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Aegon III Targaryen ~ I
The sea had always been quieter at dusk. Aegon Targaryen knew this not because it was true. But because he needed it to be. The sailors said the ocean never slept. It groaned and whispered and breathed like some vast beast beneath the hull. But in those final moments before the sun slipped beneath the horizon, when the sky turned violet and gold, Aegon could almost believe the world had stilled just for him. It was the only time his thoughts did not feel like his drowning. He stood alone at the prow of the ship, Stormbreak. His dragon, Stormcloud, flying in the sky around him. His fingers curled around the worn wood railing, eyes fixed on the horizon. His dragon doing his little small roars in the sky. The wind tugged at his silver hair, whipping it into his face, but he did not move. Behind him, laughter rang from the deck, dice games, cheap songs, and the clatter of tankards. Life. Loud, relentless life. Aegon didn’t seem to be in the mood to join them and their nonsense.
“Still brooding, my prince?” He didn’t turn. “Leave me be.” Ser Alyn of hull chuckled anyway. “Hard habit to break. Tragic and
distant from everyone, as always. Like you’re haunted by something.” “Maybe I am,” Aegon said flatly. That quieted him. After a moment, Alyn clapped him on the shoulder and wandered off, muttering something about “Targaryens and their tragics.” Aegon let out a slow breath. He heard his dragon roars start sounding off, like he was trying to alert me about something. I cooled it off quick as he had done that multiple times ever since we had been in the sea. I turned back toward the water and that was when he saw it.
At first, he thought it was only the light. The dying sun catching on
something beneath the waves. A flicker. A shimmer.
Then it moved. A shape, gliding just beneath the surface. Aegon stilled.
The ocean darkened as the sun dipped lower, but whatever it was seemed to glow faintly—silver-blue, like moonlight trapped underwater.
He leaned forward, heart suddenly pounding. “Hello?” he called, before he could stop himself. The shape vanished. Aegon blinked, staring at the empty water.
“…Of course,” he muttered. “I’m losing my mind.” But as he turned away—
A hand broke out to the surface.
Daenaera Velayron ~ i
Daenaera knew that. Every current, every instinct, every story told in the deep warned against it. Humans were dangerous. They were savages. But he wasn't a normal human, he was a Targaryen from what I have heard. He comes from a bloodline full of dragons. And the rumors were true, as his own dragon was flying freely in the sky. I am very sure the dragon saw me in the sea looking at his rider. That's probably why it’s been roaring all the time.
Humans are not always cruel—but always unpredictable. And the ones who sailed under dragon banners… they were worse. Fire and blood, even on the water, a dragon flying freely above the sea. And yet. She had always kept her eyes on him. The
quiet one. He stood at the edge of the ship night after night, staring into the sea as if he belonged to it more than the world above. He did not shout like the others, did not laugh as much as the others did, did not throw scraps into the water or try to spear passing fish for sport. He watched. And there was something in his eyes that felt… familiar. Loneliness, perhaps. Daenaera lingered beneath the waves, just out of sight, her tail curling and uncurling slowly as she studied him.
He had seen her tonight. She hadn’t meant to let that happen. But the light had betrayed her—and now he was looking, searching the water with a kind of desperate hope that made her chest ache. His dragon is trying to tell him the direction I'm in. “Foolish”, she told herself.
“Turn away.” “Go deeper.” “Forget him.” “Act like all of this didn’t happen.” Instead, she rose.
Aegon iii targaryen ~ ii
Aegon froze. The hand was soft, melanated skin, unmistakably human—except it wasn’t. It shimmered. The surface of the sea parted, and she emerged.
For a moment, the world seemed to stop. Her hair was bright as the sun, hair white like mine but hers was brighter and had beautiful curly waves and shining blonde highlights. Her eyes—gods, her eyes—were the color of the sea, luminous and ethereal, very bright blue eyes. Drops of seawater clung to her skin like jewels. And below— Aegon’s breath caught.
Not legs. A tail. Scaled and glimmering, shifting from sky blue to shining light blue as it moved beneath the surface. “…You’re not real,” he said softly. She tilted her head. “I am,” she replied. Her voice was like the sea itself—soft, layered, echoing with something ancient. Aegon laughed under his breath, though it sounded almost like a sob. “Of course. Of course you are. How not?”
Daenaera Velayron ~ ii
She frowned slightly. “You do not seem surprised.”“I am,” he said. “I just… If dragons are real then it won’t be such a surprise if mermaids were too.” That made her pause. Most humans reacted with fear. Or greed. This one only looked… normal. As I am just another human.
“Why are you here? Shouldn't you be yelling that there is a beast in the water” she asked.
Aegon iii Targaryen ~ iii
Aegon hesitated. “There is no need to do that.”
They spoke only for a few minutes that first night. She told him nothing of herself, not truly. Not her name, not her kind. Only small things—currents, the shape of reefs, the way storms felt beneath the water.
He told her less. But he listened.
And when she slipped back beneath the waves, vanishing as suddenly as she had appeared, Aegon did not call after her. He only waited.
Daenera Velayron ~ iii
She came back. Of course she did. Daenaera told herself it was curiosity.
Humans were strange creatures. Loud and fleeting and endlessly contradictory. It was natural to want to observe one up close—especially one like him. The quiet one. The “not so bright” one. The one who looked at the ocean as if it might understand him. So she returned the next night.
And the next. And the next. “Do you have a name?” Aegon asked one evening, after several days of cautious conversation. She hesitated. Names had power. Names could bind. But something in his expression—open, patient, without expectation—made her answer. “Daenaera.” He blinked. “That’s… a Valyrian name.” She smiled faintly. “I know, Targaryens are not the only Valyrians in Westeros that have their own magic from old Valyria.” “You don’t know?” I asked. “I have heard stories from my mother and sisters. Just wasn’t too sure it was true.” he said. “Can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner. Now it just makes you sound even more interesting."
Aegon studied her, and then he smirked. Then, something sharper entered his gaze for the first time.
“And why are you here? What are you, really?” He asked quietly. Daenaera met his eyes.
“I am what your kind fears,” she said. “And what you long for.” “And I'm here because you want me here, with you.”
He was pleased with that. Then, slowly, he nodded. “Fair enough.”
Aegon iii targaryen ~ IV
Time changed around them. Days blurred into nights, and nights into something softer, quieter.
Aegon found himself watching the horizon not for land—but for her. My mood had become brighter and everyone was noticing that. Ser Alyn of hull came to me multiple times asking me what made me become so brighter.
Daenaera found herself lingering closer to the surface than she ever had before. They spoke of strange things. He told her about dragons, His own dragon, who is still enjoying his freedom in the air. He had stopped roaring when he saw me and Daenaera was talking to each other often.
He told her about creatures of fire that once ruled the skies. She listened with fascination. She later told me that other mermaids would talk about dragons and she had been interested in them since she was a little girl. She told him about the deep. Not all of it. Never all.
But enough. Enough for him to understand that the ocean was not empty. That it was a world. A kingdom. A place where he didn't even think he belonged. And yet— “You could come with me,” she said one night, half-teasing.
He smiled faintly. “I’d drown.” “Not if I didn’t let you.”
Aegon looked at her then, really looked. At the strange light in her eyes. At the way the water seemed to bend around her, as if it knew her. , like diamonds on her skin. “…Would you?” he asked. Her breath caught. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
***
The storm came without warning. The sky split open in the middle of the night, wind howling like a living thing. Waves rose like mountains, crashing against the ship with terrifying force. Men shouted. Sails tore. The Stormbreak groaned as if it might split apart, Stormcloud didn’t make it easier as it kept roaring in the sky. Aegon clung to the mast, soaked to the bone, heart pounding. “Hold the line!” Alyn of hull screamed. But the line snapped. The world tilted.
And suddenly— Aegon was falling. The water was ice.
It swallowed him whole, dragging him down into darkness and chaos. He struggled, lungs burning, limbs heavy with panic. “Stormclub!” he yelled out to his dragon who was trying to go close to him but the heavy rain was distorting and blocking his path to me. He needed to go up. But the storm churned the sea into a violent spiral, pulling him deeper, deeper— And then— Light. A shape, cutting through the darkness. Strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him close. Daenaera. Her eyes were bright, almost glowing, her expression fierce as she fought against the current. Aegon tried to speak, but water filled his mouth. She shook her head sharply. She told me don’t do that and just trust me without actually telling me and for some reason— He did. He should have drowned. He should have died. But he wasn’t.
He woke on the shore, coughing up seawater, the storm gone as if it had never been.
The sky was pale with dawn. And she was there.
Daenaera was upon him, looking down at him with her shining eyes, like it was healing me. Her tail curled along the sand, her expression unreadable. “You’re alive,” she rasped. “Yes.” He tried
pushing himself up slightly, but his back forced him down. “You saved me.” She didn’t answer.
Instead, she looked out at the sea. “You cannot go back,” she said. Looking back at me with her soft eyes, I saw she was looking at something.
Aegon followed her gaze. When I looked to my right I saw my dragon looking at me, worried. I gave him soft words letting him know that I'm okay. I looked back to Daenaera and saw her still looking at the water and I followed her gaze. Stormbreak was gone, nothing remained but broken pieces of wood scattered across the water. Everyone— Gone. Aegon closed his eyes.
They stayed there for a long time. Neither spoke. There was nothing to say. Eventually, Aegon laughed softly, though there was no humor in it. “I suppose this is where our paths end,” he said. “I don’t belong in your world. And mine is…” He gestured weakly toward the empty sea. “Weird and some way.” Daenaera turned to him. “You could stay, I could stay with you. I could find a way. I will find a way.” she said. “With you?” “Yes.” He hesitated. Everything that just happened came right back to him “I could have drowned.” “I said I might not let you.” Aegon studied her face, searching for
something—truth, perhaps. Or hope. “And if you couldn’t?” he asked. She did not look away. “But I could. And that's all that matters. But if I couldn’t then yes, You would have downed." she said with a soft voice.
The waves lapped gently at the shore. “…You’re very honest,” he said.
“I have no reason to lie to you.” Aegon smiled faintly.
“That’s new.” He stood slowly, unsteady but determined.
The sea stretched endlessly before him. Cold. Beautiful. Terrifying.
“Teach me,” he said. Daenaera blinked. “What?” “How to survive down there,” he said. “How to… be with you.” “You cannot become what I am,” she said.
“I know.” “Then why?” Aegon looked at her, really looked. And for the first time, there was something in his expression that wasn’t grief. “I’ve spent my whole life surrounded by grief,” he said. “On land. On ships. Everywhere. But with you…” He hesitated. “It’s quiet.” Daenaera’s breath caught. The first time he went under willingly, he almost panicked. The sea closed over his head, vast and endless, pressing in from all sides. His lungs
screamed, his body fought against it—
But she was there. Always there. Guiding him. Teaching him.
Showing him where to breathe, how to move, how to trust the currents instead of fighting them. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t safe.
But slowly—
Aegon learned. Days turned into weeks.
Weeks into something softer, harder to measure.
Aegon had a Palace that was right on shore, owned by his family, called Dragonstone. A place where he could exist between two worlds. Daenaera had begged her mother to give her a necklace called the sea necklace, where mermaids that wear it can become a mermaid anytime they want. It was rare though. Only some mermaids could get it. Because Daenaera was from a wealthy house they could easily have access to it. When her mother agreed and gave it to her, me and Daenaera spended more time together then we ever did. She showed him the reefs, the hidden caves, the places where the water glowed faintly with life.
He showed her the sky. Went dragon riding with her from day to night. He showed her the stars and other dragons that were in Dragonstone. He will tell her that maybe she would be the first mermaid in history to claim a dragon.
The moon reflected on the water’s surface like a second world. “You belong to both,”he said one night.
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “I belong wherever you are.”
But nothing lasts forever. Not even the sea.
Aegon iii targaryen ~ V
One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Daenaera’s expression changed. “What is it?” Aegon asked. She hesitated. “My kind…” she began. “They do not like that I come here.” Aegon’s chest tightened.
“Why?” “Because you are human,” she said simply. “And humans bring change.” “And that’s bad?” “Yes.”
He nodded slowly. “I see.” They both knew what that meant.
Even if neither of them said it. “I could go with you,” Aegon said eventually.
Daenaera shook her head. “You can’t. You don’t have the ability and they wouldn’t accept you.”
“Then I’ll make them.” “You cannot,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “You are not like us.” Aegon looked out at the water. “…And you are not of the land.” “No.” “and you can somehow become human.
Perhaps give me a necklace like that to become a mermaid.” “it doesn't work that way Aegon.” Silence. Then— “Then what are we supposed to do?” he asked.
Daenaera didn’t answer. Because she didn’t know. That night, the sea was restless.
The waves were higher, the currents sharper. Aegon stood at the edge of
the water, heart heavy. “Will you come back?” he asked. Daenaera looked at him, her eyes filled with something he couldn’t name. “Yes,” she said. But it didn’t sound certain.
Before she could turn around and leave I called out for her. "I love you Daenaera!" "I love you too, Aegon"
Then, she disappeared beneath the waves. And this time
Aegon didn’t know if he would see her again. The sea was quiet at dusk.
But Aegon had learned something important.
Quiet didn’t mean empty. And sometimes If you waited long enough
The ocean will give you something that will change you.
***
Some months had passed since the storm that should have taken everything.
The wreckage was gone now. The sea had swallowed it, as it always did, leaving only memory behind.
But Aegon Targaryen was still there. Alive. And no longer alone.
The mornings had become his favorite. Soft light over the water, the tide gentle, the world quiet in a way that no longer felt empty. Dragonstone became brighter, my brother, Viserys came to see me with my nieces and nephews. I told him about Daenaera and I met her from a place I visited. Was such a lie just didn’t say she was a mermaid. He left with his children and I got letters from my sisters and my mother. Viserys is probably
going to tell them everything when he gets back. I often go on dragonback with Stormcloud often now. Every time I'm with him I would look down in the water, hoping to see her. My good friend, Gaemon Palehair, visited me a few days back and let me know that Alyn's funeral had already been done.
He stood barefoot in the sand, watching the waves roll in, waiting not with the aching uncertainty he once carried, but with quiet certainty. She would come. She always did. And she did.
Daenaera rose from the sea as if she had always belonged to it—which she had. Water slipped from her like glass, her eyes finding him immediately, familiar and warm. “You’re early,” she teased. “You’re late,” he replied.
But he was smiling. Their life had settled into something steady in those days after. Not perfect. Not easy. But real.
Aegon and Daenaera met with each other on the days she will be free. Sometimes she will send me letters by just letting the waves bring it to the shore.. Daenaera showed him
how to move with the tides, how to stay beneath the water longer, how to trust the pull of something greater instead of fighting it. I will bring her to the dragons that don't have riders at Dragonstone. Daenaera started having interest in the dragon, silverwing. She had already knew how to speak old Valyria as in the deep mermaids would usually speak Valyrian to each other.
I took Daenaera on more rides in Stromcloud, showed her how to tame a dragon and how to ride them.
And when we felt like it we would pleasure each other (which was often). Then, in time they became more than just two.
Daeron was the first. A child of both worlds, just as they had hoped. He laughed easily, moved easily—water and land were the same to him, and he feared neither. Baelor followed, quieter, softer. He loved the sea in a deeper way, often drifting beneath the surface for long stretches, calm and still as if he were part of it. Then came their daughters.
Daena, bold and bright, always racing ahead, daring the tide to keep up with her. Rhaena, gentle and thoughtful, happiest beneath the waves beside her mother, learning secrets few would ever know.
And Elaena. Restless, clever Elaena. Who refused to stay in one place, belonging everywhere all at once.
Daenaera finally claimed her dragon, Silverwing and became the first mermaid to have a dragon.
Some days later, Aegon stood at the water’s edge again. But this time, he wasn’t watching alone. Laughter echoed around him—his children’s voices carried on wind and waves alike. Daeron called from the surf, Baelor nearby, while Daena
and Elaena argued over who could swim farther. Rhaena lingered close to Daenaera, half-hidden in the water.
Aegon exhaled softly. Not grief. Just peace.
Daenaera slipped beside him, her hand finding his without a word.
“You stayed,” she said. “I did.” He glanced at their children, then back at her. “And I’d choose it again.” The sea stretched endlessly before them. Not something to fear.
Not something to lose himself in. But something they had built a life within.
Together.