Chapter Text
Visenya I
17AC
Visenya Targaryen woke up in her bed alone, it had long since become a common occurrence but the disappointment never really went away. She felt cold despite the warmth from the Dragonmont spreading through the castle. She had dreamed of Rhaenys again, her beautiful sister who was shot dead by the damned Dornish. She would have dwelled on herself more but the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms had different thoughts today. She needed to be with her son to help him tame that crazy little beast.
Her son was an enigma for Visenya. In truth, Visenya Targaryen had never expected to be a mother, she’d spent most of her life focused on ruling, warfare, and combat, devoting no time to child-rearing. Rhaenys and Aegon’s descendants would fulfill the prophecy that Aegon had dreamed and Visenya would rule her father’s domain of Dragonstone until her death.
All she cared about then was ruling Dragonstone, the only place she could ever call home. Where she was taught to fight along with her brother Aegon by the master at arms of Dragonstone Quenton Qoherys, a good man he was, may the gods keep his soul. Dragonstone was where she claimed her Vhagar, where she first saw the world from the heights of the back of a dragon, where she was taught to govern and to rule by her lord father Aerion Targaryen himself. Dragonstone was what mattered to Visenya Targaryen.
Visenya had always been disappointed with her nephew Aenys, a frail weakling from the moment of his birth, showing little to no signs of being a warrior like his father. It grew even worse with the death of her beloved sister Rhaenys. For Visenya, her sister was the joy of the world, endlessly positive with a big heart; a glue that held their family, the last of dragonlords together. With her death, Aenys shattered like glass. He stopped talking completely and even reverted back to crawling like a newborn. He also grew immensely sick and the entire realm held their breath to see if Aenys would die and Aegon would lose his heir.
That was when the whispers started. They claimed she was barren because she had never given Aegon a child, it was never what she wanted, she never wanted to be tied to a birthing bed. It was only with those damned whispers and the looming possibility that her weak nephew would meet the Stranger that she considered motherhood for the very first time.
She stopped taking Moon Tea and began visiting Aegon’s chambers more. With a little help on her end and a blessing from the gods, she found herself pregnant with her son. Once she had learned the news and told Aegon, the incessant whispers going around the Aegonfort were instantly silenced. But while the political machination of the court continued, Visenya herself retired to Dragonstone for the remainder of her pregnancy.
The pregnancy itself was terrible, she had no idea how Rhaenys seemed to do this with little effort. The babe in her womb would constantly kick her in the ribs, her feet began to ache, she desired all sorts of weird food combinations, and above all the mood swings were terrible. Visenya had always prided herself on being the most calm among her siblings. Her fury was always being directed at those she felt deserved it. However, when she was with child, she was hateful to basically everyone, the tiniest things would set her off and she was as likely to chastise a loyal servant as she was to lambast an incompetent buffoon.
Then there was the birth, which had somehow been even worse, all her work towards giving Aegon the perfect heir seemed to pay off with the size of the babe but it had bitten her in the ass when she had had to birth him. She had a long and hard labor and was left recovering from the birth for over a sennight after she finally brought Maegor into the world. But in the end, it was all worth it, seeing Maegor for the first time was a feeling she would not experience again till her dying breath, that image of his little face with tufts of silver hair and dark purple eyes was itched in her memory, never to be forgotten.
Aegon came to visit her around a day after Maegor was born. She still recalled their conversation and it still made her upset.
“Are you alright Vis?” were Aegon’s first words when he rushed into the room.
“I am fine, husband,” was Visenya’s curt reply. She was bedridden and would continue to be so for some time according to the Maesters, whom she had dismissed. She dismissed basically the entire staff, some peace and quiet was all she wanted.
Yet Aegon continued, “I heard the birth was difficult, are you sure you are alright?” Aegon asked again, concerned. Visenya wanted to scoff, as if birthing a child could ever do her in. She will die of old age or in battle, nothing else could kill her.
“I appreciate your concern but I will recover, Maester Steffon has recommended strict bed rest and plenty of food and drink,” Visenya relayed the information the Maester said to her, he was good at what he did so she decided to heed his advice.
“So where is my son?” Aegon calmed down with her reassurance and it seemed he finally got his priorities straight.
“He is sleeping in the nursery.”
“Oh? I figured you would want him with you.”
“No, he was screaming quite a lot and I wanted to sleep, so I passed him off to the nurses. I will be a mother when I can stand again.”
“Haha,” Aegon laughed nervously and Visenya scoffed in return once more.
“If you are alright, then I think I will go see my son,” Aegon said, excitement dripping in his tone as he walked out of the room.
He returned not long after with Maegor in his arms. “He is quite heavy,” were the first words Aegon said and it made Visenya roll her dark purple eyes.
“Don’t I know it,” Maegor was easily twice the size that Aenys was at birth.
Aegon merely smiled at that. Maegor was thankfully sleeping, when he was awake he cried so him being asleep was probably for the best, Visenya found the sound terribly irritating and she could not place why.
“So how long will you stay?” Visenya asked the question that had been waiting on her tongue since she learned he was coming to Dragonstone.
“Unfortunately not long, my kingdom needs me.”
Visenya narrowed her eyes. “And your son doesn’t?”
Aegon met her glare with a practiced one of his own. “I cannot abandon the kingdom to be here.”
“And you cannot move the court here? I am sure my nephew would like it here on Dragonstone among dragons, not among the piss and shit of that city of yours. This way both brothers can grow up together,” she offered diplomatically, a chance to put the past behind them once more.
“I cannot, I am still a new king, the realm needs to see me on Westeros proper or they may get some ideas,” his eyes were dark, and memories of the conquest still filled his mind.
“You have Balerion, he will silence any ideas someone may get lest they force another Harrenhal.”
“It is not so simple sister.”
“I think it is.”
“Well, why don’t you come to King's Landing then?” The irritation was clear in her brother’s voice.
“And live in that cesspit?”
“It will never stop being a cesspit if we ignore it, besides, I need to sit my Iron Throne.”
“Please Aegon, don’t try to fool me, you don’t even sit on it half the time, you are always on your progresses after all.”
“Do not shift this onto me! You were as much a participant in The Conquest as myself. You know what dangers I have dreamt of!”
A yell from Aegon was all it took for Maegor to wake up and thus they had to wrap their conversation up before he began screaming again.
“You are avoiding your son,” she stated the fact. Someone had to advise her brother and his lickspittles were clearly doing a poor job.
“I am doing no such thing, I would happily raise him in King’s Landing but you will not return with me. I will not deprive my son of his mother.”
“Then you better get going, your Kingdoms needs you,” she said before she rolled over in her bed and closed her eyes. A maid came to get Maegor and Aegon left. She dreamed of Rhaenys that night, if she were alive he would have stayed, she held their family together and without her presence, everything was so difficult, so much more difficult.
Exiting her memories and returning to the present, Visenya made her way towards Maegor’s room. Her son had changed greatly since bonding with his dragon. Earlier, he was always crying, so much so that many of the castle staff just adapted to it. He would only stop crying when she would read to him.
Her father had once done the same for her, he would read all sorts of different stories to her. Aegon may have been his heir but Visenya was always Lord Aerion Targaryen’s favorite child. He personally taught her how to run Dragonstone and even gifted Dark Sister to her on her third and tenth name day. She always wanted to emulate her father, so she took Maegor into her lap and read to him. She read to him about dragons, hoping to awaken the dragon in her son. Aenys had been weak and disappointing from the moment she laid eyes on the boy, how her siblings ever created such a weakling befuddled Visenya. She knew Maegor was strong and all she had to do was find a way to coax out his dragon blood.
She really had no idea what she was doing. Her mother, Lady Valaena Velaryon was quite good at child rearing if you looked at her siblings and how they turned out. But while she lived long enough to see her married off to Aegon, she never taught her any of the typical lady-like things.
Childrearing was left to Rhaenys’s education while Visenya was busy learning to rule under her father’s tutelage, learning how to fight under Quenton Qoherys, or learning magic under her own. And as a result, now she had no idea how to raise her son’s spirit. Something was eating away at her boy, that much she could tell. Gifting him a sword on his third name day helped but only temporarily, eventually he returned to his sadness and inactivity.
He looked so bored by the world. As if nothing could excite him. He would be excitedly be speaking to her one moment and then a deep boredom would take him over in the next. His brief moments of joy were covered by a sadness she could not lift. Like the sun hidden by an endless stream of clouds.
Finally, she decided to gamble. Aenys’s health improved greatly once he bonded with Quicksilver, he was still pathetic and weak but his health did improve when he bonded with his dragon, so she spoke with some of the Dragonkeepers and decided to try and get her son to claim a dragon. With any luck it would shake him from his stupor and she would not feel worried about her child as much.
Her plan was a resounding success, so much so that she could hardly believe it. She had taken her son with her to visit the great Dragonpit closer to the peak of the Dragonmont. It was the first time that Maegor had ever been there and seeing the wonder on his face brought her sheer joy.
She did not know why but she felt different around Maegor, when he was happy she was happy and her emotions seemed to follow his pretty closely. Maybe that was why she was trying so hard to cheer him up, seeing her son sad made her heart ache.
Now she had new things to focus on. Aegon had returned from his progress to the Reach so she was no longer needed in King’s Landing, she could devote her time fully to her son. She already had so many plans prepared for him.
For now, she would be satiated with training her son to tame his dragon. He would need her help and with any luck, it would keep him well distracted from whatever was bothering him before. She was also certain Maegor would be fascinated by the Dragonkeeprs and she could not blame him for that.
They were some of the few people that Visenya truly respected in this world. An order of one hundred and forty all male members recruited locally from Dragonstone. Their existence as an institution dates back to the slaves brought over by Aenar the Exile around a hundred years ago when he fled the doom following the advice of his maiden daughter, Daenys the Dreamer. Aenar sold all of his holdings in Valyria and many of his possessions but there were a few things he kept and took with him to Dragonstone. Namely his family, his dragons, his swords, parts of his library, and his slaves. Aenar brought almost one thousand slaves with him to Dragonstone and among them were the Dragonkeepers.
The Dragonkeepers served the Targaryens faithfully as slaves for thousands of years in Valyria and once The Doom destroyed Old Valyria the Dragonkeepers on Dragonstone were the last in the entire world. They continued to be slaves to House Targaryen until Maegon Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, decided to free every single slave owned by House Targaryen to improve relations with the Westerosi Kings and the newly revealed Bastard Daughter of Valyria, Braavos.
This proved to be a controversial decision and ended up killing Maegon himself but his brother Aerys would uphold the decision, there were to be no slaves on Dragonstone. This led to some other problems though. Namely, if the Dragonkeepers were not slaves then why should they serve House Targaryen? Lord Aerys Targaryen created the system that Dragonstone still operates under to this day. He met with many of the former slaves personally and negotiated with them until they all came to an agreement. The former slaves of House Targaryen would continue to work for them organized under guilds.
These guilds covered many aspects of the island's economy, a pyromancer guild practiced a lesser version of their own fire magic. The shipbuilders went to Driftmark and made quite a living on the island under House Velaryon's patronage. There were many master craftsmen and builders on the island who were regularly contracted out into Westeros or across the Narrow Sea. There were even quite a few currently working in King's Landing to build up the new Capital. Then their amazing Blacksmiths, greatest in the world after the destruction of Qohor, they were unrivaled in talent and skill. She had even contracted them to forge a Valyrian steel dagger from some scraps she had collected, which she gave to Aegon as a gift on his fourth and tenth name day. They also made Aegon’s crown just before the conquest, a band of Valyrian steel with rubies red as blood.
These guilds were rich and powerful, they operated and recruited locally, and with half a century of labor they made Dragonstone into a very rich fiefdom. It was not overly populated, numbering no more than ten thousand inhabitants at any given time but the town was still much nicer than many on the mainland. Dragonstone had public baths, paved streets, stone houses, and even a few schools to teach the next generation of guild members. The deals struck with the Targaryens basically allowed the guilds to run the island’s economy unfettered so long as the taxes were paid to the Targaryens and the House of the Dragon got its rightful say.
The sole exception to this system of guilds were the Dragonkeepers, they were widely respected on Dragonstone, even as slaves. They were also deeply religious, following the Gods of Old Valyria, the real gods not like the weak Seven of the Andals or trees in The North. The contract Aerys signed with them was mutually beneficial. In return for vows of absolute loyalty and continuing to tend to House Targaryen’s dragons the Dragonkeepers would gain several benefits.
They would be paid very well, have the right to practice their faith unmolested by the Faith of the Seven, they would be allowed to inhabit the Dragonpit and the main keep, and they would be allowed to recruit new members for their order on Dragonstone. The former slaves united after the contract was signed with lord Aerion and created some base guidelines for their order, most were merely religious in nature but their recruiting was the most bizarre, being an all-male order sworn to celibacy, they would recruit by taking young orphans off the street and teaching them from a young age to be a part of their order. It was a win-win for the Targaryens, orphans were taken off the streets and they would continue to have a loyal support base of Dragonkeepers so long as they held up their end of the bargain.
The Dragonkeepers brought three hatchlings before her son, they were all healthy hatchlings and she would not have been upset if her son had picked any of them, aside from maybe the pink one. She had even considered putting the blue one into Maegor’s crib as an infant, to maybe shut him up, but he toned down the crying before she actually did it. To her surprise, her son rejected all of them, instead asking to see the one they had hidden away during their visit. She would have been upset but the Dragonkeepers were some of the most knowledgeable people on the planet, with hundreds of years of institutional knowledge, she valued their knowledge and expertise so she excused the slight.
It was only when they brought the little beast out that she understood their apprehension. It was a violent creature, she understood why they wanted to throw it out. It hissed and snapped at everything in the room and when it looked like it was about to spit fire at herself and her son she was going to draw her Dark Sister and end the threat there and then. That did not happen, however, her son had awakened his dragon blood and shocked all of them. He calmed the beast and claimed him as his own. Visenya smiled from ear to ear, she had been right, her son was a dragon, he just needed to find his other half.
She opened Maegor’s door to find him swinging the sword she had gifted him, he started doing it more once he claimed his dragon.
“Let’s go, you have training.”
Her son merely cocked his head and gave her a confused look.
“You wanted that crazy dragon, and so you will train the beast, we cannot have him eating useful people.”
“Oh,” her son’s look of understanding made her smile, even though he was a mopey thing Maegor had always been smart, very smart according to the Maester, just unmotivated.
They once more made their way up to the Dragonpit for the lessons. This was where new dragons were broken in and trained. Vhagar was trained here sixty years ago and now her son’s dragon would be trained here.
The eldest Dragonkeeper was the one who would lead this lesson. He was very old, he personally took part in Vhagar’s training all those years ago and he was not a boy then.
“You must gain control over your Dragon, right now he is as good as wild, if he is not broken in by you soon then he will never listen at all,” the elder Dragonkeeper spoke to her son and handed him a steel whip. She imagined this was what Aenys had been going through in King's Landing, once King's Landing was established the Dragonkeepers established a chapter there and Aegon ordered the construction of a Dragonpit in Kings Landing, it would take many years before it was done but once it was, the Dragonkeeper chapter there would operate similar to this one.
With the words said and her son now holding the whip his dragon was released from its chains. It hissed and roared as it forced the Dragonkeepers close to it away and moved towards her son.
“Dohaeris,” Maegor spoke softly and his dragon roared into his face, the elder dragonkeeper placed his staff in front of Maegor, nominally to protect him but it was mostly to keep Maegor from moving around too much.
“You must show strength, dragons respect strength and strength alone,” The Elder spoke again, his voice low and gravely.
“Must I harm him?” Maegor spoke in a quiet voice.
“Yes, you can teach a dragon verbally but only once it respects your authority,” The Elder was very patient with her son, he was only a boy so it only made sense he would have some apprehension about harming his bonded beast. Unfortunately, the whip was the second or third most useful tool to command a dragon so it was very important he learned how to use his.
“Very well, Dohaeris!” Maegor yelled while he cracked the whip near his dragon, it hissed and roared but the beast eventually quieted down and simply stared at her son.
“This is a fine start, bring the goat!” The Elder yelled and motioned with his hand to another dragonkeeper, a boy maybe a few years older than Maegor, who brought out a goat and tied the creature to a post nearby.
“So what do I do now?” Maegor asked and she laughed.
“Tell your dragon to burn the goat,” she jumped in, normally she would have let the Dragonkeepers do their job but she had to do so for this.
“Alright… Dracarys!” Maegor yelled and his dragon slowly walked up to the doomed creature before bathing the animal in a sea of vibrant green flames. She spotted the wide smile on the face of her son and she felt like she had genuinely succeeded for the first time in a while.
The Dragonkeepers let it gorge on its meal before they reattached the chains and pulled the creature back into its stable; it had graduated from the nursery to a stable after being claimed.
“Have you thought of a name for your dragon, my prince?” The elder dragonkeeper asked her son the same question she intended to.
“I think I have, Terrax, I want my dragon to be named Terrax,” A strong name, she thought it more fitting than a silly name like Quicksilver.
“Very well, he shall be known as Terrax,” the Dragonkeeper bowed and departed to resume his work, Dragonkeepers lived busy lives, especially now that they were down a good number of their members once the chapter in King's Landing was created.
…
“Well? Did you have fun?” Visenya asked her son, after they departed the pit. She stopped to greet her beautiful Vhagar before leaving the pit and moving back towards the castle for the rest of the day.
“Yes! I did not like using the whip though,” Maegor said with a little hesitation.
“I know son,” he looked perplexed by her response.
“What? You think I enjoy hitting my darling Vhagar with a steel whip? I hate it just as much as you but it is necessary, if the dragon does not respect you then you are lost,” her words seemed to hit home with her son and he looked at his hands.
“Do not get too comfortable however, we have some more training to do,” Visenya said and urged her horse to pick up the pace. They were wasting daylight after all.
“Motherrr, I already have so much to do!” Maegor whined and Visenya smiled, she thought he would like this new training almost as much.
…
“Concentrate!” she roared at her son as he let the small ball of fire dissipate again. They were in one of the more secluded rooms on Dragonstone right now and she was glad for it. She did not want to show her son’s embarrassing display to everyone.
“I am trying!” he whined back at her and she sighed. Unfortunately, he was more like his father when it came to this field. Aegon was always far more interested in fighting and swordplay than magic. Little did he realize just how useful a well-placed fire could be in a fight.
Fire magic was a skill that was carefully cultivated throughout millennia of Targaryen existence. It even gets a mention in their house words “ Fire and Blood.” Her son absolutely had to learn how to use it. Aegon had no intention of ever devoting the time to using it and she was certain her nephew was floundering under his tutelage.
She let out an audible sigh as the fire disappeared again and she resolved to change her strategy. Her son was clearly not operating well under the pressure and perhaps some encouragement would help him now.
She knelt down to reach his eye level as he was kneeling before one of their house’s last remaining glass candles. Poor treatment and upkeep had led to many of them breaking over the years and they could not exactly order new ones from Valyria so they had to be careful with their current ones.
“Maegor…” she began and her son shrunk back, expecting another lecture.
“Look,” she said flatly and once Maegor turned to look up she drew Dark Sister from her hip.
Her wonderful blade shone in the dim light in the room and she slowly ran her thumb across the blade. Leaving a small trickle of blood on it.
“This is why you need to learn,” Visenya said before she shook her blade and it lit up in brilliant bronze flames. Her blood called upon the same color her Vhagar used for her own flames.
The room was suddenly lit up in a greenish bronze hue and Maegor’s little eyes shone with delight. ‘Giving him something to work towards is probably my best bet, I cannot allow him to think this is worthless, ’ she thought with another sneer towards Aegon. He could very well do this but he simply had no interest.
“This requires extreme concentration and effort. Practice as well, are you going to give up?” she asked her son and he quickly shook his head no.
“No Mother, please keep teaching me!” he asked with sincerity and she knew she had captured his interest.
“Then concentrate, you must will the fire to obey you.” She pointed at the Glass Candle again. It was important to this training, that there were only two ways for fire to be produced with magic. From man’s blood or from a glass candle. She had quite a number of scars from training to light Dark Sister aflame, she did not wish the same wounds on her son.
She saw her son’s eyes close again and she leaned in to watch. “Fire is unpredictable and willful, if you let it go it will run wild. You must tame the fire. You already claimed your dragon. This is a similar principle. Enforce your will over it.”
The small ball of green flame sprung to life once more and danced atop the brilliant glass candle. She had extinguished Dark Sister earlier so now the dark room was covered in a green flame. Fire magic for Dragonlords was different. The pyromancers down at the guild in the town could use limited applications of this magic and theirs was all red. However, the wildfire they produced was green.
Dragonlords meanwhile could call upon their dragon for inspiration. It reflected their bond. Vhagar’s flames were a greenish bronze and so hers were the same. Maegor’s dragon’s fires were a vibrant green and so the fire before him was the same.
The fire bounced this way and that. As if trying to escape an invisible cage before Maegor finally seemed to figure it out. The fire stopped pushing against the hold and formed into a near-perfect sphere.
He opened his eyes and she saw the delight appear behind them. She had seen very, very little of that before he claimed his dragon and the sight of it brought Visenya joy she had not felt since he was first born.
In an instant, the fire died though. ‘ He lost his concentration… ’ she thought with a slow side glance shot Maegor’s way.
He reeled back but she just smiled instead.
“That is enough for today. You did a good job,” she said after placing a hand on her son’s head. He would end up much taller than her. She decided to use her advantage now.
“Can we practice more later? I want to do what you did with Dark Sister,” her son asked her as she packed up the priceless Glass Candle.
“Naturally, we will be practicing once a sennight and I encourage you to practice on your own later. Once I teach you how to properly maintain and use this glass candle that is.”
“Yes! Thank you Mother!” he called out again and gave her a hug around her legs. Such intimacy was strange to Visenya after so long. Rhaenys was always like this and the hug brought back good memories.
“Of course Maegor, I know you will do great,” she finally said after a pause. She would make sure her son was ready for the world.