From Ashes to a New Beginning. 𝓐𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓻𝔂𝓮𝓷

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲

Narrator:

The strong screams of a woman echo through the walls reverberating down Street of Silk. Her hands clutching the sheets in desperation as she closes her eyes tightly against the pain. Around her, many fellow prostitutes accompany her, some observing the scene with smiles as if it were a circus spectacle.

"Push harder!" Shouts the woman positioned between her open legs, and after a few minutes, the crying of a baby is heard. The young mother relaxes, resting her sweaty head on the pillows as the midwife wraps the baby in a blanket and inspects it.

The prostitutes surround the newborn, murmuring incessantly some with enthusiasm, others with malicious tones.

"Let us see" "Is it truly the prince's?" "Let us see."

The woman holding the baby gives them a stern look, causing them all to keep their distance. The young mother looks truly weak, prompting some of her companions to gaze at her with soft eyes.

The door opens with a loud creak, and the Madame of the establishment enters. She is much older than the other women but still provocatively dressed, her low-cut attire revealing her ample bosom. Behind her enters a hooded man, drawing the attention of the prostitutes who flutter around him playfully. The man smiles mischievously at them but says nothing. Once his violet eyes meet those of the young mother his expression turns serious.

"The show is over! Everyone out! Back to your duties!" Shouts the Madame applauding loudly, and they all obey. Only the four of them remain in the vast room. The midwife hands the small baby to the Madame who smiles at the infant she now cradles in her arms.

"It's a girl" She whispers with a slight smile. Her eyes then turn to the man who removes his dark hood, revealing his long silver hair, before walking over to the young woman barely opening her eyes on the bed.

The Madame cradles the baby and, as she approaches the man, she comments confidently

"The girl's features leave no doubt, she is your daughter, Prince Daemon."

The man looks with an unreadable expression, extending his arms to hold the baby. Though initially serious and cold, he can't help but offer a faint smile as he looks at the little one, noticing her sparse white hair and lilac eyes, just like his own.

"It seems so... her Valyrian features are undeniable" He remarks, his eyes then turning to the young mother, a prostitute who had not yet seen twenty summers. Daemon approaches her and asks somewhat anxiously "Is she alright?"

"She lost a lot of blood, Prince... her condition is critical" The midwife responds with a hint of sadness as she wipes the girl's forehead with a damp cloth. The man looks once more at his baby and then directs his hardened gaze to the Madame.

"Find a healer who can help! I'll cover the cost... Move!" The woman smiles coldly and hurries out to fulfill the order.

The prince looks again at the young woman who has just given birth to his daughter. He approaches cautiously and touches her hand gently, whispering.

"You must recover, Faye." With that he looks at her with pity and leaves the room carrying the baby.

...

Faye was a young blonde with fair skin, deflowered by Daemon years ago when the prince was the Commander of the City Watch. He liked her qualities and thus often requested her company during several nights. Despite the moon teas she consumed to prevent pregnancies like the other prostitutes, this method did not always work, and it failed in her case. The brothels always kept a record of the men who requested the services of the prostitutes with written dates for cases like these, and the prince was the most viable possibility due to the number of times he had been intimate with Faye recently.

When he received the news of his possible paternity, he jokingly said he would only accept it if the baby was born with Valyrian features, and so it was. Faye died from a fever that did not leave her body four days after giving birth.

Daemon refused to allow his daughter to grow up in a brothel. He hired a woman who was Faye's best friend, another slightly older prostitute named Sissel, to take care of the baby along with a bag of gold and a huge mansion on the outskirts of the city.

Daemon visited little Aelyssa every five days without fail. Everyone already knew he was the father of a bastard; rumors spread quickly as usual, but he simply ignored them completely. Everyone bowed their heads when he passed through the city to visit his daughter; he didn't even bother to wear his hood and even showed himself playing with his baby in the courtyard. The opinions of sheep meant nothing to a dragon.

Aelyssa was the name he chose for her in honor of her deceased mother, Princess Alyssa Targaryen. Despite being of a gruff nature, Daemon strove to offer the best he could to his only daughter, showering her with gifts, silk dresses, and even some unnecessary gold coins, until one day everything changed.

Prince Daemon was forced to leave for the War of the Stepstones without the king's authorization. That farewell from his little one slightly pained his heart; he didn't know if he would return alive, but he was determined to leave. He offered more gold than necessary for Sissel and his daughter to live decently for the rest of their lives and ordered one of his most loyal guards, a gold cloak named Ser Noran, to protect the baby from any danger until his possible return.

If he didn't return, the service of the Ser was to be for life. The little one continued to be raised by Sissel with dedication. Until three long years passed without any news of her father.