"It's my duty, my God-given birthright and my crown."
- Mary, Queen of Scots
In which Valyria Targaryen returns to the Red Keep and becomes a key player in the game for the Iron Throne.
....or....
In which there isn't a person in the Se...
THE SIEGE OF KING'S LANDING ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
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132 AC, Dragonstone
Waiting for news of her allies' success was possibly the most excruciating form of waiting Valyria had ever experienced. Partially, Valyria believed a Queen – and King – should be in the frontlines alongside her men because if the monarch didn't fight for herself, then why should anyone else? Yet at the same time, she also realised that one of her main duties at the moment was remaining alive.
Normally after giving birth, Valyria would be forced to take it easy for at least a fortnight to recover from bringing another child into the world. Sometimes, the period would last longer – like with Viserys – and sometimes she'd be up and running in only a few days. This time, however, she'd not been given the choice to take it easy. At the moment, she could not afford to look weak in front of the men that already doubted her abilities to rule.
Valyria also hadn't realised how much help Daemon truly was to her before he left them; of course, she always appreciated all the things he did to help her care for their children but maybe she didn't tell him enough. As a royal, no one actually expected her to care much about raising her children, since that usually was left to septas, nursemaids and maesters. But Valyria didn't want to be the kind of Queen that ignored her children and allowed them to be cared for by strangers.
Not even now when she had to find time to spend time with them in between council meetings. The presence of Cyrenna and Aegon were a blessing since they took the burden of caring for her younger children when Valyria couldn't; Aelia and Daeron, especially, who somewhat understood what happened around them despite not fully being able to comprehend it.
Another person Valyria couldn't imagine life without was Serra, her best friend and loyal lady-in-waiting. Valyria could count the people – except her children – she trusted fully on one hand and Serra was on the top of that list. To her, Serra was invaluable. Not only as a friend and companion to her, but as an advisor. The dornish lady had an uncanny ability to dig up secrets and never hesitated to give an honest opinion – a trait Valyria truly admired.
Then there was Rhaenys Targaryen. The closest thing Valyria had to an older sister. The world tried to push the two of them against each other at the Great Council, but while Rhaenys always held a little bitterness over how Viserys was chosen as King, she fully supported Valyria's claim; because the Queen-Who-Never-Was could acknowledge that Valyria held the strongest claim as the daughter of King Jaehaerys's eldest son.
That's why Valyria chose Rhaenys as Hand of the Queen. Rhaenys was clever, used to ruling and a skilled politician but those were traits many others possessed as well. "The pin suits you," Valyria told Rhaenys as the two Targaryen women walked through the stone hallways on their way to the Chamber of the Painted Table.
