The Serpent's Fangs (Aemond x oc)

Chapter 1

Death by a dragon's fire.

At least, that was what actually killed Laena Velaryon. Though childbirth was the true cause that had led her to such a desperate end.

Visenya stood near her mother, Rhaenyra. With her older brother, Jacaerys on her other side as they watched the men tie the ropes that bound the casket to the sea side rock. Jacaerys looked bored out of his mind as he watched on, the monotoned voice of an old man reading high Valyrian scriptures filling the tensed silence.

It was then that Visenya's distaste for childbirth had solidified. It had started when she had woken up to the screams of her mother one night, startling her out of bed. She had immediately raced to her mother's chambers, none of the panicked maids stopping the small princess as she raced through the halls.

The sight had haunted her for days. With her mother's murderous screams to the pool of blood on the floor, red staining her night gown as sweat continued to shine on her body.

Seeing the maids hold her down wasn't much help either, not when she had seen her mother ripped opened in half when the head of a boy had finally started to show.

'Do you think the Merling King would actually take her body?' Jacerys whispered, leaning down slightly to reach his height. The sound of his voice had pulled her out of her thoughts.

Visenya forced down her amused smile. Even at eight years old she could tell that whatever Vaemond Velaryon was spouting was a tale passed down by many generations. After all, it was the kind of story her mother used to make faces at.

'Oh, of course.' Visenya responded, her words contradicting her beliefs. 'I have heard that the Merling King has a castle made out of pearl and gold. Perhaps she will live an even better life under sea than she has here on land.'

'A castle made out of pearls?' Jacerys scrunched his face in confusion. 'Wouldn't it all just tumble away?'

Visenya dropped her facade, face dropping as her brows lifted ever so slightly as if to question the legitimacy of her brother's question. It was a face she had gathered from her mother whenever she were to be asked a ridiculously obvious thing.

Before Jacerys could respond, the two were tapped lightly on their back as Rhaenyra urged her two children to pay their proper respects.

'Salt courses through Velaryon blood-'

Visenya looked on, eyes flickering amongst the guest. She had never seen so many of her family members together. Though family in name only, she supposed. Even at the age of eight she knew that many standing here did not particularly liked her. The queen, for one. She wasn't blind.

'Ours run thick-'

The King, who had loved her even when others scorn.

A bastard, they'd sneer.

A woman, they'd snicker.

'Ours run true-'

The King's hand, who she had never met though considering that he is the Queen's father. Visenya guessed he wouldn't like her either. The Queen had to learn her hatred from somewhere.

Just as she had finished the thought, the King had turned towards her, making her startle. For a moment, she had wondered if she had been thinking out loud before she realised the King wasn't staring at her, but her mother.

'-And ours must never run thin.'

A chuckle broke through the tension and Visenya snapped her gaze towards her maternal uncle, Daemon Targeryan. The man continued to laugh, looking towards Vaemond as if they were sharing an inside joke and Visenya found herself frowning, curiosity growing.