Dragon's Oracle // Daemon Targaryen

2. Lady Aelana

(everyone age listed at the very bottom of chapter for reference)

YEAR 101 AC *8 Years later"

As the first century of the Targaryen Dynasty came to a close, the health of the old king, Jaehaerys, was failing. It was actually heartbreaking for 8-year-old Aelana.

No one knew why, but old king Jaehaerys and good queen Alysanne Targaryen seemed to love and care for little Aelana Targaryen more than they were expected to.

Maybe it was her big brown eyes or her little golden curls.

When Jaehaerys had dinner with his entire family, which was at least three times a week, he would frequently request that the maids bring Aelana to him. He'd eat dinner with Aelana on his lap, play with his white beard, and sweetly kiss Aelana's head in between conversations.

No one knew except the king, queen, and Aelana's father, Baelon, that at the age of five, Aelana would braid old King Jaehaery's beard and occasionally fall asleep in his lap.

This would happen more often than you can imagine.

Alysanne would often be seen late at night in the gardens with Aelana. It was the favourite past time for both the queen and baby Aelana. Even at the age of 63, the Queen would be holding Aelana up in her arms and roaming between the roses.

Sometimes the maid would offer the queen to carry Aelana in their arms, not vocalising but hinting at how she may tyre her old, frail bones. But Alysanne would always immediately deny their help and would clutch Aelana close to her chest, rocking the baby to sleep.

Aelana was only 7 years old when Queen Alysanne, at the age of 64, passed away. She was too young to know what dying meant, but she missed her grandmother every day.

She would sit by her window and gaze out at the gardens, where she spent time with her grandmother, and would even fall asleep on the window sill.No one knew about it until one day her father, Baelon, came to check on her and found her almost falling out of the window.

Since then, she has shared the room with her father, but that also didn't last very long when fever took another loved one from Aelana at the young age of 8.

Daemon had never paid any attention to Aelana, so her brothers, Prince Viserys and Princess Aemma, decided to be her guardians. They themselves had a four-year-old girl named Princess Rhaenyra, and 8-year-old Aelana was obsessed with her niece.

in those days. House Targaryen stood at the height of its strength, with 10 adult dragons under their yoke. No power in the world could stand against it. King Jaehaerys's reign stood for 60 years, filled with peace and prosperity.

However, because tragedy claimed both of his sons, his succession is in doubt.

So in the year 101, the old king called the Great Council to choose an heir. Over a thousand lords made the journey to Harrenhal. Fourteen claims of succession were heard, but only two were truly considered: Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, the king's eldest descendant, and her youngest cousin, Prince Viserys Targaryen.

Because he did not want a family feud, Jaehaerys convened the council to settle succession.Because he knew that only the Dragons themselves were capable of destroying the House of the Dragons.

Aelana sat in her room, which she shared with her niece Rhaenyra. She was laying down on her bed while 4-year-old Rhaenyra was in her cot, mumbling and playing with a wooden carving dragon.

Rhaenyra's young dragon, Syrax, was painted on the tapestry that was currently hanging in their room beside Rhaenyra's cot. Aelana wanted her own dragon too, and she couldn't wait to get it. Again, she was too young to know that, even though she was a Targaryen, she didn't have Valyrian blood running through her veins.