Rhaella Targaryen was terrible with pregnancies. Child after child was lost, and her husband, Aerys, only grew increasingly more impatient with her. At night, the Kingsguard by the King and Queen's chambers would hear her crying and begging with her husband. None intervened. None made a sound. They remained at the door until morning, and then told the other members of the Kingsguard what they'd heard.
No one dared to say that perhaps Rhaella was not meant to have children. No one dared to note that maybe it was because Rhaella and Aerys were siblings that the children miscarried or didn't survive infancy. They feared what Aerys would do to them if they spoke up.
When Rhaegar was born, Aerys rang the bells of the Great Sept for seven days almost none stop. From the moment Rhaella went into labor to when they were sure the boy would live, the bells were rang. Even after the seven days were up and the maesters assured Aerys that Rhaegar would live, he did not allow anyone into the baby's chambers. A letter of congratulations and a proposed betrothal arrived from House Daxer, who's lady had just had a daughter.
Myranda Daxer already had birthed four sons when she brought Liliyanna into the world. One had died in a battle many years before. One was training to be a maester of the Citadel. One had been stillborn. The other was only four. Liliyanna would be married to a lord or a prince, and she'd bring great honor to House Daxer.
House Daxer proposed many marriages for Liliyanna, but always kept Rhaegar Targaryen in their prospects. They sent letters asking if Aerys would take Liliyanna for a ward, and their pleas were met.
When Liliyanna and Rhaegar were five, Liliyanna was sent to King's Landing.
She was happy there. Matters of the court interested her, and Aerys allowed her to sit in on him while he spoke to subjects. She would sit on Aerys' lap, scribbling in messy writing how to be a perfect ruler. Aerys took a liking to the girl and her curiosities, and he warmed to idea of a marriage between her and Rhaegar.
Rhaegar and Liliyanna got along well. They both were well learned children despite their young age, and oftentimes servants would find one in the other's bed, the two reading by candlelight beneath the covers. They did not understand what betrothal meant, but they were content with each other and would be perfectly alright with anything as long as they could remain together. They were inseparable.
Rhaegar took to calling her Lili, a nickname that spread quickly throughout the Red Keep. Nobody except for Aerys called her Liliyanna at that point, and had it not been for him she might have forgotten her full name. Lili was loved in King's Landing, and she received letters often from her mother and brothers. Everything was perfect. Well, almost everything.
Throughout the years, Rhaella lost more children.
A miscarriage.
Miscarriage.
Shaena Targaryen stillborn.
Daeron Targaryen lived only half a year.
Stillbirth.
Miscarriage.
Aegon Targaryen born two months early and dying a year later.
Jaehaerys Targaryen dying after only a year.
No one truly knew when Aerys hit his breaking point. But after the death of Jaehaerys, he was convinced someone had killed his son. He beheaded the baby's wetnurse in a blind rage. Then he became convinced that his jealous lover had poisoned the baby. He tortured the girl and her family.
Before he had been comforting to his sister-wife, but then he was suspicious. He was sure that the dead children were the result of her being unfaithful. He instructed two septas to sleep in her bed with her, confined to Maegor's Holdfast. His wife was a prisoner in her own home.
Aerys fasted for a fortnight and prayed with the High Septon. He vowed to never have other mistresses. He could not stay true to his word.
And finally, seventeen years after Rhaegar's birth, Rhaella had another son. Viserys was a small, fat baby. But he was healthy and he was happy, and that was all anyone could have cared about.
Aerys took extreme precautions with Viserys, not allowing Rhaella to be alone with him, and burning gifts with a fear of them being cursed. He was abated only by Liliyanna, who was able to calm him with sweet songs and summerwine.
When she was young, Aerys had cared for her as a daughter. But his feelings toward her began to shift as she entered womanhood. And so, with Rhaella remaining the holdfast, there was a new girl crying from Aerys' chambers at night.
Rhaegar managed to keep Aerys' from taking Liliyanna for a second wife, but it didn't make the thought leave the king's mind.
Aerys decided that Rhaegar would not marry Liliyanna. Instead, he formed a betrothal between Rhaegar and Elia Martell. Liliyanna accepted her life as nothing but Aerys' bedslave. Her letters from home abruptly stopped. She suspected the king had something to do with it, but did not ask him about it.
She was forgotten in court.
She was forgotten by Rhaegar.
She was known only by King Aerys.