The Brothel Queens: A Story of Disrepute

The chains around the Dowager Queen's arms and legs cut deep, a special request from her bitch of a daughter-in-law. The rain pattered against the cell's window bars, a few scattering on the straw bedding provided for both of them that stenched of piss and manure. She even begrudges us fresh straw, Alicent snarled to herself whilst she attempted to lay her head down: the manacles prevented her weight from ever fully resting on the ground below, perpetually straining unless she forced herself into the smallest ball at the cove. In a moment of ingenuity, she propped her legs up against the grating stone and had her arms tug above her rather than behind, letting her arched back touch the floor without fear of any more pain. A sigh of relief escaped the prisoner's lips, for she had tried and failed so many times to find peace in the chamber- once it had been the ghosts who bothered her, but when sleep became so scarce she cherished what little could be achieved their voices were distant. It was only the screams of the one opposite her that made her eyes prick now.

Alicent cocked her head to look at the mop of silver hair covering her daughter's face: the grease and tears made it cling to Heleana's plump face, all but obscuring her beautiful targaryen features. Aegon had described Heleana as plain looking, but a mother knew the truth: Heleana was as beautiful as any other with the blood of Old Valyria, especially now that her time in the cell made her figure that bit more tight. If the Dowager Queen was going to pay that bitch any thanks, it was for accentuating the queen's beauty. Alicent hoped Rhaenyra might spare Aegon's wife, for she had done no wrong but be loyal to the true king of the 7 kingdoms and her lawfully bonded husband, and marry her off to someone far away enough that her claim to the throne would be lost to time. A lord in the vale perhaps, where Rhaenyra's traitorous family could make sure Dreamfyre would never ride to King's Landing and burn the bastard line of the fake queen into ash- that was a thought the leader of the Greens very much enjoyed, even if it left so much to be desired. A flash of lightning and the low shriek coming from the Dragonpit in response brought Alicent out from the fantasy and back into the damp tower which Heleana had cried herself to sleep in for the past month: when Lucerys died, any hope of a fresh start for the Greens died with him. Tears pricked in her mother's eyes, but she closed them to the world and fell asleep, hoping that the dreams tonight would be of Aegon when he was young, a babe in her arms, and not what lay at Rook's Rest.

Alicent lay in her husband's bed, blood seeping through the green linens as she nursed a new born babe in her arms. The babe suckled so hard it bit out her teat and drank of her blood, the red life force dripping down his chin. She went to scream, but the childbirth had taken everything from her, leaving her with nothing to do but stare around the room. Viserys stood near, dancing with a decaying corpse: the corpse wore a tattered wedding gown and a black dragon emblazoned on her crotch. The corpse danced with her husband as the walls peeled away to reveal a mountain high above the Vale, where birds descended upon the Bridely Body. The birds pierced the eye sockets, leaving bloody tears to drip, drip into the depths, where legions of angry peasants held pitchforks and torches denouncing the queen and her newborn babe. They spoke of tearing her babe apart and feasting on his flesh like wolves, letting the birds pick out his eyes and sending his bones downstream to be swallowed by trouts. The king looked down for a second before laughing so loudly the mountain shook. The babe begin to cry softly, when a shriek spurted out from the distance that made the kings ears bleed. Flies soon sucked at the blood, then Viserys' skin leaving him green and bloated- his belly inflated whilst his bowels evacuated, the stench of feces and piss not bothering the kiss as he chuckled. She wants to stop it, but what is happening cannot be undone- she has no choice but to look. Soon enough the kings face sunk inwards, and his laugh became a faint rattle before going out forever. His head turns to see Alicent, eyes bulging like grapes, and then he throws himself into the arms of his bride, knocking them both off the mountain and into the arms of the peasants who squeal with joy as the bloated corpses burst releasing a flock of tiny black dragons and falcons into the sky above. Another shriek in the distance. The crying of the babe grows louder and you can only do so much to calm him until his fingers claw at your breast, tearing away until your lower half is a bundle of gore, which he sucks at with glee. The black dragons stare at you with human eyes, purple eyes that denounce you without words. You think they might descend upon you until the moonlight disappears. Syrax looms in front of the birthing bed, as a burning Rhaenyra floats to you on a pair of wings, half falcon and half dragon. She tugs at the babe who begins to cry: you now see his face for the first time, a jumble of Aemond and Aegon, Jaehaerys and Viserys. You try to scream and hold him tight but are too weak. The babe is in Rhaenyra's hands now, and her grip begins to tighten around his silver hair. The baby is squealing, and then is screaming a horrible scream as the bitch's hand crush him into red mist, a mist she scatters on the rocks below. She looks at you and her eyes turn to that of the dragons. She opens her mouth to reveal several rows of bloody teeth, and a terrible shriek that causes you to scream as she burns you into ash, the mountain crumbling beneath you…..

…….brother? BROTHER!!!??? I can't see them through the clouds, keep low!...

….i see Caraxes…… where's Rhaenys….. I think thats her by the Watchtower…….Aemond?...

……..GGGGGRRRRAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEIIIII!!!!!...

……..Aemond!????? Fuck, i cant see through the clouds where are you!?!?!?!?!...

……….AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!...

……...RRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIII!...

………..Aemond! Aemond wh- oh 7 hells. Oh please no, please dont… Don't leave me….. You bastards!!...

………….Face us boy!!! Well find you soon enough!...

……..RAHSSSSS……

……….Mother, forgive me for what the warrior tells me i must do….. Sunfyre, rise! Dracarys!...

………...GRAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHH!!!!!!...

Alicent awoke suddenly, jolting her back so badly a disk popped out of place. She screamed into the straw, hoping to grab her son but knew a moment later it was too late. What kind of mother was she, one who couldn't protect her sons from death, who had left herself get captured and live whilst they smashed into Rook's Rest? The Dowager Queen asked herself that question as she began to sob from all the pain endured over that long month- the thought of her dragons gave little comfort when she knew never again could she meet their gaze, nor hold them tight as they spoke of what bothered them. No-one else knew just what a good man Aegon was, even if he did have his weaknesses but what man didn't? And she knew how Aemond could sing like any bard, when a haro was placed on his lap the world seemed a better place- they had deserved it all. She had done it for them, to make sure they had all they desired and more, even if they didn't realise at first how much it was deserved. But they died. She killed them just as much as Daemon.

The day Ser Lorent Marbrand, commander of the Queensguard, had dragged his feet to their cell and told them that her 2 oldest sons had been killed at Rook's Rest she knew would be the worst in her life; Heleana and her mother had cried for days on end as their guards began to grow sick of it. Their sobs of despair had even managed to persuade one guard to release them from their cell, but they hadnt even reached the end of the second corridor before Ser Bentley beat them with his hilt and ordered the guard executed for treason against the queen. She is no queen, Alicent remembered managing to get out, she is a husband to a murderer. Murderer. The word rung in Alicents head as the sound of the city below grew louder, the shriek of Dreamfyre signalling it was nearly 9 in the morning. The little sunlight that got through their bars was vivid, and so hot that the straw began to smoke before the queen put it out with her foot. The summer months never usually brought the humidity experienced this year, but the guards claimed dragon's blood heated the sea, and this year 7 servings of it were present inside every cauldron. The jokes didn't break the skin anymore though. What did was the heat without any water or food expected for the next 3 hours- Alicent's lips were already dry, and she could barely speak when asking the guards for extra provisions. Her mistake was using her former rank however, insisting that "the queen dowager does not dry like a fruit under the summer sun. Bring us water. Now." The guards grumbled to each other and went somewhere, most likely to ask permission from the bitch but the prisoner could not be sure.

Whilst the guards were gone, Heleana grumbled herself awake and shook the hair out of her eyes. She squinted from the light and turned to her mother, who now saw the fear in her eyes that was so familiar in the last weeks. Every day, it was the same and every day Alicent gave the same response for her daughter was a good women but not one for deep thought or philosophical questioning, as her darling Viserys once put it to a possible suitor. "Is Aegon back yet?"

"...No sweetie….i don't think he's coming back- we talked about this yesterday, remember?"

"Oh….yeah….well maybe Rhaenyra might let me see Jaehaera and Maelor. The guards said they're safe and cared for."

"Yes i heard them say that too. Maybe that bitch might have the decency to let a mother see her family once a month. I thought a mother might know the needs of another."

Heleana's eyes went wide, her hands began to shake and the stutter the young girl lost over time returned. "You shouldn't say those th-th-things about her, m-m-mo-mother. Please," she rattled her chains to connect her hands in prayer "if she is kind, don't r-r-roo-ru-i-i-ruin it. I beg of you."

I will not bend the knee to her, Alicent knew. Her anger bubbled and boiled in her heart and for a moment she wanted to scream a final defiance. My final son, my youngest boy still lives. Your children, the heirs after him, are safe. If that bitch dare make me betray my children and my children's children, i will slit her throat and cut out that wretched c*t's babe with my hands. Then she will see what a mother thinks of her kindness, a kindness that is so so similar to none at all. But she did not say that. Alicent managed "of course" and turned to look at the clouds, knowing her daughter did not believe her.

The two were drifting back into sleep when a loud KRAK came from the cell door, the sound of snapping locks coming shortly after. The taste of fresh air sifted slowly in when the door swung open, almost hitting Heleana until she snapped out of place, only hitting the tip of her left fingers. It hurt, she cried, as 2 guards slowly unlocked their chains and pulled them to their feet. Pins and needles carved them like daggers, so powerful that Alicent made the tip of her tongue bleed with pressure. The guards looked Alicent in the eyes as she was unlocked, undressing her with their eyes, though little was left to the imagination when it came to their figure: the rags they wore did nothing to hide their motherly curves. Heleana got it worse though, as one of her guards pulled up by her behind, eliciting a shout of fear in the girl that made her tremble. Had it not been for the other guard beating his companion over the helmet, Alicent later realised she may not have out of the day half as well. They were dragged one after the other through the corridors of the Red Keep, an experience that Alicent had never imagined would be filled with such dread when it was her marital home only a few months before. She couldn't have imagined the step-daughter she rivalled with ever since Aegon was born could take a kingdom less than a third of which supported her. Rhaenyra's Conquest (as they now called it) had taken months rather than years, and she had lost only two supporters in the fighting whilst the Greens lost 10. Alicent hoped if what she expected was to be done was done, that the bitch showed the same speed in her punishments as her wars.

The Iron Throne was intimidating in and of itself: 1000 jagged edges comprised from those who opposed the dragons in that first domination of the land. To say it was more intimidating when surrounded by 100 armed guards, 7 kingsguard and had a sickly yellow dragon coiled around it, the beast's wigs looking as if they sprouted from behind the usurpers back, was something Alicent deemed an understatement. The smell of blood filled the room, the trail of red leading to Syrax's mouth getting Heleana stuck for a moment bringing her close to sobbing.

Everything in the Great Hall was exaggerated; the tinted windows, the roof that stretched so high it disappeared into darkness and the skulls of other dragons twice Syrax's size. In this environment, Alicent had to stifle a chuckle at how tiny the bitch looked- bags gathered under her eyes, her hair tied loosely in a plat that flowed down to her knees, and a demon quickly festering in her belly, the Usurper was not half how the propaganda portrayed her. She looked more suited to nursing a babe whilst folding linens than sitting a seat made for men just as old as Alicent herself. For a moment, the queen Dowager felt no fear, but then she saw the queen's eyes. The pupils were thin as a snake's, and the purple colouring looked almost mystical in the shimmering light from the windows. A faint smile to her faith revealed discolored teeth, most likely left uncleaned since she had arrived in the seat of Westerosi power. Alicent and Heleana had their legs kicked out from under them at the foot of the stairs, a platform on which the seat of blades sat. The heat of Syrax's breath made the mother sweat profusely- The bitch seemed to recognise this, and waved a hand to a kingsguard member Alicent could not make out who placed a bucket of oats and a bucket of water at their knees, a gift Heleana dived into by sucking the water with her hands and eating straight out of the oats bucket, likely taken from the horses feed. She wants to see me grovel and lap up my feed like a dog, the Dowager Queen knew, but Heleana had already taken most of the meal and her mother could wait no longer. The warm water was so refreshing, moistening her throat so that she cough sigh in relief. The oats were so dry, but it felt good to eat food that was something other than a paste, something to be savoured and crushed under tooth.

When the buckets were empty, Rhaenyra finally took away her hand from her chin and leaned back in her stolen seat. When she spoke, her voice was raspy yet calm, powerful yet weak from what seemed like a break in her, a break that neither. "Its good to see you again Heleana." She drummed her fingers, each adorned with sapphire rings. "Jaehaera and Maelor have been good eaters: i'd say they're both nearly as plump aa you are- well were i might say. If i wanted, i'm sure a common lord would manage to overlook the fact your womanhood is neither pure nor tight." Heleana was silent, but Alicent knew she felt no pain from it: other children had mocked her all her life, and an insult so weak as to shame her motherhood was nothing but a mere speck on the strong women's mind. This obviously annoyed Rhaenyra, Syrax bearing his teeth as the smell of two possible morsels reached his nostrils that were each as big as the lady's heads. "Daeron is currently being held at Riverrun, under command of lord Elmo, whom ensures me Daeron is being treated fairly as possible" her fingers traced the outline of what was once a lannister dagger "considering the circumstances. He is but a child, and took no serious part in the war. His life is not something i have a special interest in taking or preserving." She chuckled in her seat, eliciting a chuckle from The Red Wyrm next to her, a milk-pale woman Alicent knew would be ensuring her son paid, just as those poor babes Heleana desired would in fair time. Rhaenyra was a sick woman, Alicent knew, and for a moment it was almost pitiable. Until Rhaenyra stood from her chair and began to descend, Mysaria pulling a brown cloth sack from behind her back.

"You two, however, well- you had every opportunity to turn Aegon away from his schemes and his treachery, yet sat and did nothing. I imagine his wife and mother would have been able to cut his throat like a turkey any day of any week they chose. But you did not- and in doing so you led him to his demise, and Aemond's as well." She got to the end of the iron throne and snatched the back from Mysaria, whose yellow grin sent the first signal to Alicent this was more than an exhibition of embarrassment. Rhaenyra got closer and closer, swinging the bag and swinging her hips as she hummed a little song to herself, one neither of the queens recognised. She only stopped about 5 feet in front of them, when a buzzing sound could be heard emanating from the bag. Alicent's stomach turned: she realised what it was before Rhaenyra had a chance to empty out its contents, the sound of thudding followed by an ear piercing scream from her daughter, that she swore shattered a glass full of wine on a table next to a guard, who himself looked horrified at what he saw, almost vomiting until the dragon rumbled. Alicent's head was gripped by a hand with nails so long and curled they drew blood from her cheeks. Please Rhaenyra. Please dont me look. I beg of you. Please. If Rhaenyra cared about what Alicent wanted, then the Dowager Queen would not have been forced to turn and see Aegon's severed head, a row of teeth crushing the left side until gore spilled out his crushed eye socket and mouth. She would not have seen Aemond's one good eye stare up in half-asleep terror at her, most of his right shoulder still remaining but now gone green, flies picking at his lips which were now filled with pustules and the stench of death their father had held on him for days at the start of the war that had killed them. Heleana sobbed uncontrollably, grasping Aegon's head in her hands as she pleaded for him to come back, to see their children, before descending again into hysteria. I loved them. I loved them so much, and now they are dead because of what i wanted for them, my arrogance. For the first time in a long time, Alicent sobbed like a baby.

"Good" Rhaenyra smirked, walking in a circle around them like wolves circled a dying deer, nothing left in them to fight. "Now you both now what it is like to lose a son, a husband: perhaps now you realise all the hurt you caused me-" SHe stifled a whimper, tear rolling down her cheek. "I never wanted this. I didn't want any of this. We could've been the best of friends, he my hand and me the queen of a kingdom who worshipped us. But now…. Now i know that this was what needed to be done, so that i could rule knowing justice was in the world". Alicent knew what the queen said was true. My fault, she said to herself, my fault. "When this last judgement is over, the realm will once again return to peace, and the dragons shall dance with joy. So tell me: Princess Heleana, sister-wife of Pretender Aegon Targaryen, and Alicent Hightower, Supporter and mother of Pretender Aegon Targaryen, tell me the punishment you desire. I can have Syrax swallow you both whole, without pain or fear. Or i can keep you hear, to make you pay and learn for what you did to this family."

Alicent peered through the tears to see Syrax move his head slightly closer, his teeth parting to show the deep fire formed within, bristling his teeth until the room began to swelter. Alicent saw them all before her; Her father, her husband, and the two babes she had nursed long ago, in the fire the dragon continued. They smiled at her, warmly but with some sorrow as well, and held out their hands. Beyond them, a field of white lilies and red roses, where streams of fish passed by a pale blue river and the sun filled the land with hope, kindness and love. Alicent took a last look at her daughter, the room around her, and saw her family in the fire before looking up to the queen. "Death." She stumbled with deep breaths, hands once trembling now still as ever. "I long for death." Heleana could only nod in agreement as tears streamed down her cheeks, her head also facing Rhaenyra. For a moment, Rhaenyra's madness fell, and she seemed to feel something like pity for those she had known most of her life. But then, a devilish smile crossed her face. And her teeth formed daggers that knifed at the the mother's heart. "Well then. If you desire death, then i shall ensure-" she lowered herself to talk to the two of them, Syrax slowly retreating back around the Iron Throne. "That you are kept from it. I will ensure you live longer than any others in Aegon's traitorous regime. Mysaria gave me an idea: Both of you opened your legs for a traitor, one to birth him and one to fuck him. But he was no better than a commoner. Your punishment will be to be sent to the most vile brothel in this city, and work the rest of your life for pleasuring those commoners. Your bodies are no longer your own, but the possession of any man or woman willing to pay a copper coin. They will fuck you or beat you as hard or as brutally as they desire, so long as you survive. You will both breed bastards like a rabbit, and never again know the feeling of a husband or lover who cared about you for anything other than your womanhood. That...is your punishment. Take them, and make sure i never see their faces again." Then she turned calmly and ascended her chair once more, sitting and returning to a glass of wine.

The queens could do nothing but gawp in horror as they were pulled away by the guards, their family disappearing behind Syrax's jaws. Alicent wished to steal a dagger from them and slit her throat, but she had no strength. She had no strength, she was no longer a dragon, but a Brothel Wench, soon no longer a queen.