#daeron targaryen scenario

[diamantar]

REINA OSADA

→ Daeron Targaryen x fem!OC [Visenya Targaryen]

✦ Sinopsis: Portando un nombre lleno de historia, Visenya armará su propio mundo junto a la persona indicada.

✦ Advertencias: Incesto / Diferencia de edad / Matrimonio arreglado / ¿Lesiones consensuadas?

✦ Palabras: 1557

✦ Pedido: Si, de Wattpad.

Alicent inspiró profundo y juntó toda voluntad existente para no arrancarse la piel alrededor de las uñas, a paso ansioso recorriendo sus aposentos en una espera insoportable. Demasiados pensamientos la atormentaban y no podía imaginar que el plan ideado no saliera a favor, especialmente cuando le otorgaría poder en varios aspectos.

Ser Criston, que bien sabía lo que sufría, ni siquiera pidió permiso al abrir la puerta y enseñar al tercer hijo de la Reina.

—Aemond, me han dicho que solo Vhagar ha regresado, ¿que sucedió? —preguntó preocupada, ambas pupilas cayendo en la carta sucia y arrugada que cargaba—. ¿Es de Daeron?

—Pide sinceras disculpas por no venir él mismo, pero envía una nota para esclarecer su ausencia.

La Hightower agarró la misiva casi con miedo, durante unos segundos guardando silencio antes de enfocarse en el príncipe.

—Lo viste, ¿verdad? —indagó tragando con dificultad—. ¿Estaba con ella?

—Correcto —asintió, por un segundo amagando a sonreír.

Tan pequeño y veloz gesto paralizó a la mujer, que olvidó pestañear y rápidamente destruyó el sello para leer las palabras del menor.

—Esto es… —dejó los labios separados en incredulidad.

—Lo que deseabas.

Ante la confirmación cerró los ojos y lanzó la cabeza hacia atrás agradeciendo tal fortuna, aliviada prefiriendo sentarse frente al escritorio.

—Un dragón criado entre águilas, es ideal —comentó poniendo una mano en el pecho y sintiendo las pulsaciones regresar a la normalidad—. La hija menor de Aemma nos dará gran ventaja.

—¿Segura de que estará de nuestro lado en las discusiones por la herencia al trono?

—No, pero no se ha criado aquí y no es cercana a Rhaenyra, podemos dirigirla a nosotros

—Recuerda que es conocida por justamente ser alguien difícil de manipular.

—“La reencarnación de Visenya” —suspiró jugando con una pluma sin tinta—. Ciertamente sabían que hacían al nombrarla como la hermana de Aegon el Conquistador, porque nació con el carácter de ella.

—¿Crees poder manejarla? —enarcó una ceja, porque había visto a la mujer y reconocía que era una oponente fuerte.

—Tal vez no, pero Daeron…

—Es inesperado que se conocieran y forjaran tan buena relación.

Alicent asintió y observó el celeste cielo, ausente ordenando la mente antes de hablar.

—Como tu hermano, Visenya fue enviada joven a su segunda casa. Los Arryn estaban encantados de recibir a una de las nietas de su única hija de descendencia Targaryen, especialmente cuando Vermithor la seguiría. Desde joven ha mostrado carácter dominante y una actitud inclinada hacia la batalla… Ha terminado por sí misma decenas de rebeliones y forjó una enorme fortuna a partir de ellas, es el gran orgullo de ambas familias —resumió a punto de negar maravillada—. La opinión publica es increíble, algunos hasta la ven como una reina del pasado que surgió a guiarlos y protegerlos.

—¿Padre aceptará el casamiento cuando podría utilizarla para reforzar lazos? He oído que hay varios interesados.

—Viserys no dudará mientras exista la posibilidad de una reconciliación familiar, celebrará la propuesta —bufó como si aquel fuera el menor de los problemas.

—Al menos no deberás preocuparte por de Daeron, él está sumamente encantado con nuestra hermana.

—Así parece —dijo en volumen bajo y levantando la carta—. Pensar que se conocerían cerca de Antigua para sofocar un batallón de bandidos… Los Dioses están de nuestro lado.

—¿Necesitas más de mí? —preguntó al apreciar que la conversación terminaba.

—No, has hecho bien, descansa que es mi turno de hablar con el Rey.

La mujer inspiró a gusto con el desarrollo de los eventos y por largos segundos disfrutó aquella victoria, con renovada energía agarrando la carta y partiendo hacia su esposo.

El humo escalaba hasta el cielo en torres grises que desde kilómetros anunciaban peligro, los numerosos focos de fuego aún ardiendo entre escombros y cadáveres. La brisa llevaba el aroma a carne quemada hacia la zona contraria al campamento, aunque la única femenina en pie estaba segura que su ejercito ya adivinaba qué había hecho.

Vermithor brillaba ante el reflejo del sol y estiraba las alas en una pose sumamente relajada, la Targaryen quitándose el casco y dejando las mechas ondear en naturaleza. El panorama repleto de cenizas la llenó de orgullo y elevó el mentón en satisfacción, otro grupo de inútiles agregándose a la lista de conquistas. Torció el agarre en la espada que cargaba e inquirió si así fue como se sintió Aegon I, el deseo de sentir tal grandeza y obtener toda tierra posible enviando escalofríos que casi la hicieron jadear.

Un rugido la sacó del ensimismamiento e hizo que sonriera pequeño, de pronto el cielo cubriéndose y sellando en la tierra una forma que bien identificaba. Vermithor observó y rezongó, de manera que ella estiró el cuello y apreció el destellante azul metálico del joven dragón. Conectó breves miradas con el jinete e inclinó la cabeza en desafío, desde el inicio señalando que no se arrepentía de lo cometido.

—¿No pudiste esperar?

El reclamo llegó apenas aterrizó y Visenya enfrentó al atractivo adolescente con una mueca traviesa.

—Adelanté el trabajo —respondió indiferente—. ¿Por qué mover y agotar al resto cuando puedo encargarme sola?

Daeron torció la boca y acortó la distancia quitándose el casco, objeto que tiró a lo que quedaba de pasto.

—Los eventos no siempre saldrán a tu favor, ¡podrías morir!

—Admite que estás enojado porque no te llamé para la diversión —rió sin tomarlo en serio.

Frunciendo el ceño y sosteniéndola del rostro, el aire alrededor del chico cambió.

—Nunca vuelvas a dejarme atrás, pensamos y atacamos juntos, ¿entendido? —ordenó en tono bajo y severo.

—Daeron el Osado es un título apropiado viendo que tienes el atrevimiento de amonestarme —gruñó entre dientes—. Congeniamos y calibramos de manera espectacular, ¿pero piensas que te permitiré controlarme?

—Anhelo cuidar y proteger a mi futura esposa, ¿acaso es una locura lo que pido?

El término empleado la descolocó y provocó que contorsionara el rostro, con labios apretados observándolo como si fuera un desquiciado.

—¿Qué has dicho?

Liberándola despacio, Daeron retrocedió y buscó entre su armadura un papel doblado.

—Es una carta de padre para ambos, pensaba leerla contigo hasta que descubrí que volaste sola a pelear.

Visenya agarró y leyó, progresivamente enseriándose y perdiendo cualquier expresión que señalara lo que pensaba. Rápidamente mojó los labios y le miró, en un puño sosteniendo el decreto y enfrentándolo de una manera casi intimidante.

—¿Qué piensas de esta decisión?

Daeron se arrodilló en una pierna y colocó la mano derecha sobre el corazón.

—Contraer matrimonio contigo será el honor más grande de mi vida.

La mujer desenfundó la espada y lo apuntó, lento y casi sin pestañear admirando como él intentaba descifrar sus próximos movimientos.

—Palabras bonitas no comprarán mi corazón —habló, en el proceso colocando la punta del metal en el centro del cuello.

—Lo sé, pero mi alma se desvive por ti, esa es la única verdad.

Visenya inclinó la cabeza y bajó la mirada a la tierna piel que amenazaba, de pronto rodeándola un aura casi exótica.

—¿Sabes de la tradición valyria o solo conoces la Fe de los Siete?

—Yo… —dudó un momento intentando recordar algo que pudiera haber leído.

—Silencio, el titubeo solo confirma la ignorancia —interrumpió dando un paso más—. Eres joven y tu futuro brilla, pero soy mayor y mi reputación aplasta la que posees. ¿Serás capaz de conquistar el mundo conmigo?

El Targaryen tragó y saltó al sentir como la espada le lastimaba, con el corazón acelerado admirándola desde abajo mientras el viento y el sol la coronaban como la poderosa reina que era.

—Te pertenezco —respiró tembloroso, la tensión provocando cosquillas en su vientre—. Viviremos, amaremos, procrearemos, arrasaremos y construiremos juntos, desde que te conocí no ha existido nadie más que tú.

Visenya inspiró lento y profundo, despacio bajando la espada y yendo a arrodillarse frente a él. Tiró el arma a un costado y colocó ambas manos en el pecho contrario, suave descendiendo hasta encontrar la daga y tomarla en posesión.

—¿Qué…?

—Un pacto de sangre —aclaró mientras le agarraba el mentón y acercaba el filo al labio inferior—. A partir de hoy eres completamente mío, Daeron.

Observándose a los ojos, él apenas se movió cuando ella realizó un pequeño corte. Aguantó el dolor y el ardor para tomar el puñal y entender que era su turno de actuar.

—Visenya… —llamó casi en trance, una neblina mental jamás experimentada llevándolo a sensaciones que hasta ese momento desconocía,

—Estoy aquí —contestó mientras lo abrazaba por la cintura y formaba una sutil mueca cariñosa.

El muchacho respiró pesado y acunó una mejilla antes de cortar la tierna piel, el suspiro que ella liberó sacudiéndolo hasta los huesos. Soltó el arma y sin perder un segundo acortó la distancia, finalmente probando los labios que tantos meses deseó consumir. La Targaryen se entregó al contacto y un gemido quedó ahogado cuando él usó la mano libre para tomarla del cabello, el calor del sol quemando como si estuvieran fundiéndose en fuego.

—¿Me amas como te amo a ti?

—Soy tuya, Daeron, de nadie más —murmuró inclinándose a descansar en uno de sus hombros—. Juntos haremos historia.

Sintiendo que la estrechaba y casi le quitaba el aire, Visenya observó las resplandecientes escamas de Vermithor y tembló de emoción ante la idea de cumplir cada sueño y objetivo al lado del Targaryen.

[lullaebies]

I have come to the sudden epiphany that if Daeron was actually in S1 and left according to the timeline, in Driftmark he would've likely been a young child and clinging to Helaena while Alicent was arguing with the whole room. I am melting at the thought of baby Daeron just holding onto Helaena and Helaena looking at Aemond, who has one eye-less, and tightens her grip on her younger brother when the adults in the room start to shout. 😭

[undertoweyes]

After all the bs hbo max had done to hotd and got I believe their only way to redeem themselves would be a comedy series about daeron i/baelor/viserys ii/Aegon iv reigns cause there’s no way to adapt those periods in a serious way

[venusbyline]

If you could've a FFM threesome with two Team Green characters, which ones would you choose?

[addaerontruther]

*Demon escaped death and flew off with twu wuv Nettles*: 🤢 🤢🤢

*Daeron and Addam survived the fight against Vermithor and flew off together*: 😍😍😍

old man abandoning his distressed wife and four living children (5 if you count joffrey) to run off with a 16 year old: broke

two 16 year olds that (almost) gave everything to support their families deciding they aren't going to sacrifice the love that motivated them in the first place: woke

it's not even close tbh

[daeron-targs]

So the "leaks" that say that Daeron won't be in season two, even though it will be a step up from last season because he might actually be mentioned this time (small victory, I guess). Given that I've already written two possible on screen scenarios for how he'd be introduced in season 2, I've decided to write a small scene between Alicent and Otto about Daeron.

It begins in the aftermath of Jaehaerys' death, Alicent is writing a letter addressed to Daeron.

"I've already had to sent Daeron a letter about Viserys, and now i have to send him one about his nephew." Alicent says as she writes a letter containing news about Jaehaerys' death. "He's a sensative boy, I don't know how he'll be able to handle it."

"He's five-and-ten, Alicent. He'll be a man soon." Otto replies. "According to Ormund he's hardly the scared little boy you said goodbye to when he left for Oldtown. He's grown into quite the capable young man."

"I know. I would rather see it for myself." She nods. "I wish he could be here for the funeral. I'm sure he'd still have like to see his siblings even on such a sad occasion."

"Yes, it is unfortunate, but his place is in Oldtown."

Alicent continues to write the letter before we cut to her addressing the letter to "Prince Daeron of House Targaryen."

I think a scene similar to this would be able to function as a way to introduce him to the audience, even if he has to be off screen. It would allow us to learn how old he is, where he is (which will obviously be the biggest question for casuals), a little character trait, and his relationship some of the other members of this family.

[addamvelaryon]

“House Velaryon supported Daemon Blackfyre” I know he is Queen Daenaera Velaryon’s grandson abut can you please elaborate?

Well, Daemon Blackfyre being of Velaryon descent would be the main reason for House Velaryon to support his claim over Daeron II (he has no blood ties to House Velaryon). Generally, Westerosi houses will support their own familial connections over those they are not related to in wartime conflicts.

Not to mention, House Velaryon were among the strongest allies of Daeron I Targaryen, the Young Dragon, in his Conquest of Dorne. When that conquest fell apart, with Daeron I dying, House Velaryon would have faced its own losses too. The failed conquest did result in an increase in anger amongst the Westerosi, especially with the Iron Throne's refusal to retaliate against the Dornish for killing Daeron I under a peace banner. Then when he came to power, Daeron II decided to increase the involvement of the Dornish in his court, leading to further political tensions. Daemon is presented in contrast to Daeron II, but he's somewhat similar to Daeron I: chivalrous warrior king vs weak scholar king. So for those that were originally Daeron I supporters, Daemon would have seemed like a preferable alternative to Daeron II.

I did make this gifset highlighting certain parallels which could hint at a potential Velaryon-Blackfyre alliance.

Also, house Blackwood were Daeron II loyalists, and since GRRM presents the Blackwoods as always right™, supporting Daemon probably won't end up well for house Velaryon (personally, I'm more of a Daeron II supporter myself...). Though it does explain why they did not have as much presence during the rule of later Targaryen Kings. Bloodraven made sure to suppress the houses that fought for the Blackfyres as much as possible.

But without Fire & Blood vol. 2, this is all mostly speculation. We don't even know who was the head of House Velaryon at the time of the Blackfyre Rebellion. It's possible that they did support Daeron II, just for the sake of maintaining stability in the realm. But I think that their blood ties to Daemon and matching political ideology does increase the chances of House Velaryon being Blackfyre loyalists.

[ladybug023]

Daeron gets into a fight with Aegon:

Aegon’s vulgar comments about Cerelle had angered Daeron, and he soon found himself attacking his brother. Aemond, who had been lurking in the shadows, quickly stepped in to break up the fight.

"Stop it, enough!" Aemond shouted, pushing them apart. The fight had caused a commotion, and soon, the guards had arrived to see what was going on. Daeron was panting, his fists still clenched in rage.

"Aegon, you are impossible," he said, shaking his head in disgust.

Aegon II just grinned, wiping a bit of blood from his nose. "You know you love me, little brother."

[venusbyline]

i was thinking about that lmaooo

also... considering that HOTD is almost being a headcanon show instead of a canonical adaptation of ASOIAF books, I don't doubt that the scriptwriters will put Daeron as Alicent's secret bastard son with Criston Cole or even with Gwayne instead of Viserys ahahah

What if Daeron ends up being played by Freddie Fox wearing a white wig?

[missglaskin]

HOTD scenarios/reactions

Reactions

Reaction to darling assassination attempt 

Men of HOTD react to reader trying to escape with their children 

Reader rejects HOTD men for a commoner 

Men from hotd react to darling giving birth twin to boys

Darling almost dies from childbirth (HOTD Men)    

Wife attempts suicide over the loss of their children (Aegon, Aemond, Daemon) 

Their child noticing their tendencies (Aemond, Aegon, Daemon, Jace) 

HOTD men reaction to their wife!darling dying in childbirth 

Scenarios

Aemond, Aegon, Jace with dark!reader (sister!reader) 

Yan!HOTD characters meeting their soulmates 

HOTD Women giving marks/hickeys to their darling 

Targaryen boys with a stark!darling (Maegor, Aemond, Aegon II, Daeron I, Baelon, Jace) 

MTL/WHO

Who would be the worst yandere in HOTD?

ASOIAF Characters who would allow the reader to enjoy/have hobbies 

Which yandere hotd characters would purposefully walk on darling taking a bath 

Who in hotd lets reader fight/spar 

In HOTD who's most likely to freak out over being ignored 

Characters from ASOIAF most likely to have their darling follow them around 

Which dragons are most protective of the character's darlings 

Targaryens; yanderes who's intense to least 

Who's most likely to give you space (HOTD) 

Characters from ASOIAF most likely to go on a killing spree for their darling 

HOTD characters most likely to baby trap you

[celtigxr]

THE PINK DREAD - CH. 32 (Masterlist)

Chapter Summary: Brotherly bonding and late night visits. Word Count: 4456 CHAPTER WARNINGS: MDNI, 18+.

Series tags: Aemond x Plus size!OfC, Aegon x Plus size!OfC, Celtigar!ofc, Plot with Smut, mdni 18+, Aemond End Game, Angst, Comedy, The Dragons Don't Dance, slow burn, friends to enemies to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers.

Credits: Lace Banner by Aquazero, pearl divider by Pommecita

Notes: 🙊 I only proof read this once, so there might be more typos/grammatical errors, awkward wording. I feel like it should be fine. But idk. I just wanted to get this published, lol.

Aegon returned to his chambers after he parted ways with Valeana before supper. After the petition that midday, he sought her out only to find that she was not present in her family’s wing. By the time he did find her, she was in the company of her little companions, all lying about in the grass of the gardens. She looked so lovely there, laying in the shadow, surrounded by green and pink, hair fanned out like a river of milk. 

“Am I interrupting anything?” Aegon smiled, marching over the knolls to reach the three giggling ladies.

“Oh, my Prince,” Ellyn sat up first and then Wylla went to follow, both about to stand so they could give him a proper curtsy. However, Aegon lifted his hand to stop them, so they remained where they were. 

Valeana did not bother to move, instead she peaked up at him through squinty eyes, “You interrupt our plotting.”

He raised an intrigued, amused eyebrow, “What sort of plotting?”

“We were conspiring on the ways for Lord Cregan to avert his attention off of Alysanne Blackwood and onto me,” she admitted, completely unashamed. 

“She seeks to build a reverse harem,” Ellyn clarified with a laugh. 

Aegon tilted his head at Valeana, his mouth opening in a wide grin, “Is that so? I am now to be competing against the Warden of the North?”

The silver-haired girl smirked up at him, “Not competing. Sharing.”

“Well, aren’t you a greedy little tart.” 

“Mhm,” Wylla hums in agreement, “So far she has three Targaryen Princes, my brother, Prince Qyle Martell, Ser Arryk and Erryk Cargyll, Willehm Blackwood, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, Ser Cedric Redwyne, and… Did we settle on Dalton Greyjoy?”

“Eh,” Valeana waved dismissively, “He can watch.”

“Three princes?” Aegon placed his hands at his hips in mock offense, “You include Daeron in this, after all I’ve told you.”

Valeana’s smirk broadened, “Who said it was Daeron?”

Aegon’s eyes widened challengingly, “I hope you are implying I have a twin brother I do not know about.”

Her grin grew mischievous before she giggled and sat up against her palms. With disheveled hair, she innocently asked why he was here, partially already knowing the answer. 

“I was hoping to whisk you away for the remainder of the eve, now that father’s planned dinner party was canceled for the day,” he glanced over at Wylla and Ellyn. “Would you mind terribly if I stole her from you?”

The Stark girl smirked knowingly, “What do you plan on doing with her, my Prince? Kidnap her, take her to the Tower of Joy along the Prince’s Pass and deflower her there?” 

“Hells, Wylla,” Valeana clasped a hand over her reddening face. 

“As much as I enjoy the bizarrely specific scenario you’ve given me, alas, my intentions are innocent. I just wish to be in her company.”

The two girls all cooed in unison. Lady Ellyn huffs, almost defeatedly, “Why must you be sweet?” 

Alas, propriety demanded that Valeana could not be alone with Aegon, particularly now that the stakes were so high. Though instead of Ser Steffon looming around them like a gargoyle, Lady Wylla and Lady Ellyn kept them within eyesight. They remained in the garden, walking away from their nest under the Cherry Blossom Tree, her arm looped in his as they shared idle conversations. They had to be careful of what they spoke of, as courtiers walked by and eyed them closely, critically. Though despite the lack of freedom to be vulgar and more physical, Aegon found that he didn’t quite mind. 

A maidservant had come to summon Valeana for supper with her family, to which Aegon offered to escort her back for. Before they reached the door, he leaned into her ear and whispered about collecting her that night for another rendezvous on their secret platform. 

“What’re you whispering about?” Wylla Stark shouted from behind them. 

Aegon sent her a look, “The weather, Lady Wylla.” 

Valeana threw her head back with a laugh, but before she could give him a proper reply to his offer, they were within eavesdropping distance of the two Claw Isle guards positioned at her apartment doors. 

“Thank you for today,” Valeana said sincerely, turning to him with hands clasped in front of her. “I needed the distraction… Today has been strenuous, to say the least.”

Aegon hummed understandingly, “It’s not every day you see a man’s head being sliced in half. Though I wish I was the one to have shielded you from it.” 

She looked down for a moment, and Aegon watched her face carefully, trying to search for her thoughts etched in the muscles of her face. Her mouth popped open, as if she was intending to say something, but the words escaped her. 

“Valeana,” he said softly, his hand reaching up under her chin to lift her eyes back up to meet his. “I understand.” 

The corners of her lips tightened in a sort of apologetic smile. She gave a small nod and then leaned up on her toes to plant a kiss upon his cheek, “Thank you, Aegon.” 

His eyes fluttered close and he breathed in deeply, trying to commit the scent of her hair to memory. Aegon wanted nothing more than to grab her face and push her against the wall and shove his tongue down her throat, but between two unwed noble ladies, and the incredibly vigilant knights of Claw Isle, he was forced to reel in his carnal impulses like a stubborn sturgeon. 

As he unbuckled his jerkin to lay it on the chair before his bed, Aegon contemplated skipping supper all together for that evening, so he may call for Hildy’s loyal services. The ghost of Valeana’s lips still lingered on his cheek, and now all he could think about was how they would feel kissing down his stomach and wrapping around his shaft. Alas, his plans were thwarted when the door to his quarters was swung open.

“I really need to add another fucking lock to that door,” he mutters, rebuckling his belt as Aemond strode into his bedchambers as if he owned it. “Did you inherit mother’s fear of knocking?”

“We need to talk,” Aemond has his hands resting on the pommel of his sword at his hip. “About Valeana.” 

Aegon stared at him for a beat before sighing exhaustingly, “Fine.” He walked past Aemond into his solar, where he made a beeline towards the table that held the carafe of wine. Aemond trailed behind him, waiting patiently as Aegon poured himself a goblet, then a second for his brother. 

The two settled into opposing armchairs, Aegon had already nursed his cup while Aemond merely cradled it in his fingers. For the longest while, they just stared at each other, wondering who was going to make the first move, not unlike a duel of swords. 

“She tells me you begged her for her forgiveness,” Aegon made the first move. 

“I have.” 

“You do not deserve it.”

“That isn’t for you to decide,” Aemond tilted his head to the side, assessing his eldest brother carefully. “What are your intentions with her, Aegon? Because if it is simply to defile her skirts to provoke me, know that you will start a war that you will not win.”

Aegon rolled his eyes, “Not everything I do is to provoke you, brother. But,” he waved his cup-bearing hand concededly, “I’ll admit it began that way. I came up with the plot to pretend we were courting to get you all angry and frustrated.”

Aemond hummed, “I thought as much.”

Aegon pointed a finger at him, “It worked. You caved in like thin ice.”

“And yet you are still actively courting her. I saw you in the gardens today with her, arm and arm, laughing with her friends,” Aemond tilted his head back. “Acting like you have been chums your entire life… Like you have never been the bane of her existence for her most vulnerable years.” 

“I apologized for my behaviour,” Aegon raised his eyebrows, “Had you done the same from the beginning, we wouldn’t be in this predicament, now would we?” Aemond looked away with a purse of his lips, which filled Aegon with immense satisfaction. “I’ll tell you what I told mother. My intentions are pure, Aemond. I have grown fond of Valeana Celtigar, and I wish for her hand.” 

Slowly, Aemond’s head turned back to Aegon. Finally, he raised the goblet to his lips and took a sip, as if stalling or trying to read Aegon with that painfully observant one eye of his. In the end, Aemond concluded that he was being truthful, as much as he pained to admit it. His brother had never remained this interested in a woman so passionately long; he usually gave up, or got bored once he breached their boundaries far enough to get something from them. 

“You do not deserve her hand.” 

“That isn’t for you to decide,” Aegon threw his words back at him. 

“It is for mother and father, who both wish for you to stay far away from her.”

Aegon scoffed at that, drinking his wine until there was a little left, “If I cared about what mother and father wanted, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

“And we all suffer for it.”

The corners of Aegon’s lips tug downwards in an ironic smirk, “Tell me, Aemond, how does it feel to have pushed the only woman you’ve ever loved into the arms of your devious, debaucherous and demoralizing older brother? I bet it keeps you up all night.” 

Aemond tilted his head again, his eye widening at the challenge. He brought the goblet up to his lips again, taking a conservative sip. “You’ve succeeded in provoking me, Aegon, but in doing so you’ve woken up a sleeping dragon.”

“Well, good thing I’m a Targaryen, hm?”

Smirking ruefully, Aemond sat forward, balancing the neck of the goblet in his fingers between his legs, “Know this, brother. Even if you think you’ve won, you haven’t. You may exchange vows, and drape your cloak over her shoulders, but her heart will always be with me. And for as long as I live, I’ll spend every waking hour of it reminding you of that fact. For as long as I live, I will not give up on her… She’ll be mine in the end, whether you are dead or alive.” 

 Aegon’s jaw was tight, his vibrant violet eyes set aflame by the flicker of the wall sconces in the darkened room. His fingernail tapped on the glass of his goblet, now nearly empty of its contents, “I guess I’m just going to have to out live you, eh, brother?” 

Aemond gave a little hum before placing his half full goblet on the table between them, “You can have the rest.” 

Aegon watched as Aemond stood up and strode over to the exit. His leg was bouncing up and down vigorously, and his tongue moved around his mouth like angry tides of an unrested ocean. Just as he heard the hinges move, Aegon leaned back and turned his head just enough to give Aemond a side eye. 

“I saw your bruises,” his words effectively made his brother halt in his tracks. “I added some of my own.”

Valeana was gently roused awake when she felt a breeze against her face. Her eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly as she tried to peer through the blur of sleep. She quickly realized the balcony door was open, letting in a draught. 

Did Shyla open it? She must have, because Val was sure it was closed when she pulled the drapes shut to block out the blazing sun of the morning to come. Grumbling, she twisted in her sheets as she peered over at Shyla’s bed, only to find it empty. She must’ve left due to Valeana’s snoring. A common occurrence, the poor thing has to suffer through it every night. Sometimes they find Shyla curled up on the settee in the family’s solar, sometimes she crawled into Floris’ bed, one time she had usurped Arthor’s bed while he sat and read in his balcony the entire night. 

Valeana flipped back over, only to see a shadow looming on the right side of the bed. Her heart leapt in her throat, momentarily gagging her as she jumped and gaped, a scream nearly escaping her lungs. His hand flew to her mouth. 

“Shh, shh,” Aemond crouched down next to her bed, his grip over her mouth softening when he saw her shoulders cave. “It’s only me.”

When he removed his hand from her mouth, she gave him a sharp whack on the shoulder, “Aemond, I swear to the old gods and the new, the next time you do that I’m going to throw you down a flight of stairs.”

“Wouldn’t that be an interesting sight,” Said another, causing Valeana to jostle a second time. She and Aemond whirled their heads towards the door with wide and alarmed eyes. And there in the dim light she could make out the short wavy silver hair of Aegon. 

“Aegon,” Aemond stood up straight, his fingers curled into his fist. “How did you get in here?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” The elder prince sauntered into the room, stopping across Aemond on the other side of the bed. 

Valeana, gobsmacked and confused, stared at both of them from her place on the bed. “Would someone please tell me what in the Seven Hells is going on?”

With flared nostrils, Aemond turned his glower away from Aegon, before softening his features when he turned to her. His hand moved to gently move a strand of hair away from her face and over her ear.

 “It seems that we both had the same idea tonight. To see you before the other… A race of sorts, to win your heart.”

Valeana felt her face heat up at that, her eyes flickering between Aemond’s adoring stare, to Aegon’s one of longing. The latter raised his leg so he was now kneeling partially on the mattress, his hand snaking up to take her idle left one. Aemond sat down at his side, taking her right hand in his and bringing it to his lips, where he kissed each knuckle. 

“The waiting is torture,” Aegon says in a soft voice, watching his fingers dance inside her palm as he slowly crawled to her side. “I need to know… we need to know.” 

Aemond moved forward as well, still seated as he instead laced her fingers in his, dipping his head to kiss her on the crown of hers, like he so often did. He breathed in deeply, then tilted his chin to the side so he could kiss her temple. 

“Who won, Valeana?” Aemond asked next to her ear. “Who has won your heart?”

This was all too much to deal with in the middle of the night. Her breathing was laboured, her skin on fire in the places they touched. She was now quite literally caught between two princes and their feather light caresses, which did not help her decision making. 

“I-I don’t know… Must I choose at this moment?”

Aegon hovered over her shoulder, his other hand moving to pull the neckline of her chemise over to expose more skin. His breath tickled her neck, making her shiver and give a small gasp. Then his lips pressed against the pale curve of her shoulder, and along the junction between her neck. 

“We are impatient,” Aegon sighed into her skin. 

Meanwhile Aemond had pulled her hand up to his chest, slightly exposed by loose strings of his tunic. Like the night before, he splayed her fingers over his pectoral, above his rapidly beating heart. 

“Do you feel what you do to me? Valeana, if you make me wait any longer, my heart may very well explode out of my chest.” 

Aegon took her unoccupied left hand, and placed it on the crotch of his breeches. He gave a groan at the contact, and her hand instinctively cupped the obvious hard muscle hidden beneath the fabric. 

“Do you feel what you do to me?” He stared up at her, violet eyes disappeared in the void of his dilated pupils. “You make me so unbelievably hard, it’s the ultimate misery I cannot be inside you.”

Valeana’s limbs were jittery, her body tense with a growing heat pooling at her core. She felt hot all over, making the baby hairs along her hairline and back of her head damp and curl. Her legs started to twist around, her knees bumping into each other as her thighs desperately tried to conceal her shameful needs. Despite herself, she gave a soft little whine, “I don’t…I don’t know…” 

Aegon lifted his gaze up to meet his brother’s, both dark and full of challenge. “Perhaps she needs more convincing.”

Aemond hummed in agreement, his hand moving from his chest to trail a finger along her jawline just to hook his finger under her chin and force her to look at him, “We’ll know tonight…Whomever’s name is screamed louder from these lips is the winner.” 

Her eyes widened at that; fear, anxiety, lust and excitement all battling against each other in her belly. Valeana’s mouth opened in a gasp, but Aemond quickly swallowed it with his lips and a rumble of satisfaction. He moved so he was now hovering over her, devouring her through his kiss and caging her face in his hands. 

Aegon made a sound of dissatisfaction next to her, his frustrations were taken out by his greedy hands roaming the expanse of her body through the thin muslin fabric. His explorative digits roamed over the hills of her soft thighs, her stomach and briefly ghosted over the knoll of her mound, which earned him a cute little mewl. A mewl that was swallowed by his greedy brother. 

“Enough,” Aegon’s voice was gravely and low as he captured Valeana’s neck and jerked her away from Aemond’s mouth. She gave a soft whimper, and his brother glared at him through the curtain of his lashes. “You’ve had your fill… It’s my time.” 

He tilted her head in his direction, bumping his nose against hers before claiming her mouth with a hungered groan. Where Aemond was soft and passionate, Aegon was all devouring, pouring his lust and wanting into the movement of his lips and tongue. His hand moved to hold the curve of her jawline, trapping her into his kiss, while the other one held himself up firmly. 

Aemond did not sit idly by and watch his brother kiss his woman. Oh, no, he made himself known with his hands, roaming down her side, over her hip, until he found the hemline of her chemise and slid underneath. Valeana sighed at the contact of his heated palm on the sensitive flesh of her thigh, but her breath hitched when that same hand moved brazenly to cup the place where she has never been touched before. 

Valeana gasped, involuntarily pulling away from Aegon’s kiss just to mutter the name of the gods. Vaguely she heard Aemond give a soft chuckle, but all she could pay attention to was his fingers rubbing against the slit of her moist sex, dampening the dark blonde curls there. 

“Who is this for, Valeana?” Aemond asked, eye looking up to catch her desperate gaze, and then over to Aegon’s hunger-panged one. “Who has gotten you all wet and ready to be deflowered?”

Not one to be left without, Aegon yanked the chemise higher so he could see where his brother’s hand lay. Despite it being Aemond’s fingers coveting his greatest desire, the sight of it caused him to groan and salviate. His hips started to gently rut into her side. 

“Allow me, brother,” with a surprising moment of compliance, Aemond adjusted his hand enough to let Aegon have a sample of her wet folds. Valeana could do nothing but squirm and whimper as the elder prince’s pads slipped up and down the crease before dipping into the hot shallow embrace of her entrance. It was at this precise moment that Aemond’s thumb also dipped in as well, easily finding the soft bundle of nerves at the apex of her sex. 

Valeana gasped loudly, her hips bucking and her thighs shook. All she could do was stare at the ceiling in disbelief, with her fingers curling into the sides of her chemise, as if that would ground her somehow. 

“She’s so tight, brother,” Aegon commented, eyes transfixed on her core that took his fingers so greedily. His tongue flicked out at the sight of her juices coating her intimate lips, beckoning him closer. “Who will stretch her out first, I wonder?” 

“Both,” she found herself answering without force. Her entire body trembled, her mind a lust frenzied mess that cannot decipher who she needed more. “I want both of you.” 

Their hands stopped, and they both looked up at her. Valeana’s body relaxed under their touches, but her brow twisted in annoyance at their sudden pause. She bit her lip, and tried to rock her hip back into their touch. 

Aegon smirked widely, “She wants both of us, Aemond.” 

“Our princess is greedy,” Aemond adjusted himself to face her, but his hand never left the warmth of her cunt. He tilted his head, “You always were one to keep your plate full, but could never finish it entirely.”

Aegon mimicked his brother’s position, his finger slowly moving around the entrance beneath her folds, itching that spot that ached but not quite plunging in. “Do you think you can handle that, Crab Cake? Both of us… You will be quite full.” 

Valeana nodded eagerly, then whimpered when Aemond’s thumb made slow brush strokes around her warm pearl, “Please. Please… Over indulge me.” 

Aegon chuckled, then removed his fingers, much to her chagrin. He brought them to his lips, sucking off her essence from them, and gave a low hum of approval. The sight of which made Valeana’s nethers tremble. Then Aegon brought his damp fingers to the collar of her chemise, where the lasses hung loosely, just barely exposing the valley between her breasts. 

“First you must indulge us… Let us mark you so all will know who you belong to… Who conquered you,” his fingers curled around the fabric, tugging it in an attempt to expose her breasts. Aemond pulled his hand away from her heat momentarily to aid him, his fingers pulling the opposite direction until the chemise tore down the middle, enlisting a sharp gasp of surprise from her. 

Her nipples were pebbled at the feeling of air against them. A field of gooseflesh also covered the expanse of her soft breasts, which gravity pulled slightly to each side, inviting each prince to their own. Aemond and Aegon wasted no time; they devoured a nipple each after they had their fill with their eyes. Valeana’s back arched into them, her hand instinctively reaching up to run her fingers through the hair at the base of their heads. 

“Ooh, my Princes,” she crooned, her head falling back with her eyes tightly closed. She blindly felt their hands move back to her privy parts, unaware of whose fingers belonged to as they probed and caressed her folds and pearl, creating lewd squelching noises with her slickness. 

When she opened her eyes, the three of them were completely nude. In her haze of wanton pleasure, she hadn’t realized or felt the movements that had brought her in their state of undress. But she was far too debauched to care… All that mattered was their body heat as they caged her between them. 

Now on her side, Aegon was pressed against her back, and she could feel his cock against her rear, where his hand massaged. He parted her cheek an inch or two just so he could prod against her puckered hole teasingly. As much as he longed to take her there, it wasn’t his destination. Casting her braid over the pillow, Aegon peppered the back of her neck and length of her shoulder with open mouthed kisses, humming pleasantly in response to her gentle sighs. 

Aemond was pressed in front of her, her breasts flushed against his chest, lips  ghost over hers as they laid their head down on the pile of pillows. He blinked languidly at her, and Valeana could do nothing but stare back, feeling completely at peace in the reflection of his one eye. He had two fingers in her, slowly working through the folds, gently preparing her for them. It was bliss and torture at the same time, feeling the roughness of his callased digits rub against the walls of her unbreached womanhood. 

“Do you think you’re ready, my love?” Aemond asks against her lips. “You can change your mind.” She felt herself involuntarily clench around his fingers, causing him to smirk, and give a soft chuckle. “The Pink Dread is hungry, brother.” 

Aegon smiled against her spine, then moved closer against her, placing his chin over her shoulder, “Time to claim the dragon, then.” 

Aemond pulled his hand away from her sex, to hook his hand under her left knee, spreading her wide for them. Valeana reached and grabbed onto her leg for him, bending it at the hip as the brothers reached down and grabbed onto their cocks and positioned it against her folds. Already, Valeana gave out a soft moan at the sensation; the two smooth heads probing the slick folds of her sex, brushing against her pearl and entrance, coating themselves in her lubricant. 

The look the princes shared over her shoulder didn’t go amiss. Their cocks positioned themselves at her entrance by their own hand. They would have to do it slowly, painfully, just enough for her to break and stretch for them both. 

Valeana wished she could see; she wanted to witness her virginity being lost by them both. But as she turned her head to look down at her body, all she could see was herself sandwiched between the two of them, and her arched left leg, perfect and whole. 

Her breath hitched in her throat, and the world around her paused, then blurred. 

It was a dream. 

They weren’t there. 

Valeana blinked and suddenly she was alone, floating on a mattress in the middle of the ocean, naked as the day she was born. All was quiet, all except for the gentle singing voice in the distance, one that sounded just like hers. 

“From the ashes rose, scales of pink, A beast of terror, in a single blink.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE SNEAK PEAK:

“And we sit here today, as one house: The House of Valyria. Proud, ancient, and forged in fire and blood, in salt and sea,” Everyone raises their goblets in murmured agreement. “It truly gladdens me to be part of this historical moment. Our families will now no longer be divided, but blended. My grandsons, Jace and Luke are set to be married.”  Aemond felt his blood drain from his body instantly. His brow furrowed, his heart ached in a pang of betrayal. His brother felt no different; they both turned to the woman seated between them. Valeana hadn’t seemed to notice this, she was looking at Jace with a slight smirk upon her lips, and that made it all the worse.

Notes: :D did you guys like your little treat-o? If you read my pinned post and my lil bio, you'll know how much I love to edge you guys 😈 heh heh heh. And honestly, who knows, maybe I'll fully write that scene in an AU smut-oneshot of it actually playing out. We'll see where my motivations lie.

Tag: @queen-of-elves, @keylin1730, @anakilusmos, @weepingfashionwritingplaid, @sugutoad, @desireangel, @t0biasparabatai

( if you wish to be tagged for this story, just give me a reply! )

Please do not re post, redistribute or plagiarize my work. The only other place this story is posted on is ao3 under the same username.

[fatum679]

Thoughts on ep 6? I see a lot of praise for it but I'm like 🤔. A lot of things were annoying and illogical and I don't like what they're doing with most of the characters this season. Now even Daemon gets a redemption arc, Aegon is the biggest victim of his family, but Aemond is 100 % evil, Helaena barely appears at all (at this point Sylvie and Dyana might be more important to the story). I'm just disappointed.

Hello dear.

I'm terribly tired of this season, it's a complete disappointment. Many fan theories and fanfictions are better written than this series. I don't know what writers get their money for. The whole season 2 is like Groundhog Day. The sixth episode is just water.

We continue to be shown Daemon, his hallucinations and his “redemption”. We are promoted that he loved his brother, but this love did not extend to Viserys’ other children. Daemon and Rhaenyra actually spent their entire lives ignoring, neglecting, rejecting, and abusing Alicent's children because their grandfather was Otto. Viserys did not accept his children because ANOTHER WOMAN gave birth to them. Alicent's children were indeed discriminated against by their paternal relatives. Therefore, I do not believe in the propaganda of Daemon's redemption, that Rhaenyra is kind, and Viserys is a good parent. Besides, I'm terribly tired of all these hallucinations in Harrenhal. It was interesting in the beginning, but now it's endless repetition.

The pointless scenes of Rhaenyra and Daemon could have been spent on a story arc with the north and Sarah Snow, showing Daeron, more scenes to Helaena.

It looks like we have Daemon, Rhaenyra and Alicent, other characters, playing the role of «trees» or «decorations» for them.

They decided to show Aegon as a victim. This is a cheap scenario move to divide the TG stans into two camps: those who support Aemond and those who support Aegon. As if we weren't already divided into helaemond stans and anti-helaemond long ago. Aegon could have been given a bit of heroism to get burned by Rhaenys. But we have what we have. The dynamic between Aegon and Aemond reminds me of the dynamic between Viserys and Daenerys. It really is déjà vu, but I don't believe the writers intended it that way.

Aemond tries to deal with the problems that Aegon and Rhaenyra created. The birth of the rebellion began after Aegon carried out a reign of terror by hanging the rat-catchers. Rhaenyra set up a blockade. Aemond closed the gates, but if he had not done this, the entire infrastructure would have stopped working, since there would be no people left in the capital. It's cruel, but it's true and it's wartime. The problem is that Aegon, as king, failed to convey to the people that they were starving because of Rhaenyra, staged a public execution and fired Otto. Aemond can no longer do anything, because the mechanism has already been launched and a riot was inevitable.

I don't think they're trying to make Aemond evil, but the normies will think he's evil. He is cruel to his brother for personal reasons, he fired Alicent (which I support him on) because she loves Rhaenyra (Alicent actually had a chance to end the war in episode 3, but she loves Rhaenyra more than her children). Aemond brought Otto back because he knows that his grandfather is the best Hand.

I feel bad for Helaena the most. I really believed that she would be on the small council. Ewan talked a lot about Helaena: “She is good with books and money.” I'm really upset. We weren't even shown the Dreamfyre. Why does Alice Rivers have more screen time in the Targaryen story? Where is Helaena's coronation?

Alys Rivers is absolutely disgusting to me. She's a maniac on the hunt for Targaryen sperm. She drives Daemon crazy like a brain parasite. I hope people stop romanticizing alysmond, because the same thing awaits Aemond.

Sylvia was offended that Aemond no longer came to her and did not pay her money, so she decided to spread lies about him that he was throwing a feast in the castle. Even Diana doesn't believe her because she served the royal family and knew Aemond's character. Sylvia is not a hero, she owns a brothel. She abused (ra**d) 13 year old Aemond and I'm sure other children too. She manipulated Aemond, and when he left, she decided to take revenge on him.

Rhaena was given the Nettles line, which is quite disappointing. Once again the writers show that in TB this is the Mary Sue team. The writers actually decided to remove the cool character because they didn't want to ruin daenyra.

Helaemond is pain. The writers decided to gaslight us. The entire written plot in the first season was destruction, all the potential was destruction. Ewan and Phia say that Helaemond was not in the scripts, but I don't believe it. There are many scenes and hints in the second half of the first season.

House of the Dragon is truly a complete disappointment for those with critical thinking skills. The scriptwriters' favoritism is not even hidden.

Bring back Miguel! He is the only one who knows how to write a script and characters!

We have two more episodes, but there's not much hope.

p.s.

Aemond showed Larys his place and immediately understood his manipulation - the best scene of the whole season.

[venusbyline]

i admit that i would ship them sm 🥺🥺

Daeron x Rhaena

For anon

[madamealys]

Imagine Aegon is your rival and you end up marrying him 😏 (+21)

Note: your plot is Rhaenyra’s… sort of.

***

You and Aegon are nearly twins. He was born a year after you, so the difference of twelve months bears no difference in how you and him were educated together.

At first, there were too many differences to provide a genuine fondness for one another. In fact, it could be said that, until when you bloomed into a handsome young woman, there was nothing but rivalry between you two.

Such is the scenario you and him grow into. Mutual teasings developing to rivalry as years grow by. To worse all, the king favouring you over Aegon means you might inherit his throne, probably breaking the long and old Westerosi tradition where male inheritance prevailed over female’s.

Nevertheless, in spite of your stepmother’s attempt to fuel this rivarly, as you and him grow, these sentiments are slowly leaving space to let another grow.

How’d you know, when Aegon loves to tease you? It’s this kind of teasing that irritates you. The acknowledged prince of Dragonstone seems to take a delight in sweeping off a smirk off your lips whenever he has the chance.

Not to mention he does so with the support of Queen Alicent, who envies the stepdaughter’s alluring beauty. Your long silver locks and brightening lilac gaze together with your now womanly curves makes you the object of praiseful poems, overshadowing this woman your father calls wife.

“Sister, long time no see”, greets Aegon when spotting you, coming by yourself after riding Sunfyre.

His eyes linger at your curves, noticing that even your riding clothes cannot conceal the woman you’ve become.

Though you too admit he’s grown to a fine man, you’d prefer to have a knight named Criston Cole as your husband instead of him.

“Aegon”, you despise him like always. “You just saw me earlier today with our… family.”

Not in the mood to be around him further, you try to get your steps faster in direction to your privy chambers. Unfortunately, Aegon is quick too.

“Running from me?!”

“Oh, you don’t say, Master Knoweth It All.”

“Leave that title to Daeron. He’s the one to become a maester anyway”, says Aegon, not missing your efforts in concealing a smirk.

And then of course he stops right before you. You are surprised by his bluntness, but more so for noticing how taller he is.

“Aegon…”, and your eyes scan his well build muscles in an effortless move to escape his intent stare at you. “What do you think you’re doing? Mistaking your royal sister to a whore?”

Aegon dramatically sighs, but you spot amusement behind his eyes when you dare to raise yours.

“Y/N Targaryen”, and here he boldly pins you against the wall, his hands gently holding your wrists, thus impending you of leaving. “Always proud.”

“You and I never saw eye to eye”, you hope not to sound too nervous, but for a strange reason you feel yourself dripping wet. “To come after me like that… one can only presume it is hardly for brotherly reasons.”

He tilts his head, eyeing you up and down.

“You underestimate me, Y/Nickname”, and you detect some irritation in his remark.

“Your deeds, my darling, have not left me with many choices, have they?”, you tilt your head, and Aegon finds some hope in how you hold back his gaze.

You both hear steps before you find chance to remove yourself off his dangerous presence. You best avoid him—in order to preserver whatever reputation you have, or maybe to shield your pride.

Aegon, distracted by the subtle arrival of Aemond, sighs annoyed when seeing he misses you again.

“You know… I’ll never understand how the fuck you poorly disguise the love you have for our dear sister behind a hate you lack.”

“Don’t get me started, Aemond. Rhaenyra has the affection of our father for a starter.”

“Does she? Not even Laena has this amount of attention father has towards you.”

A sensitive topic which Aegon hopes to avoid. Like usual, he prefers to resolve this by changing topics.

***

Aegon’s eyes are found staring at you again as you slide inside the great hall where a ball on behalf your father’s name day is given. You are wearing in red and black Targaryen colors, your locks perfectly braided and your skin is embellished with jewelry.

You like the attention, to be the center of every man and every woman’s eyes, but nothing warms your body than the way your father’s heir—for that’s what he is now—looks at you.

And when he notices you look back, he gives you a sensual smirk that makes you weak in your knees. Suddenly the gown is too tight. But you rather focus somewhere else. Someone else.

A knight named Criston Cole extends his hand out to you, which you pleasantly take—much to Aegon’s consternation. You notice the weight of his stare, the evident disapproval in his eyes.

As melody begins to be played and you and the shiny knight dance together, you cannot help yourself but taking a peak of Aegon’s jealousy. He cannot conceal it, he struggles against it and it’s when he decides to turn his attention to something else that you find yourself fearful for losing him to his wenches.

It’s when you realize that you have grown fonder to this brat you are related to. More than your pride cares to admit.

But who’d know your darkest secret might set alight when the king stands and asks for a minute, prompted to make an announcement that will shock all?

“I am found in this delicate position upon which a king is found contemplated the two heirs the Gods provide me. In order to make my conscience in accordance with the old traditions to our house, I hereby declare the betrothal of my eldest and most loved daughter, Y/N, with my dearest son and heir Aegon.”

Oh.

You couldn’t see it coming, could you?

***

Aegon makes sure to prevent Sir Criston Cole to meet you. Having noticed what happened in the ball, the prince decides to deliver the message he’s no man to share.

“Always concerned about me”, you muse, when noticing he’s following you.

“Indeed. You are my soon to be wife”, and he once again has the control of you. “Y/N… Do not slip off me again.”

You turn at him, surprised to find yourself trapped in his needs.

“What do you think I am? A man who lives after his wenches?”, he scowls at you as you two stand right in front of the door of your privy quarters.

You tilt your head.

“Again, this speech? Aegon, we cannot evolve from rivalry. We’ve tried this before and thanks to your dear mother, friendship between us isn’t working.”

“Rivals we may be, but there’s more. Deeper, I know. Let me show you.”

With no waiting for your response he finally holds your face and dives to your lips. You gasp out of surprise, but the way his tongue pursuits yours in a domineering rhythm makes you moan rather than push him off.

You want him and your body shows it. He knows, he feels his body electrified by the mere contact with yours. As he kisses you passionately, Aegon makes clear he owns you. And you forget your pride by letting being owned.

No fear, nothing to apart one from the other remains when the dragon fire sparks. He opens the door, showing a sort of confidence never before familiar to you.

You want more of him, you let him dominate you, and when he lies you down in bed…

“We cannot…”, your reasonable self still lies awake, though breathless you are after this intense kiss and the way he looks at you makes you forget why you should give ears to reason when he’s going to be your husband anyway.

“Silence, darling. I won’t ruin you for our day”, he smirks at you.

Lying beside you, he lifts the skirts of your gown all the whilst he gazes at you. To your astonishment, you don’t find lust in his eyes, but a different feeling—one of the kind you fear to disclosure.

“Cannot I admire you?”, he asks you, no more with the prideful and arrogant mask he wears. “You look at me as if I am different than you’ve judged.”

His hands slowly caressing your thighs before resting over your pubic hair make difficult to you reason with his words, but you try to keep the reins of yourself.

“I never thought…”, you hesitate, unsure as to how to word your own insecurities.

“I never hated you, Y/Nickname”, and here Aegon leans to brush your lips all the whilst his slender fingers move to your womanhood. “I’ve always desired you.”

And as he kisses you, muffling the sounds that come out of you as you burn under his skillful fingers, you experiment a sort of delight never before tasted.

His fingers go deeper in you, wet in touch with the liquid you produce. Aegon is aroused at the way you react, like calling him to fuck you the way you deserve; his thoughts are messy, all he wants is you.

Then he parts the kiss only to gaze at you, the proud princess, humbled by his fingers. You spread your legs wider, your eyelashes are barely open at how he touches you, nice and slow at first before fingering you harder.

“Oh my…”, you turn your head at him. “Aegon!”

The prince smirks at how you call his name.

“Yes?”

“Aegon, please!”, you cry out sensually, legs already heavy, beginning to levitate as your belly experiences butterflies.

“Give in, my sweet”, he brushes his lips against yours, hardened just by how you call his name.

But to your slight irritation, he doesn’t kiss you. Yet he moves his lips to your neck, there staying until…

So suddenly.

So intensely.

So… unexpectedly.

He replaces his fingers with his eager mouth. Aegon holds firmly your hips, diving his tongue right into the core of your womanhood. He does so with no decency, his tongue licking the walls of your cunt, spinning and sucking every bit of you.

“Aegon!”, you delight yourself in this new bliss, enjoying to ride his beautiful face, pumping into his mouth, arching your back desperately. “AEGON!”

You don’t mind being loud, but when you rise yourself, you ride him all right, and it feels good, it feels sinful, it feels like paradise.

You owe him now, and when he raises his eyes to meet tour lilac ones, a smirk crosses his lips and you feel so aroused… so bloody hot, that you cum not only once, but twice, thrice even.

And he drinks every bit of your juices, still digging his fingers against your bum, slapping it nicely before dropping to your side.

“My Gods”, you lean sensually against him. “Aegon…”

“Was it good, my darling?”, he holds your chin, reading in your eyes the defeat of your pride, the victory of his pursuits. “I will fuck you like that in many days ahead of our marriage.”

Aegon likes the view of your meek smile, and he caresses your face before kissing you gently.

“I best go. I shall not ruin my bride.”

“Aegon!”, you protest when seeing him stand and adjust himself.

“What? You are my princess”, he says, “my queen to be. Not any wench I can do as I please.”

You sigh heavily, very frustrated. That night, you secretly wish you were his dear, little whore. But you had to content yourself with using your hand.

***

The marriage proves to be a successful match. The feast surprises the guests by showing former rivals in harmony. Some of them think it’s a show you and Aegon play for the sake of your father, king Viserys, but it can be said, in the words of dear Helaena:

“A joyful occasion to prevent tempest; greater kings shall come from this nest; a war was avoided, but another is yet to come… prepare yourselves, easier is said than done.”

Like usual, none pays too much to her words, in spite of Aemond shooting Helaena a meaningful glance.

You are dressing red and your now husband is dressing green for his mother, but other than that.. you are positively surprised for enjoying how this is going.

“We are great together”, says Aegon, after you two shared a dance; now sitting on the table, he wants more of you.

You give him a smirk, locking gazes as you sip your wine.

“No one can beat us, darling.”

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

And here he stands, offering his hand.

“Let us show one more time how we came to surpass this rivalry instigated by all.”

“Another dance? Never took you for a dancer”, you smile at him.

Aegon smiles the brightest when saying:

“I am many things you are yet to disclosure, sweet Y/Nickname.”

And the dragons danced.

***

Finally by yourselves, you give him the charge. Aegon begins by undoing your elaborated braid before unlacing your gown.

“So beautiful. An angel.”

“Some say that we Targaryens are above from men and gods”, you give him a long glance, smiling almost seductively as you enjoy his gaze all over your body.

Once the gown falls off your body, showing your nude state, you feel his lascivious eyes devouring your curves as he stops before you and remove his own clothes.

“We are certainly more divine than many mortals. Hence why only a dragon can wed another”.

He arches his back and messes with his hair, straightening himself as he takes a seat at your marital bed. You drink of the view: his features more manly, his chest with some old scars acquired in training, and his manhood…

Oh it has your attention, indeed.

You step forward and before you know, you get to your knees. Aegon spreads his legs, groaning, already full erect before you.

“This shrew woman is going to be tamed”, he says firmly, yet there is a sweetness in his voice when he holds your face that makes you look at him, completely undone. “My prideful wife on her knees for me.”

“Aegon…”, you moan sensually, finding unbearable to taste this fire and not yet get burnt by it.

He looks at your round, full breasts, biting his lip as he stares at your nipples. The prince wants you in every indecent manner that is possible, but his mind is blank when you, impatient, take hold of his erect manhood.

“Y/N…!”, he groans loud.

You smirk at him.

“Tell me you want me.”

“Badly. No woman of the realm can match your alluring beauty. Many I’ve fucked thinking of you. Wishing I could kiss your lips and fuck your cunt.”

You shiver at his words.

“So indecent.”

“As if you are hardly innocent”, Aegon says in between gritted teeth. “I still recollect when you let me spot you bathing naked at the lake. And you touched yourself, seeing I was there.”

You blush at the memory.

“Rivals, uh?”, Aegon chuckles before moaning louder. “So much for the narrative of the shrew.”

His moanings are so sensual, so captivating. You like how he calls you that, acknowledging your pride, your flaws, but your virtues, you as a woman of your own.

It’s when you get too thirsty and…

“Y/N!”, Aegon is the one tamed by your skillful tongue. When looking at you, seeking for his approval, every doubt of your inexperience dies. “Oh let me teach you how it’s done.”

And you take his full length, all of it, licking it, swallowing his precum and going wild with the tip of his cock. It feels so good to be commanded, to subdue to him like this…

“Rise, my princess. I want to have my cum inside you, not in your mouth. Not today.”

And you obey, having his lips clashed against yours. In this night, you and I are together the way you’ve always secretly desired.

He possesses you perfectly, throbbing carefully within you, matching his hips with yours. Aegon pins your hands above your head, treating you kindly.

When he takes your breasts with his tongue, Aegon knows you get louder and he takes his time. Getting to know you carnally is fulfilling his naughtiest wishes.

One moves with the other in a slow, soaked pace, with bodies entangled as one.

However, towards the end of it, as each finds the climax, you turn at him and find him looking at you.

No more lust, but that same something you feared to name is what lies behind his eyes.

“This isn’t about copulating”, says Aegon, sounding more insecure than he likes. “I hope you know this.”

“You are my husband now, Aegon.”

“It is but a formality. I want you to know how I feel for you is beyond titles and traditions”, and he’s on his elbows now, searching for your face as he strokes your cheek. “I love you, Y/N.”

It is a beautiful sight when you assimilate his words. Aegon sees the confusion stamped behind your eyes, moving to a slight skepticism before reasoning to it.

And you smile because you feel the same.

“My rogue prince”, you hold his face too. “I love you, you bastard.”

In between chuckles, he kisses you. Like a needy boy, he buries his head in your neck. Likewise, you cuddle onto him.

One needs the other. Beyond saving a dynasty, Aegon and you saved each other.

[rainy-writers]

poor pitiful greens, who would’ve been slaughtered had Rhaenyra taken the throne. They had every right to usurp her because obviously they and their children deserve to live…obviously they deserve to live more than Jace, Luke, little Joffery, Aegon, Viserys, Baela and Rhaena who also would’ve been slaughtered had the Greens succeeded, right?

It kills me when people say that the greens would have been slaughtered had Rhaenyra taken the throne because they were too much of a challenge and use that to justify usurping her. Like you do realize…if they’re a challenge to Rhaenyra and her kids then it’s vice versa? If they can’t live while Rhaenyra reigns then that means Rhaenyra’s kids can’t either. But apparently it’s okay for Jace, Luke, Joffery, Viserys, Aegon, Baela and Rhaena to die if it means your favs get to win. All of a sudden, you’re okay with children dying if it means a man can now rule Westeros. A woman and her innocent children dying is okay to you because what? It’s “normal for a woman to rule?” Aegon should be King because…he’s a man? Because Viserys spent years advocating for him, right? Because this rapist, abuser piece of shit and his psychotic brothers who burned millions and allowed for the rape of little girls are somehow better than their sister who only raised taxes?

Alicent can fear for her children’s lives against the woman who’d never even think about harming them, but Rhaenyra can’t fear for her kids—who Alicent literally tried to get executed for years?

And don’t give that bullshit: the Greens would never!

Uh, canonically, they did! Unprovoked! Before they even got the fucking throne! They did it with Rhaenys and Luke—who, no matter much you call him Strong, is still related to them from Rhaenyra. Team Green has personally harmed their own family, their own blood in broad daylight and have celebrated doing so, so what makes you think they’d spare the rest? What honestly makes you think they’d let them live? Luke was a child, so no, even the children wouldn’t be spared.

Alicent has spent over twenty years fear mongering and terrorizing her own children to the point where it just could not happen. They would execute every single one of the Team Black kids down to Visenya if she had lived.

Yes they would’ve killed two year old little Aegon and Viserys and they’d have been happy to do it. Lest we not forget these are the same people who threw a party, canonically, when Luke was killed so…yeah. Aemond and Daeron probably would’ve forcibly married Baela and Rhaena and raped them…But that’s okay to you people, right? Because at least it isn’t happening to the fucking misogynist Greens who didn’t deserve the throne anyways.

The difference between them and Rhaenyra is that she has never given any indications that she thinks Kinslaying is right. Book or show, Rhaenyra understands the weight of such titles and what it would mean. She understands it would forever stain the name Targaryen if she killed not one, but SIX members of her own family. Obviously it’s this fucking Rhaneyra that would’ve killed them all though, right? It’s Rhaenyra, and not the Greens or her idiot brothers who canonically been classified as Kinslayers and usurpers, who would not have let TG live.

Book or show, you cannot even argue that they’re not Kinslayers because hopefully even TG stans aren’t so delusional to outright deny what we’ve seen. Which means that YES, they would’ve killed all those kids and then used their big scary dragons to terrorize anyone who didn’t agree—as they did the exact same media you’re seeing them in.

In the same book or show, nothing ever indicates that Rhaenyra would kill them. In fact, she actively gives them a chance to bend the knee after they kill her son, and furthermore, she does not spend years terrorizing her children with the idea they’ll be slaughtered so they have to kill the other side, even the children, because if not they’ll do the same to them.

The only difference in this scenario is that the people who raised the TB kids would have spared the Greens, while the people who have been raised to be hateful and spiteful against even the innocent people in their family would’ve given the TB kid’s death not second thought.

You guys simply don’t understand the tabooness of Kinslaying, and it’s becoming a popular trend that people think you can just get away with it and nothing will happen. You cannot just go around killing people of your own fucking family with no consequences. No matter how delusional you and Alicent might be, it cannot happen without major consequences. It’s the main reason majority of Westeros DID NOT support the greens bc it’s an AWFUL thing to do. There is nothing worse to the people of Westeros than a Kinslayer, not even a rapist. It is the ultimate crime to commit and it shows your lack of understanding of this world if you think Rhaenyra would just do this. Even if you don’t like her, her character was described as someone that would NEVER.

Meanwhile, you know who went down in history for doing this? Not once but twice? And one of those was a child? You know who still fucking did and was willing to keep doing it until an entire side of their family was wiped out?

The Greens.

The difference between them and Team Black is that TG spent twenty years harboring hate for a woman and her kids who did not even give them a second thought. It’s almost laughable how unimportant they were to Rhaenyra until the day they killed her son. The day Aemond killed Luke and Aegon threw a feast to celebrate the worst crime imaginable to a Kingdom he was supposed to rule, is the day you should’ve realized how different and how much more deserving Rhaenyra Targaryen is compared to her monster brothers.

I do not fucking care that Alicent was young and dumb and manipulated once. The women who poisoned her own children, the woman who was willing to kill a fucking newborn and said I quote,

“I hope the whore dies in childbirth.” Was a grown ass adult and would not show an inch of mercy. Even show!Alicent would have no choice, because it was her idiot planning that put her psychopath of a son in the ultimate position of power so she couldn’t even stop it if she tried.

So tell me, what makes you think Helaena, Aemond, Aegon (who were all adults during the dance, mind you), Jaehaera, Maelor, and Jaehaerys deserve to live more than Jace, Luke, Joffrey, Baela, Rhaena, Aegon, Viserys, Visenya (possibly), or anyone that stood as a threat to Aegon’s reign?

Surely you can’t say it’s because Jaehaera, Maelor, and Jaehaerys are just children.

You root for the one Team whose succession will end up with them all dead, as canonically it did, instead of the woman that would’ve spared them. Book or show, there’s never any evidence she would harm them unlike the literal people you root for. There’s only one scenario where everyone lives and it’s when Rhaenyra Targaryen sit the throne. Because we’ve seen how well it turned out for those kids and everyone when she was usurped, so rooting for Team Green bc you want to ‘spare the children’ is a contradiction in itself.

Or, just say you’re a misogynistic asshole like we already know and be done with it.

[duxbelisarius]

Back to the Dance Part One: Targaryen Law and Governance, 1 AC-129 AC

Welcome or welcome back to my blog! If you've not read through them yet, here are my Military Analysis of the Dance and my First Dornish War Analysis master posts! This is Part One of a rewrite/revision of the former series, but more on that below.

I wrote my 14 Part military analysis of the Dance a year or two ago following season one of House of the Dragon. The show got me back into the ASOIAF fandom and I had just read Fire and Blood, and wanted to do a critical analysis of what I believed were the flaws in how the war was written. If the response I got on Reddit, AO3, and here on Tumblr is any indication it seems to have been well received, but much has changed since I completed that series. HOTD Season 2 seems to have had a polarizing reception, but more importantly I've analyzed other events from Westerosi history like the Velaryon Blockade and the First Dornish War (Daeron's Conquest too!). Between researching and writing those analyses and receiving feedback from those following, I decided I needed to change my approach. Reading more secondary literature and even primary sources showed me that my conclusions in the Dance series needed serious revisions, and that there were areas I hadn't properly covered in the Dance which could give new perspectives. I also needed to find a better way to critique, since castigating the writer of a work can only go so far before it gets tedious, boring, and distasteful. I'm more than a year older now and wiser I hope, and intend to apply my experience and further research to create a more detailed, informative, and hopefully constructive analysis of the Dance of the Dragons.

For those of you unfamiliar with my Velaryon Blockade and Dornish Wars series linked above, my approach consists of analyzing aspects of the event/subject in question to identify issues in the writing and worldbuilding, after which I offer a 'fix-it' section to show how the scenario could be mostly if not completely retained with revisions. The 'theme' of my Dorne series which will be carried over into this one is that of scale and managing it: as should be well known in the fandom, George has problems identifying and judging scale which stem partly from his wanting things to be bigger and more grand in his fantasy setting. I believe this scale problem can be tied to issues of perspective more broadly, stemming from his self-described 'gardener' style of writing as opposed to being an 'architect.' George has talked about how most writers have elements of both in their approach to writing but will tend towards one extreme or the other, and George is very clearly in the 'gardener' camp. This seems to consist of keeping a general idea of the progress and end point of a story in mind while otherwise writing the story more from the ground up, with 'pruning' and 'uprooting' taking place as needed while still allowing for a return to those ideas or concepts that were excised later in the plot. This process gave us ASOIAF as we know it, so I can hardly dismiss it's effectiveness, but when it comes to TWOIAF, F&B, and the short stories that were incorporated into the former two works, the faux history premise he set out with clashes with this 'gardener' style.

In George's faux histories, the POV characters that he uses so effectively to tell his stories become historians or chroniclers writing an account of events based on sources, which already give them a sense of where the 'story' is headed and how events will unfold. I believe this creates an unfortunate tendency to treat the characters featured in these narratives as mere plot devices, tasked simply with moving events in their predetermined direction without adequately developing their motivations or reasoning for taking those actions. The result is that many of these characters act in ways that cannot be justified on a Watsonian basis, ie why did the character act this way in their world, leading the reader to look for a Doylistic justification, ie why did the writer need this character to act this way, which breaks immersion and pulls us out of the story. At it's worst the writing becomes narrowly focused on progressing the plot from point A to point B, leading characters to display ignorance and a lack of perspective of their own setting and surroundings in pursuit of the pre-determined outcome.

The piecemeal nature of the Dance narrative plays into this unfortunate tendency, since the final product as portrayed in F&B is an amalgamation of different works: The Rogue Prince, The Princess and The Queen, and segments of TWOIAF that have been fleshed out and expanded upon such as Aegon II's short reign and the regency of Aegon III. Events and characters appear in one part of the narrative that are not accounted for by another while the implications of one action or character's presence are never acknowledged or realized. This is perhaps the biggest downside of the 'gardener' approach: a lack of perspective resulting from a story being built from the ground up with a limited viewpoint in mind, leading to the implications or magnitude of an event or action appearing vastly understated or underwhelming if they are even acknowledged at all. If I could take back anything from the first analysis it would be my harsh treatment of George, when it's clear that his editors, proofreaders, and other aides did him no favours in compiling the narrative of the Dance.

While there are still areas of the Dance which are fundamentally flawed outside how the narrative was edited together, I hope to demonstrate that with some revisions and a more concerted effort to tie the strands of the plot together, the Dance could have been a much better story and served George's purposes more effectively. Doing this will require a much more detailed approach to account for different aspects of the Dance; the Dorne series was twice as many words as the Dance analysis despite having half as many chapters, and F&B devotes only 10 pages to the First Dornish War versus over 200 to the Dance! Expect this series to be a long one, as I've got a lot more to say than I did before; without further ado, once more unto the breach!

Although this series will still maintain a significant focus on the military aspects of the Dance, seeing as how it was a war, Part One is concerned with the political origins of the conflict in the succession crises of Jaehaerys and Viserys. My aim is to paint as comprehensive a picture as possible of how Targaryen government and law functioned in the lead up to the Dance, making the fairly disparate information we're given by the books accessible to the reader and to illustrate why the Dance came about as a failure of governance. This is important since it directly affects our perception of how the great houses of Westeros responded to the beginning of the Dance and whether or not George was able to effectively develop that perspective. Do we get the sense that the characters of the Targaryen court and their contemporaries appreciated the stakes involved in the build up to the Dance, or are their responses conditioned by what the writer demands for the plot?

Analyzing Targaryen government requires us to start with the Conquest itself to get a sense of how Targaryen authority was established based on what we're told and can reasonably infer. The first step in establishing Targaryen authority over the Seven Kingdoms is one which we know surprisingly little about in George's writing, that being the creation of the Crownlands. We know from TWOIAF and F&B that Aegon requested the lands that became the Kingswood alongside Massey's Hook and the lands east of the God's Eye to the shore of Blackwater Bay in return for his allying with Argillac Durrandon, and these lands end up becoming the territory of the Crownlands. We have little else about how they were created exactly and how they were governed, and what little there is requires some digging outside of the faux histories. The Mystery Knight actually gives us the best glimpse into how the Crownlands are organized:

From Maidenpool had come Lord Mooton, from Raventree Lord Blackwood, from Duskendale Lord Darklyn. The royal demenses about King's Landing sent forth Hayfords, Rosbys, Stokeworths, Masseys, and the king's own sworn swords, led by three knights of the Kingsguard and stiffened by three hundred Raven's Teeth with tall white weirwood bows. (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, 348-349)

Although this quote refers to events taking place centuries after the Conquest, the outline it gives us is consistent with the 'high school textbook' style of feudalism in George's series. Excluding Maidenpool and the other Riverlords involved in Bloodraven's army, we have the Darklyns of Duskendale whose lands are in the Crownlands but who appear to have marshalled their own forces. We then have the 'royal demenses' about King's Landing which include the Houses Hayford, Rosby, Massey, and Stokeworth, followed by the Targaryen sworn swords led by the Kingsguard. Demesne is an Old French title for lands directly controlled by the lord of a manor, and was brought to England after the Norman Conquest when the feudal structures of Normandy began to be implemented across the Channel. We can reasonably infer a hierarchy from this passage within the Crownlands, with the Targaryens at the top as would be expected, followed by the Darklyns and other lords who are sworn directly to the Targaryens but appear to possess their own demenses, followed by the Hayfords et al who appear to be tenants that have ceded their demenses legally to House Targaryen but still administer those lands on their behalf, with the sworn swords at the very bottom likely being governed directly by the Targaryens on the land immediately surrounding King's Landing.

The picture which emerges suggests that the Crownlands northwest and north of the Rosby road possess their own demenses, including Darklyn, Celtigar, Velaryon, and the houses of Crackclaw Point, while the rest of the Crownlands along the coastline of Blackwater Bay is the Targaryen demense including Dragonstone. Significant also is the fact that the Crownlands mainly encompassed territories that were disputed between the River Kings, Hoares, Durrandons, and Gardeners rather than territories that those kings had ruled consistently such as Tumbleton, Maidenpool, or Felwood. the Targaryens carved out their houses' own kingdom and did not annex large swaths of their new vassals territory, instead establishing a more or less stereotypical feudal monarchy, the government of which only reinforces this impression.

F&B makes it clear that Aegon did not seek to fundamentally overturn the existing norms and structures of the newly subjugated kingdoms:

Each of the conquered kingdoms had its own laws and traditions. King Aegon did little to interfere with those. He allowed his lords to continue to rule much as they always had, with all the same powers and prerogatives. The laws of inheritance and succession remained unchanged, the existing feudal structures were confirmed, both lords great and small retained the power of pit and gallows on their own land, and the privilege of the first night wherever that custom had formerly prevailed. (F&B, 42)

Aegon was recognized as the final authority in the realm, although he relied upon Rhaenys, Visenya, and his small council for day-to-day governance, since he spent half the year touring the kingdoms with his court including one of his queens and half a dozen maesters. These visits were clearly important for the Targaryens since they allowed Aegon to be seen by his subjects and to establish relationships and network with his vassal lords, having spent most of the Conquest itself campaigning in the Riverlands-Blackwater Bay region. The fact he was accompanied by maesters to inform him about local laws and custom also indicates he sought to be accommodating to his vassals and respect their authority, as it could have been easy enough for Aegon and his queens to travel simply using their dragons. Traveling with their court indicates that they governed through their advisors and vassals rather than imposing their authority arbitrarily as individuals, and this is in keeping with the feudal nature of the Targaryen monarchy.

Much like the creation of the Crownlands, the structure of the royal government itself requires us to do some digging in order to determine how it functioned. We know Aegon appointed Masters of Law, Coin, and Ships as advisors from the outset and established the post which came to be known as the Hand of the King; he later established the post of Grand Maester, and also sought the advice of the Grand Septon and other members of the Faith regularly. When Jaehaerys arrived in King's Landing following Maegor's death, we're told he had the King's Justice, Lord Confessor, and Chief Gaoler confined to the Black Cells, and with the end of Rogar Baratheon and Queen Alyssa's Regency we know he replaced a collection of lesser offices: the Keeper of the Keys, the chief steward of the Red Keep and his under stewards, the harbormaster of King's Landing, the Warden of the King's Mint, and the King's Justice among others. Tyrion IV of ACOK also gives us a list of royal officials and positions answerable to the Master of Coin:

The Keepers of the Keys were his, all four. The King's Counter and the King's Scales were men he'd named. The officers in charge of all three mints. Harbormasters, tax farmers, customs sergeants, wool factors, toll collectors, pursers, wine factors; nine of every ten belonged to Littlefinger.

We'll discuss the Master of Laws when we cover the legal system, but we know that the King's Justice, Lord Confessor, and Chief Gaoler are responsible for executions, interrogation/torture, and incarceration respectively. All the other offices mentioned are administrative posts concerned with the King's own authority or with collecting revenues owed to the Crown. Master of Ships is concerned with the Royal Fleet and may have some oversight of the Celtigar and Velaryon Fleets since they are also pledged to House Targaryen; Harbormaster and Purser are both connected to naval affairs despite coming under the Master of Coin's authority, the former office being responsible for overseeing the operations of King's Landing's port facilities while the latter is likely based off an Anglo-Norman office that was responsible for the financial upkeep and personnel management of royal naval vessels.

The rest of the offices mentioned above are concerned with fiscal matters: Tax farmers, customs sergeants, and toll collectors are responsible for collecting royal revenues through tax collecting, tariffs and duties on foreign goods, and use of public roads respectively. Wool and wine factors are wholesalers who deal in textiles and wine as their titles suggest, but their function is unclear; they could be responsible for selling textiles and wine that the Crown possesses through in-kind taxation, splitting the profit between themselves and the government, or they may be obtaining textiles and wine for the Royal Household's consumption and obtaining financial information in the process that the Crown can utilize for levying taxes. Keeper of the Keys, Warden of the King's Mint, King's Counter and Scales are likely connected to the Royal Treasury the Keeper of the Keys being responsible for accessing the treasury vaults and coffers, Counter and Scales being responsible for valuing their contents, and the Warden of the King's Mints is presumably in charge of supplying royal coinage and would have some connection to Westerosi mines which supply the precious metals. While most of these titles come to us via Tyrion's POV, I don't see any reason to doubt that royal finances were handled similarly in the days of Aegon and his successors; by comparing Tyrion's POV with F&B we know that the Keeper of the Keys has gone from one position to four between the reigns of Jaehaerys and Joffrey Baratheon, and there are now three royal mints instead of one.

The importance of Masters of Coin like Edwell Celtigar and Rego Draz post-Aegon suggests that fiscal unification was begun if not well under way by the time of Aegon's death. This makes sense given that Aegon was establishing his house at the top of the new feudal hierarchy of Westeros, and would have needed to collect his incomes in order to further establish his authority and that of his house over his new vassals. The existence of the Master of Coin and the rest of the Small Council does indicate that the approach of the Targaryen monarchy was to formulate policy with the council's aid and with respect to their vassals. Even when this wasn't the case as with Celtigar's taxes, the feudal tax system of the Seven Kingdoms was such that many lords avoided paying these taxes altogether, illustrating a need for the consent of the vassals in order to rule effectively.

This need for some degree of consent and the use of the council to govern is best demonstrated by the evolution of the Targaryen legal system, although we first should clarify what the monarchy's powers were. F&B gives us a clear indication of this in its discussion of 'Queen Alysanne's Laws,' where Gyldan states that unlike Rhaenys or Visenya, Alysanne did not have the power to "enact laws, issue decrees, make proclamations, or pass sentences." Passing sentences and enacting laws are relatively straightforward concepts to grasp, since we have examples of both in F&B: The Rule of Six and the Widow's Law. In the case of Rhaenys' Rule of Six, a dispute was brought before the court involving a dead woman's husband and her two brothers, the latter accusing the former of having 'chastized' (ie beaten) her excessively for adultery and causing her death. We're told that Rhaenys consulted with maesters and representatives of the Faith before passing sentence, establishing a precedent that became part of the common law (more on that later). We can clearly see a form of legal process being used and counsel solicited, and this is also at work in the enactment of laws such as the Widow's Law. Widow's Law did not come about arbitrary but through Alysanne's 'women's courts,' which provided her with information about the plight of widows throughout the Seven Kingdoms which she subsequently used to persuade Jaehaerys of the need for laws to protect them, which he then promulgated (again, more on this later).

Issuing decrees and making proclamations are more difficult to get a handle on; search of Ice and Fire turns up only two uses of the word 'proclamation,' while 'decree' and 'proclaim' are heavily used in a more colloquial sense which complicates determining their legal usage. We can say that they differ from laws which are enacted as opposed to issued or simply 'made,' while 'A Question of Succession' in F&B lists them alongside court documents as records available to the historian or chronicler, indicating they are not simply verbal orders or commands by the monarch but are written documents. Regarding decrees, Sansa V of AGOT gives us clues as to how decrees function as Joffrey orders Pycelle to "read" his decrees (confirming them as documents), while Pycelle concludes each reading with "So the king has decreed. The small council consents." When Kevan Lannister reads out Joffrey's decrees in Sansa VIII of ACOK, he also concludes with "To all this, the King's Hand and the small council consent." In ASOIAF we see royal decrees made to appoint new members of the small council, grant new titles as rewards from the crown, legitimize bastards (which can only be done by royal decree), and order punishments such as the loss of a limb used to strike a member of royalty as referenced in The Hedge Knight.

F&B offers some other examples which I believe get us closer to the role and power of a decree via the reigns of Aegon, Maegor, and Jaehaerys. We know that Aegon allowed his vassals to keep much of their old powers and prerogatives, but he was also able to issue decrees regularizing customs, duties, and taxes which was previously in the hands of the lords themselves. He also issued a decree establishing the King's Peace, making it illegal to conduct warfare without the king's permission and obligating vassals to abide by the adjudication of their liege lords in disputes. We then have Maegor's decrees referred to in ASOIAF as "Maegor's Laws," which punished and disarmed the Faith Militant for taking up arms against the Crown, although F&B credits Maegor's new High Septon with actually dissolving the Warrior's Sons and the Poor Fellows. Finally, we have Jaehaerys' decree recognizing Baelon as his heir in 92 AC, which was made after consulting with his small council and especially Septon Barth, although Alysanne dissented. Based on these examples and the information we have from the books, I believe that issuing a decree is how a king exercises their power and prerogatives which they possess via the law or laws of the land. Decrees are formulated and drafted with the aid of the small council to ensure their consent to it's contents, but do not appear to have the same force as an enacted law. Maegor was not enacting new laws but was punishing the Faith Militant as their actions were objective violations of the King's Peace, nor were they acting on behalf of the legitimate claimant Aegon the Uncrowned. Likewise, Aegon was using his own powers to ensure the economic unity of his new realm, while Jaehaerys was clarifying the status of his new heir under the law.

Based on evidence from F&B and the other books, making proclamations appears to serve a different purpose than issuing decrees. Thus in F&B we have Aegon proclaiming the Faith to be exempt from taxes with the power to try their own members in their courts; TWOIAF speaks of Jaehaerys' proclamation as rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms at Storm's End, with F&B crediting Rogar Baratheon with proclaiming him king; while Jaime Lannister and Lord Crakehall exchange words over who shall proclaim a new king and whom it shall be in the throne room following Aerys' death in Jaime II of ASOS. Proclamations appear to be a way for the king to make announcements to the realm as a whole with the added legitimacy granted by the monarch's own voice; they can serve a legal purpose of drawing attention to an action being taken, whether proclaiming the succession a new king or official acknowledgement of an heir, which appears to be consistent with how proclamations are defined under English law.

Now that we've got a rough idea of the legal powers of the Targaryen monarchy pre-Dance and how that power was expected to be wielded, we can get into how that legal system evolved. As previously mentioned, Aegon kept the laws and customs of the Seven Kingdoms largely the same after the Conquest, hence why he brought maesters with him on his progresses who were knowledgeable in local laws and customs. The lords were made responsible for settling disputes and adjudicating within their own territories, while F&B states that Aegon was responsible for adjudicating disputes between the kingdoms. F&B and TWOIAF may unintentionally provide us some evidence of the workings of this pluralistic legal system via the Rule of Six and Widow's Law. F&B states that the Rule of Six became a part of the common law from that day onward, while TWOIAF says the Rule of Six is "now part of the common law;" since the Seven Kingdoms did not possess a single common law before Jaehaerys' Book of Laws, this suggests that the Crownlands possessed their own common law separate from the individual kingdoms. This helps to explain why Jaehaerys is described as promulgating the Widow's Law in 52 AC, prior to his codification project: to promulgate means to promote or make widely known, although it can mean to make known a law or enforce it, andf he would have had to promulgate the law if he wanted his vassals to adopt similar laws in their own jurisdictions. This is both interesting and unfortunate from a world building perspective, since we have no idea what formed the basis of these laws: did it use Dragonstone's laws? Were they derived from Riverlord laws, and did Stormlands and Ironborn law have any influences?

With the political and fiscal unification of the Seven Kingdoms already well advanced by 48 AC, it was under the new king Jaehaerys that the Seven Kingdoms were legally unified. We're never given a date for when the new code was completed, but the evidence is unanimous that it was completed while he was king. F&B calls the Book of Laws Jaehaerys' greatest achievement while TWOIAF credits him with giving the realm a single set of laws. The process of researching the laws of the individual kingdoms began in 55 AC and was completed two years later, while the actual codification was said to have taken decades. F&B refers to the code as the Great Code of Septon Barth and heavily credits him with the completion of the Book, so the Book of Laws was most likely completed between 67 and 98 AC or a decade after the research was complete but prior to his death. The research phase is also significant as it clearly indicates that written laws were available to be researched, from the kingdoms themselves and/or the records of the Citadel; this is important because codification refers not to the writing down of laws but the organizing of laws according to a system or plan. No one would seriously suggest that the Roman Empire and it's predecessors lacked written laws prior to the Theodosian Code and Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, rather its constitutions and sets of laws had not been brought together systematically despite past attempts.

Creating a single code for the Seven Kingdoms would certainly have increased the power of the monarchy, now that a Targaryen ruler could enact laws and pass sentences which would have direct influence over all of the kingdoms. Nonetheless, the lengthy codification process indicates that a serious effort was made to reflect the traditions of all the kingdoms by consulting their laws during the process rather than simply grafting some of the laws onto the common law as it existed in the Crownlands. We can safely assume that the Lords Paramount were aware of this project and broadly supported it in light of the two years spent by Jaehaerys and his "smaller council" of Alysanne, Barth, Grand Maester Benifer, and Master of Laws Albin Massey collecting and researching all these laws. As we said regarding the tax system, consent of one's vassals would still have been important for enforcing the new code since it fell to the lords and their lieges across the kingdoms to apply it and adjudicate in the absence of the king. With that being said, establishing the broad strokes of Targaryen government, law, and their functions now allows us to assess the lead up to the Dance.

One of the first issues with discussing the origins of the Dance is the way in which the decision of 92 AC is made out to be less straightforward than it objectively was. While Prince Aemon was the Prince of Dragonstone and heir apparent to Jaehaerys at his death in 92 AC, we have no indication that the title of Prince of Dragonstone was deemed hereditary and could pass on the position of heir to his own children. To use a historical example, Edward III was succeeded by Richard II, the son and heir of Edward the Black Prince, Edward III's eldest son and heir apparent who pre-deceased his father. This put Richard II ahead of Edward III's other surviving son John of Gaunt, but this was the result of letters patent that the king had issued before his death rather than the operation of the law. On the other hand, the decision of 92 AC did not deviate from male-preference primogeniture, favouring Jaehaerys' surviving and eligible son Baelon over Rhaenys who was the king's granddaughter via Aemon. This is also how the succession was determined during Robert's Rebellion, as following Rhaegar's death his younger brother Viserys became the heir over Rhaegar's son Aegon. Nonetheless, "A Question of Succession" seems confused over this idea:

If the precedent set by the Great Council of 101 was followed, a male claimant must prevail over a female. In the absence of a trueborn son, the king's brother would come before the king's daughter, as Baelon had come before Rhaenys in 92 AC. (F&B, 358)

This seems to be George's lack of perspective creeping in, as it should not have mattered in 92 AC if Rhaenys had been born a boy or a girl; Baelon was the king's son and not his grandchild, so the succession passing to him was the correct decision.

It is to the Council of 101 that we ought to look for where things went wrong with the Targaryen succession, as it resulted in serious breeches of legal precedent by the king and his vassals. Owing to Baelon's death in 101 AC, Vaegon Targaryen's refusal to foreswear his maester's vows, and Jaehaerys' only surviving daughter Saera being disgraced and in exile, the king was left with no heir to succeed him. The choice was between the heirs of the heirs, with Viserys son of Baelon on one side and Rhaenys daughter of Aemon on the other with her children Laena and Laenor Velaryon. F&B makes it clear that those who spoke out against Rhaenys' and Laena's claims outnumbered those who spoke in their favour 20:1, but that Laenor's claim from his grandfather via his mother was deemed valid enough for the succession to be decided by a majority vote between himself and Viserys. More importantly, we know of legal precedents from Westerosi history that should have had bearing on the decisions of Jaehaerys and the Great Council, those of Joffrey Lydden and Mern VI Gardener. TWOIAF tells us that Joffrey Lydden became the first Andal King of the Rock after Gerold III Lannister died without male issue; in this case a council crowned Lydden king as the husband of Gerold's only daughter, but he was required to take his wife's family name with his claim deriving from his marriage to her, even though she was not made queen.

In the case of Mern VI Gardener, his predecessor Garth X also died with no male issue; his two daughters were married to Lord Peake and Lord Manderly respectively, and the idea of a woman succeeding was not the issue here but whether the Peakes or the Manderlys should be the ones to have their claimant sit the throne. The ensuing conflict nearly tore the Reach asunder until Ser Osmund Tyrell, the Andal Steward of Highgarden, rallied House Gardener's other bannermen to defeat both factions and place Garth's second cousin Mern on the throne as Mern VI. In this case, Garth's daughters clearly had better claims that Mern but he was chosen so as to reward neither of the warring factions for having brought ruin upon the Gardener kingdom. Mern's presence also means that there were male relatives in Garth's family at the time of his death, whereas this seems not to have been the case explicitly when Gerold III died. It appears that Garth X having male relatives would ensure that the male line of the family would continue even if a daughter held the throne, whereas the council that chose Joffrey Lydden seems to have created a new male line for the Lannisters as it would otherwise have died out with Gerold III.

This is important for assessing Jaehaerys and the Council of 101's decisions, since these historical cases clearly show that the First Men and Andals were willing to contemplate female rulership under certain circumstances. F&B also gives us examples of ladies governing great houses under the Targaryens despite the misogyny inherent in male-preference primogeniture laws, such as Jeyne Arryn during the Dance and Ellyn Caron during the rebellion of the First Vulture King. It can also be argued that Jaehaerys and even Alysanne helped the 101 dispute become the crisis it was, firstly by failing to find suitable matches for Saera, Viserra, Gael, and Daella Targaryen. This is an indictment of both Jaehaerys and Alysanne, as the matches were inferior (either men from lesser houses or far older men who already had heirs) and failed to produce Targaryen relatives in positions of power throughout the realm. This in turn meant that there was no Mern VI-style candidate who could have been selected in place of the two quarreling parties to avoid favouring one faction over the other, while also meaning there were no family ties that Jaehaerys could leverage among the great houses to de-escalate the situation, ensuring that Jaehaerys' vassals flocked to one claimant or the other, leading to division and near war.

The other way in which Jaehaerys and Alysanne helped create the crisis of 101 AC, although in this case Alysanne was long dead, is that the historical cases discussed again show that inheritance through a female line was not so great an obstacle provided some 'finessing' was done. Rhaenys' and Laena's claims might still have been set aside, but in light of Rhaenyra's later betrothal to Laenor to strengthen her claim this should have been the obvious solution for Jaehaerys. He could have declared Laenor his heir on the condition that he took his mother's family name as monarch, and that the 3-4 year old Rhaenyra would be betrothed to the 6-7 year old Laenor to unite Rhaenys and Viserys claims. A further step could have been to make Rhaenys, Corlys, Viserys, and Aemma responsible for setting up a regency council along with Jaehaerys, to help govern the realm once the king died and until Laenor came of age. This solution would have been in keeping with past legal precedent and would have offered both parties a measure of satisfaction, while allowing Jaehaerys to assert his authority as king and the final authority over the realm. Instead he abdicated his role and took the out that Vaegon offered him by leaving it up to his vassals to decide, leading to a result that both upended the existing laws of Westeros and laid the seeds of future discord, with Jaehaerys effectively handing the realm a poisoned chalice through his death.

The problem moving from 101 to Rhaenyra's succession and the Dance itself is that while George's handling of the succession issues in 92 and 101 is somewhat shaky, his handling of Rhaenyra and the Dance crisis is suspect. It doesn't help that George's own comments in Hollywood Spotlight Magazine suggest his grasp of male-preference primogeniture is tenuous at best:

Would it have made a difference if Rhaenyra and Aegon were full siblings, only a year apart? If they were full siblings, regardless of age, the son have inherited rather than the daughter. I had to make it more complicated than that. Two children by different mothers, different wives? First wife and second wife? I always look to history for inspiration, and if you look at Henry VIII and his six wives, he had a daughter by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and that was Mary Tudor, Queen Mary I. And then he had a daughter by his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and that was Queen Elizabeth. Then by the third wife, Jane Seymour, he finally had a son, Edward VI. He was third in line, but he was the first to become king. History is full of these kinds of conflicts.

Just so we're clear, Henry VIII's line of succession was fairly straightforward at his death. While there was some controversy over Mary being his daughter from an annulled marriage, once he died his crown passed to his only son Edward as expected. Edward's death without issue saw the crown pass to Henry's eldest daughter Mary, and her death without issue saw the crown pass to Henry's only surviving legitimate child, Elizabeth. This line of succession is not unclear or confused from the perspective of male-preference primogeniture, it's George's perspective or lack thereof which is at fault here.

This questionable perspective is where the issue lies, as we quoted F&B earlier on the subject of how 92 and 101 AC were seen as obstacles to Rhaenyra's claim versus Daemon, when they should not have been. 92 AC was the king choosing between his son and his granddaughter, 101 was a contest between his grandson, granddaughter, and great grandchildren via said granddaughter. 92 AC favoured the king's child while 101 was an issue because the king had no children able to succeed him, but Viserys has no such issues aside from the plot making it appear so. Given that the decrees of the council are just that, decrees and not enacted laws, it makes no sense why they should have applications to situations which are not at all analogous. We also have proof from the narrative itself that this is not the case: "The Blacks and the Greens" suggests that Jeyne Arryn might not be disposed to support Aegon since his claim against Rhaenyra might call into question her own claim, but this would have been a far greater issue decades ago had this been the case. We know that Yorbort Royce attended the Great Council on behalf of Jeyne as her regent and protector, and she tells Jace that her cousin Ser Arnold Arryn sought to replace her three times in the past. Viserys and Daemon are also tied to the Arryns and Royces by marriage since 93 and 97 AC respectively; if the 101 decrees were truly so far reaching and favoured the male claimant over the female in all circumstances, Jeyne's continued status as Lady of the Vale would have been a threat to Viserys' rule. We also have to think that Daemon would have seized on House Royce's support of her as reason to have his hated marriage to Rhea Royce annulled; the best answer in-world is that the Council's precedent is nowhere near as far reaching as is suggested.

The plot of the Dance is further hampered for reasons which I discussed in Part One of the first series: based on the inheritance laws of the Seven Kingdoms, Rhaenyra has no claim to the Iron Throne as of Aegon II's birth. Declaring her the heir made complete sense after Aemma's death and to fortify her claim with oaths, especially given how clearly unfit Daemon was to rule. However, Viserys unwillingness to declare an heir while Aemma was alive and able to bear children clearly shows he was aware of how the law worked, and I must stress law. Elio Garcia claimed in a 2015 Forum of Ice and Fire post that primogeniture is "customary, but not binding" in the Seven Kingdoms, and yet F&B which was published in 2018 clearly gives lie to this assertion. Aside from Aegon confirming the laws of inheritance and succession of the realm, as Maester Gawen reminded Maegor when he usurped the throne from Aegon the Uncrowned, Rogar Baratheon also reminds those arguing for Rhaena over Jaehaerys in 48 AC that "this is not Dorne, and Rhaena is not Nymeria." "A Question of Succession" reminds us that it was Aegon and not Visenya who was the first ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, and then there's the fact that by 98 AC at least, all of those inheritance and succession laws have been brought together in a single legal code, the Book of Laws. This would include the Widow's Law, which affirmed the right of the eldest son to succeed, with daughters only being able to inherit if there was no son to do so. It also made it illegal to disinherit the child of one marriage for the wife and children of another, but this clearly means taking from one son to give to another or from one daughter to another since putting a daughter from one marriage before the eldest son by another wife would contradict the law itself.

By the time of Aegon II's birth, male-preference primogeniture is well established as the law of the land, but Rhaenyra's claim was secure so long as Viserys had no sons. With not one but three sons born to Alicent, Rhaenyra's claim is supported only through Viserys' ignorance of the law and his failure to govern. For starters, if Rhaenyra's claim can be placed before those of her own blood brothers, then how do the decrees of the Great Council of 101 have any legal basis whatsoever? What is the justification for favouring a king's grandson over his granddaughter, great granddaughter, and great grandson when a king can elevate his daughter above his own sons? Unsurprisingly, these implications are never even considered since the decision of 92 AC and the Council of 101 are only ever brought up as justifications for Aegon II's claim, not that they (the latter at least) form the legal basis of Viserys' own reign and that he is undermining his own legitimacy. Yet Viserys only compounds his error in ignoring the law by refusing to govern: he never calls on the lords of the realm to renew their oath to Rhaenyra despite her now having brothers; he never issues a proclamation to clarify his intentions before the realm; he enacts no law(s) with regards to the Targaryen succession to secure Rhaenyra's claim; nor does he issue any decrees either cementing Rhaenyra's position or removing Alicent and her children from the line of succession.

This situation is made even worse when we consider the wider context of Viserys' reign and the fact that he is threatening a succession crisis by not clarifying his intentions and ignoring his council. No one points out to him that there has not been a seamless succession to the Iron Throne since Aenys succeeded Aegon, as Maegor usurped Aegon the Uncrowned, Jaehaerys overthrew Maegor, and Viserys was made heir by a majority vote of lords of the realm which was subsequently recognized by Jaehaerys. By ignoring the law, Viserys is only guaranteeing that this lack of stability will continue after his death, while the message he sends to the realm by his treatment of Alicent and her children is also disastrous. After all, the Hightowers are not just one of the most wealthy and influential families on the continent, they have also been strong supporters of the monarchy since the conquest. Alicent is now the second Hightower consort to be treated with disdain despite her marrying into the royal family, and with the exception of Rhaena, a trend begun by Maegor is effectively continuing through Viserys by disrespecting his non-Valyrian consort. What message does this send to the rest of the realm that the Targaryens insist on incestuous marriages or marriage with cousins and their Valyrian vassals, while their treatment of even their greatest supporters is contemptuous when it comes to non-Valyrian matches?

Alicent's treatment is also important because it suggests a more sinister side to Viserys' character, aside from his horrific treatment of Aemma Arryn of course. It's unthinkable that Corlys Velaryon would allow Laena and her potential children by Viserys to be disregarded or that Rhaenys would tolerate further insult from her cousin were that the situation. This alone may explain the Hightower match since F&B claims there were murmurs that Otto had desired and sought the match, but only Grand Maester Runciter's suggestion of Laena is explicitly stated in the text. While a member of House Hightower, Otto was also a second son whose power stemmed entirely from being Hand of the King, a position he could lose if the king so chose. As a knight he also lacked the personal wealth and 'hard power' of a Corlys Velaryon, while Oldtown being much farther away from King's Landing than Driftmark means Viserys could get away with more against Alicent than if he married Laena. F&B describes Viserys as amiable and not strong willed and reliant and his council for decision-making, but in the case of the Alicent match "His Grace had his own notion, and no amount of argument would sway him from his course."

It's hard not to see sinister intentions in Viserys' actions, that behind the affable, weak-willed man was a deeply insecure, almost calculating individual who utilized uncertainties and grey areas in any situation to exercise power over others. It would certainly explain why he calls Alicent's children "her blood" despite being their father, while allegedly threatening to make Aegon his heir in order to compel Rhaenyra to marry Laenor. With the exception of Daeron and Tessarion being sent to Oldtown, Alicent's other children are essentially at Viserys and Rhaenyra's mercy; Aegon and Helaena's marriage means they cannot seek allies in other houses or obtain outside income, making them and Aemond entirely reliant on Viserys and his heir for their future livelihood, while the presence of Alicent's children and their dragons also means that Rhaenyra must cleave to her father to maintain her status as heir apparent and secure her own future. From this perspective, Viserys comes off not as a well-meaning, weak-willed king forever mourning the loss of his beloved Aemma as HOTD chose to depict him, but as an abuser and manipulator seeking to maintain his power at all costs. This perspective is not entertained by the narrative however, and subsequent events show little concern for how the rest of the realm might perceive the failed governance of the King.

The disputed parentage of Rhaenyra's three eldest children is the best illustration of the failure of Targaryen government prior to the Dance, and the absence of any kind of response from the kingdoms as a whole. HOTD confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jace, Luke, and Joff were bastards, but the evidence in the books is already overwhelming: Rhaenys children Laena and Laenor show no Baratheon colouring in their hair or eyes (despite Orys Baratheon being a Targaryen bastard), and neither of Laena and Daemon's daughters are anything but typical Valyrians in appearance; Rhaenyra is conventionally Valyrian by all accounts despite her mother's Arryn heritage, and Viserys children by Alicent are likewise despite their mother being a Hightower. Yet when Rhaenyra marries Laenor, a known homosexual who she was forced to marry, and leaves court for Dragonstone in the company of her sworn sword Harwin Strong, all three of her children with "Laenor" look nothing like their parents and are dead ringers for Harwin Strong. This situation suddenly changes after Laenor and Harwin die and Rhaenyra elopes with her uncle and rumored past lover Daemon, whereupon she has two more sons who are conventionally Valyrian in their looks.

This situation means that in addition to becoming king through objectively flawed and bad-faith means, in addition to undermining his authority and Westerosi laws by placing his daughter above his sons as heir, in addition to refusing to use his powers to clarify the situation, and in addition to disrespecting one of House Targaryen's most important vassals, Viserys is allowing his daughter to flaunt the law by claiming her bastards are true born and placing them in the line of succession, while sitting by and allowing her to humiliate another steadfast supporter of House Targaryen in House Velaryon. Despite all of this, the only real blowback from the realm itself comes from Vaemond Velaryon, Corlys' nephew in the books, and his five cousins (the future 'Silent Five'). Corlys takes ill in 127 AC and members of his house gather at Driftmark to discuss the potential succession, with Rhaenyra requesting that Lucerys be made heir to Driftmark since Laena and Laenor are dead. Vaemond presses his claim based on the assertion that Rhaenyras boys are bastards, and she retaliates by having Daemon decapitate him before feeding his corpse to Syrax. When his cousins flee to King's Landing with Vaemond's wife and two sons to plead for justice from Viserys, the King has the tongues of the five removed in keeping with his punishment for claiming that the Velaryon boys are bastards.

Not only was Vaemond's death contrary to the King's decree, which specified muteness and not execution as punishment, but Vaemond is Corlys' bannerman not Rhaenyras. It is the duty of Corlys or the King to deliver these punishments, not hers or Daemons, which renders Rhaenyra and her consort murderers by default. Not only do we have the laundry list above of all the failings of Viserys and Rhaenyra, but we now have the heir to the throne and her husband being guilty of murder and the King refusing to acknowledge the crime or deliver justice. This is where the edited nature of the narrative completely undercuts the writing, because the implications of Viserys and Rhaenyra's actions here and prior cannot be adequately addressed in the Dance itself. A member of one of the oldest houses in Westeros and one of House Targaryen's most steadfast bannermen has been murdered by the heir apparent and her consort, in full view of the realm, and the King took the side of the perpetrators over the victims. The absence of the Silent Five in the narrative of the Dance until after the war ends, combined with the widespread support Rhaenyra enjoys at the outset of the Dance, cannot be reconciled with the scale of this event and Viserys' previous failures of governance. Vaemond's death alone should alter the course of the Dance given the terrible message it sends to other vassals, but because The Rogue Prince was preceded by The Princess and the Queen and no alterations were made to better edit the two together for F&B, this cannot happen.

The 'fix-its' for this part are fairly simple, since my opinion hasn't changed since I wrote the conclusion of my military analysis series: Rhaenyra must be an only child and Viserys legal heir. Rhaenyra and Viserys transgressions are easier to accommodate if the law is on their side in the matter of the succession, meaning that the conflict between Rhaenyra and Aegon's camps becomes one of politics from the start and thus a more genuinely complex and complicated scenario. George's scenario as it stands requires us and the setting to completely ignore how the laws of the Seven Kingdoms work, because the plot is at odds with the world-building. This is not a problem if Aegon, son of Baelon lives to adulthood and is the one to marry Alicent and father Aegon II, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron instead of Viserys. Alicent's husband can die and Viserys can either marry her to silence those calling for him to remarry and have more children, or simply point to Alicent's four and say that his youngest brother already gave him 'spares.' The fact that the Council of 101 set aside the female claimants can be used in Aegon's favour, while also pointing out that Rhaenyra is the King's own child and thus a direct heir, with the issues truly arising with Rhaenyra's bastards. Obviously George placed himself in a bind since Stannis says Rhaenyra usurped her brother's throne in ACOK, but making them step-siblings could at least mitigate this problem.

That wraps it up for part one; I hope you've what I've written thus far! Part two onwards is when we'll get into the military dimensions of the Dance in greater detail than I managed to do originally. Having established the nature of the Targaryen political system and the issues with it that led to the Dance, we'll step down a level to discuss some of the overarching factors that should govern how the Dance was fought. Stay tuned next time for "Environment and Logistics in the Dance!"