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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
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123 AC, King's Landing
Rhaenyra Targaryen couldn't help but despair at how quickly things could change. A little less than a year ago, she had been the heir to the throne, the future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Over half of the lords of the realm had supported her, and more importantly, her father. And yet, there she lay now, a prisoner in the capital of the realm that should have been her own, betrayed by her husband and her previous supporters, all because she dared to face a threat that they were all too cowardly to do the same.
The Potters were a threat to her and her children. The woman had threatened to destroy her darling children's lives with her parentage detector, which was something that she could not allow, and her husband acted without impunity and had far too much influence over the king, likely far more than even Otto Hightower had, all because of his lies regarding prophecies, which had enthralled her father.
After all, how else would her father suffer so, remove her as heir when he had spent decades ensuring that her birthright would be protected? It had to be some form of magic. The Potters were obviously planning on usurping the Seven Kingdoms, and as they could not defeat her, and hid like cowards when she moved against them, they had convinced her father to imprison her, all to rid themselves of the greatest threat to their power, her.
She could see their influence with every move she attempted, being undone. Even the guards that she managed to somewhat endear herself towards had been replaced promptly after. To think that she, the Realm's Delight, had to attempt to seduce guards with the hope of escaping this false imprisonment, of trying to speak some sense to her father, of fighting their shared enemy, though he did not know of it.
And now, in a few days, their plan would finally be unfurled, for she would be shipped back to Dragonstone, while also remaining under the authority of a Castellan. She would be all but a prisoner in the island that was once her own, dragonless, for her darling Syrax shall be the only chained dragon in the Dragonpit, remaining in King's Landing forever.
Her children would not even return with her, with Jace, Luke, and Joffrey going to Driftmark with the Sea Snake to teach them his ways. She would have been agreeable to such a thing if she knew for a fact that Rhaenys would never allow them to become lords of Driftmark, given that they did not share her blood.
Rhaenys would likely remain as her father's Hand, alongside Rhaena and Laena. Daemon also elected to stay, to keep an eye on their children, Aegon and Viserys, who her father insisted on remaining in the Capital. Rhaenyra had a hard time accepting the authority of the child who usurped her, though obviously not willingly. She had always feared that her half-brother would have been the one to do so, but to think that it was another Aegon entirely, her child, whom her father would prefer over her, whom the realm would choose over her, it broke something in her, a feeling that she had never felt since her mother's death all those years ago.
No, that could not be possible.
It was the sorcerer. It must have been.
They must have enchanted the entire realm, planning on raising a weak ruler, one that was as weak as her father, and just as easily manipulated. They would take the legacy of the House of the Dragon, of the last true heirs of Valyria, and make it their own.
She could not let that happen. She would not.
Her father might be too blind to see it, but their legacy would be usurped. Daemon knew of it, of course, but he was too afraid of the Potters, too afraid of their power, even when they hid and ran when she was at her strongest, when she could have slain them with the power of a greater being. Alicent was too caught up in her grief to care, and she didn't expect any of her half-siblings to help her in any way, not when they would have usurped her, not when Helaena Targaryen was also obviously their thrall, a traitor to her own blood.
If House Targaryen were free from the Potters, it would need to be by her hands that she would do it.
Alas, that was something that she did not think would be possible, for she had been helpless, a princess of House Targaryen with no power, with no dragon, and no supporters. She had almost resigned herself to her fate until it occurred.
It happened some time ago; she simply woke up one day with a warmth coursing through her veins, one that was unlike anything she had felt before. It almost felt suffocating, and she urged herself to let it out somehow, and it followed her command, releasing a small ball of flames that almost scorched her bed and Myrish silk sheets.
It had taken Rhaenyra days to replicate the feat, days during which she was convinced of her cause. The gods had obviously heard her pleas and blessed her with this power, the power of Old Valyria, to free their lands from the clutches of the Potters. With this power, which grew with every day that passed, she found herself regaining something that she had lost since she had lost the Great Council: hope.
She had hope that she would have the power to free herself, to regain what was lost from her, to protect her children from those who wished to use them, and so, she gained a plan, which she needed to enact before she was shipped to Dragonstone, where her options would be far more limited.
First, she needed to escape this room. She memorised the shifts of the guards and knew when they would be the most asleep. They were not the most vigilant of guards, truly, for they only needed to stop a weak princess from escaping, something that they could easily manage. They were less organised near the end of their shifts, and that was something that she would use. It was a shame that they would be hurt, but they were keeping a dragon chained and would need to bear the consequences of such an act.
She would fight her way to the Dragonpit and rescue her darling Syrax, the only chained dragon. She would then rescue her children from this hive of betrayal and villainy that was King's Landing and take them back home to Dragonstone, where they would be safe.
From then on, she would need to plan quickly. The idea of getting the many Dragonseeds that remain on Dragonstone to claim the wild dragons within the island had always been there if Alicent's whelp had attempted to usurp her position. She could even give whoever managed to claim a knighthood or perhaps even a lordship, and with their strength, she would fly back to the Capital and burn every soul that the Potters had corrupted with their magicks. She would sit upon the Iron Throne, as it had always been her birthright, as regent to her son to protect him from all who would seek to use him to their own ends. She would cleanse the Seven Kingdoms of the rot that had been spreading since these cursed sorcerers came to their shores and finally return the realm to Aegon the Conqueror's vision.
And it would all begin this day. If she were right, at this moment, the guards should be a few hours into their shift and quite tired. They should not notice her move until it was too late, if she was careful, of course.
Rhaenyra calmly walked towards the door and took a deep breath, putting her hand on the hinges of the door that imprisoned her. Slowly, but surely, the hinges began to redden as they became hotter, glowing almost white. She had practised many times on a few candlesticks that she hid, and it had worked quite well, though she was now gasping as she felt quite drained. Then, with that done, she swiped her hand, and the hinges broke, making the door fall to the ground with a loud thud.
She did not care for the noise, for she was now free, and the power that thrummed through her veins reassured her. She was a dragon, and dragons had no need for the opinion of those that were beneath them.
Just as she walked forward, ready to burn the guard and begin her plan, she found herself surprised to realise that there were no guards at all. Perhaps, they had decided to leave their duties early, thinking that she had no chance of escaping her confinement. Perhaps she truly had her gods' favour, as her plan would go far more smoothly without fighting any guards. Oh, she planned on burning them. After all, they had betrayed her, resisted their rightful ruler's commands, and didn't even have the decency to be competent guards.
As she walked forward, a sudden shroud of complete darkness covered the entire corridor. Rhaenyra raised her hand and released a blast of flames, only to realise that even her fire's light was absorbed almost immediately. She heard a voice speak echoing everywhere around her, "You cannot pass."
The effect only lasted for a few seconds, and when the shroud of darkness was lifted away, she saw herself standing before the familiar figure of her half-sister, Helaena Targaryen. Her sister stood there, with a confident look on her face, likely unaware of the danger she faced before Rhaenyra's new might, though she couldn't help but wonder what this strange burst of darkness was.
The girl continued, "It is called Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, at least that is what Lord Harry said its name was. This was the first time that I had used it. I think I quite like its effects. But that is not why I am here."
Rhaenyra growled at her half-sister, "Are you here to send me back to my cell?"
The younger princess walked forward. "I am afraid that time has passed for such a thing, hasn't it?"
She found herself nodding at that, "Why did you betray me, Helaena? Why did you betray our family for them?"
Helaena shook her head, "How blind you are, for you not to see what is before you, what you have become. The world has not betrayed you, Rhaenyra. Your mistakes are your undoing, sister, nothing more."
Rhaenyra suppressed the urge to smirk as Helaena had come closer than she should have. She felt her tiredness fade away as more power thrummed through her veins, "It is you who is blind, whore."
And so, she quickly released a great jet of flames, likely far greater than she ever had before when she practised in her room, enough that it completely enveloped the young Princess's frame, and it was the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen. Rhaenyra did not know why she began laughing.
Perhaps it was because the Potters' greatest pawn was now gone, or maybe it was because the girl who had been responsible for making Rhaenyra lose everything was finally dead by her hand. Oh, how she revelled at how Alicent would scream in agony, or perhaps, she would not know what happened, as all that would remain of her daughter would be ash.
She was so consumed with her laughter that she practically jumped as she heard Helaena's voice behind her: "That was… disappointing."
Rhaenyra barely had time to turn, only to be met with an impact to her chest that made it hard for her to breathe.
Helaena looked down at her with a detachment that she had never seen in her eyes before, though she would admit that she had not interacted much with her sister, "I knew that this would be how you would react, but it is different seeing it with my own eyes. Perhaps I hoped that it had been the Red God that had driven you to such drastic measures, but while this power, your flames, was likely awakened due to a remnant of your possession, you are the one wielding them."
Still feeling the impact and barely able to breathe, Rhaenyra gasped out, "How?"
"Illusions. It was a whim of mine, a curiosity, at first, and I have barely learned much of them, but I cannot deny their usefulness."
Did the Potters truly teach her magic, Helaena of all people? That fact alone made it all the more urgent to rid the world of her before she grew too strong and remove the sorcerers' taint from her family's legacy. "Is this what they promised you to betray your own blood, lessons in magicks?"
Rhaenyra did not wait for an answer, as she prepared to slap her sister, her eyes enveloped with flames, only for the younger girl to easily move to the side as if she had anticipated the motion, and push her hand up, making the flames rise up into the air, instead of being anywhere near her.
She tried to retaliate with her other hand, only for the younger girl to punch her in the chest once more, specifically in a place that made it hard to breathe. Then, Helaena performed a strange manoeuvre with her legs, making Rhaenyra fall to her knees as she struggled to breathe.
Rhaenyra, in the meantime, attempted to conjure more flames, though her enemy carefully kicked her hand, making the flames miss their target, before kicking her in the chest, making the breath leave her lungs, as she gasped loudly.
The moment she opened her mouth, Rhaenyra realised that Helaena had thrown something in it. She barely had to react before the younger girl lifted her chin, and Rhaenyra instinctively swallowed whatever it was.
And just like that, Helaena took a few steps back and spoke up, "It saddens me to see how far you have fallen, sister. Some of whom are due to circumstances that are not fully under your control. I wish… I wish there had been any other way, sister, I truly do, but I cannot allow your madness to spread to sow chaos and instability, for nought but your own pride. But if it is any consolation, you never truly stood a chance. I have walked this path a thousand times, and it always ended the same way."
Rhaenyra would admit that she did not know exactly what her sister meant, especially as she felt a feeling of coolness spread throughout her body, quenching the fire within. She felt weaker, far weaker than she had in some time, and she tried to summon her flames, only to fail. She looked up to her sister, still kneeling, feeling a pit fall in her gut, "What… did… you… do?"
Her sister gave her a pitying look. "You swallowed a small seed of Lady Daphne's design. I lack much of the understanding of the specific, only that it spreads through your blood, and consumes what magic you have within your body."
Rhaenyra wished to deny it, but Helaena's words rang true as she felt her inner fire fade away. She growled as she did her best to release one last attack, one last spark. She gathered her fires at her fist and leapt towards Helaena, only for the younger girl to have grabbed her hand with a dispassionate look on her face, waiting for the meagre flames that she called on to slowly fade away.
It was then that Rhaenyra began to gasp, as she felt something in her, something aside from her fire, also began to be snuffed out. Her connection with Syrax had felt so distant in that moment, and it continued to do so again and again, until finally, it faded away.
She knew instinctively that she would never ride Syrax again, that her bond with her dragon was stifled, overwhelmed, and there was nothing that she could do to make it return to what it once was. She felt a keen sense of loss at that, and she fell down, feeling weaker than she ever had before, weaker than when her mother died on the birthing bed, while she could do nothing to save her. She fell to her knees once more, with tears falling into her eyes. She felt so tired, too tired, and as the world darkened, she only saw Helaena's pitying eyes looking back at her: "I'm sorry it came to this, sister, but I must beg you not to test the mercy that I have shown you today. Farewell."
When she woke up days later, she found herself on Dragonstone, a prisoner in everything but name on the island that she once ruled. She remembered Helaena's eyes well, these merciless yet pitying eyes, ones that she continued to shudder at their mere memory of them, wishing not to bring the girl's attention to her once more, for she was not sure that she would survive it this time.
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The Legacy of Rhaenyra Targaryen on the Seven Kingdoms
By Lady Margaery of Highgarden
Despite her controversial depiction in the history books, Rhaenyra Targaryen remains, nonetheless, one of the most important figures in House Targaryen, for even traces of her actions remain to this day.
Many know of the story of Rhaenyra the Fool, who had been the chosen heir of King Viserys the Peaceful and could have been the Seven Kingdoms' first ruling Queen. Alas, her involvement in the attack on the Capital, her murder of the Queen's father, and attempted murder of her sister, Princess Helaena Targaryen, forced her father to strip her of her titles and, after the Great Council, banish her to Dragonstone, where she would wield little authority, and with her mount, Syrax, chained in the Capital.
The reign of Viserys the Peaceful had been a great opportunity for noble ladies, ones that were unlike anything that they had seen before, for it had seen the prosperous reign of Jeyne Arryn, and her effective campaign against the Mountain Clans that plagued the Vale for thousands of years, as well as Rhea Royce's rule as Lady of Runestone to a lesser extent. It had been a display of how competent a woman could be as a ruler, for none could claim that what the Mountain Clans suffered was the actions of a soft-hearted woman. Alas, Princess Rhaenyra's actions pushed back much of the goodwill that the Maiden of Vale was able to achieve during her rule. This was translated during the Conquest of Dorne, where Andal law, which highlighted the preference of a male ruler over a female one, replaced the Dornish one, of the older child, be it man or woman, would inherit a seat.
Of course, women's places in society improved greatly from what they once were, especially after magic became more commonplace in the world. It became something of a tradition for women of the Reach to learn basic healing spells in the Citadel, enough that they became quite indispensable in society, though the story of Rhaenyra the Fool remained on everyone's mind whenever a female lady was considered to rule a castle. This only changed after Princess Daenerys became the Princess of Dorne after her feats as she fought her father's rebellion.
However, that did not change the fact that Rhaenyra Targaryen played a crucial part in what the world is today, and in my opinion, quite purposefully. We know now, after the scandal of the Citadel of Oldtown, that the order of Maesters had purposefully spread this story to frighten lords from letting their daughter inherit their seats, something that became quite effective even after their fall.
But perhaps there were things that were much more sinister at hand. Rhaenyra Targaryen was said to have been possessed by a demon of sorts, which at the time could be any sort of mind-based spell, especially given the accounts of her state of mind after the attack. There was supposedly another event involving her prior to her banishment to Dragonstone, but there were few mentions of it anywhere, as it was not particularly noteworthy. Yet, it was said that she loudly blamed the Sorcerer, who was stealing the throne. Some believe that she spoke of the Sorcerer of Dragonstone, a supposedly legendary mage with no confirmed accounts. Centuries later, we know very little of what might have occurred to the woman, and it is unlikely that we would discover more.
What we do know is that Rhaenyra Targaryen never left Dragonstone after her banishment, despite the pleas of her sons after King Viserys's death. Aside from her numerous supposed rants of the sorcerer, the princess was similarly terrified of her half-sister, blaming anything that occurred to her, no matter how absurd, on some scheme involving her. Given that Helaena Targaryen was known for her gentleness and generosity across the realm, this did not lend credence to her incoherent babbling.
To this day, we do not know if the woman's madness was induced by some sort of spell or simply natural, or if her actions were her own, though completely foolish in nature. However, the potential remains that this could potentially be the first use of magic as a weapon for politics, one that was targeted at every woman of noble blood and affected them for centuries.
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AN: I'm not sure about this chapter. I thought I'd use the opportunity to wrap up a few loose ends, one of which is Rhaenyra and her potential to sow even more chaos in the Seven Kingdoms. I wanted to show a bit of Helaena's growth as she learned under Harry and Daphne, as well as how terrifyingly effective she was becoming, enough that Rhaenyra became scared shitless of her after being banished. I tried ot make it so Rhaenyra's thoughts are scattered and repetitive to show how far she's gone, but I'm not sure I pulled it off quite right. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.