Keeper

Prologue - In The Beginning

Notes:

This particular piece of fiction does not belong to me, with the exception of my take on my OC, Rhaella Targaryen. I have not read A Song of Ice and Fire, but I have done enough research that I may mix aspects of book canon with show canon.

The prologue starts before the show as well. Happy reading!

• Rhaella Targaryen •

Living as a highborn had never been an easy task for those with the last name Targaryen. And what was worse? When you had a prophecy spoken over your future, for both yourself and a babe sister that has yet to be born. Rhaella had never believed in superstition, or prophecy, until Daenerys Stormborn came into the world wailing like the storm that broke outside the windows of Dragonstone.

We're getting ahead of ourselves here. Let's explain the context, firstly, of the woman you are about to meet. Rhaella Targaryen, second of her name, Protector of the Innocent and the Unseen. The Keeper of Dragons. A girl born into a high family with expectations burdening her shoulders from the moment she greeted the world with silver hair and the brightest eyes any Targaryen had ever seen.

"We will call you Rhaella. A gentle hearted woman with more compassion then anyone in the Seven Kingdoms can fathom. And when the time comes for you to be fierce, to be braver then you want to be, the blood of the Dragon will course through your veins. That is when you will rise from the fire and become Rhaella of House Targaryen."

Those words were never uttered again, but both her mother and father watched them play before their eyes as their eldest daughter aged with grace. It wasn't until she was eight years old that her path came across that of the eldest Lannister, a boy of nine named Jaime.

Rushing through the halls toward her chamber with books piled in her arms, Rhaella shrieked as she nearly collided with Grand Maester Pycelle. He had been the one teaching her, Jaime and Cersei to read and write since they were young children. She and Cersei had excelled and had moved onto the Septa, but Jaime had been struck with enormous difficulty when it came to pronouncing and reading each word correctly.

"Ah, my Lady, I was just coming to look for you." He greeted. "Young Jaime has had trouble with todays lessons, and it was the idea of his and your father to allow your help in this matter. Would you care to accompany me?"

"As you wish, Grand Maester."

Rhaella scurried through the halls on the feet of her Maester and stopped inside the doorway of Jaime Lannister's chamber that he shared with his twin sister, Cersei. Cersei had made it more then clear since the first time they'd met as children that she held nothing but contempt and resentment for Rhaella.

Jaime, however, was nothing like his twin. He bore bright green eyes like the others of his family, and golden locks that were nearly always unkempt when she saw him. He wore the Lannister sigil on his chest and scrunched his nose in frustration when he tried to sound out each individual syllable on the pages in front of him.

"Young Jaime, this is Rhaella Targaryen. She's the daughter of King Aerys, and she will assist you in learning how to read the words on those pages." Grand Maester motioned to the table the eldest Lannister sat at with a wave of his arm. "My dear, if you may. I will return momentarily."

Jaime was fairly compliant when she began to individually sound out each word on the page, and after gentle coaxing, she finally managed to have him read the first few sentences on the page without aid. And the way he smiled was well worth the effort, for about five minutes. His frustration grew with the larger words that were harder to pronounce and Jaime eventually cast the book across his chambers.