Chapter Text
An excerpt from Maester Gyldayn's Fire & Blood, Being a History of the Targaryen Kings of Westeros.
In the year 99 AC, a great scandal broke out within the court of Kings Landing. It was revealed that princess Gael Targaryen had been attacked by a wandering singer and that she was with child. The singer was brutally tortured, then castrated and sent to the wall.
The king ordered princess Gael to take moon-tea, but the Maester let him know she was too far along in her pregnancy and that if she took the moon-tea she would likely die. Queen Alysanne informed him if anything happened to Gael she would never forgive him, and so, in the first day of the first moon of the year 100 AC, Aerion Waters was born.
The prince was a hale and hearty lad, with brown hair inherited from his father with a streak of white in the center and the typical Targaryen eyes. Jaehaerys intended to send the boy off to the faith, but princess Gael threatened to end her own life if her son was taken away. Jaehaerys' didn't want the child at court, and so princess Gael was sent off to Dragonstone away from the court with her child. Her mother joined them shortly after, wanting to remain close to her daughter and splitting her time between Dragonstone and Kings Landing during the final years of King Jaehaerys' reign.
--
105 AC
Alyssane
Dowager Queen Alysanne Targaryen consumed some oatmeal as she sat at the head of the table in the grand hall of Dragonstone, the years were not kind on her and her joints ached as she ate. The day was gray as it normally was, besides her to her right sat her daughter Gael, ever since her husband died she was the only joy she had left in her life. To her left sat the bastard.
She couldn't stand the sight of him on some days. His brown hair reminded her too much of the singer that seduced her precious baby and caused so much disgrace and trouble to her house. Happily for her however, good news had recently arrived from the wall, the damned singer apparently died to some wilding raiders, and her heart felt all the better for it.
She of course told the Maester to not relay any news of it to Gael. Her baby didn't need to know anything about that damn singer, and she was afraid she might do something stupid if she found out about his death. She was unfortunately still half in love with him, whispering his name in her sleep on occasion and embroidering patterns in his likeness.
Of course she didn't hate her grandson all the time. Though his hair was for the most part his damn father's color, there was a small streak of silver down the middle. And his face looked so much like Jaehaerys when he was his age. Ever since he'd died last year his likeness to her late husband seemingly tore down the wall between them and she'd come to start loving the boy in her own way. If helped that the maester said he was a gifted child, ahead of children his age and being able to speak about topics only adults spoke about, bringing a sense of pride to her heart. She only wished Gael had been as gifted as the bastard was, maybe then all this wouldn't have happened.
He'd been a rather easy baby according to Gael and the servants, never really crying much except for when he needed to be fed or when he soiled himself. She found him unsettling at times whenever she carried him, those deep purple eyes seemingly looking at her as if wanting to say something or judging her. He was quick to walk and even talk, being able to form complete sentences by the time he was two.
On the training field he was decent, he took to his lessons and could wield a blade as best as a five year old could. He was currently eating a light meal of eggs and bacon with some honeyed porridge and milk, slowly whittling it down. It was a good day today, she didn't dislike him today.
"Aerion." She called out. He immediately snapped to attention and turned to her.
"Yes grandmother?"
"The maester said you've done well at sums. He says you could probably get a link on a Maesters chain in maths if you went there." He was still a bastard though, there was no place at court for him. She'd been writing to Vaegon at the citadel, asking him to recommend him and possibly mentor him when he came to the citadel. She mentioned how gifted her grandson was when it came to learning. Vaegon's reply was brief, though positive, and he stated he'd be interested in helping him on his path to being a maester.
I just need Gael to the wisdom in this and go along with it.
Aerion simply looked at her and nodded. "Old-Town doesn't sound that good. I want to be with my mother." He gave her an innocent smile then went back to eating. She looked over at Gael who seemingly scowled at her, then turned to her son and nodded in approval and smiled. She knew she was in for an argument tonight. She loved her daughter, she'd told her the citadel would be the best place for him, no one would care if he was a bastard. But she wanted him close to her, in Dragonstone, more than anything she wanted him to have a normal life and live in court.
A part of her understood her, having lost so many children over the years, she couldn't bear to be without her daughter, her baby girl. But Aerion wasn't a Targaryen, there was no way he would ever have a place at court, the constant scheming, the jeers, he'd be torn apart. But most of all she didn't want a constant reminder of her daughter's and her house's disgrace to walk around court as if nothing ever happened.
Her train if thought was interrupted as a messenger entered the room, he came to her, delivering a letter that she opened and promptly read.
"What's in the letter mother?"
She set the letter down on the table and turned to Gael. "Your nephew Viserys is holding a tourney to celebrate his son's impending birth."
"Do you plan on going?"
"As queen it is expected of me, yes." Before Gael could say anything she continued. "And no, Aerion will stay on Dragonstone. You know why."
Gael seemingly slouched on the table, disappointed. "It's alright mother." Aerion interjected. "You should go to the capital. Then bring back sweets and books so we may eat them together and read under the candlelight. Wouldn't that be great?" Her grandson gave out his brightest smile and her daughter seemingly sat straight again and nodded.
"That....that sounds like a wonderful idea." Her daughter said.
She looked at her grandson and felt a little gratitude towards him. It was about time Gael returned to court, maybe she could find a match for her, maybe a third or fourth son, anything to get the stain off of her and her house.
"I'll make sure to get you as many lemon cakes as you want grandson. I know you love them." She smiled at him, reminding herself to get him lemon cakes.
"Thank you grandmother." He gave her an innocent smile, once again reminding her of Jaehaerys' and causing her to reminisce about her husband once again.
--
A few days later
I got into my pony and rode out of the castle and began my little scheme. Dragonstone was damp and dreary, with the overcast days outnumbering any sunny days. But most of all it smelled of sulphur and brimstone. Though it had its charms I suppose, the mountains around the castle reminded me of my layover in Reykjavik when I walked around the city for several hours while I waited for my flight to Barcelona, in winter when snow would come down on the island it really felt like I was living in Iceland.
The castle itself however was something else. It kind of reminded me of an evil layer that the final boss of a souls themed game would have which was cool. Then again, Targs were dragonlords, and they did some fucked up shit, fucked up at least according to my modern values I lived by before dying and ending up in this shit show of a world.
I knew where most of the wild dragons around the island were. I knew to stay the fuck away from the cannibal and grey ghost, and to not go anywhere near the dragonmont where the Targ dragons were. This was especially ingrained to me as I was unfortunately suffering from an incurable case of bastardry.
My second life was honestly pretty shit. I'd gone from the firstborn and spoiled kid of an upper middle class family in the modern world to the bastard son of a royal princess. At first glance it was nice, being a royal bastard and all. But unfortunately I was a Targshit and it was in the period around the dance, worst of all though there was no electricity, running water or Internet.
It's not like I was inexperienced with that, I'd done peace corps, I'd lived in Liberia for two years. But dealing with that while being in a world where fire breathing creatures and an upcoming civil war was a thing, yeah no thank you.
At least my close family was nice to me. My mom Gael basically spoiled me whenever she could, giving me sweets, treats, money, and anything I asked for. My grandmother was a mixed bag, some days she tried to not even acknowledge my existence, while other days she would coddle and spoil me like my mom. Recently though ever since old Jae died my grandmother began coddling and spoiling me even more, she even said why whenever she drank one too many cups, I was the spitting image of my grandfather save for my hair.
Speaking of father's, I heard whispers. Poor bastard was apparently tortured half to death then gelded and sent to the wall. I didn't really care honestly, what kind of dumbass gets involved with a royal princess? I had no sympathy for him and really hated him as technically he was the reason I was here.
Viserys and Daemon along with their families I didn't know too well. They occasionally visited Dragonstone, but my grandmother made sure to keep me out of their sight for the most part. It was only after Jaehaerys died and she softened her attitude towards me that she let me meet them for family dinners.
Viserys was a very stand up guy as was Aemma. It was very clear they loved each other, which made me feel bad for him to an extent. Rhaenyra I had no opinion of, she was only two years older than me so she was basically just a child, but she was courteous towards me when I first met her and Alysanne even let me play with her, though under strict supervision from one of the Kingsguard.
Daemon was surprisingly nice to me as well, since Vissy suffered from a bad case of dying kids, Daemon was his heir and Prince of Dragonstone ever since Jaehaerys died and he split his time between Kings landing and the island. Luckily this coincided with the time my grandma stopped being so cold towards me and I got to meet him. He mostly gave me pointers when I was in the training yard, and he even gifted me a wooden training sword for my birthday so I fucked with him.
It didn't mean I would help any of these fuckers in the dance though. I wasn't gonna even prevent the dance. I was gonna sit that bitch out, then once everyone was dead/horribly traumatized I would sweep in and become king and if anyone didn't like it they could talk to my dragon, in the words of the great Griffith from Berserk, I will have my own kingdom.
All I needed now was the dragon in my plan. Fortunately, now that my beloved grandmother and mother were away in the capital, the castle was mostly empty and the few guards there were for the most part were apathetic and gave no fucks. I'd bribed two of them with some of the allowance my mother spoiled me with and we made our way to Sheepstealers lair, but not before buying a sheep and bribing the shepard for his silence.
I got off my pony, then went over to one of the horses that my guard used to herd the sheep we bought then I grabbed the sheep by its leash. It keep baah-ing and resisting as I made my way inside. However a good dose of animal abuse using the wooden training sword Daemon gave me to beat the shit out of it and it marched straight to the cave "If you hear screams, there's more money in a brown chest in my chambers. Take it and run away to Essos." I told my guards before fully entering the cave.
The guards nodded in acknowledgement and I walked into sheepstealers layer. I stepped past all the sheep bones and dragon shit until I got within 10 feet of the dragon, then it stirred and began to growl.
I resisted the urge to shit myself, then got a dagger out and stabbed the sheep to death and looked at the dragon. "I got your meal, eat up." I said in my best high Valyrian. I took no chances and continued. "I'll come back tomorrow, enjoy your meal."
I left the cave in a hurry, I could hear the flames come out then the cracking of bones and flesh being chewed up. I breathed a sigh of relief as I met the two guards that escorted me. "We'll come back and do the same thing tomorrow."
True to my word I continued, bribing my two stooges with 2 gold dragons every morning then buying a sheep from a shepherd and going to sheepstealers layer. After 3 days, I felt confident enough to stay and watch it eat, after a week, I felt confident enough to stay a few minutes after eating and talking to it. I didn't say much, just describing how my day was and shit talking the other Targs and telling him about the upcoming dance and how much shit he'll be able to eat if he joins me.
At day 10, I made physical contact, I started petting his head, coooing at him and telling him he was a good boy for eating my sheep and telling him how many people and sheep we'd burn together.
Finally, the day came, I was determined to mount him today. I didn't know when my mom and the queen would return so I felt that I needed to move fast. It was as if the dragon read my mind, and he seemingly bowed his head after I finished talking about our future war crimes spree. "Can I ride you?" I asked him after my latest rant. He bowed his head and I climbed on, using the utmost of my 5 year old strength to climb on. "Fly!" I yelled in my best high Valyrian. A few seconds passed by and nothing happened. I was about to say it again but the dragon moved forward.
He emerged from its chambers, my two stooges Erryk and Marston moving out of the way as my dragon took off. I looked back and saw them riding towards the port at full speed. I told them what to do, I'd taken the money I kept in my chest that day, a total of 400 gold dragons, on top of the 2 gold dragons a day I'd given to each as a bribe and saddled it on their horses. I figured with that they'd have enough for a good life of coke and hookers in Lys or wherever in Essos they went to.
I flew for a minute, then realized I was barely holding on to it's scales and ordered it to land by the dragonmont, where the Dragonkeepers looked on in awe as I dismounted. I don't know what happened, but I lost my grip and fell face flat on the ground. I tried to use my arm to break my fall, but I ended up breaking my arm and cracking my nose as I landed.