To Take What Is Rightfully Ours

Chapter 61. Protecting Your Own

TW: attempted rape off-screen, discussion of it afterward

***

Laena Velaryon gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. He was called Harold Strong and was set to one day inherit Harrenhal after his father, Ser Harwin Strong.

Rhaenys flew to King's Landing to be with her daughter as she gave birth. She wished for her grandson to have a dragon egg, just like her children did, however, there were no new eggs laid in King's Landing and the King would not promise her an egg for Harold, considering that by the time the new eggs would be laid, other children might take precedence in their ownership.

So Rhaenys reached out to Diane through Corlys. Despite the distribution of dragons being mostly a royal matter, Diane as Lady of Dragonstone was responsible for all the unclaimed and wild dragons who also might couple and lay eggs so there was a possibility for them to make a deal. Diane said that if the King didn't make any promises then there was nothing she could do to help. They did not expect her to go behind his back, did they? And besides, there were no new eggs to speak of. There was just plainly nothing she could do.

Rhaenys did not believe Diane's answer one bit, even though her husband seemed to buy it, but she could not call her out on anything so she had no other choice than to give up.

'Don't you have three eggs from the Sheepstealer?' Daemon asked when Diane told him about it.

'I do, yes,' Diane smiled.

'Two of them are spoken for,' Rhaenyra reminded her husband. One of the eggs was meant for Diane's baby and another one was for the next child Daemon and she had (whenever they had them).

'And the third?'

'Not for Laena's son,' Diane answered. 'I do like her but the boy is a Strong. Not a Targaryen and not even a Velaryon. If we let him have the egg, anyone who married out of our family or the Velaryon family would want to have an egg for their children as well. I get why Rhaenys wants it but it is not something we should allow to happen.'

'If you are a Targaryen and you marry out, it's only fair that you keep your dragon,' Rhaenyra added. 'But even if this dragon lays eggs, they should be owned by the crown. Frankly, I do not know why it is not the law. We cannot have other houses thinking that they can get dragons through marriage.'

'Viserys is too much of a coward to make a law like that,' Daemon said.

'Then I shall as soon as I am Queen,' Rhaenyra said and then paused as if remembered something. 'Dreams didn't make us Kings... dragons did,' she then said with a frown. 'I don't remember who said that but it feels important.'

'Well, it's not true, is it?' Diane said. 'Without Daenys none of us would have been here. What made us Kings were dreams and dragons. You don't achieve much, having one without the other, or at least you do not get to keep what you get for very long.'

'Huh,' Daemon made a thoughtful sound. 'I never thought about it like that.'

***

'I am going to marry,' was the first thing Gwayne said as soon as he entered his father's rooms.

Otto, who was standing by the bookshelf, looked at him. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

'Aren't you going to say anything?' Gwayne broke the silence first.

Otto closed the book he was holding, put it back on the bookshelf, and then said, 'Athelstan is a lucky man.'

Gwayne blinked. 'Wait- you are- you are not against it?'

'No, son, I am not. Would I choose Athelstan for you? No. But you made clear very early on that I do not get a say in that matter,' Otto said. He remembered that conversation quite clearly, even though it was almost a decade ago. They didn't precisely argue... even though there was a lot of shouting involved. It was the first time he fully realized that Alicent would be way more politically useful to him than Gwayne could ever be.