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STRONG BY NAME - Chapter 1

HOTD Masterlist - STRONG BY NAME Masterlist

Warnings: mentions of death, explicit language, mentions of childbirth

Before the Greens and the Blacks went to war, King Viserys Targaryen, the first of his name, intends to keep his family united with a marriage between his second son, Aemond Targaryen, and his granddaughter, Alysanne Velaryon.

Chapter 1 - ALYSANNE

Aemond could not comprehend what he was looking at. A boy of nearly four, his light eyes stared down into the makeshift cribs in the nursery. Two babes bundled up so that all you could see was their pink cheeks, their soft brown eyes, and their tufts of black hair. He had heard his elder brother, Aegon, who was nearing seven, remark that these children could not possibly be true Targaryen's or true Velaryon's. Though he wasn't sure why, he was listening to the words his brother repeated from their mother. The one that had been born first was a boy, named Jacaerys as Lord Corlys had desired it, and was said to be the heir after his own mother. The second-born child had been a daughter. After all, twins did run in the bloodline.

She was Rhaenyra's own heart. A girl to cherish and love. Her own daughter. Within just mere days of greeting her, the Realm's Delight had noticed she hardly cried, she barely bothered anyone. She was happy and content, slept like a dream, and stared up at the person who held her. Rhaenyra was almost sure that her first daughter was always to be named Visenya, after the Queen who was more warrior than lady, a fierce fighter, and a steadfast woman. When the Queen, that is Queen Alicent, had asked to be presented with the children, Rhaenyra was asked what the child's name was. "My wife has chosen Vis-" Ser Laenor began and was interrupted by said wife. "Alysanne," Rhaenyra corrected. She had a feeling that the little Princess was much like her great-great-grandmother.

There the Prince was, staring into the cradle of the young Princess, not even a week old. He felt nothing as he looked at her. Why should he? The baby was unremarkable, nothing special at all. In the corner of the cradle, he spotted the dragon egg that had been placed inside. A tradition set by Queen Rhaena, the eldest sister of King Jaehaerys the First, had been ongoing ever since she placed an egg in the cradle of her brother. The egg had a burgundy shell with bright golden marbling throughout, the gold alive against the red. The bumps over the egg heavily resembled scales. It was yet another reminder to him that his own dragon's egg did not hatch.

The King had surprised the entire room when he announced it was a good idea to betroth the young twins to their first two children, a son named Aegon and a daughter named Helaena. "It will unite our family," Viserys had announced, "Jacaerys to Helaena, and Alysanne to Aegon. In time, Helaena will be a Queen,". Aemond had heard this notion but did not know what to make of it. It did not bother him. He did not understand marriage or much of the Kingdom he was born to. All he knew was that he, as he was now, did not like babies.

As Alysanne grew, she was joined by two more brothers: Lucerys and Joffrey. Like her, they each sported the dark eyes and curls that prompted them to be known as "Lord Strong" and "Lady Strong" by many. It was speculated that all four of Rhaenyra's children had been fathered by Ser Harwin Strong rather than Ser Laenor Velaryon. They resembled nothing close to a Targaryen or a Velaryon, but more to someone of common birth. That being said, many regarded Alysanne as "pretty". She had an oval face, unblemished, with round cheeks and a porcelain complexion. Her lips were naturally full and with a pink hue, her eyes almond-shaped and such a dark shade of brown that they almost looked black. Her dark black hair reached the small of her back and was relatively straight like her mother's, pulled back into many intricate braids while the rest flowed freely. She was slim at the waist with a small frame and standing quite short.

She had learned to read at such an early age and was completely fluent in High Valyrian by the age of six. Her favourite pastime was reading books on history and lore, she could play the harp with ease, and she was graceful in her dancing. She could be both wilful and timid, knowing exactly what to say and do and when and where to do it. Alysanne was gentle and kind. But most of all, Alysanne loved to fly on the back of her dragon, Veraxes. Her charcoal grey dragon, burgundy red wings, black as night claws, all speckled with the same gold the egg once had. If you could not find the Princess, she would be found by the edge of Dragonstone with her dragon, or flying high in the sky above the fortress.

She had become motherly to her youngest brother, Joffrey; directing him during feasts and dances and other occasions. It was always said that Alysanne would become such a wonderful mother when the time came, though the prospect of childbirth frightened the young Princess after seeing her mother's sixth child born. She had been beside her mother at both Aegon's and Viserys' births on Dragonstone.

Before she had left for Dragonstone, she had lived an uneventful life in the Red Keep. Though her Aunt Helaena was five years Alysanne's elder, the former would teach the latter all about the insects she caught, and they would dance together in the evenings. In truth, she loved her aunt but had little love for her uncles. They refused to sit near her, to converse with her, to dance with her, to acknowledge her. While they openly mocked her brothers with bastardy, only Aegon would say the same of Alysanne while Aemond simply nodded his head. He didn't like girls but Alysanne was always kind, no matter what. When Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Aegon had gifted Aemond with the "Pink Dread", the Princess was sympathetic and stated that he would have a dragon one day. She felt it in her bones.

And then the year 120 AC came and with it, tragedies. The Lord of Harrenhal and current Hand of the King, Lord Lyonel Strong, had perished in a fire at his fortress along with his firstborn son and heir, Ser Harwin Strong, the man rumoured to be the father of Rhaenyra's first four children. Jacaerys confided in his sister that their mother had admitted the truth of the matter. The young Princess refused to believe it to start with before she finally saw how different she looked compared to her supposed father and her mother. Secondly came the news of her aunt's death in Pentos during a difficult labour which produced a stillborn son.

Thirdly came the loss of Aemond's eye after he had claimed the late Lady Laena Velaryon's dragon, Vhagar. Alysanne had seen nothing of the fight but later had been told that it was Lucerys who had taken a blade to Aemond's eye, that he had been defending Jacaerys and their twin cousins, Baela and Rhaena Targaryen. The Prince remained adamant that it was worth losing the eye for such a mighty dragon.

And lastly was the death of her father, Ser Laenor. It had come unexpectedly after the funeral of his sister. Alysanne had been distant from her father over the years, considering he would rather be in the training yard with his squires or on the seas on an exciting voyage. Though she loved him dearly, she began to feel more angry that Ser Harwin was gone rather than Ser Laenor.

By the end of the year, Rhaenyra had moved her four children to Dragonstone and married her father's brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen, who had been the husband of the late Laena Velaryon and was the father of Baela and Rhaena. It was declared from Dragonstone that Jacaerys was to wed Baela and Lucerys was to wed Rhaena, that the once agreement of Alysanne and Aegon being wed was void for he would wed his sister, Helaena, two years later. Princess Alysanne thrived on Dragonstone, thinking fondly of her uncle, Aemond, and her aunt, Helaena, and her grandsire, the King.

Mere months after gaining her fifth brother, Alysanne and the entire family received the invitation to attend the wedding of Aegon and Helaena soon, and with an announcement to be made.

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