The Realm's Fright | HOTD S1 | Fem!OC x Aemond Targaryen Fanfiction

Chapter Thirty

Sitharax lands on the opposite side of the bridge connecting Dragonstone to its harbor, in the place of the Blacks, as Syrax had already occupied the place of the Greens. The smell of smoke and salt intermixed proved to be a nostalgic smell for Alysanne. It was as if she had never left and her leaving was but a bad dream. She was anxious, not wanting to see neither her mother nor her brothers. She has come to embrace their standoffish change and see it as permanent, but a part of her believes she still yearns for them and it tears her apart, blinding her from knowing where her loyalties lie, them or to her husband.

Alysanne stands, garbed in green, opposite her mother who wears the crown of her the late King Viserys (Ser Erryk fled from King's Landing with it), and her mother has never looked stricken with shock and she tries to mask it with a hopeful, sympathetic smile.

To Rhaenyra, everyone had gone and went. There was only her daughter and she was happy to see Alysanne. The both of them had lost their children on short notice. Rhaenyra gave birth to a stillborn and malformed girl she named Visenya and Alysanne miscarried. Mother and daughter, bound to bear the burdens of the women who came before them in their field of battle which was the birthing bed.

"Hello, my sweet." Rhaenyra's voice is sweet as a summer fruit. Alysanne remembered a thought where her mother was her greatest love. As she grows, she comes to know her mother was not perfect and she too had her flaws, and she continues to make more.

Alysanne chooses not to greet her mother in return. Instead, she chooses to confront her. "I am your firstborn yet I am not your heir."

"You and Jace were both of my heirs. But our situation had become atrocious. It remains still, or so it seems." Rhaenyra defended herself, gentle, and her warm gaze falters when she turns to the person standing beside her daughter: Lord Otto.

"It was my birthright as the Iron Throne was yours, and that is not the only time you have let me down. You had your father's favor to abolish the betrothal yet you never tried at all. You've let birthed my brothers and I and you've let everyone belittle us for most of our life although you are Princess of Dragonstone. But that is not the worst thing you have did me, no, the worst thing you did me was by killing my father, Ser Laenor Velaryon so you may marry your uncle!"

"I... I did not killed him." The mother reaches for the daughter, but Alysanne avoids to be touched. Tears threaten to fall in the pale-haired woman's lilac eyes. "Alys, believe me in this. I-I loved your father, and I have loved you and your siblings equally. If I have failed to have you see that, then I am sorry. Please, forgive me. The weight of being the Princess of Dragonstone has been most heavy to me."

The Lord Hand glances at the impatient man behind the silver-haired woman. The Rogue Prince looks back at him with a calm demeanor that had many men killed. Otto interrupts the private conversation of the mother and daughter. "Princess Rhaenyra." he spoke.

"I'm Queen Rhaenyra now, and you all are traitors to the realm!" Rhaenyra shouted, but her words do not seem to bother Alysanne the slightest. You are her daughter, her natural ally, Aemond told her as much. Not anymore.

"King Aegon Targaryen, Second of His Name, in his wisdom and desire for peace is offering terms. Acknowledge Aegon as king and swear obeisance before the Iron Throne, just as your daughter has had." Otto paused, noticing Rhaenyra was crestfallen to hear about Alysanne. "In exchange, His Grace will confirm your possession of Dragonstone. It will pass to your trueborn son, Jacaerys, upon your death. Lucerys will be confirmed as the legitimate heir to Driftmark and all the lands and holdings of House Velaryon. Your sons by Prince Daemon will also be given places of high honor in court: Aegon the Younger as the King's squire, Viserys as his cupbearer. Finally, the King, in his good grace, will pardon any knight or lord who conspired against his ascent."