Chapter Text
"Blood runs thicker than water but both feel the same when your eyes are closed."
It wasn't the first birth that Rhaenyra had to subject herself to the pain and heat she felt as her temperature rose, no, Jacaerys was her first child. This was the second birth, and the more complicated of the two.
The birth of the second child of the crown princess lasted little more than a day of pain and small murmurs that came out of the mouth of the woman who held on to the rustic bed made of wood where there was a carved dragon, began to get worse when night fell and the only source of lighting were the candles that burned and dimly glowed the room, forming shadows that frightened her as affliction and despair hit her hard. The Maester spoke, but she didn't hear him, didn't want to listen, not as she watched the midwives as they pulled the bloodstained cloths under the princess and put on clean cloths. The Red Keep didn't sleep that fateful day, and neither did the king and Queen.
The stranger did not arrive for the princess.
As the first rays of sunlight came to illuminate the Keep, the white-haired, silver-haired child like her own was finally born.
Rhaenyra was exhausted, but she regained all her strength when she heard the newborn's torturous cry. Rhaenyra stretched out her arms, trembling a little but smiling as the midwife with calloused hands stained with royal blood placed the little prince on her chest, close to her heart.
Fortunately, this child was not given the title of bastard as the first one did, only because of silver-colored strands of hair and the abnormal violet color of the second child's eyes; For despite being the first child, Jace could never have the same privilege of being born as his brother.
"Finally, one that resembles one of you, no?" That's what Queen Consort Alicent Hightower said to Rhaenyra and Leanor while visiting the little new Velaryon, with her youngest son, Daeron in her arms.
Leanor smiled, completely embarrassed and withdrawn, Rhaenyra simply decided to ignore her old friend's comments and comforted herself with the weight of the child in her arms.
"Maybe you should try to have one that resembles you, don't you think, dear Queen?" Rhaenyra ended up speaking, referring to the queen's children who looked nothing like their mother. Her children were barely educated by her, "Maybe it would make you spend more time with them." Rhaenyra finished speaking in a sweet and harsh tone, the way she spoke betrayed true intentions about the comment. She knew how to control herself better now that she was no longer the girl who acted impulsively, however it seemed that her stepmother knew exactly what to say to make her mad.
Alicent didn't respond to the comment, as Daeron started moving in her arms and she was forced to leave the Crown Princess's quarters.
Also, Rhaenyra didn't know that the appearance of her second child would make her angry, but it happened. A few moons after the boy's birth, she reveled in watching her first son Jace play with some wooden toys made especially for the crown princess's successor, large and small dragons, little houses made and embroidered with the symbol of the Targaryen house. It occurred to him that although Jace was her successor, it was Aemond who received the most gifts when he was introduced to the court, duly of course.
Rhaenyra knew that her two children were not totally immune from being called bastards, she listened to the whispers and stories that the maids told while thinking they were only among themselves, Aemond was also the target of those rumors because despite the coloring of his hair he still did not have the dark skin of Leanor Velaryon, but it was Jacaerys who stole all the attention of the court, he looked too much like Ser Harwin not to be talked about.
Aemond was resting in his arms now, Harwin Strong's. While the child slept patiently, Ser Harwin said something that made Rhaenyra completely irritated, angry: "He really takes after you, my princess."
Rhaenyra sighed and massaged her temples when she heard that, "Can't I go a minute without being constantly reminded of this fact?" She said, she was not entirely altered, but certainly irritated and tired of the same subject for several and several moons that passed.
Jace, who was on the floor, being cared for by a wet nurse while playing, looked at his mother and Ser Harwin only said, "I won't bring it up anymore, princess." Acting like the sworn shield that he was supposed to be, what he was supposed to just be.
Rhaenyra felt guilty for being harsh, but she didn't apologize, she was still too proud to do so.
Aemond opened his eyes, but did not cry.
"Mummy?" She heard the boy calling, she also felt his hands holding her skirt. "When will I have a dragon, like you, Jace and Father?" It was Aemond who said it.
While Jace, who had just turned six years old, Aemond had turned five and Lucerys four. Everyone possessed a dragon, but Aemond. Lucerys and Jacaerys' dragons hatched in the cradle, but Aemond's egg only became cold and hard as a stone.
Rhaenyra knew that it was becoming difficult for the child to assimilate that he was different from his siblings, in appearance and that he could not visit the dragonpit with her because it would be dangerous, even when she took him on flights in Syrax, Aemond was not fully satisfied, the boy longed for something more, something that even he did not know what it was, for being so small and carrying so much envy for the majestic beasts that flew above the city, above where he lived. That's why the two of them were here now, sitting side by side in a carriage after flying with Syrax.
"You'll have a dragon one day." Rhaenyra firmly spoke to her second son, stroking his head and running her fingers between the strands of his messy hair.
The carriage moved from one side to the other in a way that was not at all comfortable or pleasant, Aemond continued to sulk and with a closed face, he was jealous and wished to be like all the other members of his family.
Sometimes Rhaenyra wondered if all these emotions weren't too great for a child of only five to feel so hard.
"Your cousin Laena Velaryon only claimed her dragon at the age of fifteen, she is now the rider of Vhagar, the largest dragon in the world, Queen Visenya's dragon." Rhaenyra spoke whispering to him and then kissing his head, "You're already a dragon, Aemond." She said, Aemond hugged her, and they were silent for the entire trip to the Red Keep.
The whispers never stopped. Some say Aemond Velaryon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne after Rhaenyra Targaryen, others say it is Aegon II Targaryen.
And the rotting, incompetent king remains locked in his bubble of ignorance, ignoring all the signs of heartbreak and betrayal that are yet to come and could have been avoided.