#I went back & forth about Luke & Baela

[sihtryggr]

FIRE AND BLOOD + THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:

“To the Glistening Eastern Sea, I give you Queen Lucy, the Valiant. To the Great Western Wood, King Edmund, the Just. To the Radiant Southern Sun, Queen Susan, the Gentle. And to the Clear Northern Sky, I give you King Peter, the Magnificent.”

[alongtherubyford]

avy jorrāelan.

hey hey!! this is a oneshot i wrote last night about my babies ehehehe also the title is “i love you” in high valyrian!! (@sixofyeet just in case)

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

Baela has been betrothed to Jacaerys Velaryon for as long as she can remember. She can’t remember a time when there wasn’t something telling her, “That’s unproper of a lady. Prince Jacaerys won’t like that.”

But she is her father’s daughter.

She stands at a cliff on Dragonstone, aiming her crossbow at the wood foundation Jace appears from behind the rocks. 

“You missed supper,” he calls as he walks towards her. 

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“I don’t think anyone was, really. Too many empty seats.”

She fires her crossbow, watching the arrow land solidly in the wood. She hears the clatter of his sword against his leg as she reloads. The Prince won’t like women who fight.

“Do you know where he went?” Baela asks. 

She’d watched her father leave without so much as a word. Just as he always does. 

“Harrenhal, I would think.” Jace stands next to her, watching her aim.

She pretends she’s aiming at Father’s head. “Sometimes I think I hate him.” The arrow goes flying.

“It’s hard…with fathers,” her betrothed says, looking at her with kindness. 

She’s never been looked upon with only kindness by a man before, but she revels in it. She revels in him.

“What do you remember of my uncle?” she says, dropping her weapon to her side, turning her head to gaze at Jace.

A smile plays upon his lips. “He taught us to catch fish, and sing sea shanties. He had a weakness for cake.”

Baela licks her lips. “And Ser Harwin Strong?”

“He was gentle, and fierce. They called him ‘Breakbones.’” 

She lays the crossbow on the grass and walks to the very edge of the cliff and carefully sits herself down. She flicks her legs back and forth as she looks over her shoulder to see Jace approaching. He sits next to her, their legs pressed together. 

They’ve never been so close before, not truly. She was on Driftmark for too many years and now that she’s here, he’s needed everywhere around Dragonstone. 

“He loved us, I think,” he continues.

Her brow twists. How could anyone not love them? Love him? “Of course he did.”

Jace sighs. He allows his back to slouch as he stares out into the sea. “I miss Luke.”

Baela stares at his profile, studying the curve of his nose and lips and how his hair curls over the tops of his ears. And she imagines him younger. 

She will never miss Lucerys Velaryon as much as anyone else on this island, but she misses him nonetheless. They had wonderful times together as children and he made Rhaena happy.

She places her head on Jace’s shoulder. “I miss him too.”

“I want Aemond Targaryen dead,” he says.

“I know,” she says too.

She lifts her head and grabs his face to look at her. His brown eyes mourn his brother and she can see herself reflected in them. “You will have your revenge. Aemond will die.”

“How can you be so sure?” Jacaerys whispers.

Baela smirks. “Because I am a woman.”

Jace huffs out a laugh. “Only you.”

“What?” she demands, playfulness making her eyes bright. “It is true! A woman knows these things!”

Jace laughs harder, a fist coming to block his mouth as wheezes leave him. 

Without a thought, she reaches out to hold his hand and bring it down from his smile. “Don’t hide it,” she says softly. “Laughter is hard to come by these days. I want to welcome it.”

Jace looks at her, something soft brewing on his face. She wants to kiss him.

Sure, she’s kissed servant boys at her time on Driftmark, but never did they make her want. Not the way he does.

It grips her soul and makes her heart pound. Baela can’t help the way her eyes drop to his lips before she catches his eyes again. She knows he saw it.

She pulls away, clearing her throat. She removes her hand from his, placing it in her lap. She changes the topic. “What shall your mother do while Father is away?”

“Lead,” he says simply.

“The council? Of power-hungry lords who wish to exact revenge on other houses with the excuse of our dragons?” Baela scoffs. “Very wise indeed.”

“Are you questioning Her Grace the Queen?” Jacaerys teases.

“Never. But I am questioning those she surrounds herself with.”

The conversation dies there. Together, they sit in silence, listening to the waves crash against the beach.

“Baela,” Jace says after a long while. “While I was North, I-“

Please don’t say you found someone. Please.

“I’ve come to realize that perhaps I haven’t been good to you,” he confesses. 

She jerks her head to look at him. What is he talking about? “What?”

“I watched Lord Stark and his wife. They are quite in love,” he says. “And I fear…”

“Jacaerys, if you are worried that I want another, I do not,” Baela says. “I am betrothed to you.”

“Yes, but I have not been here. How could I ask you to wait for me when we are married when this is how we live now?”

“Because it is now.” She reaches to touch his face, turning it gently. “When the war is over, we will be together.”

He stares at her and this time, she can’t read him. She’s never not been able to see his expressions and not know what they meant.

But she sees the way his eyes are trailing over her face before landing on her lips. They don’t return to her eyes.

Baela tilts her head up the slightest bit. He leans closer to her, their lips a breath apart. The want coils in her gut. She wants to push him onto his back and take him right there on the cliff, make him hers in every way she can and demand they marry within the fortnight. But this is not what a lady does. A lady does not take.

But a lady does give.

She closes the gap between them with a brush of her lips against his and whatever had stopped him before is gone.

His hands bury themselves in her hair as he presses his lips against hers with fervor, spreading them apart to lick into her mouth. A noise leaves her and his hand trails from her face to her waist. He grips her there, holding her steady. 

She places a hand on Jace’s chest, leaning into him. They kiss harder, air becoming rare in their lungs. 

She wants to give him everything she is. All that she will be.

He pulls away from her, his breathing hard. She opens her eyes and finds that his lips are red with the slightest swell. 

“I wish to marry you,” he says gruffly.

“And I you.”

He kisses her again, softer. Something like a promise. 

“Avy jorrāelan,” Jacaerys whispers.

She drops her head to his chest and feels his arms wrap around her.

Here, on this cliff, they are alone and content. 

Avy jorrāelan.

[merlot-and-chardonnay]

A Lark Among the Wolves and Dragons: Chapter 62

Masterlist

Chapter 61

Quick A/N: I showed my fiance excerpts of Aemma's fight with Daemon, and he said he got evil Disney stepmother vibes from the way Daemon came at Aemma and yanked her medallion off. That was in no way a conscious choice on my part to make Daemon into an evil stepmother. Unhinged yes, the guy does have a tendency to lash out when he's angry and/or grieving, especially when he gets called out on stuff (as we saw when Rhaenyra confronted him on the Blood and Cheese incident). I would like to hear any of y'alls' thoughts on that cause it did make me laugh a little when my fiance pointed that out.

Hiding around a corner, seeing her father storm out of the council chambers, Rhaena came out of hiding, "come on," she urges Luke to follow. The young princess couldn't find Baela at this moment, so she went for the next best thing, this being her betrothed.

When the two of them walked inside, they find Aemma laying on the floor in a disheveled states with tear stains on her eyes and uneven breaths.

"Aemma!" Rhaena rushed over to her sister with urgency, Luke tailing behind her. Rhaena knelt down and placed a cautious hand on Aemma's shoulder, to which Aemma flinched. "Aemma, it's me," Rhaena calmly assures, making Aemma relax when she looked up to see her sister and stepbrother.

"What happened?" Rhaena inquires, "where's your necklace?" "...Father threw it out the window," Aemma mutters, breaths still uneven. "What did he do to you?" Rhaena questions, sounding more distraught than before. "He...I confronted him...about my mother," Aemma says, voice hoarse from the previous screaming and crying, "He...he lied to me. All this time he's lied to me about the Lady of Larks. He's lied to all of us..." fresh tears began to fall as Aemma turned into a sobbing mess once more, "and I hate him for it!"

Tears falling in sympathy, Rhaena pulled Aemma in for a hug. Luke stood there, feeling awkward, not sure what exactly was going on, but knew this fallout between daughter and father was serious. There was so much going on right now from finding out King Viserys was dead to seeing his mother go into early labor and now this. To think that only today, Luke's biggest concern was thinking about his future as the Lord of the Tides should the Stranger come for Lord Corlys.

Aemma continued to sob, which was cut off by the sounds of Rhaenyra's continuing labor pains.

Suddenly, Aemma jolted out of Rhaena's hold. "Aemma?!" Aemma pushed her sister away as she staggered onto her feet and leaned against the wall. Hearing the sounds of her stepmother in pain, she began to experience visions and sounds of the past.

"Geralt..." she heard her mother's voice, "I think there's something wrong with this baby..." 

"Mother?"

Aemma saw her mother in the middle of a forest somewhere on the Continent, holding her belly as if she were in pain. With each contraction Rhaenyra had in the present, Aemma saw her mother emanate that same painful contraction in the past. Aemma placed a hand over her mouth, realizing the Lady of Larks had gone through something similar. She recalled a vision she had back in Vergen when she saw her mother stop Daemon from hurting her again when she told him she was pregnant. This was the babe that the Lady Lark had been carrying.

The vision continued as (y/n) struggled against the contraction, a strange looking woman helping her through it. She saw two monsters, basilisks, appear from behind the trees and the sorceress cast a shield over the two to protect them, which was brought down causing the sorceress woman to falter. She saw Geralt spring forth and slay the monsters before they could go for the kill. 

And then she saw her mother waddle away from Geralt and the woman, falling to her knees and pulling her stillborn sibling out of her.

"Aemma? Aemma!" Aemma's vision ended abruptly the moment Rhaena started shaking Aemma back to her senses.  "Rhaena?" "What happened, you looked like you were possessed!" Rhaena exclaims. Aemma's breaths were even once again, the last image fresh in her mind of seeing the Lady of Larks hold the bloodied fetus in her arms...scaly skin and a tail much like that of a dragon.

"Aemma?" "...my mother was pregnant the night she escaped," Aemma says, seemingly to no one, "she miscarried...the babe was a boy. I...we almost had a brother..."

The three just realized Rhaenyra's wails had all but stopped. Realizing what this meant, Aemma, Rhaena, and Luke rush to Rhaenyra's chambers to see what happened. They find the Targaryen woman sitting on the floor cradling what looked like a bloodied baby in her arms. But the baby was not alive, as evident by the sorrowful tears that Rhaenyra was now shedding.

Aemma took a step forth, paying no heed to the midwives when they insist she not see. "Mother?" she speaks up. "...you have a sister," Rhaenyra says with a broken voice, gaze fixed on her dead child, "her name is Visenya."

Aemma looked over her stepmother to see the stillborn babe cradled in Rhaenyra's arms as she rocked Visenya back and forth as if she were alive. Scaly skin and a dragon-like tail. Just like the brother Aemma's mother had brought forth the night of her escape. 

Aemma wanted to cry, but found she had no more tears to shed in spite of her sadness.

--------------------------

On the rocky cliffs on the edges of a Dragonstone, a small funeral pyre burned for the baby Visenya as Rhaenyra and Daemon stand at the very front as they mourned for the lose of their unborn child. Behind them stood the rest of their children as well as their loyal supporters and members of the Kingsguard who stood in support for their queen.

Aemma stood by her sisters, caught in a place between anger and sadness. Anger at her father, sadness for the lose what could've been her new sister...and sadness for the brother she lost the day her mother escaped Westeros.

Looking at her father, she couldn't help but actually feel a twinge a sympathy. Visenya was his child too, after all, he was within his rights to grieve. It still didn't make up for everything the damage he's done both past and present.

Right at that moment, a strange knight in white armor approached. The two Kingsguard knights draw their swords, ready to defend their queen.

"I mean no harm, brothers," the knight states, removing his helmet. "Ser Erryk!" Aemma calls out in recognition.

The other two knights sheathe their swords, allowing Ser Erryk to approach. The knight knelt down as Daemon approached, pulling something from the satchel he was carrying. It was a crown, the one the late king Viserys wore during his reign, which was also worn by the late King Jaehaerys. Erryk presented the crown to Rhaenyra, "I swear to ward the queen," he speaks, "with all my strength...and give my blood for hers."

Erryk continued to recite his vow as Daemon took the crown from his hands. The now king consort approached Rhaenyra, placing the crown on her brow before he knelt before her. "My queen," he whispers before bowing his head to her. Everyone else took that as the cue to kneel before their true queen, Aemma included. This was it, she thinks. Rhaenyra was now the Queen, in spite of being robbed of her throne. Being here now, Aemma was prepared to stand by her queen and fight for her...but knew that as long as Daemon stood by her side, it would continue to complicate matters for her.

Huffing in frustration, Aemma got on her feet, turned, and walked past her siblings, needing time to process her feelings.  

----------Aemma's room-------------

Aemma paced back and forth once again.

So much had happened in the span of three days, and it was only now that she had time to process it all. The Greens' coup, her vision of the Wild Hunt attacking the Wall, Rhaenyra's miscarriage and the coronation that followed, and that was even before getting to process her fight with Daemon.

Aemma wasn't sure what she was going to...she didn't even know what she could do. She couldn't support Aegon and the Greens, she was certain of that, even if it meant going against the man she loves. But she wasn't so sure she could support the Blacks...if Daemon wasn't in the picture, Aemma would gladly fight for Rhaenyra, be prepared to stand by her siblings and fight besides them for whatever conflict would soon arise.

But with Rhaenyra being queen, that made Daemon her King Consort. If Daemon wasn't untouchable before that, he certainly was now.   Aemma thought on it some more...maybe Daemon would never be stripped of his titles or exiled or anything of the sort...but if Rhaenyra was made aware of the wrongdoings he's kept hidden all these years, maybe the queen would be inclined to keep a closer eye on Daemon, have him watched every hour of every day, see to it that he will never hurt anyone ever again.

It wasn't exactly her best plan...but at this point it felt better than nothing, especially if Aemma was to see herself in any kind of role in this family.   Another option would be to abandon this whole thing altogether. Return to the Continent, be with her mother and Uncle Jaskier and Geralt too...

But Aemma couldn't bring herself to abandon her siblings again, especially her sisters. Rhaena would be heartbroken and Baela would certainly never forgive her for that. Not to mention that fleeing to the Continent wasn't exactly an option right now considering the near certain future of the Wild Hunt invading the Wall. If Aemma failed to be there when it happened, who knows if Ciri would survive...and who knows if Jace would survive as well if he indeed would be there when the invasion happens.

Being lost in her thoughts, Aemma didn't hear the door open. "Princess," she heard Rhaenys speak up. Aemma looked over to see her grandmother walk in, still in her armor, a cup of tea on hand.

"Where's Rhaenyra?" Aemma asks. "In the council chambers, preparing for war," Rhaenys tells her, "she's requested your presence." Aemma sighed in response. "I can inform Her Grace you are not feeling well, I'm certain she will understand," Rhaenys offers, "it was a long journey from King's Landing...not to mention having lost a sister before her time."

Aemma nods, now noticing the cup of tea in her grandmother's hand, "what's that?" "It's a tea," Rhaenys answers, handing it to Aemma. Aemma took a whiff, "it smells funny." "It's a special tea," Rhaenys confirms, "I believe you have an idea of what it might be." Aemma's eye widen briefly, knowing full well what it was, "I don't...why would I...oh, that's right. I remember telling you."

"It's up to you," Rhaenys says with a soft, understanding tone, "but...after everything that has happened in the last several days, the last thing we need is to bring another Targaryen bastard into this world."

"And I should let you know," Rhaenys continues, "Lord Corlys has survived his wounds. He's sailing for Dragonstone as we speak. I'm certain he'll be glad to see you and the rest of his grandchildren again after so long."

Rhaenys walked out of the room, leaving Aemma alone with her tea. Her grandmother was right. Now wasn't the time. With a potential civil war looming over, and with the future uncertain, Aemma could not afford to risk bringing a child into this, especially one conceived out of wedlock.

Sighing once more, followed with a deep breath, Aemma took the cup and downed it's contents.

As she grimaced from the taste, Aemma began to play in her head what could have been had she allowed Aemond's seed to take root...what would her father say if he learned she was carrying the one-eyed prince's bastard in her belly?

-----------------some time later------------

Aemma sat down on the bed, letting the moon tea start to take affect.  Although she didn't have it in her to go to the audience the queen was holding for the impending conflict, she wondered what was being said.

Thinking about it herself, Aemma knew the most important objective for Rhaenyra's established rule was to send ravens or envoys to the Great Houses to remind the Lords of the oaths they made to Viserys to recognize Rhaenyra as his true heir. 

The Velaryons would keep true to that oath, as Aemma saw when Rhaenys stood up for Luke during the Driftmark petition. The Arryns of the Vale would stay to the oath as well, as Rhaenyra's late mother was an Arryn. Starks do not forget their oaths, as the old saying goes, so that one was practically a shoe-in for support.

The Hightowers would certainly not swear for Rhaenyra...and neither would the Lannisters as Tyland Lannister held a seat on the Greens Small Council. Aemma wasn't sure where House Tyrell would stand, or House Baratheon and House Tully for that matter. No doubt those lords might need a little persuasion.

Although, it just occurred to Aemma that a war between Targaryens implies dragons will be involved...dragons fighting against one another. The Blacks have Syrax, Caraxes, Meleys as well as Arrax, Vermax, and Moondancer...and Cirillia of course. Even though Tyraxes and Stormcloud were too small to fight, Rhaenyra has more dragons on her side. On  the Greens side, there was Dreamfyre and Sunfyre...and should Aegon call his little brother Daeron from Oldtown to fight, they would have Tessarion...and then of course, there's Vhagar. Aemma had to wonder what would happen if she was to fly into battle astride Cirillia and she ended up facing Aemond and Vhagar in the midst of it. Would Aemond say the word and have Vhagar rain fire onto her and Cirillia, despite having professed his love for her and his desire to marry her TWICE? Now part of Aemma had wished she hadn't drank the tea; maybe her carrying Aemond's child would give the prince SOME motivation not to kill her.

Aemma sat upright when she heard sounds of a dragon roaring outside. Aemma looked out to see Syrax flying overhead with Rhaenyra towards the stone bridge leading to Dragonstone. Aemma wasn't sure what was going on at this moment, but she saw a boat close by with the sigil of the three headed dragon...but the sails were green. Aemma wished she could see what was going on.

If Cirillia was there, she could use her gift to see through her dragon's eyes. What if Aemma tried to use the spell with her stepmother's dragon instead? It was tricky as Aemma didn't have the bond with Syrax as she does with Cirillia, but maybe, just maybe.

Aemma laid on the bed and closed her eyes, reciting the incantation, directing the energy towards the older yellow dragon. When her eyes opened, Aemma could see she was facing the bridge. She was looking through Syrax's eyes now. Syrax moved her head to see Rhaenyra dismount from the saddle. Looking forward, Aemma could see who had come to Dragonstone was none other than Otto Hightower and the soldiers loyal to the Greens.  Rhaenyra walked past Otto and stood next to Daemon, who was armed with a sword and his own regiment.

"Princess Rhaenyra," she heard Otto greet. "I'm QUEEN Rhaenyra now," Rhaenyra corrects, "and you are all traitors to the realm." "King Aegon Targaryen, Second of His Name, in his wisdom and desire for peace is offering terms," Otto begins. Internally, Aemma scoffed, knowing full well these were not Aegon's words at all. "Acknowledge Aegon as king, and swear obeisance to the Iron Throne," Otto goes on, "In exchange, His Grace will confirm your possession of Dragonstone. It will pass to your true born son Prince Jacaerys upon your death. Lucerys will be confirmed as the legitimate heir to Driftmark and all lands and holdings of House Velaryon. Your sons by Prince Daemon will also be given positions of honor at court: Aegon the Younger as his squire, Viserys as his cup bearer. The king in his good grace will pardon any knight or lord who has conspired against his ascent. And furthermore, His Grace has consented to broker a marriage pact between Prince Daemon's daughter, the Princess Aemma, to his brother Prince Aemond." 

Aemma's felt herself become shocked at this particular stated term. She saw Daemon and Rhaenyra exchange glances. The princess wondered if that term was added in, either from Aemond himself or from Alicent who still wished for the two of them to wed. It was made clear that there was hope that she and Aemond could still be together somehow. 

  "I would rather feed my sons to the dragons then to carry shields and cups for your drunken, usurper cunt of a king," Daemon sneers, "and I would rather see my daughter lay with a hundred men in a brothel on the Street of Silk than see her married off to your one-eyed cunt of a grandson." Aemma had to contain her own rage right now. She may not care much for Otto or Aegon, but if she was physically there, she would not stand by and allow her father to speak in such a way about Aemond. Yeah, she might have definitely start to feel some regret for drinking the moon tea now.

"Aegon Targaryen sits the Iron Throne," Otto points out matter-of-factually, "He wears the Conqueror's crown, wields the Conqueror's sword, has the Conqueror's name. He was anointed by a septon of the Faith before the eyes of thousands. Every symbol of legitimacy belongs to him. And then there is Stark, Tully, Baratheon. Houses that have also received and are, at present, considering generous terms from their king."

"Stark, Tully, and Baratheon all swore to me when King Viserys named me HIS heir," Rhaenyra counters. "Stale oaths will not put you on the Iron Throne, Princess," Otto counters back, approaching despite the Kingsguard making ready to defend their queen, "the succession changed the day your father sired a son. I only regret that you and he were the last to see the truth of it."

Angrily, Rhaenyra stormed at Otto, pulling off  pin he wore as Hand of the king, "you are no more Hand than Aegon is king. FUCKING traitor!"

Aemma noticed the vision was becoming distorted. She was struggling to see or hear more of the confrontation that was going on. Soon her vision went black, and Aemma bolted from the bed.

Her head ached something fierce at first, but it started to slowly go away. She felt something warm leave her nose. Aemma wiped at it to see it was blood. That had never happened before, not when she's done this with Cirillia. It appears she CAN make this connection with other dragons, but there was an imposed limit compared to when she does this with her bonded dragon. 

She remembered both Triss and Phillipa having told her there was a Give and a Take when it came to manipulating Chaos. If Aemma had continued as she had seeing through Syrax's eyes, whose to say this connection would've ended up killing her?

Aemma looked outside to see Otto turn and leave. Rhaenyra, it seems, had decided to spare the man. But why? Was she actually considering his offer? Whatever was going through Rhaenyra's mind as of now?

-----------a little more time later------------------

"Aemma?" Rhaena knocks on the door to announce her arrival before stepping inside. Accompanying Rhaena was Baela, whom Rhaena had informed what their older sister had told her.

Aemma was looking out the window, out to the horizon, wondering what was going to happen next. "Aemma," Rhaena speaks up a little louder. "Oh, hello," Aemma greets. "You weren't in the council rooms," Rhaena brings up, "Grandmother told us you weren't feeling well, but you look alright to me." "It's just some small stomach pains," Aemma assures, "I'll be alright, I'm feeling better already." "Aemma," Baela approaches, "Rhaena told me...about your mother...she's alive?" "...she is," Aemma confirms. "But how is that possible?" Baela questions, "your mother perished in Rivia during that riot, Rhaena and I were in Redania when it happened, we heard the reports at that time."

"She survived," Aemma tells her, "she was greatly injured, but she survived her wounds. She and...the White Wolf, they were whisked away to a place not of this world, to recover. Until mother was taken by the Wild Hunt....that's why I left. That's why I spent the last six years on the Continent. I was tracking down the Hunt with the hopes of rescuing my mother. I managed that, with a little help."

"From the White Wolf, you mean," Baela says. "Not just him...but this Ciri too?" Rhaena asks, to which Aemma nods. "Who is she? Ciri?" "She's someone I knew a long time ago, when I was still a baby," Aemma explains, "she vowed long ago to protect me, even from our father." Aemma turned to face her sisters, "my mother told me the true story of what happened between her and father...it was far worse than I could've imagined." "What...what exactly did father do to the Lady of Larks?" Baela asks, not exactly surprised of what Daemon was capable of, but was secretly afraid to learn the lines that man was capable of crossing.

Aemma shook her head, "I don't want to inflict those images into your minds," she admits. "Aemma," Baela huffs, placing a hand on Aemma's arm, "Rhaena and I aren't children anymore, nor are we as naive of our father's proclivities as you may believe us to be." Aemma was silent, turning her gaze away. "I know what father is capable of," Baela continues, "he may love us as he loves his family, but...he is not a good man."

Aemma thought on this, looking to both her sisters. Baela was right, they were not children anymore. Seven Hells, Baela AND Rhaena were just betrothed not too long ago and would wed sooner or later. "Even if I did tell you," Aemma sighs, "it wouldn't change anything. Father will never be held accountable for his actions, especially now that he is king consort." Rhaena made a sad smile, taking Aemma's hand into hers, "We should still like to know."

Aemma held Rhaena's hand, and then reached to take Baela's, holding them together, "this is the account of the story that was told to me by the Lady of Larks," she begins, "my mother first came to King's Landing several years before father ever met her..."

---------------

Aemma walked down the halls to the Council chambers, hoping to find Rhaenyra and with hopes of speaking to the queen in private. If Rhaenyra truly was considering the terms stated, than perhaps Aemma could use this as the opportunity to tell Rhaenyra what she wanted to say to her.

She tried to put aside recent memories of holding her sisters after telling them her mother's story. Tried to put aside the memory of comforting Rhaena, who cried for what seemed like hours upon realizing the extent of her father's cruelty, and comforting Baela who tried her best to not let it known how truly upset she was about all of it.

It was now apparent to all three of the girls of the monster Daemon truly is, and the damage he could potentially continue to inflict upon others even as consort to the queen.

All three had agreed that Rhaenyra needed to know.

When Aemma stepped in, she froze in place at the scene before her.

Daemon had his hand wrapped around Rhaenyra's throat, anger in his eyes. "Dreams didn't make us kings...dragons did."

"FATHER!" Aemma shouts, getting both his and Rhaenyra's attention.

Daemon released his hold on Rhaenyra as the two of them stared in Aemma's direction.

Chapter 62.5

[coleoffduty]

I was initially guilty about spamming you so I'm really glad to see the asks cheered you up!! I'm trying not to abuse the functionality but the universe you created in legacies is really interesting with so many complex dynamics. Can you talk more (if you want) about

- the relationship between viserys I and rhaenyra

- how all the kids see daemon (couldn't gauge how baela felt about the custody battle but she seems unsettled by the nettles thing)

- the closest real life voice/music/face claim for lucerys (and others if possible, i know that you said daeron ~~ damon albarn)

- was rhaenyra's rebellious youth a product of her upbringing (tumltuous as drew barrymore's was) or an idolising of notorious troublemaker daemon or because of her mother's loss

- what are the worst targaryen scandals in this universe? (Assuming maegor exists)

-where laena & laenor specifically stand with everything going on (the abuse lucerys suffered from his mother seemed like something laenor wouldn't accept unless he went through the same and thinks of it as normal)

oh em gee hi—welcome back <3 i rlly do wanna preface this by saying if you have questions and interests about something: flood my inbox as much as you want! i love interacting and getting to go back and forth about my fics, especially legacies since it’s so intricate and very slowly being unraveled due to slow updates (i’ve got like 6k words written up for this current chapter and i’m not even halfway so…).

but with that being said; change my first name to yip and last name to yap because boy do i have a lot to say.

viserys and rhaenyra’s relationship.

there’s a lot to cover on her story and perspective in this universe, but one of the main ideas i tried hammering in when it came to ‘you turn me inside out’’s first chapter is her only child syndrome. she’s very lonely but still incredibly doted on. growing up, i feel viserys made certain to tell everyone how much he expects of rhaenyra solely because that’s his only child. not because of what she can do or who she is as an individual away from him. i’ve always really liked the idea of how viserys names her his heir or focuses on how rhaenyra will take on his role in the family as the next generations successor is not because he actually believes in her, but because he’s already talked it into existence. it’s why he doesn’t really prep her or genuinely take the time to spend time with her. if he says it will be, then it must because the whole world’s watching and he can’t look like an idiot if rhaenyra fails. very much more of that in the prequel and impending sequels…

daemon and his relationship with the kids.

jace understands that daemon is his stepfather, the person who his mother chose to be with after harwin and eventually got cheated on, but he ultimately holds his tongue because he understands that he is baela’s father. she’s the one allowed to be mad and angry while he takes the more adult approach. luke was away at driftmark when rhaenyra and dameon married so, he doesn’t hold a really weighted opinion on him other than he was a great paternal figure with how he gifted him his cello and treats the littles, especially with visenya and her disability. joff is just angry about how daemon was the main father figure he grew up with even if he’s laenor’s favorite and then all the things coming to light. definitely one of those ‘i used to idolize you and you let me down’ moments aemond and lucerys talk about when it comes to their family. all the littles (aegon iii, viserys ii, and visenya) just know their parents love each other still but can’t stand one another anymore. when i was editing legacies, i forgot that in the scene for chapter 5 when aemond and luke start speaking in high valryian in front of visenya, she becomes immediately curious and luke alludes to how she’ll become angry if she doesn’t know what’s being said. i added that detail because i feel like rhaenyra and daemon would argue in high valyrian so the kids don’t understand/can't keep up with what’s being said, even though they can clearly see the tension. as for baela and rhaena, it is similar but different. both are very unsettled and repulsed by their father being with nettles because maybe i’m the only one who thought it was weird but: nettles is their age, with their similar phenotypes, and is a dragon rider so most likely related to them. i'm not saying in this fic that nettles is daemon's daughter, but there are clear parallels between his children with laena and her. i also feel the twins have become women who have grown out of that similar idolization period with their father to notice his patterns of getting with a young girl, having kids with her, and when times get too tough— leaves her to then repeat the process. baela is more outward and direct with her disdain about it while rhaena internalizes it. more of that will be covered in the legacies sequels, since the rhaenicent continuation will be in rhaenyra’s pov following that whole ordeal.

face and voice claims.

for lucerys, i mostly reference kurt cobain’s style of singing and combine that with his face claim, timothée chalamet. i’ve always felt luke has a deep voice even from what the actor portrays on screen, so something that sounds very low but can pitch high if strained. so yeah, kurt ('been a son' is lucerys writing about rhaenyra but anyways). daeron’s voice claim is indeed damon albarn’s and i felt this direction was kind of funny to have. damon's accent really comes through so daeron being the only singer with a thick brit voice i felt could tie back to how he studied music in oldtown and the technique taught there is also another thing that differs him from his family. in legacies i envision daeron as the ever popular face claim lucas lynggaard tønnesen. rhaena’s face claim is taylor russell (my love) and her voice claim is Beatrice Laus (beabadoobee, my other love). cregan was written before the actor was introduced so i said his face claim was jaime flatters which i still feel fits right with legacies. dalton greyjoy is young aaron paul and i feel with his voice claim, i could get away with some gerard way. for rhaenyra and alicent’s voice claims though, i always felt like fiona apple fit rhae and mitski for alicent. again though, we’ll have more of that in the future. 

rhaenyra’s upbringing.

a lot of the ideas you listed actually all factor into why rhaenyra was pretty wild during her teenage to young adult years. she grew up in the scene, at clubs, surrounded by adults smoking and drinking and partying and being this little kid who is essentially her parents’ party trick. like ‘oh look at little rhaenyra pretending she’s doing shots’ kind of thing when she should’ve been at home in bed. it’s what she’s used to and feel like she’s born for. daemon is also another addition to it as he only encourages her, which is one of my favorite key points in the prequel. and of course, with aemma’s death, rhaenyra goes off the deep end. she’s surrounded by the same people her father is, which are yes-men who will feed into anything she wants. i’ve always liked how rhaenyra antis are like ‘she was so entitled’. it’s like yeah, any 15 year old with the world at their fingertips, surrounded by people her entire life who make her feel she can do no wrong as ’the realm’s delight�� would probably be a spoiled diva. targs have done worse.

the worst legacies universe targaryen scandals.

honestly, i’ve only barely started making a dent into world-building before the young rhaenicent period as i’m writing rhaenys/corlys’ little story so i haven’t given it much thought. i feel like though in the previous periods, since social media wasn’t around and especially with jaehaerys and alysanne’s children, not a lot of them became musicians and their dirty laundry wasn’t aired out. i have aemon written as holding an army job which i feel also allows for the family to have larger ties to political aspects of westeros in the same way some actual celebrities do. hence if maegor did do all the things we know he does also in this timeline, the targs are probably well connected enough to have it forgotten about/utilize public stunts to move on. i feel like legacies really embodies the idea of a modern take of ‘the dance’ without the aegon vs rhaenyra succession plot since even though there’s so many musicians in the family and they should be at their peak, there’s all this internal affair happening with scandal and wondering who the leak is.

laena & laenor.

oh, how i think about those two. in ‘all apologies’ i wrote about how they’re basically ghosts in the house, just shells of themselves. they still reside on driftmark and live with their parents and teach music, but are incredibly burnt out. laena is sober and constantly battling addiction after overdosing and nearly dying + other things while laenor is trying to lead a quiet life after being married to rhaenyra. i don’t know if i mentioned it in the actual fics, but with how everyone knows laenor is gay, it wasn’t on his terms. he was outed and harassed on a national level which does a lot to a person, especially one without a clear support system. so when it comes to trying to intervene with the cycle of things (lucerys’ treatment) they’re pretty much rendered powerless. they know baela and lucerys are the substitutes of what their parents wanted them to become, which also adds another level of fuckery to their dynamics. but what i want to highlight is that a lot of the direct and seen abuse is mental (the physicality comes from how the kids' bodies sort of break down after practicing for so long or being neglected in order to prioritize perfection), and the person it's normalized from would be corlys (as it happens to be with baela). so rhaenys being how she is with luke is almost seen as a lesser pain and uncharted territory since she’s laenor and laena’s safer option. she's never been that way with anyone and so they don't see it as concerning as it actually is. they especially don't say anything since what happens is behind closed doors and not for long since rhaenys teaches luke when he’s 15-19, as well as because he’s corlys’ heir. he’s fitting into the mold fine, so they see stepping in as possibly messing up lucerys’ future the way they did to their own (for now at least). 

hope i covered most of the questions without veering off too much!