Guided by the Fourteen Flames of Old Valyria, Valarr Targaryen, Bastard of the Blackwater, restores glory to a house that would rather forget his name.
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HOUSE OF THE DRAGON
SEASON 1
MALE OC X AEMOND TARGARYEN
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Valarr had not seen Aemond since the day he was born.
Well, Queen Alicent had not allowed him to see Aemond, and now nearly six moons had passed. He knew because next week was the start of Second Seed, and with it followed his nameday.
Ordinarily, it would not bother him so much, but the whispers were insistent. Valarr was unsure why; Aemond was just his cousin, the same as Rhaenyra, Aegon and Helaena. The whispers never explicitly told him to spend time with them, but he could guess. All he knew was that they liked The Harbinger.
Valarr disliked the title. Aemond was a babe; he was not anything. Even if that were true, the whispers offered no explanation, only a persistent nudging. Valarr harboured no resentment toward Aemond for it. He was blameless.
And then there was the subject of his sixth nameday.
All the nameday celebrations for the royal family were grand and joyous affairs. Rhaenyra's four and tenth nameday was no different, commenced by a three-day tourney. The King stopped at no expense, inviting half the realm and expecting the other half to enjoy the day regardless. Valarr remembered seeing Ser Cristion prepare for the melee, asking for Rhaenyra's favour. Sadly, he did not see who his chosen opponent was since Aegon and Gunthor Darklyn pulled him away to play Ghost in the Graveyard.
Valarr liked the idea of his nameday; he did not like how the King wanted to celebrate it. The grandeur, Valarr often found, was too loud for his tastes. Then, there were some who found Valarr unworthy of the celebrations he was given. Thankfully, Aegon was usually there to steal the spotlight, happily laughing with the lords and their children and laughing off the more critical ones. It let him recede into the crowd of people, unrecognizable as a Targaryen until they looked at his eyes.
The lords were still kind enough to bring gifts, so many that he could not keep track of them. Valarr's favourites were the ones given by House Blackwood. The heir to the house, Samwell, was a good four years older than him, but he was one of the few who disregarded his birth status. He heard that Samwell petitioned as a potential suitor for Rhaenyra, and according to her, he entered a duel issued by the heir to House Bracken. His cousin spoke of the incident with ridicule, telling him how both boys acted like arrogant fools.
However, he knew that Samwell Blackwood was not arrogant. The Bracken boy, on the other hand, was. Apparently, most Brackens were, and Samwell was on the receiving end of their ire for many years. He would hear about it whenever the Blackwoods came down to Kingslanding. Valarr was just happy that his friend finally stood up for himself.
However, now that Valarr was almost six namedays, he could ask the King if he could start learning how to wield a sword. Since the very moment Ser Criston caught him in the training yard, the urge gradually grew.
