Chapter Text
“My own daughter” Viserys sighs“Dishonored by my brother”
“It is a shame the princess fell to his claws your grace” Otto Hightower says.
“A shame does not do this situation justice lord hand, she is ruined, to marry her to any other lord would be an insult, heir to the throne or not she is still a maiden and he’s gone ahead and destroyed her. Can you believe he had the audacity, the face to ask me to wed them, when he is already wed” Viserys drinks from his cup “This was all a plot for the throne and he tainted Rhaenyra in the hopes of it to work”
Otto listens to the king tell him his grievances, the fate of the princess is now unsure, like Viserys said, to wed her to lord of a noble house would be an insult…unless said lord was alright with it.
“If I may your grace…I have an unwed son” Otto says.
Viserys looks at him “Otto…no I could never, I wedded your daughter-”
“And that was a great honor you bestowed upon my home your grace” Otto says “specially when my daughter has…failed on her duty”
“She has not failed Otto” Viserys grimaces at that “A miscarriage is common, I know that better than anyone, she is still young it’s a matter of time before a pregnancy takes, no failure in her part there”
Otto nods “and forever kind you are your grace I want to repay you that kindness, My son Gwayne sits unmarried in Oldtown, a raven would bring him here, he is my eldest but not that far away from the princess so she cannot claim him too old like she has done to previous suitors while in her tour”
Viserys looks off into the distance, considering Otto’s words “She is still my heir, and any son she bears will be her heir…I had planned on offering this to the Velaryons but since you have so kindly offered to help me in this situation, I’ll offer it to you” The king turns towards the Lord Hand “Rhaenyra’s children will carry the Hightower name, until they ascend the throne, where they will take the Targaryen name”
Otto bows his head “I will write for Gwayne at once”
“Send Rhaenyra to me first thing in the morning, this ought to be a fun conversation” Viserys says sitting back on his chair.
Sunrise comes and with it comes the news.
Princess Rhaenyra is first confronted by her former friend Alicent, it was not helpful that the princess had already been summoned by her father to his study.
“I need the truth Rhaenyra my father has heard things” Alicent says.
“To question my virtue is an act of treason” Rhaenyra says.
“I only seek to aid you and I cannot do that without the truth” Alicent says exasperated.
“Daemon…never touched me, I swear it on my mother’s name!” Rhaenyra says.
“…Then why does the king want to speak to you, and why is my father writing to Oldtown?” Alicent asks
“I do not know, but I ought to find out now” Rhaenyra says and makes it pass Alicent, leaving her seething in the garden.
The doors creek as Rhaenyra enters her father’s study, the life long project of a stone recreation of Kings Landing standing before her, Viserys stands from his seat and takes in how his daughter looks, a quick sigh and he hangs his head then looks back up at her.
“I have sent Daemon back to the Vale, to be with his wife” Viserys says, he doesn’t miss the way his daughter flinches at the mention of Daemon’s wife.
“Father I-”
“I am not done speaking” Viserys says putting on a more stern tone “Daemon admitted to what he had done the morning after, he asked me to wed you two together something that I declined for obvious reasons, and your own admission of guilt upon drinking the tea provided by the maester, I hope I do not need to explain to you Rhaenyra as to why you have tainted yourself, I had to rush to clean up your mess before it became public or you would have been shamed”
Rhaenyra lowers her head, her mistake had been huge, she knew the risk when she followed Daemon out of the keep, she played with fire and now she had been burned.
“Luckily, my Lord Hand has come forward and offered a solution, as we speak a raven flies to Oldtown, he has ever so kindly offered his own son to be your wedded husband” Viserys says.
Rhaenyra’s eyes go wide open, Otto has no shame on how far he will go to have his line on the throne “I refuse”
“This is no longer yours to refuse, you were given a chance to have your own say on who you wed and you have wasted it, you will wed Gwayne Hightower and you will do so with no complain, you are my heir and it is time for you to start acting like it” Viserys says.
The princess was dismissed to her chambers without another say, unaware that another father was breaking the same news to his own daughter.
“You can’t” Alicent exclaims.
“This is a good thing, it is shameful you fail to see so” Otto says “I merely told you so you wouldn’t feel blind sighted, since he is your brother”
“You know what she did, and she lied to my face about it” Alicent says.
“Gwayne is coming to restore her honor, he will be her husband and the King consort when her time comes to ascend the throne” Otto says.
“And what about the children I am to have? what is your plan for them?” Alicent asks, her voice trembling as she digs her nails into her cuticles.
Otto sighs “calm yourself Alicent, you are still queen consort” is all he says to his terrified daughter before leaving the room.
Rhaenyra continues seeking comfort from Ser Criston like she did the night Daemon left her on the street of silk, her wedding day rapidly approaches her and she does not even know what her betrothed looks liken, she is to meet him on the day of wedding per order of the king to avoid any “miscommunications” as he phrased it.
Ser Criston is a good comfort, she takes her pleasure with him and then goes back to playing the waiting bride, but like everything else in her life good things come to an end.
“I broke my vow for you” Ser Criston says.
As if that was anyone’s fault but his own, the man craved more so he sought more, he was the only one to blame for the situation he put himself in, so the princess left their arrangement without another word but.
“I am the crown”
Her wedding arrives, she is thoroughly cleaned, dressed in white and gold, intricate braids are placed in her hair by her ladies in waiting and she’s taken to the main hall.
One by one each family makes their entrance, and fashionably late comes the queen consort…dressed in green.
A private declaration of war.
Clearly she is unhappy about this arrangement, Rhaenyra herself wishes her dress was also a declaration of war.
“You will change at once” Otto whispers to Alicent as she sits next to her husband.
“I will not” She whispers back
Daemon makes an appearance as well, he takes his seat at the end of the table, far from Rhaenyra who doesn’t even spare him a glance, too hurt by his betrayal.
And last but not least comes in the groom.
He isn’t bad looking, not too old not too young, not someone who Rhaenyra would’ve chosen but her choice was taken, at least she is not the wife on some old lord on the edge of the world.
“It is a pleasure to finally meet you Princess” Gwayne says.
“The pleasure is all mine” Rhaenyra says.
The evening that will seal her fate commences, music echoes through the hall as everyone dances, she joins the dance floor for a moment, allowing herself to forget everything that has occurred, she dances with Ser Harwin, converses with Ser Jason, then Daemon approaches, judging her for marrying a tower.
“As if you left me any choice” Rhaenyra says in their mother tongue.
“I told my brother to wed us” Daemon says.
“Please you are not that dumb, you knew he would say no, you KNEW he would never agree, I am marrying a tower because of you, you put me in this wedding…and you won’t do anything about it” Rhaenyra says returning to her father’s side.
As the ceremony continues and concludes on the wedded couple, the Queen finds a knight about to lay on his sword.
“Ser Criston” Alicent says, stopping him “May I have a word”
The gods are cruel. That is what many books said, the old and new both shared a thirst for human suffering, which is possibly why the queen has lost three babes in the womb.
Rumors went on that she was perhaps incapable of providing a child at all, rumors were proven wrong when a babe finally stuck, the queen was with child, and by the looks of it a strong one.
And so Jacerys Targaryen was born, son of King Viserys and Queen Alicent, a boy with brown hair and brown eyes just like his mother.
Rhaenyra was with her own child by the time of her half-brother’s first name day, she shared her condition with the Queen who was on the early stages of her second pregnancy. Laying with Gwayne wasn’t particularly torture but it wasn’t joyous either, it was a task.
“The child-bed is our battlefield and we must learn to face it with a stiff lip”
Her late mother had once said, the days were long with her child, filled with sleepless nights, sickness and aches, every single lady was tending her for the babe that grew in her belly, and her lord husband would check on her from time to time.
She understood her mother’s likeness for the bath now, the warm water soothing every aching muscle almost carrying her to sleep, she opens her eyes slightly as the door opens.
“I thought I would find you here” Gwayne says and sits next to the bathtub, Rhaenyra wonders how many times her father did this, how often he would join her mother on her soothing baths.
“The warm water soothes me” Rhaenyra says.
Gwayne nods and feels the water “have you thought of any names? I figured you’d want to have a name from your house”
“Aegon” Rhaenyra says “the conqueror’s name”
Gwayne smiles and nods “Fitting name for a future king, what if the babe is a girl? If I may input, I read about the name Heleana, nice ring that one has”
Visenya was the name Rhaenyra had thought for her daughter if she were to have one she’s always wanted a baby girl named that…but the name might as well be cursed.
“I like it” Rhaenyra says.
“So Aegon and Heleana” Gwayne says “perfect names” he says then kisses the top of her head.
Gwayne wasn’t a bad husband, definitely not the worst she could’ve had.
The princess soon finds herself clutching the sheets of the child bed as her body trembles with effort, a horrid scream making its way out of her throat.
“You’re doing great princess I see the head” The midwife says “push princess push!”
The labor is endless, she can feel her body being split in too, she feels a rag wipe away her sweat as her body exerts itself, and then the room is filled with cries. Loud and strong followed by cheers.
“It’s a boy! It’s a boy princess!” The midwife says wrapping her son up and handing him to her.
“Oh” Rhaenyra chuckles then cries “Oh hello” she says tearfully “Aegon hello”
Aegon cries in her arms, white eyebrows and already white hair, she can’t see his eyes but if he’s already taken so much after her she can already guess the color.
Her son.
Her first born.
The cheers stop as the door opens, and in comes Alicent, her belly is bigger now as she is further along in her own pregnancy, she comes with her lady in waiting and makes her way to Rhaenyra.
“I wanted to come congratulate you in person” Alicent says and peeks at her son, Rhaenyra feels the intense need to shield him from her and Alicent appears to notice “I know the need to protect one’s own is strong, I merely seek to see my nephew” Alicent says but Rhaenyra doesn’t miss the poison in her tone.
Without much warning Alicent reaches into Rhaenyra’s arms and scoops her son up “Oh hi” Alicent smiles and examines the babe “Targaryen hair”
“He is mine after all” Rhaenyra says.
“I wonder if only yours” Alicent says, but before Rhaenyra can respond to the clear insult that was just uttered Gwayne makes his way in.
“A boy I heard, sister please how dare you see my son before me” Gwayne chuckles joyfully and makes his way to Alicent, taking his son from her.
Seeing their son in his father’s eyes helps put Rhaenyra at ease letting out a soft breath she was not aware she was holding.
“The king and my father are on their way” Gwayne says and looks at his wife “Aegon?”
“Aegon” Rhaenyra says with a nod.
Her sweet son, Aegon.