Chapter Text
The waves crashed unforgivingly against the sharp rocks surrounding Dragonstone.
Near the castle, standing listlessly by the beach, Lucerys Velaryon watched on as tears slid down his soft reddened cheeks.
The smell of sea salt made his sensitive nose burn and the icy breeze made him shiver from the cold. He'd left the castle so stunned that he didn't even put on a cloak.
Lucerys just wanted to be alone.
To run.
Run away, and disappear.
He placed a hand on the small mound of his abdomen and shuddered when he felt a spark of energy, a sign that a dragon was in his womb.
His eyes filled with tears. He had done something foolish and now he would suffer the consequences of his actions.
He was seventeen, born an Omega, and pregnant. He had sex with the worst possible person and was unmarried without any mating mark. His worst fears have become reality: he was a pregnant unbonded Omega. He would not only throw his name in the mud but that of everyone in his family. Gods, as if the rumors about his Mother weren't bad enough, Lucerys went and made everything worse.
One bastard begetting another bastard. That was what the entire kingdom would comment on.
A broken sob escapes his throat, Lucerys rubs away the stubborn tears that insist on falling from his eyes. He should be strong now, not moping around, but Lucerys felt so lost, so alone.
What was he going to do?
"Luke…" It was his Mother's voice.
Lucerys eyes never left the sea, too embarrassed to face his Mother. Rhaenyra walked calmly towards her son, the Alpha Mother could smell the anguished cinnamon scent that Lucerys exuded and it left her heartbroken. You poor puppy.
"Oh, my sweet boy," Rhaenyra pulled him into her arms.
At first, he tried to back away, but Lucerys needed comfort, so he let himself break down. Luke put his face against his Mother's shoulder and finally allowed himself to cry. She hugged him tighter, making his scent soften and convey calm. She caressed the Omega's soft curls, she was holding back her tears, but she had to control herself and convey security to her boy.
"I'm sorry, Mom…" Lucerys sobbed softly.
"You have nothing to apologize for,” Rhaenyra spoke firmly. “If there is anyone to blame, it is my brother. I had to stop Daemon from riding Caraxes to King's Landing. Gods knew what he was going to do. But don't worry my sweet, I'll send a raven to my father today and-”
“No!”
Lucerys panicked. He broke away from his Mother's arms and looked at her desperately.
"No please, don't tell him.”
Rhaenyra frowned in confusion.
"Why not? he has claimed your virtue. You, a Prince of the Realm and an unmarked Omega. Aemond must be punished for his mistake and take full responsibility!”
"No. .." Lucerys begged. "I don't want to marry him, please.”
"What's going on son?" Rhaenyra's expression darkened. “Did he dare to….force you?!” If so, I'll take Syrax myself and reduce him to ashes!
Lucerys took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
"No, I slept with him because I wanted to. Though…” His cheeks blushed a little at the confession, but then he remembered Aemond's words and a shadow fell over his face. Aemond will think that I got pregnant on purpose to manipulate him. He said he would never bind himself to a bastard.
"What happened was a mistake, my nature got the best of me but it won't happen again. I will never marry a bastard, let that be clear.” Lucerys could practically hear Aemond's venomous words as if he were whispering in his ear.
Rhaenyra clenched her fists in anger, her lilac eyes burning. "That heartless fool, how dare he!”
" Muna," Lucerys urged in a low voice. “He’ll despise me for the rest of my life. I made a mistake, but I don't deserve this. Don’t betroth us. Please .”
Rhaenyra sighed sadly and pulled him back into her arms.
"Don't worry my son, your happiness is the most important thing to me. We will think of a viable solution to solve this problem. Everything will be fine, I promise.”
But what could they do?
...
Dinner at Dragonstone was usually filled with laughter. Tonight, since news of Lucerys’ pregnancy, dinner that night was tense. Daemon was still furious and Jace was too but was better at hiding it. They all tried to distract Lucerys with trivial topics that came to mind and Rhaena, and Baela did the same. Rhaenyra barely touched the food on her plate, her gaze was miles away. Only Joffrey and Aegon remained aloof, too young to understand why the adults were in a dark mood. Luke envied them, to be young and not be pregnant was a faraway dream now.
Before retiring for the night, Lucerys was summoned to his Mother’s chambers. Confused, he went there as ordered. Nervously, when he entered her room, he saw that both Daemon and his Mother were standing together, before turning around to greet him, as if they finished a discussion.
"Sit down Luke," She asks indicating a chair. “I already know what we're going to do, it's the perfect plan.”
As Rhaenyra recounted her 'perfect plan', Lucerys' mouth dropped open in shock. This was all madness.
"So," Rhaenyra asked tentatively, “What do you think?”
“I-”
"The boy has no choice," Daemon spoke out for the first time. “It's either that or his son will be a bastard.”
"Daemon…", Rhaenyra scolded him "It is a big decision, and the babe is his. We shouldn’t cause undue pressure.”
"It's not pressure, I am stating the obvious.”
Daemon was right. He didn’t have much of a viable alternative. In this world, blood was everything. It was either he did this, or condemned his babe to the ostracism of bastardy. It would be much worse for the poor child, due to the persistent rumors of Lucerys' ancestry.
"But how would we do this? What if people would realize?”
"When your belly starts to grow, we can disguise it with looser clothes, and then, unfortunately, you will have to be restricted to your quarters, but only until the baby is born," Rhaenyra clarified. “As for me, it's easy, it's been three years since I gave birth to Aegon, no one would suspect my pregnancy and there are plenty of methods to make it look like I'm pregnant.”
She had thought of everything.
Lucerys turns to Daemon.
"Do you agree Stepfather? My babe will be your son.”
The Rogue Prince shrugged. "I already have so many children, one more won't make a difference. We have the gold and servants to care for you all, your babe included.”
Lucerys smiled a little, relief coursing through his veins, but then his expression became worried once more.
"What if the baby is born with my hair?” Strong blood is strong. Lucerys doesn't say that part out loud.
Rhaenyra and Daemon glanced at one another.
"Let's worry about that later, now we have more urgent matters," She said calmly. “We will go ahead with this plan, but not without your consent. It's quite the deception." Rhaenyra looked at him, a grim expression on her face.
“This child should never call you mother and neither can you treat them as yours. They will be your sibling and only your sibling. Do you understand?”
This situation went against all of his Omegan instincts, after all, it was part of his nature. It was cruel to separate an Omega from their child, but in this case, Lucerys had no other choice. He brought a hand to his belly, trembling.
Forgive me, little one.
"Alright,” Lucerys said, a finality in his voice. “I understand and I agree.”
...
Lucerys gave birth during one of the worst storms of the year.
The sea roared furiously and the castle seemed to shake with every lightning strike. Perhaps it was for the best, as it drowned out the blood-curdling wails coming from Lucerys’ birthing bed.
He was bloodied, sweaty, pained, and exhausted. Gods, how had Mother endured this four times? I feel like I’m being split in two!
As customary, Omegas had their paired Alphas nearby during the birth, as both their shared pheromones made labor easier. However, Lucerys was alone - but his mother was nearby, using her pheromones desperately as an alternative.
It helped a bit, but the pain was still excruciating.
"You are doing well my Prince," Maester Gerardys said encouragingly, “I can already see the baby's head. Just push a little more.”
"I can't!” Lucerys gasped out.
“Yes you can my boy, keep going,” Rhaenyra said proudly as she sat next to her son and held his hands firmly.
“Muna … Muna I can’t, please help me..” He felt so close to passing out.
"My brave boy, you can do it. I'm here, just push and it'll be over soon.
Lucerys groaned in pain. Only he, his Mother, and Maester Gerardys were in the room while Daemon guarded the door from the outside. The Princess didn't trust anyone else to keep her son's secrets. Despite the risk, thankfully hiding Lucerys’ pregnancy wasn't as difficult as she imagined.
His belly only really started to appear in the sixth month of pregnancy. Lucerys began to wear looser robes, while Rhaenyra flaunted her false pregnancy with the help of the Maester. Thankfully, Dragonstone was not the Red Keep and nobody noticed - and even if they did, no one spoke up about it. Possibly out of fear as Daemon patrolled the servant’s quarters daily. When Lucerys was nearing the end of his pregnancy, he was confined to his quarters and became quite ill and needed rest. In the last month, all Lucerys could think about was the much-feared birth.
My Mother had all her births smoothly, so I don't need to worry.
But I’m a male Omega, what happens if…?
Another scream left his mouth. Shit, when was this going to end?
"Stay calm, my Prince, just one more push.”
Lucerys growled irritably and heard his Mother laugh.
"You're doing well, and at least you didn't curse the Maester like I did!”
Lucerys took multiple deep breaths and gathered all his strength to push. Yet another scream left his lips, he clenched his Mother’s hands even tighter, and she hummed comfortingly.
Then as if by some divine intervention, a sign of the gods showed itself in the form of a bolt of lightning cutting across the sky. It illuminated the entire room, and then….
“WAAAAAAAA!”
The newborn's cry was loud and clear.
Lucerys collapsed against the cushions behind him, beyond exhausted, chest heaving but feeling empty inside. His vision became blurred as he blinked away the tears and sweat. As the Midwives rushed the clean and manage the fallen Prince, the Maester urged Rhaenyra to look upon the babe, speaking in hushed tones.
"Congratulations, my Prince.” The Maester held the babe, swaddled in a rich velvet cloth. “You bore a healthy baby boy.”
Clumsily, Lucerys held the baby in his arms and pulled back the cloth so he could see his face. His heart clenched as tears welled in his eyes. The babe inherited little of him and the tuft of hair on his little head was silver. When the babe opened his eyes, they were a beautiful lilac.
Lucerys's chest fills with warmth. He was his son, his. Lucerys's eyes sparkled as he carefully kissed the baby's forehead. So fragile. The boy began to move slightly, as if impatient for something.
Gods, I hope he doesn't take after Aemond’s countenance.
"He is beautiful, just like you, my boy," His Mother said, beyond thrilled. “What will his name be?”
Lucerys looked hesitantly at his Mother. "I thought...you would like to choose the name.” After all, he will be her son in public, not his.
Rhaenyra smiled warmly as she shook her head. "You’re his mother, you should name him.”
Lucerys said nothing more. He gently rocked his son and let his pheromones surround the baby, he seemed to calm down a little.
"Viserys," Lucerys said finally. “It's a good name and that way we will always remember our Grandsire.”
She looked at Lucerys with pride and love. Rhaenyra wiped tears from her eyes and smiled.
"Viserys Targaryen, a perfect name.”
Lucerys agreed with a sheepish grin. A good name for the youngest son of the future Queen of Westeros.
...
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
...
Viserys was a curious, chubby, and healthy babe.
According to the nannies, he sleeps peacefully at night but has tantrums when he’s hungry. Lucerys chuckled as he observed from the entrance to the nursery. Little Aegon cooed happily at his little brother who was currently chewing on a small wooden dragon.
Unfortunately, the egg that Baela and Jace had chosen for Viserys's cradle didn’t hatch and perhaps never will, as it was already starting to freeze. Lucerys was apologetic and felt responsible. My son looks like a true Targaryen, but has no dragon as if he inherited that luck from …He bit his lip.
"When he grows up, he should be able to claim one of our untamed dragons. After all, he’s a Targaryen. I just hope he doesn't lose his eye too!” Daemon chortled. However, Rhaenyra slapped her husband's neck after that statement.
Lucerys laughed at the memory.
"Brother," Joffrey comes running towards and pulls his robes. “Do you have to go? Driftmark is so far.”
Lucerys sighed, amazed at how quickly news traveled through the castle. "Yeah Joff, but don't worry, I'll be back soon.”
Joffrey looked upset.
"Don't go, you’re the coolest brother I have! Jace is a pain in the ass and Aegon and Vis are just babies! I can’t train with them!”
As if he had heard his name, little Viserys looked in Lucerys' direction and began to make impatient noises, and extended his little arms towards him. Luke knew that sign; the babe wanted to be held. Surely just once before I go. It will be a while before I see him again.
Lucerys calmly walked over to the boy and took him in his arms. Viserys laughed happily and grabbed a handful of Luke's hair just to chew on the dark curls.
"Ew Vis, you're drooling all over my hair" Luke scolded softly. Viserys chews his hair more furiously. That's why I'm leaving. I can no longer stay by my son's side and can’t even act like his mother. This is painful.
He didn't want to be here when Viserys started calling Daemon Kepa. Lucerys only hoped that one day, he’d be able to tell his son the truth.