Across the Narrow Sea, two other Targaryens were leading quite different lives. After Rhaella's kidnapping, Daenerys had never let her son out of her sight for long. She liked to keep moving, always paranoid that the assassins that had come for her and her brother as children would return to come after her son.
They were back in Pentos for a few weeks, after just having returned from Braavos. One of the ship captains Daenerys trusted had passed along a message from Yara that they needed to meet, and Daenerys' manse in Pentos was chosen as the location.
"Your Grace!" Yara greeted Daenerys with a hug. "Just Daenerys is fine, Yara."
"And Aemon! You're getting so big!" Aemon also came forward to give Yara a hug. Daenerys didn't trust many people with her son, but Yara had always been loyal. She was one of her first supporters to seek her out after the rumors of her resurrection, and her only source of information from Westeros, not that she was very interested in Westeros.
"What news?" Daenerys asked, a little nervous. She had asked Yara to keep a stern eye on Bran and to let her know immediately if anyone in power learned of her or her son's existence.
"I've just come from a meeting Brandon Stark called in King's Landing. He's named his heir." Daenerys scoffed and turned to a window looking out on the sea. "What of it?"
"Well, it would seem that he has named Jon Snow's daughter." Daenerys spun back around.
"He released him from the Night's Watch?" Yara nodded and Daenerys continued. "And Jon had a daughter? With whom?"
Yara cleared her throat and looked around nervously for a moment, not knowing how Daenerys would take the news. "Well, uh, it would appear, if what they're saying is correct, and I think it is, after all she doesn't have his hair-"
"Oh, spit it out." Daenerys was growing impatient and irritated.
Yara took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. "They're claiming that she's your daughter. Her name is Rhaella. She has silver hair and she does look quite a bit like- Daenerys, are you okay?"
Daenerys fell to the floor from shock. Aemon and Yara rushed to her side. It took her a moment to recover.
Her daughter was alive. She was alive, and she was being held captive by those Westerosi monsters. Her mind was being poisoned by the Starks. They had taken her daughter from her and they were going to pay with fire and blood.
When Daenerys finally stood up again, she had made up her mind. She turned to Yara, pure anger feuling her now. "Can I count on your allegiance?"
"Yes, your Grace, of course. What is it you would ask of me?"
"Ready your ships. I need transport to Valyria. We're going to get Drogon, and then we're going to get my daughter back."
"But Papa-"
"No, Rhaella. And that's my final answer."
Rhaella desperately wanted to leave early for their trip North, but Jon was insisting they stay until the next moon.
"Papa, Maester Owyn's held court plenty of times, and a few weeks more really won't be the end of the world-" Jon gave her a stern look and she fell silent and averted her gaze.
"Now, what did you learn in your lessons today?" The two were having dinner alone in Jon's solar. They often joined the servants in the kitchen for supper when they weren't hosting other Lords, but Jon had had a mountain of work, so Rhaella asked the servants to help carry dinner up to him, a welcome respite for her father.
"We talked about how to manage food stores. It was very boring."
Jon chuckled. "That is very boring. But it's very important. Last Winter everyone in the North would have starved if your Aunt Sansa hadn't thought ahead and rationed their stores correctly."
"But Papa, Uncle Tormund and the Free Folk never worry about food stores."
"Yes, but the Free Folk spend most of their time hunting and gathering roots. Do you remember that big snow storm a few years ago? We almost ran out of food because there wasn't anything to hunt."
Rhaella thought for a moment. "Maybe we should teach Uncle Tormund about food stores."
Jon laughed and Rhaella joined in. "I don't think your Uncle Tormund would be much interested in managing food stores, sweetheart. But I'm glad that he's taught you how to find food when you don't have much saved up."
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Yes?" Jon called and a servant entered.
"Sorry to disturb you, your Grace. There have been several ships spotted on the horizon. They bear the Greyjoy sigil."
Rhaella furrowed her brow and exchanged a puzzled look with her father. "We weren't expecting anyone from the Iron Islands, were we?"
Jon and the servant shook their heads and Jon spoke. "Yara was at your coronation and she didn't say anything then. I wonder what she wants. I'll go see that an envoy is sent to greet them and find out what they want. She could just be looking to trade or something."
He moved to follow the servant out of the room, pausing to squeeze Rhaella's shoulder and give her a smile. She returned it and went back to her dinner. Moments later she fell to the floor when she heard a monstrous roar that seemed to shake the entire castle.
Her father ran back into the room, eyes wide, searching for his daughter. He found her hiding under his desk and ran to her side and lifted her into his arms before running from the room.
Rhaella wanted to protest that she was far too old to be carried, but instead held her papa close and tried not to cry out in fear when she heard a second roar.
The throne room was the best protected, so Jon took his daughter there at once. Their entire guard was gathered there, ready to defend them to their last. Jon had requested Longclaw be brought to him, and Rhaella was also given a sword, with instructions not to attack, but to defend.
They all stood in the throne room in silence, except for the roars that could occasionally be heard overhead. Jon crouched down to his daughter, who was trying to be brave and fight back her tears.
"It's going to be okay, Rhaella. We're not going to let anything happen to you, alright?"
There was shouting heard down the hall, then some screams. Far away an explosion was heard, along with another great roar. Rhaella let a few tears fall and Jon embraced her for a moment.
"You are strong and you are brave. You are the blood of the dragon and you will be okay. No matter what, remember that I love you." The barred doors started rattling, and someone called for a battering ram on the other side. Jon stood and drew his sword as some of the men moved forward to brace the door against the impending attack.
The doors came down in a few minutes. Rhaella drew her sword as well and Jon stepped in front of her protectively. Their men threw themselves at the incoming attackers, but they were outnumbered. Just as Jon was about to jump into the fray, Yara's voice rang out. "She doesn't want you to die yet, Jon Snow."
Rhaella had never seen her father look at someone else with so much hatred. "Who? Why the hell are you attacking our home? Who sent you?"
His sword was still drawn, and his grip tightened as he questioned Yara, but suddenly he dropped his sword at hearing a second voice.
"I suggest you surrender. I won't grant you a second chance."
Jon fell to his knees and tears came to his eyes. "Dany?"
"Dany?" Rhaella whispered, putting two and two together. Suddenly a silver-haired woman came into view. Rhaella recognized herself in her, and knew what she must do.
Raising her sword she charged at her mother, ready to kill her. Jon saw her moving and jumped in front of her, nearly bearing the brunt of her attack. She pulled back just as her blade was about to hit Jon's face. He wrenched the sword from her grasp and held her so she couldn't try to attack Daenerys again.
"Papa, no! Let me kill her! She should be dead!" Daenerys was taken aback, fear creeping into her face. Daenerys set her eyes back on Jon and her gaze hardened again. "Take him."
The Ironborn soldiers surrounded Jon again, moving in to pull him away from Rhaella. She dove for her sword again, but one of the soldiers caught her. She wailed and struggled to get away from him.
"Don't hurt her!" Daenerys' voice was filled with fear as she briefly broke her composure. The soldier nodded at once, but Rhaella still fought against him. A second moved to help hold her back.
"PAPA!" Rhaella screamed, trying to get back to her father. Jon wasn't trying to fight his captors, but was clearly distraught at seeing his daughter struggle.
"Rhaella, it's okay. You're going to be okay. I promise. Calm down, sweetheart."
Daenerys' heart hardened again at hearing Jon speak to her daughter. "Put him in the dungeons."
"PAPA, NO!" Rhaella screamed at the top of her lungs when Jon was dragged away from her. "Please, Dany, please don't take her from me. Please."
She turned to sneer at him. "Get him out of my sight."
Yara left with Jon to oversee his capture, while Daenerys softened and advanced on Rhaella. "Rhaella?"
Her daughters sobs at losing Jon changed to snarls at seeing Daenerys. Daenerys flinched at the first few curses Rhaella directed her way, as it had been a few years since she was called "foreign whore" and the like, and especially not by her daughter. After a moment she steeled herself again and turned to one of Yara's men. "Take me to the Maester."
"Your Grace, what would you like us to do with her?"
"Take her to my old chambers. Do you remember where they were?" The man nodded and Daenerys left, pausing to remind them to stand guard and not allow anyone to see her.
Daenerys' old room turned out to be Rhaella's current room. Rhaella wondered if her father had done that on purpose. Unfortunately her sword had been resting at the foot of her bed and the guards had noticed and had searched the room, removing all of her weapons.
Her door was left ajar and one of the guards was watching her every move. She was tempted to try to attack them again, even though she knew it was probably pointless. Although, her aunt Arya had recently taught her a new wrestling technique she had been itching to try out anyhow, and it was better than sitting there and not trying to prevent the invasion.
There were some voices down the hall and Rhaella prepared to pounce, but suddenly Maester Owyn came into view.
"Maester Owyn!" She ran to hug him, but stopped dead in her tracks at seeing Daenerys behind him. Rhaella shook her head and inched back into her room. Maester Owyn turned toward Daenerys. "Your Grace, it might be best if I speak to her alone."
"No." Daenerys was quick to answer. Rhaella almost started to cry, but remembered that her father had told her to be brave. She took a few deep breaths as the woman entered her room, then launched herself at the woman, quickly wrapping her hands around her throat and applying as much pressure as she could.
One of the guards quickly pulled Rhaella off of her mother.
"Your Grace, are you alright?" The Maester immediately bent down to help Daenerys up while Rhaella snarled at her. Daenerys brought a hand to her throat and took in a breath. "Maybe it is best if you speak to her alone."
She eyed Rhaella apprehensively, but with a certain sadness in her eyes as she left. The guard put Rhaella down after a few moments, and she rushed to embrace Maester Owyn as her tears started to fall. "She took Papa! Maester Owyn, she took him!"
He held her close, knowing that the guards were listening in. "I know, sweet child. But it will all be alright now that your mother is here."
Rhaella took a step back, horrified. "She's a monster. We have to stop her. Please, please, we have to stop her. She's going to hurt Papa."
The Maester bent down and put his hand on her shoulder. "She is not a monster, she's your mother. When you were very young your father took you away from her, and that was wrong. He has to be punished for his crimes."
Rhaella brushed off his hand, furious. "His crimes? What about her crimes? She burned down King's Landing! She should be dead! My papa saved me! He saved everyone when he killed her!"
Daenerys muffled a cry from where she was listening just outside the door, and her sadness quickly turned to anger as she realized what Jon must have taught her.
"No, Rhaella, it was wrong of him to kill her. Your mother is a wonderful woman and you're very lucky that she's back in your life now."
"No! I don't want her back in my life, I want her dead! I want Papa!"
Maester Owyn lowered his voice. "Rhaella, I need you to be strong, okay? I need you to be strong for your papa. If you ask her to, your mother might spare his life, alright? But you can't try to kill her again, okay? Not if you want to see your papa again."
Rhaella started crying but nodded.
"Would you like to apologize to your mother?" Maester Aemon asked in a louder voice.
"Okay." Rhaella said, very quietly. Daenerys wiped her eyes before putting on a pleasant expression and returning to the room.
When Rhaella saw her she took a few steps back, clearly angry and afraid. There was a tense moment before Rhaella looked at the ground and spoke, very quietly again.
"I'm sorry I tried to kill you. Please don't hurt my papa. Please."
Daenerys took a few steps forward to try and comfort Rhaella, but she moved away, terrified. "It's alright, Rhaella. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Please don't hurt my papa. Please. Please."
Daenerys sighed and straightened back up. "I won't Rhaella. But only if you're a good girl, okay?"
Rhaella nodded, still refusing to make eye contact. "Look at me, Rhaella."
She slowly raised her head and looked Daenerys in the eye. "It's going to be okay, sweetling. I'm never going to hurt you."
Rhaella tried to wipe away her tears before they could fall. "Then why did you take my papa?"
Daenerys gave her a frustrated smile, trying not to show how upset she was. "He has done some very bad things, and he's not safe for you to be around anymore."
"Liar! My papa would never do anything bad! He would never hurt me!"
"Rhaella, calm down." She took a step towards her again, and Rhaella ran to Maester Owyn to hug him again. "Please, Maester Owyn. Please save Papa."
Daenerys clenched her hands together and tried to remain calm. "Rhaella, I'm not going to hurt him."
The Maester held her and gave Daenerys an apologetic look. "It's going to be okay, Rhaella. Your papa is going to be okay."
Rhaella shook her head and held Maester Owyn tighter. Daenerys decided it would be best to leave before Rhaella got any more upset.
Eventually Maester Owyn left too, after reassuring her several times that Daenerys was not going to feed Jon to her dragon or any of the other terrible possibilities she was imagining. Rhaella had a hard time getting to sleep that night.
Usually she was a pretty restless sleeper, and frequently had nightmares of the King's Landing Massacre. Ever since she was little and had learned about the attack from her friends, the idea of it had haunted her. Every night Jon would try to tell her a funny or happy story to try and calm her down before bed, and he was always there to comfort her when her nightmares woke her up. It wasn't unusual for her to end up in his bed after waking up screaming.
Unfortunately that night her dreams were even worse than usual. It could have been that Jon wasn't there to tuck her in that night, or maybe it was hearing a dragon's roar for real, but her dreams were the worst they had ever been. She woke up sobbing and screaming, paralyzed with fear.
Suddenly someone was hugging her and she embraced them fiercely, thinking that it must be Jon. After a few moments she realized it wasn't, and screamed even louder, pushing them away and panicking. When she looked up and saw Daenerys Targaryen, she started hyperventilating.
As she blacked out she saw Daenerys holding her, calling for the maester. She hoped when she woke up it all would have been one long bad dream.