.INDOMITUS. | Jacaerys Velaryon x OC x Cregan Stark |

Chapter Seventeen: The Queen That Never Was

The Dowager Queen faced her next task with hesitation. Whilst she had sent her son and sworn sword to locate Aegon, she herself made her way to Maegor's Holdfast where lay a delicate matter. Princess Rhaenys, both the Elder and the Younger. Ensuring their support would be difficult but worthwhile, gaining them access to both Driftmark and the North. Alicent first made her way East, where Rhaenys the Elder resided.

She nodded for the knight to unlock the door and have it shut behind her. Princess Rhaenys, the queen that never was, had dressed and seemed to be awaiting her arrival. "I will do you the considerable courtesy of assuming there is a good reason for the outrage of my treatment here this morning" Rhaenys began furiously as she walked towards the Dowager. "My sincerest regrets for the lack of ceremony. The king..." Alicent trailed off and Rhaenys had a look of realisation on her face. The older woman let out a sigh and regained her composure. "And you are usurping the throne" She accused. "It was my husband's dying wish" Alicent was cut off by a scoff and Rhaenys rolling her eyes, but was not deterred. "Believe it or no, it is of no consequence. Aegon will be king, I came here to ask your support" the Green Queen finished, looking out out as Rhaenys chuckled at her words. "Well, I must credit you for your boldness" Alicent began to play with the skin around her fingers mindlessly, a habit unbroken since childhood.

"House Velaryon has long allied itself with the Princess Rhaenyra and what has it gained you? Your daughter dead, alone in Pentos" Rhaenys closed her eyes as the Dowager spoke and images of her daughter came flooding through. Her sweet Laena, barely of age, claiming the largest dragon alive. The feeling of pride as she took flight alongside her mother and brother. The rage she felt when Laena had run off to marry The Rogue Prince recklessly, and then staying in Pentos until her death. Being greeted by her only daughter's corpse upon her return. "Your son cuckholded" and then there was Laenor. The son she had doomed to a life unsuited for him. He had been so cheerful and social as a boy, begging to accompany his mother on dragonback with Seasmoke. Becoming more introverted in his later years but still happy, even more so with his squire Joffery... betrothing him to Rhaenyra had indirectly caused her son's unhappiness. All the way until his gruesome death, with her being the one to drag his burnt body out from the fire.

Rhaenys shook her head inwardly. No, Laenor had been overjoyed at the birth of Rhaenys and Jacaerys, and with Lucerys, and even Joffery. She remembered her Laenor bringing a newborn Rhae to her in his arms, the look of purpose back in his eyes. Rhaenys remembered the tears in her eyes as he revealed his first born to be named after her, and how for years he visited Driftmark with the sweet girl at his side. Even when the rumours of infidelity spread and the children grew to look more like a certain Knight than Laenor, he took pride in his children. And the sounds of Rhaenys the Younger screaming... sobbing hysterically over Laenor's dead body... that's when she knew the children were Laenor's, even if not by blood.

"Rhaenyra's heirs are none of yours, not even your namesake" Rhaenys was brought out of her mind at the mention of her granddaughter. "It is your husband who grasps so heedlessly for the throne and even he has abandoned you. Gone these six long years to fight a desperate battle, returning grievously if not mortally wounded, leaving the Lady of Driftmark to chart her course alone" Rhaenys glared at the younger woman as she finished her speech. "The word of my house is not fickle" she said sternly.

Alicent took a step closer and held Rhaenys's hand in both of hers. "No, but dear cousin, you more than any soul alive understand what I say now" the Dowager leaned forward and lowered her voice slightly. "Princess Rhaenys I loved my husband but I will speak the truth we both know...

You should have been Queen"

Rhaenys raised a brow and turned her head towards the woman. "I little thought to hear those words from you" She muttered, earning a smile from the Dowager Queen. Alicent inwardly let out a breath, thinking all was going to her plan. She thought that perhaps bloodshed could be avoided. "The Iron Throne was yours by blood and by temperament. Viserys would've lived his days a country Lord, content to hunt and study his histories, but here we are" The green queen continued to butter up the older woman. "We do not rule, but we may guide the men that do...gently. Away from violence and sure destruction, and instead towards peace"

Rhaenys ripped her hand from Alicent's and stepped back with a scoff. "Is it in the name of peace that you have imprisoned me and I assume my granddaughter? And what of Rhaenys? Seamoke and Melys?" The Targaryen woman questioned sharply. Alicent bit her lip, having briefly forgotten that Rhaenys the Younger was also imprisoned. "If we are over matched, Rhaenyra will be tempted to strike us and war will ensue. With your dragon, and Rhaenys with hers, she may be persuaded to negotiate" Alicent explained, also stepping back to put some safe distance between the two women. Sensing a losing battle, Alicent attempted another strategy.

"If its Driftmark you want, you shall have it for you and your granddaughters to pass on as you see fit. Rhaenys will still be allowed to marry the Warden of the North, and any children she has will hold northern titles" the green queen said. Rhaenys looked out the locked window and contemplated. It was the safest option, not just for her but for Rhaenys, Baela and Rhaena. "You are wiser than I believed you to be, Alicent Hightower" She murmured, knowing the Queen would still hear her. Alicent nodded her head in thanks and allowed a brief smile to cross her face. "A true queen counts the cost to her people" She replied tiredly, thinking the matter almost over.

Rhaenys turned around and looked at the ginger woman intently. "And yet you toil still in service to men. Your father, your husband, your son. You desire not to be free but to make a window in the wall of your prison" Rhaenys knew manipulation well, and knew right from wrong. She approached the Dowager once more and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?" The question sat heavy as silence filled the room. Alicent stepped back and made her way to the door. "I'll leave you to your thoughts. Ring the bell when you have an answer" the queen spoke shortly and immediately left, locking the door behind her.

Rhaenys hummed and nodded to herself as she managed to crack the wall of emotions of the Green queen. She knew that Alicent would speak to her granddaughter next, and she prayed that Rhaenys the Younger was just as strong as she had taught her to be.