Chapter Text
- In 39 AC, Queen Alyssa gave birth to her sixth and final child, a daughter named Vaella. The child was born two months too soon and had a weak heart.
- Maesters and septas cared for the young princess all throughout her first years, though it was whispered throughout the court that she would die before her fifth nameday.
- Rhaena, her eldest sister, placed an egg in Vaella’s cradle. It was from the first clutch ever laid by Dreamfyre. It did not hatch for Vaella but long after her death would hatch and be claimed by Princess Rhaenyra.
- When Aenys relocated the royal family to Dragonstone for their safety from the Warrior’s Sons and Poor Fellows, the two-year-old princess showed a remarkable recovery from her poor health.
- When Alyssa fled Dragonstone after her husband’s funeral, she brought her middle three children - Viserys, Jaehaerys, and Alysanne - with her to Driftmark. She was forced to leave Vaella behind because it was believed that leaving the island might kill the girl.
- Thus, Vaella fell into her uncle’s hands when Visenya brought him to Dragonstone to be crowned. Alyssa would much come to regret leaving Vaella behind, but Visenya delighted in the solemn princess. The Queen Mother chose to stay at Dragonstone both to care for her and to be on the lookout for her mother or brother.
- Visenya was the first person to take Vaella flying, something Alyssa had warned Aenys against for fear of her health. Being in the sky only seemed to help the princess though.
- Vaella remained distant to her mother when Alyssa and her siblings, preferring the company of Visenya. Vaella barely recognized Alyssa when she first returned to Dragonstone from Driftmark.
- Vaella was into a solemn, quiet child who preferred books and embroidery to spending time with her playmates, though she had a fierce fire in her when brought to anger. She was incredibly intelligent and knew much and more about plants, poison, and magic from the tutelage of Queen Visenya.
- By the time she turned six in 45 AC, Vaella was sent to serve as cupbearer for King Maegor by Visenya.
- While Maegor tortured and killed her brother Viserys, he still viewed Vaella as a useful pawn in the market of forming alliances through marriage, and he recalled his mother’s fondness for the girl. There was even talk of Maegor marrying her, but he did not want to wait because of her young age and he would prefer to have an heir sooner.
- After the marriage of Maegor and Rhaena, she shared caretakers with her niece Aerea. The two were close friends.
- When Rhaena escaped King’s Landing, she left behind her sister. Vaella would not see Aerea again until after Jaehaerys’ coronation, when her personality seemed much changed. They were not as close after.
- Vaella was only nine and unbetrothed when Maegor died and Jaehaerys became king.
- Lord Rogar Baratheon is ten years younger, born in 27 AC or later. He still makes attempts at controlling the throne, but they are less close to treason than in canon. For example, he suggests that he should marry Alysanne rather than his brother.
- In an attempt to strengthen ties and reward House Baratheon for its loyalty, Alyssa and Alysanne arranged for Lord Rogar to marry Vaella at the end of Jaehaerys’ regency. The marriage was helped along because Vaella had fallen madly in love with him when she was a pre-teen.
- The wedding of Rogar and Vaella in 55 AC is one for the history books, but the Golden Wedding referred to her sister and brother’s wedding, rather than theirs. The bride is sixteen; the groom is twenty-eight or younger.
- Queen Mother Alyssa never remarried. She died of the shivers in 60 AC, at the age of fifty-three.
- Vaella is mother to two children: Jocelyn and Boremund (their births are a little later than in canon).
- Despite Rogar’s pressure for her to claim a dragon, she never did. Though Vaella never gave a reason, many believed it was because of what happened when her niece Aerea was taken off by Balerion and returned, nearly dead. She may have borne witness to the aftermath and Aerea’s death.
- After Rogar died from the wounds he suffered during the Third Dornish War / Lord Rogar’s War, Vaella became Lady Regent of the Stormlans. She rulled effectively for her son until he came of age. Later, Boremund would cite his mother as an example to Jaehaerys when arguing for the rights of Princess Rhaenys to become Jaehaerys’ heir. Though Jaehaerys harbored great affection for his youngest sister, it would not be enough to make her granddaughter queen.
- Garon, Rogar’s younger brother, had thought he would serve as regent for his young nephew. There were major disputes between Garon and Vaella until she threatened to send his children to the Faith and Citadel. She dared him to call her bluff, when she was sister to the King and Queen, and he fell in line with her arguments.
- Vaella conspired to encourage a closeness between her daughter Jocelyn and Crown Prince Aegon, going so far as to ask Queen Alysanne to make Jocelyn her cupbearer and ward. Her efforts worked, and the pair were betrothed and married.
- Vaella's preference for solitude and quiet was well-matched to Storm's End's isolation in the countryside. However, she was still a frequent visitor at court especially after Jocelyn served as a lady in the queen's retinue and married Aemon. Once Boremund gained his majority at sixteen and began to rule Storm's End in his own right, Vaella increased her visits to Jocelyn and her granddaughter, Rhaenys.
- However, her visits to King's Landing stopped abruptly in 92 AC after her granddaughter Rhaenys was rejected as Princess of Dragonstone. Vaella never forgave her brother for this.
- She saw Jaehaerys for the last time in 101 AC, when she journeyed to King's Landing with Boremund to assert Rhaenys as heir to the throne. According to rumors, the last meeting between the only living children of King Aenys ended in a shouting match before the Iron Throne.
- Vaella outlived both her daughter and sister, dying in her sleep in 103 AC.