99 AC
"Daemon, fuck!" Diana squealed as Daemon rutting into her against the wall of their bed chamber, eyes clenched shut, and head tossed back against the cold stone wall. They hadn't even bothered to fully undress, with Diana's thin, gauzy skirts bunched around her waist and Daemon's trousers only opened enough for him to take his cock out.
A few hard thrusts had Diana seeing stars and clinging to Daemon's neck as her legs became weak at the knees, struggling to stay wrapped around his trim waist. Once he realized she had finished, Daemon lost all finess, driving into her with intent, growling under his breath as he, too, found his peak and shoved his head into her exposed breasts, huffing out gasping breaths.
With a groan, they disentangled and clumsily righted their clothing, stopping every once in a while to peck each other on the mouth or another piece of exposed skin.
"Well," Daemon huffed, tying the laces of his trousers, looking up at his wife through dishevelled silver hair, "That was fun; with all that noise, I would have thought you'd woke -"
As if summoned by Daemon's quip, a bawling cry filled the quiet air, breaking their lustful stares and bringing the pair back to reality. Groaning, Diana gave up on tying her laces and began marching to the door, throwing over her shoulder, "You just had to say it didn't you."
"I'd say I'm sorry, but -" Daemon's humorous words were cut off by the slamming of the heavy oak door as Diana trotted down the short hallway to the nursery, plastering a smile on her face as she entered to see an infant sobbing in his crib, hands fisted and face red and twisted in anger.
"Muña!" The nine-month-old cried, standing up and bobbing up and down with his knees to show his excitement.
"Shhh, ñuha jorrāelagon," Diana crooned softly, crossing the room to scoop her son up into her arms and cradling him close. Instantly, the baby began to nose around her chest, searching for a nipple to suck on. Continuing to croon softly, Diana sat down in the wooden rocking chair in the corner and pulled down her unlaced dress, allowing Aelyx, her and Daemon's first and only child, to latch on and suckle.
The sound of soft footfalls had her lazily looking up from where she'd been combing her son's soft silver curls with her fingers and smiling softly at her husband as he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and eyes tender as he took in the scene before him.
"Aōha Valyrīha iksis māzis lēda sȳrī," He said, smirking when it took Diana a second to decipher what he'd said in her head, making her hiss in mock anger at him in return.
Once she had finished translating his words in her head, she smirked and said, "Ēdan iā sȳz āeksio."
Making Daemon laugh in response, his laugh making her giggle in return. It was so high-pitched that it didn't fit his features or temperament. Instead of being offended at her mirth, as he would with anyone else who dared to laugh in mockery of him, her giggle only made Daemon's smile grow more expansive, showing off his gleaming white teeth. Stepping forward, the now 18-year-old man looked down on his wife and firstborn son and could only feel pride in what they had accomplished together.
Soon after being wed, Daemon had taken Diana's dowry for himself and used it to fund his purchase of the villa he'd found for them out in the country, not far from Pentos, where such villas were common among the high-born and wealthy. He'd chosen to buy it anonymously, not wanting to draw too much attention to his new wife.
Daemon couldn't pretend that he'd chosen the villa for altruistic reasons. During the first six months of his marriage to Diana, he'd been known to take Caraxes to fly to Pentos and even sometimes to Lys, to gorge himself on whores and wine. Away from his wife and responsibility.
He'd ignored Diana when she raged and shut him out in cold silences upon his return but always managed to coax her back to their bedchamber, even if for a hate-filled fuck. Diana scratching at him and bitting him until he bled while she cried out her climax. He could admit it had stung when afterward, she had climbed off of him and walked away like he was a stallion ridden hard and put away wet. There had been no laughter or joy during that time unless it was in mockery of one another.
It wasn't until Diana confronted him, crawling on top of him while he was sleeping, holding his own valyrian steel dagger to his throat and threatening him with death if he didn't swear fealty to her and their unborn child, that he'd gotten his act together and truly, in his eyes, became a man.
The then 17-year-old hadn't even realized his wife was almost 3 moons pregnant until she'd gripped his hand and forced his palm to her expanding belly, snarling with insults and demands. He hadn't even heard her, too transfixed on the small bump he felt under his palm, too wrapped up in the idea that he, Daemon Targaryen, was going to be a father.
And while he had changed his ways, it hadn't been that easy to regain his wife's favour. It had taken months of smooth talking and proving through his actions that he wasn't going to abandon her for Diana to even deign him a kind word. But his wife was loyal if nothing else, and once she'd forgiven him, they had been strong together ever since.
She'd asked his opinion on how to decorate the nursery, had given him texts to read in preparation, and when the time came, had almost crushed his hand while she gave birth. When the maester and midwives had tried to shuffle the pale and terrified Daemon from the birthing room, she'd threatened them with Dragonfire until they relented, and Daemon took his place by her side.
Daemon had acquired a whole new respect for women as he watched his love fight for both hers and the baby's lives, pushing and screaming while she bled onto the white sheets below. So he hadn't complained when she almost broke his fingers, squeezing and threatening him with otherworldly torture while she laboured for 7 hours straight to bring their hale and healthy son into the world.
He'd never admit it, but when he heard Aelyx cry for the first time, he'd shed a tear, smothering an exhausted Diana with kisses, uncaring that she smelled of sweat, piss and shit from her pushing. Then he had cradled his son close, kissing him on the forehead, not caring that the infant was covered in blood and afterbirth, before presenting him to his mother, who watched him with tired but loving brown eyes.
She hadn't bothered to hide her tears as she helped Aelyx latch onto her breast with the midwife's assistance, ignoring the maester's grumbling about propriety and wet nurses. Daemon had taken great pleasure in kicking the curr out once it was clear there was no threat of infection or unwanted complications for both Diana and Aelyx.
The sound of rustling fabric shook Daemon from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Diana standing from the chair, holding his son out to him in outstretched arms, a cloth over her shoulder.
When he raised an eyebrow in question, she said, "I fed him; you burp him. Make sure to use the cloth. It took me a week to stitch that dragon on your tunic." She pointed at the dragon emblem in question, her eyes narrowed in menace at him.
He only pretended to be reluctant to take his newly fed and gassy son from her but inside, his heart warmed at the idea of holding his only child. He didn't care how many tunics he lost in the process of vomiting, shitting and pissing. As he walked around the room, patting a sniffling Aelyx on the back, he watched Diana as she quickly replaced her breast binds that prevented her milk from staining her clothing. He hated the thing, it made her chest seem smaller, and he knew the pressure it put on Diana's breasts caused discomfort.
Once she was done, she smiled at him and giggled when Aelyx finally burped, spitting up on his shoulder and making him cringe as he repositioned his son and threw the cloth into the nearby clothing bin. A maid would be by to collect it later and clean their rooms.
Looking around said room, his eyes caught on the shimmering green dragon egg inside his son's cradle. He himself had picked the egg during a visit to Dragonstone during Diana's pregnancy, where he announced her then 6-month pregnancy to his Father, Baelon, the Prince of Dragonstone and asked permission to pick an egg for his future child's cradle. However, the disappointment that followed when the egg did not hatch in his son's crib had gnawed at him in the nine months since Aelyx's birth.
As if reading his thoughts, Diana came to stand at his shoulder, booping Aelyx on his nose as he began to doze off in his father's arms. Then, she turned to her husband and murmured, "Do not fret, my love. You and I both know there is more than one way to achieve a dragon. He may yet choose to go the route you did and claim a dragon, like Caraxes. There is no shame in that."
Daemon knew his wife was right but looking day after day at the egg that refused to hatch made his blood boil. He would have thrown the blasted thing over a cliff ages ago if he didn't know how precious they were.
And he did know how precious they were. Daemon, like many of his family line, had always been fascinated by dragon lore and tales of Old Valeryia. About their magics and dragons, said to be even bigger than Balerion, the Black Dread had been before his death in 94 AC of old age.
Diana pulled him into a rough, fast peck, making an exaggerated smacking sound, then turned on her heel and walked away. Calling over her shoulder, she said, "I'll be with the hounds."
The villa Daemon had purchased was relatively small in comparison to others in Pentos but was no less beautiful in its simplicity. It had a spectacular view with rolling green hills, a mountain range on one side, and the distant lights of Pentos on the other. The villa itself was lovely, with three stories made up of white brick, red-tiled roofs and colourful flower-covered vines crawling across its exterior. The inside held 6 bed chambers, a large kitchen, two dining halls, one for family and one for guests and even a small throne room if Daemon ever decided to reveal himself and receive foreign visitors.
Another one of the main reasons he had chosen it was for anonymity, no one knew they were there, and the skeleton staff they kept was paid handsomely for their silence and had been assured often that if they told a soul who they served, they would live long enough to regret it then meet a fiery end. Caraxes and Daemon would ensure that.
And as Daemon walked the halls with his son's comforting weight in his arms, he felt at peace for the first time in his life. Away from the political games of King's Landing and the worry that, at any moment, there might be a line-ending calamity. Here, in the warm Pentos air, he felt whole and hale with his family at his side. He felt free.
Walking out into the small cobblestone courtyard, Daemon smiled as his son squealed at the birds that sat in the lemon tree in the small garden that Diana had taken over when they first arrived in Essos. Filled with small fruit trees, vegetable plants and flowers with medicinal properties, the garden smelled like an oasis as Daemon carried Aelyx closer to allow him to explore his surroundings.
He took his time, allowing Aelyx to pluck flowers and crawl in the dirt while Daemon munched on some berries he found hidden within the garden's depths, keen eyes locked on his son. Then, when Aelyx wandered too close to one of the many colourful parakeets Diana was fond of, Daemon scooped him back up, murmuring, "Careful Tresy, one swipe of his claws and he'll have you screaming for your Muña."
Giggling, Aelyx kicked his legs and squealed, "Ilagon kepa! Hontes!"
Ever since he was born, Daemon and Diana had done their best to speak Common Tongue and High Valyrian with their son in equal parts. Daemon had taught Diana throughout her pregnancy and corrected her still when she struggled with her pronunciation or word choice with Aelyx.
Chuckling, Daemon kissed his son's cheek and replied, "Let's find your mother, shall we?"
As soon as he heard his mother's name, Aelyx immediately stopped struggling, clinging to Daemon's neck; he cried, "Kessa! Muña se jaossa!"
It didn't take long to exit the courtyard, passing several servants who stopped to coo over the baby Targaryen princeling. Daemon preened a little under their fawning. His child was of the dragon's blood, and soon when he had grown, he would be a great warrior and dragon rider. Daemon would ensure it.
Walking out the front gate, Daemon looked around, spotting his wife in a nearby field, in breaches and a tunic he was sure she stole from him, she went through several Common Tongue and High Valerian commands with two large black and tan hounds their faces wrinkled and their tails wagging as they followed her orders without hesitation, receiving a piece of rabbit liver every time they did it correctly.
Clapping his hands and kicking his feet, Aelyx cried, "Muña!" and struggled aggressively until Diana turned to look at them with a smile on her face, and Daemon set him down to toddle to her on unsteady feet.
Commanding her hounds to heel and sit patiently, Diana then turned and crouched down, smiling and yelling out encouragement until their son fell into their arms. Then, hefting him up, she turned him to face the hounds, who sat patiently while, hand over hand, Diana showed him how to pet their floppy ears and hard skulls without hurting the canines.
She whispered to Aelyx softly in a mixture of High Valyrian and Common Tongue while Daemon approached, taking a seat under a nearby tree, content to watch his family from a distance, under his protection.
A distant shriek had Daemon smiling; near the villa was an extensive cave system where Caraxes had made a home for himself. Daemon had been careful to only ride the Blood Worm at night, when they wouldn't be spotted high above the clouds, the darkness hiding them from sight. Oh, no doubt the people of Pentos knew Caraxes was near their city, but without being able to follow the beast back to his nest and, by extension, Daemon's villa, the Pentosi were forced to speculate about the dragon's whereabouts.
They stayed like that for another hour or so before they heard the bell for supper ring, and with a giggle, Aelyx was picked up and placed on Daemon's shoulder while Diana walked behind, anxious that her only child would fall and break his neck because, despite everything, her husband was still a rogue. The hounds followed behind, baying happily and wagging their tails.
And for the next year, circumstances would remain the same, happy. Aelyx's dragon egg wouldn't hatch, but Diana would soon fall pregnant again, her birthing date predicted by the midwives to be mid to late 100 AC. So the small family rejoiced and stayed in their tiny corner of the world, only leaving it to go on dragon rides on Caraxes and visit Pentos hidden under cloaks and false names.
Until word came from King's Landing bearing grave news. Queen Alysanne, 'The Good,' was dead from wasting sickness, her body to be entombed on Dragonstone, where she had spent her final years in grief over her lost children.
When Daemon heard the news, he was enraged. He screamed in High Valyrian and tossed furniture, uncaring for his weeping wife and the screams of his son in the nursery upstairs. So consumed in his grief, it took Diana hitting him over the head with a heavy tomb from their personal library for his to stop long enough for the tears to fall and him to fall into despair.
For two days, he remained in his rooms, falling into his cups as he regretted leaving his Grandmother to her sorrow, so caught up in his own triumphs he was. Then, on the third day, he emerged, face cold and clothes impeccable to his wife and son's relief and apprehension. Then, without even bidding them a good day, he announced that they would be flying back to Westeros post haste to assist his Grandfather and Father in running the Seven Kingdoms to do their duty as royals.
Despite her sorrow about them leaving their little corner of paradise, Diana did not argue with her Lord Husband. Instead, she ordered the staff to pack up and close the villa. She did, however, decide to keep them on, tasking them with keeping the estate in top form and the gardens tended to until her family's hopeful return.
Within 24 hours, their most valued possessions were shipped ahead while Demon, a heavily pregnant Diana and the now two-year-old Aelyx climbed aboard an anxious Caraxes, and they were off, flying above the clouds to where a ship sat waiting to take them back to King's Landing.
Translations:
ñuha jorrāelagon - My love
Aōha Valyrīha iksis māzis lēda sȳrī - Your valyrian is coming with well.
Ēdan iā sȳz āeksio - I had a good teacher.
Tesy - Son
Ilagon kepa! Hontes! - Down Father! Bird!
Kessa! Muña se jaossa! - Yes! Mother and hounds!
