#mistresses of aegon iv targaryen

[princess--of--the--dragonstone]

CASSELLA VAITH

ㅤㅤㅤʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴛʜ ᴛᴏ ᴀ ғʟᴀᴍᴇ ㅤㅤㅤɪ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ sᴛᴀʏ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ㅤㅤㅤᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ ᴍʏ ᴡɪɴɢs ɢᴇᴛ ʙᴜʀɴᴇᴅ ㅤㅤㅤɪ ᴀᴍ ғᴀʟʟɪɴɢ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ㅤㅤㅤᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ㅤㅤㅤʏᴏᴜ'ᴠᴇ sʜᴀᴛᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴍʏ sᴀɴɪᴛʏ

CAST A STONE - EURIELLE

Mistresses of Aegon IV Targaryen [3/9]

[salialenart]

Megette

the second of Aegon IV Targaryen’s mistresses

[helaenarts]

The Otherys family

[rozsesandart]

Lady Bethany Bracken, sister of Barba Bracken and seventh mistress to Aegon IV Targaryen 🥀

Art by @rozsesandart

Art masterlist - kofi - socials - commissions info

[goodqueenaly]

since you clearly know your history, do you think aegon iv's situation with his mistresses while he was king was handled realistically? weren't official king's mistresses married off before taking on their positions because any bastard children sired needed a legal father? falena was married off but there's no mention of barba, melissa, or the other women after aegon iv ascended having husbands. i mean, obviously barba needed to be unwed so she could have a chance of becoming queen but if melissa wanted to establish herself as a non-grasping replacement, shouldn't she go get a husband so naerys, aemon, and daeron couldn't feel threatened? and even if melissa was a super nice person, how she could she remain "well-loved" at court while publicly having bastards and one of them is an albino? wouldn't her reputation be ruined if aegon iv dropped her and she remained unmarried after that?

I think the historical record is somewhat mixed on that point. Think of, for example, GRRM’s, ugh, favorite point of reference for Aegon IV, Henry VIII (yeah, I know): Bessie Blount was not married at the time she was in a relationship with the king (and conceived Henry Fitzroy with him), though she did marry after her son’s birth, while it’s entirely unclear when Mary Boleyn married relative to when she and Henry VIII had their relationship (and, of course, Henry offered to make Anne Boleyn his mistress while she was unmarried). Likewise, if we look to Charles II - another inspiration, I think, for Aegon IV, no less so because I tend to think he named Barba Bracken after Charles’ long-term mistress Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland - the record is far from one-sided: Barbara herself, for example, was married during their relationship of course, but the king’s two primary mistresses at the end of his life, Louise de Kerouaille and Nell Gwynn, were both unmarried for the whole of their lives (and as much as James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, Charles’ eldest extramarital son, might have claimed that Charles had married his mother, Lucy Walter, when the two were exiles in the Netherlands, Charles himself vehemently denied the supposed marriage, which had no evidence of its existence otherwise). Too, Louis XIV - not perhaps explicitly cited by GRRM as an inspiration for Aegon the Unworthy, but certainly a king famous for his love affairs - had both married and unmarried mistresses: while Louise de La Vallière was unmarried (and later ended her life as a repentant nun), the Marquise de Montespan did have a husband (who notoriously held a “funeral” for his wife after she became the king’s mistress); the widower King Louis did, almost certainly, end up marrying his last mistress, the similarly widowed Marquise de Maintenon. (There is also the story that when one of Louis’ early loves, Marie de Mancini, married her eventual husband, Prince Colonna, the prince was surprised to discover that his wife was a virgin, as he said he had not expected to find “innocence among the loves of kings”.) Again, these are only a very few, very limited examples, but I think it’s fair enough to say that GRRM could have felt, let’s say somewhat historically comforted by having Aegon IV’s mistresses be (mostly) unmarried women. 

In any event, I don’t think it was a necessity that Melissa Blackwood be married in order for her to be seen as unthreatening to the queen. While the details of Melissa’s life, especially her time as Aegon’s mistress, are frustratingly thin and vague based on our current knowledge, it does seem that Melissa went out of her way to curry favor with Queen Naerys, Prince Daeron, and Prince Aemon - a step that Barba Bracken almost certainly never took, if she was looking to replace Naerys as queen (and perhaps have her son Aegor replace Daeron as heir). It is also worth pointing out, of course, that in the aftermath of Barba’s, and probably more generally Lord Bracken’s and his faction’s, failed attempt to have Barba marry the king, Melissa and whatever faction was supporting her may have emphasized that Melissa had no such ambitions in order to distinguish her from the disgraced former mistress. Additionally, the fact that Melissa did not have a son with the king until a few years after their relationship began may have also served as some reassurance to the queen, Prince Daeron, and Prince Aemon: not only, perhaps, did Melissa appear not to want to replace the queen, but she had no ready would-be heir, as Barba had had, to promote in place of Daeron and strengthen her ambition to create a new royal family. 

Naturally, because we know nothing about why Melissa was sent away from court, or what happened to her after, we have no idea how her brief years as the king’s chief mistress affected her life or her socio-political prospects thereafter. I do tend to think that Melissa didn’t live a long life after leaving court, though when and how she might have died is obviously completely unclear. In any event, though, I could see where Melissa’s positive reputation, especially if she died relatively young, might have been preserved at court: the kind-hearted, widely beloved young woman, perhaps driven from the court by those no-good-very-bad Brackens who had then replaced her with a “faithless” mistress. Once King Daeron II came to the throne himself, the new king may have been even more inclined to think fondly of the woman who had treated himself and his late mother and uncle with respect and deference, where few if any other of his father’s mistresses had - “better this mistress than any other”, perhaps, to paraphrase the Queen of France on the subject of her husband’s beloved mistress, Madame de Pompadour. (Naturally as well, once Bloodraven came into power and influence, especially after the First Blackfyre Rebellion, he would likely have done much to promote the positive legend of his mother, especially in contrast to the surviving reputation of Barba Bracken - a legacy that I think will be central to the conflict of “The Village Hero”). 

It’s also worth pointing out that while King Aegon’s identified chief mistresses after his ascension seem to have been unmarried young women, this is not to say that the king probably limited his sexual liaisons during his reign only to these individuals. After all, Yandel notes in his overview of Daeron II’s reign that during Aegon IV’s rule, the men of the City Watch of King’s Landing whom the king promoted “made sure that the brothels—and even the decent women of the city—were available for Aegon’s lusts”; I think it’s probably fair to say Yandel likely included “married” in his definition of “decent”. Moreover, while Yandel identified Jeyne Lothston as Aegon IV’s chief mistress after the downfall of Bethany Bracken, the maester-author also suggested that the king “enjoyed mother and daughter together in the same bed”, after Falena Lothston (nee Stokeworth) brought young Jeyne to court (a disturbing rumor, of course, when paired with the additional suggestion by Yandel that Jeyne had been fathered by the king, not Lord Lucas). I fully expect that when we learn more about Aegon IV’s reign (especially given the, ugh, high likelihood of even more unnecessary sexual exploits to be highlighted in Fire and Blood Volume 2), Aegon’s omnivorous sexual desire, including for married women, will be underlined. 

[imaginarianisms]

okay but im& genuinely of the opinion that naerys had rivals at court & that people were spreading rumors about not only daeron's parentage & whether or not naerys & aemon were romantically involved, but also involving naerys' stillborn children & miscarriages, rumors that involved her killing her own children in the womb to garner sympathy from aegon iv. but of course, even if naerys denied it, would anyone believe her? i& think the brackens were major rivals to her, not just because she personally didn't like barba bracken & her family but they literally intended to make barba queen when naerys was expected to die so naturally she hates them & she, aemon & daeron made them leave court with baby aegor rivers (who later known as bittersteel). people messing with her food & medication in the hopes of either having her miscarry or kill her at most. luckily, she is her father viserys ii's daughter & the most politically astute of his three children, with naerys being the mind & aemon being the sword.

[goodqueenaly]

All valid points to make. I’m certainly not here to generally demonize Tyrion or lionize (no pun intended) Shae, but I think a worthwhile point of comparison here is the future Aegon IV and Megette. Like Shae, Megette was a lowborn woman whose life prior to meeting her aristocratic male partner (and I use that term extremely loosely) was neither truly free nor independent: as the young wife of a country blacksmith, Megette likely had extremely little to no formal education and no professional means of her own (and no real ability to dictate the terms of her physical relationship with her husband). Neither Shae nor Megette had sought out a relationship - transactional or personal - with Tyrion or Aegon, respectively; both, instead, had been identified and acquired by those male aristocrats. I use the term “acquired” specifically, because both cases featured the aristocrat exchanging payment in return for sexual access to the respective women (and if Tyrion - initially - paid Shae directly, where then-Prince Aegon paid Megette’s husband, I hardly think he deserves a gold star, especially considering his eventual lapse in payment toward her). Too, both Aegon and Tyrion employed the hired muscle they enjoyed as part of their privileged positions - Ser Joffrey Staunton of the Kingsguard and Bronn, respectively - to threaten the men with immediate power over these women into surrendering that power for the benefit of those aristocrats. Megette likely had no more ability or freedom to leave the house where then-Prince Aegon installed her than Shae did to leave the manse in which Tyrion placed her (or, still later, her position as maid to the Stokeworths and then Sansa). Nor did Megette have any more say than Shae did over what happened to their aristocratic relationships (and again, I use the term very loosely) once higher paternal powers intervened: Megette was simply forced by then-Prince Viserys to return to the husband who would murder her within the year, while Shae had little choice but to testify against Tyrion.

I think describing Shae as Tyrion’s call-girl or escort or girlfriend fails to take into account several factors:

A, no one asked Shae if she agreed to this arrangement. Bronn takes her (after a violent struggle) from the man she was with prior to Tyrion. Tyrion has Bronn warn her of is disability ahead of time, but Shae has no real option to back out gracefully from his demands.

B, Shae isn’t living an independent life of her own. She relies on Tyrion for housing, food, and social interaction. When she’s at his manse, she has no one to communicate with save the servants and him, when he does visit. That’s hours of isolation by herself, with nothing to do for amusement. She can’t read or write and she can’t visit friends or go shopping.

C, Tyrion is perfectly willing to physically harm Shae when she upsets him. While many fans will insist that he only hit her ‘once’ and that alone does not make the relationship abusive, Shae is a homeless teenager trapped in service to an extremely powerful nobleman. There is nowhere for her to go and should she reject Tyrion or attempt to leave, she knows he might beat or imprison her.

[nrilliree]

Hi I am a big fan of yours and I have an ask I think when tgs speak about andal law it passes me off I was having and debate with someone and they said that aegon had thousands of years of andal laws protecting him and tge lords would not accept rhaenyra and they brought up henry vii killing the edward of Warwick

I think traditions are very beautiful but traditions which harm women need to go like in my country not my state though people would burn widows on thier husbands pyre so do they think traditions like this should have just gone on because they are traditions, when woman finally took a stand and refused sati( it is called sati ) people were like it is tradition you cannot break it ngl tgs give me the same vibe of it , like someone had to break this toxic tradition so rhaenyra being queen would have broken tradition and women would have gotten better position in society and tge fact that they brought up henry vii is funny because henry vii was the descends from John beaufort who was the son of John of Gaunt with his mistress and later wife katryn swynford the beaufort were not allowed to have a claim to the throne by their half brother henry iv the only reason henry vii said he had claim wa that he was the last lancasterian heir and through his mother margaret beaufort and he had to marry elizabeth of york to strengthen his claim sounds familiar the same way aegon marries helaena to have targaryen blooded children rhaenyra does not have to worry about blood as she has it from both her parents while aegon only has has it from his father and they were like it id not about targaryen blood yes it was henry did not have recent royal blood and that is why he had edward of Warwick executed, then they are like the lords will not accept her she has legitimate brother the targaryen are not andals , and up until viserys married alicent none from the male line were descendant from direct andal for the exception of women , up until jaehaerys started to blend in with andal culture ro appese them the dornish also have andal blood but they do not follow andal law because bell ringing they are not andals so tgs need to f off and tge funny thing is they are most of the time martell stan you know a house here women can rule and why are they nit saying anything about the martells not following andal law .o

And if the lords were so keen on andal law why did 53 houses support rhaenyra why did they f over rhaenys and supported baelon .

Sorry if this was long and anyways I love you❤️

Oh, thank you for your kind words.

First of all, TG must finally understand that there is no such thing as Andal LAW, there is only and exclusively TRADITION, and they are referring to something that simply does not exist. Even GRRM - you know, the guy who came up with all this - clearly said that inheritance laws are complicated and precedent creates precedent. He wouldn't say that if it was "a man inherits, Andal law, end of story". But they can't let that get to them. What is the official known law in HOTD? The one that Viserys established and presented to the Velaryons in the company of his Hand. As we know, the Small Council serves the Hand, so it represents them. So the king, together with the Council, established that from now on, the firstborn child will inherit, regardless of gender. And the beginning is Rhaenyra - the oldest child. The king's words are law, especially those established with the Council and confirmed by all the lords of Westeros. Also how VIserys was chosen - by the lords. Rhaenyra was also chosen by the lords - she had 53 houses vs Aegon's 27. If TG had called the Great Council instead of stealing the throne, Rhaenyra would have won.

[vesper-the-solitaire]

Elaena Targaryen

Elaena Targaryen

Elaena Targaryen was the fifth and last child born to Aegon III and Daenaera Velaryon, and their third daughter. She was considered pretty but not as beautiful as her sisters, however she had one unique trait in her hair: it was platinum color with a single shining gold streak, a rare combination even among the Valyrians. Her long braid was considered her greatest beauty, so Elaena cut it off when her brother Baelor I locked her in the Maidenvault, in the vain hope that if she had given up her beauty then he would free her.

Ten years later, when she was free after Baelor's death, she had a long and eventful life: she married three times, had seven children, including bastard twins with Alyn Velaryon (who was the widower of her aunt Baela), and it was rumoured that her son Viserys Plumm was not her husband's (who died on their wedding night) but her cousin Aegon IV's; and she served unofficially as Mistress of Coin during Daeron II's reign.

Headcanon/theory: Elaena was named after Laena Velaryon as a way to pay homage to Baela (Laena's daughter and Aegon's half-sister) and Alyn (Aegon's close ally and responsible for the return of his brother Viserys). Interestingly, one of Elaena's own daughters was Laena Penrose.

[alienoryva]

Targaryen women who are described as very beautiful ;

🪻Queen Rhaenys Targaryen

youngest child of lord Aerion Targaryen and lady Valaena Velaryon also sister-wife of Aegon i Targaryen/The Conqueror

🪻Queen Rhaena Targaryen

First child of King Aenys i Targaryen and Queen Alyssa Velaryon and sister-wife of Prince Aegon Targaryen/the uncrowned and niece-wife of King Maegor i Targaryen.

🪻Queen Alysanne Targaryen

Fifth child of king Aenys i Targaryen and queen Alyssa Velaryon and sister-wife of king Jahaerys i Targaryen.

🪻Princess Viserra Targaryen

the tenth child of King Jahaerys I Targaryen and Queen Alysanne Targaryen, Never married and died at the age of 15.

🪻Queen Rhaenyra i Targaryen

The only daughter of King Viserys I Targaryen and Queen Aemma Arryn, wife of her cousin Laenor Velaryon and niece-wife of Prince Daemon Targaryen.

🪻Queen Daena Targaryen

Third child of King Aegon III Targaryen and Queen Daenaera Velaryon, sister-wife of King Baelor I Targaryen.

🪻Queen Naerys Targaryen

The youngest child of King Viserys II Targaryen and Lady Larra Rogarre of Lys and sister-wife of King Aegon IV Targaryen.

🪻Lady Shiera Seastar

The only child and bastard daughter of King Aegon IV by his last official mistresses Lady Serenei of Lys and the paramour of her half-brother Lord Brynden Rivers.

🪻Queen Daenerys i Targaryen

The youngest child of King Aerys II Targaryen/the mad king and Queen Rhaella Targaryen.

note: It is common knowledge that all Targaryen women are beautiful but above is a list that has very beautiful visual descriptions

[salialenart]

Jeyne Lothston, She was King Aegon IV Targaryen’s eighth mistress.

Poor child

[tenthmuseondine]

The Back Pearl of Braavos and 16th century Venetian Fashion:

There is a common consensus among fans that Braavos - a city sited on a group of small islands that are linked by bridges and walkways, divided by canals, channels and waterways of varying size - is heavily inspired by Italian mercantile/maritime republics, of which Venice is the most famous.

Furthermore, the canal-based, inter-connecting island architecture is not the only similarity between Braavos and Venice; both cities are famed for their courtesans.

Indeed in 16th century, Venice was famed for its many elaborately dressed and coiffed courtesans; Veronica Franco (1546–1591) is a famous example! She developed her position in Renaissance Venetian society as a cortigiana onesta (Honest Courtesan), known for her notable clientele, feminist advocacy, literary contributions, and philanthropy.

Her fictional parallel in ASOIAF could be Bellegere Otherys II - one of the famed courtesans in Braavos (the other being Daughter of the Dusk). We know Bellegere comes from a family of courtesans, bearing the title of Black Pearl of Braavos - a moniker borne by a descendant of Bellegere Otherys I, the first Black Pearl, a pirate queen who became a mistress of Aegon IV Targaryen.

The eldest bastard daughter of King Aegon IV and Bellegere, Bellenora Otherys, became a courtesan under the same name. Bellenora's descendants became courtesans as well, each eventually bearing the name "Black Pearl".

We can also assume that Bellegere is rather wealthy, owning her own barge and servants to pole her to trysts and when purchasing three cockles from Arya, who is disguised as Cat of the Canals, paying ten times what the cockles are worth. This wealth is directly reflected in her clothing!

"She was so lovely that the lamps seemed to burn brighter when she passed. She had dressed in a low-cut gown of pale yellow silk, startling against the light brown of her skin. Her black hair was bound up in a net of spun gold, and a jet-and-gold necklace brushed against the top of her full breasts." (TWOW, Mercy)

The aforementioned "low-cut gown" immediately brings to mind the 16th century gowns worn by Venetian courtesans!

Look at this art print of a Venetian Courtesan (Cortigiana Veneta) published by Pietro Bertelli in 1591.

Notice the incredibly low and exposed neckline of the gown!

It is important to mention, however, that not only courtesans dressed this way. Venetian noblewomen of the 16th century also bared their breasts in keeping with the fashion of the day.

For example, look at this art print of a Venetian Bride (Sposa Veneta), also by Pietro Bertelli. There is virtually no difference; perhaps that is why the civic authorities decried the courtesans' deliberately misleading resemblance to 'honest women.'

In some portrayals, the Venetian woman's neckline opens almost immediately below the breast!

In Dress of Venetian Women (Habiti delle Donne Venetiane) ca. 1591–1610, the engravings done by Giacomo Franco show ornately dressed courtesans and respectable women, all of whom sport very low cut bodices.

In the second plate we see a depiction of parentado, or the ritual presentation of a bride to her relations. Here, a bride in a richly embroidered dress wearing pearls and a bejeweled crown is presented by her ballerino, a dance instructor who prevented the woman from toppling over in her chopines, or platform shoes.

In conclusion, in depicting Bellegere Otherys - the Black Pearl of Braavos - I would most definitely illustrate her wearing a gown inspired by 16th century Venetian dress (worn by both courtesans and noblewomen). She'd look rather striking I think.

[rozsesandart]

Lady Jayne Lothston, eight mistress of Aegon IV and possibly his bastard with Falena Stokeworth 🌾

Art by @rozsesandart

art masterlist- kofi- commissions info- socials

[goodqueenaly]

Obviously Aegon IV was generally a shitbag (including to Naerys) and generally a completely selfish person, so I wouldn’t necessarily need to ascribe any greater motivation to Aegon’s extramarital sexual relationship with Megette than the king’s overall lust, greed, and cruelty. (Indeed, I’ve compared Aegon’s acquisition of Megette to Tyrion’s acquisition of Shae.) Yet I wonder whether part of Aegon’s idea in making Megette his de facto official mistress was to humiliate Naerys in a very particular, very cruel way.

After all, Aegon didn’t just make Megette his sexual partner - according to Yandel, “[Megette] and Aegon were even ‘wed’ in a secret ceremony conducted by a mummer playing a septon”. Of course no one would have believed that Aegon and Megette’s play-marriage was legally binding, given that “bride” and “bridegroom” were already married to other people and that the officiant seems to have been deliberately chosen for jovial mockery. Yet the very farcical nature of the “marriage” may have been precisely what Aegon wanted, specifically to hurt and demean his sister-wife and queen.

Aegon had every reason to know that Naerys was deeply unhappy in their own marriage, in no small part I think because of her religious scruples. I very much believe that Naerys had wanted to become a septa, rather than marry her brother, because she (along with other Targaryens of her generation) believed the Doctrine of Exceptionalism was a heresy which had incurred the wrath of the Seven. Moreover, when Naerys had attempted to voice her pious resistance to their incestuous union, Aegon had responded not just with denial, but with scornful, sardonic cruelty.

So perhaps Aegon, with his penchant for vicious, decided to frame his relationship with Megette, his first major mistress following his marriage, in the way that would most hurt Naerys. If Naerys had resisted an incestuous union as heretical in the eyes of the Seven, Aegon would now force her to engage in an even more heretical relationship - an unwillingly bigamous “marriage” in which not only was she married to her brother, but another woman was as well. To twist the knife more for Naerys, perhaps, Aegon had chosen as his play-second wife a woman who was herself already married - that is, a sort of double bigamy on top of the incestuous union Naerys had been forced to endure. This was Aegon openly sneering at the concept of marriage as defined by the Faith of the Seven, and as such attacking Naerys in that piety she held so dear. He so little cared about the Seven’s institution of marriage, so he might have wanted to show Naerys, that not only was he going to insist that she stay married to him despite the physical danger to herself and (so she may have believed) the spiritual danger to her soul, but he was going to turn marriage itself into a joke - so obviously flouting the principles of Faith marriage, with his married play-wife and a mummer to oversee the play-polygamy.

[rhaenyraloversblog]

Melissa Blackwood, nicknamed Missy, was a noblewoman from House Blackwood during the reign of Aegon IV Targaryen

Melissa became the sixth mistress of Aegon IV Targaryen early in the king's reign, in 172 AC, replacing Lady Barba Bracken, who had been sent from court in disgrace.

Even though she was Aegon's mistress, Melissa's kind heart and generosity led her to befriend Aegon's sister-wife Queen Naerys, her brother Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, and her son Prince Daeron.

Melissa was King Aegon's mistress for five years, during which she gave birth to three children: two daughters, Mya and Gwenys, and a son, Brynden Rivers

[ceescedasticity]

A writeup/outline of the House of the Dragon/Song of Ice and Fire fic I worked on feverishly for a month and a half:

Premise: So, over two-four months of binging HotD fanfic before abruptly focusing on something else, I found a lot of fics with one or more Game of Thrones-era characters being reborn into the Dance era, but very few in reverse — I can only remember one, and it overwrote a canon character who I like with a HotD character I don't care about so meh. (There were a handful more with HotD characters suddenly being transported to the GoT era, but most were abandoned.)

So, the other way around — why might such a thing happen?

Well — Jace owes the Starks a Targaryen princess. The Starks seem to have felt dying cleared the debt, but they aren't the only ones who might care about oaths sworn in godswoods. So, Jace gets to be reborn until he delivers. As a girl, because he doesn't have a right to promise other Targaryen princesses. —Except his brothers. Well, sisters.

Unfortunately the Old Gods do not have free access to Targaryens; they need there to be a backdoor, so not every generation is accessible. Also they are possibly using a somewhat perverse definition of "princess".

First backdoor: Melissa Blackwood, one of the mistresses of Aegon the Unworthy. Jace and Luke are reborn as Mya and Gwenys Rivers. (Melissa's third child is a boy, and also earmarked for other purposes, so Joff sits out this round.) Even after they're legitimized they're not precisely princesses; there's no reason the Starks would want to marry them. They end up pretty preoccupied with Targaryen stuff anyway, supporting Daeron II and opposing the Blackfyre Rebellion. They go through some bad stuff. There's a whole story here, between the Blackfyre Rebellion and the frankly insane dynamics of Aegon IV's court.

(Part of the story is about their little brother, Brynden Rivers, who loves them very much and also sees who they are after a greenseer-awakening sojourn on the Isle of Faces.)

Altogether it's not an entirely unsuccessful life, but delivering Targaryen princess: Not accomplished.

You might think that Betha Blackwood would be the next backdoor! You would be wrong. Possibly Shaera was un-meddleable due to upcoming Prince that was Promises bloodlines. Possibly the Old Gods are set on only reincarnating them as questionable princesses.

The next backdoor is Jenny. Duncan and Jenny weren't planning on having children, but whoopsie-daisy, twin girls. Jenny's friend (the future Ghost of High Heart, henceforth Woman of the Forest/WotF because I don't want to keep typing that) sees some things about the babies, but not very clearly, so they end up named Junia and Layne.

Junia and Layne have a good, sheltered childhood. (Junia could definitely have been a much better and more responsible princess than Shaera, but whatever.) They're in their mid-teens when Aegon V comes up with his dragon-hatching scheme. They are 1000% on board with this. They love dragons. Targaryens without dragons is just wrong. They die at Summerhall. But — and this will be important — the WotF understands their situation enough to know they will eventually be back.

If Lyanna Stark had daughters (who didn't already have Destinies), that would have been a suitable backdoor. But, she doesn't, and her son mustn't be tampered with. And of course not much later there's a serious Targaryen shortage.

If I were writing this properly I'd introduce Jessamyn, Lucinda, and Jocelyn Flint and leave the connection vague until later, but since I'm not — their mother Mona (short for Daemona) was a Blackfyre in the female line. Their father Ronnel is the backdoor, and a younger son of House Flint of Flint's Finger who ran off to become a sellsword in Essos.

(This is the most excruciating parentage by far, because after Mya and Gwenys's experiences they really, really hate Blackfyres.) (Joff is here for the first time, and Jess and Lucy won't let Jo out of sight, mostly.)

Ronnel says they're trueborn and no one in Westeros can contradict him, but technically their parents never formally married (no godswoods available).

Mona dies and Ronnel gets sick/takes an injury that won't heal/idk something where he's dying but not immediately. Mona didn't trust her family, so Ronnel takes the girls to the North. He'll trust his brother with his daughters' safety — but not with the several chests of Essosi gold Ronnel is leaving to them. Those Ronnel entrusts to Eddard Stark, the contents to be released to his daughters only; as a compromise, they can withdraw some before they marry to help offset expenses.

Thus they are not infrequent visitors to Winterfell, not close to the Starks but quite well acquainted. Which puts them closer to 'marrying a Stark' than they've ever been, but Catelyn is very clear that they are not suitable prospects. Jessamyn Flint is a responsible girl with enough dowry for a respectable smaller house to overlook questionable origins and some personal eccentricities, but shouldn't look higher.

Also Jess has a temper — better controlled than Jace's, because Mya faced severe consequences for lashing out and Junia's family actually taught her how to manage anger, but it's still there. When it shows up at Winterfell it's usually because Theon Greyjoy, comedic genius, has reacted to Lucy's somewhat boyish behavior by persistently nicknaming her Brave Lucy Flint. This is generally agreed to be reasonable grounds for even a lady to lose her shit. (If Jess had Jace's training and muscle mass it would be all over for him.)

Cascade effect from this: Because the Brave Danny Flint thing gets brought up over and over and OVER again, tied into reality in a way the song alone won't do, Jon is much less enthusiastic about the Night's Watch. In fact, he wants to go for a knighthood first (or instead) — when he leaves Winterfell he goes to House Locke, one of the handful of Northern houses that does knighthood. And when the North goes to war, Jon rides with House Locke to the Green Fork and gets captured.

After Robb is crowned, Jess has the idea of reaching out to her father's contacts in the Company of the Rose — would any of them want to come defend an independent North, at least enough to get a good price hiring them? She also volunteers her dowry to pay for it. So, Jess and one of her Flint cousins set out to get a ship to Essos, and Lucy (with Jo) is dispatched to Winterfell to get the gold if things work out.

The three-eyed raven gives Bran a very clear and explicit warning about Theon's party approaching, with instructions on how to avert it. The castle falling would be useful to drive his successor northwards, but Brynden is not about to let Gwenys get captured by Ironborn. The attack is foiled with minimal casualties, but Theon takes out one of Lucy's eyes. (Lucy has a hysterical laughing fit before passing out.)

—After this Theon is either dispatched for the Wall and does Night's Watch things or "escapes" with "Reek" and has a very bad time.

In the course of preparing for the attack Brynden revealed through Bran that he's still alive and can communicate through weirwoods. He has to be much less cryptic in explaining why Bran needs to cross the Wall. Lucy is unconvinced and says she certainly couldn't let Bran go without her, which Brynden doesn't like at all. Fortunately for Brynden's plans Lucy is still in recovery, and she is unable to stop Bran from slipping away with the Reeds, Hodor, and also Jo. Brynden will be in so much trouble when she tells Mya.

Jess has her own problems. The safe thing to do would be to head to Essos by way of White Harbor — but starting from Riverrun that's a long way out of the way. Sneaking through the Riverlands to Saltpans should be much faster. It's a terrible idea but Jess knows the Riverlands well (or did when she was Mya) and her cousin is short on common sense. They get caught and taken to Tywin at Harrenhal. We now have Jess, Jon, Arya, and Tywin all in Harrenhal.

Which is not quite the same as it is in canon, because — remember Jenny's friend knowing Jenny's daughters would be reborn someday?

The Woman of the Forest dug up those seven dragon eggs Aegon V brought to Summerhall and buried them by the Harrenhal heart tree. They'd already been in a pyre with way more than seven people, and Harrenhal has plenty more death to offer, so when magic starts growing again — say, about when the direwolf mother came south — they hatch. Now the Harrenhal godswood has seven possibly cursed dragons. (Almost definitely cursed, really. They're most active at night and stealthier than they should be even at night; they grew quickly to a fairly small size for dragons and then stopped; they are uncannily knowing for animals.)

Cursed or not they've been very considerate for dragons — they've never attacked inside the castle. They're practically friendly with the castle smallfolk who discovered and secretly fed them. (The smallfolk called them after the major houses of Harrenhal — Hoare, Qoherys, Harroway, Towers, Strong, Lothston, and Whent.) When they started attacking Lannister raiders they did it outside the castle.

Since Jon Snow has been a prisoner, one of them has been lurking around the relevant tower more.

When Jess arrives, one breaks into her cell within a few days. (Jon is an option. They're meant for Jess.) (The one that's most for her is Strong, because of course it is.)

There's a very exciting night after which they're in control of Harrenhal and Jess and Jon have claimed dragons, to Jon's consternation. (Two more of the dragons are destined for Lucy and Jo.)

Blah blah, more stuff happens, I'm not sure how the war works out exactly but Robb marries Jess after all because she's from a good northern family and HAS A DRAGON.

They still have quite a bit to do up North even before the Others show up because in addition to the Ironborn and potential Bolton problems—

No Jon Snow means Lord Mormont gets killed by a wight, which means that the Watch started attempting to elect a new Lord Commander and deadlocked. No Great Ranging. No infiltration of Mance Rayder's wildlings by Jon or anyone else. Wherever the wildling army attacks — maybe not Castle Black if it's full of election — they're a surprise, and any wall-climbing advance guard was un-infiltrated. Mance gets through.

(Which will actually be a benefit when the Others show! Going to take a while to work that out, though.)

The Bastard Dragons will likely help with all this. (Also Brynden has to be careful with Bran or his sisters will be disappointed.)

Anyway anyway — that's only four out of seven bastard dragons spoken for, and what about the Greens?

So, considering the dragonkeepers as a quasi-religious order. They are likely to be distraught when the last dragon dies. They perhaps might want to demand vengeance — perhaps not on the current king, both because the senior Dragonstone dragonkeepers remember Aegon III as a little boy who loved Stormcloud plus, you know, he's the king. Perhaps they might instead turn to Valyrian blood magic and access to Targaryen funerary urns, and commit mass ritual murder-suicide to chain the guilty to life where they can be punished.

This doesn't work with an empty funeral urn, so they can't actually target Rhaenyra or Daemon, or Daeron. Any non-Targaryens aren't on the table at all. But Aegon II and Helaena had funerals, and Aemond's bones were dredged up with Vhagar's. (Some might question the inclusion of Helaena among the guilty, but her suicide triggered the storming of the Dragonpit.)

The curse will see them reborn, when a Hightower has a child with Targaryen blood. The curse will see their bodies warped with approximations of draconic traits, eventually killing them painfully. The curse will end when there are dragons again.

The first available "child of a Hightower, with Targaryen blood" is the youngest daughter of Rhaena and Garmund Hightower, followed by Rhaena's daughters's children. They go through a few rounds of this before some of the Hightowers figure out what's going on. They come up with a way to stall the curse, but decide that probably they should try to avoid marrying Targaryens. Rhaena's grandchildren don't bear the Hightower name, so it doesn't fall on any of them.

It does pop up when Viserys Plumm marries a Hightower. And when a Hightower fathers a child on a dragonseed whore, years after that.

(The curse doesn't specify gender, but somehow Aegon is a girl every time. He undergoes character development partially from this and partially from experiencing actual competent parenting and unconditional love.)

Fast forward. Leyla Hightower is one of Lord Leyton's daughters, and the only one to marry into a knightly house. Suppose, then, that this was a coverup after she got in trouble. Suppose she got into trouble with a descendant of one of Aegon V's sisters, and surprise, turns out that's enough to trigger the curse. Mad Maid Malora figures out what's going on fairly soon, so Agnes and Ellyn get the curse mitigation very young.

Leyla then goes on to fuck Robert at the Lannisport tourney and has Emmon. To complete the set.

Agnes, Ellyn, and Emmon are all nominally the children of Ser Jon Cupps, but Leyla and Robert weren't exactly discreet. Jon Arryn comes up with a pretense to invite Ser Cupps and family to court — he wants a closer look at white-blond Leyla and her black-haired son.

Ellyn would rather die than set foot in King's Landing, so she goes to be a companion to her cousin Margaery instead. We'll come back to her.

Lord Arryn and Stannis interrogate Leyla but leave Ser Cupps out of the loop. Emmon isn't told anything but figures it out. Agnes decides Cersei was custom-crafted by cruel gods to answer the question "what would a queen have to be like for Aegon to think better of Rhaenyra by comparison".

When Jon Arryn dies, Stannis takes Leyla and Emmon — evidence — to Dragonstone. Emmon is very unhappy about this. Agnes and Ser Cupps are left behind. Ser Cupps, still clueless, helps Ned's investigation as best he can, and is 'accidentally' killed in the chaos around Ned's arrest. The Lannisters decide Agnes isn't much of a Reach hostage, but still worth hanging onto. Agnes is very unhappy about this and makes it everyone's problem.

Back in the Reach, Ellyn doesn't care about Renly but she is fond of Margaery and Loras. She tries some of Malora's tricks to protect the encampment. It interferes enough that Renly doesn't get killed.

Emmon eventually manages to get off Dragonstone — Leyla will probably be safe there but Melisandre is making him nervous. He wants to get back to the Reach or find Renly's forces, since breaking Agnes out of King's Landing on his own is unrealistic. (As far as kings go Emmon thinks all the Baratheons are pretenders, but the Lannisters and Stannis have made themselves his enemies.) Inconveniently, he makes landfall in the Riverlands. He is captured. He is imprisoned in proximity to Jess, and both of them have to come to terms with a lot of things real fast.

So Emmon is also at Harrenhal, and also claims a dragon, and also calls dibs on two more for currently absent siblings.

Claiming of the Bastard Dragons:

Hoare, renamed Hoarwing (by Jess), renamed Hoarfrost (by Jon): Jon Snow

Qoherys, renamed Rhaenaxes because who cares about House Qoherys and Queen Rhaena was awesome: Ellyn Cupps

Harroway, renamed Harrowfyre: Agnes Cupps

Towers, renamed Towerfyre (by Jess), renamed Riverwing (by Emmon, from reasons he won't discuss): Emmon Cupps

Strong, renamed Strongwing: Jessamyn Flint

Lothston, renamed Danelleys because Mad Danelle was definitely the best Lothston: Lucinda Flint (You could therefore, if you wanted, nickname the dragon Danny Flint — or perhaps Danny Flint's Revenge)

Whent, renamed Whenthor: Jocelyn Flint

When Daenerys finally arrives, they all make terms — they insist on good terms, but they won't set dragon against dragon for the sake of any crown.