Love is the death of Duty,
Duty is the death of Love,
Yet in the end, all she can see is a single grave awaiting her.
or in which Valaenyra Targaryen realizes why would she sacrifices her life for duty when she can live happily igniting revenge wit...
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91 AC
The gentle light of the morning sun streamed through the window, slowly waking young Aemma Arryn from her peaceful slumbers. She stretched her arms and took a deep breath, feeling refreshed. Aemma quickly dressed herself as she could not wait to see her mother who is currently carrying her younger sibling.
She was quite excited to meet her new baby brother or sister although she became quite sadden by the thought. Apparently after birthing Aemma, her mother's health had not been quite the same as she became very weak. The maesters said that she might not even survive another childbirth, but here she was giving her father another child.
She did not know how much worse her mother's health can get or if she would survive the experience, Aemma could only hope for the best. As Aemma walked nearer to her mother's room, her thoughts was interrupted by screams of her mother. Aemma quickly ran to her mother's room which is not very lady-like but at that moment she did not have the urge to care.
As she stood outside her mother's chamber, she could hear the sounds of labor emanating from within. She knew she should go in but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to see her mother in pain, and didn't want to see the life being squeezed out of her. But she had to be there for her mother.
So she took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
"Mother?" Aemma called out.
The sight that greeted her was one of blood and gore. Her mother was in the throes of childbirth, her body wracked with pain. The maester was doing everything he could, but it was clear that the situation was dire.
Aemma could see fear her mother's eyes, could see that she was fighting for her life. And then, with one final push, the baby was born.
The cries of the baby brought tears to Aemma's eyes as she saw the birth of her new sibling.
"It's a girl, Princess," the maester said as she placed her new sibling in her mother's arm.
Princess Daella Targaryen smiled and urged Aemma to sit next to her to welcome her new baby sister. The maester asked a guard to call Lord Arryn over as the birthing has finished. It seemed that Aemma's father could not handle the sight of a labour, as he fainted before during Aemma's birth.
"What will we name her, Princess?" one of her mother's attendant asked in anticipation.
"Valaenyra Arryn, the First of her name," Princess Daella smiled at her new daughter. White turfs of hair can already be seen, showing the strong Targaryen blood her daughter carried. "Would you like to hold her, my love?"
Aemma only nodded as she stared at her little sister, she was a beauty and Aemma giggled as her baby sister gave her a toothless smile.
Their moment was disturbed by her father, Lord Arryn, storming into the room. He was greeted by the sight of his lovely daughter holding his newborn.
"I already have my hands full trying to wring out boys from you Aemma, and now it seems I have been given another tasks in wringing out more boys with this one. Gods should be good to me," her father joked as he took his daughter from Aemma and cooed at her.
It was a happy moment for the family. But as days gone by Princess Daella's health worsened. She has caught a childbed fever that began soon after Valaenyra's birth. Princess Daella knew what would come, she predicted it. She knew that she wouldn't survive the childbirth with her fragile body. But she was happy to spend her last days with two of her daughters.
As her fever grew worse, Princess Daella eventually died a week after Valaenyra was born.
Aemma collapsed to the ground when she heard the news and wept uncontrollably at the arms of her father who was also mourning the death of his wife.
The next few days were a blur to Aemma. Her grandmother, Queen Alysanne, had come to the Vale and demanded that her mother would be cremated and her ashes would be interred on Dragonstone. Valaenyra cried as she sensed that she won't be close with her mother anymore.
Queen Alysanne lament in sadness as she thought on how little Valaenyra would have to grow up without the protection and warmth of a mother. She knew she should have begged Daella to not have another child that might be a threat to her health as she was already weak enough, but Daella was stubborn like her mother and said that it was what she and Rodrik wanted.
"I will be taking Valaenyra and Aemma to King's Landing," Queen Alysanne snapped at Lord Arryn as she cradled little Valaenyra.
"You cannot take my daughter away from me!" Lord Arryn couldn't help but snapped back at the queen.
Her eyes flashed with fury at his words, "You have daughters, isn't Elys and Amanda yours? I will take Valaenyra and Aemma as my wards. Aemma is betrothed to Viserys, she will need to get to know her future spouse. And Valaenyra is too little, she'll need someone to take care of her and I do not trust anyone from the Vale to do so. Look at what happened to my daughter."
Her tone signaled finality and Lord Arryn couldn't fight back, she was the Queen after all. He wouldn't want to put his own house in jeopardy from a dragon's fury.
Aemma trying to make sense of what had just happened. Her mother was gone, and now she will be going to King's Landing with her little sister. She believed she was now responsible for little Valaenyra's life, it was what her mother would have wanted hence she knew that she had to be strong.
and so her life changed in an instant. Aemma went from being a daughter to a mother to her little sister, and she vowed to never let her sister forget how much she was loved.
♕
author note
welcome to the first chapter of vengeance and vanity. what do you think?
i hope you guys will enjoy this story and like Valaenyra, she and daemon are legit the cutest i am quite jelly 🥲
