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Rhaenyra Targaryen was the Realm’s Delight for a reason, she was the youngest dragon rider in the Targaryen history, she was not to be trifled with, when her maid brought her news that Alicent was visiting the King’s chamber alone in the same night she burned her mother and brother’s bodies, she snaped, she sent out three of Queen Aemma’s maids to look for Alicent and inquire after her to everyone, and when the Hightower left the King’s chambers she found half the staff of the Red Keep looking for her, and they all started whispering about her being alone in the King’s rooms, before she could make the walk to the Hand’s tower, where her father was, and warned him to control the situation, the Princess showed up, and she called her father the King, her uncle and princess Rhaenys, before the Hand could be told, the dragon rider Targaryens had already assumed control of the situation, Princess Rhaenys assumed control of the Princess household, and was already planning on calling Archmaster Vaegon and Septa Rhaella back to help Rhaenyra, Daemon made sure the whole of Kingslanding was aware of the Highwhore and her father’s schemes, while Rhaenyra used her tears and her grief for her mother to get the King to grant her sole control of the Targaryen jewels, heritage, dragon, eggs, and the Red Keep, in front of the servants and half of the Small council as soon as her father gave her his word, Princess Rhaenys asked Lord Strong to write it down and send it to the King and his heir to be signed.
When Otto Hightower finally woke it was too late, his daughter’s reputation was shattered, his own reputation was bad as well, for they were calling him a leech to his face inside the Red Keep, even the servants, they were looking at him like they were ready to kill him, and all because of how loved Queen Aemma was, he was summoned to the Throne Room, when he arrived the court was all there. King Viserys was on the Iron Throne, and his family was close to him. As soon as he was near, Viserys started talking.
“Yesterday as I grieve my wife and son, your daughter came to my chambers offering comfort and companionship, I shouldn't have allowed her to enter, but I was grieving and made a mistake, a mistake that brought shame upon my daughter and my Aemma, and also upon your daughter, but Lady Alicent claims that you were the one that told her to comfort me, so I decided to marry Lady Alicent, for I made a mistake towards her, but because of the shameful way she went alone to my chambers, I cannot reward her with the title of Queen, so she will remain Lady Alicent, wife of the King, she will have control of her own household, and that is it, my daughter Princess Rhaenyra and my cousin Princess Rhaenys will take control of the Red Keep, and of Rhaenyra’s household, for the shameful tactics you tried to make your daughter Queen, you will be banished to Oldtown, and Lord Strong will become the new Hand of the King, and Prince Daemon will become Master of Laws, mine and Alicent children will have the title of Lords and Ladies, they will be given a different last name since they will not be princes of the realm, and will have no right to name Targaryen or any of the heritage that comes with this, they will be cared for, be given funds and a keep of their own, but they will never be the future of this house.”
Otto was so shocked he couldn’t respond, and Viserys told him to leave King's Landing as fast as humanly possible, and to take his household with him. As Otto was preparing to leave the Red Keep, Alicent came to him. She had tears in her eyes, and Otto said
“What happened last night?”
“Rhaenyra was looking for me, and she asked the servants to find me, they all saw me leaving the King’s chambers, and then they called the Princess and her family, after that, Princess Rhaenys ordered the servants not to let me leave while the King talked to his family, once they left, Princess Rhaenys told me to go to one of the empty rooms in the King’s wing, and a guard was posted on my door, Princess Rhaenys just told me I will be the King’s wife and only that, and of what happened to you.”
“Why did you tell them I sent you to the King’s room?”
“Prince Daemon said he would get the truth out of me, one way or another, and I was so afraid I just told them, I am sorry, Father.”
“You stupid girl, you played right into their hands; now you have to get pregnant as soon as possible. When the King sees his firstborn son, he will make him heir above the girl; that is your most important goal now, Alicent. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, father.”
In the following weeks, Archmaester Vaegon and Septa Rhaella joined Princess Rhaenyra's household as tutors, and ladies from across the realm as well. Lady Laena Velaryon, Lady Sara Stark, sister of Lord Stark, even if the King just legitimized her on Lord Stark’s request, Lady Joahana Westerling, Lady Aiana Tyrell, Ladies Cassandra and Maris Baratheon, Lady Gaela Royce, Lady Beth Bracken, Lady Alyssa Blackwood, Lady Sam Manderly, Lady Martha Tully, and Lady Sunny Bolton were the ones who were close in age with the Princess. Lady Celtigar and Lady Amanda, who were ladies to the previous Queen Aemma, had taken on the role of instructing the ladies and the Princess in the day-to-day running of a Keep and its staff. Archmaester Vaegon had started instructing the Princess and her ladies in Warfare, strategy, economics, and history. While bringing in more tutors from across the world to teach her Politics and other subjects, Princess Rhaenys was taking care of the Red Keep and the household, as well as bringing in things that the last Hand did wrong so they could use them against him.
Alicent was having a hard time; she couldn’t get any lady to be her ladies-in-waiting, not even from smaller houses. Most of them didn’t answer her letters; the ones that did had excuses, like the ladies were too young, or too old, or were already promised to join Princess Rhaenyra and Rhaenys households. She wouldn’t have access to any of the Targaryen Jewellery or dresses. She would have to buy her dresses and jewels with her own coin. Her allowance from the King was very small, four hundred golden dragons, nothing close to Princess Rhaenyra, who had seven thousand golden dragons every month, and the King himself paid her ladies and staff, so it didn’t come out of her allowance. But Alicent’s servants had to be paid from her allowance, and that meant she could only have 1 or maybe 2 servants, which was ridiculous, Alicent deserved more, she was a pious lady from Oldtown, she was the daughter of the most honourable Hand she was going to get more, so she went to the King, she did what her brother once told her it was every man’s weakness, she took the King’s manhood into her mouth and while she was sucking him, while kneeling on the floor, the King had taken hold of her hair, and was pushing her head down on his manhood, Alicent choked a lot, she needed air but the King wasn’t paying attention to her, he was pushing his manhood further down her throat.
Alicent was so busy trying to breathe, she didn’t notice the grooms of the King and his maids. They all had seen Alicent come inside his chambers, but now they were seeing the King fuck her throat, and she hadn’t seen them yet. When the King finished, she swallowed what she could, but some of his seed dripped down her chin, and she then said
“Was that good, my love?” The King was still holding her hair, and his grip had not eased. He looked down on her and answered.
“It was good, but unexpected. What brought this on?” The King had a knowing glint in his eyes now that he hadn’t had before when Alicent was visiting him at night.
“I just want to please you, my Lord.”
“Good, it was good; now please go back to your chambers, I have to get changed to see my family.” Before Alicent could react, the King looked behind her and said
“Please escort Lady Alicent to her new chambers, and start preparing my clothes to see my daughter.” When Alicent looked behind her, she saw at least 5 servants, two grooms and three maids, plus the ones passing by the door, her cheeks burned with the position she was in, and what they saw her doing, she was so ashamed she froze, and one of the grooms had to get her up from the floor, and almost drag her back to her rooms, there were a lot of servants on the halls and Alicent didn’t realized she still had the King’s seed dripping down her chin, because no one gave a cloth to clean up before making her walk down the hall.
By noon, the whole Red Keep knew what she had done, and everyone inside had already written to their families. They were all judging her and laughing at her, to her face; all proper manners and decorum were gone, since they all saw her as a whore, and not a lady. Alicent tried to approach Rhaenyra, but her ladies-in-waiting always stopped her and reminded her that, because of her status, she could no longer be in the presence of the Heir. Her own family, the Hightowers, were suffering because Otto was no longer Hand, Lord Strong, and Prince Daemon began dismantling the advantages Otto had given them, such as lower taxes and greater leniency in payments. And because of that, Oldtown now had to pay an increase of 15% in taxes and a fine of 60.000 golden dragons of the crown; refusing to do so would result in a visit from Prince Daemon and Princess Rhaenys, which would then turn Oldtown into the New Harrenhall.
The wedding was simple, just 2 days: the opening feast, and on the other day, the ceremony in the Sept, followed by a closing feast. Alicent's dresses were sent from Oldtown; her Aunt Lynesse had picked them for her. They were nice, great material. But made for a lady older than her; the King had a golden necklace made for her for the feast. Alicent had to use her late mother’s earrings, which were small and simple, but good quality; almost every single lady in attendance shadowed her. There weren’t many, since a lot of lords chose not to show up; they excused themselves, saying that the short notice of the wedding was what made them unable to attend. But Rhaenyra was shining, even in black; she wore a lot of jewelry from the Conquest, diamonds and rubies. Her ladies and their families were wearing black as well, and no one danced at the feast, even with the minstrels playing happy songs; the hall was somber, after all; they were all still mourning Aemma Arryn, the gentle queen.
When the celebrations ended, if they could be called celebrations, and the lords made their way back to their keeps, Rhaenyra and her ladies were already working on forging alliances, bringing more knights into her household, making sure that at the very least 70% of all the noble houses were loyal to her, and not the Hightowers. But the real plan was already in the works: poisoning Alicent so she would never carry a child. Maester Vaegon had the perfect thing, which would damage the girl’s body and womb forever, and while Rhaenyra felt a little bad for doing it, she would rather avoid any children than have to kill them later, or worse, have any opposition. And besides, if Alicent wanted to badly enough to replace her mother, so she could have Aemma’s fate as well. Rhaenyra’s heart had turned to stone towards Alicent when she realized the Hightower wanted to wear her Mother’s jewelry and gowns. So Rhaenyra had explicitly told King Viserys she wanted everything that Queen Aemma had ever owned, all the gowns, all the jewelry, all the relics in her rooms, and the King had agreed. Rhaenyra also brought back the last Hightower Queen, who had access to the royal treasury, and King Viserys, in his folly to not be compared to Maegor, had quickly agreed to leave the Royal treasury in Rhaenyra’s hands. Alicent having to ask for permission to use any of the Targaryen artifacts puts her at a disadvantage.
Alicent announced her pregnancy a month after the wedding, and while it looked like she was going to deliver a child, Uncle Vaegon had assured her that the child was dead; Maester Mellos didn’t know how to feel for it. Many Hightowers arrived at the Red Keep under the guise of helping the young lady with her pregnancy. Still, every time they tried to gain more control over household tasks, or budgets, or even the decorations of the Red Keep, they were met with Princess Rhaenys and Maester Vaegon, who were a formidable team. No, Hightower would never push them against a wall. When it came time for Alicent to give birth, it lasted four days, and the midwives were sure the child was dead, but when they finally got the child out, everyone in the room paled at what they actually saw. What the Hightower Queen had carried was half a babe, his skull only half-formed, and the rest was caved, his body twisted into strange and unnatural angles. His blood was green, and he smelled like death. The maids left running, the Septas were kneeling and asking the Seven Gods for forgiveness, the Maester and his acolytes were so shocked they couldn’t move for a while, only when most of the Red Keep was aware of the Monster that Alicent Hightower had birthed, that the King walked inside the Room, he was pale, and when he saw the babe, he almost got sick. He said to have the child prepared by the Silent Sisters and quietly burned; there was no need to make a spectacle out of this.
Everyone was calling this a curse from the Kind Queen Aemma, for the disrespect shown to her for this wedding, and from the Hightowers. Rhaenyra didn’t have to do anything for the people of King's Landing to revolt against the Hightowers; they started beating their guards and throwing rocks, food, and whatever else they could get their hands on.
Rhaenyra’s life was much easier now; her father couldn’t get that marriage undone, since he had named Rhaenyra the Heir, and Alicent’s betrayal and suffering were a good cautionary tale to any other ladies trying to get a bastard to sit on the Iron Throne. Alicent’s life only got harder. She couldn’t hold a pregnancy for more than 5 moons. She grew bitter quickly; she began trying to seize power however she could, even going so far as to spread rumors about Rhaenyra's virtue. Still, unfortunately for her, Prince Vaegon and Princess Rhaneys had good control of the whispers, and both of them turned the tables on Alicent for each rumor she tried to start about Rhaenyra; they would always end up painting her in a bad light. Alicent was confined to the Red Keep, since every time she tried to go out, she was met with rotten fruit and rocks being thrown at her, people singing terrible, bawdy songs about a lady in the King’s bedchamber, going as far as using her name. She couldn’t even go to the Sept in the city, and the High Septon even went as far as to ban Alicent from the Sept, claiming a traitor like her had no place in the house of the Seven Gods. The only thing stopping him from calling a Trial of the Seven for Alicent was Hightower gold filling his pockets. Which meant that Alicent couldn’t even try to be loved by the Small Folk and show herself to be a pious woman, since she could only attend the Sept in the Castle and all the workers there treated her coldly, even the Septa that was with her since she was a child barely spoke to her now, only clipped words when she could no longer use silence as a excuse. Alicent could still remember the last time she was outside: the King made an announcement, and she decided to accompany him, but as soon as she stood behind him, the common folk started to sing "In Shadows of the Tower," pointing at her.
In shadows deep where whispers creep,
Alicent walks with secrets to keep.
With a silken gown, she makes her way,
To the King's bed at the close of day.
No chaperone to guard her path,
In her heart, a storm of wrath.
For Rhaenyra, the dragon's fire,
Burns bright, igniting her desire.
With honeyed words and fleeting grace,
She claims her throne in a secret place.
Yet envy churns within her breast,
A crown of thorns, she seeks, not rest.
In moonlit nights, her vows are spun,
A game of hearts, and she’s the one,
Who woos the King with artful lies,
While purest hearts in silence sigh.
So sing, oh bard, of tales untold,
Of power's grasp and hearts turned cold.
For in the court where shadows dwell,
Alicent’s tale is a whispered spell.
The King was so mad that Alicent's presence had embarrassed him that he forbade her from ever leaving the Red Keep without his direct order. When Prince Daemon brought news from the city, claiming that the song was a hit and was being played in every tavern and almost every street, Viserys was even madder. He refused to see or talk to Alicent for many moons, and when he finally did, Alicent realized that she was just a body to comfort the King; she no longer had his ear or his heart. Now, she was just there to make sure he had carnal pleasure and release. The King didn’t mistreat her, but he didn’t really listened to her, she was just there for when he needed release, no one in court respected her, she had only two servents, one maid, and one cook, and her maid was always overworked, she could barely clean her rooms, because she was always running around and doing other more urgent tasks, like procuring food for her, wood to warm her chambers, getting water to for her bath, making sure that Alicent’s clothes were clean and ready to be used, which means that Alicent herself had to clean her rooms, or else people would think she was disorganized. She couldn’t give the Court any more reason to mock her. All the while, the Red Keep was flooded with Targaryens; Princess Rhaenys and her children were now always close to Princess Rhaenyra, Archmaester Vaegon, and Septa Rhaella as well, making sure the Heir to the Iron Throne was always protected and surrounded. The only time Rhaenyra was truly alone was when she was flying on Syrax, but even that was now different. Syrax was finally big enough to carry two, especially now that she was no longer being chained when she returned. Archmaester Vaegon had forbidden all dragons from being chained, and the doors to the Dragon's layers are now to remain open forever. The improvements were clear. Dreamfyre, who had bonded with Vaegon, had grown a lot, as well as Seasmoke. Rhaenyra had taken all of her ladies into a flight, one at a time, of course, but after two weeks of daily flights, all of those daughters of Lords of Westeros had tasted the skies, which also put them even more firmly on the Princess's side.
2 years later
When Rhaenyra was of age, she married her Uncle Daemon in a lavish 15-day celebration, with feasts for the nobility but also the common folk, for which Rhaenyra had paid the Inns and bakeries to give food for free during her wedding festivities and tournaments. The Dagons’ Wedding, as it was called, was one of the biggest parties the Seven Kingdoms had ever seen. There were tourneys, archery, lances, etc.; there was a boat race that the Velaryons, of course, won, but the Greyjoys took a very close second place; melees; and dragon races, with Daemon, Rhaenyra, Vaegon, Laena, Laenor, and Rhaneys competing in the skies, and it ended with Princess Rhaenys and Meleys taking the victory, proving once again that they were the fastest duo alive, but Syrax and Rhaenyra were very close. Merchants from all over the known world came to King’s Landing to offer their goods, envoys from the Free Cities came to sign partnerships with the Crown Princess and Dragonstone, and even Dorne participated in it; they sent an envoy of 15 people, including the brother of the Princess of Dorne, to also sign trade deals with Rhaenyra and witht he Velaryons, which was unheard of, but very welcomed in Court. The bride had over a dozen songs written about her beauty on her wedding day: the Dragon Maiden, the Dragon Goddess, and a lot more. Even more songs were written about the Royal couple, but the most famous one, Dragons Love, was the one that was sung the most and in all taverns:
In the heart of the realm, where the shadows do play,
A union of fire, in the light of the day.
Rhaenyra and Daemon, with hearts intertwined,
In a dance of the dragons, their fates are aligned.
O, sing of the love that ignites in the night,
With scales of bright emerald, their spirits take flight.
Beloved by many, in castle and glen,
Together they stand, now and ever, amen.
Beneath the great banners, where the dragonflies soar,
The people do gather, to cheer and to roar.
In silks of deep crimson and gold woven fine,
They pledge their devotion, their lives to entwine.
O, sing of the love that ignites in the night,
With scales of bright emerald, their spirits take flight.
Beloved by many, in castle and glen,
Together they stand, now and ever, amen.
The dragons do circle, their wings casting shade,
A chorus of thunder, a promise is made.
With fire and with fury, they guard what is dear,
In the warmth of their love, there’s nothing to fear.
From the heights of the mountains to the depths of the sea,
Their bond is a beacon, forever shall be.
In laughter and joy, with family so near,
They forge a new era, with love that is clear.
O, sing of the love that ignites in the night,
With scales of bright emerald, their spirits take flight.
Beloved by many, in castle and glen,
Together they stand, now and ever, amen.
So raise your voices, let the bells ring anew,
For Rhaenyra and Daemon, their love is ever true.
In the tales of the ages, their story will soar,
United in fire, forevermore.
She and Daemon had their first child a year later, and Aegon Targaryen was born glorious. The dragon egg they had chosen for his cradle, from Syrax's clutch, hatched a week after his birth, revealing the most beautiful creature, red like Caraxes, but with shades of gold like Syrax. Their luck didn’t end there; Rhaenyra and Daemon had 6 children: Aegon, Visenya, Aemon, Aemma, Baelon, and Rhaena. All of them with cradle hatchlings and all of them perfect.
Rhaenyra became Hand of the King a few years later, and she was practically governing in her Father’s name, since King Viserys preferred to spend time with his grandchildren.