PROLOGUE

VISERYS. You wouldn't be a broodmare. You'd be a mother.
ALYSANNE. Some men can't tell the difference.

As the sun rose high into the sky, the Queen's chambers filled with the rustlings of fabrics and scrapings of trunks across stone floors. With bated breath, a young handmaid reached out and knocked on the great wooden doors before her.

"Come."

Upon her entry, the handmaid saw the Queen pacing the floor. Wisps of gray hair had fallen from the knot at the back of her head, and the lines in her face seemed all the more prominent as she furrowed her brows.

The Queen glanced up and sighed. "Alysanne."

"Your Grace." The handmaid bowed her head. "You called for me?"

The Queen continued her pacing as she said, "I have already asked the dragonkeepers to ready Silverwing. I am to leave for Dragonstone in the hour."

The handmaid frowned. "Dragonstone?"

The Queen stopped pacing to say, "You know that Jaehaerys has passed over Rhaenys for the succession, and made Baleon his heir. I have voiced my displeasure, but in vain."

"And you're leaving for Dragonstone?"

"I told my husband that if he believed women lack the wit to rule, then he has no need for me."

The handmaid began to smile. "You have been a steadfast advisor to the King, Your Grace."

"We shall see how wise he is without his lady wife at his side," the Queen replied.

A smile graced her lips then, and she stepped closer to the handmaid, who averted her gaze. She flinched as the Queen laid a hand on her cheek, but soon her shoulders sagged, and she let out a breath.

"You and I are much alike," the Queen murmured. "Not only in name."

"Thank you, Your Grace," Alysanne whispered. "I can only hope I am as honorable as the Good Queen herself."

Queen Alysanne laughed and turned away. She went to the other end of her chambers and sat in an armchair, smoothing out her leather riding tunic. When Alysanne did not follow, she beckoned the girl over.

"In my anger, I fear I have put my hair in a state of disarray," she said. "Would you...?"

The girl nodded, and she hurried over to stand behind the Queen's chair. She worked with a certain speed, her nimble fingers undoing the knot with ease. Still, she took care not to snag her Queen's white tresses in her haste.

"How long will you be in Dragonstone?" She murmured.

"Until I am no longer furious with my husband," Queen Alysanne replied. "Which may be quite some time."

Alysanne let out a soft laugh, and the Queen turned her head ever-so-slightly. She froze, but the Queen merely smiled and nodded before she turned her head away.

"Despite my husband's ignorance, I do not direct my anger at Baelon," she said. "He will make a fine King."

"Yes, Your Grace," Alysanne murmured. She had a hairbrush in hand, and made her Queen's hair the sole focus of her attention as she took the brush to it.

"How are my grandsons?" Queen Alysanne turned her head once more. "Viserys and Daemon. You are their caretaker, are you not?"

"Yes, Your Grace," Alysanne replied. "The princes are well."

"My son greatly appreciates your services. It was wise of him, making you their nursemaid."

She giggled. "I am not a nursemaid. Prince Baelon appointed me to accompany his sons at their instruction."

"Which seems to be quite often," Queen Alysanne replied.

"Prince Daemon only asks for me when he wishes to visit the Dragonpit. I fear he intends to claim Caraxes, now that the dragon is riderless."

"And Viserys?"

"He calls on me to discuss a great many things," she answered. "Most recently it has been the tragic death of Prince Aemon."

Queen Alysanne smiled. "And that is exactly why you were given such a position."

"So Prince Viserys could lament his uncle's passing?"

"Because you two are alike."

The Queen turned in her seat and fixed her handmaid with a knowing smile. "I'm an old woman, but my sight has not failed me."

"I'm... Unsure of what you mean," Alysanne murmured. "Your Grace."

"Don't be a fool, Alysanne."

Her fingers faltered their braiding. She dared to mumble, "I am fortunate enough that Prince Viserys has deemed me a worthy friend."

Queen Alysanne laughed softly. "Stubborn as anything, you are."

"Will you require anything else of me before you depart?" Alysanne ventured.

"I ask that you relax while I am at Dragonstone. Enjoy your youth. It leaves us before we know it."

"I do enjoy my youth, but―"

"That is an order from your Queen, Alysanne."

Alysanne mumbled her acquiescence in the silence that followed. The Queen had not turned around, but she did not need to. Her handmaid would follow any order she was given to the best of her ability.

A knock came at the door, and Alysanne flinched. The braids in her hands fell apart, she tried to brush the Queen's hair back into something presentable, apologizing all the while.

"There's no need," Queen Alysanne said, and stood. Addressing the guest, she called out, "Enter."

The doors opened then, and a young man slipped into the Queen's chambers. He bowed his head at the sight of the Queen, but he had fixed his gaze on the handmaid behind her.

"Alysanne." He smiled and said, "I was told you'd be here. Daemon wishes for us to visit the Dragonpit."

"Prince Viserys." Alysanne hastily bowed. "I am... Presently occupied, but―"

"Oh, go on, Alysanne," the Queen said, and waved her hand. "I'm six-and-fifty years old, I can very easily braid my own hair."

Alysanne paused, glancing between the Queen at her side and the prince in front of her. Then, with one last nod from the Queen, she broke into a feeble smile and hurried to join her prince.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I say we take another route back," Daemon declared. "Through the city. I want to see the markets."

Alysanne laughed. "Do you take me for a fool, my prince? Absolutely not."

"You mistrust me so often, Alysanne."

"And I have a good reason to. The Street of Silk is just north of the Dragonpit."

Daemon flushed and grumbled to himself amid laughter from his elder brother. He glared at Alysanne once more before starting off down the Street of the Sister, the most direct path to the Red Keep.

Viserys waited until he was out of earshot before saying, "Troublesome, isn't he?"

"You say that as if you aren't trouble yourself," she replied.

"Aye, I am. But less trouble than Daemon, you have to admit."

She fixed him with a look. Then, with a soft laugh, she nodded her head and waved him onwards.

The journey to the Red Keep went as it always did, with Alysanne seated between the two princes in the wheelhouse that carted them back to the palace. Daemon made a point of glaring out the window.

When they had passed through the palace gates, Alysanne grinned and murmured, "Drūr, īlon embar jagon."

"I don't want to go to the seaside," he retorted, turning to glare at her. "I want to claim a dragon."

"To the sept, then," she countered. "Perhaps the gods will hear your prayers and grant you a dragon to claim."

Daemon did not receive her attempt at humor well. With a huff, he pushed past her and stepped out of the wheelhouse, muttering, "Ilībio."

Both Alysanne and Viserys bristled at his words. Daemon had, in no uncertain terms, called her a whore. But Alysanne held up a hand before Viserys could scold his brother, and dismissed it with a shake of her head.

"Let him be upset," she said. "I can't fault him for being hurt that he hasn't yet claimed a dragon."

"Caraxes will take to him sooner than later," Viserys replied as they left the wheelhouse. "How will you justify his impudence then, Alysanne?"

"It's simple," she replied, smiling. "I won't."

They stood in the courtyard, each one eyeing the other, before Viserys sighed heavily and relented. Still smiling, Alysanne patted his arm.

"I'm afraid I will not take my supper with you tonight," she said. "I am... Otherwise occupied."

"Oh?" Viserys grinned, turning to her. "And what is more important than the orders of your prince?"

She laughed and began to walk towards the gates, saying, "Nothing that will interest you."

"Alysanne―"

"Geros ilas, ñuha dārilaros."

Goodbye, my prince, she had said. A fitting dismissal. If she wished to make her appointment, she knew she could not waste more time talking to her prince.

Alysanne merely turned and made for the street beyond the palace gates. She did look back once, to see Viserys laughing and shaking his head as he made his way inside. Smiling to herself, she lifted the hood of her cloak and quickened her pace through the cobbled streets.

She reached the Street of Silk in record time. Oh, she knew that Daemon would hate her for her hypocrisy, but he would never understand why she went. She did not visit to indulge in whores, but to visit one.

The madame that operated the brothel smiled at the sight of her and gestured down a hallway. They had come to a silent understanding― she would ask no questions about the girl's timid gaze, or the red handmaid's gown peeking out from beneath her muddy brown cloak.

The brothel had been near-empty when she arrived, but Alysanne still chanced a look into the chambers before she dared pull back the curtains guarding the doorway.

A girl laid on the round bed in the center of the room, draped in little more than a shift. Black curls framed her face, and a smile graced her lips at the sight of her visitor.

"I ought to start charging you," she said, pushing herself to a sitting position.

Alysanne laughed and let her cloak fall to the floor. "I pay you anyways, Maegelle."

"To my utter fury, Alysanne."

Maegelle patted the bed, and Alysanne sat. "What news do you bring me today?"

"Princess Rhaenys is rumored to be with child," she replied. "And that squire boy you bedded is to wed a Connington girl in a week's time."

"Brynden?" Maegelle shook her head. "I would've been a better wife than a Connington."

"Ah, but you're a bastard. As am I."

"You, at least, had the chance to undo it."

Alysanne shook her head. She fixed her gaze on the bangles around Maegelle's wrists, and how they glinted in the light. When the silence had grown too loud, Maegelle cleared her throat and put her hands out, resting them on Alysanne's knees.

"The boy you fancy," she began. "Tell me about him."

"He is a boy," Alysanne shot back. "And I fancy him."

"But what about him? Is he of noble blood? Is he older than you? Is he handsome?"

"If I thought him hideous, I wouldn't fancy him, would I?" She replied, her face burning. "This is not the first you've heard of him, Maegelle."

"Yes, but the last you spoke of him, you told me you wanted to hit him," Maegelle said. "And then, if memory serves, you asked how to kiss a man properly."

She blushed. "He was bothering me that day."

"And yet, you wanted to kiss him."

One pointed look from Maegelle, and Alysanne fell apart into giggles. She nodded, throwing up her hands, and mumbled her agreement.

She did not know how long they spoke for. Long enough for the sun to set, and for the sky to turn a deep indigo. Maegelle traded stories of petty rivalries between whores for Alysanne's news from the Red Keep. And between tales, Alysanne did her best to slyly ask her friend's advice on the matter of boys, and how to woo them.

They had been giggling about a handsome merchant's son when Alysanne froze. She had not dreamed it, no― she had seen a flash of white hair pass by their room.

"Daemon," she hissed, and scrambled out of bed. "I told him not to come here!"

Maegelle frowned. "Let the prince have his fun, Alysanne."

"I will not," she retorted. "He is too young. And he is my charge. I cannot let there be rumors of a Targaryen prince in the brothels if I want to keep my position!"

Still fuming, she darted into the hall, her cloak tucked under one arm. Her raised voice earned her odd looks, and from none other than the Targaryen prince himself. But perhaps Prince Viserys looked guilty at the sight of her, rather than bemused.

Maegelle had come into the hall, and she waved to Viserys, grinning. "My prince."

"Do not solicit him," Alysanne snapped. She shoved a small pouch into Maegelle's hands, muttering, "For your time."

Viserys did not put up a fight as she half-dragged him out of the brothel by the crook of his arm. They walked in silence for a time, weaving through the smallfolk and ducking past members of the City Watch, until he cleared his throat.

"I did not realize that this is why you skipped supper with me," he ventured, with a crooked grin.

"I was visiting a friend," she shot back. "Not satisfying myself with a whore."

"You had no right to drag me out of there―"

"Yes I did! I am your handmaid, and if I had not done so your father would―"

"I understand that you enjoy a woman's company as much as I do, but this is utter hypocrisy―"

"Viserys!"

With a shaking hand, Alysanne pulled him into an alleyway. Viserys stumbled along after her, eyeing the beggars and drunkards they passed. They did not speak until they reached a stretch of road with nobody around to eavesdrop.

"You are a prince," she began, her voice wavering. "And you have a duty to this realm. Not only that, but you have a duty to your family, and to be seen in a brothel, entertaining whores..."

"I did no such thing," he replied.

Alysanne glared at him. "You are not a common man, Viserys. You are a prince, and princes are not expected to visit brothels."

"And you, a handmaid to the crown, are?"

"I am a bastard. It does not matter what I do."

"You're the daughter of Bartimos Celtigar," he said. "Bastard or not, you are of noble birth, Aly."

She shook her head. "When King Jaehaerys offered to make me a lady, I turned it down because I had no love for my father. I don't consider myself a lady by any means."

Viserys smiled. "Is that your excuse for visiting whores?"

"It's the truth," Alysanne shot back, but the fight had gone out of her. Still, she added, "You are five-and-ten. Within the year, you will come of age, and you will have a lady wife. You cannot be untrue to her."

"Do you really think so little of me, Alysanne?" He asked, laying a hand over his heart in mock offense.

She grinned. "No. But I worry that your wife will grow bored of you and your love for the histories."

"Ah. So you think I'm dull."

"I do not!"

Viserys laughed and rubbed his arm where she swatted him. "You ought to petition your father to legitimize you."

She scoffed. "To what possible end?"

"If you were a lady, Aly, you could marry a lord who would provide for you. It's a better life than working, anyway."

"I don't want to be a wife and broodmare. I'd rather devote myself to my work than any man."

"You wouldn't be a broodmare. You'd be a mother."

"Some men can't tell the difference."

"Well, I would wed you," Viserys said, and scuffed the toe of his boot on the cobbled ground. He cleared his throat, mumbling, "...If you were a lady."

She frowned at him, but her racing heart betrayed her. "Don't say that. You'd dishonor your family by taking a bastard to wife."

"From what you've told me, I've already dishonored them by visiting a pleasure house."

They shared a look, and Alysanne felt a smile creeping onto her face. Then she coughed, smoothed out her skirts, and said, "Well, as much as I mislike disappointing you, I do not intend to become a lady."

"A shame, truly," he replied with a smile. "I do think you're the only woman at court who enjoys the histories as much as I do."

"Hmm. Shame."

Alysanne turned to him, laid both her hands on his shoulders, and said, "If it pleases you, my prince, I will visit your chambers tonight. I do feel guilty for skipping our evening meal together."

"It pleases me greatly, Aly," Viserys replied. One hand reached up to clasp hers, and he said, "I thought we might read a book on the Long Night."

"No lessons in High Valyrian?"

"Only if you steal us some honeycakes from the kitchens."

A grin spread across Alysanne's face. Then she let go of him and darted off in the direction of the Red Keep, leaving Viserys to chase after her. Their laughter echoed off the stone walls of the passageway, the only sign that the handmaid and her prince had ever left the palace that night.

birdie's comments!

i fear i ate with this one (i ctrl + f'd all the instances of "the prince" in relation to viserys to replace them with "HER prince")

on that note VISERYS TOLERATERS HOW ARE WE FEEEEELINGGGG AFTER HOTD 2x06 !!!! (that cameo put me in the trenches. i haven't been this awful since hotd premiered in 2022)

alysanne²,,, my beloved queen and bastard duo,,,

the way that the queen looks exactly like the bastard (blue eyes, blonde hair, a slim frame)... and she married jaehaerys in secret, something alysanne probably considered for herself... alysanne the queen bickering with jaehaerys and being his advisor?? mirroring alysanne the bastard bickering with viserys and being someone he turns to for counsel?? yeah i'm SICK. in conclusion, both alysannes are tied by so much more than name :)

yes daemon's eleven in this prologue. yes he mentions brothels. does he understand wtf brothels are? no! but the more alysanne tells him not to visit the street of silk the more he wants to

source: my brother is also eleven and does everything to spite me