Chapter Text
PART I: LAENA
“Aegon, please.”
Rhaenrya knelt before the triumphant king, her face bloodied and bruised, her arms bound tightly to her sides. Behind her stood her Aegon, her beloved boy.
“There is no mercy for traitors, sister.” The dragonlord gave her a bitter smile. “I would have offered you an honorable place in my kingdom, had you knelt as you do now when it came time for my reign to begin. Now, you face the fate you earned.”
“Aegon, please! I beg not for myself, but for my son!” Tears trickled down a ruined face that had once been the most beautiful in the Realm. “He followed me! His treason is mine! Please, please let him live!”
Aegon the Younger looked at his uncle, and let a muffled yell loose from the gag that kept him silent. A rain of blows followed, and his groans echoed in the chamber.
The king stared down at his sister, weighing his options. The room was silent, spare Rhaenyra’s sobs and Aegon’s moans of pain. Finally, a cruel smile marred his face, a face so much like that of their father’s.
“Very well. I am no kinslayer, at least without cause. But I will teach my nephew a lesson his whore of a mother failed to impart on him.”
The king jerked his head, and soldiers pulled on the chains binding Rhaenyra, sending her to the ground. The king walked away, and Rhaenrya was dragged through the dirt behind him, accompanied by her Aegon and the jeers of the victorious Greens.
The party walked into an open courtyard, and Aegon, Second of his Name, waited for a moment. Soon, in the distant sky a metallic glint shone in the sun.
Rhaenrya realized what was going to happen.
“Aegon, no! Please! This is madness!”
“This is justice. Perhaps your son will learn a lesson on the importance of loyalty.”
Sunfyre landed, shaking the ground. Aegon’s muffled screams loudened as he finally realized the fate awaiting his mother.
“Your Grace! Don’t make Aegon watch this! Please!”
“Farewell, Princess Rhaenyra. May the Stranger-”
“I love you, Aegon! Your father loved you! Make him proud!”
Behind Rhaenrya, her son wailed, his agony muffled by the gag.
Sunfyre opened his brilliant mouth wide. Rhaenrya screamed as the flames consumed her.
She was screaming when she awoke.
“Your Grace! Your Grace!” A maid shook the princess wildly. “Awaken, Your Grace! It’s nothing but a dream!”
The Realm’s Delight looked around wildly, and her eyes froze as they took in her form.
Gone were the chains and the bruises. Gone were the ravages of time, for Rhaenrya stood in her body from when she was sixteen.
What happened? Rhaenrya remembered clashing with her beastly little brother the previous night at dinner, King Viserys and the Queen witnessing it all, before leaving the hall in dramatic fashion.
And then that dream! Oh, Gods, What was that dream?
“Leave... leave me, woman!”
The maid scurried out. Rhaenyra collapsed back onto the bed, and her tears flowed anew.
I was older, much older. And so was Aegon. I had a son! And ...
Rhaenrya cringed as she remembered the feeling of Sunfyre’s flames.
That glittering lizard is barely bigger than a dog. It was a dream, nothing more.
Rhaenyra closed her eyes, and calmed herself.
But what could have brought it into my mind? Am I that worried that Aegon and his monster of a mother will try to usurp me?
The fear of that happening that long lurked in the shadows of Rhaenrya’s mind, but never before had she seen her fears visualized in such vivid detail.
Will this be my fate? Humiliated and killed at Aegon’s hands?
Rhaenyra tried falling back to sleep, but it was pointless. Sunfyre’s jaws gleamed in her mind’s eye, and it kept the blissful darkness at bay.
“Your Grace! It is time to awaken!”
Rhaenyra got out of bed, her eyes red and her mind foggy.
As maids helped her into a bath and readied the heir for the day, Rhaenyra’s mind buzzed with unpleasant thoughts.
Aegon. My son was named Aegon as well. I never thought about it before, but I imagine Alicent and her spawn would not let my children live, if they usurped me.
All night, Rhaenrya’s mind had been in turmoil, as she contemplated what would befall her if her reign was usurped.
Alicent hates me; I suppose she would ensure that I would suffer as much as possible if she was in a position to do so.
A vein of unease ran through Rhaenyra.
But still, it was a dream. Nothing more than a dream. Father wouldn’t raise his son to be a kinslayer. Would he? Would I kill him for the throne?
To Rhaenyra’s shame, she realized she could not say no to such a choice. The princess finished her bath, and got dressed.
“His Grace and the family await, Your Grace.”
Let’s go to breakfast.
“Good morning, Father.”
Viserys, First of his Name, gave his pride and joy a beaming smile.
“Rhaenyra! At last you join us!”
Rhaenyra smiled at the sight of her father, but even that was tempered with the memory of the night’s visions.
Gods be good, Aegon looked so much like him in my dream.
The princess moved to sit at her father’s right side, but she found her customary seat taken by the Prince.
“I’m sitting here, next to Father!”
Rhaenyra would have fired back at her impertinent brother, but the memory of Sunfyre’s jaws flashed through her mind. She quietly sat at Viserys’s other side.
At least Alicent isn’t here.
Normally, the Queen would have taken this spot, but the Hightower was nowhere to be seen.
For that matter, where’s Helaena?
Rhaenrya’s sister was perhaps the only sibling that she found tolerable. The child was too sweet and happy for Rhaenrya to find much fault in her, and Helaena never joined her mother or brother in the barbs that they traded with the Realm’s Delight.
Viserys was silent for a moment, and then sighed.
“I suppose the Queen and Helaena will come later, when they wish. Let us break our fast.”
Servants brought in food, and the three Targaryens began to eat.
“Father, may I go to the Dragonpit today?” Aegon’s voice rang out over the sound of clinking forks and chewing.
“Whatever for?”
“I want to see Sunfyre!”
Rhaenrya shuddered.
Viserys ignored her reaction. “Of course! Finish your lessons as fast and as well as you can, and I shall take you to the Pit when I have the time.”
“I can’t wait! He’s already so fierce and beautiful. One day, I’ll ride him!”
Yes, you will. But-
“And he’ll breathe fire!”
Rhaenyra winced at the memory of Sunfyre’s golden flames.
For the love of the Seven, stop talking about that beast! Please!
“I’m sure he will, my boy.”
“And his teeth will be as sharp as-”
“Rhaenyra, all you alright?”
Viserys looked at his eldest in concern. The woman’s arms shook, and she was staring at the floor.
“Rhaenyra?”
“She’s just jealous that Syrax isn’t as good of a dragon as Sunfyre.”
“Rhaenyra, are you ill?”
The Realm’s Delight got up, and shakily ran back to her chambers, ignoring her father’s shouting.
“Rhaenyra, open the door!”
Rhaenyra crouched behind the door to her chambers, struggling to control her breath.
It was just a dream, it was just a dream it was just a dream-
The door opened, and the King stormed in, stopping when he saw his daughter on the floor, breathing heavily. Turning to the servant and Kingsguard behind him, he spoke.
“Fetch the maester-”
I can’t show weakness.
“I don’t need him! I’m okay, I-”
Viserys studied Rhaenyra’s face. After a brief moment, he spoke again.
“Leave us.”
The pair scurried away, closing the door behind them.
Father! What will he think?
Viserys walked over to Rhaenyra’s bed, sitting down on it with a groan. Rhaenyra got up slowly, watching her father for a reaction.
The king patted the bed next to him.
“Sit.”
Rhaenyra walked to the bed, and sat down next to her father. The two Targaryens sat in silence for a moment. Then, Viserys looked at Rhaenyra and gently began speaking.
“Tell me, what is wrong?”
You won’t listen. You’ll call it a dream, and move on, ignoring the threat your wife and son present to me.
Rhaenyra shook her head. Viserys reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“You can tell me anything, Rhaenyra. I’m your father.”
“You’ll laugh at me. You’ll say it’s not important-”
“I won’t laugh, Rhaenyra. I promise I’ll listen to everything you have to say.”
Much to her humiliation, Rhaenyra’s vision blurred, and a tear ran down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away. Viserys looked away, giving Rhaenyra the time to compose herself. Finally, Rhaenyra shared her nightmare with the King.
“I had a dream. I was much older, a fully grown woman with a son.”
Viserys’s brow furrowed in confusion, but he remained silent.
That doesn’t sound so terrible, does it?
“Aegon was there too, Father. And he was usurping the throne. I- I- I was beaten bloody and bound with chains, my son treated the same.”
Viserys moved to speak, but stopped himself.
“I begged Aegon for mercy. I pleaded for my son’s life, and Aegon agreed to spare him.” Rhaenyra’s voice shook. “But he punished me, Father. He dragged me through the dirt, and then, and then, he-”
Rhaenyra hugged herself tightly as the dream flooded her memory.
“He fed me to Sunfyre! In front of my son!”
At this Viserys stiffened, his arms pulling Rhaenyra into an embrace. The princess buried her head in her father’s shoulder.
“I’m afraid, Father. Sure, I might have dreamt it, but you cannot deny that such a fate could await me! Aegon wouldn’t hesitate to do so if his claim was threatened! I wouldn’t!”
“You’re his elder sister, Rhaenyra. Aegon and you might butt heads, but he would never torment or kill-”
“You aren’t listening! He will, Father. Despite our blood. If not him, Alicent will! She would be overjoyed if I were to die, and Aegon ascended to the throne.”
“Alicent- the Queen- is your stepmother! She wouldn’t-”
Why are you so blind?
“She hates me, Father! She hates me more than anyone I have ever met. Why is it so hard for you to admit that? And they all present a threat to my claim.”
At that, Viserys fell silent, as he waited for Rhaenyra to calm herself. Eventually, he spoke.
“What would you have me do, Rhaenyra? Lock away your siblings and stepmother in the Red Keep? Disinherit them? Perhaps you want me to call for a Faceless Man.”
Helaena’s plump face flashed through Rhaenyra’s mind, and she shook her head violently.
“You know I don’t want that. I care about Helaena, at least.”
Viserys smiled slightly, before his lips settled back into a frown.
“I wished you and your siblings got along better. Our family’s history is one of betrayal and pain, Rhaenyra: I don’t want my children to be another chapter of the same.”
The princess looked at her father with bated breath, waiting for him to continue.
“When I was a child, my father taught me our history. He told me of Maegor and Aenys’s son Aegon, and how the two fought one another for the crown, ravaging our family in the process. Daemon and I took that lesson to heart; even when your uncle decided he deserved a crown of his own, he did not wage a war on me for one.”
Viserys took on of Rhaenyra’s hands in his own, and looked deep into her eyes.
“Do you understand what I’m telling you, Rhaenyra?”
“Father, King Maegor was, well, Maegor! I’m not! And-”
“You’re missing the point.” Viserys stood up, and walked to the window, which looked out at King’s Landing. Rhaenyra followed him, and studied the king’s plump face. She followed his eyes out to the Dragonpit atop Rhaenys’s Hill. When Viserys spoke, his voice was weary.
“Was Maegor in the right, Rhaenyra?”
Rhaenyra didn’t know how to respond to that. Her thoughts roiled, and when she answered, her response seemed weak, even to her ears.
“I... No?”
“Was he right to claim the throne? Was he right to rule with such fury and violence?”
Rhaenyra thought back to the stories she had learned of the Conqueror’s greatest son.
Maegor was cruel and savage, but his claim was legally valid, I suppose. Still, to have done what he did....
Rhaenyra remembered the dream of being dragged in chains to her execution, and her face darkened.
And what of it? Would Aegon the Uncrowned have done that to Maegor? In that case, perhaps Maegor did what he had to. Perhaps I will have to do what I must, for the same reason.
Viserys sighed when he looked at Rhaenyra.
“I see you understand his position. Few can; I only empathize with the man because of our connection through Balerion. But listen to me, Rhaenyra. I-” Viserys groaned. “I realize I haven’t trained you enough, in the art of ruling-”
You see me as a poor ruler?
“Yes you have! I’ve attended small council meetings-”
“Sweetling, Mushroom has attended small council meetings. What matters is what you have learned from them. I’ve seen you bored and absentminded in them enough times to know you haven’t gained much knowledge from the council chamber.” Rhaenyra’s face colored. Viserys stared out at Blackwater Bay.
“You are in a delicate position, Rhaenyra, and I can see now that the person you are makes the solutions I have devised for you impossible.”
“What do you mean?”
Viserys glanced at his daughter for a moment, before his eyes returned to the bay.
“I have ruled over a Kingdom at peace. My throne is safe, and even the stirrings of your Uncle in the Stepstones do not bother me. But I have been able to rule because I am of a soft temperament.”
“Eh?”
Why do you proudly announce something used as an insult against you?
Viserys chuckled. “I see that like many, you consider it a weakness. But for me, it has been a strength. I have worked to make everyone content with my rule, and I have succeeded, at least with those who matter. No one seeks my fall. But you are your Uncle’s niece, and are closer to him in personality than you think. You will not be one to rule with sweet songs and diplomacy.”
What are you trying to get at?
“Father, I will rule! It is my right!”
“You will. It is your right. But your rule will be one of fire and blood, I fear.”
“No, it won’t be! There has been peace in Westeros ever since the time of the Old King!”
I will be a Queen of prosperity, not one of terror.
“And there has never been a ruling queen in this continent’s history.” Viserys scoffed at Rhaenyra’s dark expression. “You cannot be surprised, Rhaenyra. I know that your ascension to the throne will be a sensitive one, once the time comes. Many will stand in your way. And now, you come to me, crying, telling me that you fear your brother’s ambitions when the boy is still a child. Do you seriously expect me to believe that you will rule as I have?”
I guess not. I cannot love Aegon, not when I have seen what he could do to me.
Rhaenyra shook her head, and joined Viserys in staring out at King’s Landing.
“Perhaps it is better this way. I fear that I have hurt your position, Rhaenyra. I did not foster you: for my love of your late mother, I worked to keep you by my side. But that was weakened you by tying your power to me. In the minds of the lords of Westeros, perhaps it is easy to accept a female heir when it is clear that her power comes from her father. A Queen, the first Queen, will have to rely on her own power, her own strength, just like the first King did.”
Like the Conqueror? Me? Rhaenyra had never thought about herself in such a manner. I guess we are similar. The dragons, the throne in question- there is much I share with Aegon the Conqueror.
“And this means I have failed you. I rule through diplomacy, not fire and blood. You have much to learn if you choose to rule through fear and strength, and I cannot teach you.”
Is that the queen I wish to be? Rhaenyra thought for a moment, and came to a conclusion. If that will prevent my nightmare from becoming reality, then yes. That is the queen I will be.
“Then who can?”
Viserys stared at Blackwater Bay and the isles that were beyond the horizon.
“There are many. But I have someone particular in mind.”