Dragon Princess || Aegon II Targaryen

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 6

Alicent Hightower prided herself on her composure, cultivated over years of navigating in court trying not to shame her house.

From childhood, she had been taught the art of restraint and the importance of maintaining a dignified presence, skills that served her well as queen. Instead of raising her voice or displaying her emotions openly, she blended in the background while still making sure that her presence was well noted. She mastered the art of channeling overwhelming emotions into silent prayers, lighting each candle and begging for them to go away and for reason to get back into her heart.

She embodied grace and balance, both as a lady and a queen.

Yet, even Alicent's practiced composure faltered when it came to her father's schemes.

The news struck her deeply. Betrayed, that was how she was feeling. The betrayal of being excluded from plans that would affect her daughter's life for the rest of her days ignited a fury she struggled to contain. A fury she didn't know she had in her soul.

How could they? How could her father and her husband disregard her role and authority? Not only as a queen but mostly as a mother?

What if the Maester had not made such a mistake? After all, no one could fault him for thinking Alicent had been informed of her own daughter's betrothal. The Gods saved them!

When would they tell her? Perhaps once Rhaenys were riding to the North, heading alone, and most likely scared, to a wedding with a man she had never met before.

The Gods had saved her!

Why hadn't her father or husband informed her? Did they think the child's mother was not important in such matters?

Unbelievable...

Alicent had never felt something like this. This overwhelming feeling, this urge to strike her own father, to scream at him, to lock him in a dungeon, to make him beg for forgiveness for disrespecting his queen.

The rage blinded her and, so, she didn't think twice before barging into her father's chamber.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you have no right to meddle in my daughter's life!" Alicent raised her voice, startling Otto who had been calmly reading the reports provided by the Small Council.

"What is the meaning of this?" He questioned, rising from his seat immediately, irritated and surprised by his daughter's behavior. "Have you forgotten yourself, daughter?"

"Do not dare to lecture me, father! Who do you think you are to betroth my daughter without consulting me first?" the queen asked, growing increasingly nervous.

Upon hearing what had put his daughter in such a state, Otto sat back down, dismissing Alicent's outburst. As always, Alicent was overreacting to trivial matters. Otto had thought the Queen had learned to react balanced and peacefully, as one would expect from a woman in such rank. But now he saw that Alicent still had a long way to go.

Great, another problem he needed to solve. And this thought made the older man sigh.

"I don't need to consult you. Who do you take me for? I am the Hand of the King, and, with the King's approval, I acted. I do not owe you explanations," Otto spoke more calmly, picking up the reports again without looking at his daughter.

It was nothing Alicent wasn't used to. She had always lived with her father's disdain, his lack of compassion, and Otto Hightower's ego. It had always been this way: he spoke, and she obeyed. That was how she became queen, with five children to raise, and how she ruined her friendship with Rhaenyra.

"But do not trouble your heart. Cregan Stark will be a good husband for Rhaenys. She will be very happy, I assure you," Otto continued, jotting down notes on paper without looking at Alicent.