The unwanted princess - H.o.D.

Valora, the unbarren

It was almost painful to watch, the way Valora, still tired and hurt and bloodied from her labours looked upon one of her maids and asked her the question she had been asking every time she gave birth to a new child.

"Does the king... Does the king wish to see his new grandchild?" She would ask.

And every time, the answer was the same.

"There has been no word from the king, my princess." The maid would say, her voice low, almost as if afraid to give the princess the true answer.

She shouldn't be, however. Valora knew that was going to be the case. Both she and Aegon knew it. It always was, after all. It had been the same with Aemma and the same with the twins and now, the same was happening with their new little girl. The king did not wish to see any of the grandchildren that came from the children he had barely wanted in the first place.

"The king's health is decaying, Valora, you know it." Aegon said, his new babe in his arms as he sat beside Valora on her bed while her maids worked on cleaning her up. A lie. They knew it.

"His health was already decaying when Rhaenyra had her first babes as well." Valora sighed, flopping back against her pillows as she winced when one of her maids touched a more sensitive part of her. "He just doesn't care."

Aegon said nothing in return, not willing to deny her but also not too thrilled to agree with her either. There was no point anyway. Not when they both knew that was exactly the case. King Viserys did not give a shit about their children. Aegon wasn't even entirely sure he knew how many they had, let alone what their names were. It didn't matter, however. He did. Valora did. That was all that mattered.

Aemma, Jaherys, Jaheara, and now... Their little babe.

"Daena." Aegon whispered, looking down at the bundle in his arms as Valora turned her head to look at him.

"Have you finally settled on the name?" She asked, a tired smile painting her features as Aegon smirked.

Valora had given him free rein to name their little babe, considering she had, pretty much, decided the names of their first three and Aegon had just gone along with it. Aegon had been excited at the prospect, but it hadn't been until he had actually had to pick a name that he had realized how difficult it actually was. For many moons, he had had quite a hard time deciding, always going back and forth between two or three different possibilities but as soon as he laid eyes on the little girl, he knew.

"I did." He said.

"Daena." Valora said, her own eyes falling on the babe as she sighed. "I like it."

Daena whined, her little face frowning as she showed the first signs of a cry. Before she could let it out, however, Aegon was already there, holding her tight to his chest as he bounced her. Valora smiled gently at the scene. It still struck her as very shocking how well Aegon usually dealt with the children. After all, not only had Aegon been a drunken fool as a child, when Aemma was born, he had been nothing but that as well. A child. Still drunk sometimes, but less than before.

Aegon had admitted to having been surprised as well. As it seemed, he wasn't expecting to enjoy his children as much as he did. Granted, neither Aegon nor Valora spent the whole day with the babes, often delegating some duties to their maids or wet-nurses. Even so, Aegon was a good father when he needed to be. Better than Viserys, of course, if for naught, at least for the fact that he loved his children and showed that much. But maybe that was the reason why both he and Valora were, in fact, decent parents - maybe they both just wanted to be for their babes what no one had been for them.

And, as far as Valora was concerned, it was working. So she didn't hesitate before searching Aegon with her eyes as he paced around their chambers soothing the babe in his arms.

"We should try again." She said, to which Aegon frowned, even if his eyes never left Daena's little form.

"If you want to show the babe to father we could..."

"Not that." Valora shook her head. "Another babe."

"You just had this one, Valora." Aegon almost laughed.

"Another girl." She argued, and even if she did love her girls - all three of them - she knew better. Aegon needed more heirs, male ones. Otto Hightower was always making sure to remind them of it. "You need another boy. One, at the very least."

"I have Jaeherys." Aegon said, to which Valora shrugged. "If you want another babe, I'll give it to you. But you should rest."

Valora nodded then, dismissing her maids once they had checked her over so that it was only she and Aegon in the chambers. Fixing herself up against the pillows of their bed, Valora opened her arms, prompting Aegon to place the babe in her arms. As soon as Daena was comfortable in her mother's arms, Aegon sat down beside them too.

He watched them interact and, just as it had happened to Valora, Aegon couldn't refrain the smile on his face. It was still shocking in many ways. Aegon was many things - spoiled, selfish and drunk to name a few - but a good father was not something he had expected to add to that list. But he did. And Valora always told him he should. And sure, he still drunk himself away with his friends most nights and still went out to the Street of Silk every once in a while to claim a whore or another, but Valora never minded it. In fact, at the start, when she was worried she wouldn't be able to give Aegon any children, she practically encouraged it. But then she fell pregnant the first time and it was easy as breeze for her. And then, not long after, she was expecting again. And then again. Valora, the unbarren princess they called her - a painful nod to her mother's tragic life that Aegon usually tried not to bring up. And so, Aegon had never had to father any bastards and he hadn't. His only children came from Valora and he was more than pleased with that.

Because as much as Aegon wouldn't describe whatever they had as love, he could admit he liked Valora as a wife as much as he liked her as the mother of his children. They liked each other and they loved their children and that was enough for him. And when she looked up at him with a smile when little Daena whined again, he thought she too shared the sentiment.