs and had them, so that Rhaenyra could sing for her in the afterlife. After her death, Rhaenyra never sang again. It was a few moons after the death of Aemma Arryn that Rhaenyra turned nine years of age, despite the celebration hosted in, what once was the Dragonpit, the Princess was still grieving, something the Queen, and the entire family, understood; the princess wore black, even moons after the funeral, and her birthday was no exception, as the princess wore a black gown with rubies encrusted in the bodice, the hem of her dress sporting red birds sewed into it, an oath to her mother. Along with the discovery of their ancient religion and practices, the Targaryen family found out that the Dragonpit would most likely cause for the dragons to either become stunted or to grow slowly, thus, Queen Viserra got on top of Dreamfyre, and broke the ceiling of the Dragonpit, turning it into a coliseum where they would often host tourneys and meetings of larger scale. Prince Daemon Targaryen, of twenty-four years of age, dressed in a similar manner as the Princess, only instead of ruby stones beaded into his shirt, he bore ruby buttons and a red cape. It was in this tourney that Ser Otto Hightower, who had traveled all the way back from Old Town, hinted at marrying his daughter, Alicent, of seventeen years of age, to Viserys, of twenty-eight years of age.

"And what would my heir gain from your daughter's marriage?" Queen Viserra asked "Perhaps if you were Lord Matthos Tyrell, I would accept, after all House Tyrell has a great reach and power, but what does House Hightower have? Besides Gods we don't believe in and churches that condemned my family?"

It is said that Ser Hightower was offended by the Queen's statement, and became red faced before stomping away from her, another man humiliated by the Queen; who simply shrugged and went back to try and find her granddaughter, who was playing with her cousins, Laena, of twelve years of age, and Laenor, of ten years of age, soon to turn eleven. All three children had become Dragonriders by the year 105, Laena had claimed the largest dragon in the world, Vhagar, whilst Laenor claimed a young dragon, by the name of Seasmoke, who was debated to belong to a clutch laid by Meraxes prior to her death; the clutch was all grey and silver, and it is said that, from said clutch, hatched Silverwing, Grey ghost, a wild unclaimed dragon, and Seasmoke. Rhaenyra's dragon had been named Syrax, after a Goddess of Old Valyria, and had grown quickly, becoming of riding age by the time the princess was seven years of age; Viserra compared her rapid growth to that of Dreamfyre, who was the second largest dragon in the world, and claimed that, someday, Syrax would be as large as the sun. While the Queen rejected Ser Otto's request of marrying Viserys to Alicent, that did not stop him nor his daughter, for in 106 AC, Prince Viserys and Lady Alicent announced to the Queen that they were together and wished to marry; since the union followed her requests of it being wished by both members of the union, Queen Viserra had no choice, but to bless their marriage. It is said that the Queen disliked Alicent from the start, but remained civil, for Alicent showed kindness to her granddaughter, and Princess Rhaenyra even poured for her stepmother at the feast, and Queen Alicent kissed her and named her “daughter.”

One night, at a tavern in Flea bottom, a man once claimed the Queen was jealous because Lady Alicent had the beauty and youth that the Queen was slowly losing, this resulted in the entire tavern to erupt in laughter and mock the man, for the Queen seemed to grow more and more beautiful as the years went by, at thirty-five years of age, the Queen still remained as beautiful as ever, now with an air of sophistication around her at all times. She stood with her head high and always wore her long silky hair down, her curls glistening under the light, even the most beautiful women would look ugly next to Queen Viserra's presence; whilst Lady Alicent was pretty, she was nowhere near Queen Viserra's beauty, so the tale of the Queen being jealous was thrown away like rotten water. Queen Viserra was not the only person against the union of Prince Viserys and Lady Alicent, for Prince Daemon wore a sneer on his face the entire wedding and so did House Velaryon; it came as a shock, however, when only days after the wedding, both Prince Daemon and Lord Corlys Velaryon left for war. Apparently, Lord Corlys the Sea Snake welcomed the king’s brother, Prince Daemon, to a war council. The Stepstones, the chain of rocky islands between Dorne and the Disputed Lands of Essos, had long been a haunt of outlaws, exiles, wreckers, and pirates. Of themselves the isles were of little worth, but placed as they were, they controlled the sea lanes to and from the narrow sea, and merchant ships passing through those waters were often preyed on by their inhabitants. Still, for centuries such depredations had remained no more than a nuisance.

Lord Corlys, tired of the tyranny and of his ships being ransacked, was determined to put an end to the Triarchy’s rule over the Stepstones, and in Daemon Targaryen he found a willing partner, eager for the gold and glory that victory in war would bring him. Shunning the prince’s wedding, they laid their plans in High Tide on the isle Driftmark. Lord Velaryon would command the fleet, Prince Daemon the army. They would be greatly outnumbered by the forces of the Three Daughters…but the prince would also bring to battle the fires of his dragon, Caraxes, the Blood Wyrm. It is not our purpose here to recount the details of the private war Daemon Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon waged on the Stepstones. Suffice it to say that the fighting began in 106 AC. Prince Daemon had little difficulty assembling an army of landless adventurers and second sons, and won many victories during the first two years of the conflict. In 108 AC, when at last he came face-to-face with Craghas Crabfeeder, he slew him single-handed and cut off his head with Dark Sister. And by 109 AC Daemon Targaryen and his army of sellswords and cutthroats controlled all but two of the islands, and the Sea Snake’s fleets had taken firm control of the waters between. During this brief moment of victory, Prince Daemon declared himself King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea, and Lord Corlys placed a crown upon his head…but their “kingdom” was far from secure. The next year, the Kingdom of the Three Daughters dispatched a fresh invasion force under the command of a devious Tyroshi captain named Racallio Ryndoon, surely one of the most curious and flamboyant rogues in the annals of history, and Dorne joined the war in alliance with the Triarchy. Fighting resumed.

The amity between Her Grace and her stepdaughter had proved short-lived, for both Rhaenyra and Alicent aspired to be the first lady of the realm; and whilst Alicent tried by giving the king multiple sons, the Queen never allowed anyone to forget that her grandsons would be probably dead before they saw the throne, for they would come after Rhaenys, Laena, Laenor, Viserys and Rhaenyra. The Queen also began to make mistakes by "accidentally" Calling Alicent by the wrong name, no matter how many times Alicent corrected her, the Queen would call her Allison, Alyssa, Alice and even Ellice. Lady Alicent bore a total of four children, In 107 AC, she bore a healthy son, naming him Aegon, after the Conqueror. Two years later, she produced a daughter for the king, Helaena; in 110 AC, she bore him a second son, Aemond, who was said to be half the size of his elder brother, but twice as fierce. The Queen, despite disliking her stepson's second wife, was not hostile towards her grandchildren, as she did with them what she did with Rhaenyra and placed eggs in their cradles, but out of three eggs, only one hatched, the one belonging to Aegon; since dragon eggs could go decades unhatched, the Queen waited a year, before she took away Helaena's and Aemond's eggs and proclaimed that they would claim a dragon later in life. The dragon belonging to Aegon was golden colored, with pale pink wing membranes, when Alicent made a comment about Aegon having a yellow dragon like the Queen and Princess and following up with "It seems yellow dragons are the sign of future rulers", the Queen responded by humming and saying "That is not always the case". And while she may have referred to Meleys, Vhagar and Seasmoke, nobody can deny that it may have been a jab at the Prince's wife.

Princess Rhaenyra continued to sit at the foot of the Iron Throne when her grandmother held court, whilst she was often joined by Laena, and sometimes Rhaenys, she was often there by herself, as Rhaenys had to rule Driftmark for her husband while he was away, and Laena did not have the time to fly from Driftmark to King's Landing and back again every time court was held. Queen Viserra also began bringing her to meetings of the small council as well. Though many lords and knights sought her favor, the princess had eyes only for Ser Criston Cole, the young champion of the Kingsguard and her constant companion. “Ser Criston protects the princess from her enemies, but who protects the princess from Ser Criston?” Lady Alicent asked one day at court. "If Ser Criston wishes to live, he better be the one protecting her from himself" Queen Viserra answered. Ser Criston Cole was appointed to the Kingsguard to fill the place created by the death of the legendary Ser Ryam Redwyne. Born the son of a steward in service to Lord Dondarrion of Blackhaven, Ser Criston was a comely young knight of three-and-twenty years. He first came to the attention of the court when he won the melee held at Maidenpool in honor of Queen Viserra's accession. In the final moments of the fight, Ser Criston knocked Dark Sister from Prince Daemon’s hand with his morningstar, to the delight of Viserys and the fury of Daemon. Afterward, he gave the seven-year-old Princess Rhaenyra the victor’s laurel and begged for her favor to wear in the joust. In the lists, he defeated Prince Daemon once again, and unhorsed both of the celebrated Cargyll twins, Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk of the Kingsguard, before falling to Lord Lymond Mallister. With his pale green eyes, coal black hair, and easy charm, Cole soon became a favorite of all the ladies at court…not the least amongst them Rhaenyra Targaryen herself. So smitten was she by the charms of the man she called “my white knight” that Rhaenyra begged her father to name Ser Criston her own personal shield and protector. Her Grace indulged her in this, as in so much else. Thereafter Ser Criston always wore her favor in the lists and became a fixture at her side during feasts and frolics.

In 111 AC, a great tourney was held at King’s Landing on the fifth anniversary of the prince's marriage to Lady Alicent. At the opening feast, the Lady wore a green gown, whilst the princess dressed dramatically in Targaryen red and black. In the tourney itself, the blacks had much the better of it when Ser Criston Cole, wearing Princess Rhaenyra’s favor, unhorsed all of the queen’s champions, including two of her cousins and her youngest brother, Ser Gwayne Hightower. Yet one was there who wore neither green nor black, but rather gold and silver. Prince Daemon had at last returned to court. Wearing a crown and styling himself King of the Narrow Sea, he appeared unannounced in the skies above King’s Landing on his dragon, circling thrice above the tourney grounds…but when at last he came to earth, he knelt before his mother and offered up his crown as a token of his love and fealty. Viserra returned the crown and kissed Daemon on his forehead and both cheeks, crying with joy as she welcomed her son home, years of fearing for her son's life, remembering the death of her brother, Aemon, finally over, as now, her son was back with her. It seemed then that dragons had a tendency of finishing what their riders couldn't, Dreamfyre's first rider, Rhaena, was skipped over and stripped of her title as Queen, and her second rider, was the first Queen in Westeros; Caraxes' first rider died at war, and his second rider seemed to only be able to win wars. In this moment, we should talk more about the relationship between Daemon and Viserra and his role in her reign; while he became the Queen's master of whisperers from 103 to 104, but governance bored this warrior prince, however. He did better when Queen Viserra made him Commander of the City Watch. Finding the watchmen ill-armed and clad in oddments and rags, Daemon equipped each man with dirk, short sword, and cudgel, armored them in black ringmail (with breastplates for the officers) and gave them long golden cloaks that they might wear with pride. Ever since, the men of the City Watch have been known as “gold cloaks.”

Prince Daemon took eagerly to the work of the gold cloaks, and oft prowled the alleys of King’s Landing with his men. That he made the city more orderly no man could doubt, but his discipline was a brutal one. He delighted in cutting off the hands of pickpockets, gelding rapists, and slitting the noses of thieves, and slew three men in street brawls during his first year as commander. Before long, the prince was well-known in all the low places of King’s Landing. He became a familiar sight in wine sinks (where he drank for free) and gambling pits (where he always left with more coin than when he entered). Though he sampled countless whores in the city’s brothels, and was said to have an especial fondness for deflowering maidens, a certain Lysene dancing girl soon became his favorite. Mysaria was the name she went by, though her rivals and enemies called her Misery, the White Worm. By the end of year 105 AC, he was known to his friends as the Prince of the City and to the smallfolk as Lord Flea Bottom. Though the Queen had a very clear fondness over Daemon, she was quick to discipline him whenever he was lead astray, such as the time she had him be brought to her, drunk and covered in vomit after a very hard night at the gambling pits. She had yelled at her son about his reckless behavior, and after that, the Prince was much more controlled in the nights he went out to drink.

The family cheered at Daemon's return, and amongst the loudest cheers, were those of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who was also enamored of her uncle, for Daemon was ever attentive to her. Whenever he crossed the narrow sea upon his dragon, he brought her some exotic gift on his return. Whilst Daemon was cold towards his good-sister Alicent and his nephews, most claim it was due to them pushing him further away down the line of succession; Princess Rhaenyra was a different matter. Daemon spent long hours in her company, enthralling her with tales of his journeys and battles. He gave her pearls and silks and books and a jade tiara said once to have belonged to the Empress of Leng, read poems to her, dined with her, hawked with her, sailed with her, entertained her by making mock of Lady Alicent at court, the “lickspittles” fawning over Lady Alicent and her children. He praised her beauty, declaring her to be the fairest maid in all the Seven Kingdoms. Uncle and niece began to fly together almost daily, racing Syrax against Caraxes to Dragonstone and back.

Chapter Text

During one sunny spring day, only a few moons after Prince Daemon returned to King's Landing, the Queen found herself in the gardens of the Red Keep, walking through bushes of flowers. The Prince, of now forty years of age, was slowly showing her maturity in her beauty, she was as beautiful as she had always been, her hair luscious and long, her skin flawless and soft from her milk baths, the only sign of age she showed were the very few wrinkles around her eyes and mouth from all the times she had smiled in her years of life. She wore a beautiful lavender gown that had been sent to her by her older sister, Saera, over in Essos, made of beautiful silk fabric, that fell down her body like water, definitely a sight that made all the septas pray as they adverted their eye from the Queen. A high pitched roar made the Queen look up, smiling as she spotted Syrax flying around; she hadn't been able to fly on top of Dreamfyre as of late, since she had been busy tending to her kingdom. She had chosen to set out possible marriage alliances between a handful of Houses, mostly Houses such as House Manderly, House Stark, even House Celtigar. Just as she made a mental note to fly on Dreamfyre later with her granddaughter; one of her guards announced the presence of her son, Prince Daemon. 

"Mother" Prince Daemon called.

Queen Viserra turned to look at her son, smiling kindly.

"Yes darling?" She asked.

Prince Daemon, of now thirty years of age, was a man covered in many scars from the battles he had been in, he was a strong man, broad shouldered and rough handed from the handle of Dark Sister. He oft wore armors and chains, yet whenever he was not in the battlefield, he would wear a well trimmed beard, with garments made of velvet, laces and silks. Even at thirty he was still the Queen's little prince, as he was now standing in front of her, looking like he did as a kid after accidentally breaking a vase. Queen Viserra smiled at him.

"May I ask you a question?" He apoke.

"Of course" Queen Viserra smiled "Come, we may walk whilst we talk"

Prince Daemon nodded, his silver hair softly swaying as he joined his mother in her walk. Syrax let out another high pitched roar, as she spun around in the air, guided by Princess Rhaenyra. Prince Daemon chuckled fondly, looking up at the yellow dragon and the princess; Queen Viserra smiled at him.

"She's so much like your mother" She reminisced "Her and Meleys always gave the court a show every single day... And your father a heart attack every time she took to the skies with you or your brother"

Prince Daemon smiled at his stepmother.

"You think she'd like her?" He questioned.

"Are you jesting?" She chuckled "Your mother defended Daella like she was her own daughter, she would've murdered for Aemma and committed atrocities for Rhaenyra"

Daemon snorted, the Queen continued to look at him.

"Sometimes I see her in you" She hummed, reminiscing of the sister she never bonded with as a girl "She would've adored you"

Prince Daemon smiled shyly. Looking down to his hands.

"I believe she'd prefer Viserys" The Prince claimed.

"Absolutely not" The Queen was quick to deny "Your brother would've been favored by my brother Vaegon, but there's no way Alyssa would've preferred him... Although if she had raised him he wouldn't have been such a foolish man"

"My brother is not foolish" Prince Daemon came to his brother's defense "He's quite knowledgeable" 

"He may be a great diplomat but he lacks common sense at times" The Queen hummed "I love your brother dear, but his desire to appease everyone will be detrimental to his health" She sighed. "And to the kingdom"

Daemon clearly wished to speak up, but couldn't refute his mother, for even he knew Viserys had a problem with trying to keep the peace. He looked ahead of him, deciding to change the subject.

"I believe I must leave once again"

The Queen turned to frown at her son.

"What?" She questioned "But you've only just come back to me" 

"The war is still going on in the Stepstones" Prince Daemon explained himself "I cannot leave my kingdom by itself, mother, it is not fair to my men or Lord Corlys" 

"But Daemon" The Queen sighed "What good will the Stepstones bring us? Once I reach the age where I shall be taken away by Balerion then I wish for you to come quickly so I can bid farewell. You cannot leave your family again"

"I apologize mother" Prince Daemon lamented "But I must return, I must ensure we hold the Stepstones under our power"

"Let the Stepstones be!" The Queen Demanded "I order not as your Queen but as your mother. You can stay here, I will give you a kingdom anywhere you desire" She held her son's hands between her own "Just stay here, with us, away from the battle"

"I am afraid I have battles here as much as I did back there" Prince Daemon hummed, looking back up at the sky, as Syrax let out a stream of yellow flames, flying through them and covering the Princess with her wings to not burn her. Queen Viserra looked up at her granddaughter, seeing the way she fled the scene with her little dragon princess; she looked back at Daemon, finding him wearing the same dreamy look Viserra carried when looking at Baelon. She sighed.

"Rhaenyra?" She questioned.

Prince Daemon looked back down, disgusted with himself.

"Every time I am near her I wish to be with her in a way I cannot explain" He spoke "Not physical but spiritual. I am a man grown, she is still a girl. My heart continues to beat for her, and if I wish to not be like the men who murdered their wives because they wanted an heir, then I must leave immediately. Perhaps then they will leave" 

Viserra stared at her son.

"I'm afraid they never leave, my sweet boy" She sighed "I knew your father had no love for me, he loved me like Aegon loved Visenya, I loved him like Rhaenys loved Aegon. I tried to get over him, to accept my love was not reciprocated, but even then I could not get over him, I could only ignore it"

Prince Daemon looked back at his mother, sympathy and a sort of fear in his eyes.

"And what about now?" He questioned "Did you get over him?"

Queen Viserra sighed in disappointment.

"I don't know" She confessed "I ignored them for so long that when I lost him, I lost a brother, not a husband. But even now I sometimes wonder what would've happened had he loved me like I did" 

Daemon nodded, looking lost. Queen Viserra looked at her son.

"I do not agree with the solution" She spoke "But I cannot tell you what to do. As much as I wish you were still a young boy, you're a man grown, perhaps a little old to have your mother tell you what to do" 

Daemon smiled softly.

"I just..." He struggled "I need to at least try to make these feelings go away" 

Queen Viserra nodded.

"I understand, my sweet boy" She nodded dejectedly, caressing his face "I just wish you wouldn't need a war to forget your feelings"

Prince Daemon left the day after his talk with his mother, having left a simple note addressed to Princess Rhaenyra, apologizing for his sudden departure and his lack of verbal farewell, he explained there was some push-back against his claim on the Stepstones, causing him to leave quickly. Princess Rhaenyra was quite bothered by this, for she really enjoyed her uncle's company and was upset over his sudden departure and lack of an actual farewell. Queen Viserra herself was also downcast, missing her youngest son as he fought the war; she'd distract herself using her dragon, flying with Dreamfyre along with Rhaenyra and Syrax. After about two moons, things were almost back to normal, Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Viserra would oft write to Prince Daemon, Prince Viserys himself also wrote to his brother, having been able to mend the broken relationship they had since 105 AC during the Prince's stay. Lady Alicent Hightower and her good-brother did not get along at all, the Prince would join his mother and refer to Alicent by the wrong names, one servant claims he had once been so drunk he had called her by the name of his cousin, Aemma. Things would remain unchanged for three more years, through those years, Princess Rhaenyra grew into her looks, growing more and more beautiful by the day, with hair as long as Queen Viserra's that she'd braid like Queen Visenya did. She would oft be asked for her hand in marriage by multiple Lords, such as the sons of Lords Blackwood and Bracken had dueled over the Princess of Dragonstone when she visited the Trident in 112 AC along with her Grandmother, Father, and Aunt. The twin knights, Jason and Tyland Lannister wooed her at Casterly Rock, and she was also courted by the sons of Lords Oakheart, Tarly, Tully, and Tyrell. Ser Harwin Strong, the son of Lord Lyonel Strong, also courted the Princess.

"Perhaps we could wed her to Prince Qoren Martell" Prince Viserys suggested, sitting along his stepmother and cousin.

"The Prince is the reason why your brother has been at war for the past nine years" Queen Viserra argued "Most I will consider is marrying a great great grandchild to his great great grandchild"

"It would bring Dorne into the Kingdom" Prince Viserys argued.

"So will marrying them into the kingdom in two generations" Princess Rhaenys pointed out.

"Then who do we choose?" Prince Viserys questioned "Lord Blackwood?"

"No" Queen Viserra hummed "She shall wed Lord Laenor, just as we had intended when I was crowned as Queen"

"I mean no harm, my Queen" Lord Tyrell spoke up "But are we sure that union would be fruitful?"

Lord Laenor Velaryon, of now twenty years of age was known to have a lack of interest in women, instead preferring to surround himself with handsome young men of his own age, with his favorite man being Sir Joffrey Lonmouth. Princess Rhaenys raised an eyebrow at the Lord.

"May I know what you mean?" She asked.

"I think what Lord Tyrell means" Lord Theodore spoke up "Is that Ser Laenor is more interested in hanging out with other men that he may not be interested in really focusing in his marriage"

"Lord Laenor is actually quite mature" Queen Viserra hummed "I know he will be a great husband" 

Princess Rhaenyra also disagreed with her union to Laenor Velaryon, claiming that perhaps her brothers or even his cousins may fit his taste more. Queen Viserra, however, insisted on Rhaenyra marrying Laenor, for the union of both Houses, after all, Velaryons and Targaryens married each other since before the conquerors. Princess Rhaenyra suggested marrying Daemon with Laenor, or even marrying both Laenor and Daemon, but the Queen denied told her that it would be Prince Viserys' decision, as he was Rhaenyra's father, and his word held more power over her own when it came to Rhaenyra's life. Prince Viserys was stricter than Queen Viserra, something unusual for him, as he tended to favor the Princess and would quite rarely say no to his daughter, even if she would quite rarely ask for anything at all. He had even warned the Princess, claiming she would be more open to anyone attempting to attack her or usurp her down the line. Princess Rhaenyra ended up accepting her marriage to her cousin, Laenor, marrying him in 114 AC at age seventeen, the Lord of age twenty. The Queen had been the only one allowed in the disrobing ceremony, claiming her granddaughter would not be seen naked by anyone who wasn't the Queen and her husband. Rumour has it the Queen had asked for a strong aphrodisiac to be made for the Princess and Lord. The very next day, just after the marriage had been consummated, Lord Laenor left Westeros for Essos, and that would very much describe what the marriage between Princess Rhaenyra and Lord Laenor would be like till death did them part. The remainder of the year 114 was met with no children from the couple.

Queen Viserra had sent two ravens the night before the years changed, one raven found it's way to Prince Daemon, the other to Sir Laenor; both quickly returned to Westeros, Daemon to his mother, Laenor to his Queen. Nobody knows much of what happened the night Prince Daemon and Lord Laenor, as Laenor was placed in the same chambers as his wife, and Prince Daemon was placed in one of the chambers, rumoured to have a connection to the secret passageways that would also lead to Princess Rhaenyra's and Lord Laenor's chambers. All that is known about that night, is that a babe was conceived on that day, as the Princess began throwing up a moon after that date. And Syrax herself began showing signs of carrying eggs; Prince Viserys and Lady Alicent were also pregnant, though the Lady began to show signs a moon and a half after the Princess. Queen Viserra seemed joyous that her granddaughter was pregnant, and was happy she was able to live to see her great grandchild be born. At age forty four, Queen Viserra was becoming more mature in her appearance, she looked almost exactly like her mother, but more beautiful. Her hair still retained her shine and silky texture, many even wondered if she was using some sort of Valyrian magic to retain her beauty. However, if one were to ask her, she'd smile and say "The Gods just took their time making me to perfection".

Princess Rhaenyra gave birth to a boy in the final month of 114 AC, Lord Laenor wished to name him Joffrey, after his fallen friend and rumored lover. Lord Corlys, however, refused this, naming the boy himself, Jacaerys Velaeryon. In the moons leading to the birth of Prince Jacaerys, Lady Alicent was heard making snide remarks over how close Princess Rhaenyra seemed to be with Sir Harwin Strong, who would always be around the Princess during Laenor's trips to Essos, which occurred more often than not. Sir Harwin was extremely protective of the Princess, and would often intimidate the other guards if they approached the Princess; one time, a knight had stumbled and fallen at the Princess' feet, almost causing her to fall, Sir Harwin had to be held back by six men, who struggled to do so. The Lady would point this out often with her own ladies-in-waiting, giggling as they whispered about the Princess and her sworn shield. The moons leading up to the birth of Prince Jacaerys, the Lady would sometimes make certain comments about what the babe would look like, mentioning how the babe would have common great grandparents on both sides, meaning Lord Arryn, Princess Aemma's father, and Lady Jocelyn Baratheon, Princess Rhaenys' mother. When the Princess finally gave birth, she did so to a babe of ash silver hair, almost grey, eyes a nearly reddish purple, like wine. 

Prince Viserys was extremely happy at the birth of the boy, as was Lord Corlys. When Lord Laenor offered the name of Joffrey, Lord Corlys shut him down immediately, and instead, gave the young boy the name of Jacaerys; after the son of the very first Lord of House Velaryon in Old Valyria. Princess Rhaenyra soon became enamored with her beautiful boy, fawning over him and dressing him in garments as luxurious and beautiful as the ones she dressed herself in. As for Syrax, the clutch of eggs she had laid had sadly not been healthy, out of three eggs she laid, one was healthy, while the other two were more so like bags full of dung and piss. The egg was a light olive green color, with pale orange markings that would flash if one turned the egg around in the sunlight. Lady Alicent let out a forced smile as the birth of the boy, even if Prince Viserys was fooled, Queen Viserra saw right through her; and would smile along with her granddaughter whenever Lady Alicent held or was near the boy. Only a fortnight after Prince Jacaerys was born, Lady Alicent delivered her fourth child and third son, Prince Daeron Targaryen.

"Dreamfyre laid another clutch" Queen Viserra hummed, sitting on the long table where both of her heirs, as well as their spouses and children sat around her, all of them enjoying their meal. "I have been thinking that, since Syrax laid an egg. Why not give the two eggs to Jace and Daeron?"

"That sounds marvelous, mumuña" Princess Rhaenyra smiled.

"But what about Helaena and Aemond?" Questioned Prince Viserys.

"Well, their first eggs never hatched" Queen Viserra hummed "They are still able to receive another set of eggs, or they could wait until they claimed a grown dragon."

"I'd prefer to do that" Lady Alicent hummed "I do not wish my children to feel there's a difference in the way they are treated between one another and their nephew"

Queen Viserra nodded.

"Alright then" She hummed " Jacaerys will receive Syrax's egg while your three youngest children will receive Dreamfyre's"

That night, while the eggs were placed in the cradles, Caraxes and Vhagar were spotted flying away to Driftmark, along with their riders.

Chapter Text

Out of the four eggs gifted to the Princes and Princess, only two hatched. The egg given to Princess Helaena was jade, with dotted spots of dark green that reminded Queen Viserra of one of the many gemstones suitors would gift her at times; Prince Aemond's egg was a deep ocean blue, with white swirls that looked like seafoam; his egg had to be sent all the way from Dragonstone back to King's Landing, since Dreamfyre had laid three eggs only. Finally, Daeron targaryen's egg was a deep cobalt blue, with bronze specks that came to life under light, making it look like the egg had gotten molten bronze dropped on it. Prince Jacaerys' egg hatched three moons after his nameday, a jade green dragon emerging from the egg, with pale orange wing membranes and chest; the dragon was named Vermax, for Rhaenyra wished to name her son's dragon following the tradition set by past dragonriders, and naming him after a Valyrian old God. Out of all the eggs given to the Targaryen children, only that of Prince Daeron Targaryen hatched, all others went cold; the dragon that hatched was cobalt blue, with her claws, crest, and belly scales the color of bright beaten copper. The cold eggs were taken back to Dragonstone, in the hopes that the dragons and heat would be enough to heat the eggs back to life.

"Fret not children" Viserra hummed as she knelt in front of her youngest granddaughter and second oldest grandson. "You will claim a dragon someday."

Despite the Queen and Lady Alicent's animosity, Queen Viserra clearly loved the children, proclaiming they were innocent, and had done nothing to earn her dislike. Prince Aegon was an eager to do boy, meaning, no matter what, he had to do it, he had to join in on whatever was going on around him, he had to stand and watch everything going on around him; if someone was eating or drinking something, he needed to taste it, such as the time he insisted on drinking from his father's goblet, making a face as he swallowed the sip of wine from Prince Viserys' goblet. By age seven, when he became an uncle, he started experiencing some bursts of anger that seemed too big of a response to the reasons behind it; such as the time he flung his goblet and plate at a servant after she served his food colder than he preferred. Even though Prince Viserys tried his best to talk his son out of anger, just like his father did with him, in the end he'd always let his wife dictate how they raised their son; and Alicent's response was to defend her son, claiming the servant deserved the punishment. Viserra, however, never allowed him to behave as such, thus, he always acted like a proper Prince around his muñazma¹; she was forced to grow stricter with him, in the hopes that he would grow to become a decent Prince, however, anytime she tried to discipline him, she'd be intercepted by Viserys.

"Just because you raised Daemon and me, doesn't mean you get to dictate how I should raise my own children" Viserys had once told her, after she slapped Aegon for insulting a servant .

"I would not call what you do raising" Queen Viserra retorted. "Maybe just sitting back and doing as your Mistress² says while she tells you to just shut up and let Aegon do as he pleases."

That had left the Prince insulted, so insulted that he even threatened to go live in Old Town. So the Queen apologized and swore she'd lay off of Aegon's upbringing.

Princess Helaena reminded Queen Viserra of her sister Gael, a very quiet and reserved girl, though still happy and pleasant; she would often join Viserra on top of Dreamfyre, finding flying as the most joyous event of her day. Even if Queen Viserra and Princess Helaena's parents  had a rocky relationship, Prince Viserys still enjoyed letting the Princess spend time with her grandmother and older sister, as he did not wish for her to grow up believing her grandmother loved her sister more than her. Thus, he never opposed to those dragon rides, or the days where the Queen would go on horse rides with some of her ladies. By the time the young Princess was five years of age, she was already showing a strong love for animals, specifically insects, so much so that she had asked the seamstress if she could "Draw bugs in her dress" the way she did with the birds she embroidered on Princess Rhaenyra's gowns. Ever since that day, the Queen ordered that all gowns made for the young Princess to have golden or silver insects embroidered, from butterflies, to bees, even dragonflies and spiders. 

Prince Aemond, at his young age, was perhaps as fierce, if not fiercer than his brother; at four years old, Aemond showed a strong tendency to anger, like his brother, though it seemed his anger was much more quiet than that of Prince Aegon. When his egg didn't hatch, he had tried to throw it out of the window, thankfully being stopped by a guard, who took the egg away from the boy, leading to his fall; Lady Alicent had become infuriated after the guard pushed the prince to the ground, and kept on demanding he be punished, however, Queen Viserra refused to do so.

"I will punish the guard for accidentally knocking Prince Aemond down, if you punish your son for trying to throw the egg out the window and risking someone's life."

"Your Majesty" Prince Viserys spoke up, but the Queen refused to let him continue.

"If you do not wish for me to involve myself in your child-rearing, then do not involve yourselves in how I rule and treat my guards."

After Prince Jacaerys was born, Prince Daemon and Lady Laena had fallen in love. Laena, a maid of two-and-twenty, tall, slender, and surpassingly lovely (even Mushroom was taken with her beauty, writing that she “was almost as pretty as her brother”), with a great mane of silver-gold ringlets that fell down past her waist.
Laena had been betrothed from the age of twelve to a son of the Sealord of Braavos…but the father had died before they could be wed, and the son soon proved a wastrel and a fool, squandering his family’s wealth and power before turning up on Driftmark. Lacking a graceful means to rid himself of the embarrassment, but unwilling to proceed with the marriage, Lord Corlys had repeatedly postponed the wedding. Prince Daemon had asked for her hand in marriage, but when told about the betrothed, he simply told his friend to let him handle it. The exiled Braavosi betrothed remained an impediment, but not for long; Daemon mocked him to his face so savagely the boy had no choice but to call him to defend his words with steel. Armed with Dark Sister, the prince made short work of his rival, and wed Lady Laena Velaryon a fortnight later, abandoning his hardscrabble kingdom on the Stepstones. (Five other men followed him as Kings of the Narrow Sea, until the brief and bloody history of that savage sellsword “kingdom” ended for good and all). They had all been invited to see them, for the wedding took place in Driftmark, following the traditions of Old Valyria rather than the Westerosi tradition of a grandiose.

As a celebration of the union, Prince Daemon and Lady Laena flew first to Pentos, where they were feted by the city’s prince. The Pentoshi feared the growing power of the Triarchy to the south, and saw Daemon as a valuable ally against the Three Daughters. From there, they crossed the Disputed Lands to Old Volantis, where they enjoyed a similar warm welcome. Then they flew up the Rhoyne, to visit Qohor and Norvos. In those cities, far removed from the woes of Westeros and the power of the Triarchy, their welcome was less rapturous. Everywhere they went, however, huge crowds turned out for a glimpse of Vhagar and Caraxes. The dragonriders were once again in Pentos when Lady Laena learned she was with child. Eschewing further flight, Prince Daemon and his wife settled in a manse outside the city walls as a guest of a Pentoshi magister, until such time as the babe was born. However, they would often visit Westeros, once in 115AC and another time in 117 AC.

Meanwhile, back in Westeros, Princess Rhaenyra had given birth to a second son late in the year 115 AC. The child was named Lucerys, much like his brother, Lucerys was born with Valyrian features, though he looked more Velaryon than Targaryen, with pearly silver hair, periwinkle eyes and soft pale skin; his dragon egg looked like a newborn sized pearl, pure pearlescent white with a yellow golden sheen that would shine through when the egg. He was a large and lusty lad, and Prince Viserys was delighted with him when the child was presented at court. When the egg hatched into a pearlescent white dragon, with golden eyes and a golden chest. The baby was absolutely enamoured with his dragon; and prince jacaerys was enamoured with his baby brother, often cooing and smiling at him whenever the two were together. Prince Aemond, however, became enraged after the dragon egg hatched, almost running to topple the crib over. His dragon, much like Jace's dragon, was named after a Valyrian God, Arrax.

In 116 AC, in the Free City of Pentos, Lady Laena gave birth to twin daughters, Prince Daemon’s first trueborn children. Prince Daemon named the oldest girl Baela (after his father) and Lady Laena named the youngest girl, Rhaena (after her mother). The babes were small and sickly, alas, but both had fine features, silver-white hair, and purple eyes. When they were half a year old, and stronger, the girls and their mother sailed to Driftmark, whilst Daemon flew ahead with both dragons. From High Tide, he sent a raven to his mother in King’s Landing, doing so every week to update her on her granddaughters and letting her know when she could visit. Queen Viserra would also use these opportuinities to visit her sister Saera in Pentos. He warned her of his arrival, allowing the Queen to prepare everything for the presentation of both girls in court. When Prince Daemon and Lady Laena arrived, baby Baela and baby Rhaena in their arms, they were welcomed with gifts, gowns, and eggs. A pale green egg with pearls, and a silver egg with grey streaks.

The final baby of the decade was born in 117 AC, on Dragonstone, Princess Rhaenyra bore yet another son. Ser Laenor was at last permitted to name a child after his fallen friend, Ser Joffrey Lonmouth. Joffrey Velaryon was as big and red-faced and healthy as his brothers; with the same silver-grey hair as his oldest brother, and with nearly black purple eyes. He was given a pure purple egg, with some spots of dark purple interrupting the pale violet egg; from the egg, hatched a pale violet dragon with dark purple horns, the sixth dragon to have hatched out of the cradle eggs documented in the decades of 100 AC and 110 AC. As only one of the eggs gifted to the twins of Prince Daemon hatched, the egg gifted to Lady Baela, with a slender pale green dragon with pearl horns, crest and wingbones hatching from her egg. Lady Rhaena's egg, however, went cold. While Prince Joffrey's dragon was named Tyraxes, following tradition, Baela's was named Moondancer.

Rumours, however, surrounded the birth of the three Velaryon boys, for many people claimed that the boys were not Laenor's, but Daemon's; after all, the boys would all be born nine moons after Prince Daemon and Lady Laena visited the Princess and her husband. Whatever the truth of these allegations, there was never any doubt that Queen Viserra still meant for her granddaughter to remain on the line of succession of the Iron Throne, and her sons to follow her in turn. And Septon Eustace tells us that Her Majesty sat Jace upon her knee atop the Iron Throne as she was holding court, and was heard to say, “One day this will be your seat, sweet boy.”. Childbirth exacted a toll on the princess, as the woman not only carried big babies, she was also able to satiate her cravings during the pregnancy. The weight that Rhaenyra gained during her pregnancies never entirely left her, and by the time her youngest boy was born, she had grown stout and thick of waist. The Queen had once heard one of Lady Alicent's Ladies-in-waiting compliment Alicent's ability to maintain her figure after childbirth.

"She hasn't" The Queen spoke up, making both women jump in shock. "She refused food for months, yet still I can see her weight on her chin and arms" 

Lady Alicent had, in fact, put herself in such a strict diet that she basically ate nothing at all unless it was the vegetables, maybe some meat here and there. Queen Alicent had become so embarrassed that she practically ran away in shame.

When Prince Viserys learned of this, he had yelled at the Queen, who remained unimpressed at his yelling. When he was done yelling at her, she simply blinked at him, before sending the guards out of the room. Nobody knows what went on inside the throne room, what they do know, is that Prince Viserys and Lady Alicent, along with their children, were sent off to live in Dragonstone, while Rhaenyra and Laenor stayed in King's Landing. Visiting for only special events. 

The sins of the fathers are oft visited on the sons, wise men have said; and so it is for the sins of mothers as well. The enmity between Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra was passed on to their sons, and the Lady's three boys, the Princes Aegon, Aemond, and Daeron, grew to be bitter rivals of their Velaryon nephews, resentful of them for having stolen their family from them, claiming that they were plotting to make Queen Viserra skip over them to give the throne to Rhaenyra's boys. Though all six boys attended the same feasts, balls, and revels, this enforced closeness only served to feed their mutual mislike, rather than binding them together as brothers. Even their dragons seemed to hate one another, as Sunfyre, Prince Aegon's dragon, always fought Vermax, Arrax and Tyraxes. Whilst Princess Rhaenyra misliked her stepmother, Queen Alicent, she became fond and more than fond of her good-sister Lady Laena. With Driftmark and Dragonstone so close, Daemon and Laena oft visited with the princess, and her with them. Many a time they flew together on their dragons, and the princess’s she-dragon Syrax produced several clutches of eggs. In 118 AC, with the blessing of Prince Viserys, Rhaenyra announced the betrothal of her two eldest sons to the daughters of Prince Daemon and Lady Laena. Jacaerys was four and Lucerys three, the girls two. And in 119 AC, when Laena found she was with child again, Rhaenyra flew to Driftmark to attend her during the birth.

And so it was that the princess was at her good-sister’s side on the third day of that accursed year 120 AC, the Year of the Red Spring. A day and a night of labor left Laena Velaryon pale and weak, but finally she gave birth to the son Prince Daemon had so long desired—but the babe was twisted and malformed, and died within the hour. Nor did his mother long survive him. Her grueling labor had drained all of Lady Laena’s strength, and grief weakened her still further, making her helpless before the onset of childbed fever. As her condition steadily worsened, despite the best efforts of Driftmark’s young maester, Prince Daemon flew to Dragonstone and brought back Princess Rhaenyra’s own maester, an older and more experienced man renowned for his skills as a healer. Sadly, Maester Gerardys came too late. After three days of delirium, Lady Laena passed from this mortal coil. She was but twenty-seven. During her final hour, it is said, Lady Laena rose from her bed, pushed away the septas praying over her, and made her way from her room, intent on reaching Vhagar that she might fly one last time before she died. Her strength failed her on the tower steps, however, and it was there she collapsed and died. Her husband, Prince Daemon, carried her back to her bed. Afterward, Mushroom tells us, Princess Rhaenyra sat vigil with him over Lady Laena’s corpse, and comforted him in his grief. Lady Laena’s death was the first tragedy of 120 AC, but it would not be the last. For this was to be a year when many of the long-simmering tensions and jealousies that had plagued the Seven Kingdoms finally came to a boil, a year when many and more would have reason to wail and grieve and rend their garments… Though none more than the Sea Snake, Lord Corlys Velaryon, and his noble wife, Princess Rhaenys.

The Lord of the Tides and his lady were still in mourning for their beloved daughter when the Stranger came again, to carry off their son. Ser Laenor Velaryon, husband to the Princess Rhaenyra and the putative father of her children, was slain whilst attending a fair in Spicetown, stabbed to death by his friend and companion Ser Qarl Correy. The two men had been quarreling loudly before blades were drawn, merchants at the fair told Lord Velaryon when he came to collect his son’s body. Correy had fled by then, wounding several men who tried to hinder him. Some claimed a ship had been waiting for him offshore. He was never seen again. A household knight of relatively low birth, Correy was known to have a lord’s tastes and a peasant’s purse, and was given to extravagant wagering besides, which lends a certain credence to the fool’s version of events. Yet there was no shred of proof, then or now, though the Sea Snake offered a reward of ten thousand golden dragons for any man who could lead him to Ser Qarl Correy, or deliver the killer to a father’s vengeance. Even this was not the end of the tragedies that would mark that dreadful year. The next occurred at High Tide after Ser Laenor’s funeral, when king and court made the journey to Driftmark to bear witness at his pyre, many on the backs of their dragons. (So many dragons were present that Septon Eustace wrote that Driftmark had become the new Valyria.).

The cruelty of children is known to all. Prince Aegon Targaryen was thirteen, Princess Helaena eleven, Prince Aemond ten, and Prince Daeron six. Both Prince Aegon and Prince Daeron mounted the dragons that hatched from their cradle eggs, Sunfyre and Tessarion, while Helaena had claimed a dragon already, Silverwing, the she-dragon once ridden by Helaena's gret grandmother, Queen Alysanne Targaryen. Only the middle son, Prince Aemond, remained dragonless, but His Grace had hopes of rectifying that, and had put forward the notion that perhaps the court might sojourn at Dragonstone after the funeral. A wealth of dragon’s eggs could be found beneath the Dragonmont, and several young hatchlings as well. Prince Aemond could have his choice, “if the lad is bold enough.” Even at ten, Aemond Targaryen did not lack for boldness. The king’s gibe stung, and he resolved not to wait for Dragonstone. What did he want with some puny hatchling, or some stupid egg? Right there at High Tide was a dragon worthy of him: Vhagar, the oldest, largest, most terrible dragon in the world.

Even for a son of House Targaryen, there are always dangers in approaching a dragon, particularly an old, bad-tempered dragon who has recently lost her rider. His father and mother would never allow him to go near Vhagar, Aemond knew, much less try to ride her. So he made certain they did not know, sliding from his bed at dawn whilst they still slept and stealing down to the outer yard where Vhagar and the other dragons were fed and stabled. The prince had hoped to mount Vhagar in secrecy, but as he crept up to the dragon a boy’s voice rang out.

“You stay away from her!”

The voice belonged to the youngest of his half-nephews, Joffrey Velaryon, a boy of three. Always an early riser, Joff had sneaked down from his bed to see his own young dragon, Tyraxes. Afraid that the boy would raise the alarm, Prince Aemond shouted at him to be quiet, then shoved him backward into a pile of dragon droppings. As Joff began to bawl, Aemond raced to Vhagar and clambered up onto her back. Later he would say that he was so afraid of being caught that he forgot to be frightened of being burned to death and eaten. Call it boldness, call it madness, call it fortune or the will of the gods or the caprice of dragons. Who can know the mind of such a beast? We do know this: Vhagar roared, lurched to her feet, shook violently... Then snapped her chains and flew. And the boy prince Aemond Targaryen became a dragonrider, circling twice around the towers of High Tide before coming down again.

But when he landed, Rhaenyra’s sons were waiting for him. Joffrey had run to get his brothers when Aemond took to the sky, and both Jace and Luke had come to his call. The Velaryon princelings were younger than Aemond—Jace was six, Luke five, Joff only three— but there were three of them, and they had armed themselves with wooden swords from the training yard. Now they fell on him with a fury. Aemond fought back, breaking Luke’s nose with a punch, then
wrenching the sword from Joff’s hands and cracking it across the back of Jace’s head, driving him to his knees. As the younger boys scrambled back away from him, bloody and bruised, the prince began to mock them, laughing and even mocking the rumours surrounding their father, even mocking his death. Jace at least was old enough to grasp the insults. He flew at Aemond once again, but the older boy began pummeling him savagely…until Luke, coming to the rescue of his brother, drew his dagger and slashed Aemond across the face, taking out his right eye. By the time the stableboys finally arrived to pull apart the combatants, the prince was writhing on the ground, howling in pain, and Vhagar was roaring as well.

Chapter Text

Afterward, Prince Viserys tried to make a peace, requiring each of the boys to tender an apology to his rivals on the other side, but these courtesies did not appease their vengeful mothers. Lady Alicent demanded that one of Lucerys Velaryon’s eyes should be put out, for the eye he had cost Aemond. Princess Rhaenyra would have none of that, but insisted that Prince Aemond should be questioned “sharply” as to where he had heard such vile words about her husband and herself. Their anger, however, paled in comparison to the rage Queen Viserra felt. She herself had experienced multiple types of grief, the loss of her siblings, her parents, her husband, many of her children, and now, grandchildren; it seems that Prince Aemond's actions and the response of his parents were enough to finally make Queen Viserra behave as a dragon. Still dressed in her lavender sleep gown and robes, she stomped towards her grandson, delivering such a hard slap that the chair he was sitting on fell to the ground along with him. When Lady Alicent and Prince Viserys approached her, both enraged at her actions, she turned back to them, and struck both her stepson and the Lady. Her palm was bright red, her hands shaking, while her eyes filled with tears as she spoke.

"I have shown you kindness and patience" She declared, the entire room silent, in shock, as they had never seen the Queen break in the presence of others. "I have understood that the loss of your mother affected you in a way I can never understand. But I am tired of excusing your stupidity, I have excused the stupid choice you made by getting your first wife pregnant against the advice of the Maesters, the stupid choice you made by marrying this greedy cunt of a hag, every choice you have made, I have excused. But it is clear doing so only lead to your children becoming rotted and dead inside."

"Mother" Daemon called, his eyes red and swollen, his grief was too immense for him to have the energy for this.

"No" Queen Viserra huffed. "This needs to be done... Viserys Targaryen" She spoke in a hard and cold tone, as she looked at her stepson. "You will be skipped over in the line of succession. As will the children you had with Alice"

"Your majesty-"

"You have comitted treason, not just to your wife, but to your daughter as well" The Queen delared, ignoring her stepson and his despaired exression.

She did not even turn to look at Alicent or their children.

"You have allowed for your wife to spread rumours on your daughter and grandsons, allowing her and the members of her court to insult her body and claim her children were not Velaryons, but pure Targaryens." She did her best to keep her face straight, trying not to break.

Even if she was disgusted by her son and his wife, as well as their son, she was still immensely hurt over having to do this.

"You will be housed in a manse in Essos, you will be given money every moon to sustain your family, however, your dragons will all be kept in Dragonstone, away from you"

"You cannot do that!" Lady Alicent tried to argue.

The Queen sneered.

"I am Queen, my word is law, your word is nothing but an annoying sound that has made my life miserable ever since you introduced yourself" She towered over the younger woman. "I have allowed you to stay here long enough that you have poisoned everyone around me. And you've managed to infect your own sons with poison. Know that all of this, is your fault. Because of you, your children will not know what a Targaryen's life is like, and because of you, no longer will Viserys be a Prince."

"Mumuña" Rhaenyra called out, reaching out to hold Queen Viserra's hand, her husband behind her, staring at the scene. "Please" She begged. "Do not make such decision, think of Helaena, Daeron. I already lost my mother, don't take my father away. Please"

Queen Viserra looked at her granddaughter, seeing her younger self in Rhaenyra's face, the same desperation, the same fear. She sighed, taking a deep and calming breath. She would not be her mother nor her father, she would not be her mother nor her father. She turned back to her stepson.

"My decision will be put on hold" She spoke, this time, her voice much calmer, though it was clear she was still upset. "But know, all this dance, will be over once and for all. Later today I wish to host a meeting, the only ones allowed will be Rhaenys, Corlys, Rhaenyra and Daemon. We will discuss what we shall do, not just with you two" She stared at the two adults. "But with your children as well, we need to make sure they won't grow to be as venemous as you."

The Queen had put twice as many guards all over the castle, making sure nobody else could escape and cause more damage, she had also sent for more healers and maesters to care for Aemond. She may find the boy disgusting, but he was just a boy after all, ten years of age; at that age his behaviour is a reflection of his parents, so he was not the only one to blame. The Queen sat down, looking out of her window to look East. Saera had been unable to come to the funeral, for she not only never got to know Laena nor Laenor, and never formed a proper bond with Rhaenys, she was also ill; thankfully, it was not deadly, thus, she would be able to overcome it. After Vaegon and Maegelle died, Viserra had grown more and more paranoid about her own life and that of her sister; they were the last children of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne, the very last of their batch. She often thought of the fact that her parents were quiet long lived, their father dying at the old age of sixty-nine and their mother at sixty-four. Yet, all their children died young, Baelor lived the longest, dying at forty-four; Viserra was now five years older than Baelon, and the fact was always enough to make her weep, the fact that now, she was older than almost all of her siblings, even the ones she believed immortal in her youth. 

Saera was fifty-tree, and her age was already showing, her skin losing its tight and shiny appearance, now wrinkly and forming lines on her face from all her smiles; her hair was also becoming white rather than silver, she would often write about the pain she was feeling on her bones, proclaiming them as reminders of a life well-lived. Viserra herself was also starting to show some signs of aging, however, she took care of herself so much that she did not look the way her mother did at her age. With weekly milk-baths mixed with honey and flowers to work as not just perfumes, but also to be absorbed by her skin; she also always used the most luscious oils on her hair in order to make it retain its shine and strength. She may have done so because of her vanity, however, she did not wish to go to the other side completely unrecognizeable, she wished to remain as youthful as she could in order for her siblings to recognize her once she moved on to the other side. Especially those who died when she was much younger. She closed her eyes, letting the first rays of sunshine of the morrow to hit her face. 

The older woman thought about what punishment to rain down on her stepson and his wife. In the heat of the moment, all she could think of was the way Aemond insulted not just the memory of Lady Laena, but also insulted the memory of Laenor, Rhaenyra, even Daemon. It wasn't that he claimed Vhagar, the old dragon was free to be claimed, and if Aemond hadn't claimed her, then Rhaena also wouldn't have, since dragons had destined riders, so she would've rejected Rhaena. However, it was an unspoken rule, a tradition, that to claim a dragon who lost their rider, you had to wait at least a moon after their burial to attempt claiming them. Aemond doing so the morning after Laenor's pyre, only two weeks after Laena's own funeral, all just because he wanted to have Vhagar, was disrespectful in so many different ways. But the boy was more Hightower than Targaryen, even if the four children looked as Targaryen as they came, they were all Hightower in spirit. She needed to get their mother's influence away from them before it was too late for them all. 

Viserys had also proven himself to be disloyal. In her eyes, your loyalty shall lie with your family, your children come first, then your spouse, your siblings, and then you parents; Viserys had proven his priorities were his wife, his children with his current wife, Rhaenyra, and then the resst of the family. He had allowed his daughter to be harrassed by his wife, he allowed her to come between him and his brother; she did not know why he was so desperate to keep things quiet and peaceful, but whatever reason he had, were no excuse. He was not fit to be King if he couldn't even control his wife and children, then how could he be trusted with controlling an entire continent? If a war were to start during his reign then what? Would he just tell them to hug, kiss and make up? She allowed herself to be flexible on the punishment, but he would be skipped over once the time came, first would be Rhaenys, and if she were to pass, then Rhaenyra. After that, Rhaenyra and Rhaenys would be the ones to choose how to handle their children and grandchildren. 

Queen Viserra Targaryen had spent the morrow of the day simply thinking of punishments and ways to deal with her stepson, her daughter in law and her grandchildren. Her food was taken to her chambers by her maids, for she needed to break fast in order to function as a proper Queen that very day. She needed to be a proper Queen more than ever. The castle was quick to spread word of what had transpired, of the second Targaryen Prince attacking his nephews, spewing insults, claiming the dragon of the recently buried Laena, the Queen slapping not just her grandson, but her step-son and daughter in law as well, her threat and promise to have Viserys skipped over in the line of succession. The castle walls absorbed the information, and witnessed the way the word spread through mouths and ears, from wet nurse to maid, from maid to servant, from servant to guard, from guard to chambermaid. When the sun stood above the Driftmark castle, the Queen ordained for her heirs, their spouses and her son be brought to the meeting room to hold a discussion. She still dawned on mourning, wearing all black, making her look like a ghost, haunting the walls of the castle. Everyone dawned on black, all still mourning Lady Laena Velaryon and Lord Laenor Velaryon.

"I assume all of us here have gathered our thoughts, and can now behave and think fairly" The Queen spoke up, sitting at the head of the table.

Daemon sat right next to his mother, his hand softly holding onto her long sleeve under the table. He was still clearly wrecked by the tragic loss of his wife and son, thus, he was much more quiet and reserved than he actually was. Rhaenyra herself looked more angry than sad, which was to be expected after her dear friend's memory was tainted and her sons and husband were insulted. However, she looked more displeased than anything, clearly having done her best to control her anger. The Queen was the only one in the room who understood the grief all of them were going through, the grief of losing a child, of losing a spouse, a sibling and a friend. 

"We have, your majesty" Lord Corlys nodded, his voice gruff from crying. 

Queen Viserra nodded sharply.

"Then, we have many matters to discuss today." She reached under the table, holding Daemon's hand. "First and foremost is the punishment Prince Viserys and his wife will go through. Let it be known I refuse to let him or his children with her be considered as heirs, he will not be King, he may remain Prince, but he will never be more than that."

"We understand and agree, Your majesty." Rhaenys nodded. "As much as I love my cousin, his demeanour is not fit for a King."

Rhaenyra and Daemon turned to look at the oldest heir, both ready to defend the honour of the Prince, even if it was hard to do so.

"My father is not the problem, his wife is."

"Yet he has allowed her to become the current problem" Rhaenys retorted. "He never once put his foot down or stopped her."

"Viserys is a peace seeker." Viserra interrupted the blooming fight. "If his methods were not so quiet, he'd make for a great King, however, he has proven that he cannot stop himself from treating everything like a small fight between toddlers." 

Nobody could argue with her words, not even Daemon or Rhaenyra.

"What do you think we shall do with them?" The Queen continued. "Send the Hightower back to Old Town, Viserys and his children to Dragonstone, what does everyone think?"

"Alicent staying in Westeros will only lead to danger." Rhaenyra was quick to call out. "If she stays in Westeros then she will be able to turn Old Town against us, spread more rumours against us. Her very presence will lead to more risks for us and for my sons."

"Sending Alicent to Essos will also be a bad idea." Rhaenys sighed. "If we exile her she will still be able to spread rumours, even from there, we cannot intercept ravens or ensure nobody contacts her."

"Then what do you think we should do with her?" Queen Viserra questioned her granddaughter, for this decision involed her father. "Answer as a future Queen, not as a Princess."

Rhaenyra looked at her grandmother, breathing softly, clearly trying to control herself and behave in a less impulsive way. 

"I think..." She drawled out. "When she married my father, she swore to stay loyal to the family. She has comitted treason by spreading vile rumours about me... Send her to the Sept, if she insists so much on her faith then she will have no problem abandoning her status to serve the Gods. Perhaps become a Silent Sister if she tries to spread more vile against  us."

Viserra nodded.

"And with Viserys?"

"Dragonstone is our best option." Rhaenys admitted. "The problem is his children would be near their dragons. If they wished to usurp any of my grandkids they would have the power to do so."

Viserra hummed, nodding her head as she contemplated her options surrounding the children.

"Could Helaena be my cupbearer?" Rhaenyra questioned. "My half-brothers and my sweet sister, Helaena, have been led astray by their mother and the members of her court. Perhaps letting them live away from her grip could let them grow into good people."

"And you suggest we separate them?" Corlys turned to his niece. "That would make it worse."

"Having them separated could let us focus on them individually." Rhaenys spoke up, looking at her husband. "Helaena would do better without her brothers, Daeron is still young, so perhaps it'd be best if he stays with Viserys. As to not separate him from both parents."

"And Aegon and Aemond?" Queen Viserra spoke.

The council room went silent at the mention of both boys. Nobody knew if they were fit to handle the two angry boys. Aegon was perhaps the most dangerous, even if most people knew Aegon to be a lazy and somewhat sulky boy, inclined to gluttony at the table and given to swilling ale and strongwine; howeevr, the family knew he would often pinch or fondle any serving girl who strayed within his reach. So his presence could already risk the safety of many women, if not all women.  Aemond, on the other hand, was just an angry child, his anger could be lessened perhaps with a strict hand and tenderness that soothed him while explaining what he did wrong. 

"We may take Aemond in" Lord Corlys suggested. "He disrespected my daughter, but I was able to raise two children who grew to be respectful and beloved."

"Aegon?"

"The wall is the best place for those boys" Daemon huffed. "I have met men who were boys like him, they always end up facing the gold cloaks." He looked at Viserra. "Give him to me, and I'll make sure he grows to be a man, not a criminal."

Viserra looked at her son.

"Are you sure, sweet boy?"

"I am, mother" Daemon nodded.

Viserra returned the nod, though softly, still worried for her son.

"Then it is decided. Lady Alicent will be sent to the Starry sept in Oldtown, Viserys and Daeron will go to Dragonstone, Aegon will go with Daemon, Aemond with Rhaenys and Helaena with Rhaenyra. Their dragons will go back to Dragonstone, we will only give them back once we know they will not represent any danger for us."

The makeshift council nodded their heads in agreement.

"And, as a last matter of discussion. I need to discuss the matters of succession" The Queen announced. "Given the circumstamces, I understand if this is a conversation best left for the future."

She looked around at the atendees, letting the decide whether they wished to discuss this currently or not.

"We discussed this two years ago." Rhaenyra spoke up, her voice weak and near tears. "After Joffrey was born, we..." Her voice broke, clearly leading to her tears.

Daemon took over.

"We met up with Laenor and Rhaenyra to discuss the possibility of marrying Baela to Jacaerys and Rhaena to Lucerys. The deal was to have a competition, if Laena was queen by the time both her and Rhaenyra passed, the Baela would've been Queen regent, If Nyra died Queen, the Jace would be King regent."

He left out the fact that now, by technicality, Rhaenyra's eldest son would be King regent. Daemon himself also struggled to speak, focusing on keeping his voice straight and unwavering. Lord Corlys and Rhaenys nodded.

"If that was my daughter's wish, then we must respect it" Princess Rhaenys spoke, gazing out into the ocean. "I will inherit the throne. Rhaenyra will follow after me, and Jacaerys after her."

Lord Corlys nodded.

"Lucerys will inherit my title and throne." He declared.

"Cousin are you-"

"My bloodline will continue branching out." Rhaenys spoke. "I wanted to throne not out of greed but out of rightfulness. I will be able to sit on the throne, even if it is fickle. When we had you and Laena, I swore that Laena would sit on the Iron throne, and you on the Driftwood throne. I plan to keep my word. Laena's blood will sit on the throne, and your blood will sit on the Driftwood throne. That is all that matters."

Soon enough, the punishments were handed out, and all four siblings had been separated, along with their parents.

The death that followed was the tragic death of Sir Harwin Strong and his father, Lyonel. The next to perish were the elder Strongs. Lyonel Strong, Lord of Harrenhal and Hand of the King, accompanied his son and heir Ser Harwin on his return to the great, half-ruined castle on the lakeshore. Shortly after their arrival, a fire broke out in the tower where they were sleeping, and both father and son were killed, along with three of their retainers and a dozen servants. The cause of the fire was never determined. Some put it down to simple mischance, whilst others muttered that Black Harren’s seat was cursed and brought only doom to any man who held it. Many suspected the blaze was set intentionally. put forth the notion that Larys Clubfoot might have been responsible; with his father and elder brother dead, Larys Strong became the Lord of Harrenhal. Something that caused an outrage, however, was when not even six moons after becoming a widow, Princess Rhaenyra remarried, taking to husband her uncle, Daemon Targaryen. The Princess was twenty-three, Prince Daemon thirty-nine. 

Queen, court, and commons were all outraged by the news. Neither Daemon’s wife nor Rhaenyra’s husband had been dead even half a year; to wed again so soon was an insult to their memories, Her Grace declared, even if she was more supportive of their union. The marriage had been performed on Dragonstone, suddenly and secretly. Septon Eustace claims that Rhaenyra knew her father would never approve of the match, so she wed in haste to make certain he could not prevent the marriage. Mushroom puts forward a different reason: the princess was once again with child and did not wish to birth a bastard. And thus that dreadful year 120 AC ended as it begun, with a woman laboring in childbirth. Princess Rhaenyra’s pregnancy had a happier outcome than Lady Laena’s had. As the year waned, she brought forth a small but robust son, a pale princeling with dark purple eyes and pale silvery hair. She named him Aegon. Prince Daemon had at last a living son of his own blood; and like his half brothers, he was a pure Targaryen.

Chapter Text

By all rights, the year 122 AC should have been a joyous one for House Targaryen. Princess Rhaenyra took to the birthing bed once more, and gave her uncle Daemon a second son, named Viserys after his grandsire. The child was smaller and less robust than his brother, Aegon, and his Velaryon half-brothers, but proved to be a most precocious child... Though, unlike his older brother, half-brothers and half-sisters, his egg did not hatch. Despite the fact that both Aegon and Helaena resided in King's Landing, they did not live in the same building nor area. Princess Helaena seemed to blossom under the care of her sister and grandmother, away from her own mother and brothers; much like Princess RhaenaTargaryen did when she claimed Dreamfyre, the Princess became more outspoken, still joyous and energetic, eager to learn more; unlike her sister and step-grandmother, Princess Helaena preferred playing outside, looking for bugs and becoming stained with mud. If anything, she reminded Queen Viserra of her older sister and Helaena's blood grandmother, Princess Alyssa. She still wore gowns, but the Queen had to send for less ostentatious gowns to be made for the young Princess to wear on the daily.

Prince Aegon had also changed. But his life was not glamorous, if anything, he was treated like the son of a knight, like a lowborn squire; no longer was he adressed as Prince Aegon, gone were the silks and cottons, replaced with linen and wool. Prince Daemon was often seen training the boy himself, he treated him as he would any boy or man who wished to become part of the City Watch, no worse nor better; he would follow the same orders, the same routine and suffer the same punishments. He had even lost part of his index finger, after he had fondled a girl his age during his first patrol; when Prince Daemon was questioned on the punishment, he had simply shrugged and claimed "He should've thanked me for not gelding him". Now, the Prince was much more respectful, and had stopped attacking the whores of Silk street; it was clear lust was still in his heart, but he was able to control his urges. Prince Viserys Targaryen and his son Daeron, were kept forever in Dragonstone, not allowed to leave the Island, instead, they could write letters, send them and then receive guests, but they could not leave as they pleased. Prince Daeron did not seem to dislike Dragonstone, however, at eight years of age, Daeron was not as fiery or fierce as his brothers were at his age, he was the gentlest out of the three. He'd often spend time in the Dragonstone library, reading poetry and stories.

Prince Aemond proved to be a case of impulsiveness and anger, stuck in a constant cycle. One time, he had been told he could not go into the beach by himself, for the boy, at the time, did not know how to swim; out of a need to prove himself superior, the boy had not only jumped into the sea, he had done so by jumping off  balcony and falling into the large waves. Thankfully, a fisherman was near, and managed to dive in to save the Prince in time; this had lead to the Prince becoming enraged, kicking at the man and calling him a lowlife, spitting on him and threatening to have him beheaded. The fisherman quickly handed the child over to the guards and was taken to Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys to explain what had occurred. The young Aemond was still shouting out insults and curses as he was carried off to his chambers. He had been locked in there for three days, with the Lord and Princess coming in to eat with him. Servants claim the couple would simply sit in silence. Letting the boy eat and sit in the quiet. Lord Corlys never failed to notice the way the boy would seem to tense up whenever he made a quick movement near him during these silent moments. It took a year to get him to stop blowing up at every small jab, clearly used to being mocked by his brother, to the point where anything could be a mockery in his eyes. And by 122 AC, he was learning to control his anger, rather than letting it stew until it blew up.

Not a lot was heard from Lady Alicent after she was sent to become a Septa. She had fought against the idea, something that made the Queen jest her.

"Guess her faith is not stronger than her greed." She had hummed when her guards told her about the Lady reacting in an explosive manner.

The Lady had tried to fight the guards off, yelling at them, cursing at the Queen. 

"Do not forget this is the punishment for treason against the Queen's heir and therefore, her bloodline" Princess Rhaenys was the one to calm the Lady, for she was the only one who would be able to withstand her fury without returning it tenfold. "Be grateful we are doing this and not beheading you publicly."

That made the Lady become more compliant, allowing the guards to pack her belongings, the ones she would be allowed to keep by the sept. After she was sent away, it did not take long for her to became a Silent sister, for she was caught sending letters to her family in Oldtown; in these letters she declared that the Queen was a dictator, that blood magic and black magic filled the Red Keep, that Sir Laenor would bring boys to his chambers prior to his death. For these crimes, both her and her family were punished, Alicent was sent to become a Silent Sister, while her family, father and brothers, were exiled from Westeros and sent off to live the rest of their days in Essos, all of them separated without the ability to ever know where they would go. Thus, the families had been separated forever, nothing was heard of Lady Alicent ever again, and her and her entire family lost contact. Only death would allow them to see each other again.

Princess Helaena and Prince Daeron were allowed their dragons back by the end of 121 AC, but Aemond and Aegon were still under probation, though their future looked promising. 

The children of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Daemon Targaryen were growing up nicely. Prince Lucerys, now of seven years of age, was growing up to be as beautiful as his aunt and father. The rumours surrounding the supposed nights spent between Princess Rhaenyra, Lady Laena, Lord Laenor and Prince Daemon still could be heard, but much quietly, since the couple would visit, spend a week together with the princess and her husband, and soon enough, a child would be born. However, it seemed that they had decreased after the punishment Prince Viserys and his wife suffered after they failed to put a stop to them. Prince Lucerys would often join his grandsire in his voyages, he had only starting going to Driftmark that very year, in the first moon of 122 AC, for the family wished to avoid any issues that may arise if the two Princes were to spot one another. Prior to that, during 120 and 121 AC, Princess Rhaenyra would fly her son on top of Syrax and drop him off ear the docks, so he would learn how to sail; he did not fly by himself at first, as Arrax was not just yet of mounting size until halfway through 121 AC, and after that, the Prince was often monitored during flights by his mother or step-father. Much like Viserra had read, the dragons grew much faster once allowed to roam freely. Tyraxes and Moondancer were also growing quickly, as did Tessarion and Sunfyre. 

Lady Rhaena Targaryen had been gifted a dragon egg once more in late 120 AC, but this one never hatched as well. When the girl hinted at claiming a grown dragon, her father stopped her.

"We all have one dragon that is a match to our souls, you ñuha vēzītsos¹, shall get a dragon of your own when the Gods deem it time."

Prince Jacaerys had joined his mother and great-grandmother in council meetings, at eight years of age, Jacaerys proved to be just as respectful and polite as his great-uncle Aemon, and had seemed to inherit his great-grandfather's, Baelon, build, more strapping and stocky than tall and lean. His ash hair had also grown to be more silver, though it was still darker than that of his brother's. He was quite close to his dragon Vermax, often flying with him along his step-father and his mother, sometimes joined by his great-grandmother. He was close to his aunt Helaena, but he was not often found with her, given his disgust for bugs, which the Princess adored. His brother Joffrey, on the other hand, loved hanging out with his aunts, Princess Helaena, and Lady Baela; the three of them would often be covered in dirt while holding bugs. Lady Baela was wild, willing, and fearless, much like her father; she was quick to anger at times, and other times she was provocative, taking joy in angering her cousin-nephews before running while laughing as she was chased. Rhaena, on the other hand, was more ladylike, preferring to dance instead.

However, not all was joy and smiles. Prince Vaegon Targaryen, the last son of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne, passed away of age, at fifty-nine years old, in early 122 AC. Queen Viserra had, once again, gone to get his sister and her nephews, flying back to Dragonstone, where the family gathered to burn the body of Vaegon. Now that they were nearing old age, Queen Viserra and Saera contemplated death on the daily; Saera was fifty-five, while Viserra was fifty-one. Age was now clear in their features, and even in their bodies, Viserra was noticing some cramping and pain on her hands that would last days at times, while Saera was slowly losing her hearing. The two sisters held hands while the body of their brother burned, both of them crying, even if they were not at all close to Vaegon, he was their brother, and the very last living one; now they just had one another, just like their youth. The funeral was also the first time in two years the siblings all were in the same place; the four of them had held one another, hugging and crying, they were allowed to meet Viserys and Daeron in Dragonstone, but they never clashed, since their family wished to avoid any possibility of a blow out. 

As a test, Queen Viserra ordered the siblings to stay in Dragonstone, and have maids constantly updating her on how they were doing; for she no longer wished to keep the family apart. Prior to leaving, the Queen spoke to her sister, begging her to go back to the red keep with her.

"If I die, or you die" Viserra spoke. "I wish to be able to spend the final moment with you. Not wait for a raven to inform me of your passing."

Saera had agreed with her sister, and sent her sons off back to Lys, while she returned to the castle that saw her born.

For half of the year, Viserys and his children lived in Dragonstone, the two years spent apart, even if having made large changes, was not enough for Aemond and Aegon, who still needed to work on themselves, thus, after half the year passed, both Aegon and Aemond were sent back to King's Landing and Driftmark. Princess Helaena and Prince Daeron stayed back. Queen Viserra and Saera spent the remainder of the year together at all times, sleeping in the same bed, sitting next to one another, she'd even sit down in the same room as them during council meetings. Princess Helaena had also had her first blood, thus, it was time for Viserra and Viserys to discuss possible wedding alliances between her and another. Given Viserra's rule of firstborn, many girls had inherited titles and were Heads of Houses, most men that were still Heads of Houses were either old, or already betrothed and thus, they did not have a long list of candidates to source through. They only needed a day before finding one, Kermit Tully, a boy three years younger than Helaena, eldest son and heir to Elmo Tully. Of course, she would not be wedded to him until she was older, having to wait until Kermit was seventeen, thus, she still had time to live for herself. Aegon, despite being older, was not yet betrothed, they had discussed betrothing him to Lady Cassandra Baratheon, but the plan was put on hold until the Prince was deemed fit for marriage.

That would not happen, until 124 AC. By this time, Prince Aegon had grown to become a respectful and kind man, who wished for nothing but justice and fairness, who felt extreme shame and guilt when any of his past actions were brought up, especially the way he treated his siblings and maids. It was this year that he became betrothed to Lady Cassandra, who was thirteen years of age, thus the union wouldn't take place until 127 AC. Aegon was finally allowed to live with his siblings and father full time in Dragonstone, and even got his dragon back; six moons later, Prince Aemond followed suit, becoming still a fierce man, but no longer cruel or mean. After his return, Prince Lucerys spent more time back in Driftmark, at age nine, he was skilled in arms, though his size required more delicate arms, thinner swords, sometimes arrows, but he was not yet good with heavy arms. He was also becoming more and more confident at sea, showing the same adventure-seeking characer his grandfather exhibited.

Jacaerys had grown to be responsible, bold, and politically savvy, and had grown skilled at arms after serving as a squire to a friend of Queen Viserra. He was quite protective of his family, equally protective of his younger siblings and older members; he was also showing the same slyness Queen Viserra showed when offended. Him and Vermax oft took the skies for themselves, flying and training to dodge ships, rocks and cliffs. He was as Targaryen as they came. Joffrey was as careful as a dragon was furry, the boy had no sense of danger, and always found himself in deadly situations, such as trying to fly with Tyraxes unsupervised, jumping off a ship because he saw a shiny fish; the boy was not a magnet for danger, danger was a magnet and Joffrey was made of metal. He was, much like his aunt Baela, quick to anger, and thus, he'd often brawl with her, much to the entertainment of their siblings.

In 125 AC, Princess Saera Targaryen lost her life. The Princess was fifty-eight, and had grown weak and ill over the past fortnight, becoming bed-ridden and almost paralysed, needing milk of the poppy on the daily to handle the pain of existing. Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon had gone over to Lys to fetch her family, Syrax was large enough to carry most of them, her growth becoming accelerated once the dragonpit was out of their lives. Princess Saera would never spend a second alone, accompanied by her grandchildren, daughters in law and sons, as well as her sister, nephews and everyone else. Viserra was heartbroken when her sister fell ill, distraught and terrified, she'd always hold her hand, sleep while hugging her; her appearance became unkempt, her hair messy, her normally luscious gowns were replaced with simpler ones that would not bother her sister when she hugged her. The final night of Princess Saera's life, she laid on her deathbed, looking at her younger sister.

"Oh my dear Viserra... How proud I am to be your sister." She had called out, caressing her sister's cheek.

Viserra leaned into her hand, a stray tear falling down her cheek.

"Saera" She sniffled. "How I wish life had been gentler to us both." 

Saera smiled, lips quivering as she cried as well.

"Life was gentle with me. After all, it allowed me to be in yours."

Queen Viserra sobbed, leaning to lay next to Saera.

"I wish for you to find happiness on what comes next."

There was a beat of silence, before Saera spoke.

"If you find me in the afterlife..." She released a weak whistling breath. "Then I will be the happiest."

Saera kissed her sister, before passing away.

On the funeral, Viserra was staring at the flames, having been unable to give Dreamfyre the order to burn Saera, instead, it was Rhaenyra who gave the order to Syrax, while Daemon held his weeping mother. Westeros went into a fortnight period of mourning, as per Viserra's orders. The Queen would soon be called "The Black Queen" by everyone around her, for she never stopped wearing the colour of mourning, since she would forever mourn the loss of her dear Saera. 

"Balerion seems to hate me." She had once told one of her chambermaids. "He has taken my bloodline and lovers... Yet he seems to want me to live as long as I can."

Lord Corlys had almost been taken by the god of death as well, in 126 AC, after falling ill with a sudden fever. This had made Princess Rhaenys, Lady Baela, Lady Rhaena and Prince Lucerys become panicked, afraid of losing the beloved Lord; Prince Lucerys himself was inconsolable, afraid of having to become Lord of the tides at ten years of age. Even if the Lord felt better, the fear remained, with the young Prince often times giving his grandfather luck charms before voyages, afraid of losing him at sea after he recovered from his fever. Despite the fact that Lord Corlys managed to survive his ailment, the same could not be said for Prince Viserys. It all started back in 120 AC, a few moons before the family of six had been separated, when the oldest Prince reached the age of three-and-forty. He had grown quite stout, no longer having a young man’s vigor, and was afflicted by gout, aching joints, back pain, and a tightness in the chest that came and went and oft left him red-faced and short of breath. He had done his best to keep his ailments a secret, but as time went by, his condition worsened, and by 126 AC, he could no longer disguise it.

Princess Rhaenyra would often visit her father in Dragonstone, in 120 AC she would do so once per month, the number increasing over the yers, until she would spend a week in Dragonstone and a week in King's Landing. When she discovered her father's condition, she heightened her visits, spending a fortnight in Dragonstone and a week in King's Landing, going back to alternating weeks when her father asked her to do so, as he felt awful for making her spend so many days with him when she should be focusing on attending her grandmother. The Queen, however, believed Viserys should return home in order to be closer to maesters and healers, so, on the eve of the final month of 126 AC, Sunfyre, Silverwing, Vhagar and Tessarion flied back to King's Landing for the first time in many years. Dragons currently roamed in the outsides of King's Landing, resting on the cliffs of the land around King's Landing. 

Finally, in 127 AC, Prince Aegon Targaryen married Lady Cassandra Baratheon. Lady Cassandra looked as Baratheon as his great-aunt Jocelyn, with black hair and blue eyes; her father, Lord Borros, was not fond of his daughter. By the time Lady Cassandra had been born, Firstborn rights had already been implemented, meaning she was to be Lady of House Baratheon; however, her father wished for a man to succeed him, thus, he'd often insult her discreetly or make snide remarks about her. When Lord Borros and Lady Cassandra visited King's Landing to meet with Prince Aegon, his father and grandmother, Lord Borros had turned to the Prince, and in front of the servants and members of the court, he spoke up.

"I have three other daughters. You could choose any other. Floris is prettier. And if it’s a clever wife you want, there's Maris."

"I cannot wait to be Lord of Storm's end" Was all that Prince Aegon said. "I know Lady Cassandra will make a great Lady Paramount of the Stormlands."

That very same year, Prince Aemond also became wedded, to his second cousin, Lady Bethany Hightower, a girl who had been described in a letter as "very beautiful, with smooth soft skin and lustrous hair and the sweetest manner." In the same letter, however, she was described as "lazy and somewhat stupid, truth be told, though some men seem to like that in a wife.". Princess Helaena was still only betrothed to Lord Kermit Tully, and given the young age of Prince Daeron, he was not yet betrothed, but young Ladies were already lined up. Rhaenyra's first two sons were already betrothed to their aunt-cousins, while Joffrey had become betrothed to Lord Desmond Manderly's oldest daughter, born the same year as Joffrey, Lady Jessamyn Manderly. The betrothal was one of the last things Queen Viserra was involved in before becoming too old and tired to focus solely on them by herself. That and the decree of First names, which stated the children of a couple would inherit the last names of the parent they'd inherit the most from. And for those who already had children, then their last names would be changed once they became Lords or Ladies. So, when Prince Aegon and Lady Cassandra had children, they'd bear the Baratheon last name, same went for Prince Aemond and Lady Bethany, even if Bethany was the youngest Hightower, she was still able to inherit the title of Lady of the Hightower. While Prince Jacaerys Velaryon would become King Jacaerys Targaryen once he became King.

A year after her brothers, Princess Helaena Targaryen took Ser Kermit Tully, a wild and headstrong youth eager to prove himself as a warrior, as her husband. By this time, Lady Cassandra Baratheon had already fallen with child, as did Lady Bethany Hightower, who was early on her pregnancy, whilst Lady Cassandra was nearing the end of it. A young girl was then presented at court, with the name of Erys Baratheon, born with her father's purple eyes and her mother's raven black hair; Prince Viserys had been delighted with the young girl, and would oft play with her when his son visited the Red Keep. Then, nearing the end of 128 AC, Lady Bethany and Prince Aemond presented young Vernon Hightower to the court; the boy had inherited his mother's plain looks, with her same eyes and hair, though he had inherited the Prince's facial features, his nose, lips, cheeks. Princess Helaena had confided in her sister of her desire to bear a child as soon as she could, afraid of her time with her father becoming fickle. Prince Daeron was the last of the Princes to become betrothed to someone, to Princess Aliandra Martell. It seemed that, as life would have it, Princess Helaena would birth a child almost a year after her wedding to Ser Kermit Tully; born with Tully red hair and Targaryen purple eyes, named Adalia Tully, a beautiful and cheerful boy. 

As the Seven Kingdoms welcomed the 129th year after Aegon’s Conquest with bonfires, feasts, and bacchanals, Prince Viserys Targaryen was growing ever weaker. His chest pains had grown so severe that he could no longer climb a flight of steps, and had to be carried about the Red Keep in a chair. By the second moon of the year, the Prince had lost all appetite and strength, spending his days in his bed. Meanwhile, Princess Rhaenyra was once again great with child. She too took to her bed. On the third day of the third moon of 129 AC, the Prince's children had brought their own children to visit the man in his chambers, Rhaenyra's children, along with the three babes born from her younger siblings and the daughters born from Prince Daemon's marriage to Lady Laena. Prince Jacaerys was not yet fifteen, Lucerys thirteen, the twins, Baela and Rhaena were thirteen as well, recently turned; Prince Joffrey was twelve, while his younger brothers, Aegon and Viserys were nine and seven respectively. The younger grandchildren were all barely over a year old, except for Princess Helaena's son Adalia, who was not yet a year old. The Prince gave the babes pearl rings off his fingers to play with, sitting Adalia on his lap while he told them the story of how their great-greatgrandsire Jaehaerys had flown his dragon north to the Wall to defeat a vast host of wildlings, giants, and wargs. Though the children had heard the story a dozen times before, they listened attentively. Afterward the king sent them away, pleading weariness and a tightness in his chest. Then Viserys of House Targaryen, closed his eyes and went to sleep. He never woke. He was fifty-two years old.

Chapter Text

His body was discovered by a serving man at the hour of the bat, when it was the Prince's custom to take a cup of hippocras. The servant ran to inform Queen Viserra, whose apartments were on the floor below the Prince's. It was her wails of pain that alerted the rest of the castle of the demise of the Prince. It is said that Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon burst into tears as soon as they heard her crying, for they knew that wail was only one of grief. The Queen had collapsed at the news, falling to the ground as she cried, holding her heart as she wept; when her son found her, he had dropped next to her, holding her as they both cried at the loss. Princess Rhaenyra had needed to be attended by Maesters, for the grief had made her stomach cramp; her child had not been due for another turn of the moon, thus, Maesters focused on her to ensure her health and that of her child. Letters were sent almost immediately by Prince Jacaerys, who cried as he wrote to bring his grandmother to the Red Keep; Prince Aegon had joined his nephew, writing for the Mourning Daughters to come from Essos as per Jacaerys' orders. The Mourning Daughters were those assigned to prepare the bodies for the funeral pyres in the religion of The Fourteen Flames. Prince Lucerys and his betrothed, Rhaena, had taken to comforting the young Aegon and Viserys, while Baela had taken Joffrey out of the Keep.

Princess Rhaenyra had been deemed healthy by the morrow, being allowed to go see her father. Prince Daemon and Queen Viserra had spent all night in Viserys' chambers, overseeing him. When the Princess made it to her father's chambers, she had immediately fallen into her grandmother's arms, weeping once again. Princess Rhaenys and her husband had flied from Driftmark, while Prince Aemond and Prince Lucerys flied to Essos to get the Mourning Sisters to prepare Prince Viserys' body. Prince Jacaerys and his future Queen had been the ones to send for the news of Prince Viserys' death to be given to the Townspeople. Many had refused to believe the news, for the Prince was beloved by the Townsfolk, much like his father, but when they witnessed Arrax and Vhagar return from Essos, the news finally kicked in. All of King's Landing grieved and mourned the Prince, who's funeral was held in the Dragonpit. Surrounded by flowers, his body was burned by Vermax. After this death, the Queen had become a shell of herself, to the point where she could not even bring herself to attend council meetings or leave her bed; Princess Rhaenys and Princess Rhaenyra would attend them instead. The Queen seemed to age ten years in a yearr, her hair became white and dry, always dishevelled, her skin became pale and grey, her eyes sunken in and surrounded by dark circles, heavy bags and a lost gaze upon her face. 

When Princess Rhaenyra went into labour, a moon after her father's passing, she birthed a girl, born with pale silver hair and purple eyes; her birth lasted a day and a half, leaving Princess Rhaenyra weakened and exhausted. She named the girl Visenya, announcing her name a day after the birth, once the effect of the milk of the poppy wore off. The birth and pregnancy had been taxing on the Princess, for her age was no longer the one where she could bear healthy heirs; that and the loss of her father had made the pregnancy that more taxing. When she was presented to her great-grandmother, she had made the old Queen smile, as the girl gripped a strand of hair that had fallen near her. She brought the girl to her face, and kissed her forehead. She hugged the girl to her chest, singing a Valyrian lullaby, even walking around the room, smiling down at the little girl. It was as if the old Queen had returned, still wearing black after the loss of her sister, Queen Viserra dressed herself in mourning garments, dawning on a hood with a veil that covered her white hair, a pomander hanging from her girdle belt. The pomander carried the same perfume Princess Saera would wear on the daily. Many times, nearing the end of 129 AC, the Queen would claim her sister was coming to her at night, gently tapping at her window, looking the same as she did before she escaped to Lys. She'd tell her sister to open the window, to let her in, but the Queen never did, fearing that if she opened the window, her sister would be gone.

Princess Viserra ran out of the Dragonstone castle, her gown lavender and her silver hair long and loose, swaying in the wind as the young Princess giggled; following after her, was Princess Saera, who chased after her sister with a grin upon her face. Both Princesses ran past Baelon and Alyssa, who were both kissing whilst leaning on the castle wall; Daella and Gael were both sitting on the ground, surrounded by the wildflowers as they braided one another's hair. Maegell herself was laying on the ground, her hair braided in two braids, both of them adorned with flowers. Princess Daenerys laid on her sister's back, looking up at the sky as her brother Aemon laid his head on his wife's lap; Prince Vaegon sat away from the family, reading as well. 

"You're such a cheater!" Saera laughed, as she picked up her pace, catching up to the younger Princess. "And a loser still!" She grinned, as she ran past the Princess, approaching the beach.

"Hey!" Viserra laughed, yelling after her sister, and picking up her own pace.

However, Saera ran faster, and reached the waters first, squealing as she kicked at the waves, splashing the water as her sister caught up with her, also causing droplets of water to go up as she ran into the water. Both girls laughed as they held one another, hugging as they spinned around, the waves wetting the bottom of their dresses. Viserra reached forward, kissing her dear sister, causing them both to fall down. 

"Serra!" Saera cackled, as both her and her sister became drenched, as the waves washed over them. "Watch it" She cackled.

Both sisters stood up, their gowns drenched and hair sticking to their bodies, messy by their tumbling.

"You're the one that fell, mandia¹" Viserra smirked, winking, as she held both of Saera's hands, tilting her head to the side.

Saera fondly rolled her eyes, leaning forward to kiss her sister once again.

"You're so lucky I love you." She declared, smiling at her sister. "Avy jorrāelan²"

Viserra smiled.

"Avy jorrāelan tolī³" Her eyes looked at Saera as if she was the North star and Viserra was a sailor lost at sea. 

Saera snorted.

"Impossible" She hummed, before kissing her smiling sister, once again.

Queen Viserra's body was found the morning of the very first day of 130 AC, smiling as she sat next to her open window, eyes closed; if one were to see her, they'd think she was just resting her eyes whilst reminiscing of a happier day. The chambermaid that found her had assumed the Queen woke up after opening the window to let the air in; she had called for her three times, before she softly touched her, and when she did, she noticed the Queen was not breathing, she was also starting to feel cold to the touch. The maid had immediately called for help, getting the guards to call for a maester. However, there was nothing the man could do, for the Queen was already long dead. The family was immediately notified, Princess Rhaenyra and her husband, along with their children, were breaking fast, as was Princess Rhaenys. When the doors opened, the maid walked forward, her eyes filled with tears, and she spoke up.

"Your Royal Highness" She had sniffled, looking at the seat saved for the Queen. "I regret to inform you..." Her voice trembled. "That the Queen has passed away in her sleep."

The funeral of the Queen was the largest funeral ever in the history of Westeros, the longest too, for people all the way from the North and further down the South, wished to pay their respects to the Queen. Even those in Dorne wished to come, raising flags in honour of the Queen. When people first heard of her death, they had gone silent, the entire town had frozen, horses stopped neighing, birds stopped flying, the sun itself wept, as the day turned grey and storms took over King's Landing. Queen Viserra Targaryen's body was prepared by the Mourning Daughters, who treated her body like it was that of a Goddess, just like they had done with Princess Maegelle, Prince Vaegon, Princess Saera and Prince Viserys; as a way to thank them for bringing their old religion back to life. Her hair was covered with oils, her body washed and coated in rose water, she was dressed in her best jewels and gown, her casket covered with flowers gifted to her by her family. After the first few hours of her funeral, the area around her corpse was filled with flowers, and halfway through the day, the entire floor of the Dragonpit was completely covered with flowers. By the time all Lords and Ladies from Westeros visited, the dragonpit had mountains of flowers, so much so that people could not even step into the Dragonpit, needing to throw the flowers from the entrance, some of them landing on the Queen's body, others falling near her, the smell of flowers would never leave the Dragonpit after the funeral. Even a hundred years later people can still smell it, like a meadow of sorts.

When Queen Viserra's body had to be burned, Princess Rhaenyra, Queen Rhaenys, Lord Corlys and Prince Daemon walked into the Dragonpit, stepping and pushing through the mountains of flowers, covering from their knees, to their mid thighs, some parts even to their waists. If grief was worn on the faces of the crowd, then the feeling seen in Prince Daemon's face could be described by seven words or more, none less. Grief, pain, hopelessness, numbness, desolation, anger, sadness. Some could see something akin to the look of a doll, eyes empty, no soul behind them. Others could see the tides of Storm's End in the blackest day and the angriest waves. For Prince Daemon had now been rid of his parents and brothers, he had lost some of the most precious people to him; and even if everyone lost the Queen that day, Daemon Targaryen lost a mother. Queen Rhaenys was the only one able to burn the body of the old Queen, for everyone else was too distraugth to do so; the new Queen would be crowned almost a year after the death of Queen Viserra, eleven turns of the moon passed before she was crowned, even if she already became the Queen the moment Queen Viserra passed away. Queen Rhaenys Targaryen was crowned on the seventh day of the eleventh moon of 130 AC, at the age of fity-six.

Every celebration that came that year became bittersweet. Princess Helaena had been carrying children before Queen Viserra had been born, and her children had been born a moon after Queen Viserra's passing; twins, a girl and a boy. Lady Lysandra, a girl of bright red hair and blue eyes, and Attacus, a boy with silver hair and bright blue eyes. Then came a new child between Prince Aegon and Lady Cassandra, a boy this time, named Jorah Baratheon, born with Baratheon blue eyes and raven hair, though a streak of silver adorned his head. The Lady had been in the early stages of her third pregnancy when Queen Viserra passed away, thus, the day her condition was discovered was quite bittersweet, it would be one more member of their family, but the matriarch would not be there to celebrate. Prince Aemond and Lady Bethany had also had another child, a girl this time, born with silver hair and purple eyes, she was named Aurora. Even though Prince Daeron became of wedded age nearing the end of the year, the wedding to Princess Aliandra was not held until a year into Queen Rhaenys' reign, for the Princess was fifteen by the time Prince Daeron became sixteen. To this day, even if the wedding took place during Queen Rhaenys I Targaryen's reign, the marriage between Daeron targaryen and Aliandra martell would be associated with the doings of Queen Viserra Targaryen; thus, she became the Queen who finally was able to bring Dorne into the Seven kingdoms. Prince Jacaerys Velaryon had finally turned sixteen years of age, however, his betrothed, Princess Baela Targaryen had become fourteen years of age, thus, a wedding would not come until two years later. 

Queen Rhaenys and her husband became separated, with Lord Corlys living in Dirftmark and Queen Rhaenys in the Red keep. Princess Rhaenyra and her children moved to Dragonstone, with Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Jacaerys spending most of their days in the Red Keep, going back to Dragonstone on occassion. Prince Lucerys, on the other hand, lived in Driftmark more often than not, spending a moon in Driftmark and a fortnight in Dragonstone. His betrothed, Princess Rhaena Targaryen joined him as well, for she was to train to become Lady of Driftmark once he became Lord of the Tides. Princess Rhaenyra had gifted her with a third dragon egg, as she had given one to her daughter Visenya and another egg to her son, Viserys. Visenya's egg was an orange gold colour, with cream streaks that looked almost like claw marks. Prince Viserys' egg was an onyx black egg, it looked like a void solidified, while Princess Rhaena's egg was a pale pink with black swirls that came and went with the flicker of the torches. All three eggs hatched. Princess Visenya's dragon was orange gold, his chest, horns and wings a cream colour, Prince Viserys' dragon was pitch black, her eyes, wings, everything was black, a very light shimmer of silver coated her entire body once her scales were hit by the sunlight. Princess Rhaena's dragon was a pale pink colour, with black crest and horns. Princess Rhaenyra had tried naming her son Aegon's dragon the same way she did her three eldest, however, his dragon never answered to the name, and only responded to the name of Stormcloud, thus, she allowed her son Viserys to choose a name. 

Young Viserys was a fan of his brother Lucerys, even as a babe he'd follow the boy around, always joining him in flights, cheering for him during sparrings and often working as a pseudo-squire for him; thus, he had named his dragon Aegarax, after the God of Old Valyria with the closest name to Arrax. Princess Visenya's dragon had been named by Princess Rhaenyra, as the dragonkeepers needed to train him to respond to a name, she had chosen the name of Gaelithox. Princess Rhaena had decided to use a name opposite to that of her sister's dragon, and decided to ultimately use a name to honour the beginning of a new era with her grandmother as Queen; naming her dragon Morning. Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Rhaenys had also revisited old orders and laws, renewing some of them, creating new ones, and even revisiting the ordeal of Prince Jacaerys and Princess Baela. Princess Rhaenyra and her husband, Prince Daemon Targaryen, had visited their relatives in Lys, and while in there, they had been given more old texts from Valyria. In between those texts, they read about something called a Partner Regency, in which both partners would be regents instead of one regent and the other a consort. Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon had both discussed the possibility of having this be the case for Jace and Baela, wishing to at least ensure Laena's heir would sit as Queen regent. To honour her memory.

Early in the year of 131, only four moons after the wedding day, Princess Aliandra Martell announced that she was with child; hers would be the eighth child born from the Targaryen-Hightower children, as Prince Aegon and Lady Cassandra had their second child a few moons prior to the passing of Queen Viserra. Lord Baelon Baratheon's birth had, sadly, been overshadowed by the death of his grandfather, Lord Borros, who died of a burst stomach, and his great-great-aunt. Neither one of these children had received a dragon egg, even if the four siblings were allowed to keep their dragons, they were not given dragon eggs, as dragon eggs in other houses would and could lead to wars like those that haunted Westeros prior to the conquest. Even Prince Joffrey Velaryon's children wouldn't receive dragon eggs, for he was wedding into a non Valyrian House. The only ones who would give their children dragon eggs would be Viserys, who had already become betrothed to lady Daerea Celtigar, eldest daughter of Lord Clement Celtigar, Prince Lucerys and Prince Jacaerys. Princess Aliandra Martell gave birth to a healthy boy on the tenth moon of 131 AC. Prince Nymor Martell, after the son of Princess Meria Martell. The boy was born with the same skin tone and eyes of Princess Aliandra, with a head full of silver gold hair.

No other child would come in 131 AC, all that did come, was another pregnancy announcement from Lady Cassandra Baratheon, leading to a baby girl being born a week and day before the last day of the first moon of 132 AC. Named Lady Josephine, she was a Belarion no doubt, not a shred of Valyrian in her features. Her birth had been rejoiced, the fourth child of the couple, a complete contrast to his older brother Baelon, who was born Valyrian pure. Sadly, as it seemed to be the case for a lot of events, it was soon overshadowed by the passing of Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Lord of the Tides and the King consort of Queen Rhaenys I Targaryen. He had passed away on the sixth day of the third moon of 132 AC, at the age of seventy-nine. His passing had washed his family with grief and pain once more, especially since that year, on the twelfth moon, Princess Baela and Princess Rhaena would wed Prince Jacaerys and Prince Lucerys respectively. His body had been buried at sea, as was the tradition for those of House Velaryon. His body was laid to rest on his beloved Sea's snake, buried at sea east of Dragonstone. When the ship sank, after watching it slowly lower herself into the waters, the Cannibal flew above them in salute.

Prince Lucerys Velaryon became the Lord of the Tides at the age of sixteen, moving to live in Driftmark permanently, his betrothed Rhaena following soon after her sixteenth nameday, just as Prince Lucerys became seventeen. Princess Baela Targaryen and Prince Jacaerys Velaryon became wedded first, while Prince Lucerys and Princess Rhaena became wedded six moons afterwards, in 133 AC. Prince Joffrey Velaryon was the last of the Velaryon brothers to wed, taking Lady Jessamyn Manderly, named after her great-great-aunt, to wife ten moons after his brother in 133 AC. Their nuptials were held at the white harbor, Prince Daemon and Lord Desmond Manderly joked about how Queen Viserra refused to wed Lord Theomore, only to then wed her great grandchild to Lord Theomore's Great-great-grandchild. Prince Joffrey and his wife would come to live at White Harbor, a place that seemed to be loved greatly by Tyraxes, who would oft play in the waters or fly above the city. The young Prince had become a younger version of Prince Daemon, just as adventurous and daring as his step-father; often even daring his brother in laws to competitions, whether it was wine drinking or knife throwing. He also seemed to enjoy showing off to his wife, performing tricks on top of Tyraxes, and flying with her. 

Prince Daeron and Princess Aliandra presented a second child later that year, a daughter, bearing the name of Aerea Martell, born with the darkest hair in the known world, beautiful sun kissed skin, with the lightest lavender eyes. Prince Aemond and Lady Bethany also presented another child, another girl, who was named Taena; Taena was born with silver hair and brown eyes. She would be the last child of Prince Aemond and Lady Bethany's child, as her birth and pregnancy had become taxing on her, as her father had tragically lost his life whilst out hunting; he had fallen off his horse, and sustained a broken arm and internal wounds that had gone unnoticed until an autopsy was done. Finally, in the very final month of 133 AC, Princess Baela and Prince Jacaerys presented their first child, a daughter, born with silver white hair and dark purple eyes, who was named after the Princess' mother, Lady Laena Velaryon. Princess Rhaena had also fallen pregnant, being in the early stages of her pregnancy by the time Princess Laena Targaryen was born, giving birth on the early moons of 134 AC, also to a girl, who was named Maerea. Lady Maerea Velaryon had inherited the beauty of both of her parents, even as a young babe, she was dubbed "Viserra come again", as she was born with her same deep purple eyes and silver-gold hair. Prince Joffrey and his wife were yet to present a babe to the court, claiming they wished to wait some more before doing so. 

The dragon eggs gifted to the girls were both the only surviving eggs out of their respective clutches; Princess Laena's egg belonged to Vermax and Moondancer's first ever clutch, an egg of pure white and gold shimmering under the sunlight. Lady Maerea's egg actually belonged to a clutch of Syrax, a pale blue egg with ripples of white, the clutch had been healthy and perfect, sadly, the Cannibal found the eggs before the Dragonkeepers. When the eggs hatched, they did so to healthy dragons, Princess Laena's dragon was actually the opposite of the egg, being mainly gold in coloration, with specks of white that dotted his body, his wings were also pure white, as were his horns; the dragon was named Sunstar. Lady Maerea's egg hatched into a beautiful pale blue she-dragon, with white markings that resembled the way the sunlight would look like in the ocean floor, rippled by the water surface. Maelstrom was the name of the dragon. At the end of the year of 134 AC, on the three days before the year changed, Lady cassandra and Princess Aliandra both gave birth to the very last children the four siblings had. Lady Milena Baratheon, born with snow white hair and bright blue eyes, and Princess Morgana martell, born with silver gold hair, purple eyes and dark skin.

And thus, the year of 135 AC started with House Velaryon gaining an heir, House Targaryen presenting the third next heir to sit on the Iron throne, and two hatchlings. As well as the very youngest of the Velaryon boys announcing the pregnancy of his wife.

Chapter Text

The year of 135 AC brought fourth four pregnancies, with the birth of five babes. The first one to be born was Lady Alyssa Manderly, the firstborn daughter of Prince Joffrey Velaryon and Lady Jessamyn Manderly; Lady Alyssa was born with her mother's dirty blonde hair, with eyes so dark, they looked black under most lights, only showing their purple when hit by sunlight. She was fierce from a young age, a true dragon she was, a spitfire. Then came Princess Baela's and Prince Jacaerys' second child, Prince Daenys Targaryen, a boy of silver hair and amethyst eyes; even at birth, the boy was quiet, often frowning rather than crying. He also had a constant frown on his face, as if he refused to trust anyone, even his parents. Princess Baela found him quite funny, laughing any time her son pouted at whoever or whatever offended him, sometimes it was his wet nurse putting him down after he stopped suckling, other times it was the curtain that dared to more when the wind blew them. The boy was, in looks, a miniature of his grandfather, Prince Daemon Targaryen. Princess Baela had fallen pregnant around the same time as her good sister, with Princess Rhaena falling pregnant quite closely to her sister and good sister. The three women would oft spend time together, as Morning, Princess Rhaena's mount, had become of riding age that very year, growing rapidly in those five years. Thus, the two Princesses would often fly to visit Lady Jessamyn, accompanied by their husbands, who wished to visit Prince Joffrey.

"You've finally come to visit, lēkia¹" Prince Joffrey laughed as he hugged his brother.

Prince Lucerys had put Lady Maerea down to play with Princess Laena, leaving behind his uncle, Lord Vaemond, to overlook Driftmark in his absence. Prince Joffrey and Prince Lucerys were both ruling Lords, as Lord Desmond Manderly, had sadly passed away of the Winter fever, which he had developed when he visisted Winterfell; he had passed away in late 132, only a few moons before his daughter wedded Joffrey. So neither of them could fly to visit one another as often as they wished to do so; especially Prince Lucerys, who had to stay and overlook matters of the trading from and to Essos. In the three years he had been Lord, Pricne Lucerys had become just as corpulent as his deceased grandsire, Lord Corlys, his hands rough from the ropes of the sails, and the smell of sea salt always stuck in his skin. He had grown into a handsome man, still preserving the beauty of his father and aunt.

"Some of us cannot allow ourselves the pleasure of dilly dallying" Prince Lucerys jested. "Unlike our small heir here."

Prince Jacaerys slapped his younger brother's arm in a playful way, for his growth had come to be shorter than that of his younger brothers, both of whom surpassed him in height.

"That is your King, you shall respect him." Prince Joffrey warned, also jesting the eldest, as he bent down to look at him. Even if prince Jacaerys was only half a head shorter than his brother. "Are you alright your majesty?"

Prince Jacaerys snorted.

"I regret letting mother pick you both up from the dumpster." The Targaryen heir joked.

The three brothers had always been close, their bonds at their youth continued to grow with them, unlike many bonds between the children of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne, the distance between the three never pulled them apart. When Prince Lucerys became Lord of the Tides, Prince Jacaerys had celebrated for his brother, even among the sadness behind the death of their grandsire; while Prince Joffrey had distracted his brother by challenging him to a race. And when Prince Joffrey became Lord consort to Lady Jessamyn, Prince Lucerys and Jacaerys flew the moment they discovered the Lord had passed in other to aid their brother and good sister in support. The three also oft raced one another during visits, something they had done ever since their dragons were of mounting size; their younger siblings could only join them once their own dragons were of mounting size. However, they couldn't join them much, especially their youngest sibling, Princess Visenya Targaryen.

The three younger children of Princess Rhaenyra could not spend much time with their older brothers as they wished. During their childhood, the boys could play with them, as the three children were twelve, ten and three years of age respectively when Prince Joffrey and Prince Lucerys had to leave for their own respective land in order to rule as Lords. Prince Lucerys was able to visit more often than Prince Joffrey, flying back to Dragonstone to visit his baby sister and child brothers, flying on top of Arrax while carrying Visenya and Viserys, while Aegon, who had been nicknamed "Egg" to differentiate him from his uncle Aegon, mounted Stormcloud next to him. Prince Viserys could only fly by himself after his dragon, Aegarax, reached mounting size the same year as Gaelithox and Morning in 135 AC; the boy proved to be a menace on top of his dragon, often sneaking out to fly with his dragon, exploring the skies and even seeing how long it takes to fly from Dragonstone to King's Landing to Driftmark and back again to Dragonstone. He'd often by joined by his older brothers, as Prince Jacaerys and Princess Baela lived in Dragonstone as Prince and Princess of Dragonstone. Despite not living with Prince Lucerys, Prince Viserys was still closer to him than to Prince Jacaerys, who was Prince Aegon's favourite. 

Princess Visenya, now of six years of age, had grown to be like her mother, mounting her dragon at a very young age, taking her mother's title as youngest dragon rider. She was a combination of her mother and her sister, Princess Baela, enjoying the luxuries of gowns with jewels, all of them made with myrish lace; yet also enjoyed riding on her dragon and wielding arms, though she preferred arrows more than anything else. She often braided her hair to match her mother, who she looked up to quite a lot. She was her father's princess as well, always asking him to teach her how to wield a sword, though her current sword was quite thin and long. The young Visenya had already been betrothed to Lord Cregan Stark's eldest, Lord Rickon Stark, while Prince Aegon had been betrothed to Lady Myrielle Peake, a lovely and courteous girl who was brown of hair and eyes. The eldest of the three younger children would take her as his bride in the year to come, while Prince Viserys and Princess Visenya still had time before they became wedded.

As the three women advanced in their pregnancy, they were joined by their cousin, Princess Helaena Targaryen, who had fallen with child once more. In the years she sat as Lady of Riverrun, she had become accustomed to wearing the colours of her husband's house, red and blue. Her children were growing happily and healthily by the day, her eldest, Adalia, was seven years of age, while her twins were to turn five soon. She was still close to her brothers, and the permission to keep their dragon, allowed them to see one another often. At twenty-sex years of age, Princess Helaena had grown to be stout, her rather plump figure she had developed in her teenage years never leaving her. As the dragon twins grew more and more with their pregnancies, they noticed Princess Rhaena seemed to grow faster and bigger than her sister or her good sister; Princess Helaena had told them that she had also developed that way back when she was carrying her twins, something that had made Princess Rhaena panic, before her sister and husband managed to calm her down. 

Lady Alyssa Manderly was first, on the first day of the ninth moon, followed then by Princess Rhaena, delivering a fortnight afterward; her babes both came earlier than expected, but thankfully healthy. She had given birth to a boy and a girl whilst she was on a ship, traveling to King's Landing to visit her grandmother, giving birth on the ship. The boy had been named after his great-grandsire, Lord Corlys, and the girl was named after the Narrow sea, Narra Velaryon. They were both born small, but given the dragon eggs the couple always kept by their sides, they survived. Lord Corlys Velaryon was born with hair as white seafoam, and eyes as blue as the ocean, while Narra was born with silver hair, sporting a streak of black hair, her eyes a deep burgundy colour. Their eggs belonged to Morning and Arrax's first clutch, Narra Velaryon's dragon egg was the same pearlescent white as Arrax, only difference was that her egg had no colour beyond white, while young Corlys' egg was a pale pink with white swirls. 

Princess Baela gave birth to a boy a moon after her sister, who she named Daenys, after Daenys the dreamer, his dragon egg had been chosen by his elder sister, who had been shown the eggs at Dragonmont and had pointed at one, calling out for that one. The egg had belonged to Vhagar, a dark ocean blue egg, with golden scratches all around the surface of it. Finally, almost a moon after Princess Baela, Princess Helaena birthed her daughter, Lady Rhyssa Tully, born with silver gold hair and lavender eyes. She was the final child born to the children of Prince Viserys and Lady Alicent, the last one of the fifteen children. Lady Alicent was not made aware of the birth of any of her grandchildren, for her existence itself became unknown after she became a silent sister. Many rumours surround her, some claim that she got her tongue ripped off by the other sisters after violating her vow, others say she was tortured into silence, others that she actyually died of a broken heart and was simply buried in an unmarked grave. But her story became a legend, who's end was never known, only theorized. But given the fact that her direct family was also sent away, thus, nobody ever got a confirmation over the fate of Lady Alicent Hightower, her brothers or her father. Neither of her children seemed to even wish to visit her, having been offered the chance to meet her multiple times, but always claiming their duties as Lords, Lady and parents forbade them from making time to visit their mother.

Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Rhaenys I Targaryen had taken to joke about their great-granddaughter and granddaughter, calling them "The vengeances", claiming Princess Rhaena and Princess Daenerys sent them to get back at those who lead to them being skipped over in favour of their younger brother. For not only would Princess Baela be considered Queen regent once she became of age and joined Jacaerys as a co-regent. But her daughter, Princess Laena would become Queen as well. The two oldest brothers and their spouses had also betrothed their children to one another, specifically, Prince Daenys to Lady Maerea and Lord Corlys to Princess Laena. Lady Narra was also betrothed to a Braavosi boy, a great-nephew of the same Sealord who would've married Lady Laena had he not been killed by Prince Daemon. This boy, only a year older than Lady Narra, was the son of the Sealord's niece, and had inherited the riches from his father, so his uncle's splurging did not affect him. The boy was named Ōgheldlie Antaryon, a boy wose hair looked like a young field of wheat in the early hours of the morrow, when the sun hits their sides.

"Why are they so small?" Princess Visenya, of now six years of age, questioned, looking at her niece and nephew.

Prince Lucerys smilled.

"Twins are smaller." He explained. The young Corlys strapped to the Prince's torso. "They will grow bigger with time."

Princess Visenya pouted, staring at the months old babes.

"Why do they not have teeth?"

"They are born toothless, they will grow teeth in three to six moons" Prince Lucerys explained.

"I was born with teeth" Princess Visenya insisted.

Prince Lucerys snorted.

"No Zaldrītsos" He smiled fondly. "You were born toothless, as did all of us."

That had angered the princess, who swore she was born with teeth and hair. Prince Lucerys had ended up just chuckling, knowing his sister was as stubborn and fierce as a dragon starved.

Queen Rhaenys had become enamoured with Princess Laena and Lord Corlys, for she had shed her title of "The Black Queen", as she slowly grew out of her mourning clothes, at first she would dawn on rubies and other red stones, sometimes a red gown or cloth; and now, she'd alternate between colours, from red and black, to yellow, to her signature garment, blue, to conmemorate her husband and children. She had grown accustomed to holding Princess Laena in her arms, carrying her as if she were her very own deceased daughter come again. The Queen remained healthy and lively, in spite of her pain and grief; her age was slowly starting to show, such as it had done so with the Queens and King before her. Her sight became duller, she sometimes experienced pain on her lower back and knees. However, her sight was corrected by the use of spectacles, a tool invented by a young boy who claimed to have been a pupil of Prince Vaegon Targaryen. He had given the Queen the spectacles when she visited the citadel. Along with multiple books written by the Prince, which had been kept by the citadel in rememberance of the Prince. In the book were multiple inventions, some of which would later be used by future Queens and Kings as well as commoners. And whilst the Citadel knew of the books, they did not know of the contents, for Prince Vaegon refused to show them at all. And whilst we may assume it was due to him seeing them as useless, or being ashamed of constructing certain things when his sisters had reconstructed the Fourteen Flames, we will never know the true answer, for Prince Vaegon had been dead for thirteen years by the time the book was opened by his pupil.

With her spectacles, the Queen could still read and write the laws for the Kingdom and deal with letters to allies and others.

136 AC came with the wedding between Prince Aegon Targaryen the young and Lady Myrielle Peake, the girl was dressed in a burnt orange gown, with her hair braided with gold thread. In spite of her plain looks, she looked breathtaking, like a Princess rather than a Lady; her betrothed and husband was dazzled by her looks, and some claim he did not even blink whilst the union took place. And during the bedding ceremony, his brothers helped disrobe the Prince while the Lady was disrobed by her sisters. Prince Viserys, soon to be fourteen years of age, continued to reside in Dragonstone, along with his brother and sister, Jacaerys and Baela, her niece and nephew, as well as his younger sister, Princess Visenya Targaryen, who would remain in Dragonstone for ten more years until she took Lord Rickon Stark for a husband. He, however, would soon become a cupbearer for his older brother, Prince Lucerys Velaryon. He would often dote on Lady Maerea, Lady Narra and Lord Corlys, claiming he couldn't wait to have children himself.

"Please wait." Prince Lucerys would laugh. "For the Gods, please wait."

Princess Viserra was also a great fan of one of her brothers, of Prince Joffrey. The girl was unable to spend more time with him, given his duties in House Manderly, however, whenever they got the chance to be together, she'd convince him to teach her how to wield a sword. Princess Baela had even sent for a sword to be made for the girl, however, after her husband and stepmother told her a sword was too big for a six year old girl, she traded it for a dagger. And even gave her a bow and arrow. Prince Jacaerys was also someone his sister idolized, however, she claimed he was not as fun as Joffrey, who had taken the girl once to fly on Tyraxes, and made the dragon spin so many times that the princess threw up. That was a memory she recalled happily, and had even done that with her own dragon, once Gaelithox was of mounting size. Her and Lucerys were not as close, even if they were good, they just did not have the connection Visenya and Joffrey had. 

Halfway through the year 136 AC, Princess Baela Targaryen announced her third pregnancy.

And nearing the end of 136 AC, Lady Jessamyn Manderly announced her second pregnancy. 

Two girls were born once more.

First, Princess Aerea Targaryen, born in the early moons of 137 AC, with silver gold hair and lilac eyes, a circular birth mark on her cheek; she was given a craddle egg by her older sister and brother, who picked a beautiful aquamarine egg with grey foam. However, the egg never hatched. Later that year, Prince Joffrey and Lady Jessamyn presented a girl, Lady Rhaenyra Manderly, born quite a big baby, little Rhaenyra had the same dirty blonde hair as her mother, only with a streak of silver near the front. Her eyes a periwinkle shade. Princess Rhaenyra had wept when the name was announced, honoured to have her granddaughter named after her, the same way Viserys had been named after his grandfather. The same year, as the girls were born, Prince Aegon the young and Lady Myrielle Peake, as well as Prince Lucerys and Princess Rhaena, announced their pregnancies.

"Brother, this is not a competition" Prince Jacaerys jested. "You do not need to surpass me in heirs"

"Tell that to Rhaena." Prince Lucerys chuckled. "She still accepts more children, we'll stop once she wishes to stop."

"Well then sister say stop" Princess Baela hummed. "Really, I do not see how childbirth is not pushing you away the more you have."

"It is not my fault my husband looks the way he does when he wears his leather pants." She smiled at her husband, who winked at her.

In 138 AC, Lord Titus Peake was born, despite Lady Myrielle announcing her pregnancy around the same time as Princess Rhaena, she gave birth earlier, something her good sisters explained was due to this being her first babes, as they start showing much later. Lord Titus was born with the Targaryen silver hair, as well as brown eyes and Lady Myrielle's nose. He was a bit small for a babe, but healthy nonetheless. Later, a girl was born, Lady Asterea Velaryon, born with pitch black hair, with a few streaks of pearlescent white hair. Her eyes a pinkish lilac shade. Hers was the blood of Rhaenys no doubt. 

"Oh, look at her, she has my mother's nose." Queen Rhaenys cooed at her great-granddaughter, who smiled up at her.

That same year, Princess Rhaenyra's youngest son became married, as he took Lady Daerea Celtigar to bride, a girl with a plain face and stout build, but with the most beautiful blue eyes, like seaglass. Her dress was one of white and gold, her hair braided up as she became the wife of Prince Viserys at sundown. The ocean painted orange and pink, and Aegarax circling above them. As a gift, Prince Lucerys gave them a dragon egg, one that had long gone cold, for it never hatched. Some claimed the egg had been laid back when Daenys and her family reached Dragonstone, others claim it was laid when Aegon the conqueror was born. However, what mattered was not when it was laid, but how beautiful it was. With scales dark as dark, darker than anything it could be compared with, darker than coal, darker than the bottom of the ocean, darker than the night sky. With bright specks of silver scales that looked more like minuscule diamonds growing on a wall of coal. The Prince gifted it to his younger brother, claiming that he was to have it now that he introduced dragons into House Celtigar.

The union took please early in 138 AC, since Prince Viserys was younger than his wife by a year. And like a miracle, the bedding ceremony was all it took for his seed to take, as his wife soon missed her blood, her skin becoming almost shiny as she noticed she was gaining quite a bit more weight than usual. However, it was only confirmed when the egg they had placed above the fireplace, actually became warm to the touch. Lord Lucerys Celtigar was born on the last day of 138 AC, his dragon egg hatched as well on that very day. From it, a dragon of pitch blackness, with silver eyes, horns and wingbones emerged. The dragon named Morghul, after the High Valyrian word for dead. Prince Lucerys cried when Prince Viserys told him the name of the boy, holding the babe to his chest and weeping like a willow. Lord Lucerys, nicknamed Luce in order to differentiate him from his uncle, was born with pale skin, which turned sunkissed as he grew, his hair was more like white sand than anything, and his eyes were a dark purple. He was also quite stout, short and stocky rather than tall and lean. Finally, the year 138 AC ended. 

And the year 139 came, along with three more babes, one girl and two boys.

Chapter Text

The first babe was actually Prince Joffrey's. Lord Theodore Manderly, named after lady Jessamyn's grandfather. The baby was as strapping as his brother and sister, something that seemed to be a trait in all those of the Manderly name. He was the first of his siblings to have a common look, with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He was quite loud, crying often as a child.

"This one has quite the lungs." A wetnurse claimed, talking to a chambermaid. "Louder than any other babe I have Looked after."

The next babe was Prince Viserys', as his wife fell with child, whilst she was still breastfeeding. Thus, when their son was not yet a year old, he gained a younger brother, Lord Aemon Celtigar. The boy was given a dragon egg, as was now tradition, however, the egg never did hatch, and thus, the boy would do as his cousin, Princess Aerea, and claim a dragon once he was thirteen. Aemon was large, lusty and strong, with white hair, a thin sheen of silver over it, and purple eyes. A moon after his birth, came his cousin. Lady Sereia Velaryon, dubbed Viserra come again, for even as a babe, she was beautiful. Her skin was as white as milk, her eyes a hypnotizing lavender, and her hair almost pearlescent. She was a beauty of Old Valyria like her great-great-grandmother. Her egg belonged to Arrax and Morning, it looked like a large pink pearl, with a faint dust of gold that would shine with the light. Her dragon was named Raqna, after the Valyrian word for beauty, for the dragon had a serpentine and graceful body, pearlescent pink scales with specks of gold here and there; her eyes cauldrons of molten gold, and her chest and wings bathed in gold.

"She looks just as beautiful as you, my love." Prince Lucerys kissed his wife.

Princess Rhaena smiled.

"Let us hope she also inherits your brain."

"Alright, at this point we need to intervene." Prince Jacaerys jested, though his tone was quite serious. "Brother, you are having more children than a maid can handle."

"We are having just enough, King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne had fifteen."

"And yet you heard Ña Serra's stories and you'd have thought they only had four."

Even Princess Rhaenyra tried to speak her son and stepdaughter out of having children.

"I worry it may be too much for you" She had told Princess Rhaena.

"I am having just as many as you have had." Princess Rhaena replied.

That did manage to get them to promise something, two last babes, and they'd be done.

"You know, I have heard of many women who became with child whilst brestfeeding, does not happen to many." Queen Rhaenys hummed during one of her visits to Crab isle.

"Well, lucky us I assume." Lady Daerea hummed, as her wet nurses carried young Luce and Aemon.

House Celtigar was quite lavish, holding many treasures from their voyages and deals with lands of Essos. They were like House Velaryon, only less powerful. They worked as master of coin to House Targaryen, and had multiple trading deals with different Essosi Lords and Ladies. Even if the people in Craclaw point did not recognize them as their rulers, they still were quite a bit powerful. However, now that they had dragons like all other Valyrian houses, people were starting to respect their claims. Morghul would often spend time in the caverns near the sea, his black flames surrounded by silver as he seemed to melt the stone to make it a bigger home. The hatchling would oft coil near his rider, or coil in his crib whilst his rider slept. Daerea's sisters and brothers, all of which were wedded off to different Sealords and Sealadies, doted upon the two babes, claiming Daerea managed to do the impossible, getting House Celtigar recognized by the Houses of Westeros, both Valyrian and common. 

"They've always listened to the Iron throne, never us" Lady Daerea's uncle stated once. "After all, we had no dragons, no adventures to wear on our shields. We have aspired for peace and sought no battles. Now that we have a connection to those battles and dragons, they see us as blood of Old Vayria for the first time"

When the year turned, and 140 AC came around, Princess Rhaena fell pregnant with her second to final child, swearing upon the Gods of Old Valyria, that they would have this child, one more, and then be done. Princess Maerea, of six years of age, had been glad when she was told she would have one more baby sibling. The little girl was a lover of all things arts, having a tutor to play the harp and violin, as well as singing; she'd dance daily, wearing gowns of blue, silver and pink, among other colours. Her hair swaying in the wind as she twirled and danced under the sun. She was always seen near her dragon, walking alongside him as if she were walking a hound. The young Lady was also often writing and spending time with her older cousin, Princess Laena Targaryen; just like Princess Rhaenyra in childhood, Princess Laena would be allowed her own Ladies-in-waiting, however, she would need to be nine years of age for that to occur, which would not happen until 142 AC; however, she already knew she wanted her cousin Maerea as her first Lady-in-waiting, along with other Ladies, such as her first cousins once removed, Lady Taena Hightower, Lady Milena Baratheon, Lady Rhyssa Tully, and a second cousin once removed, Lady Daenaera Velaryon. She also had ladies from Houses not bound by blood, such as the Stark sisters, Lady Sarra Stark, and Lady Alys Stark, Lord Lyonel Tyrell's youngest sister, Lady Meeka Tyrell. 

Princess Laena proved to be as charming as she was adventurous, a blend of her father and mother. She was already a strong archer, and had moved on to learn fencing, though still wished to wield a sword like her grandfather, Prince Daemon. Her appearance was still the same, only with a burn scar covering her entire left arm, after she had recklessly caused Sunstar to spit fire during a game. She had also developed freckles on her face due to the hours she spent outside under the sun; her great-grandmother, Queen Rhaenys, claimed she was almost the same as Princess Alyssa Targaryen, only less reckless and with not as many broken bones. The Queen often claimed her uncles, aunts and even father sometimes possessed the children to live a life they couldn't in their own time under Jaehaerys and Alysanne. Such as young Prince Daenys, who was often hiding his face in his mother's skirt or father's cape whenever someone wished to speak to him; he was far too shy to be the son of Princess Baela, and many claimed he was the second coming of Princess Daella. Unlike his older sister, Daenys was not known for his interest in arms; if anything he was a painter more than he was a warrior. He had once stared at the court's painter whilst he drew a protrait of the Queen and her heirs, Princess Rhaenyra, Prince Jacaerys, Princess Baela and young Laena. 

"What are you doing?" He questioned, his voice quiet as he held his wooden carved dragon.

The painter turned to the small Prince, who was being watched over by his governess, and spoke.

"I am adding a glaze, your highness." He explained. "Tis used to make the colours look correct and brighter."

Prince Daenys nodded, interested to the point of staring with a slightly open mouth.

"And why not add more paint?"

"Well, your highness, this is easier to get specific tones, had I used nothing but paint, it would look off." The painter spoke with patience, as he continued to paint the royal line.

The Princeling of not yet five years of age became the painter's shadow, standing behind him and staring at his canvas whilst the artist drew and painted. Since he painted many portraits of the family and individual members. After two turns of moon, Prince Jacaerys and Princess Baela asked if it would be possible for the court painter to teach young Daenys how to draw. He, much like his betrothed and cousin, showed a great love for the arts, he would draw almost day and night, practicing how to draw objects first, as his teacher claimed it was best to become familiar with the proportion of objects before moving on to people. Thus, he painted his toys, the crowns of Aegon the conqueror, Aenys Targaryen, Jaehaerys targaryen, Alysanne Targaryen and his grandfather, Prince Daemon targaryen's crown; over the year, he drew only objects, moving on to more complicated things once his teacher claimed he was ready to do so. Being able to draw the gowns his grandmother oft wore. He had even attempted to draw the very portrait that got him into painting, and even if the painting would be forever treasured by his parents, later in life the Prince would look at it and criticize it. For the perspective was askew, the faces he drew looked either flat or disfigured. Even after he became Lord of the Tides, his painting remained, with his sister refusing to take the painting down.

South of King's Landing, in Storm's end, Lady Erys Baratheon turned twelve years of age. She was quite tall for her age, a head taller than most boys her age, and had grown to be a bit robust, similar to her aunt Helaena. She was quite talented at horse riding, and showed great prowess at weaving, able to weave works of art with nothing but her bare hands. She had already been betrothed to the second salt son of Lord Dalton Greyjoy, Lord Rodrik Greyjoy, for his mother, a salt wife, had taken him after the murder of Lord Dalton Greyjoy, and begged the Queen for help, for she knew Rodrik would most likely be gelded by Dalton's cousins; thus, the Queen betrothed him to Lady Erys, while Lord Rodrik's older brother, Lord Toron Greyjoy, was made Lord of House Greyjoy. When it came to the betrothalsof the children born by the three disinherited Princes and the disinherited Princess, that was something discussed in 130 AC, when Lady Erys was three years of age. 

"It is best we not wed them cousin to cousin." Queen Rhaenys spoke, as she sat at the head of the council table, her nephews and nieces present. "If we allow them to behave like Targaryens, then we will face troubles, more people will start trying to bed those of Targaryen blood, and if one child is born looking like a Targaryen, what lets us know they will not attempt to pass them off as a bastard of a Prince?"

King Corlys nodded.

"How many generations should we wait before we allow them to wed?" Lord Aegon questioned. "After all there are Houses outside of those we are currently wedded into and Houses we will soon be wedded into, but one day will come where a marriage alliance will have to be made, and it will most likely involve a House our blood is in."

"Aegon is right." Prince Daeron hummed. "Right now we will have to exclude three Houses each, but once Joffrey, Aeg and Visenya wed, that will exclude more. We are talking about seven Houses here. Tim will come where we will need to wed among our Houses."

The Queen considered the words of her nephews, and spoke up.

"Four generations." She declared. "Four generations in which House Baratheon, House Tully, House Martell, House Manderly, House Stark, House Peake and House Hightower will not be allowed to become wedded to one another. Allow for our blood to be diluted enough until it is no longer a problem. So, they will be only allowed to wed when it is your great great grandchildren who are heirs and heads of Houses."

A contract was signed, binding them all to it, declaring that if broken, then the union would be immediately dissolved, and any child born from the union would be considered a bastard. A hard punishment, but it was needed to ensure peace.

"Imagine if your grandson has a child with your greatniece" Queen Rhaenys explained to Lady Helaena. "If that child is born a pure Targaryen and then has a bastard, what will stop the mother of that bastard from claiming their child is not the bastard child of the Prince or King? Greed and hunger for power can make you cruel and cold, look at Maegor the cruel." She exemplified. "Killed his nephews for the throne, kidnapped his niece and other women. We avoided a war in 120, I will not allow another war to curse our bloodline. I wish for at least four reigns where a war is not dooming us or looming over our heads."

Lord Rodrik was living under the care of a close friend of Lady Cassandra Baratheon's sister, Lady Floris Baratheon and her husband, Lord Benjicot Blackwood. Where he would live until he became Lord of House Baratheon after marrying his betrothed, Lady Erys. Lord Baelon Baratheon was betrothed to the daughter of Lord Connington, Lady Sarah Connington, who was two years younger than the boy. He had grown to be more like the men of his paternal family rather than his maternal family, with a less corpulent build and sharp features. The streak of silver had turned more of a silver-white shade, or at least it seemed silver-white due to just how black his hair was. Him and his sister were almost always at war, threatening to blow everything up, a battle between two typhoons. At one time, they had come to blows, having to be separated by guards. Afterwards, everyone made sure they were both always in different wings of the castle at all times.

Further down, in The Reach, Prince Aegon and Lady Myrielle welcomed their second son, Lord Baelor Peake, a boy quite a bit smaller than his older brother, born earlier than expected, the Maesters feared he'd die, and the couple was prepared to say goodbye to the boy; however, by some miracle, the boy survived. Baelor had a beautiful set of brown curls on his head, with his eyes a pale dusty purple colour; he was quiet, too quiet, something that the Maesters declared was normal for his condition at birth. However, his hunger seemed to compensate for his size, for he always drank, requiring two wet nurses in order for them to have time to rest. Soon enough, the boy grew to a healthy size.

"Oh he is so adorable." Prince Lucerys cooed as he held his nephew.

The young babes, Sereia, Theodore and Aemon laid in their cradles, Raqna coiled up around Sereia, pink wisps of smoke emanating from his snout with every breath. 

"He's smaller than you were" Prince Joffrey jested his brother, as he looked at his baby nephew.

"Aegon was not a small babe." Princess Rhaenyra chimed in. "Sadly only Visenya was small, Viserys was a close second."

"How can you remember?" Princess Visenya frowned. "It has been a decade and a year."

Princess Rhaenyra practically glared at her daughter.

"You do not forget the birth of your children easily." Was her reply. "You will understand when you have your own."

Prince Lucerys turned to his wife.

"They told us to stop simply because mother could not handle someone having more children than her." He jested her in a hushed tone, afraid of his mother hearing him.

"She told you to stop so you two would not be Alysanne and Jaehaerys come again." Prince Daemon whispered, butting into his children's conversation.

"We will stop at six, I promise" Princess Rhaena swore.

"You are my dughter, darling I know when you lie." Was Daemon's retort.

In the end, Prince Lucerys and Princess Rhaena stopped at seven children, for they brought forth twins once more, identical sons. The first to be born was Laenor, born with silver-gold hair that looked like the moon in the ocean sky, his eyes a bright Velaryon blue; the second to be born was Daemon. Both babes named after their grandfathers. The cradle eggs belonged to a clutch laid by Moondancer, with Lord Lenor receiving an egg of blue scales, with green patches that gleamed like mica; while Lord Daemon received an egg of pure black, with purple shine that appeared when under direct sunlight. From these eggs, hatched the dragons Seastar, a dragon of blue-green scales and pearl markings, crest and horns; as well as the dragon Zōbriēter, mount of Lord Daemon, with black scales and purple wings and chest. His name meant Dark magic in High Valyrian.

"Alright, now we promise, no more." Princess Rhaena declared after the hard labour.

In spite of the joy that aurrounded the year, especially after Lord Baelor's recovery, not all was happy by the time the final month came. For Queen Rhaenys Targaryen, having turned sixty six years of age, had a massive fall, when her saddle suddenly snapped, the leather from the bounds having been worn thin over the years. She had fallen from a  great height, not enough to kill her, but enough to send her into a deep slumber that lasted three moons; during this time, it was Princess Rhaenyra who took over, and ruled as a regent until the Queen woke up or moved on to a better life. Princess Baela and Rhaena spent day and night next to the Queen, as did Prince Aemond and the three children of Lord Laenor. Aemond Targaryen had left his family in Oldtown, and flew all the way North to spend time with the woman who made him the man he was today. It was around this time when veiled hoods became even more popular.

After the passing of Queen Viserra Targaryen, many women who had become Heads of Houses took to wearing hoods, consisting of a band made of cardboard or another strong material, adorned with jewels or beads, and with a veil attached to the back, covering the back of the Ladies' hair and only showing the front. They had done this in order to mourn the Queen who had allowed them to claim their birthrights. It had taken a while for the fashion to reach other Houses, especially since it was started as just wearing mourning veils, and they did not add the adorned headband, until Queen Rhaenyra wore it, five years after the veils became a thing. It slowly made its way through Westeros, until finally reaching the furthest South and the furthest North. When Queen Rhaenys became gravely injured, it finally made its way into every castle, as many men forbid their women from wearing the veils to mourn the Queen, and many women refused to wear them due to their hatred for the Queen. However, now tha the Queen was Rhaenys, nobody stopped the women from fearing the Queen's fate, for she was as beloved as her father. This final form of hooded veils, also came along with a new silhouette, inspired by Princess Rhaenyra, after the gowns she wore every day when anouncing the health of the Queen at court, with a full skirt, full sleeves and a chateliaine, which would hang either a sigil of House Targaryen, a pomander or sometimes even a sacred book with different Valyrian prayers. This was something the Princess wore many times during those three moons, and painters who would spread these works of art wrote detailed dieries, swearing that they got these very details from a chambermaid of the Queen, detailing the undergarment, the shape of the corset, what was used to give the skirt its shape and such other details. 

These texts are heavily questioned, however, as even though they became public, nobody really knows who was the first to write and distribute them and who was their source. Some claim it was the Queen's chambermaid, others claim it was her seamstress, others claim a Lady close to the Queen wrote them. However, all these things are to this day heavily questioned. But it is not the origin that matters, but the result, as this lead to a revolution of Westerossi fashion, many rich Ladies managed to copy the Princess to perfection, but commoners couldn't, and thus copied them in the silhouette, lossing the big sleeves, and wearing bonets instead of hoods, as the fabric and headband would have been just an inconvenience when working on the fields, milking cows or walking in the plaza.

The turn of year came, and 141 AC dawned on the continent with no news of the Queen; at this point, people were losing hope, assuming that the Queen was just too weak at her age in order to survive such fall. However, in the second week of the second moon, news came.

The Queen had awaken, but had lost the ability to move her legs.

The family was quick to act, as news of the Queen's awakening were sent all over the continent, from Crab Isle, to Winterfell and Dorne. Prince Aemond and Prince Jaecaerys sent for the making of whatever could be used to allow the Queen to move around without having to be carried by a Knight. It took almost five moons for accomodations to be made, and during those five moons, the Queen was indeed carried around, but not like a child on a knight's arms; she was carried around on a palanquin, carried by eight men. The palanquin was made of valyrian steel, with red velvet cushions sewn into the makeshit throne in order to make it more comfortable for the Queen to sit on it daily. Even the armrests had cushions sewn into them with red velvet, and the entire thing had scriptures engraved all over it. The Queen seemed to have come back healthier from the three moons, even if she had to be fed only with honey and water, she had grown extremely thin and fragile, yet managed to gain her weight back after three moons, with a diet high in fats and meat. The day she returned to court, she did so wearing red, her hood was adorned with dragonglass and pearls, her own a pure red velvet, with the under sleeves white and yellow.

When the fifth moon came, a Maester from Dorne came to King's landing. He went by the name of Vorian, and resembled an egg, for he had shaved the hair off his hair and eyebrows, both for reasons unknown. His skin was the same colour as ebony, and his eyes were a bright blue. He brought with him a carriage. Inside of it, he brought something he called a rolling chair, a cushioned chair with wheels attached to the side, with handles on the back; which would allow the Queen to either be wheeled around by a servant or wheel herself around by pushing on the wheels. This did mean she would need to sleep in the great hal, or would need to be carried on her palanquin to go up and down the stairs, with her chair brought along by another guard. The second invention was a saddle, with a straight portion which had straps to tie the Queen to it, along with straps to tie her legs to ensure they would not flail around when in the air. As a show of gratitude, the Queen had gifted the Maester enough money to build himself his own manse back in Dorne.

"It feels odd flying after so long." Queen Rhaenys confessed, as she was released from the straps that helped her stay on top of Meleys. "But I must say, it only feels a small bit different than flying without my contraptions."

Chapter Text

Prior to the Queen's accident, Prince Joffrey and his wife had become pregnant once more. Lady Jessamyn had been three months pregnant when the Queen fell from Meleys, and had suffered from great abdominal pains when she heard of the Queen's grievous injury out of sheer stress and fear. The Lady bled every single day until the fifth moon of pregnancy, the Maesters considered the babe already dead, yet her stomach continued to grow, thus, they did not give her moon tea. Lady Jessamyn went into labour three moons after Queen Rhaenys woke up, delivering a healthy baby boy, which had been named by Lady Alyssa, who named her baby brother Dorian, claiming she had heard the name in King's Landing, during a tourney and had found the name quite pretty. Lord Dorian was born with lilac eyes, whoever, he had a strange ring of blue spots lining the iris of his eyes; and his hair was completely Targaryen Silver. The birth had been exhausting for the Lady, who became ill after birth, and had been told by the Maesters that another pregnancy could result in her death or the death of her babe, thus, Prince Joffrey and Lady Jessamyn never had more children.

"I do believe that we are just fine with four children only." Prince Joffrey hummed, sending a pointed look to his older brother.

"I choose to ignore you" Prince Lucerys hummed, as he bounced Lord Laenor and Lord Daemon on his arms.

Lady Myrielle had been with child as well, only she was already quite late in her pregnancy, having suffered the same fate as Lady Daerea, and becoming pregnant whilst breastfeeding. She birthed a girl while the Queen was in her slumber, about a month before she woke up. The girl was named Daena, born with curls of silver-gold hair and sparkling purple eyes. The girl, even as a babe, was wild, she'd refuse to nurse five wet nurses until she finally had one she deemed acceptable, she would wail when carried by some of her uncles and aunts, only a few people were allowed to carry her. She favoured her brother Titus the most since birth, smiling and squealing anytime he was with her. And took joy in riding on Stormcloud with her father.

"Be prepared for when she asks you to give her a dragon of her own." Princess Rhaenyra had told her son. "If she is anything like the women in our family, she will not accept no for an answer."

"We have discussed a betrothal between her and Viserys' eldest, your highness." Lady Myrielle explained. "If she weds him, she'll become a Celtigar, and then she may claim a dragon."

Lady Daerea also had another child, a daughter, whom they named Naerys. Naerys was born small, only a quickening in her mother's womb when the Queen suffered her accident, it is believed that the stress and fear Lady Daerea suffered during her early stages of pregnancy caused her to be under duress in the womb, for she was born small and pale. Maesters and Midwives claimed the girl looked like a procelain doll when she was born, small and ghostly white. Her hair was also pure white, not a single trace of silver or gold; her eyes were a deep violet hue. She was quiet, her cries small and so hard to hear that they could not even trust to be woken up by them, and had ten wet nurses rotating day and night to make sure they could feed the babe. Thankfully, the girl did recover, and start growing, but she would always be small for her age. When put next to her cousin Daena, Naerys was three quarters of her size. Lady Daerea and Prince Viserys would spend hours praying to the Gods of Old Valyria for help, for even the egg given to Naerys did not hatch, so all they could do was hope the girl would live past the age of two. And thnkfully, she would do so.

The year 142 AC brought forth no babes, after all, Princess Baela and Princess Rhaena did not want any more, neither did Lady Manderly; and even if she wanted more, she was practically forbidden from ever having another one just to be safe. And Prince Viserys with Lady Daerea were so terrified for their daughter, that the entire year of 142 was spent in celibacy, afraid of losing their daughter whilst distracted by the throws of passion. And when their daughter became one year of age, they were afraid of having another child born small and ill. Thus, out of the seven children of child bearing age, only one continued to have children, Prince Aegon. Who went on to have two more daughters in the coming years. The first was Lady Viserra Peake, a girl born with hair more golden brown than anything and soft purple eyes; she was born in 143 AC.

And in 144 AC, Lady Erys Baratheon, the daughter of Prince Aegon, became the wife of Lord Rodrik Greyjoy, and bore him a son nearing the end of the year, Lord Damian Baratheon, born with pitch black hair and dark blue eyes. When 145 AC came in, it did so with the birth of the last daughter of Prince Aegon. Lady Helena Peake, born with hair a platinum white with a bright golden streak down the middle, an unusual color even for the Targaryens. Much like Daena, Helena was quite loud and opinionated, even as a babe, a trait that seemed to have skipped Viserra over, and would follow Daena around in a similar way as to how Daena followed Titus around. By this year, many of the grandchildren between Prince Viserys and Lady Alicent were wedded, Lady Erys to Lord Rodrik Greyjoy, Lord Baelon Baratheon to Lady Daenaera Velaryon, a girl two years his senior. Lord Vernon Hightower took Lady Anya Weatherwax as his bride. However, it was the wedding between Princess Visenya and Lord Rickon that was most talked about, for this was a wedding as lavish as a wedding between the daughter of the future Queen could be. Lord Rickon wore a wolf pelt on his head, and furs dyed auburn and golden brown; while Princess Visenya not only rode into the wedding on top of Gaelithox, her gown white, with matching snow white furs to keep her warm, her veil was as big as one of Gaelithox's wings, and had pearls sewn into beautiful scenes, with flowers turning into diamond stars.

That night, Prince Jacaerys and Princess Baela were the only children who remained living in Dragonstone, as Prince and Princess of Dragonstone. 

Princess Rhaenyra and Princess Daemon lived in the Red Keep with Queen Rhaenys, in order to ensure she would be healthy, for the Queen was now seventy one years of age. She had grown weaker, which had occurred faster after becoming invalid, some folks believe that, had she not suffered that accident, she would have made it to perhaps eighty years of age. However, she had grown tired, and almost out of mind, often losing herself in the midst of a conversation, it had even happened many times that the Queen would forget who she was talking to. It had occurred with Prince Daemon, she was talking about Meleys, before she stopped talking, and questioned who the Prince was. Other times she'd doze off mid conversation or fall asleep while in a council meeting. Princess Visenya, it is claimed, tried to become pregnant almost immediately after her wedding to Lord Rickon, afraid that this would be the last year of her first cousin twice removed's life; and she wanted to at least get to present one child to her. 

In 147 AC, Princess Visenya announced she was with child, thus, it was just a battle between time, between life and death. For as much as the Princess rushed the conception, she could rush the birth. The child in her womb continued to grow more and more by the day, as did her stomach; Lord Rickon would oft find his wife praying to the Gods of Old Valyria and the Gods of Westeros, begging them to let her introduce her child to Queen Rhaenys. Even if the Queen was not her grandmother, she still acted as such, she never made a difference between her half Velaryon brothers and sisters and her full Targaryen brothers. In her eyes, all of them were her grandkids, and it showed in the way all of them loved her as their grandmother. The babe came on the sixth moon of 147 AC, a girl, whom they named Sansa. The girl was born with Targaryen silver-gold hair, with a single streak of brown hair decorating the front of his hair; her eyes were grey, just like her father's. The Princess and Lord flew all the way to King's Landing two moons after the birth of their daughter, and presented her to the Queen.

Queen Rhaenys had held the babe, her gaze dazed and glossed over by a thin layer of light blue that had made her vision worse. However, when she cooed, it was enough to make the young Princess sob.

And two moons later, Queen Rhaenys I Targaryen, The Black Queen, The Lady of Driftmark, Lady Velaryon, passed away at the age of seventy-three. Reunited with her husband, children, parents, cousin and remaining family. Leaving behind Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. 

Her funeral was held in Dragonstone, where her remains were burned in a funeral pyre, and parts of her ashes where stored in urns, one urn was sent to Driftmark, where her ashes were released into the ocean, the other went to Storm's end, where the ashes were buried in the Baratheon burial grounds.

The coronation of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen was held three moons after the death of Queen Rhaenys, her gown was similar to the gowns fashionable at the time, only much more grandious, with robes of purple velvet that only the Queen could afford, and a circlet of gold, with multiple gems that were in the same colour as the dragons of her husbands and children. A yellow sapphire stone was at the center of the crown for Syrax, the the left was a clear quartz for Seasmoke, then a jade stone for Vermax, a pearl for Arrax, and an amethyst for Tyraxes. To the right of the sapphire, was a ruby for Caraxes, an emerald for Moondancer, a pink quartz for Morning, a turquoise for Stormcloud, a purple zircon for Aegarax and a tiger's eye for Gaelithox. The crown of Aegon was placed on top of the circlet, naming her as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, the first of her name. King consort Daemon targaryen wore red robes with furs, ten rings that contained the same stones as Queen Rhaenyra's circlet, minus the clear quartz, instead, he had a chrysocolla necklace, representing Vhagar. The couple was associated with the deemed "Golden Days" of Westeros, for they came into the titles with Dorne already in the Kingdom, the economy in its best state, the rules of succesion and name passing avoiding multiple succession conflicts that would have followed had they not existed, and with a total of thrity dragons and all three Valyrian households having them; House Targaryen was at its most powerful point at the time.

By 147 AC, out of fifteen grandchildren born from the second marriage of Prince Viserys, nine of them were married, and some of them had even had children, however, of these children, very few had Targaryen looks, most either having purple eyes or silver hair, no doubt, in three more generations, no Targaryen looks would come from their descendants. And neither one of them bore the personality of a Targaryen. The fire was controlled, but not yet extinguished. That would not occur until Lady Erys' great grandchild, which would mark the new generation with such a small amount of Targaryen blood, that even when they wed between Houses with Targaryen blood, their descendants did not exhibit any Targaryen traits. The year of 147 AC turned into 148 AC, and Princess Visenya had another child, Lady Serena Stark, born with Stark brown hair and bright purple eyes. A lord friend of Lord Rickon had jested about the couple having two more kids.

"One has to be pure Stark and another a pure Targaryen." He rationalized.

To this, Princess Visenya became visbily annoyed, and declared that she would not have any more children than her daughter, for the births had been extremely painful and the gestation had been uncomfortable, especially in the freezing cold. The Princess had even sent an apology letter to the Queen for any pain she caused her mother during birth. It consisted of three pages total, detailing the discomforts and pains of gestating, along with the agony of birth. Princess Visenya even wrote. 

"I have been burned by a dragon, bitten by a hound and fallen down a hill, childbirth made me realise how weepy I was when I cried from the momentary pain."

Later on, she told her husband the only way she would have two more children, would be if her husband carried and birthed them. Lord Rickon, who found his wife to be quite charming and funny, simply laughed and told her.

"I have an heir already, and a child that would become a spare or wed us into a union. I don't see why we need another."

Princess Visenya had also become quiet close to her husband's siblings, particularly his sisters, for she saw them all as younger sisters, after all, she was the eldest, along with Rickon. For the oldest half sibling was Lady Sarra Stark, born five years after Rickon and four years after Visenya; and the youngest half sibling, Lord Brandon Stark, was only four years of age, closer to his nieces than to his own brother in age. The five Stark girls would always follow the Princess, like ducklings following their mother. This may be due to the fact that they had no true Lady to learn from, especially since the only living wife of Lord Cregan was Alysanne Blackwood, who was not at all ladylike, unlike her daughters, who all were common girls of their time, interested in weaving and singing rather than fighting. However, many claim this to be completely false, and instead claim the five girls were enamoured with the Princess simply because of who she was, a Targaryen, who owned a dragon and was the daughter of the Queen. This latter claim is further strenghthened by the fact that Alysanne Blackwood was still close to her daughters, even after her union to Lord Cregan was dissolved, and many tales talk about her and her daughters, as well as their half sister and Princess Visenya. So, while the story of Princess Visenya becoming a pseudo-mother to her good sisters was common at the time, nowadays, the most common theory is just that the mystique around her name was what made her good sisters so interested in her. 

Queen Rhaenyra, despite being given a kingdom with a proper sewer and drainage system, with no real economical issues, especially after Queen Viserra and Queen Rhaenys both rejected Lord Bartimos' inneccesary increase in taxes; still managed to better the lives of the townspeople. By turning the Dragonpit, into a health house. The pit had been used as a ceremonial place to hold funerals for the Targaryens, however, the Queen decided to reconstruct it into a House for medicines to be stored in and for those ill to be treated. She had done so after a horrid case of a disease struck farmers, who would become exposed to diseases by their animals, among them were illnesses such as consumption, which affected farmers exposed to cattle. Many died of this disease, and the Queen had called for a strict closing of all borders and forbid people from leaving their homes out of fear of an outbreak. Whilst this way, the outbreak was avoided, it lead to multiple farming families dying out, and many more people had become angered, for they could not even go buy bread. So, the Queen had not only sent food to homes as an apology, but sent for the immediate design of a health house for the people in King's landing to be built out of the remains of the Dragonpit. The Health house was designed using the old construction maps of the pit, turning into a structure with a total of five floors, with multiple rooms, beds and even rooms large enough to fit all scrolls, scriptures and medicines for the people. This construction work, however, was no small task, and the building of the Health House would not be completed until two years after the Queen passed away.

Another thing the Queen did, was in 148 AC, was build large buildings in order to send children to. She had done so after seeing the architects work, and believed it was completely stupid for only a handful of people to know how to do such things. And after hearing how a few selected people in Westeros could read and write, she had decided to change it. She built schools for children and young folks to become able to read, write and learn arithmatics, as well as history, teaching them of the events that transpired in Westeros from 12000 BC to present day. The buildings were sent to be built all over Westeros, and many people who taught not only the Queen, but also other high society members were sought out to teach in these schools. These schools also took time to build, in King's Landing, schools did not open to children until the year 150 AC was about to end. And even then, she would later send for specialized schools to be made, for those who wished to further their knowledge in history or architecture. Citadel became a name associated with the schools for those who became maesters, architects, historians and even tutors; The Citadel of Oldtown, The Citadel of King's landing, The Citadel of Highgarden, The Citadel of the Riverlands. All of them would be a complex of buildings for people to further their knowledge in.

While things in Westeros were further advancing, however, changes were also being made in Driftmark, where Prince Lucerys Velaryon, now a witness to thirty-three springs, had deviced a system to turn the saltwater around them into healthy and drinkable water through a system of filters, drains, heat and further filters to rid the water from impurities, providing more water than usual to the towns in Driftmark, Hull and Spicetown. He had also taken to the usage of tax based ports in order to better the economy of not only Driftmark, but also King's Landing and by connection, all of Westeros. The system was said to have been based off of Lord Edwell Celtigar's taxes, only made less strict against the smallfolk. Those coming into Blackwater bay would indeed pay, however, these would be payments not only affordable, but also sent by the Lords of Pentos or Tyrosh with their shipments. And those leaving the waters of Westeros would also pay a small fee that would be sent by the Lords who wished to export products. Thus, this did not cause as much anger as they did back when Lord Edwell instructed these taxes. He had also fixed the old castle of House Velaryon, the Castle Driftmark, as it had been abandoned by his grandsire, Lord Corlys Velaryon, who claimed the castle was just not fit for them, too damp, prone to flooding, and smelled of rotten water and humidity. Prince Lucerys had hired architects from Essos, who were used to structures built near water, and asked them to just, fix the issue. The men worked tirelessly, and managed to introduce a system of valves and other drains to make sure the water would come out of the castle rather than come into the castle when in high tide. They also installed a system to avoid the lower walls from absorbing water, by covering them in hot tar, ensuring the rocks would be unable to absorb any water. It took months in order to install a ventilation system that would ensure the smell of damp would be out of the castle while also avoiding anything being able to come into the castle. But, it was made possible in the end. 

The people in Driftmark not only enjoyed the now plentiful water, which was linked to fountains for the people to use, but also enjoyed of the ports, which brought them money from merchants before they even bought from the people of Hull and Spicetown. However, not all of the glory went to just the Prince, but also, a lot went to the Princess. Princess Rhaena targaryen, of thirty-two springs, had once been out in a walk with her ladies, and had bumped into a woman, who was only slightly older than her. The woman was small, skinny and brown-skinned, with black hair and brown eyes. When she realised she had bumped into the Lady of Driftmark, the woman had become apologetic, but Princess Rhaena waved her apologies off, claiming she too became entranced by the joy of the fair. She invited the woman to join her, and managed to know her story. Her name was Nettles, born to a dockside whore and raised in the streets, she had taken to stealing, which resulted in her nose being slit after she was caught thieving. The Princess had felt awful for Nettles, for she couldn't help but compare their upbringings. Whilst the Princess was being raised among lace, silks and more dresses than she could even count, Nettles was suffering through the cold and hunger. Thus, she had created sanctuaries for the homeless to live in, consisting of a large hall to eat and chambers where up to six people could sleep in. She also gifted Nettles a house, small, but a house nonetheless.

Northeast of Driftmark, up in Claw isle, House Celtigar saw a rise in popularity among the people of Cracklaw point, however, this did not mean they spoke of the past Celtigar members with respect, they still spoke ill of Lord Bartimos Celtigar, who had died a year before the wedding of his daughter, after falling ill to a dish of raw fish, but they also spoke so ill of Lord Edwell Celtigar that many books or texts speaking about Lord Edwell were either ordered to be rewritten to erase him, or ordered to be completely destroyed. Lady Daerea had taken a liking to Prince Lucerys, looking for his guidance when it came to running Claw isle and Cracklaw point. After all, Prince Lucerys had become Lord of the Tides when the Lady was just eleven years of age, and had ruled for sixteen years; he had more experience than any other Lord the Lady was close to, especially when it came to money, and he was trained by Lord Corlys, who was beloved, even sixteen years after his passing. It was Lord Lucerys who taught Lady Daerea how to best handle to economy of her seat, how to commercialize, and more importantly, how to not be despised by the Townspeople. According to a squire, during a meeting between the Lord and Lady. Prince Lucerys said.

"It does not matter how close you are to the Lords and Ladies of Westeros, if you anger the townsfolk, be prepared to be tortured, mutilated and beheaded. The respect of High Lords is lost the moment you care for your people, but if your people respect you, you will be treated kindly and remembered kindly. If you are despised by your people, you will lose the respect of the High lords, and forever be remembered badly. No historian will be able to find a single text in which your name is not accompanied by an insult."

This had lead to Lady Daerea to sell a large amount of House Celtigar's treasures, which had been doing nothing but gathering dust in the castle, and used the money she made to better the living conditions in Claw Isle.

"She is not like her father, this one." A man once declared. "Her father would have only spoken of his treasures through torture."

She had also installed taxes, however, they were far smaller for the townsfolk, small enough that very few made a fuss; but the sheer amount made it so that the Lady could isntall the same filtration system as Prince Lucerys had installed in Driftmark, and build better roads in the island. And thus, the 148th year after the Targaryens conquered Westeros, ended. And turned into 149 AC.

Chapter Text

The year 149 AC was unneventful for the direct line of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, as the Princess Laena Targaryen turned sixteen years of age, however, she was not yet to wed, for Lord Corlys Velaryon was only fourteen years of age still. However, when it came to her nieces and nephews, the descendants of Prince Viserys Targaryen and his second wife, almost all of them had become wedded and had children, with Lady Taena Hightower and Princess Aerea Martell becoming brides, leaving Princess Morgana Martell, Lady Rhysa Tully and Lady Milena Baratheon the only ones not yet wedded. All of the others had been sent to live with their spouses, and some even had children of their own already. Each of the Princes and the Princess had grown to be complete opposites of their young selves, most attributed this to the years they spent away from their mother and her close relatives. 

Prince Aegon Targaryen, of 42 years old, had gained a belly due to his age and his riches, however, he was not nearly as gluttonous as he was in his teenagehood, but still enjoyed food. Only now he no longer ate like a man starved who had recently been given food for the first time in a hundred years. He was bearded, and looked more mature, resembling his own father like a mirror. Same nose, same hair, same pale skin and eyes, he truly looked more and more like his father as time went by. He had grown fond of horse riding thanks to his wife, and given the constant storms that haunted the seat of House Baratheon, he had taken to more indoor activities, such as painting, reading and weaving, something he learned how to do when his daughter, Lady Josephine, begged him to join her during her weaving lessons, as she was quite shy and clingy to her father. He also sparred many times with his son, and joined his children in whatever activities they were doing. His wife and him were known for their arguments, many times they'd fight, a storm and a dragon, however, nobody thought they did not love each other, if anything, their arguments made them far closer. One time, some sources claim, a Lady close to Lady Cassandra asked her about her supposed marital issues, and asked why not dissolve the union. Lady Cassandra had just looked at her and said.

"For what? For a man who will just nod and do everything I say instead of arguing about why he should do such things?" She had huffed, mockingly. "If I wanted a man to obey me, I'd get another hound."

The identity of the Lady differes between stories, some claimed it was one of her sisters, which sister also depended on the source, others claimed it was a Lady in waiting, a Lady guest, or just a close friend of the Lady. 

Another story claims that one time, someone, whose identity also depends on the source, asked the Prince why he always fought so much with his wife. The Prince simply responded with.

"My father rarely argued with my mother. I don't wish for my children to be affected by that the way my siblings and I were."

The Prince had a complicated relationship with his father, he loved the man, but often felt mad that it took his brother losing an eye and the Queen's intervention for him to finally get Lady Alicent go. He grieved his father when the Prince passed away in 129 AC, but even after his death, he had conflicting feelings towards his father. 

With his mother, however, it was clear he despised her. He rarely spoke about her with anyone, but when he did, it was never good. He'd sometimes share the fact that she would insult Queen Rhaenyra and her children behind her back, calling her a whore, and always turned the blind eye anytime her own children did anything wrong, such as wehn Aegon was twelve, and had groped a maid who was helping him, or when he became drunk and went to a whore house. The only times she'd yell or strike him were those times when he'd get caught or spotted, claiming he was staining their name. And when Rhaenyra had children, she'd often tell her own sons that the boys were born to a whore, and were conceived in an orgy between Rhaenyra, Laenor, Laena, Sir Harwin Strong, Sir Qarl Correy and Daemon. She'd always pit them against their nephews until they grew to hate them naturally. These things were mostly done in private, however, since Prince Viserys would have stopped them immediately. Some believe that the Prince actually argued with his wife so much simply out of sheer instinct in order to not be as subservient as his father.

Princess Helaena, of now forty years of age, had become a grandmother of her first grandchild. The sun in the Riverlands had painted her skin ever so slightly, and she used clay in order to dye strands of hair red, wearing them in braids. She had grown stout, childbearing doing to her what it did to her sister, making her gain weight that she never could quite lose. She had become quite more outspoken than she was as a child, and as a mother she was a bit more strict without being so unbearable. She was short, shorter than most of her children, yet somehow, still managed to instill a sense of respect from them with a simple glare.Such was the time when Lord Adalia and Lord Attacus were fighting, the Princess had simply stared at them hard enough that both Lords stopped immediately, stood looking at the floor and apogolized, before going off to their own chambers. They were fifteen and thirteen. With her daughters she was just as strict. However, she never did anything that would come off as cruel or mean to anyone. She'd play with her children, swim with them, ride on her dragon with them. She even cried after her twins turned sixteen, knowing they'd wed and leave, visiting often but still leave. She had managed, however, to make it so her children would wed at twnty rather than the years closer to sixteen.

"A mother's child never stops being her baby." She had told the Lord who intended to wed their children together. "And I just wish for them to stay my babies a while bit longer."

While close to all her children, she was closest to her son Attacus, for he had inherited her love for animals, keeping multiple snakes for pets, as well as other critters. He was always closer to his mother than to his father, and preferred the company of many women rather than many men.

"I see he will be quite popular among women." Lord Kermit had once declared.

Princess Helaena simply nodded and smiled, keeping her husband in the dark about the time she had caught her son wearing a gown belonging to one of his sisters. She had made sure to betrothe him to Lady Alys of House Piper, who was also known for her rather unorthodox behaviours. when the day came for their wedding, in 148 AC, it is said that the couple exchanged their garments once the celebrations were over, and Lord Attacus dressed as the bride and Lady Alys as the groom. 

With her husband, Princess Helaena found joy over the fact that he never treated her as a Targaryen Princess, but instead like Helaena; when she started dying strands of hair red, he didn't speak against it or comment on it staining her Valyrian locks. And when she dyed it completely red later in life, he complimented it, claiming red hair fit her perfectly. 

Of Prince Aemond little is known, for he often refused to speak of his past, out of all the siblings, he was the only one who did not even share at least one bit of information on his childhood. And the few times that his siblings spoke about it around him, he simply stood up and left the room immediately. However, he did speak fondly over Queen Rhaenys I and King Corlys, speaking on how they'd teach him different things on ships, sailing, philosophy and the likes. He also spoke fondly of his childhood after the separation and raunion with his family, as if he had been born in 120 AC, ignoring all the years prior to it. He had also become close to Prince Lucerys, much to everyone's surprise, considering it was Prince Lucerys who slashed his eye out. Some claim it was perhaps the fact that they both resided in Driftmark for some time together and even shared a handful of voyages. Others assume it was their love for Lord Corlys that brought them together, as both men looked up to him tremendously. However, given their Lordly duties, they could not fraternize as often as they'd like, doing so mostly the times when they visitied King's Landing or both went out into voyages. 

His marriage, despite being happy, it did not seem to be lovely as those of his siblings. There was never any doubt that he loved his wife, and the feeling was much reciprocated. However, as it often happens, time changed things. The first crack in the marriage came when Lady Bethany was pregnant with Vernon, they argued over what religion to raise him with, since Prince Aemond followed the Fourteen flames and Lady Bethany followed the Faith of the seven. This had started a large argument, in which Lady Bethany claimed Aemond had no power over the choice, as their son would inherit Bethany's name, seat, and thus should inherit her faith; Prince Aemond, in retaliation, claimed that the Faith had murdered many of Queen Alysanne's children, enslaved women and caused multiple wars, and he would never want his child to hold a prayer book that had blood all over its pages. The couple split momentarily, with Prince Aemond flying over to Driftmark to spend time with Prince Lucerys and Princess Rhaena, while Lady Bethany spent more and more time with her ladies in waiting. When the Prince returned, he apologized, and told his wife that if she wanted, she could raise their children with the Faith of the Seven, but if they chose to convert to the Fourteen flames, Aemond couldn't be blamed for it.

In front of their children and others, the couple seemed happy, and loving, but it seemed that the two would only share a bed when drunken, simply to produce another child as a spare. However, they realized that they were happier when they were just platonic, acting as friends rather than spouses. They contemplated dissolving the union after Lady Taena was born, however, Lady Bethany did not want her children to have to visit their father. So they stayed together until Lady taena turned sixteen. Prior to that, their facade slowly came down, as they became less and less secretive about the lack of romantic feelings as their children grew up, and when Lady Taena became wedded in 149 AC, the couple would dissolve the marriage, with Prince Aemond getting half of Taena's riches and estate, which he replaced with a small manse in Driftmark, the only place where the Prince claimed to be happy. Lord Vernon was the only one living in Oldtown with his mother, and witnessed how almost unbothered she was by the dissolving union. To which she claimed.

"The marriage has dissolved years ago, it is only now that we finally stopped trying to act as if it hadn't. I love him the same way I would love any of my cousins and friends, but not as my Lord husband."

In Driftmark, Vhagar became a common sight once more after twenty-nine years, flying alongside Arrax, Morning, and the dragons belonging to Prince Lucerys and Princess Rhaena's children.

Prince Daeron was the total opposite of all his siblings, as he not only couldn't talk about his childhood, given he was five years old when his family was separated in 120 AC, but he was also in a strange union, at least in the words of many commoners. As it was not he who ruled over the family, it was his wife, Aliandra. Aliandra was more powerful, dominating and overall a stark contrast to Prince Daeron's more subservient personality. Perhaps given his softer upbringing, Daeron was quite gentle, and it reflected on the way he treated his wife and family. He often enjoyed massaging his wife after she spent the entire day focused on ruling over Dorne. Many claimed the Prince was so subservient due to being raised by his father with no separation, unlike his siblings, however, when Prince Aegon questioned his brother's treatment over his wife, Prince Daeron claimed.

"I enjoy doing that," He had shrugged. "It feels nice helping my wife feel better after she spends the entire day ruling over her kingdom."

"Yes, I understand." Princess Helaena spoke. "But, do you not fear you are giving your children a wrong idea on how they should be in a marriage?"

"Not at all," Prince Daeron shook his head. "Their mother never screams at me or insults me, and I teach them that if they witness their spouse is under stress, it is your duty to help make it better. Just because my wife is louder than me, does not mean I am doing as our father. It means I am simply doing as her husband."

His marriage was the least written about in terms of what occurred between the two, it is written about when it comes to the Kingdom of Dorne joining the Seven Kingdoms, but beyond that and the birth of their babes, Prince Daeron's and Princess Aliandra lack stories to write about; save for a common belief of the present day, which claimed the Prince and Princess often invited thirds into their bed chambers, sometimes even fourths and fifths. However, the earliest story claiming this was first ever written and told almost ten years after the couple passed away, however, it became so popular that many people nowadays believe the couple was sexually deviated, and held orgies involving men, women, even children. The reason behind these stories may have been originted by Lord Beesbury, a man who was so furious after being rejected by Princess Aliandra's granddaughter, that he created this rumour, along with many more, claiming that the couple would molest their children and grandchildren alike, mate with animals, and so many more, that Princess Laena, who was a Queen at the time the story was told, had the man publicly put on trial and condemned to have his tongue removed before she imprisoned him for life, as a punishment for his actions.

However, this story stayed public among those who were sexually deviated, who found the tales of incestuous orgies to be quite arousing, leading to more and more stories to emerge, borne as a strange sort of fiction in which both women and men inserted themselves into these orgies and wrote about being taken by the Prince or taking the Prince and Princess. 

When the year 150 came, Princess Morgana Martell became wedded. And thus, for the next generations, the Valyrian blood continued to be diluted over and over and over, from half, to a quarter, an eighth, a sixteenth, so on and so forth, until the line connecting them to the Targaryen crown was lost.

It was the year 151 AC that brought forth three weddings. First was Lady Rhyssa Tully's wedding, it seemed her wedding had no scandal associated to it, as not many texts were found on it. All we know is she looked beautiful, her husband was extremely excited to wed her, and not much else. However, it was perhaps due to the fact that 151 AC brought forth the most anticipated wedding by the people. First was the union between the son of Prince Lucerys and Princess Laena to the daughter of Princess Baela and Prince Jacaerys, held in August, a week after the Lord turned sixteen. Princess Laena looked breathtaking, in a gown of pure myrish lace, with so many stones embroidered into the gown, that it seemed to shine magically under the sunlight, her hair, which she never cut, was braided up in a sculpture of hair, with jewels braided into it. She looked like a Goddess, not like a Princess. The union was held in the High Perton, a building built to pray to the Gods of Old Valyria, similar to a sept. It had been built in the very beginning of Queen Viserra's reign. When Princess Laena walked into the perton, a long train of fabric followed after her, it was a gown that forever changed history, for many women, low and highborn, started wearing their hairs in similar styles to the Princess, and even wore gowns similar to hers, made in cheaper fabrics, of course. After kissing to seal their marriage, the couple mounted their dragons to go off to King's Landing, where the union was consumated.

Then, in September, Lady Maerea took Prince Daenys as her husband. Her gown, much like her, was not as eccentric as that of her cousin. Instead, the Lady wore a gown of silk, with her hair braided with long beads of pearls. It was held in Driftmark, right as the sun shined its brightest, and the sea was at it's lightest. Soft waves crashed against the rocks beneath the cliffs, as the couple was united by a Priestess of the Fourteen Flames, Nightfyre and Maelstrom already were performing a mating dance as the couple was married. Something that proved to be quite the good omen, for Lady Maera announced her pregnancy soon after her wedding. Prince Jacaerys had made fun of his brother, claiming.

"You had one child more than mother had. Perhaps Maerea will beat you and have eight."

That proved to be wrong, for the Lady birthed only one son, Lord Saeron Velaryon, nine moons after her wedding; in the sixth moon of 152 AC. The boy was born with the classic gold silver hair and purple eyes, but that was not what the songs mention when referring to his birth. Instead, they refer to his large size, some songs claim he was half a size bigger than an average babe, others that he was twice the size of a regular babe. One particular song claims he was "The size of three sons, four daughters, one boar.". However, the final song is mostly used by girls as a horror story to use on younger girls in order to scare them into avoiding a young pregnancy.  However, it is very much well known that the boy was so big that Lady Maerea actually stabbed her husband's leg in the haze of her agonizing birth, and later swore to drink all the moon tea in the world every morning after bedding her husband. Something she ensured would be true, for she never had a child ever again afterwards. And even refused to speak to her mother after the birth, claiming she had lied to her.

"You said it was not painful!" She reproached. "A dragon bite hurts less!"

"I apologize darling, my births were all easy" Was Princess Rhaena's response. "Except for the twins."

"Yes well, it seems my son made up for two." 

Lord Saeron was a ferocious boy, who always begged to be fed, a chubby baby, he had so many rolls and was so round that a jester had made a painting with Lady Maerea and her husband holding a giant pearl with two eyes and a mouth, naming the piece "The Birth of the someday Lord of the Tides." , even her own brothers made jokes about her baby, whilst her sisters prayed to the Fourteen Valyrian Gods to please ensure their children would not be that big. Lady Maerea once had become so tired by the jesting of her brothers that she actually kicked Lord Corlys in his crotch, sending the Lord to the ground.

"Now imagine that, but a thousand times worse." She had hummed, before brushing her shoe to get rid of invisible dirt.

It took him ten minutes to stand up. And a document found in the Maester archives from that area tell that the Lord's urine had a small amount of blood after that, however, it did not seem to affect him that much, for he would go on to have a child with Princess Laena in 155 AC. However, the scene had been enough to teach Lord Laenor and Daemon to not jest again when it came to the birth of the babe. The Lord's dragon egg never hatched, however, in 168 AC, he would claim the dragon belonging to his great-grandfather, Seasmoke. Another wedding took place in 152 AC, as Lady Jessamyn Manderly took Lord Jonnen Stark as her husband, however, the wedding was small, only their families, for the Vale had been struck by a strong snow storm, making travels through it impossible, so only those with ships and dragons attended. However, despite the wedding taking place, paintings show the Lady wore a dark blue gown, while the Lord wore a silver attire. And whilst these colours would have been common to see in a wedding, the garments were quite casual, one you would wear to host a dinner with close friends rather than marry, something many tend to assume was a choice made by the couple, as both members were known to be quite shy and often spent two hours in banquets before escaping for three hours and returning for the final hour.

Princess Laena, unlike her cousin Maerea, struggled to conceive, the first moons were unsuccesful, it seemed that her husband's seed never took; however, their parents claimed it was normal, that the stress of having to produce an heir was stopping them from having a babe. However, 152 AC passed with no child, same with 153 and 154. It seemed that the stress was making it worse for the Princess and Lord, so much so that King Daemon told his granddaughter to go off to his manse in Pentos to have time alone with her husband. At the same time, Lady Maerea and Prince Daenys contracted a strange illness, and had to move into Hightide to keep others safe from their illness. They stayed there for many moons, until they felt well enough to let people visit. The first person to visit was Princess Laena, along with Lord Corlys. Who had spent the entire year in Pentos, something that seemed to work for the couple. As they returned, and after visiting Lady Maerea, introduced their babe to the court, a boy, by the name of Aerys Targaryen. A small boy, with hair a dark silver, almost grey, and eyes blue. Many people believe that the boy was not actually Princess Laena, but instead was Lady Maerea's. Many think the Lady and Prince feigned their illnesses to hide the pregnancy, and then called the Princess and Lord to pretend the Princess had become pregnant. However, the couple was in quarantine for a total of ten moons, out of those ten moons they would continuously become ill and healthy. First, Lady Maerea was ill, and Prince Daenys took care of her, then Prince Daenys was sick, and Lady Maerea took care of him out of guilt; leading to her becoming ill again, repeating the process. The Princeling was also given a dragon egg, from which the dragon Terrax hatched, named after the legendary dragon of Jaenara Belaerys, a dragonlady from Old Valyria. The dragon was great, of burnt orange and bronze chest.

It was in 155 AC as well that Lord Baelor Peake left Westeros, abandoning his title in order to become a Priest in Essos, moving into a Perton to become trained, later returning to Westeros for the funeral of Queen Rhaenyra and King Daemon. However, he would not return to Westeros to live there again until 163 AC, finishing his training to become a priest experienced enough to teach his own students in the Perton of Westeros. Lady Naerys Celtigar would follow after him in 156 AC, and Lady Viserra Oeake would later follow in 158 AC, both of them becoming a priestess. By 156 AC, many of the descendants of Queen Rhaenyra were either betrothed or wedded; in 155 AC, Lady Narra wed a Sealord from Braavos, while Lord Aemon became Princess Aerea's husband. And in 156 AC. Lady Asterea and Lord Laenor became wedded, while Lady Sereia and Lord Daemon became wedded to their Velaryon cousins. However. In this same year, King Consort Daemon became bedbound, as he had turned 74 years of age, and his bones had become quite sensitive. He often suffered from never ending pain, which could only ever be tamed with milk of the poppy. Queen Rhaenyra as well became ill, however, with her, many believed that it was a consequence of a strong cold she had back in 153 AC. Which had left her with a cough that never left, her body was so weak that anything could make her become ill. So when she became bedbound in 156 AC as well, many were not surprised; however, one time during her coughing spell, she coughed up blood. Something that made Maesters realise, this would be much worse.

The Queen's decline in health was rapid, faster than anyone else could expect, Maesters could do nothing to stop her rapid decline. The weight she had gained with six pregnancies over fifteen years went down over a few months, and she had grown more and more ill. She could no longer get out of bed, coughing up blood every single day; King Daemon had been put in the very same bed as his wife, for he refused to leave her side, even if he himself was ill as well. The invalid chair became the seat of the reigning couple, as they were often wheeled around in the last few months of their lives, such as the day of Lady Daena Peake's union to Lord Lucerys Celtigar; the union had brought a few many problems, for the Lady craved a dragon, however, she was not allowed to claim one until her first pregnancy, two years after her wedding to Lord Lucerys, claiming the she-dragon, Meleys in 159 AC. However, her claiming a dragon was highly discussed over those two years. Lady Daena was a free spirit, much like King Daemon and Princess Baela, she had mastered horse riding at age 13, however, no horse was good enough for her, for she knew she was meant to ride a dragon. Her blood was of a dragon, unlike the blood of her siblings. 

However, Queen Rhaenyra and King Daemon would never witness their granddaughter claim her dragon, for the couple passed away in their sleep, the very same night. Autopsy scrolls would later reveal that Princess Rhaenyra had multiple black masses in her lungs, whilst Prince Daemon had perished of old age. Their ashes were burnt together, and kept in Dragonstone. The funeral was as large as those of Queen Viserra and Queen Rhaenys. Thousands of guests, all dressed in mourning, as they witnessed the burning of the couple, for Queen Rhaenyra had grown so beloved by the townspeople, even more so than she was in her youth, growing from the realm's delight, to the realm's gem. It was her death that ended the fifty-four years reigned by a Queen, for after her death, Queen Baela would be a regent, along with King Jacaerys, a choice which would make many folks argue over this era being branded as "The century of Queens" for there was a King regent during it as well. However, it is not the name that mattered, but the change. The half century marked a turning point in Westerosi history, with the invention of schools and health houses, a freedom of beliefs, which would later be a large reason behind the ending of multiple civil wars caused by religious differences. The joining of Dorne into the Kingdom, the creation of rights protecting women all over the continent; Queen Viserra Targaryen, Queen Rhaenys Targaryen I and Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen would forever mark the turning point of history. 

Princess Rhaenyra laughed as she ran up to her mother, the small six year old girl cheered, as Queen Aemma lifted her off the ground and spinned around, the Queen's brown locks gleamed underneath the sunlight as she put her daughter down.

"Oh darling, I have been looking for you." She smiled, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Were did you run off to?"

"I went to write a song, muña!" Princess Rhaenyra exclaimed, showing off her parchment, written with the girl's messy handwriting. "Sit!"

Queen Aemma laughed softly, doing as asked, sitting down on the ground, as her daughter started singing for her. Her voice was definitely not perfect, and the song itself was not one to writes stories about, but to Queen Aemma, it was no less than a masterpiece. She sat patiently, smiling as her daughter sange her small lungs out. Until she was done.

And for the first time in fifty-two years, Princess Rhaenyra could sing to her mother once again.

King Jacaerys Targaryen and Queen Baela Targaryen were crowned in the Perton, as they were given their own crowns. The crowd cheered for the two regents, as the two rose to their feet, their silver locks adorned with their crowns, as they each raised their own swords, King Jacaerys Targaryen held Dark Sister over his head, whilst Queen Baela Targaryen held Blackfyre over her head. Through them, the Targaryen line would continue.

Chapter Text

Queen Viserra Targaryen

• Reign: 103 AC - 130 AC
• Date of birth: 71 AC.
• Date of Death: January first, 130 AC. 59 years of age
• Dragon: Dreamfyre. Primarily pale blue, with silver markings. She has silver crests and pale blue wings.

King Consort Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides

• Date of Birth: Early 53 AC
• Date of death: March sixth, 132 AC. 79 years of age.

Queen Rhaenys I Targaryen

• Reign: 130 AC - 147 AC
• Date of birth: July seventh, 74 AC
• Date of death: October first, 147 AC. 73 years of age.
• Dragon: Meleys. Scarlet scales and pink membranes on her wings. Her crest, horns, and claws are bright as copper.

Prince Viserys Targaryen

• Date of Birth: 77 AC
• Date of Death: 129 AC. 52 years of age.
• Dragon: None

King Consort Daemon Targaryen

• Date of Birth: 81 AC
• Date of Death: 157 AC. 76 years of age.
• Dragon: Caraxes. Red, huge, and lean.

Queen Regent Rhaenyra Targaryen

• Reign: 147 AC - 157 AC
• Date of Birth: 97 AC
• Date of Death: 157 AC. 60 years of age.
• Dragon: Syrax. Yellow scales. She was huge and formidable.

King Regent Jacaerys Targaryen

• Date of Birth: Late 114 AC. 43 years of age. 
• Dragon: Vermax. A jade green dragon with pale orange wing membranes and chest.

Queen Regent Baela Targaryen

• Date of Birth: Late 116 AC. 40 years of age
• Dragon: Moondancer.  A slender pale green dragon. Her horns, crest and wingbones are pearl.

Princess Laena Targaryen

• Date of Birth: Late 133 AC. 24 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver white hair and dark purple eyes
• Dragon: Sunstar, a gold dragon, with specks of white that dotted his body, his wings and horns were pure white.

Prince Daenys Targaryen

• Date of Birth: September fifteenth, 135 AC. 22 years of age.
• Appearance: In looks, a miniature of his grandfather, Prince Daemon Targaryen.
• Dragon: Nightfyre. A dark blue dragon with golden spots and wings.

Princess Aerea Targaryen

• Date of Birth: Early 137 AC. 20 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver gold hair and lilac eyes, a circular birth mark on her cheek.
• Dragon: Dreamfyre. Claimed in 150 AC, at age 13. 

Prince Lucerys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides

• Date of Birth: Late 115 AC. 42 years of age
• Dragon: Arrax. A pearlescent white dragon with yellow flame, golden eyes and a golden chest

Princess Rhaena Targaryen, Lady of Driftmark

• Date of Birth: Late 116 AC. 40 years of age
• Dragon: Morning. Pale pink, with a black crest and horns.

Lady Maerea Velaryon

• Date of Birth: Early 134 AC. 23 years of age.
• Appearance: Born with the same deep purple eyes and silver-gold hair as Queen Viserra.
• Dragon: Maelstrom, a pale blue she-dragon, with white markings that resembled the way the sunlight would look like in the ocean floor, rippled by the water surface.

Lord Corlys Velaryon

• Date of Birth: August fifteenth, 135 AC. 22 years of age.
• Appearance: Hair as white seafoam, and eyes as blue as the ocean.
• Dragon: Merys. A pale pink dragon with pearlescent white markings all around his body, his crest and wingbones are pearlescent white.

Lady Narra Velaryon

• Date of Birth: August fifteenth, 135 AC. 22 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver hair, sporting a streak of black hair, her eyes a deep burgundy colour.
• Dragon: Snowstorm. A pure pearlescent white dragon with an elongated neck.

Lady Asterea Velaryon

• Date of Birth: 138 AC. 19 years of age.
• Appearance: Pitch black hair, with a few streaks of pearlescent white hair. Her eyes a pinkish lilac shade.
• Dragon: Heartfyre. A pure bright red dragon with pink markings that resembled veins.

Lady Sereia Velaryon

• Date of Birth: 139 AC. 18 years of age.
• Appearance: Skin as white as milk, her eyes a hypnotizing lavender, and her hair almost pearlescent. She was a beauty of Old Valyria
• Dragon: Raqna. A serpentine and graceful body, pearlescent pink scales with specks of gold here and there; her eyes cauldrons of molten gold, and her chest and wings bathed in gold.

Lord Laenor Velaryon

• Date of Birth: 140 AC. 17 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver-gold hair that looked like the moon in the ocean sky, his eyes a bright Velaryon blue
• Dragon: Seastar. A blue-green dragon, with pearl markings, crest and horns.

Lord Daemon Velaryon

• Date of Birth: 140 AC. 17 years of age
• Appearance: Silver-gold hair that looked like the moon in the ocean sky, his eyes a bright Velaryon blue
• Dragon: Zōbriēter. Black scales, with purple wings, chest and eyes. 

Prince Joffrey Velaryon, Lord of White Harbor

• Date of Birth: 117 AC. 40 years of age.
• Dragon: Tyraxes. A pale violet dragon with dark purple horns with purple flames.

Lady Jessamyn Manderly, Lady of White Harbor

• Date of Birth: 117 AC. 40 years of age.

Lady Alyssa Manderly

• Date of Birth: August first, 135 AC. 22 years of age.
• Appearance: Born with her mother's dirty blonde hair, with eyes so dark, they looked black under most lights, only showing their purple when hit by sunlight.

Lady Rhaenyra Manderly

• Date of Birth: 137 AC. 20 years of age.
• Appearance: Same dirty blonde hair as her mother, only with a streak of silver near the front. Her eyes a periwinkle shade.

Lord Theodore Manderly

• Date of Birth: 139 AC. 18 years of age
• Appearance: Dark blonde hair and blue eyes. A strapping build.

Lord Dorian Manderly

• Date of Birth: 141 AC. 16 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver hair and lilac eyes, with strange blue spots around the iris.

Prince Aegon Targaryen, Lord of Starpike.

• Date of Birth: 120 AC. 37 years of age.
• Dragon: Stormcloud. A turquoise dragon with black horns and claws.

Lady Myrielle Peake, Lady of Starpike.

• Date of birth: 119 AC. 36 years of age.

Lord Titus Peake

• Date of Birth: 138 AC. 19 years of age.
• Appearance: Targaryen silver hair, as well as brown eyes and Lady Myrielle's nose.

Lord Baelor Peake

• Date of Birth: 140 AC. 17 years of age. (Goes to the Perton (Perzys - Fire, Lenton - House) in 155 AC, at 15)
• Appearance: A beautiful set of brown curls on his head, with his eyes a pale dusty purple colour

Lady Daena Peake

• Date of Birth: 141. 16 years of age.
• Appearance: Curls of silver-gold hair and sparkling purple eyes.

Lady Viserra Peake

• Date of Birth: 143 AC. 14 years of age. (Goes to the Perton in 158 AC, at 15)
• Appearance: Golden brown hair and soft puple eyes.

Lady Helena Peake

• Date of Birth: 145 AC. 12 years of age.
• Appearance: Platinum white with a bright golden streak down the middle

Prince Viserys Targaryen, Lord of Claw Isle.

• Date of Birth: 122 AC. 35 years of age.
• Dragon: Aegarax. A lavender dragon with pale pink wing membranes.

Lady Daerea Celtigar. Lady of Claw Isle.

• Date of Birth: Early 121 AC. 36 years of age.

Lord Lucerys Celtigar

• Date of Birth: December thirty-first, 138 AC. 19 years of age.
• Appearance: Sunkissed skin, his hair was more like white sand than anything, and his eyes were a dark purple. He was also quite stout, short and stocky rather than tall and lean.
• Dragon: Morghul. A dragon of pitch blackness, with silver eyes, horns and wingbones.

Lord Aemon Celtigar

• Date of Birth: 139 AC. 18 years of age.
• Appearance: Large, lusty and strong, with white hair, a thin sheen of silver over it, and purple eyes.
• Dragon: Caraxes, claimed in 157, at age 18.

Lady Naerys Celtigar

• Date of Birth: 141 AC. 16 years of age. (Goes to the Perton in 156 AC, at 15)
• Appearance: Her hair was a pure white, not a single trace of silver or gold; her eyes were a deep violet hue. And her skin is a porcelain white shade.
• Dragon: Grey Ghost, claimed in 154 AC, at age 13. A pale grey-white, the color of morning mist.

Princess Visenya Targaryen, Lady of Winterfell.

• Date of Birth: 129 AC. 28 years of age.
• Dragon: Gaelithox. A bronze dragon with golden specks, his wings and chest a bright golden colour.

Lord Rickon Stark, Lord of Winterfell.

• Date of Birth: 128 AC. 27 years of age.

Lady Sansa Stark

• Date of Birth: June 147 AC. 10 year of age.
• Appearance: Targaryen silver-gold hair, with a single streak of brown hair decorating the front of his hair; her eyes are grey, just like her father's

Lady Serena Starka

• Date of Birth: September 148 AC. 8 year of age.
• Appearance: Stark brown hair and bright purple eyes

Prince Aegon targaryen, Lord of Storm's End

• Date of Birth: 107 AC. 50 years of age.
• Dragon: Sunfyre. He has gleaming gold scales, which shine like beaten gold in the sunlight, and pale pink wing membranes.

Lady Cassandra Baratheon, Lady of Storm's End

• Date of Birth: 111. 46 years of age.

Lady Erys Baratheon

• Date of Birth: 128 AC. 29 years of age.
• Appearance: Born with her father's purple eyes and her mother's raven black hair.

Lord Baelon Baratheon

• Date of Birth: 129 AC. 28 years of age
• Appearance: Baratheon blue eyes and raven hair, though a streak of silver adorned his head.

Lord Jorah Baratheon

• Date of Birth: 130 AC. 27 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver gold hair and dark purple eyes.

Lady Josephine Baratheon

• Date of birth: January twenty-third, 132 AC.
• Appearance: Baratheon as they come.

Lady Milena Baratheon

• Date of birth: December twenty-ninth, 134 AC.
• Appearance: Born with snow white hair and blue eyes.

Princess Helaena Targaryen, Lady of Riverrun

• Born: 109 AC. 48 years of age.
• Dragon: Silverwing. A silvery dragon

Lord Kermit Tully, Lord Paramount of the Trident

• Date of Birth: 112 AC. 45 years of age.

Lord Adalia Tully

• Date of Birth: Late 128 AC. 29 years of age.
• Appearance: Tully red hair and Targaryen purple eyes

Lady Lysandra Tully

• Date of Birth: February first, 130 AC. 27 years of age.
• Appearance: Bright red hair and blue eyes.

Lord Attacus Tully

• Date of Birth: February first, 130 AC. 27 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver hair and bright blue eyes.

Lady Rhyssa Tully

• Date of Birth: November fifth, 135 AC. 22 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver gold hair and lavender eyes.

Prince Aemond, Lord of the Hightower

• Date of Birth: 110 AC. 47 years of age.
• Dragon: Vhagar. A bronze dragon with greenish blue highlights and bright green eyes.

Lady Bethany Hightower, Lady of the Hightower

• Date of birth: 112 AC. 45 years of age.

Lord Vernon Hightower

• Date of Birth: Late 128 AC. 29 years of age.
• Appearance:  He had inherited his mother's plain looks, with her same eyes and hair, though he had inherited the Prince's facial features, his nose, lips, cheeks. He was born with auburn hair and brown eyes.

Lady Aurora Hightower

• Date of Birth: 130 AC. 27 years of age. 
• Appearance: Silver hair and purple eyes.

Lady Taena Hightower

• Date of Birth: Late 133 AC. 24 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver hair and brown eyes.

Prince Daeron Targaryen, Prince of Dorne

• Date of Birth: 114 AC. 43 years of age.
• Dragon: Tessarion. A blue she-dragon. Her wings are a dark cobalt, while her claws, crest, and belly scales are the color of bright beaten copper.

Princess Aliandra Martell, Princess of Dorne

• Date of Birth: 115 AC. 42 years of age.

Prince Nymor Martell

• Date of Birth: November 131 AC. 26 years of age.
• Appearance: Nymor has the same skin tone and eyes of Princess Aliandra, with a head full of silver gold hair.

Princess Aerea Martell

• Date of Birth: 133 AC. 24 years of age.
• Appearance: The darkest hair in the known world, beautiful sun kissed skin, with the lightest lilac eyes.

Princess Morgana Martell

• Date of Birth: December twenty-ninth, 134 AC. 23 years of age.
• Appearance: Silver gold hair with purple eyes and tanned skin.

Prince Aerys Targaryen

• Date of birth: 155 AC. 2 years of age.
• Appearance: Dark silver hair, almost grey, and blue eyes.
• Parents: Princess Laena Targaryen and Lord Corlys Velaryon
• Dragon: Terrax. Burnt orange and bronze chest.

Lord Saeron Velaryon

• Date of birth: June 152 AC. 5 years of age.
• Appearance: A large boy at birth, outside of his massive size, he looked like the average Valyrian.
• Parents: Lady Maerea Velaryon and Prince Daenys Targaryen.
• Dragon: None

Unclaimed Dragons by 157 AC

• The Cannibal
• Sheepstealer
• Syrax
• Vermithor
• Caraxes
• Seasmoke
• Meleys