Work Text:
Under the long shadow of King Jaehaerys I’s reign, when the Iron Throne was thought immovable and the laws of gods and men settled beyond question, a single night altered the fate of House Targaryen in ways no council, no king, and no queen could ever fully undo.
Baelon Targaryen found his sister in his chambers not as rumors would later say he did. There was no glitter of jewels, no calculated display of silver-gold beauty meant to ensnare him. Viserra stood before him stripped of all ornament, her fine hair unbound, her gown plain and unadorned, the red rims of her eyes betraying tears she had not tried to hide. She looked smaller than her fifteen summers should have allowed, diminished by fear rather than vanity, and in that moment Baelon was struck by a memory so sharp it almost wounded him. He remembered a three-nameday-old child, Viserra, standing in the solar while their mother stared at her as if she were a ghost returned to mock her. Queen Alysanne had called her by the name of her first lost daughter, Daenerys, dead of winter fever before her fifth nameday, and something in the Queen had broken beyond mending. Instead of apologizing to the child for the slip, Alysanne turned from her and refused to speak to her for a fortnight,her young daughter's tears and cries falling on deaf ears. From that day onward, every smile Viserra wore was called vanity, every question ambition, every curiosity shamelessness. When cruelty took the Queen, whispers of whorishness followed her own daughter through the Red Keep.The most beautiful daughter of the monarchs was thus haunted by her mother's grief and bitter censure. The daughters of Alyssanne were always haunted by their long dead eldest sister, oft compared to a five nameday child, long dead before she could become anything beyond their mother's daughter. Yet,of all his sisters, including his late wife, Alyssa, Princess Viserra bore the brunt of the Queen's unrelenting censure and knife like words. She never had the shield of their father's love, like Saera did, nor was she a weak gentle songbird like his sister Daella, nor was she so different from his mother's ideas of a princess that she was left alone, like his darling Alyssa. Instead,she was charming. Like Daenerys would have been, his mother's voice whispered in his skull. Beautiful. Like Daenerys, again her voice whispered. Vivacious. Like Daenerys. Alive. Unlike Daenerys, his mother's voice wailed in his mind.
Baelon knew why Viserra had come. After Princess Saera’s spectacular fall from grace, the Queen had rushed to rid herself of another daughter of marriageable age, and Viserra had been promised to the Lord of White Harbor, a man nearly thrice her age, a match made for quiet disposal that would be advantageous to everyone but the bride. As Viserra pleaded with him, with terror and a rarely seen helplessness, Baelon remembered another sister, gentle Daella, dead five years past. Daella had been wed too young, to a man twice her age, and had perished upon her first labor, her life spent before it had truly begun. Baelon looked at Viserra then—only five years older than his own son Viserys—and refused to watch another Targaryen woman be destroyed by his mother’s will.
Within a week, Prince Baelon eloped with Princess Viserra to Dragonstone, taking with him the blessing of his sons. The court reeled. The Good Queen raged, and the Old King thundered, yet King Jaehaerys confined his wrath to decree rather than blood, commanding Prince Baelon and Princess Viserra to remain on Dragonstone and summoning Prince Aemon and his family to court in their stead. Lord Manderly returned north bride-less and humiliated. Princess Viserra, denied a dragon for years by a king who feared granting such power beyond his immediate line, claimed one regardless. On Dragonstone she mounted the wild Sheepstealer, taming the untamed, and renamed the beast Aegarax, declaring the dragon her birthright rather than a royal gift. Prince Viserys, Prince Baelon’s eldest son, grew notably close to his new aunt-stepmother during their stay, finding in her a warmth and attentiveness he had rarely known since his mother.
When war came to the Stepstones, and Prince Aemon fell in battle in 92 AC, both Prince Baelon and Princess Viserra rode to war. It was said that the Princess shielded the Prince from enemy fire, circling Vhagar and her rider with Aegarax’s strength, and that she burned the enemy ranks below not for glory but to keep Baelon’s grief from turning the battlefield into indiscriminate slaughter. When Prince Baelon returned to court bearing the severed heads of the Triarchy lords as proof of vengeance, he presented them to his mother without tears. Those he shed later, with his head in Princess Viserra’s lap.
That same year Prince Baelon was named heir, despite Queen Alysanne’s fierce desire to see Princess Rhaenys, Prince Aemon’s only child, elevated instead. In her fury, the Queen turned her blame upon her daughter, Princess Viserra, accusing her of ambition so grasping it summoned divine punishment, calling her witch, claiming she had sacrificed her own siblings to advance herself. From that day, an unbridgeable line was drawn between Queen and Crown Princess, and it never healed.
In 93 AC, Queen Alysanne wed the barely ten-nameday-old Lady Aemma Arryn to Prince Viserys, against Princess Consort Viserra’s wishes. Queen Alysanne sought to reclaim her granddaughter and crown her dead daughter’s blood. Though ignored, Princess Consort Viserra did not turn her bitterness upon the child. She welcomed Aemma warmly, took her under her wing, and pressed for the marriage’s consummation to be delayed until Aemma reached fifteen namedays rather than flowering at thirteen, sparing the girl the fate of Daella. The Princess Consort’s own child came in 95 AC, a daughter named Seraena. Crown Prince Baelon finally had the daughter he wished for.The scribes of the Red Keep wrote of Prince Baelon's apprehension at the pregnancy and his effervescent joy when he held his new born daughter at his Lady wife's side. Against King Jaehaerys’ wishes, he placed a dragon egg in the cradle with Prince Daemon’s help. The egg lay dormant for five years, hatching at last in 100 AC into a yellow-orange dragon the girl named Tyraxes, to mirror her cousin Rhaenyra’s Syrax.
Rhaenyra was born in 97 AC to Aemma and Viserys, and she and Seraena grew inseparable, their closeness reflecting that of their parents. Viserys sought Viserra’s counsel often, valuing her judgment alongside Baelon’s. When Baelon died of a burst belly in 101 AC and Ser Otto Hightower replaced him as Hand, Otto’s attempts to ingratiate himself with Viserys faltered upon his open disdain for Viserra. Prince Viserys and Princess Aemma, who had grown notably closer to the widowed Princess in their shared grief, were especially protective of the her, with Prince Viserys being vocal in his defense of Princess Viserra against Queen Alyssanne ever-accusatory whispers and Princess Aemma shielding her as Princess Viserra had once done. Viserys openly rejected Otto’s suggestion to summon his eight-nameday-old daughter, Lady Alicent to court, declaring that Princess Rhaenyra was already well accompanied by her aunt, Princess Seraena and her cousin, Lady Laena Velaryon.
When Queen Alysanne again pressed for Rhaenys’ claim, King Jaehaerys sought counsel not only from Vaegon but from Viserra. She proposed naming Viserys heir while betrothing Laena Velaryon to any future son of Aemma, thus averting conflict. Jaehaerys accepted eagerly, unwilling to expose his own hypocrisy in having bypassed Princesses Aerea and Rhaella and wary of Lord Corlys Velaryon’s ambitions. Rhaenys was placated with promises of dragon eggs for her children, and in private, Viserra and Aemma offered more than the King ever had.
After Princess Aemma’s third stillbirth, Princess Viserra urged Crown Prince Viserys to cease attempts for another heir, privately advising him that once crowned he could dismiss Otto Hightower and name Prince Rhaenys Hand, soothing old wounds without placing Corlys closer to the throne. When Prince Viserys ascended the Iron Throne in 102 AC, Otto returned to Oldtown, the realm gained its first Lady Hand in Princess Rhaenys, and Queen Aemma claimed Dreamfyre. Upon the advice of his Queen and Princess Dowager Viserra, Prince Daemon was granted an annulment from his ill suited marriage with Lady Rhea of Runestone, as was his wish since the very beginning of the marriage that was foisted upon him by Queen Alyssanne for his part in getting his sister, Princess Seraena, her egg and was then sent to the Stepstones, where he rose as Prince of the Stepstones alongside Corlys Velaryon after defeating the the Triarchy pirates upon the back of his draconian mount, Caraxes.
By 106 AC, the power of the royal house stood consolidated in a manner unseen since before the Doom of Valyria itself. Nearly every living dragonrider of House Targaryen resided in King’s Landing or Dragonstone, bound together not merely by blood but by a deliberate weaving of loyalties, marriages, and shared purpose. At the urging of the dragonkeepers and with Prince Daemon’s firm support, King Viserys chose to keep the dragons unchained, a decision that transformed the skies above the city. The great beasts became a familiar sight to the smallfolk, wheeling freely over the Blackwater with silver-haired riders upon their backs, a living reminder of Valyrian dominion. For the first time since Queen Dowager Visenya Targaryen, the realm knew a feminine power in the triad of Princess Dowager Viserra, while alongside her stood a young female heir presumptive in Princess Rhaenyra, and the first female Hand of the Seven Kingdoms, Princess Rhaenys. Three generations of Targaryen women in the heights of power, finally unencumbered by the jealousy of the men of their house, finally rightfully instated in the power of dragons alongside the King who sat the throne.
In 110 AC, to the surprise of many both within the Red Keep and beyond its walls, Queen Aemma Arryn fell pregnant for what would be the final time. The news was met with a cautious joy that bordered on reverence, for unlike her earlier confinements, this pregnancy was not shadowed by repeated grief or prolonged suffering. The Queen carried the child with a steadiness long denied her, watched over closely by Princess Dowager Viserra, whose vigilance stemmed as much from memory as from affection. Princess Dowager Viserra had not forgotten Princess Daella, nor the price paid by girls forced into womanhood too soon, and she was determined that her niece Aemma would not be claimed by the same fate. Yet though the months passed without calamity, the labor itself proved long and perilous. After many hours of agony, Queen Aemma delivered a healthy daughter, whom King Viserys named Visenya Targaryen upon his dear daughter, Princess Rhaenyra's insistence, invoking the name of the conqueror-queen whose legacy still shaped the realm. The child lived and thrived, but the Queen came within a breath of death, her survival owed as much to fortune as to skill. For days afterward, the King scarcely left her side, shaken by how close he had come to losing the woman who anchored both his rule and his heart.
It was in the aftermath of this near-fatal birth that King Viserys resolved to still all lingering doubts. That same year, he publicly declared his thirteen-nameday-old daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, as his Heir Apparent, ending any uncertainty regarding the succession. Her training as a future ruler began immediately, encompassing law, governance, history, and the burdens of kingship, guided jointly by her father, her mother, Princess Rhaenys in her capacity as Lady Hand, and Princess Dowager Viserra, whose influence shaped the girl as decisively as blood ever could. In private, known only to a trusted few, the King made a choice of even greater consequence. Fearful of risking Queen Aemma’s life again and determined that no future son might be raised against his named heir, Princess Rhaenyra’s claim, King Viserys swore he would sire no more children upon his wife. At Princess Dowager Viserra’s advisement, and with Prince Daemon’s discreet assistance, a concoction was procured from Pentos, a draught whispered of in Essosi courts, capable of rendering a man’s seed inert. The King drank it willingly, sealing his vow not merely with words, but with irrevocable action.
In 112 AC, acting upon the unified counsel of his Lady Hand, his Queen, and the Queen Mother, King Viserys announced the betrothal of Crown Princess Rhaenyra to Prince Daemon. The decision stirred murmurs throughout the realm, yet within the royal household it was received as inevitable, and by Rhaenyra herself with unmistakable joy. Prince Daemon accepted the betrothal with measured grace, setting forth only two conditions. The first was that the marriage would not be solemnized until Rhaenyra reached her seventeenth nameday, allowing her to come fully into herself before assuming the weight of crown and consort alike. The second was that he would never take the title of King Consort, binding himself not above the throne but beside it, agreeing instead to be styled Prince Consort upon Rhaenyra’s ascension. These terms were accepted without dispute, and the betrothal stood as a declaration that the future of House Targaryen would be forged inward, by its own blood, rather than entrusted to uncertain alliances.
In 114 AC, the marriage was solemnized, first in the Great Sept according to the rites of the Seven before the eyes of the realm, and then again upon the shores of Dragonstone in the ancient ways of Old Valyria, with fire, blood, and sea bearing witness. That same year, to the astonishment of the court and in echoes unmistakably reminiscent of earlier generations, Princess Seraena Targaryen eloped with Ser Laenor Velaryon. Like her parents and grandparents before her, she chose action over permission. The pair were swiftly summoned back to court, where they were formally wed with the Crown’s approval. Though whispers followed Ser Laenor wherever he went, his affection for his wife was never in doubt, and many claimed their devotion rivaled even that of the Crown Princess and her consort. They took up residence at Hightide, where Ser Laenor commissioned a new keep upon Seatide, naming it Firestone Keep in honor of his bride. Princess Seraena spent long periods there, often accompanied by her sister-by-law, Laena Velaryon, during the many months Ser Laenor sailed as captain of the Sea Snake’s ventures across the Narrow Sea. At times, the Crown Princess and Prince Consort joined them, and Firestone Keep became known as a gathering place not of war, but of kinship.
In 116 AC, Crown Princess Rhaenyra gave birth to her first child, a son named Aegon, who was betrothed upon birth to his aunt, Princess Visenya, binding the royal line ever more tightly to itself. Her second son, Prince Aemon, was betrothed to Lady Rhaena, the only child of Princess Seraena and Ser Laenor, and the future Lady of the Tides. Rhaenyra’s third confinement brought forth twins, Prince Valarr and Princess Valaena. Prince Valarr later wed Lady Cassandra Baratheon, the Lady Heir of Storm’s End, founding the cadet line of Targaryens of Storm’s End, while Princess Valaena married her younger brother, Prince Gaemon, and upon the passing of Lady Jeyne Arryn, succeeded her as Lady of the Vale, establishing the Targaryens of the Vale.
When Princess Dowager Viserra succumbed to a severe winter fever in 129 AC, the realm mourned deeply, for she had become a figure akin to the queens of old Valyria, a matriarch whose steady hand had shaped the dynasty for decades. Queen Aemma followed her soon after within the same year, and many courtiers remarked that both King and Queen had seemed diminished because of her passing, their grief exceeding that of simple familial loss. Some, bolder than most, whispered that Queen Aemma had died not of illness, but of heartbreak. King Viserys did not long outlive her. With his passing, Princess Rhaenyra ascended the Iron Throne as Queen Regnant, with Prince Consort Daemon at her side.
Princess Rhaenys continued as Hand of the Queen upon Rhaenyra’s ascension, later succeeded by her daughter, Lady Laena Velaryon. Lady Laena never wed, remaining a spinster until her death, though sailors and smallfolk alike sang rakish songs of her closeness with the Queen, the Prince Consort, Princess Seraena, and Lord Laenor Velaryon. Queen Rhaenyra’s reign proved peaceful and prosperous, marked by stability rather than bloodshed, and in 153 AC she was succeeded by her son Aegon, who ascended the throne with his consort, Princess Visenya, bringing the long designs of Princess Dowager Viserra fully, and irrevocably, to fruition.