Chapter 16: Hatchlings

First Moon, 89 AC

Alyssa

Her sister's screams tore through the air, shrill and brutal. Alyssa winced. She knew that pain very well, had experienced it thrice herself.

She lied on a great canopy bed, red satin and velvet adorning pristine white sheets she was currently crumpling as her fingers squeezed in pain. Her little sister Viserra, Princess of House Targaryen, Lady of House Velaryon, rider of Dreamfyre, and yet for all those lofty titles, not even she could overcome the birthing bed so easily.

"Alyssa, it hurts. I'm scared," Viserra cried to her, her deep purple eyes wide and panicked.

She sat on the edge of the bed and held her sister's hand, gently squeezing. "I know. You must have faith. Be strong now Viserra, and all will be well."

"Where is Corlys?" she asked tiredly.

"He'll be here soon, I sent a servant to inform him quite some time ago," Alyssa reassured her.

Viserra nodded absentmindedly before withholding another scream as pain flared through her body again.

Alyssa did her best to calm herself. If she started panicking and worrying, she would only stress Viserra unduly and she refused to do that. Everything would go well. Viserra had the best care possible, the attention of Grand Maester Elysar, the finest midwives, acolytes, servants, tools and methods. She even had those forceps tools, sterilized in boiled wine to the insistence of Maester Desmond, her goodbrother's personal maester from Driftmark and the primary advisor to Viserra during her pregnancy. He too was present and had mandated a strict standard of cleanliness for his lady's health.

Yet doubt crept into her heart nonetheless. Had she not had the best care herself? What good had that done in the end? And Viserra was early too, thirty-five weeks instead of the expected forty. It was not necessarily a cause for alarm but with everything that could go wrong…

Alyssa shook her head in anger at herself. Now was not the time. She refused to think of such horrid things or succumb to the melancholy that still threatened to drown her when she even thought of the last time she had given birth, when she had been told it would be the last time she could ever give birth. Her sister needed her right now. She would not fail her.

"Princess Alyssa, Princess Viserra," a servant called, having come to stand before them, the same one that she had sent to call her goodbrother.

"Yes? Is my goodbrother coming?" Alyssa demanded of him.

"He is Princess, but…Her Grace, the Queen, is with him."

Viserra's grip on her fingers tightened but Alyssa ignored it for now.

"And why did you feel it necessary to inform me of this?" she asked, an edge in her voice.

The servant quailed. "I-It was Lord Velaryon Princess, he bade me run ahead and inform you. He did not say why."

"Go."

He bowed his head. "With your leave Princess."

She turned her attention to her sister, still in pain and with a grimace that was not from childbirth alone.

"Viserra..."

"Don't."

"She is our mother," Alyssa pleaded.

"I don't care. I don't want her here. I don't want her to see me like this," Viserra choked out, pain colouring her words. A vulnerability she kept cloaked in vanity and bravado now exposed like an open wound.

Alyssa sighed. Viserra's relationship with their mother had always been… difficult, and it was not the right time or place to corral Viserra into letting her back into her heart. For now, she would do as her sister wished. The last thing she wanted was to burden her sister with any unnecessary worries during such a delicate time.

She got up from the bed and waited by the door for Lord Corlys and her mother to arrive. It was not long before she spotted them, walking briskly and hurriedly toward the room.

"How is she?" Lord Corlys asked as they arrived.

"There is nothing concerning as of yet, but she is in pain, as you would expect. She is waiting for you Lord Corlys," she answered.

He nodded and entered the room immediately. Her mother made to follow him but Alyssa stood in her way.

"Alyssa?" she asked, confused.

Alyssa only shook her head, a sad expression on her face.

The disappointment on her mother's face was bitter indeed. Crestfallen, she said, "I'll wait here then. Will you… will you let her know that at least?"

"I will," Alyssa said. A sliver of relief came over her mother, as if a small weight had been removed but the greater part of the yoke remained on her still.

She turned back around and closed the door behind her as she returned to Viserra's side. Corlys was opposite of her on the right side of the bed. As promised she told her sister of their mother's words and watched as a strange mix of emotions writ all over her face, as if she did not know how to feel.

Alyssa wondered why Viserra so feared their mother's presence if she could not fully hide the traces of happiness that lit up her eyes. Perhaps she feared looking weak, having worn a mask of perfection for so long in an attempt to please her. Perhaps she simply despised the idea of that demanding strict mother watching her in such a troubling moment and yet all the same, she could not help but feel pleased knowing her mother was there for her even still.

It was a strange torrent of love and joy, fear and anger, that was soon swallowed up by a feeling greater than them all in that moment. Pain. Soon enough Viserra had no time or mind to think about their mother because she was soon to be one herself and the little one was not making it easy.

It was hours before the babe came. Alyssa and Corlys and all the others took turns tending to Viserra as each had to break and refresh several times. There was no break for Viserra however, who labored unceasingly throughout it all.

By the time Maester Desmond announced the babe was coming, the sun was setting. Alyssa remembered that Viserra and her had been breaking their fast together in early morn when her labours had started.

There was a brief moment of tension as Grand Maester Elysar and Maester Desmond bickered over who would actually use the forceps and deliver the babe before Lord Corlys ruled in favour of Maester Desmond.

"I have no doubts in your capabilities Grand Maester, but there is no one I would trust to deliver my child more than Desmond."

With that said, Corlys personally gave Maester Desmond the forceps and soon he and the midwife were ready and looking to her and Lord Corlys.

Corlys leaned down to press a gentle kiss to Viserra's forehead as Alyssa pulled her hand up to her lips and did the same there.

"Viserra, we're going to need you to be strong now," Corlys said to her.

"Haven't I been strong long enough?" she asked weakly.

"One last push sister, I promise," Alyssa said before nodding to the maester.

"Princess, I'm going to need you to push now, on the count of three," Maester Desmond said and Viserra nodded.

"One, two, three."

Viserra screamed again but soon, finally after so many long hours, the baby's cries sounded loudly through the room. Maester Desmond held the babe in his arms like it was the most precious thing he had ever carried. Considering the old man's fanatic loyalty to House Velaryon, it might very well be.

"It's a boy my lord, my lady," he said as he wiped the baby clean of the blood. Reverently he carried the babe over to Viserra who almost snatched him from his arms.

Alyssa sent a servant to call her father and the rest of the family. She was sure they would want to meet the latest member of the family. She then clambered onto the bed and craned over to Viserra to see her nephew.

He was an adorable babe truth be told, one might even call him beautiful. Fitting, for the son of Viserra. Small tufts of silver-gold hair covered her nephew's little head and dark purple eyes stared into her own. Viserra and Corlys looked absolutely enamored with their newborn son. In her mind's eye, another babe that died too soon took her nephew's place but she crushed that thought mercilessly. It was a happy moment, by the Seven she would let herself be happy as well.

Her mother finally entered then, and Viserra did not reject her this time. Alyssa watched as Viserra allowed her mother to hold her grandson briefly before asking for him back. She could have sworn she saw a tear fall from her mother's eye as she waited by the side of the bed.

Unexpectedly then, Viserra's back arched as she suddenly groaned in pain again. Corlys hurriedly took their son from her as Alyssa called to Maester Desmond, who was cleaning his forceps.

As the maester examined Viserra who was still moaning, Alyssa asked, "Is it the afterbirth?"

"No Princess," the maester said, staring at her. "There is a twin."

"I have to push out another one!?" Viserra exclaimed.

"Yes my lady, I am sorry about that," Maester Desmond answered, wincing when his lady proceeded to scream gutturally.

Viserra's eyes turned to hers and to her husbands', flitting around in panic. "I can't do this, not again, not so soon."

"You can and you will Viserra," their mother said then, shocking both Alyssa and Viserra who had forgotten temporarily that she was still in the room.

Queen Alysanne sat by her estranged daughter's side and held her hand, looking at the guarded look on her daughter's face.

"I gave birth three and ten times, but never to twins. I can't imagine what it must feel to go through that. But I know you my daughter, and I know that you are strong. You can and you will do this because you are Viserra Targaryen, you are a dragon. And dragons do not give up."

Viserra sat up a little, chin held high as she nodded and her body began to tense, ready to push one last time. Soon Maester Desmond and the midwife were ready again and nine and ten minutes after the first, her sister's second child came into the world with a cry louder even than its brother's before it.

Viserra collapsed into the bed, exhausted. "Desmond," she moaned. "My child."

As reverently as he had the first, Maester Desmond carried the babe over to Viserra. "It's another boy my lady."

Viserra turned her head over to her husband, still nestling the first babe in his arms. "Corlys. Give me that one too. I would have both my sons with me," she said, heavy breaths interspersing her sentences.

Corlys smiled before obeying and soon Viserra was nestling two babes to her breasts. As twins often were, the babes were identical, the same face, hair, and eyes, though only time would tell if that would persist as they grew up.

As Corlys sat on the bed, careful not to lean on his tired wife, his gaze never once left his newborn sons, neither did Viserra's. They looked like a portrait perfect family in that moment and for once dark thoughts did not come to Alyssa's mind as she felt herself grinning in happiness at the sight.

It was not long before the rest of the family arrived. Her father, Aemon, Baelon, and Maegelle as well as Rhaenys, Viserys, Daemon, and Gael. Vaegon was rather conspicuously absent despite his presence in the capital. Alyssa noticed her mother's frown when she also noticed his absence. She'd be giving him an earful later, that was for sure.

Good, Alyssa thought to herself. He deserves it.

Baelon came to stand beside Alyssa herself and she leaned her head onto his shoulder. Though not as exhausted as Viserra was, it had been a long day for her as well.

Daemon and Gael hurriedly rushed over to Viserra, the latter practically squealing, and started fawning over the babies. It did not take a genius to see that Viserra really did not have the energy to deal with them right now.

Her mother was faster than her in acting. "Children!" she rebuked as she practically carried them away by the scruffs of their necks. "You should know better than that! Apologize to Viserra! And Daemon, remember that she's your aunt!"

The pair of them looked rather sheepish. "Sorry Viserra/Aunt Viserra," they said together, almost synchronized.

"You are forgiven. Just don't do that again in the future," Viserra said. She was still clearly very tired, probably would be for several days.

Alyssa shook her head in slight exasperation as her mother deposited her son at her feet. He looked rather afraid she was going to scold him as well.

She clucked her tongue in a disappointed tone. "I think your grandmother has said everything that needs to be said already, don't you think so?"

Daemon nodded his head hurriedly.

Alyssa sighed. "You have to be more mindful Daemon. Go stand with your brother and your cousin," she said, gesturing to where her eldest son Viserys was standing with her brother Aemon and his wife and daughter.

Once Daemon rushed off to his brother's side, Alyssa looked up to see that her father had taken Daemon and Gael's place by Viserra's bed. He was far quieter than those two had been, but his presence was stronger than two boisterous children. His every movement and word was calculated and measured.

"Father," Viserra said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Your grandsons," she said as she presented them to their father, one after the other.

The two babes started crying in Jaehaerys's arms but he was not offended. "Strong sons, healthy, and with a pair of lungs on them both!" he joked as he returned Viserra's sons to her, breaking the tension in the room.

"You have done well Viserra. Take pride in your sons," her father said.

"Of course. I've had them for all of an hour and I'm already proud of them both," Viserra answered firmly.

The King nodded in agreement, understanding the sentiment it seemed. He did not notice the brief glance between Alyssa and Viserra. She saw in her sister's eyes the jealousy she recognized in her own at times. Their father loved them, loved all his daughters, even Saera, that was not in doubt. But roads were easier to him than his daughters and all of them knew it was Aemon and Baelon that were his favourites and not any of them.

"Have you decided on any names yet?" her father asked then, turning to Lord Corlys.

Lord Corlys nodded, but instead of answering, he whispered into Viserra's ear. A smile grew on her face as she nodded and announced, "We have Father. Jacaerys for the elder and Lucerys for the younger."

Their father's face was impassive. "Good names. Valyrian names. Strong and noble."

Viserra nodded at their father's words. "Family of mine, let me introduce you all properly to my sons, Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon."

__________________________________________________

Viserra

They were already a day old, and yet Viserra still could not tire of looking at her sons, still mesmerized by their beautiful deep purple eyes, her eyes. Her heart swelled with so much love she felt like it might be full to bursting.

Jacaerys and Lucerys. She tested their names aloud, finding they rolled off the tongue pleasantly. Quite the lengthy names though, perhaps in time they would shorten them for common use.

Her husband had chosen quite the lordly names for their sons. If she remembered her lessons on House Velaryon's history correctly, Jacaerys and Lucerys were contemporaries of Aenar the Exile and Gaemon the Glorious and had done much work during the Century of Blood to secure House Velaryon's continued prosperity in the wake of the Doom. They were good names, proud and storied. Velaryon names.

She looked down at them again in their shared cradle as they kept their hands close to each other as they slept. They had refused to be parted and had cried when she had tried to lay them in separate cradles. Both of them were staring at her, wide eyes and adorable. She wondered if they knew her to be their mother. They had certainly eagerly clung to her breasts earlier, both hungry for milk. It had been… an interesting experience, though Viserra doubted she would be doing it much in the future. They had wetnurses for a reason.

Twins. Viserra still had difficulty believing it herself. Maester Desmond had told her it might be a possibility some months ago, though he had not been able to tell for certain. She had had more severe morning sickness than usual according to Desmond, and had showed earlier, yet nothing concrete enough to say for sure. Viserra had not truly considered the idea that she would have twins until the moment she was told she had to push the second out.

Viserra sighed softly. She loved them both dearly already but Seven knew they had exhausted her greatly just on day one. Birthing them had been difficult enough, imagining the mischief this pair would get up to once they could walk almost had Viserra tearing her hair out.

Idly she recalled that the last time there had been twins in the family, on her side at least, were her cousins Aerea and Rhaella, the children of her Aunt Rhaena, the previous rider of Dreamfyre. How coincidental, Viserra thought, that both of Dreamfyre's riders would be Targaryen princesses who gave birth to twins. But her Aunt Rhaena had never given her twin daughters Dreamfyre's eggs.

She turned to see her husband by the fire as he removed the eggs that had been kept warm near the fireplace. Dreamfyre had laid a clutch of two eggs during their stay in King's Landing, and had refused to allow anyone but Viserra close enough to retrieve them. Viserra had thought she would give birth on Driftmark, she wasn't supposed to be due for another five weeks. She had retrieved the eggs from Dreamfyre's vault in the Dragonpit so they might be packed for their return to Driftmark, but it seems her babes had wanted out earlier.

Briefly she wondered if Dreamfyre had somehow known. Two eggs for her two sons? And laid so closely to the day she gave birth? She shook the thought away. As intelligent and dear to her as her Dreamfyre was, it was rather ridiculous for a dragon to have predicted that or had the mindset to specifically lay the correct number of eggs. Yet the coincidence was uncanny.

She examined the eggs, touching them gently with her hands. They were hot to her touch but not so hot as to burn. Once they had cooled to a pleasant warm, it would be safe to lay them in her sons' cradle with them. One was a dark cobalt, with ribbons of bright beaten copper swirling and streaking across the blue. The other was black as night, an obsidian burnished with flecks and stripes of sulfurous yellow.

Carefully, she picked up the blue egg and bade Corlys to carry the other before walking over to her sons' cradle. Making a split-second choice, she laid the cobalt and copper egg beside Jacaerys while Corlys followed suit and placed the black and yellow in Lucerys's arms. Almost immediately their sons reacted, drifting away from each other a little to snuggle with their eggs instead.

Corlys wrapped his arms around her from behind, letting the tired Viserra lean back slightly into his shoulders as they both continued to watch their twin children. Viserra was enthralled by almost everything about them. The way the strands of their silver-gold hair fluffed and floated gently in the air as a slight breeze blew through the window. The way their purple eyes, deep and dark, struggled to remain open before gently closing as they drifted off to sleep. What dreams did the minds of babes conceive she wondered.

There were no words between her and Corlys at that moment. Neither wanted to break the quiet silence, break the spell that had seemed to be placed on them both as their sons bewitched them with their beauty and the joy they brought them.

Viserra knew then, that any loyalty she had left to House Targaryen was gone. She loved her family, her parents and siblings… well most of them, and she never wished ill on any of them, not truly, not even on Vaegon and Saera. But Jacaerys and Lucerys? Her sons? Her own flesh and blood? Her loyalty was to them first and foremost now. And through them, her place and allegiance to House Velaryon was cemented permanently. The future of that house, of her house, was that of her sons. And there was nothing Viserra would not do to ensure her sons had the best possible future she could give them.

Perhaps this was exactly why her father had so dreaded the idea of a daughter with a dragon marrying out of the family. Her loyalty could never be to House Targaryen first anymore, not when her sons… and her husband, took so much of her heart.

The silent spell was broken when Corlys spoke at last. "Thank you Viserra."

"What for?" she asked, confused.

"You have given me the greatest gifts I have ever received. Filled my life with a joy I have not felt for many years now. You and our sons, you make me feel more alive than all the adventures and voyages, than all the wealth in the world," Corlys said, his indigo eyes beginning to fill slightly with tears.

He wiped the tears away. "Forgive me, I did not mean to be so emotional."

"No. There is no crime in tears of joy," Viserra reassured him.

He nodded and turned his gaze back to their sons. "My house has a saying. Every Velaryon is born to ride the waves. Our sons Viserra, their birthright is more than just the waves. They will be the first Velaryons to ever ride dragons as well, born to sail the seas and skies alike."

Viserra rebuked him with a smile and her hands on his. "Our house."

Corlys's smile grew wider than she had even thought possible and his indigo eyes sparkled with delight.

"Our sons will be great Viserra. I will make sure of that. You and I will make sure of that. We will raise them together to be the best they can be, and they will be great," he declared.

She nodded in agreement as she turned her gaze back to her boys. Her sons would be the greatest House Velaryon had ever known. So lost in her dreams of her darling sons and their bright futures was she, that she almost missed what Corlys said next.

"I only regret that I will have to leave them soon."

What?

Viserra whipped around to face her husband again, the question written all over her face.

He sighed. "At the Small Council meeting, before we were interrupted by the servant, we received news from Essos. The war between the Three Daughters and Volantis has reached its apex. Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh have recently won a great battle against a Volantene host and have formally cemented their alliance by joining their cities in a confederation they call the Triarchy. But Volantis remains undefeated and Lord Quentyn believes that the war has years left to go before it ends."

Viserra crossed her arms. "This affects you how exactly?"

"The King has decided that the time has come to annex the Stepstones at last. As the Master of Ships and Lord of Tides, I will be the supreme naval commander of the fleet sent to secure the Stepstones."

"You would leave your newborn sons so soon?" Viserra asked, feeling cross.

Corlys shook his head. "I don't like it, but this is for their sake as well. Viserra, your father promised me and our house lordship over the Stepstones. This is our sons' inheritance."

She relented then. Had she not sworn that there was nothing she would not do for her sons? How could she hold it against Corlys for doing the same. Already her mind was hard at work imagining it. There was no doubt in Viserra's mind that the Stepstones could qualify as a kingdom if the Iron Islands did and that meant that her sons, her descendants, would be the Lords Paramount of the Stepstones. House Velaryon would join the ranks of the Great Houses, rise as high as they possibly could without seeking the Iron Throne itself. That would be hers and Corlys's legacy, the inheritance they leave to their sons.

It was intoxicating to even think of it. House Velaryon was already great, but the power, the prestige and wealth they would soon have was unimaginable. Her father was more generous than she thought if he would give them such a gift.

"How long do you expect to be gone?" she asked.

"I don't know. A few weeks at least I think as we establish a presence on each island and set the fleet to patrolling. There is a lot of work to be done. For the past two years, our fleet has slowly been clearing the islands of all the pirates already but there may still be some dens we have yet to root out. Infrastructure has to be built, the tolls collected, and the local villages pacified."

She caressed one of his cheeks with her left hand almost absentmindedly. "Do you expect the Triarchy to cause any trouble?"

"No. I expect them to offer a token protest at most, Volantis is not yet so weak that they can afford an entanglement with us. The threat will be from Dorne. Lord Quentyn has informed the Small Council that Prince Morion has been building a large fleet. He has called his banners and hired many sellswords not already involved in the war in Essos. We believe he intends to contest our annexation with military force."

At the worried look on Viserra's face, Corlys was quick to give reassurance. "Worry not. Your father intends to accompany the fleet, along with your brothers. Vermithor, Vhagar, and Caraxes will make short work of Morion's fleet and army, and Dorne will rue ever crossing us."

Viserra shook her head. "But it is still war you sail to. Danger you are putting yourself in."

Corlys frowned. "Have faith in me Viserra, I know better than to take unnecessary risks."

Now that, Viserra would not tolerate. She placed her hands on her hips and clucked, eyebrow raised. "Really? So you aren't the man who came up with the most harebrained plan I have ever heard; to steal silk and tea from right under the nose of the Emperor of Yi Ti? Who then proceeded to challenge a pirate to a duel to the death knowing he could not best him without trickery?"

Oh yes, Viserra had long since heard the true story behind those tales. Rhaekar and Aurane saw to that. She found the difference between the truth and the story told to her family to be rather… enlightening.

To his credit, Corlys grinned sheepishly. "I know better now," he amended. "I have much to live for and I have learned from the mistakes of my recklessness, I still bear the scar Vunatis gave me. I will never forget."

Viserra was not wholly mollified. "That may be so, but I will still be going with you," she declared.

Corlys sighed. "Viserra…"

"What? Dreamfyre would be a boon, you cannot deny that. My father and brothers are men, they are wont to lose themselves having fun destroying the Dornish fleet and forgetting that they are to defend yours first and foremost. I will see to that in their stead and let them run loose on Morion. Let them bring Fire and Blood upon that fool and make him rue the day he dared to think he could challenge the dragons," Viserra argued, passion in her voice.

"I do not think your father will approve of you going to war with us."

Viserra took her husband's hands into hers and stared into his eyes. "Then it is a good thing my father is no longer my head of house. He has no right to command me where this is concerned. Only you do. Will you deny me?" she asked softly, tugging on his heart.

He shook his head in exasperation. "No, no I won't. Gods Viserra, you infuriate me so much sometimes when you say things like that, but I love you for it anyway." His last words were muttered quietly but she heard them nonetheless and froze.

Corlys noticed and realized that it had slipped out but he did not retract. Instead he smiled. "I love you Viserra."

Her heart pounded and she felt warmth in her body and soul as she nodded, still too stunned to speak. Before she could respond, Corlys leaned in and kissed her. Her lips went ablaze as she felt fire spread throughout her whole body. Her mind burned with need and she leaned into the kiss hungrily, tasting her husband as their tongues intertwined, her hands wrapping around his neck and head.

When they finally broke the kiss, she was breathless and panting on his shoulder as he gently shuffled her about.

"I love you too," she said finally.

The smile on his face filled her with so much warmth and joy she feared she might melt the Wall if she had touched it in that moment.

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Aemon

The Small Council was hard at work debating the logistics and strategies of the war to come but Aemon's mind was elsewhere. The specifics of troop and fleet movements and the supplies they needed were not that necessary for Aemon to concern himself with, there were other men more suited for that like Lord Corlys.

No his mind dwelt on something far more important than a war that had been decided before it was even declared. Resting on the very thing that gave him the certainty that victory was certain, no matter how many ships or men the fool Morion brought. Dragons.

It was the dragons that had made House Targaryen Kings of Westeros. It was dragons that made them closer to gods than men. Dragons that made them… exceptional. And now, for the first time in history since before the Doom, there might soon be dragons ridden by those that did not bear the name Targaryen, though they bore their blood.

His nephews Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon, adorable little boys, but they had been given dragon eggs. In hindsight they should have all seen it coming. Their father certainly had. Dreamfyre was a notoriously fertile dragon and Viserra of all people was not one to withhold her own dragon's eggs from her own sons.

And yet what was there to do? Loath as he was to admit it, his father had had a very good point. A dragonriding princess married outside of the family was disastrous. How exactly were they to stop her giving her children her dragon's eggs or just outright passing her dragon to her Targaryen-blooded children? It was not like dragons refused to bond with men or women just because they did not have the Targaryen name. Such things did not matter, despite all the mummery that their subjects had swallowed about only Targaryens riding dragons.

At the end of the day, only blood mattered. The blood of the dragon, the real reason why their family wed brother and sister and had done so for generations. When they said they kept the blood of the dragon pure, they really meant it. Not that the people or lords of Westeros understood that. They had thought them perverts and degenerates, abominations of incest and now finally after decades of war and corralling and propaganda, they had come around to seeing it as simply an eccentric quirk of their ruling family, permissible for the dragons they rode and the clear lack of any ill effects that lesser men might have from it.

He had no doubt Viserra's children could ride dragons, on account of their mother alone, and their father had Targaryen blood as well, if distant. If the eggs hatched, it was a certainty that Jacaerys and Lucerys could and would ride them one day. In that aspect, House Velaryon was perhaps both the worst and best possible family to have dragon eggs.

They were the oldest and truest of his family's allies and vassals, ancient and High Valyrian in their own right. Long had they served House Targaryen. As far back as the Doom itself, behind every notable Targaryen Lord or King, you would find a Velaryon by their side.

Lord Jacaerys Velaryon had been the first to swear fealty to Aenar Targaryen after the Doom. His son Lucerys had stood beside Gaemon the Glorious as he waged his campaigns during the Century of Blood. Valaena Velaryon had been the mother of Aegon the Conqueror himself and his sister-queens. Her brother Lord Daemon had given his life valiantly in his nephew's service during the Conquest and his son Aethan was the Iron Throne's very first Master of Ships. Aethan's son Daemon, named for his own father, had served his grandfather Aenys loyally as Lord Admiral and had served his father as his first true Hand and now his grandson, the greatest of them all, Lord Corlys the Sea Snake, had married his sister and served as Master of Ships.

Thrice had a younger daughter of a Targaryen Lord wed into House Velaryon during the Century of Blood, and twice had a Velaryon lady mothered the next generation of Targaryens. Aemon knew this intimately. Alyssa Velaryon had been his own grandmother, a grandmother he shared with his daughter. His wife Jocelyn's mother. The grandaunt of Lord Corlys.

Velaryon blood ran in the veins of every Targaryen as much as Targaryen blood ran in the veins of every Velaryon. Of all the families to rise to become dragonlords like the Targaryens, Aemon had to admit the Velaryons were the one family he would begrudgingly choose if he had to. They were more than just their traditionally closest allies and vassals. They were kin. They were family.

And yet still did a part of him fill with revulsion at the idea that anyone else but House Targaryen lay claim to and ride dragons, even though they be his own nephews. There was nothing that he could do about that now though, they could not demand Viserra remove the eggs from the cradles. It was too late for that the moment she claimed Dreamfyre. If she resisted the command and disobeyed, the only course of action left would be to force her and that was something the entire family recoiled from.

Would they slay their own kin? Because that is what it would inevitably come to if she resisted to the end. Could they kill their own daughter and sister over something so small as the right to give your children dragon eggs? Something they all took for granted? The answer to that question was no. They would not. Could not. His family was flawed and petty and many things besides, but they were not kinslayers.

Aemon had defended Viserra after she had claimed Dreamfyre but sometimes he wondered if he regretted that. In his mind's eye, it was not Viserra that he had seen crying and broken down that day. In truth, it was Rhaenys he had defended, not Viserra.

When his father had confirmed to Viserra, confirmed to them all, that the one reason she was not allowed a dragon was because she had no brother to wed, Aemon had felt compelled to speak. In his heart he had known, even then, that his father's words were logical and true but the matter was too familiar, too similar to another he was arguing at the time. It had compromised his judgement. He had been fresh from days' worth of arguments with his parents and brother over betrothing Rhaenys to Viserys when Viserra had taken Dreamfyre.

The plight of their family's women, the inherent unjustness of the world they dwelt in that saw women cast to the side and considered unfit to rule, Aemon was intimately familiar with it all. His daughter Rhaenys would prove to be a great queen, and yet to defend her right to be that queen, he was being asked to marry her to the next in line, as if she did not have the right to sit as queen in her own right, did not deserve to ride a dragon or pass dragons down to her children if she did not marry another Targaryen.

It was not that he had anything against Viserys, his nephew was a good boy and Baelon and Alyssa defended him fiercely. They had said that he would not challenge or usurp Rhaenys, even if they were to wed, and he believed them but the principle of the matter remained. It would not be required for Rhaenys to wed her cousin simply to secure her own succession if she was born male and he hated that difference. Hated that it seemed more and more likely his daughter would have to marry her cousin simply to gain her right to rule, a right that should have been unquestioned.

Viserra's plight had been too similar to his own daughter's and so at the time, Aemon had defended her. It was over and done with, Dreamfyre was already claimed and they could not change it, why harp on it and risk endangering Rhaenys with every word? That is what Aemon had thought at the time. But the world was not black and white, and in the year and a half that had passed since Viserra had claimed Dreamfyre, Aemon had had no choice but to realize that.

In an ideal world, neither Rhaenys's right to the Iron Throne nor Viserra's right to a dragon would be in question. But this was not an ideal world. Things could not be given simply out of fairness and justice. Nothing worked like that in the echelons of power. Rhaenys should be queen and unquestioned but men would rather compromise the rightful line of succession than kneel to a woman. Viserra and her children should have every right to dragons as descendants of their family but their name was wrong and they would be a threat. The real world, was not as simple as the ideal.

Aemon honestly hoped the eggs did not hatch. He felt guilty about it, but he did. The eggs hatching complicated so many things and left so many concerns and problems for the future. No, it would be for the best if they never hatched and left all those difficult questions unanswered. If he was a hypocrite for continuing to staunchly champion Rhaenys but hoping in his heart that Viserra's children did not hatch their dragons, so be it.

One thing remained for certain though whether the eggs hatched or not. House Velaryon had to be bound to the Crown. By any and every means necessary. More marriages, honours, positions at court, charters, tax breaks, trade privileges, everything and anything to remind them of the family ties and the benefits of loyalty. With luck, House Velaryon would become an extension of the Crown and House Targaryen, kept in check by House Targaryen's advantage in dragons and their reliance on the easy wealth and power they accrued by remaining loyal and at their side.

Aemon looked to his father, the man who had taught him how to think like this, how to think like a king, and wondered if he was thinking the same. He surely was, Aemon thought. He had seen the problem before they all had and had no doubt been long considering how to solve it. He had faith that his father would make the right decision.

When the Small Council adjourned, Aemon remained behind to speak to his father on the topic and spoke his thoughts on it. His father praised him for his insight and said that he was still considering his exact course of action. Before Aemon could ask what his father currently had in mind however, somebody knocked on the door.

"Enter," his father said, giving his leave.

In strolled an armoured knight. His gleaming black armour, trimmed in red, signified him as a captain of the Dragonkeepers. His helm was crested by a row of dragon scales that continued down onto his back plate, diminishing downward.

The Dragonkeeper bowed. "Your Grace, my prince. I have come to inform you that Princess Viserra has requested the aid of the Dragonkeepers to tend to her sons' dragons."

His father's face was impassive, looking like it was carved out of stone. "The eggs hatched then?"

"Yes Your Grace," the Dragonkeeper confirmed.

"Go. Do as my daughter has requested. Keep me informed on the growth of her sons' dragons."

The Dragonkeeper bowed. "As you command, Your Grace."

Once the Dragonkeeper had left, Jaehaerys sat back into his seat and brooded. Aemon remained standing, shaking his head. The eggs had hatched as he had feared. All that was left to do now was to deal with the consequences.

He sighed. "With your leave Father," Aemon said, as he made to leave the room.

"Aemon," his father called out to him as he left, making him stop and turn back.

"You will make a fine king one day. Thank you for your thoughts. They have given me much to consider. I hope, that no matter what course of action I choose to take, you will support me in it."

Aemon nodded. "Of course Father."