The Heir of the Dragon: A Rhaenyra Targaryen Quest

Okay I think voting has slowed down enough for me to close it.

---

"My children will rule Dorne in time and they will be Dragons," you boldly declared. "Through blood, Dorne will be conquered."

Ser Raylon stared at you with a skeptical expression.

"Any child who inherits Sunspear will carry the Martell name and unless Qoren is a vapid idiot, they will spend most of their life in Dorne," Ser Raylon argued. "That child will be more snake than dragon, as will most of your children save your own heir."

You narrowed your gaze for a moment as you stared at your mentor. You felt a bit insulted by his words, as if you hadn't realized the possible pitfalls of the union.

"I made very specific requests to my father before negotiations began, almost all of them concerning any future children," you explained. "I made clear that all of my children would carry the name Targaryen. Only one of them will one day carry the Martell name, decades from now when Qoren someday passes. Yes, they may be raised in Dorne, but they will also be a dragon rider, which means they will grow up learning what it means to be a Dragonlord descendant from the Freehold. It's language, it's history and culture. Even when I am not there, they will grow up surrounded by dragon keepers and Valyrian tutors. My children will be Dragons, one and all."

Your reply seemed to almost stun Tarly as he stared at you with surprise.

"I did not realize you had pushed your father for terms, Princess. That was smart," he acknowledged, the anger you could hear in his voice slowly calming. "Though I will not be easy to convince Qoren to accept that, as long as he lives, all of his children will bear the name Targaryen. Few men would."

"I am the heir to Seven Kingdoms and Qoren is the ruler of one. Why shouldn't our children have my name?" you boldly asked. "Besides. Dorne is used to such things."

"I suppose," Raylon muttered, his mouth moving as if he was literally chewing over matters. "Hmm... A dragon in all but name ruling Sunspear would be quite a sight. Doubt the Dornish will like it though."

"If they are foolish enough to rebel, you will get the war you wanted," you noted. "And this way we'd be the lawful rulers of the land and not some foreign invader."

Ser Raylon stroked his peppered mustache, still considering your words.

"This is not how conquest should be done," Raylon still argued. "But it is good to know you have a decent plan at least."

"So I have your approval?" you asked.

"I will tolerate Qoren if this marriage goes through, you can ask no more of me," Raylon sighed. "But rest assured I will treat any children you have like the dragons they are."

"Thank you, Ser Raylon," you nodded.

"This will make you many enemies, you know?" Ser Raylon cautioned. "There are already so many fools out there who don't understand you could be every bit the warrior Aegon was. This won't help that."

"I'm quite aware," you nodded. "Let us hope for their sake that they remember who has the dragon and who doesn't."

"Aye, we can hope," Ser Raylon nodded.

Your Relationship with Ser Raylon Tarly Has Degraded

Ser Raylon Tarly Has Accepted Your Arguement

---

As you looked into Alicents eyes, clouded with worry, you were struck by an idea that seemed at once mad, bold, and possibly the best course of action.

"I think I should speak with the Lord hand about this," you declared. "Make it clear my desire to keep you in my company as long as you wish."

"What?" Alicent recoiled in shock. "Wh-why would you do that? Rhaenyra that's mad!"

"I don't think it is," you reassured her. "I think your father would understand the political benefits of keeping you by my side."

Alicent stared at you in confusion.

"We both know your father is very ambitious man," you went on. "I think we can be honest about that."

It was basically blind luck that had saved you from Otto's schemes and the fate of having to call Alicent 'step-mother'. The very thought still sent a shudder down your spine. And with it looking very unlikely that you'd marry Gwayne, Otto's prospects for a royal match this generation had vanished. And yet he still had a lot of political power.

"Yes, of course, but I fail to see how that could even begin to help us." Alicent was bewildered.

"You father is probably the second most powerful man in the realm, but his position exists at the will of the king," you stated- "The Westerlings have filled the royal court with Lannisters and their fellow bannermen. But I have made you handmaiden. I put your brother in the City Watch. It is in his best interest to support me and my right to the throne, and I will make very clear to him that I will be very willing to further increase his and his family's power if a private understanding was reached."

"Rhaenyra, I don't think we could negotiate on something like this. This would be a scandal to my father," Alicent argued.

"Your father tried to have you seduce my father on the very night my mother died," you winced as you saw Alicent's pain from the memory. "Do you honestly think he is incapable of understanding the political advantages to tolerating what we have?"

Alicent's eyes went wide, he lips growing tight as she considered your words.

"Maybe he might consider it," she said hesitantly. "But this is still incredibly risky, if he-"

You placed you hand gently on the side of her face as you stared into those deep brown pools.

"How many daughters have been sacrificed for the sake of their father's gain?" you asked as the two of you held your gaze. "How many women have been forced to marry a man they despise for their family's ambition? Why can't we use that to our advantage, just this once?"

Alicent stared at you in disbelief, holding you hand as she did before shaking her head.

"I can't believe I'm considering this," she said quietly. "It's absurd how many things I have let you talk me into recently."

"I can be very convincing," you teased.

"And I'm too easily distracted by that pretty face of yours," Alicent sighed.

You couldn't help but grin at that.

"Don't look so smug," she chided you.

"You think I'm pretty," you smiled.

"If you knew half of the things I thought about you, your face would look like a Dornish pepper right now," the boldness in her words caught you off guard, and judging by the wide eyed expression Alicent's face, she had not quite meant to say that.

One of these days you would very much like to know more about what Alicent thought of you.

"What I meant to say..." She sighed. "My father is not the most subtle in his ambitions. You are right about that. Since marriage is now off the table, he might be willing to consider talking with you, but Rhaenyra, this... I can't ask you to do this. I don't want you to be beholden to my father for my sake."

"This was my idea," you reminded her as you placed a hand on her leg reassuringly. "I quite enjoy our time together and would like to spend even more time with you for years to come. I don't want you spend all those moments together afraid for your future. You mean a lot to me and I want you to be happy. Please, let me do this, Alicent."

"I am happy," she admitted before sighing. "If you do this, my father may ask a lot. I don't know."

"I'm sure we can reach a reasonable understanding," you replied.

You had no idea what sort of bargain Otto would push for, but you were certain he would at least be willing to hear you out. Once you got past the awkward bit of telling him you were in a romantic tryst with his daughter.

That was going to be an uncomfortable conversation, but one you needed to have.

---

Finally, after what had felt like far, far too long, you were able to get back to flying with Syrax more regularly. So much had happened recently that you barely had any time to spend with your girl. It was borderline criminal! The two of you were meant to soar the skies together.

Syrax was more than eager to spread her wings as well, making all kinds of eager noises as you approached.

Climbing onto her back and into the saddle felt like more of a challenge then it had been before, not by much, but even a tiny change was noticeable to you. She had more charred and broken bones in her part of the pit as well and you know the dragonkeepers weren't ones to get lazy about cleaning. Clearly someone was a hungry and growing girl.

The first couple of flights were fairly standard. You put Syrax through her paces while making sure you two enjoyed your time in the air as best you could. After a few days of flying though, the two of you found some unexpected guests.

A dragon that large should not be able to sneak up on someone but one moment you and Syrax were flying above King's Landing and the next, Vhagar had appeared out of a cloud bank above you, her great wings casting a shadow over you and much of the city below.

Syrax let out a soft growl at the surprise, half annoyed that another dragon would come so close unannounced, half eager to have someone else to fly with. You quickly rose to Vhagar's level.

Even with the wind rushing by your ears you could hear Vhagar's growls, low and thundering like a storm building on the horizon.

You had seen the Black Dread's skull more than a few times, but it was only now that appreciated just how large something with a skull anywhere near that size truly was. Vhagar was like an island, defying everything every Maester had ever known by choosing the sky as it's home. It's dark green skin sagged heavily, but also was covered in numerous scars from battles that had been fought before you were even born. One wing seemed almost longer than Syrax's whole body.

Laena Velayron looked almost comically small atop her dragon, her saddle surrounded by a sea of ropes fluttering in the wind.

The two of you looked at each other. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said. The challenge was unmistakable to both of you.

You dived, Vhagar and Laena following after.

One thing became clear rather fast, Syrax was quicker than Vhagar but not by much. Those massive wings may have been covered with rips and holes, but each beat of them was still moving a great deal of air.

The two of you raced across King's Landing and over the Kingswood. You kept Syrax ahead, but it was close, too close for your liking. As the one in front, you and Syrax set the course, and it was time to make it a bit more interesting.

You began to duck and weave around, turning at sharp angles, rising high into the air before lowering yourself to the treetops. And here was where Syrax pulled ahead. Vhagar may have still had speed, but size and age had sapped her of the ability to turn quickly. Every turn bled speed and caused the two of them to fall further and further behind. Though you couldn't help but notice that when Vhagar was near the trees, her descent carried such force it stripped away most of the remaining leaves.

Now well and truly ahead of Laena, you could sense Syrax was eager to show off. The two of you pulled back, doing graceful circles around Vhagar as you flew back over King's Landing. You could feel Laena starring at you in annoyance from her saddle, earning a smug grin from you.

Syrax pulled straight up, rising high once more.

"Dracarys!" You cried out, causing you partner to let out a great burst of flame before the two of you dove back down. A good show for anyone watching.

Vhagar did the same, and here is where you realized your mistake.

Syrax was no push over. Her flames were potent indeed. When she got going, she could easily let out of a river of fire. Vhagar was something else entirely. A torrent of dragonfire errupted out of her, thick and rolling. Even from a distance you could feel the heat. Syrax's fire would burn things to cinder in an instant, but Vhagar's could melt stone in the same amount of time.

That would be the end of your contest and the two of you landed just outside the city.

You approached Laena and Vhagar as the former climbed out of her saddle, Syrax shadowing you the whole time.

Vhagar stared at the two of you as you drew near. Even for you, the sight nearly caught your breath. On the ground Vhagar's height was so much more awe inspiring, her green scales making her look like a small mountain alongside the Kingsroad. The gaze from her ancient eyes contained no hint of hostility, but you knew all the same she could swallow you whole if she wanted.

This did little to frighten off Syrax. Neither dragon was growing, there was no threat of hostility, but you got the sense they were both sizing each other up.

As Laena approached, you realized how much taller she was compared to the last time you saw her. She wasn't as tall as you, but when the Velayrons left, you had frankly thought of her as basically a child. Now she was near Alicent's height and her riding attire showed faint hints of muscles in her arms and legs. She'd grown up a lot since last you saw her.

"Well done," you congratulated her as you extended a hand.

"Don't sell yourself short, cousin," Laena said warmly as she took your hand. "You and Syrax had us outpaced the entire time."

"Only just," you said earnestly. "You and Vhagar kept pace for quite a while."

Laena nodded in agreement.

"I must say the two of you seem to make quite the team up there," you noted.

"That we do," Laena gazed at Vhagar affectionately. "The keepers tried to discourage me from looking for her. She was too old and had too many riders already. If Dreamfyre had rejected me, what hope did I have of claiming Queen Visenya's dragon?"

"Dragonkeepers mean well, but they can be sticks in the mud a lot of the time," you noted. "They all but yelled at me for letting Rhea Royce ride Syrax when we were traveling."

"You know I never wanted to admit this before," Laena said, "but I have to confess now that I was quite jealous of you and Syrax when I was younger."

"Really?" you raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure why you would be."

"You'd claimed a living dragon while the egg my mother gifted me turned to stone," Laena explained. "And you became the youngest dragon rider our family has known for generations."

You found the mention of our family curious. Though you had to admit between the white hair and black and red riding attire, Laena looked far more Targaryen than Velayron at the moment.

"Well, I don't think you have much reason for jealously now," you smiled. "I must say it's good to see you again, cousin."

You weren't particularly close with either Laena or her brother before they left for Driftmark, but they were family and they were not that much younger than you. The three of you had interacted fairly often.

"Likewise," Laena nodded. "My mother and I are both quite glad to see you and your father again, even if my mother doesn't show it."

"I take it you heard about my disagreement with her?" you said tactfully.

"Think nothing of it," Laena waved it away dismissively. "My parents are very opinionated people. It can be quite tiring at times."

"I see," you replied.

As the two of you talked you realized you weren't sure what you wanted to talk with Laena about exactly. You definitely wanted to use this chance to talk about something, but you had a fair few options.

For starters, Laena was the first dragon rider you'd really spoken to in years outside of one argument with her mother, and, well, the only other dragon rider you interacted with was Daemon and it was not like you two had really said much to each other in years even before leaving. It would be good to talk about dragon riding with someone you actually liked who still had a living dragon.

You were also curious how Laenor and Corlys were doing. Laena was probably one of the few people in King's Landing at the moment who had any idea how the war in the Stepstones was going. You could also ask about life on Driftmark. You had heard how the Sea Snake's travels and trade had made the whole island quite rich and full of people from all sorts of places. You were rather curious what that was like.

And while normally you would never even think to ask about this, you couldn't deny your own possible marriage had got you thinking about the practice in general. Laena was still young, but she wasn't a child anymore, and her father had all but thrown her at your own father when she was still one. It couldn't hurt to ask if there had been any talk of her getting married any time soon.

Relationship Established: Laena Velyaron
Status: Cordial

Your Dragon Riding Has Improved

Your Dragon Bond Has Improved

What Do You Want to Talk About With Laena?

[] Talk About Dragons

[] Ask about her Brother and Father

[] Ask about Life on Driftmark

[] Ask if there's been any talk of Marriage Recently and how she feels about it?

[] Write-in (Subject to QM Approval)

---

It took you a while to track down Maester Orwyle. You knew he was attending to your father, but if you tried to talk to him there always was either the Grand Maester or Mellos there too, who would render all your efforts pointless. And annoyingly, you could not find him in the libraries. You also realized you didn't know exactly where in the Red Keep the Maesters lived or if they even lived in the Red Keep at all.

For a few months, you had actually even forgotten about him until a chance encounter with the man in the hallway one day. Realizing you would not get another chance anytime soon, you quickly asked to speak to him privately.

A couple of hours later you found yourself in a dim corner of the library, surrounded by dusty old books chained to the wall and your main source of light being a candle on the desk in front of you.

Orwyle approached, an uneasy look on his largely clean shaven face as he sat down. The man was younger than most Maesters here, his dark skin free of wrinkles or any real signs of age, and his short black hair had no hint of grey in it. You hoped this meant he was at the Red Keep because he was talented rather than simply experinced. Most of the Maesters here were doddering old men who had learned a great deal in their time but had largely forgotten most of it by now.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Maester," you said formally.

"It is a pleasure, princess," he said awkwardly. "Though I must confess I am unsure why you wanted to talk to me."

"Last I saw you, when you were attending to my father," you reminded him. "You looked at me with a rather distressed expression when we were talking about his illness. I got the sense you wanted to talk with me about something."

"Oh that, right," Orwyle nodded quickly. "I do apologize, I should not have disturbed you so."

"It's fine," you assured him. "Honestly, I'm a bit worried about my father's health. I was gone half a year and he got worse. He has not shown signs of getting better since my return either."

Your father seemed stable since you were back, but you had been hoping for actual improvement.

"I really shouldn't have even have caught your attention," the maester grew nervous. "It's not proper for a maester to discuss someone's ongoing treatment, not even the subject in question, let alone his daughter."

"Please, just talk to me, Maester," you urged. "Anything you say to me is in the strictest confidence."

"There wouldn't be much point in saying anything," Orwyle replied. "You don't have authority to do anything about this."

"About what, exactly?" You voice gaining an edge of annoyance at his cowardly behavior and nervousness at what he might be hiding. "Tell me what's going on."

A look of fearful resignation appeared on the Maester's face. He seemed a bit scared of you in the moment. Good.

"You do not repeat anything of what I am about to tell you, to anyone, please," he urged.

"You have my word," you assured him.

"The treatments the Grand Maester are giving your father are not fighting his illness," Orwyle admitted. "In fact I would argue they do little but provide some measure of comfort to your father these days."

"Oh," Orwyle's words hit you like ice water. "So, what can we do?"

"I do have poultices that showed signs of being more effective, but the Grand Maester ordered me to stop them, said they were too untested," Orwyle explained. "And your father listens to the Grand Maester."

"Have you spoken to the Hand?" you asked.

You knew your father listened to Otto above most others. If anyone could convince your father to seek different treatments, it was him.

"I did, after that day," the Maester explained. "He told me he would advise Mellos to consider my treatments but that he wasn't about the gainsay the Grand Maester in this matter."

"I could speak with the Grand Maester," you offered.

Orwyle shook his head.

"Princess, I mean no disrespect," he said with a resigned heir. "But the Grand Maester has been studying medicine since your father was an infant. He's not going to listen to someone who's never even been to the Citadel when it comes to these matters."

You stared at the man in growing frustration. You knew talking to your father was pointless since he had shut down your last attempt to bring up his heath.

"The Grand Maester does not mean ill for the King, I assure you," Orwyle explained. "He is doing what he thinks is the best."

"It's just you don't believe his best is working," you pointed out.

"The Grand Maester is treating this as a conventional illness," Orwyle replied as he took a seat next to you. "But no longer believe this affliction is anything close to conventional."

That sent another surge of fear through you. It sounded more and more like this illness wasn't just going to go away.

"Just how bad is this illness?" you asked, unable to hide your worry. "Speak plainly."

The maester stared at you uneasily in silence for a moment.

"Maester Orwyle," you said with a warning tone. "How. Bad."

"At the rate the illness is progressing," Orwyle sounded like he had to force every word out of his mouth, "your father will be at risk of losing his arm in a year or so. And I do not think even removing the arm now would be able to stop the sickness from progressing at this point."

"His entire arm!" You growled as you rose from your seat, glaring murderously at the maester as he shrunk fearfully into his seat. "You mean to tell me my father, the king, is going to lose an entire limb and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

This could not be happening. This wasn't real. Your father wasn't a young man and he had never had robust health, but he wasn't old and feeble either. This shouldn't be happening.

It was just supposed to be his hand, not an entire limb.

"Please, not so loud," Orwyle urged desperately.

You stood there, glaring at him.

"I'm not saying he's dying, far from it," the maester all but whispered. "But conventional treatments are doing little to stop the rot in his arm."

That did abide your anger.

"So what do we do?" you all but spat your words.

"Honestly, I think at this point there is little we can do but wait," Orwyle shook his head. "Mellos is quite old. I don't think he will hold his position for much longer and the Citadel has informed me that I will be his successor. Once I am Grand Maester, I can start giving your father those poultices."

"That's the best you can do?!" you growled. "Wait for an old man to die before my father can get actual effective treatment!?"

"Princess, I'm sorry but there's not other way-" You stormed off before Orwyle had a chance to finish.

Your heart pounded heavy in your chest as you walked, tears welling up in the corner of your eyes.

There had to be something you could if it really was this bad. Maybe you could speak to the Grand Maester in person. Orwyle said it wouldn't work, but Orwyle seemed a coward. Maybe Alys Rivers could help you. It seemed an insane prospect, but she seemed to know something of medicine and Orwyle did mention it was an unconventional illness. Perhaps an outside source was what was needed.

There had to something you could do. You couldn't just accept that this was how it was going to be. There had to be some way you could help your father.

There just had to be.

+8 Stress

---

QM's Note: The Arguement worked with Raylon very specifically because of the requests Rhaenyra made of her father. It at the very least told Raylon she has a plan and would do everything possible to have a heavy hand in her kids development. A dragon in all but name ruling Sunspear is not the Conquest he wants, but to him it is still a conquest. Alicent worked because you've convinced her to be a fair bit more bold than in canon. And yeah, learning that her father's illness is a lot worse than she realized is rather upsetting for Rhaenyra.