Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Rhaenyra stared at the water while allowing her tears to fall. She hated everything that had happened in the past few moons, hells in the past year. Her mother was dead, killed by her father’s decisions, for a child who had not lived a whole day. Her father had named her heir, saying she would be queen after him. He had also exiled Daemon, who had left without saying a word to her. Then not even eight moons later her father had married a woman Rhaenyra had been sure was her friend. Everyone had betrayed her and now she was completely alone. It did not matter that she was the heir, she was completely alone, and everything that had mattered to her had been taken. There was nothing for her any longer because even her father had left her.
“Princess,” Her kingsguard’s voice made her tense but she refused to look at him. She would not allow anyone to see her cry. She wiped her tears away and took a deep breath, but did not turn around. “I have been looking everywhere for you.”
She resisted the urge to snort, he must not have been looking very hard, Syrax was hard to miss. She had left early in the morning, deciding to take her dragon for a ride, needing to be away from everything else. “I have been here.”
She took several deep breaths, calming herself down before turning to look at the knight. She had seen Criston Cole for the first time when she was nine and had begged her father to make him her guard. She had thought him a very handsome man, with a pretty smile. If you had asked nine, even ten name days her, she would have said that she was in love with him. She had started questioning that in the past year. There was something about Criston that she did not completelytrust, there was something in his eyes when he looked at her. It also annoyed her his insistence that she should act as the maiden, pure and innocent. He also kept saying how the queen represented the mother, mercifully, compassionate, and peaceful. It made Rhaenyra sneer every time she heard those words from his mouth, Alicent was many things, but compassionate, mercifully, and peaceful she was not.
The man gave her a concerned look. “We should return to the castle, your father will be waiting for you.”
She had to bite back the resort that came to her lips. “Very well.”
She climbed on Syrax, not wanting to be in his presence any longer. She smirked when her dragon launched herself in the air, making Criston take several steps back and almost fall on his ass. She was exhausted and decided to land Syrax in the courtyard, she was still small enough to fit. Rhaenyra was aware that people would not be happy, especially Alicent and Otto, but she did not have it in her to care.
“Princess.” She ran her hands over Syrax's scales and silently thanked her dragon for her time before turning to face the knight approaching her. “The king is requesting to see you.”
“Very well, Ser Westerling.” This was a man she liked and one she respected, he had always been kind to her and she refused to take out her anger on him. “Lead the way.”
The man stared at her for a moment and she could see the sadness in his eyes, that was another thing she had come to hate. People kept looking at her like she was some fragile doll, that would break if something breathed on her wrong. She ignored the looks for the most part, but part of her wanted to scream at them.
This time she did not say anything, simply followed the knight to her father’s chambers where he was waiting for her. The king looked relieved when she entered. “I am so glad you have returned. I have been worried about you.”
“Why?” She was a bit confused as to why her father was so worried all of a sudden. “I was with Syrax.”
“Yes, I know.” Her father would not look her in the eye. “But you are becoming older, it is not such a good idea for you to ride your dragon alone and for so long. People could start to gossip.”
Rhaenyra frowned, not understanding what her father was trying to say. “Why? I have been riding Syrax since I was seven. It has never been a problem before.”
Her father let out a tired sigh but still avoided looking her in the eye. “You are becoming a woman and in a few years, you will become of age. We will need to find you a husband and no one will want you if they think you have been ruined.”
His words turned her entire body cold and she had to resist the urge to throw something at his head and burst into tears at the same time. Her father had become someone she could no longer recognize.
“It was not enough that you took my mother and the woman I thought was my friend.” She was proud of herself when her voice came out strong instead of wobbly. She was even more pleased when her father flinched at her words. “And now you wish to take my dragon as well.”
“Rhaenyra..” Her father’s voice was pleading. “I do wi…”
“I will not allow it!” She snapped, not caring that many people would say she was disrespectful towards her father. The man had not done many things to earn her respect in the past couple of years. “I will ride Syrax as I please, we are bonded and have been since I was a small babe and she hatched in my crib. You can’t take her as well.”
“I do not wish to take her.” Her father stood up and started to move around the table. “You should spend more time in the castle.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “There is nothing for me to do. I am no longer allowed to attend the small council meetings.”
Her father seemed a bit relieved that the topic had changed. His expression became amused. “You are too old to still be my cupbearer.”
Rhaenyra refused to allow him to change the topic or make things seem lighter than they were. “I am not talking about being your cupbearer. I am your heir, I should have a position in the small council.”
“You know the council members will not look favorably on that.” He chuckled as if the idea was hilarious. “You are just a girl, there will be time for you to become politically savvy.”
Rhaenyra tightened her fists and for just a second she imagined what it would feel like if she were to slam her fists on her father’s face. She imagined the shocked look in his eyes and blood running down his face. It would bring her a lot of pleasure to make him realize how foolish he sounded, he had named her heir, he had been the one to put her in this position and now he was refusing to strengthen her claim. Her father had set her up for failure and she knew that the prize for failing would be death. She refused to give in to her instincts, instead, she turned on her heel and left the king’s chambers.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (13 years old.)
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4 years later.
The sky was gray as always, the smell of smoke and death penetrated the air, and there was no way to escape it. The war had started as a way for him to prove himself, a way to show his brother that he did not need him. He hated that Viserys had exiled him once more, at this point it appeared to be a game to his brother and Daemon had started to hate him. It hurt to see that one of his closest family members did not trust him and did not wish to have him by his side, after everything Daemon had done for his brother, he had been set aside without a second thought. Daemon had rebelled after his brother had exiled him, taking Dragonstone and stealing a dragon egg. He had not been surprised when Otto had shown with a small entourage, demanding Daemon return the egg and for him to abandon Dragonstone. Daemon had been more than happy to annoy Otto and had wanted to kill him. What he had not expected was his small niece to appear out of nowhere on the back of her dragon, much less for the way she had confronted him. There had been no fear in her eyes when she told him in no uncertain way that he would have to kill her and then asked him to do it without batting an eye. Even with how hurt he had been at his brother setting him aside, the idea of killing his niece had never crossed his mind. Rhaenyra had always reminded him of himself, the hunger in her eyes for everything that had to do with adventure, the fearlessness she showed, everything in Rhaenyra called to him. Then there was also the fact that his niece had been the only person to love him without condition, she had adored him since before she could speak and had been running after him since she learned to walk. The reason she had ridden her dragon so early in life, was because she was chasing after him, not wanting him to leave. If there was something Daemon regretted was that what he had done hurt his niece.
“My prince.” He continued to stare at the water before letting out a sigh and looking at the man he had been waiting for.“It has been done.”
Daemon showed no emotion, there was no happiness or annoyance, no anger or fear. “Was it done how I requested?”
“Of course,” The man gave him a smirk. “It was made to look like an accident.”
Daemon wished he could say he felt a bit guilty for what he had ordered done, but the truth was he did not. He had been asking his brother to annul his marriage for the past five and ten years, but his brother had refused. Daemon had been leftwith no choice, he refused to continue with something that should have never happened. Viserys had refused to help him, so Daemon had taken matters into his own hands. Rhea was now dead and no one would be able to blame him since he had been at war at the time of her death.
“Very well.” Daemon gave the man a small smile. “Job well done.”
Before the man could guess what was about to happen, Daemon pulled out his dagger and slit his throat. He refused to leave any witnesses, there was a chance the man would have tried to blackmail him in the future. That had been how Daemon had met him, while he was blackmailing another man. He turned on his heel and walked away from the body, leaving it at the shore, knowing that it would be seen as another casualty of war. He had been knee-deep in death for the past four years, another body would not be that much different.
He headed towards Corlys’s tent, they were supposed to meet and speak about strategy. Daemon also wanted to talk to the man about his brother, Vaemond had been getting on Daemon’s nerves for the past moon, inciting the soldiers against him and sowing discord. He refused to allow the man to undermine him and if Corlys was not able to get his brother under control then Daemon had no issue killing him as well. He stopped at the entrance of the tent when he heard voices coming from inside.
“We should be done with this.” He recognized Vaemond’s voice. “The crown should be helping us.”
Corlys sounded just as annoyed as his brother. “I am aware, but there is nothing to do now. Is not like we can force the king to send us assistance.”
“We could if you were to apologize.” Daemon did not move, wanting to know where Vaemond was going with his words.“You know as well as I do that the king is upset because you united with his brother against him. If you apologize and reject Daemon the king will send the help we so desperately need.”
“I will not beg the king!” Corlys snapped, his voice sounding angrier than before. “That man has insulted my house and name far too many times.”
Vaemond’s voice became even more annoyed. “Are you still upset that he rejected your daughter? There is nothing you can do about that now, you should forget about it and focus on the problems we have now.”
“I should forget that my wife was passed over and then the king passed over my daughter for some woman with no fortune and no importance?” Corlys’s voice was deadly. “No, I refuse to allow that man to humiliate my family any longer. My blood will be on the throne one day.”
Daemon was glad he had decided not to interrupt them and even more so when Vaemond asked when the same thing Daemon was wondering. “And how do you plan to do that?”
“Rhaenyra, she is looking for a husband.” Daemon’s entire body tensed and he had to stop himself from walking into the tent. “I have received news that the king has allowed her to pick her own husband. She was holding court in Dragonstone and invited all the suitors to meet her there, but picked none of them.”
Vaemond finally seemed to understand what his brother was speaking of. “You are going to suggest Laenor.”
Daemon wanted to behead both men. He liked Laenor, his cousin was a good knight and a good man, but he was not right for Rhaenyra. The man would never be able to handle his niece, not counting on the fact that Laenor would have no interest in her as a woman. If Rhaenyra were to marry Laenor that would place her position in peril, it would weaken her in front of the realm. Even though he had been upset with his brother that did not mean he wished ill on his niece and he would not allow her to become a game piece in other people’s games. He had not been angry that his brother had named Rhaenyra as heir, it was the fact that Viserys had set him aside without care. If he was honest with himself, his niece was the right person to be queen and she would be a great one, as long as she had the right assistance. He would not allow anyone to place Rhaenyra's life in danger. It was time he ended this war and returned home before his brother ruined his niece.
Daemon Targaryen (33 years old.)
I am aware in this story Daemon looks different. I actually used more of the book description instead of the TV show when creating his image.