Violent Tides - Chapter 1: Birth of a Sea Dragon
Aelora Velaryon, eldest and only trueborn child of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Laenor Velaryon is born...
The Red Keep, King's Landing, 116AC
The screams of Crown Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen bounced off the walls of her chambers as she laid surrounded by a group of handpicked midwives.
The merciless winds, heavy rains, and the waves of the Blackwater crashing against the shore, prevented the princess' screams from being heard throughout the Red Keep. The massive storm had been raging since the early hours of the morning and had refused to cease, causing everyone to stay inside for their safety. The common people had already begun to speak of how it was the worst storm to hit the Crownlands in decades.
It had been about ten moons since Rhaenyra's disastrous wedding to Laenor Velaryon and the princess was currently in labor, trying to give birth to their first child.
The two young adults had tried in the beginning to do their duty, but with Laenor's broken heart and their lack of attraction to each other, it had been quite difficult.
The two only laid together a couple of times before Rhaenyra took Ser Harwin Strong, Commander of the City Watch and son of the Hand of the King, to her bed.
The princess had no idea who the father of her child could be. Her brain screamed that she should be hoping that the child within her was Leanor's, but her heart yearned for her child to be from the man she chose instead of the one forced upon her.
“Agghh!” Rhaenyra screamed as a stream of blood began flowing down her legs, staining the sheets beneath her crimson.
“You must keep pushing, princess,” The head midwife said from her place between Rhaenyra’s legs.
“I am fucking pushing!” Rhaenyra screamed, but the midwives paid her no mind and continued their work.
Laenor or Harwin, I do not fucking care which one of them impregnated me, I am killing both of them for doing this to me! Rhaenyra screamed in her mind.
Despite the anger, deep down Rhaenyra was terrified. Scared that the child in her womb would end up like the many brothers and sisters that she had lost, scared that she would end up like her mother, with this being her deathbed.
After what felt like hours, the head of her first child began to slip through, much to Rhaenyra’s relief. Three more pushes and the rest of the body came out smoothly and the babe fell into the midwife’s arms. The newborn had been silent as they came into the world and when their umbilical cord was being cut.
“Wha-what is wrong with the babe? Why are they not making a sound?!” Rhaenyra asked, she sat up and began to panic, afraid that her baby had been stillborn.
“I do not know, princess. But they are alive and appear to be breathing normally,” The midwife spoke as she looked at the newborn in her arms before handing them off to the other midwives to be cleaned up.
Rhaenyra felt relieved as she relaxed against her pillows. Only a few moments passed before the door of her chambers had opened, revealing her husband, Laenor.
“I heard that the birth is over. Are you all right, Rhae?” Laenor quietly asked once he made his way to the side of his wife’s bed.
“I am fine, but I know I will not be doing this again anytime soon,” Rhaenyra tiredly replied.
Laenor smiled. “So, is it a boy or a girl?”
“I do not know yet. The midwives are cleaning them as we speak.” Rhaenyra said as she waved in the midwives’ direction.
Laenor was about to speak again when the midwives approached the married couple, the newborn had been wrapped in a black and red blanket, but their body was hidden from view.
“Your Graces. We must speak with you about the babe,” The head midwife spoke, her voice and face were gravely serious.
“What is wrong with them? You said they would live,” Rhaenyra glared at the women in front of her, ready to rain fire upon them depending on the news she received.
“I do believe they will, Your Grace. It is their body that concerns me.”
Rhaenyra and Laenor gave the other a look before returning their attention to the midwife, afraid of what would be told to them.
“The babe was born with male and female genitalia.” The midwife finally said.
The chamber fell into dead silence, the Valyrians made no sound as they digested the information given to them.
"What?" Laenor whispered, worried that he had misheard the older woman.
“My lord, we believe that the child is primarily female given they have more hair on their head and their large eyes but what I said was true.” The midwife clarified.
Rhaenyra stopped listening to the conversation going on between her husband and the midwife as her thoughts began to swirl.
My daughter is a hermaphrodite? How did this happen? I know the stories of newborns in my family being born part dragon, but never this.
“Hand her to me.” Everyone in the room turned to the princess.
“Are you deaf? Hand me my child. Now,” A fire raged within Rhaenyra’s eyes as she glared at the midwife, daring the woman to speak.
The midwife quickly moved to the princess’ bedside and placed the newborn gently into her mother’s arms before returning to her previous spot.
“You are all excused, now. I am sure the King and Queen will want to be informed of the birth of their first grandchild,” Laenor spoke, wanting himself, Rhaenyra, and their child to be given privacy.
Laenor watched the midwives leave, quickly turning around when he heard Rhaenyra let out a small gasp.
The two took in their firstborn’s appearance, the tiny newborn had tawny brown skin, light lavender purple eyes, and a tuff of silver hair on the top of her head.
“She-she is mine?” Laenor was surprised, while he and Rhaenyra had slept together several times, after about two moons, Harwin Strong eventually took Laenor’s place in his wife’s bed and the married couple had not laid together since. When Rhaenyra had told him that she was pregnant, the Velaryon heir had been expecting the child to either come out looking entirely like Rhaenyra or having brown hair, brown eyes, a pug nose, and pale skin.
But now it was clear that it was his seed that had taken root as he stared at his daughter. It is not as if he would have minded had the child been Harwin’s, it was what he had expected, and he knew that he would have accepted any child Rhaenyra gave birth to as his own.
But looking at the newborn in front of him and knowing that they were his truly his, it was indescribable to Laenor.
She will be the only child of my blood that I will have. I know that the rest of them will be ones I adopt as my own. Laenor thought to himself.
“It seems that she is. Our little dragon,” Rhaenyra grinned at her daughter, her smile growing even wider when she felt her daughter’s tiny hand grab onto one of her fingers.
Rhaenyra remembered a conversation that she had with her own mother years prior. Aemma had been going through one of her many pregnancies at the time and when Rhaenyra naively asked her mother why she put her body through such torment, the Arryn Queen laughed and said:
You will understand when you have children of your own one day, my little dragon. When you hold your child in your arms for the first time and you are overwhelmed by the love you feel for them. That moment when they instantly become your entire world.
Rhaenyra had not said anything after that, but inwardly scoffed at that answer. She did not think that she would ever understand what Aemma had meant, not wanting to ever be married and forced to birth her husband’s spawn until he either had enough sons or until she finally died. She did not understand how Aemma could love something that she did not know or have in front of her.
But now holding her daughter in her hands, looking into her large and innocent eyes, Rhaenyra understood what Aemma had spent years trying to tell her.
I understand now, Muña.
“You know that our daughter will have the entire court watching her, talking about her. Especially when her condition becomes known.” Laenor said, breaking Rhaenyra out of her thoughts. He knew it would be impossible to keep such a thing secret, especially in the Red Keep, where the walls are known to have ears at every corner.
“Of course, I know that, Laenor. Let them try and speak ill of my daughter and it will be the last thing those sheep ever do before I feed them to Syrax,” Rhaenyra growled, just the thought of the petty nobles of the court mocking her daughter, made her dragon blood boil.
“Let us not do that just yet. We do not want to give your Golden Lady any indigestion from rotten meat, do we?” Laenor joked, his goal accomplished when he saw Rhaenyra roll her eyes and her body relaxing and her anger forgotten for a moment.
“I feel the same as you, Rhaenyra. She has only been with us for less than an hour and already I would kill anyone for her,” Laenor whispered, his hand playing with his daughter’s hair.
Rhaenyra grinned at the statement, before her smile dropped completely. “You know that this may be the only child I can give you?”
The two had tried and they were rewarded with the tiny miracle in front of them, but Rhaenyra did not believe that they would be this lucky again.
Laenor cupped Rhaenyra’s face in his hands. “As I have told you before, any child you give birth to will be mine, it matters not whether they have my blood running through them, I will love them all the same. I promise you, Rhaenyra.”
Rhaenyra leaned into his touch, they may not have loved each other as a husband and wife should and they did not have a traditional relationship, but they had become each other's closest confidants. “Thank you, Laenor.”
Laenor smiled and looked down at their daughter. “So, what should we name her?”
Rhaenyra thought about it for a moment before a name came to her. “Aelora. Aelora Velaryon.”
“Aelora? I do not believe I have heard of any of our ancestors having that name,” Laenor thought aloud. "I thought you would have gone for Visenya."
Rhaenyra shrugged. “I did as well, but she does not look like a Visenya to me. And I figure that since our eldest daughter is so unique, she deserves a unique name.”
Laenor hummed. “Princess Aelora of Houses Targaryen and Velaryon, heir to the Iron Throne and Driftmark. The perfect name for a girl born during the greatest of storms.”
Rhaenyra playfully groaned. “I forgot that there is a storm raging outside. I just know father is going to spend the next few weeks, possibly moons, bragging about how his granddaughter was born during such a great storm.”
Laenor snickered. “I believe the King is going to have to get behind my own father in that regard. We Velaryons have taken possession of the seas the same way you Targaryens have taken the skies.”
“Perhaps this is why the Gods have created this storm. To show the world that Aelora is a perfect combination of us both,” Rhaenyra pondered.
“Perhaps,” Laenor agreed. The room fell into a comfortable silence as the two dragonriders enjoyed their time together with the newest member of their family.
~X~
“So, this is my first granddaughter. You have made me a proud grandsire, Rhaenyra,” King Viserys Targaryen told his daughter as he held Aelora in his arms.
Not much time had passed before Viserys and his wife, Alicent Hightower, were informed that Rhaenyra had given birth. It was an understatement to say both were shocked when Rhaenyra’s head midwife told them about Aelora’s condition.
But the Targaryen King quickly accepted this and moved as fast as he could to his daughter’s chambers to meet his grandchild.
“Thank you, father,” Rhaenyra said.
“What is her name?” Viserys asked.
“Her name is Aelora, Your Grace.” Laenor answered.
“Ah, Aelora. A perfect name for a future Queen of Westeros.” Viserys whispered, his smiling growing when Aelora started to move around in his arms.
Rhaenyra and Laenor gave the other a look, the pair had not discussed the succession of the Iron Throne. At the moment, Aelora was their only heir, but they knew there would have to be more children after her to solidify Rhaenyra’s claim.
While Viserys had claimed when he brokered the marriage pact between Rhaenyra and laenor that their eldest child would be Rhaenyra's heir, the people of the realm barley tolerated the idea of Rhaenyra ascending the Iron Throne, with many wanting Rhaenyra’s younger brother, Aegon, to be Viserys’ heir instead. How would they react to not only having two Queens back-to-back, but having one of them not fitting the norms of what a woman should be?
“She is beautiful. Congratulations, princess, Ser Laenor,” Alicent spoke, the Queen had left her place at the door and stood next to her husband, staring down at the newborn over Viserys’ shoulder.
Rhaenyra and Laenor were unable to hide their shock. It was not the comment itself that surprised them, but the fact that it was sincere.
The relationship between the Queen and the princess had greatly deteriorated since the wedding and Alicent’s defense of Criston Cole, leading to the Green and the Black factions taking shape within the court of King’s Landing. The nobles taking their preferred sides as the young women traded sharp barbs and sly insults at each other ever since.
Despite their animosity, Alicent could not find herself hating the child in front of her. Alicent felt bad for Aelora, viewing her condition as a form of punishment given by Gods due to her parents' sins. She believed that Laenor’s preference for other men and Rhaenyra giving her maidenhead to Criston and for taking Harwin Strong to her bed, both men who were not her husband, were the cause for what has happened to their daughter.
It is their immoral actions that have caused this, that have cursed their daughter with this aliment. How can two people be so uncaring about the effects their actions have? Alicent thought.
Like everyone else in the Keep, Alicent had expected Rhaenyra’s child to be a bastard. The princess did nothing to hide the obvious relationship between herself and the Commander of the City Watch and Laenor was known for his attraction to men.
While a part of her felt saddened by Aelora’s disfigurement, the other part felt relieved. Aelora may have been trueborn, but the Seven Kingdoms would never allow her to ascend the Iron Throne, meaning that Aegon’s claim was safe. Especially as Alicent knew any child that followed Aelora may not share her legitimacy, as the possibility that they would be bastards fathered by Harwin Strong still remained.
As Viserys handed Aelora to Alicent, the young Queen wondered how her former friend would try to hide her future children’s bastardy when her eldest would always be physical proof of their inferiority.
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Rhaenyra amicably said, accepting the temporary peace between them.
A knock at the door ended the tense silence that had befallen the group, and Aegon ran into the room followed by his nanny, who was carrying Helaena.
Viserys noticed the looks of confusion on his daughter and good-son’s faces. “I told the servants to bring Aegon and Helaena from the nursery so they could meet their niece.”
Aegon ran towards his mother wanting to be lifted into her arms and was confused to see that someone else was already occupying his spot.
“Aegon, this is your niece, Aelora,” Alicent said, bending down so her son could see the newborn.
Aegon stared at Aelora for a few moments. “She Nyra’s baby?”
Rhaenyra chuckled. “Yes, little brother, she is my baby.”
“Can she play with me?” Aegon asked, hopeful that he would finally have someone to play with. His parents and older sister were often busy with their own responsibilities and Helaena usually cried when he touched her.
“I’m sorry Egg, but I am afraid that Aelora is too small for that,” Rhaenyra replied.
Aegon pouted and walked over to their father, crossing his arms, and facing away from the other occupants in the room to show his displeasure.
Viserys waved the nanny over, silently commanding her to bring Helaena forward.
Alicent noticed this and began to speak up. “Are you sure, Viserys? Helaena can be quite... disagreeable around others. Besides, she is only one, I doubt she will have any interest in Aelora.”
Viserys ignored his wife’s concerns. “Nonsense, she is just a babe, Alicent. Besides, the two will soon be sharing a nursery together, they will have plenty of time to bond with each other.”
Alicent wanted to say that Aegon and Helaena had been sharing a nursery together and still have not ‘bonded with each other’, but she kept that opinion to herself. Alicent inwardly sighed as Helaena and Aelora were now facing each other, waiting for Helaena to start crying her eyes out, becoming inconsolable for the next few hours.
To Alicent’s surprise, this did not happen, and Helaena started giggling. The Targaryen leaned forward in her nanny’s arms and began poking Aelora’s cheeks, Aelora in turn, tried to grab Helaena’s hands, but was unable to as Helaena would pull back and begin the process again.
Viserys laughed at the scene. “See, these two are going to be as close as sisters, I can just feel it.”
~X~
One Week Later
“So, where is she? Where is my first grandchild?” Was the first thing Corlys Velaryon, Lord of Driftmark, said when he entered the front yard of the Red Keep after he, his wife, and the rest of their party had their presence announced.
Laenor laughed at his father’s visible excitement. “She is right here, father.”
Corlys smiled when his son handed Aelora to him, “Hello there little one. I am your grandsire.”
Aelora stared at the new face in front of her before trying to put her fingers in his mouth.
Corlys laughed, “What a strong sea snake you are, Aelora. Yes, you are.”
“You have only known her for a minute and a half, and you are already trying to turn her into a miniature version of yourself,” Rhaenys Targaryen quipped, after she made a calm walk over to her family, unlike her husband, who ditched her in his excitement.
“I am telling you Rhaenys, this girl is made for the sea,” Corlys stated.
Rhaenys rolled her eyes. “You said the same about our son and daughter and yet they both prefer flying to sailing.”
“Well, I am not going to let you corrupt this one like you did with Laena and Laenor.” Corlys replied.
Before Rhaenys could respond to her husband’s mocking, her cousin, Viserys, walked towards the group, alongside Rhaenyra.
“You could not wait five minutes for me to finish getting ready? By the time I turned around, you and Aelora were gone,” Rhaenyra said to Laenor once she reached his side.
“You were taking too long,” Laenor shrugged.
Rhaenyra scoffed, “Honestly, I am starting to wonder who is the real child here, you or Aelora.”
Viserys smiled at the sight of his family having a good relationship with each other. “It is good to see you again, cousin, Lord Corlys. Especially over a joyous occasion such as this.”
Rhaenys greeted her cousin. “Thank you, Your Grace. It is good that we can celebrate the birth of our first grandchild.”
It was not long before the group found themselves in Viserys’ royal bedchambers.
“Princess Rhaenys, Lord Corlys. It is pleasure to see you again,” Alicent greeted from beside Viserys' model of Old Valyria.
“Your Grace,” Rhaenys and Corlys replied coolly. Neither were oblivious to Alicent not coming out to greet them with the rest of the royal family, nor had they forgotten the Queen's ‘declaration' at their son's wedding.
“My Queen, I see that you did not join us outside. Were you busy with prior engagements? That is the only reason I could think of for why you did come and welcome Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys outside with the rest of us,” Rhaenyra sarcastically stated, not impressed by the Queen’s actions.
Alicent gave Rhaenyra a strained smile and was about to respond, when Viserys started speaking. “Has Lady Laena been informed of her niece’s birth?”
“I wrote to Laena at the same time I wrote to my parents, Your Grace. My sister is quite happy for us, I have received a few ravens in return asking for details about Aelora,” Laenor said.
“And Daemon?” Viserys fiddled with his models, trying to act nonchalant as he asked about the person he was truly interested in.
“Laena had said that Daemon has given his congratulations to Rhaenyra and I, wishing us the best,” Laenor answered.
Rhaenyra pursed her lips, she had been there when Laenor read out the first letter he received from his sister and she did not believe her uncle had congratulated them, knowing that Laena was just saying so in place of her new husband.
Laena had been previously betrothed to a son of a Sealord of Braavos by Corlys immediately after Viserys chose Alicent over Laena as his own second wife. When the Sealord died, Laena's betrothed squandered his father's money and power and came to Driftmark, demanding to immediately marry Laena and gain access to the Velaryon’s wealth through his betrothed.
For the next three years, Corlys repeatedly found ways to postpone their wedding, unwilling to let it go through, but unable to gracefully break the betrothal.
Daemon would soon arrive on Driftmark, claiming that he had fallen in love with Laena after seeing her again at his niece’s wedding three moons prior. He then insulted Laena's betrothed until the boy challenged him to a duel, in which Daemon killed him with Dark Sister. Laena would then wed Daemon less than a fortnight later.
The problem with this was that Daemon and Laena wed without Viserys’ knowledge and permission. Not only had Daemon’s action made the Crown and Viserys appear out of touch and weak, but he had also further insulted the Vale.
Rhea Royce, ruling Lady of Runestone and Daemon's first wife, had died mere weeks before Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding. Rhea had fallen off her horse and cracked her skull on a rock while she was out hawking. At least, that is what most people believe; there was a furious minority that believed Rhea did not fall off her horse, but was instead knocked off by an unknown assailant, who picked up a nearby stone and bashed her skull in.
They also believe that this assailant was Daemon, but it was only due to the fact that Daemon had been reported to have still been fighting his campaign in the Stepstones that kept this dissenters from pushing their beliefs further.
The people of the Vale had already hated Daemon due to the constant disrespect he showed to them and his wife throughout the entirety of their marriage. But their dissatisfaction soon spread to most of the Targaryen royal family after Viserys chose to marry Alicent. In their eyes, Viserys had not only waited a short period of time, deciding to remarry so quickly after Aemma’s death, but he continued his disrespect by choosing Alicent specifically.
Aemma may have been a Targaryen, but she was also an Arryn. She belonged to the Warden family of the East, so in their eyes, Viserys’ next wife should have been someone of equal standing with her, not the daughter of an overreaching second son from a lower house.
This was the reason why Lady Jeyne Arryn, Warden of the Vale, and niece of the late Queen, did not go to Viserys and Alicent’s wedding, along with the other noble houses of the Vale.
The fracturing came to ahead when Daemon, keeping his word to Ser Gerold Royce, cousin of Rhea and Runestone’s new lord, traveled to the Eyrie and attempted to claim the lands, castles, and income of House Royce for himself.
The Rouge Prince stated that because he was Rhea’s husband and since they had no children together, that he was Rhea's heir and everything she owned as Lady of Runestone was his by law. Lady Jeyne ignored this and passed Runestone to Gerold and his family, dismissing Daemon’s claim and effectively banning him from the Vale.
Marrying Laena so quickly after this made Daemon even more hated in the Vale, and in the eyes of the discontented, made Daemon look even more guilty of disposing of his old wife for a new Valyrian one.
There were many calling for Daemon to be punished, but by the time the Red Keep was given the news of the marriage, Daemon and Laena had already left the continent, taking residence in Essos.
And how could the King punish his brother if said brother was in a land beyond his control?
“Have you not heard from Daemon, cousin?” Rhaenys asked.
Laena’s marriage to Daemon had not been easy for the Targaryen princess, and she had demanded that her daughter write to her every week just before the newlyweds left Driftmark.
She hated every moment of the wedding, but knew it was necessary to get Laena out of her betrothal to the son of the Sealord, which in her mind was because Corlys’ damaged ego and wounded pride had caused him to act recklessly, with their daughter ending up as collateral.
Rhaenys was not blind, she was aware of her younger cousin’s feelings towards Rhaenyra. She knew that Daemon only wanted to marry Laena because he could not have the true object of his obsessive desires, so he chose Laena because she was of Valyrian blood with high social status and because she rode the largest dragon in the world. In her eyes, the reason Rhaenys did not have her daughter with her was because Daemon had burned so many bridges that he was forced to run, taking Laena with him.
Viserys cleared his throat. “No, I have not heard from Daemon. The last time I spoke to him was when he showed up at the wedding.”
Viserys did not know how to feel about the lack of contact between himself and his brother. On the one hand, he was still angry with Daemon for randomly showing up at his daughter’s wedding and then proceeding to make advances towards said daughter in front of the entire realm. But on the other hand, Viserys missed his younger brother and was devastated that Daemon had gotten married and did not tell him.
“I am sure Prince Daemon will write to you soon, Your Grace. As soon as he and my daughter have settled themselves,” Corlys reassured.
Viserys smiled. “Yes, I am sure you are you right.”
The King then turned his attention Aelora, the newborn had fallen asleep and was currently in Rhaenys’ arms. The infant had been a bright light for her grandfather since he first held her in his arms, and it had gotten to the point where Rhaenyra had to go to her father’s chambers and physically take Aelora away from him.
It reminded Viserys of when Rhaenyra had been born, he and Aemma had already experienced two miscarriages and the loss of a son, Aemon, named after their uncle, who died in the cradle a few weeks after birth. When they finally had Rhaenyra and it was clear that she would live, the couple had been ecstatic, overjoyed by the miracle they were given, their daughter had become a light in their lives and it warmed Viserys’ heart to see the same love within Rhaenyra and Laenor.
Hopefully, the Gods will continue to bless our family with more children that live past the cradle. Perhaps Daemon’s new family with Laena will change him the same way Laenor and Aelora have changed Rhaenyra.