Chapter Text
The hall was quiet, and Alicent stood in her deep green gown. Rhaenyra frowned. She looked at her father; he had been left speechless. She heard Alicent descend the stairs, and the chairs scratched the floor as the Lords rose for the queen. She kept looking at her father. This was a blasphemy, an insult; she knew what it meant: the tardiness, the colour of the gown and the face on Alicent. She knew her better than her father did; she was…no. She wouldn't dare.
Rhaenyra looked around, Rhaenys and Coryl sharing a look of desbelief, Rhaenys' narrowed eyes, her father staring, gapping, Daemon's smirk banished. She looked at the Lord's, the confusion, the whispering, the disapproval, the approval. No, she could not let this continue; this was her wedding, and Alicent couldn't come in here and declare war. Not when she was about to give up her life just to get rid of that scheming bastard of Otto Hightower. She turned to Laenor, who looked at her, confused. - “I'm sorry”,- she whispered. He frowned but gave her a curt nod. Alicent was almost at the stairs to come join them at the table. She didn't think; she grabbed her cup of wine and threw it at her feet. Making her gasp and jump, the whole room went silent. Her father turned to her.
“How dare you!”- Rhaenyra said- “You dare come in here, late…”
“Rhaenyra…”-her father grabbed her by the elbow, but she pulled away.
“No, you can stand there and stare all you want, but I would not tolerate her disrespect!”- she spat at him. Her father was so pale he didn't know how to react. She pointed at Alicent, still rooted to the spot, eyes wide, with a lingering arrogance. — “I didn't tolerate disrespect from her snake of a father, and I won't do it for her.”- She turned to her — “You arrived late and wearing a green dress, Alicent. That is a peculiar colour.”
Alicent’s expression hardened into a mask of disdain. —“It is only a colour, stepdaughter. My apologies for the delay, it was not my…”
“It was not your intention to, what? To ensure that every eye in the Seven Kingdoms was fixed solely upon you?”- Rhaenyra’s voice was like a whip.- “You are so starved for notice that you felt the need to orchestrate a spectacle.”
Alicent moved to close the distance, but Rhaenyra checked her with the violent toss of her spoon, the silver ringing against the stone. Her father barked her name in warning, but Rhaenyra didn't even blink. — "Your tardiness is of no consequence to me; it is the colour of your dress I wish to discuss…”
Alicent let out a disparaging breath, half-turning her body toward the assembled lords, while keeping her gaze pinned on Rhaenyra.- “You are making a spectacle of yourself, Rhaenyra, and over nothing. I am well aware you have been spiralling of late, but…”
At the Queen’s words, the hall erupted in a flurry of hushed whispers and sharp gasps. Viserys’s voice suddenly thundered above the din.- “Enough! This is a disgrace! What has possessed both of you?”
“I am the one out of control?”- Rhaenyra let out a humourless laugh. -”You are the one declaring war, and I demand to know against whom!”
“Rhaenyra!”- Her father seized her arm with such sudden, clumsy violence that he jolted her against the table. She let out a sharp gasp of pain as the wood bit into her side.
Daemon bolted upright.- “Viserys, release her,” -he warned, his voice low and dangerous-"You dare lay hands on your daughter for this…”- he signalled the queen.
Her father stared at his hand in dazed horror, as if he couldn't comprehend what he had just committed. He looked out in the hall, and silence had descended; the lords and ladies suddenly found the floor more interesting than the royal scandal unfolding before them.
Rhaenyra met his eyes, pulling her bruised arm back with a sharp jerk. -“Should I hold my tongue? While your Queen raises a banner against us in our halls?”
Alicent’s mask of arrogance finally cracked, replaced by a flicker of genuine unease. -”It is merely a colour,”- she stammered, her voice losing its edge.
“The colours of House Targaryen are black and red,”- Daemon’s voice cut through the air.
Alicent eyed him with disdain. -”Prince Daemon. I was unaware your presence had been requested.”
"It wasn't," -Daemon replied with a lazy, dangerous grin. -"But I wouldn't dream of missing such an event. Besides, this is my home, and it was mine for many years before you ever set foot in it."
Viserys slammed his palm against the table.-"Enough! Silence! Alicent, leave us and change that gown. Daemon… out."
Rhaenyra said,- "No. No one is leaving. The Queen owes me an answer."
Viserys turned his gaze toward the hall, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous rumble.- "The King has given an order, and it will be obeyed."
Rhaenyra looked him dead in the eye, her expression one of pure contempt.- "With all due respect, Father, I find I care very little for what the King wants." -She shoved her chair back with such violence that the screech of wood against stone made the lords flinch. Without another word, she swept towards Daemon, making for the stairs.
"The colours of House Hightower are white and grey,"- Rhaenyra’s voice rang out cold and steady. -"But when the beacon atop the High Tower glows green... that is the call to war. So I ask you again, Alicent: against whom do you draw your sword? Is it against me? Against your husband? Against the Velaryon?"
Alicent offered no reply. She stood agape, her eyes wide as saucers, her breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps. Her lips twitched as if trying to form a word, but she remained utterly voiceless.
"Stop your stammering and answer," -Rhaenyra hissed. -"You found the courage to don that gown; find the courage to defend it now!"
The Queen’s face turned a violent shade of crimson, her stature stiffening with pure venom. -"You dare? You think yourself my equal?" -Alicent’s voice was a low snarl. -"I am the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and you will show me the respect I am due, you insolent brat!"
The entire hall watched in paralysed terror. Daemon made a sudden move forward, causing the Kingsguard to snap into a defensive stance, steel ringing as they drew. Her father's voice cracked through the tension, screaming for everyone to sheathe their blades, but Rhaenyra had passed the point of reason. A seething, poisonous rage, a bitter disappointment, finally boiled over.
"My Queen died giving life to my brother,"- Rhaenyra spat, her voice trembling. -"She died after giving her very soul to this realm. You? You have never been my Queen. You were my companion, my sister, and you traded that love to crawl into my father’s bed. You are no sovereign. You are a usurper, a girl, just as I am. But while I stand in the light of my actions, you hide behind them. That makes you a coward."
Alicent looked frantically toward the lords, her eyes searching for a single ally, but the room remained a tomb. No one moved. The Kingsguard hovered over the table, Daemon was a looming shadow just paces away, and her father sat slumped, blinking as if the words were failing him.
"Rhaenyra, enough," -Rhaenys interjected, her voice cool and commanding.- "The Queen has erred, clearly. But these are matters for privacy, not this spectacle."
Lord Corlys nodded sternly. -"Indeed. This… whatever this is needs to end. Is my house to suffer more embarrassments…"
"Oh, spare me, Lord Corlys!” -Rhaenyra whirled on him, her laugh short and cruel. -"If the Velaryons are masters of anything, it is the art of being offended. You’ve nursed your wounded pride since the Old King passed you over.”- She shrugged while the Lord's eyes widened- “a coward’s choice, I’ll grant you. And Rhaenys has learned to wear her bitterness as dignity. Again, you were 'offended' when my father passed over Laena,”- she pointed at her cousin. -“Look at her, so bright and happy. My father did her a kindness by sparing her his bed!”-
Her father sputtered.
She looked up at the ceiling, breathing hard-“ But no one allows me to be offended. Do you think I want this marriage? Do you think your son wants me? Neither of us desires this wretched union. So be offended all you like; I find I no longer care.”
She turned back to Alicent, her gaze pinning the Queen to her spot.- "This insufferable, bitter woman wants a war? Fine. We shall have it. Tell me, Alicent, is this your war alone? Or does the whole of House Hightower stand against me?"
Alicent didn't answer. Instead, she turned her eyes toward her husband, her voice a mere ghost of a whisper. -“Viserys…”- she began tentatively, but the words died in her throat. Around her, the Hightower kin shifted, their chairs clanking in the uncomfortable silence.
Rhaenys attempted once more to de-escalate, her gaze pleading with the King to intervene, but Rhaenyra was far past the point of return. If the war had begun, she would see it through to the end.
"I find I no longer care, Alicent,"- Rhaenyra said, her voice cutting through the murmurs.- "It matters not if you or your house desire war. We all know your father was stripped of his chain for conspiring against the Iron Throne."
"A lie!" -Alicent shrieked. -"My father served with..."
"Your father served only his greed," -Rhaenyra countered. -"My father was simply too blinded by his goodness to see that he had mistaken treachery for friendship."
"My father held this realm together!"- Alicent’s composure was fracturing.- "You cast him out. Viserys allowed himself to be manipulated after… after…”
"After what, Alicent? Speak it plainly,"- Rhaenyra challenged, her eyes narrowing.- "But remember the consequences of the words you choose."
Alicent let out a jagged cry of pure, unadulterated fury.- "After you played the whore with Prince Daemon!"
The hall erupted into instant, deafening chaos. Corlys let out a roar of indignation, while Rhaenys whirled around to look at Laenor and Daemon. Laenor merely sighed, a weary sound, and slumped back into his chair.
The Hightower supporters took up the cry. "Harlot!" "Whore!" "Disinherit the girl!" The Lannisters turned to the King, their voices demanding he take control of his unruly daughter.
Rhaenyra, seemingly unbothered by the storm, stepped toward the High Table. She reached out, took her father’s wine cup, and drained it in one long, defiant pull.
"You see?"- Alicent gestured wildly to the court.- "You see how this insolent girl believes she can wear a crown? When she is…"
"You lie, Alicent!"- Rhaenyra slammed the cup down.- "I never bedded Daemon. I gave my virtue to someone else, it is true, but not to him. And you," -she leaned in, her voice a low hiss, -"know exactly who it was."
Alicent froze, the blood draining from her face. Viserys surged to his feet, his chair scraping violently against the floor.- "Rhaenyra! What is the meaning of this?"
"The Princess is soiled!" -Lord Corlys’s voice thundered above the rest.- "I demand—"
"Father!"- Laenor stood, his voice ringing with exasperation. -"Enough! By the Gods, I am no saint myself. Why does this matter?"
"The bastards she might…—" Corlys began.
"Father, that was months ago," -Laenor interrupted, crossing his arms. -"Besides, I already knew. Rhaenyra told me herself, and I find I do not care. Nor should any of you. Every soul in this room is stained with sin; do not pretend otherwise."
Daemon closed the distance between them in two long strides, his fingers clamping around her elbow. His face was a storm of conflicting emotions.- "Who?" -he demanded, the word like a low growl.
"What is it to you?" -Rhaenyra snapped, wrenching her arm back.- "You abandoned me, and now what you’ve left behind. I am forced into a political marriage, and Laenor is to be enslaved to a throne he never sought."
"My son is a grandson of a king…"- Corlys began, his voice booming with pride.
Rhaenyra rolled her eyes, a sharp, cynical sound escaping her throat. -"Truly, you men have a gift for the dramatic. What matters now is the Queen. She has drawn a line in the dirt and called for war. So, let us see it then who among you declares for her, and who stands with me?"
Alicent let out a sharp, panicked gasp, her composure disintegrating. -"No, I didn’t… that is not what I intended…”
Rhaenys cut her off, her voice vibrating with a cold, simmering fury. -"Then what did you intend, child?"- She shook her head, before snapping her focus back to Alicent.-"What did you think would happen, Alicent? Every soul in this hall understood your meaning the moment you crossed the threshold. You have declared war upon the Crown itself. You have insulted your husband, the Heir to the Throne, and my son. A war is not won with pretty speeches or the shade of a gown, you foolish girl. It is won with steel, with gold, and with blood. You have put the realm to division.”
The Great Hall became a cacophony of noise. Lords squared off , and wives spat bitter whispers; the air was thick with friction. Rhaenyra looked at Alicent, disappointed.
"Look at your handiwork, Alicent," -Rhaenyra said, her voice dropping to a lethal silk.- "You presumed I would remain silent. You thought I would bow my head, swallow your insults. No, you courted chaos, and now I will have you drown in it."
As Alicent collapsed into a fit of jagged, desperate sobs, Rhaenyra let out a long, weary sigh. She turned her back on the weeping Queen and began to walk back to her seat, her head held high.
In the midst of the tumult, Daemon moved. With an imperceptible tilt of his head, he gave the signal; unnoticed, Ser Harwin Strong slipped into the shadows and vanished from the hall.
"SILENCE!" -Daemon’s voice thundered, cutting through the bickering-"Rhaenys! Viserys! With me now. And Rhaenyra, hold your tongue!"
Rhaenyra gave a sharp roll of her eyes, the picture of boredom, and sank back into her chair.
…
Daemon paced the Council Chamber like a caged beast, Viserys and Rhaenys behind him- "Damn it all, Viserys, you need to impose order."
"Order?" -Viserys echoed, his voice hollow and dry.- "There was order. Then you arrived, and then Alicent..."
"Alicent walked in sowing ruin,"- Daemon countered.- "Rhaenyra simply cut her down. Perhaps not with the finest grace, but she did it. Better to have this rot exposed now than years down the line."
Rhaenys had remained a statue of icy silence until now.- "Why did you not tell me?" -she asked, her voice like a freezing current.- "That the sudden urgency to bind my son to Rhaenyra was because of Daemon."
"Rhaenys, is that truly what matters now?"- Viserys groaned.
"Yes, Viserys, it matters! Had I known, I would never have let my son... You know the danger he is in now."
Daemon let out a dark, mocking laugh.-"Gods, you’re just like him. You truly think I would butcher your boy? He is your blood, Rhaenys; I would never lay a hand on him. Besides, it matters little that Rhaenyra’s children will end up being mine anyway."
"Quiet, you…"-
Viserys whirled around, his face pale. -"What? What are you talking about?"
"Tell him, Rhaenys," -Daemon spurred her on, his eyes gleaming with malice.- "Tell him how your son cannot bring himself to bed a woman. Tell him how Rhaenyra clearly already knows. Tell your cousin, your King, how you lied to his face."
Viserys’s gaze flew to Rhaenys, but she refused to meet his eyes. Her silence was a confession.
Viserys slammed his fist onto the table, his voice cracking in a desperate, furious roar—"GODS BE DAMNED!"
Daemon rolled his eyes with an exasperated groan. -"Shut your mouth, you idiot. I have already summoned the Gold Cloaks; they will be here soon. You must seize the reins of this court, Viserys. Your wife set the kingdom on fire, but you are still the King. And you have us, unless, of course, Rhaenys intends to declare war on us as well."
Rhaenys stared at them in a heavy, suffocating silence. If looks could strike like lightning, they would both be ash. -"You two are the bane of my existence," -she said, her voice a low, dangerous vibration. -"At times, I wish to wring your necks myself, to let Meleys devour you whole. And then I remember she was your mother’s dragon, and I curse the Gods for even tempting me to let her fire touch her own kin."
Viserys’s eyes went wide, his face paling with genuine fear.
Daemon simply sighed. -"Yes, yes, Rhaenys. We’re all very tragic. But are you with us or not?"
" I am not against you, Daemon. When dragons dance, the world burns. We know this truth better than any," -she said, levelling a finger at each of them. -"But do not mistake my loyalty for peace. I am Furiose, and my husband is no different. But I, at least, understand reason or what passes for it within the House of the Dragon. I will keep Corlys in check."
Daemon gave a sharp, mocking clap of his hands.- "Perfect."
Viserys didn't answer; he simply tipped back the flagon of wine and drank until his breath failed him.
Daemon stepped from the chamber just as Ser Harwin marched in, flanked by two dozen Gold Cloaks. The Kingsguard instinctively gripped their hilts, their steel half-drawn, but Viserys’s voice cut through the room like a blunt blade.- "Enough! Stand down."
The King moved to the edge of the dais. He looked down at Rhaenyra, who remained slumped in her chair with a look of boredom, nursing her wine. At the rate she was drinking, he knew she was seeking drunken stupor. Daemon made a sharp gesture, and the Gold Cloaks fanned out.
Viserys let out a heavy sigh as he surveyed the wreckage of his court. Alicent stood off to the side, shielded by her kin, her frame trembling with muffled sobs. The lords watched, breathless and terrified. With Daemon looming on his right and Rhaenys on his left, the King finally spoke.
"What has transpired tonight defies words. This was meant to be a union of two Great Houses, a celebration of blood and legacy. Instead, discord has walked through my doors. And it was carried by my own wife."
"Your Grace!" - a Hightower voice cried out in protest.
"Viserys, I beg of you…"
"Silence!" -the King roared, the word echoing off the rafters.-"Rhaenyra did not handle this with grace, but she handled it with truth. My own shock was such that I was paralysed. My cousin Rhaenys sees a rift between women, two friends turned rivals. My brother sees a betrayal of the Crown and calls for justice. And I? I am simply wounded. The last thing I desire is to take measures that lead to blood. Tonight, the celebrations have ended. But hear me: no one, absolutely no one, is permitted to leave the Red Keep. This discord will not be allowed to take root outside these walls."
A shudder rippled through the hall, followed by a cacophony of outraged shouts.
"The wedding is cancelled,"- Rhaenys declared, her voice cold and final.
A collective gasp filled the chamber. Lord Corlys marched toward his wife.- "Rhaenys! What are you doing?"
"I am helping my cousin, my King, prevent a war. That is what I am doing," -she replied. The sharp, uncompromising look she levelled at her husband was so fierce it actually made Daemon smirk.
Daemon stepped forward, taking command of the room.- "Everyone of you will be escorted to your quarters. Supper will be served there. My Gold Cloaks will patrol every corridor, every stairwell, and every gate. The Red Keep is closed."
"Prisoners!"- Lord Jason Lannister bellowed, his face flushing crimson.- "We are treated as prisoners? I demand…"
"You will demand nothing!" -Viserys roared, his voice cracking with a sudden, terrifying authority. -"I have not forgotten your words from two years past. It seems a Lord Paramount doubts my word as King. Am I mistaken, Jason?"
The Lannister lord fell into a stunned silence. Daemon’s eyes flickered toward Jason Lannister with a new, dangerous curiosity; he hadn't known of any particular insult.
Viserys continued, his breath coming in ragged heaves.- "Tomorrow, this family shall speak. The House of the Dragon will settle its debts behind closed doors. My wife and I shall have a long conversation. And, I shall summon the Lords Paramount to discuss the future of this realm."
Daemon watched as some lords nodded in fearful submission while others swallowed hard, their bravado vanishing. Viserys gave a sharp flick of his hand, a silent command for Daemon to finish it.
"Luthor!" -Daemon barked at one of his captains.- "Escort the Queen to her chambers. No one speaks to her without the King’s consent. Leave two guards at her door at all times."
Daemon couldn't suppress a dark, twisted grimace of satisfaction as Alicent, the girl who had spent years playing at being a Queen, shrieked in terror. She threw herself toward Viserys, her voice high and cracking as she begged for forgiveness.
"Harwin,"- Daemon called out, his voice cutting through the lingering echoes of Alicent’s cries. -"Escort the Princess to her chambers. Post two guards at her door to see that she remains there."
Rhaenyra rose from her chair, her movements heavy and uncoordinated as the wine finally took hold. She swayed for a moment, the world tilting beneath her feet. Daemon didn't miss it; he let out a mocking bark of laughter at her expense. Without a word of warning, Rhaenyra snatched her silver goblet and hurled it at his head. Daemon ducked just in time, the cup clattering harmlessly against the stone behind him.
"By the Gods, Rhaenyra,"- Viserys groaned, rubbing his temples in exhaustion.- "Do you never tire of this? Must every moment be a display of defiance?"
Rhaenyra turned to him, her gaze glassy but her voice surprisingly sharp.- "My 'attitude' is of your own making, Father,"- she said with drunken clarity. -"I have become this creature in the shadow of your neglect."
She dropped into a deep, mocking reverence, a bow that felt more like an insult than a gesture of respect and turned on her heel. She marched out of the hall with an unsteady stride, every eye in the room fixed on her back until she disappeared.