Soldier, Poet, Queen ||| Jacaerys Velaryon

one

So... surprise! My long hiatus has temporarily been put on hiatus lol. Season 2 of hotd put me off writing for a little while but when I had this idea, I chose to return to my domain and have been working on this fic!

For now have the first chapter as a little teaser. The rest will come when I'm finished the book as I don't want to start posting and then drop in the middle because I get burned out. So have this chapter and maybe a second once I get a feel for how it's received!

ALSO!!! There will be Targcest in this fic!!! Jace and oc are half-siblings!!! Please see this warning and find a different fic if that makes you uncomfortable! If there are any rude comments left I will literally just take the fic down and post it on a03 lol. Targcest is canon with literally every couple in this show and I definitely feel that if Rhaenyra had a daughter she'd have married her to Jace to protect them both from being undermined.

Anyway, I've warned yall 3 times about the targcest so if I see ANY comments about it I will spontaneously combust. Thank you and enjoy!

Also—I will be changing some parts of canon in the fic. Namely character ages, situations, etc.

There were not enough words in common tongue or Valyrian to properly explain what exactly transpired to almost drive House Targaryen to ruin. Catalysts could be spotted in every corner of Targaryen history, many close calls, but perhaps none just as close as the Dance of the Dragons. Contrary to popular belief, the conflict started long before the violent war. No, the very meat of the conflict had been developing since Princess Rhaenyra, heir to the Iron Throne, was but a girl at odds with her stepmother, the Queen.

War was brought ever closer by the birth of the Princess Rhaenyra's children. Some theorized she'd never bear any at all, not with the husband her father chose for her. To the surprise of many, none more than the Queen herself, Rhaenyra was proclaimed to be with child after a period of time considered 'lengthy' by many. Would she struggle just as her mother had? Would the child even live?

Those words haunted the young princess during the very first of her pregnancies. That was only one of the many issues plaguing the young girl, however. Yes, the entire kingdom was overjoyed that the child dubbed the 'Realm's delight' was carrying her very own babe. They knew not how the child had come about, however. Nor did they know why the Princess was entirely terrified.

Rhaenyra tried for months to conceive a child with her husband as was commanded of her. She understood that he could not perform his duties after his lover had been slain during their wedding. It was only natural for him to be distant.

But then there was a new companion and she was sure his duty could be fulfilled. After all, neither of them relished in the boring, loveless act required to create a necessary child. They needed at least three at every time they laid together, Rhaenyra thought of how long it would take to squeeze out those required children. An heir for her, an heir for Driftmark, and a spare. Gods willing they came easy and quickly.

The Gods did not will it. Rhaenyra and Lenor tried for months. It soon became clear that there was more keeping her husband from doing his duty than the loss of his lover. They tried everything and they both humiliated themselves in ways never imagined to try and have a child. Yet moon after moon, Rhaenyra experienced the symptoms of her course and felt the fear and hopelessness gripping her chest.

Her role, as demanded by the Gods and her father, was to have children and continue her lineage. The lack of progress made her afraid something was truly wrong with her, that she was so undesirable she could not do something every other woman could do, and that she would end up like her mother. Things were terribly difficult and there was no one besides Laenor who understood the situation.