Danse Macabre, Daemon Targaryen.

Danse Macabre

A STORMBRINGER / HOTD AU

✸

written by @lotusqueens, 2024.

Morrigan Baratheon, eldest daughter of Borros and Elena Baratheon, is eight when she is betrothed to Prince Daemon Targaryen, seven years her elder.

It's nothing but political calculation. Her grandfather's niece, Princess Rhaenys, had been rejected as an heir to the Iron Throne after the death of her father and instead, King Jaehaerys named his second son, Baelon, as heir. A slight against their family neither her grandfather, nor his sister, nor Rhaenys' husband would be quick to forget. But, so Queen Alysanne tells her husband when she brings forth the possibility of a betrothal between Baelon's second son and Boremund's granddaughter: a slight against a niece or her children will weigh less than a daughter of Storm's End wedding a dragon.

It comes to very little surprise to any when King Jaehaerys and Lord Boremund Baratheon agree on the match.

Further, so is the hope of Queen Alysanne, who has seen to wed first most her children, then her grandchildren, that perhaps this match might settle Daemon, too. At fifteen, the Prince of House Targaryen is already restless and adventurous and more and more, his escapades wander into the realm of recklessness and abandon. A wife of noble standing, of strong will, and who offers both Valyrian blood and a place at the seat of the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, might just be what the young Prince needs so that he might be held in check as a man grown.

And perhaps, it could have been.

If only Good Queen Alysanne did not miss the fact that for all the differences, Daemon did have one thing in common with his future bride: both are the replacements, the spares. Daemon, the second son of the heir, only ever to inherit after his brother, and Morrigan, the eldest but to be cast aside the moment a boy is born.

Neither know how to lie down and let others take what should be theirs.

Ella Hunt . . .
     MORRIGAN BARATHEON

Matt Smith . . .
     DAEMON TARGARYEN

with . . . 

milly alcock,     PRINCESS RHAENYRA TARGARYEN

emily carey,     ALICENT HIGHTOWER

rhys infans,     SER OTTO HIGHTOWER

paddy considine,     KING VISERYS I

eve best,     PRINCESS RHAENYS TARGARYEN

steve toussaint,     SER CORLYS VELARYON

sonoya mizuno,     MYSARIA

ruairi o'connor,     SER EDMYN TULLY

. . . and the rest AS DESCRIBED.

WARNING . . .

this fanfic will include the canon-typical themes of the ASOIAF/HOTD universe. more specifically, there will be strong language, violence and death, as well as mentions of the canon misogyny of westeros. there might be some possible references to SA (for example, a SA attempt in the past), but i don't plan on exploring that aspect very much past these references. further, there will be unhealthy/dysfunctional relationships, that include age gaps.

DISCLAIMER . . .

I do NOT own the ASOIAF books, or the HOTD show, however I do own my original characters and their individual plotlines.

AUTHORS NOTE . . .

✸      Before we begin: the main pairing (Daemon/Morrigan) are 24 and 17 respectively at the beginning of the book and second cousins via Alyssa Velaryon's first marriage to Aenys Targaryen (daemon) and second marriage to Rogar Baratheon (morrigan). By ASOIAF standards, this is a match that is closer to our "normal" than a lot of others, but I want to have this mentioned in the beginning.

✸      Further, frankly, nearly every person will be doing something problematic over the course of this fic and if you don't like a character (e.g. Daemon, which is valid) I'm not here to convince you of them. This fic, unlike Stormbringer, is not here for the political, heartbreaking drama but for a fun time (and some political drama... and daemor being more or less canon from the beginning... and daemor being unhinged). I'm literally writing it because this fic is the most fun I've had with writing since I first published Stormbringer all the way back in August 2022 and I'm here for the good time. In that vein, I want to make some thing clear: I do NOT want any of the toxic hate that's to dominant in the ASOIAF and HOTD fandom in my comment section - that includes other readers, me, my ocs, or canon characters. I don't care if you don't like a character and express that (like that's super valid? these characters are not meant to be liked by everyone), but there's a vast difference between that and some of the other things I've seen.

✸     Welcome to the Stormbringer AU where instead of choosing duty and family, Daemor is gonna hustle for their own ambitions (or in the words of Corlys Velaryon: We are the realm's second sons. Our worth is not given, it must be made.), aka their issues manifest in a way where Daemon is here for the good time and Mor is here to stand on business. They're messy, violent idiots and I love them <3

(Also, just to add, you are more than welcome to read Stormbringer, the fic which this AU is based on but I'll try my best to write this in a way where you won't necessarily need to! Let me know if there's something missing tho.)