Main Content
Archive of Our OwnArchive of Our OwnHi, TheBrimmedHat!PostLog Out
FandomsBrowseSearchAboutWork Search
tip: "uchiha sasuke/uzumaki naruto" angst kudos>10
Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Edit Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warnings:
Graphic Depictions Of ViolenceMajor Character Death
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
House of the Dragon (TV)Warhammer Fantasy
Characters:
Ikit ClawRhaenyra TargaryenJacaerys VelaryonLucerys Velaryon (Son of Rhaenyra)Baela TargaryenRhaena Targaryen (Daughter of Daemon)Daemon TargaryenCorlys "The Sea Snake" VelaryonHelaena TargaryenAddam VelaryonBackground & Cameo CharactersSilverwing | Alysanne Targaryen's DragonOriginal CharactersJoffrey Velaryon
Additional Tags:
Crack Treated SeriouslyCanon-Typical ViolenceThe Dance of the Dragons | Aegon II Targaryen v. Rhaenyra Targaryen EraAlternate Universe - Canon DivergenceCanonical Character DeathCharacter Turned Into a HumanIkit got isekai'd as Jace's twinSkaven Species (Warhammer Fantasy)Death to all GreensHuman ExperimentationScience ExperimentsIkit is his own warningSilverwing still has shit taste in male ridersPOV MultipleBackground RelationshipsBackground Character Deathshow canon onlyDragon RidersAnimal AbuseIkit is an abusive dragonriderTho he's fairly mellow compared to his SkavenselfGood Parent Rhaenyra TargaryenNo beta we die like LucerysDysfunctional FamilyCannibalismBlood and TortureCanon-Typical BehaviorBAMF Helaena Targaryen
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2026-02-26Completed:2026-04-22Words:181,492Chapters:55/55Comments:1,270Kudos:749Bookmarks:160Hits:33,677
The Rat Prince of Westeros
SkilledWarriorKiwi
Chapter 37: Jaehaera
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The screaming had finally stopped.
Storm's End was always noisy, the constant sound of waves crashing against the crags and cliffs with the keeps immense form looming over it all. The magicked rock did not fear dislodging from the constant storms and raging ocean but Jaehaera did not like the noise at all.
The sea here was so much nosier than that of King's Landing, somehow feeling more hostile and Jaehaera hated it. She wanted to leave but wasn't allowed. Instead she spent most of her days in the guest chamber of Storm's End, with only Borros Baratheon's daughters and some maids as company while Ser Willis guarded her.
Ser Willis Fell of the Kingsguard had been sent with Jaehaera. She didn't like the man, she didn't know him and wanted her mother and the familiar Red Keep. Instead they had been on a horse traveling down the roads to Storm's End, Jaehaera having to wear a woolen cap to hide her silver hair and she was given strick orders from Ser Willis to not make eye contact with anyone they passed so they would not see her purple eyes. She never liked looking people in the eyes anyway but she did as she was told. Ser Willis himself wasn't wearing his usual shiny armour and white cloak as they had to hide in their traveling.
Jaehaera didn't understand. She didn't understand a lot of things, as no one ever really spoke to her even back in King's Landing. Only her mother or Jaehaerys would usually do so and Jaehaerys had died. Mother had cried a great deal but when she did allow Jaehaera to meet her twin just before he was to be taken to his pyre Jaehaera just seemed confused as it looked like her brother was asleep.
She knew enough there was fighting against extended family but other than that Jaehaera knew nothing. She didn't like talking and preferred to play with her toys or the maids or spending time with her brother and mother. But now her brother was dead and she was sent away to Storm's End and she just felt lost.
Jaehaera didn't like the fat lord there, Borros Baratheon spoke far too loud and it made Jaehaera dislike him right away. Most of his daughters were nice enough, like Cassandra, Floris and Ellyn but Maris was mean and Jaehaera didn't like her much. Borros's wife, Elenda, was pregnant but she still attempted to help Jaehaera feel at home even if she couldn't answer when the little girl asked her when she would be able to see her parents or grandmother again.
Apparently 'until the war finishes' was no actual end time and so Jaehaera was on her own in the room until whenever that did occur. Or it felt like she was all alone, even if maids tried to play with her or one of the Four Storms did.
She missed her family even if it was mostly her mother she missed. A part of her still didn't really understand how Jaehaerys was gone. That didn't seem right.
It rained a lot at Storm's End even as time passed and she remained in her dark rooms with the sea always right outside her window and she didn't see any family or anyone she knew.
Until the day a dragon came.
Jaehaera was in her guest room, trying to arrange a collection of coloured blocks in a way she liked, when she heard the chatter. One of the servants came to the door, announcing that the 'Queen of the Seven Kingdoms' had come and Jaehaera was to be made presentable.
It took Jaehaera until after her bath and being changed into a red and black gown did she realize they meant Helaena. Jaehaera really didn't know who the queen was, since she was quite certain her grandmother was still alive, and Alicent had been queen for as long as Jaehaera had been alive. She didn't really know much.
But even she recognized it when people started screaming and dying as fire flared out through her window in the great lands beyond the castle where the Stormlands army had been mustering.
Ser Willis remained with her and the cowering maids when the fighting and screaming outside started, sword drawn as he watched the door. At one point the Four Storms entered the room, all of Borros Baratheon's daughters looking in various levels of panic.
"She's gone insane!" Cassandra shouted, slamming the door shut behind.
Ellyn was clutching a book in hand as if it were a shield, glancing between the door and Jaehaera, "We should take her daughter out to her. Maybe that will calm her. The falling of King's Landing to her enemies, then-"
"The bitch is mad," Maris snapped. "Why is she even attacking Storm's End?"
"She may be crazed with grief, losing King's Landing and her dead child and now that raven of King Aegon dying in battle," Floris argued.
Jaehaera blinked. Her father was dead? She wasn't sure what to think of that. Her father never really interacted with her, and last time she saw him he decided to play with Jaehaerys and completely ignored her. She thought maybe she should be sad but didn't really know.
"Mind your tongue before the princess," Ser Willis said.
He got four glares from the daughters, before Cassandra said, "Should you not go out beyond and tell your mad queen to reign in her beast? The castle is aflame! She's already killed our father! We are allied to her king, and my sister is betrothed to Prince Aemond who is his direct successor! Yet she is killing us! The army beyond is dead! She killed them all!"
"Storm's End is magical, it won't burn," Ser Willis said, even if he sounded even more unsure.
Then the screaming started. Agonized and shrill and outside amidst the rain fires burned.
They remained barricaded in their room, unsure of what to do. Upon the second day Floris chose to leave, to see if she could reach the rookery and send for aid. Even if it was simply informing King Aemond of his mad sister, with the frightened maids following her. Floris and the women never returned. Outside there were more screams, crying, begging.
Jaehaera listened to it blankly, keeping the stuffed deer close to her chest as if it could offer her comfort. She wanted Morghul. She wanted her mother.
Occasionally they could spy a dragon flying about, when one of them dared to peek through the window. It was confirmed to be Dreamfyre, the dragon which had hatched during Aegon the Conqueror's age and was huge and strong, with her powder blue scales with ripples of silver and pink wings.
On the fourth day after they had eaten all the food and outside there was no more screams, only the stench of blood, they were arguing about fleeing Storm's End.
"Do you really think a horse can outrun a dragon?" Cassandra asked.
"It does not matter, I was tasked to protect the princess," Ser Willis said. "Even from her mother. She is heir, upon the king's death."
Maris laughed, nasty and cold, "She's a girl. Isn't your entire king placed upon the Iron Throne in belief women cannot inherit? She is nothing, a worthless girl child. Leave her and you may escape."
They were interrupted then by a knock on the door.
It was short and quick and quickly followed by a woman's voice saying, "Is anyone in there?"
Jaehaera immediately got to her feet, recognizing her mother's voice, but just as quickly Ser Willis pushed her back while the three daughters all scrambled away from the door.
She didn't know why everyone was upset, Helaena was their queen.
"I can hear your heartbeats, I can hear the blood pumping through your bodies," Helaena tried again. "Let me in or I will come in regardless. Jaehaera my love, are you alright?"
"I am here," Jaehaera managed to say. It was always hard to speak but her mother was waiting and she hadn't seen her for so long.
"Open the door, Jaehaera," her mother called.
She went to move forward to unlock the door but Ser Willis pulled her away. Cassandra, Maris and Ellyn were in various states of panic. Jaehaera didn't understand why everyone was upset.
"Your Grace," Ser Willis said. "I...I do not understand why you attacked Storm's End. We saw your dragon beyond, we heard the noises. They are your allies. Princess Jaehaera is confined to her rooms for her own safety."
"They are traitors," Helaena hissed from behind the door, her tone making the hair on Jaehaera's neck go on end. "The Demon of the Trident, the Usurper. I saw it. I saw that fat drunk fool fell the Last Dragon and I refuse to let it happen. The Black Bride spoke true, she should have gone through with her threat to turn this place into another Harrenhall. House Baratheon contribute nothing but death for our House, when we were the ones to make them. And so I prevented it."
"She's insane," Cassandra muttered.
"No, I have never seen more clear," came the reply from the door before it was knocked down.
Helaena stood in the doorway, clad heavily in black and red with brass earrings and rings. More brass held back her long silver-gold hair. She reminded Jaehaera of the portraits of Queen Visenya, her clothing built for quick movement and speed instead of elegant gowns of the court.
She was also holding a very strange sword in one hand; its hilt was like a typical sword if not more blocky with a sharp, thick knuckle guard. The blade itself was long and thick, almost as if the weapon was sheathed except for a portion along the bottom where it revealed the blade that was made up of dozens of sharp hooked teeth like a saw. The teeth were moving, constantly rotating up through the sheath as if it were alive.
There was blood on Helaena, staining her arms with droplets all over her face. Her feet were bare and covered in so much red as if she was wearing crimson stockings.
"Your Grace," Ser Willis said. Jaehaera was only a child but she could hear the stark fear in the man's voice.
"Jaehaera," Helaena smiled at her, ignoring everyone else. "You're alive. I knew you would be here. I'm aware of so much now. Are you alright?"
Words never came well to Jaehaera so she simply nodded.
Helaena's smile was strange, as if she had too many teeth that were too sharp, and there was something wrong about her eyes.
Instead she looked over to where the three daughters were, before saying, "Jaehaera my love, shut your eyes and cover your ears."
Jaehaera obeyed. Even so, she felt something wet splatter against her, the air growing warm with the stench of copper filling the air. She felt Ser Willis push her back, making her fall over, but she kept her hands firmly clamped over her ears and eyes squeezed shut. But even so she could hear a strange high screeching of metal, the noise of steel snapping and flesh and bone being torn apart. A man screaming in agony before just as quickly stopping. Then silence.
Jaehaera remained with her ears covered and eyes shut even as she felt her mother's hands run through her hair and then pick her up. She kept her eyes squeezed shut even as she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, letting Helaena carrying her from the room and not seeing the gory mess of the room where blood had sprayed everywhere from the sharp running teeth of the chainsword.
Helaena was humming as she carried Jaehaera, a soft tune she didn't recognize, as she carried Jaehaera down the stairs and across the corridors until they reached the Round Hall of Storm's End where the ancestral throne of the old Storm Kings sat upon the dais.
It was here Helaena sat with Jaehaera still in her arms.
"You can open your eyes, my sweet daughter," Helaena said quietly.
Jaehaera did, blinking as her eyes took in the gloom of the Round Hall. Braziers were burning but there was an eerie silence holding the keep. Even Jaehaera simply moving, so she was settled more comfortably in Helaena's lap, seemed overly loud.
As she looked around the hall, Jaehaera saw all the skulls. Dozens, hundreds of them. She struggled to count, with the great mountains of skulls piled up in pyramids, over and over as they reached towards the door on the opposite end of the hall like a macabre honour guard, and beyond the open door in the distance she could see Dreamfyre's huge form coiled out in the courtyard. To the side near the back of the hall were various cauldrons with lit fires beneath helping light the room, and in them Jaehaera could see skulls boiling within crimson, the flesh being melted from them to leave the bone.
Jaehaera clung to her mother, suddenly afraid of the room.
"Six thousand," Helaena said dreamily as she stroked Jaehaera's hair. "I tried to keep as many as I could but dragonfire melts even bone. So beyond the castle where his muster sat, there are only some I could salvage with most dying in flame. Inside these castle walls I caught more, and could clean them to present them for Him."
"Him?" Jaehaera asked, barely a whisper. The nearest mountain of skulls was staring at her, blank sockets black like pits.
Helaena hugged her tightly, her mouth at Jaehaera's ear, "At first I was afraid of them all. All whispering and prying and trying to get inside my brain after I witnessed the Horned One. I always heard strange things. I didn't realize what it was at first. I always heard strange things, said strange things. But after Jaehaerys died and I felt so much grief...Lord Tzeentch had wanted me the most before that. He is the the Changer of the Ways, of the past and present and future. To know the terrible knowledge of fate and destiny, like all Dreamers as he hummed within my mind. But after Jaehaerys was murdered my grief swallowed everything else. I felt so helpless. So worthless. I could not protect Jaehaerys. I couldn't protect you, Jaehaera. And I'm sorry I was so weak."
"I'm alive," Jaehaera managed to say. She didn't want to look at the skulls anymore and leaned against her mother's chest. Helaena took her hand in one of hers, and Jaehaera saw how her mother's fingers were stained in black, almost up to the knuckle. She was also missing both her pinky fingers, as if they had been neatly cut off.
"You are," Helaena agreed. She sat back, arranging Jaehaera so she was holding her face in her hands. Now Jaehaera could see her mother's eyes, how the whites were almost gold and how red lines were inching from the sockets as if she had been tattooed in red to mimic tears of blood.
"They said Father is dead," Jaehaera whispered. She felt like she should be more afraid, with so many dead around her. But this was her mother.
"Yes, he is. My nephew has returned," Helaena said, lips pulling back to show her oddly sharp teeth. "I could sense him the moment he crossed the sea. I think he understands. He called me broken so long ago and he was right. Yet now I have clarity. The Hunter of Souls came to me, in my disrepair after Jaehaerys's death. I fought at first. I did not want to burn anyone. I did not want to fight. But then I saw more, I saw myself fling myself from the window. A fate you would have some years later. Grief brought me nothing, my visions brought me nothing. Perhaps...instead He came with rage and courage. And after you were taken and all else abandoned me He was there to accept me. Even when everyone wanted none of me. So I accepted and I have never felt more alive."
"I don't understand," Jaehaera said. It was like she wasn't really being spoken to. Helaena's eyes were purple like always but the yellow glow of her scleras made her look off, strange. And her words...Helaena was like Jaehaera, she did not like to talk too much. But now she did so much and with such zeal.
"There is no peace. There is only time wasted between battles," Helaena told her, "And this lasting peace from the Old King, from King Viserys, it was a herald to this war which is to be the most catastrophic Westeros would see for generations. Kill, burn, maim. Subterfuge is cowardly. What Aemond did to Lucerys, what Daemon did to my boy...Cravens, them both. They should have taken the swords themselves, instead of acting as cowards. They would eventually above the God's Eye but they should have done it from the first blow. Martial courage is the true extent of one's will. Violence is a universal language and He is teaching me it. I was tired of being alone and scared so I chose strength."
"Who is He, mother?" Jaehaera's voice was a soft yet it sounded so loud in the Round Hall.
Helaena leaned forward pressing her forehead against Jaehaera's as she hugged her close. Her voice was near inaudible as she whispered, "His name is Khorne. Lord of Rage and God of Blood. Once I accepted Him within me I now know and want so much. War should be to test yourself against your enemies whatever the reason. Jealousy, rage, sport, hunger, political advantage, territory, possession, revenge, all sources of war just like the one we are now tangled within. Because my family wished for the Iron Throne that wasn't theirs. It's why my child died, why my husband died, why we would both die along with all the dragons. We are descendants of Aegon the Conqueror, and he sent word when he began his Conquest- those who bent the knee would keep their lands and titles, but those that did not he would destroy. The same is for this war."
"I don't want to destroy anyone," Jaehaera said, torn between clinging to her mother or trying to leave. She wanted to go back to the time where it was her and her brother, playing in their rooms as their mother watched and sewed and everything was normal.
"You won't," Helaena promised her, wrapping her arms tightly around Jaehaera. "I have seen what happens. I will not let you suffer through war, my sweet girl. I will not let war take your joy. Make you broken-eyed and tearful. I won't let it impale you on those spikes, to be in pain for so long before you pass. He is allowing this, this...mercy. In his grand hatred and kindness. I love you so much."
She did not like the name of the god Helaena spoke of. It frightened her, like the room with the pillars of skulls. Like her mother's eyes, as if something else was peeking at her through them. But she loved her mother and her mother loved her.
"I love you too," she said truthfully even if her mother was scaring her right now.
"Sleep sweetly, my darling," Helaena whispered, before she tightened her grip and snapped her daughter's neck.
Jaehaera was dead before the sound had even finished echoing through the room.
Notes:
x
Actions
↑ Top ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Edit Bookmark Comments (25)
Kudos
Paddle_Dragon, TheRedHood1e, Sparta10, Svuvyzusuki, Debbyblack09, Ana_17_AA, Crutt_Nacker2008, CecyBlack, Tasya_Claw029, Jasonthedeer, trouverme, ManiacaLaugh, dog3n, Soneaa, The_Most_Lovely_Rodent, Saya_Rose, Mel_ina, Diamonds4Daffodils, Thedarkknight12, Cassisins, wiejmx, NoNameGambit, Imotek, Strawberryboi, LiteralPanic, Poopsi, Donutlover4, Password5363, Kw921225, Pixel_Picasso, 0037, ForgottenAngerCourter, AndromiaTornado, ariadne22, lucifer_devil5, Sulzi, XiuLan_GracefulOrchid, ordermixtre, OwlrageousJones, b_s_s_rr_s, SabrinaRodrigues, WitcherGod90, Lescliffe, Starvaleorrego, Lsywastx369, Kaustubh, 3Juul, Kai_Meli, NotaPridefulWitch, Jazzy_Savvy, and 333 more users as well as 366 guests left kudos on this work!
Comments
Post Comment
Comment as TheBrimmedHat
Plain text with limited HTML ?
Comment
10000 characters left
Footer
Customize
Default
Low Vision Default
Reversi
Snow Blue
About the Archive
Site Map
Diversity Statement
Terms of Service
Content Policy
Privacy Policy
DMCA & TIDA Policies
Site Status
Contact Us
Policy Questions & Abuse Reports
Technical Support & Feedback
Development
otwarchive v1.2.0.0
Known Issues
GPL-2.0-or-later by the OTW