I / Dragonborn

King's Landing, 123 AC

    Rhaelys Velaryon was born exactly seven moons after her parents' wedding. The rumours of her parentage had been shushed when the girl was five years old. Her hair was white and her eyes were the traditonal Targaryen purple. But how could a girl born only seven moons after a wedding be perfectly healthy?

By eight, she was fluent in almost Valyrian. Some whispers were even that Princess Rhaelys followed the Gods of Old Valyria, rather than the Seven.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Gods, in her own words, were the only constant. The tide changes, the seasons change, the moon turns, but the Gods stay the same forevermore. On every seventh day of the week, Rhaelys would spend at least two hours in the sept, praying before the Gods. Rhaelys spoke to no one of her religious beliefs, though. Rhaelys Velaryon was more inward rather than outward.

By twelve, Rhaelys had declared that if it was not for her destiny to be Queen, she would've become a Septa of the Faith. But alas, the Gods themself had chosen another destiny for the young princess. She was to be the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. 

   "Are you listening to me, Rhae?" Helaena asked her friend, and all of a sudden Rhaelys was shaken awake by the reality of things. "Of course. The butterfly is pretty, but what is its use, I wonder?" Helaena sighed, and let the pretty creature fly away then. "Its use is the same as ours, I suppose. To simply be pretty and keep quiet." The King's daughter and granddaughter got along splendily, ever since they were young. Helaena was about a year older than Rhaelys, though in she was far more mature than Rhaelys. Where Helaena loved everything to do with insects, and riddles and books, Rhaelys loved to fight.

"I've got to go and visit my mother, but I'll come back later?" Rhaelys asked Helaena, who nodded at her and smiled, all without making eye contact. Helaena had never been fond of physical affections, and it was rare that she would hug anyone. And if Helaena did hug someone, more oft than not it was her niece, Princess Rhaelys.

"Princess," Ser Criston Cole opened the door for her, as she walked out. "Ser Criston." She nodded, and did not even turn her head to look at him as she walked away. The firstborn child of Rhaenyra was all too aware of her mother's history with the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. But any time she would look at him, he had a funny look on his face. One that was reserved only to look at her. Helaena's chamber and Rhaenyra's chamber were not too far apart. Her mother was older than Helaena by almost fifteen years, but it was still Helaena that Rhaenyra was the closest with.

"Mother?" Rhaelys said as she knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" All she heard was a scream, one so loud she could be sure that the whole of King's Landing had heard it. Gods be good, Rhaelys opened the door then. And what she saw would scar her for the rest of that day. Her mother lay there, screaming and bleeding out. It was happening sooner than Rhaelys had expected, sooner than she had wished. Her baby brother was being born. Or sister. This was not the moment for it, but Rhaelys said a quick and quiet prayer to the Mother, for the hopes that this babe would be a sister. She had three brothers already, and she loved them well, but a sister would be divine. A girl who would be her companion, her and Helaena's.

Though she would never speak of this prayer to anyone, as usually Rhaelys was above such girlish nonsense, such as wanting for a sister, instead of hoping for a healthy babe. Of course, Rhaelys wanted the babe to be healthy as well. "Rhaelys," Her mother spoke out softly, and once again Rhaelys was pulled back into the moment by the Gods. Swiftly she moved to be next to her mother and hold her hand. "You're doing great, Your Grace. But you must push." Rhaelys wanted to close her eyes, she really did. But this would be her one day soon, so she'd best watch and see what horrors it would be.

Rhaelys' grandmother Queen Aemma had died in childbirth, giving birth to twins. More oft than not, twins would result in the death of the babes and the mother. Rhaelys could not understand how the Mother would put two babes in the same belly, knowing it would cause death for a babe or both or the mother. "My Princess, you must push!" Her mother was swearing harder than she ever had. Rhaelys was next to her mother, as were Ser Harwin, her mother's sworn protector, and Ser Laenor, Rhaelys' father. The rumors of who her true father was were of no consequence to Rhaelys. Laenor Velaryon was her father in all ways that mattered, blood be damned. 

And with the ways of their family, they shared blood, even if he was not her blood father. Rhaelys had been learning the family tree a few weeks back and she had been shocked to see all the times family had married family. The only time that the Targaryens had married outside of their own line, was when her grandsire married Lady Alicent Hightower. And Rhaelys does not consider that a good thing. There are four people in the world that Rhaelys Velaryon truly hates. There is Prince Aegon, Lord Jason Lannister, Ser Otto Hightower and Queen Alicent Hightower. Though she calls her grandmother, Alicent has never been kind to Rhaelys.

There was naught but a single word that could accurately describe the Queen Alicent, and it had been a term Rhaelys herself barely understood, cunt. Despite not fully grasping the intent and meaning of it, the young Princess had heard it spat like venom from Ser Criston's mouth, directed towards her own mother numerous times in passing and had gathered it was far from the usual compliments she'd heard spoken of her mother. And in her young impressionable mind, it seemed like a word that best suited the Queen.

"She's here, Your Grace. You've done well." The serving girls shared a look, as the babe was handed to Rhaenyra. "What is wrong?" No one answered her then. "Someone tell me at once, what is wrong with my son?" A maid shook her head softly. "Tis a girl, Princess. A healthy one, but a girl..." Rhaelys smiled brightly, and soon enough she saw a smile appear on her mother's face as well. "Can I name her, mother? You named me and Jace and father named Luke and Joff, so tis only fair I get to name your new babe." Rhaenyra thought for a moment, mere seconds, but to Rhaelys it seemed minutes, as time dragged on. A split second later her mother answered her. Rhaelys threw her glance to her father and Ser Harwin for a moment, and they smiled at each other. No matter the blood, both of them were her father.

"What name do you have in mind? Because I swear before the gods that you cannot name her cake. No matter how much you love cake." Rhaelys shook her head, the smile never faltering from her face. "Daera." Rhaelys said the name like it was a warm summer's breath. The name had been on her mind ever since she had found out her mother was with child again. "Daera, for my great-grandmother Daella Targaryen, and Daella's sister Saera. And I would never name a babe cake, because that is a stupid name for a babe." Rhaenyra smiles at her daughter, and then cradles the babe in her arms. 

"Husband." Rhaenyra spoke and both Harwin and Laenor looked up at Rhaenyra. "Would you care to hold our new daughter the Princess Daera?" Laenor nodded quickly and moved to Rhaenyra's bedside, with Harwin stepping to the side. But both men never took their eyes off of the Princess' new daughter. "And the next one, I can name them as well?" Rhaelys asked, a hopeful look on her face. But it seemed her mother had other plans. "The next babe you can name, Rhaelys, will be a child you bear."

Rhaelys quickly shook her head in defiance. "I'll never have a child. The Maiden would not want me to. For that, I would have to marry. Which I never will. You will be Queen, and then I will be Queen after you, and after me Jace can become King, and rule together with Helaena." In her mind, it was the best option. She could remain unwed, and Queen Alicent's bloodline would end up on the throne. Aegon was unfit to rule, anyway.

"Very well, Princess Rhaelys. Let's give your mother some rest, aye? Your brothers are surely waiting with the dragon egg back in your chambers." Rhaelys nodded happily as Lady Elinda, the youngest and gentlest of her mother's maids, approaching them, a sour look on her face. "What is it?" Rhaenyra asks, as she takes her babe back into her own arms from Laenor, who still holds his newborn daughter's little hand. "The Queen has requested the babe be brought to her." Little Rhaelys looked at her mother's face and the expression on it was one that Rhaelys did not see oft. It was confusion. 

"Why?" was all Rhaenyra had managed to croak out, holding her babe closer to make sure she would not be snatched as Rhaelys had been snatched from her. "I will go with you, mother. You mustn't face her alone." Rhaenyra gulped, and in that moment she realized that her daughter had been forced to grow up too soon. She was only a girl, only a child. And yet she stood her ground as a woman grown would. Rhaelys' three and tenth name-day had only just passed. "As will I." Laenor said, having let go off of Daera's little hand and now holding Rhaelys' shoulder. The Greens could say as they liked, Rhaelys truly did resemble Ser Laenor.

"Ser Harwin, will you check on the lads? They've picked the egg already, but they are surely restless to meet their new sister. We will return to the chambers as soon as we leave the witch's den, and then we will show little Daera her dragon egg." Ser Laenor told Ser Harwin, and as he nodded, he bowed at the two princesses and left the room. He was heading towards the children's chamber, that Rhaelys, Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey shared. Well, it was officially only the boys' room, but Rhaelys spent almost each night with her brothers there. 

Rhaelys had lived her entire life within the safety of the Red Keep. If she could call it a safety. With Queen Alicent's cruel words, and Prince Aegon's cruel actions, she was not so sure she liked  King's Landing. Rather, she had dreamed of living at her mother's seat of Dragonstone. Never was that to be, though. She would miss Aemond and Daeron then, but in her sweetest dreams, the two boy swould come with them. She knew that was not what would happen, but she could always dream.

"Princess, your dress." One of the maids spoke to her mother, who nodded. She then handed Daera to Rhaelys, who grabbed hold of her babe sister eagerly, and sitting down on the couch, as she watched her mother dress in a light blue gown. As of late, her mother had donned only dresses of red and black and almost no other colours, while the young princess had noticed that Queen Alicent rarely wore dresses that were not green, a colour most oft seen as a symbol of House Hightower. 

(What does it mean when the towers of Oldtown shine a bright green? The Hightowers calling their bannermen for war.)

⭑

       From a young age, Rhaelys had understood her destiny. To bear heirs for the Kingdoms. But to see her mother so weak, it made her realise she did not want children. This realisation had come to the dragon princess at the age of nine. Now, as her mother was getting dressed to make her way to Queen Alicent's chambers, it made her feel worse about herself. 

She walked behind her mother and father, with their arms interlocked and the babe, Daera, tucked away safely in the safety of Rhaenyra's arms.

The stairs were the most painful for her mother, Rhaelys knew. They were up and down and up and down. "What does she want, to see the babe so soon?" Her father questioned Queen Alicent's motive, as they always did. He and her mother. "I thought we were past this. I thought it would have ended with Luke." Rhaenyra sighed, thinking of her stepmother who had once been her dearest friend. With all three of her sons, and now her second daughter, Queen Alicent had requested the babes be brought before her. And each time, it would have been mere moments after the babes had been born.

Two courtiers whom Rhaelys did not recognize stopped them as they were halfway through the stairs. It went slow with her mother. "Princess, Ser Laenor, Princess Rhaelys, it is a privilege to be amongst the first to congratulate you." Rhaenyra nodded and put on a fax smile towards the man. "Thank you, Lord Caswell," Rhaelys still did not recognize him, even if it barely mattered anyway. Her mother was sarcastic in the way that she spoke to the man, and if Rhaelys had noticed it, surely Lord Caswell would have noticed as well.

"If I may be of any service," He said, and Rhaelys smiled slightly at him. The smile was still fake, but she was better at hiding it than her mother was. "The day will come, My Lord. But it is not today." Since her mother had given birth just now, nothing else but her mother and the babe really mattered to the princess. "We are turning back." Laenor told his wife, after she broke down from the pain she had. "She can come to us, all right?" He asked but it wasn't a question at all, and yet Rhaenyra found it in herself to answer. "No. Not unless you wish to carry me down those fucking stairs. We have come this far, Laenor," She told him, and he couldn't help but have her hold him tighter and make due with it.

"Zaldrītsos," Rhaelys speaks softly to the babe in her mother's arms, thought the princess wonders for a moment if her babe sister could even hear her. And even if she had heard her, surely she would not have understood. Valyrian was a hard language to understand, and even Rhaelys didn't get it perfect each time.

"This is absurd," Laenor said after a small quiet moment, after they had almost reached the so desired room where Alicent was. The bad Queen, as Rhaelys, Jace and Luke liked to call her. Once they had reached the door to the royal chamber, Ser Criston Cole stood before the door. He always looked at Rhaelys weirdly and she never quite could figure out why he did it. "Princess, Ser Laenor, Princess Rhaelys," He said, before letting them into the lion's den.

Alicent looked genuinely concerned once Rhaelys and her parents entered the room. She had clearly not expected to see Rhaenyra herself. "Rhaenyra, you should be resting after your labours," If Alicent truly believed that, then why did she summon Daera to her? Why not come to visit herself? Why make Rhaenyra walk to her chambers mere moments after she had her babe. "If that is so, grandmother, then why did my mother had to come here? Surely you could've come to us, then?" Alicent knew not what she should respond to that, Rhaelys could tell from the look on her face. "Little princess, I did not request your mother here. I requested my new granddaughter," Alicent tried to say, but Rhaelys quickly shook her head.

"My hāedar has only just been born, and yet you wish to take her from me!" Rhaelys wined and all Rhaenyra did was smirk at her daughter. "Is that the way you should address your queen, princess Rhaelys?" Queen Alicent asked, and Rhaelys looked up at her mother in worry. When she saw the smile on her mother's face, Rhaelys turned to Alicent again. "Tis the way I address a queen, yes!" Rhaelys, so sure that she had done the right thing, smiled and giggled as she held her father's hand.

Rhaenyra made her daughter stay quiet now, as she spoke herself. "I have no doubt you would prefer that, your Grace," She said, and Rhaelys saw the unhappy look on her mother's face. She was not strong on her feet, as was to be expected. "You must sit. Talya, fetch a cushion for the Princess," She told one of her maids and yet Rhaenyra quickly dismissed it. "There's no need," Rhaenyra said, even if she had just laboured a babe and was bleeding constantly.

"Nonsense. We'll finish this later," She told the maid who sat next to her and Rhaelys had no clue what they were doing, nor did she care all too much. "What happy news this morning!" Viserys said after Rhaenyra had sat down, and Rhaelys smiled at her grandfather. She quickly ran up to hug him, and kissed him on his cheek. Each time she saw him he looked less well than before. "Grandsire, good morrow," When he looked at his granddaughter, all Viserys could see was her grandmother. His beloved Aemma. 

"Indeed very happy news, Your Grace," Laenor told his good-father, and Rhaelys smiled at her father. The Gods knew she loved her mother well, but she loved her father most of anyone in the world. "Where is he?" Viserys asked as if the babe was not clearly in Rhaenyra's own hand. Rhaelys smiled at the little babe in her mother's hands and smiled.

"Where is my grandson?" Viserys spoke as Laenor who had been handed the babe moments earlier by Rhaenyra gave little Daera to Viserys. "Tis a girl, Grandsire," Rhaelys told her grandsire, a smile on her face. A sister was all she had ever wished for. "A girl. A little princess," Viserys exlaimed and smiled at her sister and Rhaelys could not help but do the same in return. She was the cutest babe she had ever seen, over Luke and over Jace and even over Joff. Though she could barely remember Jace's birth, as she was just three at the time. Joffrey's she remembered a bit better.

Viserys seemed so happy as he held his granddaughter. Her grandfather was so sweet with her and her brothers and now her sister, in a way he wasn't even with his own sons. Perhaps with Daeron, but even Daeron did not get the same bout of love as Viserys' grandchildren had gotten all their lives. It was all for the Velaryons in the family. "She will grow up to be beautiful, like her mother. She will be a great lady." He told his family, before turning around and speaking solely to little Daera. "Yes, you will,"

"He holds her like he held you," Rhaenyra whispered to her daughter, who smiled at the notion. Rhaenyra knew that her father loved her of her siblings, but now it seemed Viserys had two favorites among his grandchildren as well: his two granddaughters. "Does the little princess have a name yet?" Rhaelys nodded happily as she clapped her hands. "Rhaelys chose the name." Rhaenyra told her father before turning to her daughter. "Go, on. Tell him, my sweetling." Rhaelys looked at her grandsire as she let the name fall from her mouth.

"Her name is Daera. Princess Daera Velaryon." Alicent looked annoyed at the name. Daera was an utterly Valyrian name, unlike Joffrey. When Joff had been given his name, Alicent had made sure to let them know how unusual the name was for a Velaryon. Rhaelys hadn't given it much thought, as she was only nine at the time of Joffrey's birth.

"I do believe she has her father's nose," Viserys said after close examination of the girl's nose. Though Rhaelys was quite sure that all babe's noses looked quite the same. Another thing that ran in Rhaelys's mind were the rumours of her and her brothers' parentage had haunted her since the day she grew her first hairs. At least Rhaelys had the purple eyes of the Valyrians, where Jace and Luke and Joff all had brown eyes.

After an awkward silence, Laenor spoke again. "If you don't mind, Your Grace, your daughter has exerted herself heroically and should rest." Viserys smiled at his girl. Rhaenyra had always been his favourite. "Of course," He said and yet he did not let Daera go from his arms so easily. As Alicent took Princess Daera, Rhaelys followed her quietly without the Queen really noticing that the young princess had been standing behind her. "Do keep trying, Ser Laenor. Soon or late you may get another one who looks like you."

"My Queen, what do you mean with that?" Rhaelys questioned her as Alicent was shocked to find the Princess behind her. It was the first time Rhaelys understood what her parents meant when they said Alicent was not to be trusted. She had called her things in passing, and though she held Alicent as a person she despised, hated even, she had trusted her. Now, she would never trust Alicent again.

"I meant-" But Rhaelys did not even let the queen finish as she snatched her little sister from her arms. "You must be tired, Grandmother, it is past midday already. Mayhaps you should retire back to your chamber. You've said so oft you get tired from babes, as when Luke and Joff were newly born. You cared little for either of them, or do you not recall?" Alicent had no response back to her.

(The Writings of Mushroom: Though Princess Rhaelys was a firm supporter of her mother's faction, also called the Blacks, she had certain sympathies for the Queen's faction, also called the Greens. She loved her aunt Helaena more than she loved most, and she loved her uncles Aemond and Daeron as well. Those from Green she did not like were Lord Jason Lannister, Queen Alicent Hightower and Ser Otto Hightower. Wheter or not Princess Rhaelys liked Aegon was quite a tale. Rhaelys would not blame the pawn for taking their power back, but Queen Alicent was no longer a pawn. She was the mastermind behind the war now.)