The Fire That Burns Within US - Aemond Targaryen

Prologue

When princess Rhaenyra gave birth to her first son, Jacearys, rumors filled the court about who he bore a likeness to, Ser Harwin Strong and not Ser Laenor Velaryon. Almost everyone in the Red Keep knew of the company that Ser Laenor kept. Who warmed his bed at night. That person was not his lady wife, Rhaenyra. The night of their wedding was the first night the Princess and Ser Harwin had their first real conversation. A relationship formed between the two and when the Princess gave Ser Harwin the chance to warm her bed he gladly took the opportunity.

But when the princess gave birth to her second child, a daughter, no one questioned who the father was. The babe had a tuft of white-silver curls, and her skin was pale as her mother, and dark purple eyes that had the same colour as the wine that the house Redwyne kept in their cellar. When the king was first introduced to his first granddaughter, he proclaimed that the fire of house Targaryen burned strong within her, that she would be a warrior and that her name should suit the future she would have. The queen was not as pleased with the newborn; unlike the firstborn, the child had Velaryon features, and even if she could convince the people of the court that Jacearys was a bastard, this child's lineage could not be questioned. The love that the king showed the child worried the queen; she had not seen such happiness and love in his eyes since the death of the late queen Aemma, not when their sons were born or even their daughters. Just like Princess Rhaenyra, the child would have the love and blind eye of the king to do as they pleased.

With approval from the king, Rhaenyra and Laenor picked the name Visenya.

When Jacearys was 2 and Visenya 1, their mother welcomed her second son, Lucerys. At that time, Visenya's dragon egg had hatched a male black dragon with ebony-purple markings on his chest, wings, and back. When the dragon had hatched, Visenya hadn't been old enough to pick a name for the hatchling, so the king had chosen the name Morghon.

As the children of house Velaryon and Targaryen grew the bond between the two great houses, some Lords and Ladies even thought the tense environment might end with the new generation. Aegon would help his brother Aemond and his nephew Jacearys with their sword fighting when the queen was not there to scold him for giving weapons to them to play with. Helaena and Visenya would watch the three boys pretend to be soldiers fighting while Helaena would braid Visenya's hair with flowers and talk about the dreams she had been having. Even though Visenya loved it when her aunt would braid her hair, she wanted to play swords with her brother and uncles, to tell them how their poster was wrong, how the way they were holding the swords was improper, or how they should be protecting their faces and stomachs. The one time she had brought up her critiques, her oldest uncle Aegon had told her to shut up and go back to reading the stupid storybook that was sitting on her lap. Jacaerys, wanting his uncle to like him more, agreed. But Aemond saw the hurt on her face and that night was the first one the two practiced their sword fighting skills together. The next day Visenya told her father and the family's close friend Ser Harwin Strong that she wished to be taught how to fight with a sword, that one day she would be the greatest swordsman in all of the seven kingdoms and ride into battle on her dragon's back. When people heard her name they would put up white flags and hand over all of their gold so that she could give it to the crown. At that moment it was clear to both men who the child she really was, she was not Ser Laenors or Ser Harwin but a certain prince.

As the Visenya grew, she spent time with her father, learning the tongue of the ancestors; the language of high Valyrian came quickly to the girl, and unlike her older brother, she was able to speak and understand the language at a young age. The bond between the two was far closer than Ser Laenor had with any of his "Children" and even though he questions whose daughter she really was he loved her like she was his own. Ser Laenor would often sneak Visenya out of the castle at night to go on dragon rides at night, he knew that while Rhaenyra would have no problem with this Visenya loved the idea of doing something that she thought was breaking the rules. They would race between King Landing and Driftmark, oftentimes trying to rile Meleys up, when Princess Rhaenys found out what her son and granddaughter were doing she would join the two of them.

Life was simple for Visenya. She would spend the early hours of the morning with her father learning about the history of her houses. Then she would have breakfast with her mother, brothers, and Ser Harwin Strong. The later parts of the morning would be spent with Helaena and their septa learning about how ladies of their status should act. Then lunch with the king as he would show her different parts of the model of Valyria. The afternoon was spent with Aemond and finding a place to practice their sword fighting skills, in which Visenya had become much better in. Sometimes the two of them would not even practice but talk about the things they were feeling, for Aemond it was often how he felt less of a Targaryen because he didn't have a dragon and for Visenya how much she hated the duties of being a lady. The two of them would often run around the grounds of the castle till the Queen or Princess came to find them. The night was spent with her father again, telling her stories or even taking her out for a dragon ride.

Visenya was happy with her life, happy that she was getting another sibling soon, happy that she was spending time with Aemond, and happy that her family, while they did not always get along, were together. Unknown to all, except for Helaena, the peace the family has had for the past ten years was about to change because of the death of Lady Laena.