Chapter 2: Rhaenyra I
This is an alternate-timeline work inspired by GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire world
Rhaenyra I "the Bee" (97-138AC, r.118-138AC)
"I have my duties as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. I have my duties as Protector of the Realm." -Rhaenyra I Targaryen, at her last small council meeting
Queen (sometimes retroactively called "King" in later historiography) Rhaenyra Targaryen was the sixth monarch of the Seven Kingdoms to reign from the Iron Throne, as heir of her father Viserys. As Viserys' only child to reach adulthood before his death, Rhaenyra was doted on by her father while being groomed as heir, conflicting activities which did not mix well with her mercurial nature. Nevertheless, as rider of the dragon Syrax, Rhaenyra would prove to be a ruler more forceful than her father.
Appearance and character
Surviving accounts differ on the physical description of Westeros' first female monarch, especially during her childhood. Records originating from the Red Keep called the then-princess "the Realm's Delight", one of if not the fairest maiden amongst the many noble maidens in Westeros. Other records, emanating from the courts she visited as her father's consort, claimed Rhaenyra was pudgy and forgettable in form of body. Nevertheless, all sources agree the Queen was visibly Valyrian, with silvery blonde hair and violet eyes.
As an adult, Rhaenyra was lustrous and fair. The queen took on many mannerisms of the warrior queen Visenya, possibly as a visible projection of power to intimidate her many enemies. She wore her hair in a long braid, donned her father's crown, changed out of the purple and maroon velvets which she preferred in her youth, and developed an impressive wardrobe of dark colors - black, ultramarine and storm grey became her signature. When she left the Red Keep on hunting trips or for war, the Queen would put on an elaborate set of custom-made armor.
Taking after her father's parents, Rhaenyra was fond of physical exercise, and took great care in maintaining her fitness. Despite her many births, she kept her figure strong and slender, and remained capable of wielding a sword well towards the end of her life, though she was no expert and tired more easily compared to her bodyguards. Her preferred sword was the heirloom Blackfyre.
Quick to anger in her childhood days, Rhaenyra became better at concealing her emotions as an adult, though she was still notorious for bearing grudges. When not triggered, the queen was elegantly pleasant, a figure inspiring friendship with smiles, handshakes and exotic tales of far-off places. Compared to her father, she was less concerned with the opinions of others under that exterior, politely refusing advice on decisions great or small instead of going back and forth before finally taking action. Her favors flowed wildly between her courtiers and bannermen, generating an unpredictable atmosphere of terror at the Red Keep. Yet the queen herself seemed able to delicately manage the situation, always able to stop before her bannermen at court were pushed to open rebellion.
Though surrounded by licentious rumors all her life, the queen gave birth only 5 times, and left only 4 living children. Many men did come into her fancy, but looking back on her reign, it appears either Rhaenyra drank too much moon tea, or she prefers the Iron Throne much more than carnal pleasures.
Less inclined to hunting and tourneys, Rhaenyra's time off from running the government was usually spent flying far from the capital. Legends speak of her walking amongst her subjects wearing a hooded cloak, listening to their woes and fixing them once back at court. While such legends often spring up around wandering monarchs, they were especially prominent for Rhaenyra, though the facts behind them might never be possible to ascertain.
In addition to the common tongue, Rhaenyra could speak many languages across the Narrow Sea. Where her father would have said "seven hells", she used the catchphrase "golden dragons".
A dragonlord, Rhaenyra rode the young and mild-tempered golden dragon Syrax to battle, and during her spare time. Many sources of various origins speak of seeing her flying around on dragonback, perhaps hinting at a personal love of flying. The Queen occasionally brought Syrax to events hosted in open spaces as a show of power - and how much control she had over power as great as a dragon.
On the battlefield, Rhaenyra's personal standard was a golden three-headed dragon on a black field, leaving the traditional Targaryen red dragon banner with whoever was in overall command of the battlefield.
History
Youth and Queen Consort
Rhaenyra was the only child born to King Viserys and Queen Aemma who survived her first year, enjoying almost all of their love as a result. Tragically, Aemma would pass away too soon after giving birth yet again, an event which would greatly influence the future monarch's own opinion on childbirth. Sources including Maester Gerardys would comment the young princess was obviously changed by the tragedy, a moody, brooding temperament forming like a cloak that never really came off around the girl. This palpable aura became one of the princess' marking features, making her seem more mature and wise beyond her years, though it also often ruined first impressions.
Nevertheless, the Princess of Dragonstone was well-received as queen consort by the realm, and many hoped she would give birth to a son of Viserys. The fact this was incest of the highest degree was not forgotten by the Faith of the Seven, and the Faith would thus constantly serve as the core of opposition against Rhaenyra throughout her life. However, this opposition remained limited while Viserys still lived, both due to the king's own efforts at placating septons and the fact no "sinful fruit of incest" ever materialized to serve as a target of accusation. Surviving letters between septons reveal an interesting struggle: they were not sure whether a son born to father and daughter is a worse heir to the throne compared to the princess herself.
Already listening on the small council as cupbearer, Rhaenyra was granted a seat on her father's council after she became queen and subjected to other lessons designed to groom her into a capable heir, including rhetoric, arithmetic and law. Teachers praised her sharpness of mind, but often complained about her drifting off in the middle of lessons. Sometimes, the princess even abandoned lessons on visits to the Dragonpit, strengthening her bond with Syrax. However, the Dragonkeepers stopped her from flying without express permission from her father before the Queen was 14.
When the young queen flowered into a woman, rumors began to rise of her taking charming lovers among nobles and knights and even smallfolk, among them her own uncle Daemon, who taught her swordplay when he was not off somewhere else being a rogue. However, both king and queen worked to suppress these rumors, and most of these died out only to be replaced by another batch next moon. It was obvious to all Viserys was dying abnormally fast, which meant destabilizing the position of his daughter-queen and heir was the easiest way to create a free-for-all power vacuum, at least according to the writings of Westeros' first official court historian, the Volantene eunuch Lotanquo.
With the king spending more and more time in bed and less and less time in his study, Rhaenyra began to employ literate eunuchs to manage her father's sensitive collection of Valyrian works, as she was worried bringing maesters into the royal library would end up with tomes "disappearing". Some of these books taught Valyrian blood magic, so such worries were certainly not unfounded. The effort led to a stable eunuch import line from Tyrosh, and it would gradually grow as royal demand for eunuchs increased.
Books were not the only thing Rhaenyra managed during her father's final years. The day-to-day management of the realm gradually fell to her, and strained as she was, eunuchs became a more and more common sight within the Red Keep, tending to King Viserys, delivering letters between the queen's study and the rookery, and acting as the queen's personal attendants. It was not long before the Kingsguard before Maegor's Holdfast became the last bearded man amongst many eunuchs. While unwelcome to these foreigners, highborn members of the royal court tolerated Rhaenyra's measures for the sake of keeping governmental machinery running. Maesters complained about the open distrust emanating from the queen, whose only reply was preparing a "gift" of copied forbidden Valyrian magic tracts, making the reason of her distrust clear. Rumors claim the Citadel held the text in its forbidden books section for centuries, but it was never confirmed.
Outside of King's Landing, the queen built up goodwill by capably handling the many petitions sent to the capital, most notably the petitions for aid when the Blackwater broke banks in 116 AC. Aware of the many eyes on her, however, she avoided openly building up her personal faction during these exchange of letters, just in case some lords decide to band together and strike her down for "attempting to seize power before the king is dead". There were some discreet moves and exchanges conducted, but they would be revealed only until much later.
And then, after his brief resurgence, the king finally passed.
Bees and Wyrms
The day after her father's passing, Rhaenyra ascended the Iron Throne, becoming the first female monarch Westeros has ever known, crowned in the throne room by the Septon of King's Landing, hailed first by Lord Lyman Beesbury, followed by her Hand Otto Hightower. However, urgent news from Essos reported Prince Daemon had left Westeros and was plotting to press his claim by hiring an army of mercenaries and adventurers, with further warnings that he had reached an agreement with the Triarchy. With Caraxes "the Blood Wyrm" at his side, and lords unsatisfied by the unprecedented succession growing restless, two parties began to form within the Seven Kingdoms: supporters of Rhaenyra, dubbed "the Bees" due to her personal black field and golden dragon sigil; and those against Rhaenyra, collectively called "the Wyrms", a name derived from the Blood Wyrm. Some lords never committed to either side.
There were 2 regions that were mostly aligned the Bees: the crownlands and the Vale, both heavily invested in the young queen's reign. Much of the realm remained ambiguous due to both claimants being without a male heir: the North, despite Rickon's appointment as regent, remained silent, and of the remaining regions neither Bees nor Wyrms held an entire one under their sway. Lord Jason Lannister cautiously declared support for the Queen, but it the move was backed by no substance, causing historians to believe that Jason was targeting his capable and dangerous bannerman, Adrian Tarbeck, who was rumored to contact Lord Hawick, a man not exactly quiet about his dismay and anger about being ruled by a woman. House Hightower lit the fire of war on their tower as Lord Ormund Hightower sent two hundred men to King's Landing, and Houses Ashford and Fossoway were already skirmishing into each other's lands after the lord Ashford declared for Daemon. The Queen attempted to win over the dragonriders of House Velaryon, but Princess Rhaenys shut herself and her children up in the castle of High Tide, ignoring royal summons by claiming she was sick and needed to be tended by her children - curiously, Lord Corlys Velaryon arrived at King's Landing to serve on Rhaenyra's small council, though he brought no message from his wife when the Queen asked about it.
It is additionally worth noting that the title of "Wyrm" would be applied to just about any discontent noble and rebel during Rhaenyra's reign, not limited to those who declared for Prince Daemon. They were never a cohesive unit like the Bees, and it remains doubtful there was any unity at all between the Queen's many enemies, even in the year of her ascension.
Despite civil war looming on the horizon, Daemon sent a call for a duel on dragonback to settle the matter. It was a confusing question where he got the idea: some believe his confidence in himself and Caraxes led him to risk single combat; some claim it was a Valyrian tradition Daemon dug up during his journeys to Essos; the wildest rumors were centered on Princess Rhaenys, rider of the dragon Meleys, who sought to orchestrate the extinction of Prince Baelor's line and through it her own ascension to the Iron Throne.
While the court remained in deadlock over what the royal response should be, the challenge would soon melt away. Just shy of one moon after her ascension, the Queen announced she was pregnant with the child of her late father, King Viserys. As the news swept through Westeros by criers, many of the Wyrms melted away and swaying lords backed the Queen more strongly because of the secured succession. Soon, catching wind of how the tides have changed, even Daemon sent word acknowledging "the child of Viserys" as rightful heir of the Iron Throne, and left Essos for High Tide, wanting to reunite with his wife Laena Velaryon, but was barred by her mother. The war between the Bees and the Wyrms thus ended before it even began. Previously using the minority of his son Cregan as an excuse to stay in Winterfell, Lord Rickon finally went south to join the queen's small council.
War in the Narrow Sea
However, the preparations made for the war that never happened do not vanish overnight. The rogue prince did reach an agreement with the Triarchy regarding plunder and toll, and the alliance was not pleased with Daemon reneging on his promises so lightly. With Queen Rhaenyra not fit for combat, the three cities sent the prince-admirals Racallio Ryndoon and Condolhas of Myr to occupy the Stepstones half a moon after Daemon's flight to Driftmark. Without Lord Corlys at the helm, command of the Velaryon defense fell to Princess Rhaenys, who was unwilling to risk the dragons out on the high seas, content with holding the Gullet. Triarchy forces thus quickly overturned the results of Corlys and Daemon's previous war, seizing control of the Narrow Sea but unable to consolidate their gains by a treaty, with the Iron Throne stubbornly maintaining silence on the conflict, refusing any sort of contact.
There were consequences to this silence. Much of the trade going to King's Landing was sunk by the enemy, and a constant air of terror lingered over the capital despite the court's best efforts to placate public sentiment - riots broke out thrice in Flea Bottom, the last starting a fire which would claim a chunk of the city. Radical doomsayers of the Faith were quick to claim this was the wrath of the Seven, as a woman on the throne displeased the gods, and they persisted despite the Faith's lukewarm suppression efforts. Traders from Essos were indiscriminately killed by mobs all across Westeros' eastern seaboard, forcing survivors to flee home or go into hiding. Some lords were also openly - thus, treasonously - claiming this was why the Iron Throne should never have passed to a woman. More were the people who hoped that everything would get better once the queen rode out to battle, so treason and panic were kept at manageable levels.
Having had enough of Triarchy raids into the Gullet, Prince Daemon slipped into High Tide, brought out Laena in the dead of night, and flew with her to the Triarchy navy docked at Bloodstone, planning to burn it all down just by the two of them. The plan was ill thought-out: without support units to distract the defenders, anti-dragon weapons of Tyroshi stock were free to fire at the attackers, injuring Caraxes' snout and knocking air out of Vhagar's lungs, nearly causing the old dragon to plummet straight into the sea. Wanting to avoid Princess Rhaenys' outburst at nearly killing her daughter, Daemon and Laena retired with their injured dragons to Dragonstone.
3 moons after the failed attack on Bloodstone, Rhaenyra gave birth to twin boys and returned to the field. After transporting lord Corlys to his fleet on dragonback - the Queen was worried that her most experienced admiral would be sunk by a Triarchy raiding party under the circumstances - she finally set her terms to the Three Daughters. Rhaenyra agreed with Corlys that the alliance was charging exorbitant trade tolls for their pirate-clearing services, so demanded an adjustment to prices that a delegation of Westerosi traders which would visit Tyrosh could agree to. The queen further demanded an end to the so-called "toll of skin", the taking of Westerosi to be enslaved in pillow houses, a practice common but never acknowledged by the alliance. With these terms, the queen declared the Iron Throne would pay up to 30% of the losses Triarchy traders suffered in the previous moons if they agree; if they choose to continue the war, the offer would be forfeit.
Recognizing the internal strife that led to this war had completely ended by this point, and not expecting much from continuing the war, the alliance agreed to the peace framework proposed by the queen, but the actual peace treaty went through multiple drafts before being signed in late 120.
Reshuffling the Small Council
With the threat from the Three Sisters dealt with, Rhaenyra now put into action a plan she had been working on while she was pregnant. During that period, her eunuch secretariat, led by Chief Archiver Lotanquo, played a large part in delivering messages and documents to her chambers, their role in government increasing exponentially. The queen decided to grant them an official position to consolidate her own power, which went against the wishes of her own court, many of them choosing to back Lord Otto's position - these "blights of King's Landing" ought to be sold back to Essos as soon as possible. Both sides quickly clashed after the twin princes' - Maekar and Aegon's - naming celebrations.
Small Council in late 118 AC
Hand of the Queen: Ser Otto Hightower
Grand Maester: Mellos
Master of Coin: Lord Lyman Beesbury
Master of Laws: Lord Lyonel Strong
Master of Whisperers: (officially vacant)
Master of Ships: Lord Corlys Velaryon
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Ser Criston Cole
Advisor: Lord Rickon Stark
Despite Ser Otto's staunch opposition to the queen's plans, of the rest of the small council only Mellos was his ally, for the others were merely disturbed by the notion, not enough to act against their liege. Lords Beesbury and Strong, whose work concern much paperwork, had eunuch aides dispatched from the queen's secretariat, a luxury that reduced their workload considerably. Ser Criston Cole was especially nonchalant towards Otto's raging attitude regarding the eunuchs, having seen them pass before his own eyes every day for years and used to their presence.
Queen Rhaenyra proceeded carefully due to the presence of two hundred Hightower men within King's Landing, accepted as garrison against Daemon but now an obstacle to her plans. When Otto raised the question of the eunuchs, she stated they were necessary to assess damage done to the Triarchy merchants and to produce the relevant documents, so they could not be disbanded at the time; furthermore, on account of Lord Beesbury's age, he would not be handling the arduous task of raising the reparation funds, instead transferred with honors to manage grain collection and granaries as Master of Harvests, succeeded as Master of Coin by Lord Bartimos Celtigar. Otto protested against a new council seat forming out of the blue, to which Lord Strong retorted the very concept of seven kingdoms united was formed out of the blue. Undaunted, Otto urged Mellos to write to the High Septon while he set to work brokering an alliance with Lord Stark. Meanwhile, the queen hoped to reach an alliance with Princess Rhaenys by a double betrothal between her sons and her granddaughters, two pairs of Targaryens making the proposal quite auspicious.
In the first half of Year 119, the High Septon wrote a letter of protest to the queen, not-so-humbly reminding her that castration and slavery were sins, before asking her to come to the Starry Sept, "where the Conqueror received his crown", an ambiguous statement that could be interpreted in many ways. A little earlier before that, Otto raised the question of Rhaenyra's next husband, suggesting a remarriage to a highborn Reachman. He avoided directly mentioning any names, but as a Hightower his suggestion quickly was interpreted as an attempt to marry his own kin into the royal family, and vetoed by Lord Velaryon. The issue continued to backfire against him as the small council discussed the High Septon's letter, with a seemingly innocent remark from Lord Stark: "A sept could host marriages as well as coronations". Before the quarreling at the table descended into a brawl (Otto Hightower's retorts made Lord Stark so furious he resigned from the small council and returned to Winterfell), the queen ordered her Grand Maester to go in her stead, to ask for clarification from the High Septon. Already advanced in years, Mellos did not survive the journey, dying in the Riverlands. His honor guard brought his body back to the Citadel, and when news of his death reached the capital by raven, the queen ordered a day of mourning in his memory. Then she filled the vacant seat with her close associate Maester Gerardys, claiming the Conclave had already approved of her contingency choice.
Now isolated on the small council and knee-deep in a career crisis, Otto decided to risk death in order to stop the queen's madness. During the crisis caused by Prince Daemon, he had persuaded the queen to appoint his son Gwayne as second in command of the City Watch, just in case Commander Luthor Largent was actually still loyal to the Rogue Prince. With this contact, the Hand tried to win more soldiers to start a coup and slay the eunuchs of the Red Keep, starting with Tornik Cadmyn, who was loaned by the queen as a secretary to Lord Celtigar and more of a Hand than he was, since Tornik handled the assessment papers regarding the Triarchy merchants' loss of wealth - the second greatest issue at the time. Before he could do so, however, Rhaenyra privately showed Otto a letter her agents had intercepted, which was proof his son was illegally procuring an extra hundred sets of armor for the City Watch without the knowledge of nor permission from Ser Largent, which left precious few potential masterminds behind such a treasonous act, a matter the queen claimed must be most thoroughly investigated for the safety of the capital. Realizing his ambitions were exposed, Otto agreed to resign in exchange for his son's crimes forgotten.
Otto Hightower would return to Oldtown with the guard his nephew sent him and live out his days as Lord Hightower's shadow, providing wise and prudent counsel. Gwayne would continue to serve in the City Watch before his unfortunate death beneath a section of King's Landing's walls under repair.
As a reward for stopping Ser Otto's plot dead in its tracks, the Queen entrusted to Tornik management of the lands which defaulted to the crown beyond the Crownlands, creating the Master of Estates (Master of the Crown Estates Beyond the Crownlands), one of the most important positions in the royal bureaucracy ever since its creation. To more tightly control the flow of military equipment, she also created the Master of Soldiers to supervise armories and military warehouses, choosing a Darklyn as its first holder on account of the family's loyalty to the Iron Throne.
While these events were in progress, Lady Laena Velaryon had passed away on Driftmark due to childbirth complications, with the rider-less Vhagar flying off to somewhere west of Driftmark. After a period of vigil, Prince Daemon flew to King's Landing on Caraxes, accompanied by Princess Rhaenys on Meleys. While the Princess was there to work out the marriage pact - and to replace the Sea Snake with his son Ser Laenor so Lord Corlys could rest at High Tide - the Rogue Prince caused yet another scandal by asking "to hold the hand of his niece and queen". Much to the surprise of the court, Rhaenyra gave him both. The match was sealed by Valyrian blood rites instead of a septon-directed Faith marriage, but with the prince now a King Consort, none contested the marriage's legitimacy.
Small Council in early 120 AC
Hand of the Queen: Prince → King Consort Daemon Targaryen
Grand Maester: Gerardys
Master of Harvests: Lord Lyman Beesbury
Master of Coin: Lord Bartimos Celtigar
Master of Laws: Lord Lyonel Strong
Master of Estates: Tornik Cadmyn
Master of Whisperers: Lotanquo
Master of Ships: Ser Laenor Velaryon
Master of Soldiers: Ser Harmund Darklyn
Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Ser Criston Cole
Queen Rhaenyra's Constructions
After her success against her own Hand and sealing a betrothal between Maekar and Rhaena Targaryen, Rhaenyra gained the opportunity to focus more on construction projects. First and foremost was her hard-earned capital, King's Landing. Though her great-grandfather the Old King Jaehaerys had done much to manage, order and improve the sprawling capital, it was still largely a mess, a mess Rhaenyra believed to be unfit for her capital city. With the Triarchy paid off, the queen set to work repairing damage and making King's Landing greater. So great were her projects, she had to take loans from the Iron Bank, but the Bravossi were willing to provide discount rates for a powerful monarch who keeps her promises. King Daemon and his Blood Wyrm were still a nice factor to smooth negotiations, though, and the pair were equally useful when some lords raised the flag of rebellion, claiming they have a son of Viserys to put on the royal throne. Dragons made short work of their causes.
There were some other revolts in the name of "Prince Gaemon", a so-called true son of King Viserys. Lords claiming to support him were mostly from the Reach and the riverlands, but they did not act in concert, and the rebellions were put down before the Iron Throne gave the order. The entire fiasco may be orchestrated by the Faith, as its power was greatest in these 2 regions, but asides from making forts more common along the Red Fork and the Mander, the revolts achieved little.
First of the changes done to King's Landing was expanding the nameless square by the Alchemists' Guild. During the riots caused by the alliance's invasion, fires from Flea Bottom reached dangerously close to the Guild Hall and its stock of wildfire. To reduce chances of King's Landing blowing up in a great green ball of fire, the square which sits at the center of the capital was greatly expanded to further separate the slums and the Hall, the old stone torn out to be replaced by fresh, white, chiseled marble, dotted with statues of Targaryen royalty and ornamental fountains. At its completion ceremony 2 years later, Rhaenyra landed with pomp and named the new square the "Plaza of Dragons". While first envisioned as a fire control measure, the Plaza soon became a welcome destination for peddlers, for all 4 major roads in the city lead there.
Renovating King's Landing's water supply and sewage system was a project that started with the Plaza's construction, but when Syrax landed as proof of the marble's strength, the pipes were still in progress. The queen was aware lead was used as food poison in Essos, which lead to her insistence the cheap metal cannot be used as water pipes in her city. Building the new rain collection and water storage system around Aegon's High Hill with only brass and bronze pipes soon burned through the project's budget, and when work was done gold spent was two-and-a-half times more than the projected budget. Lead pipe systems bringing away the waste of Flea Bottom were far more cost effective, and the ramshackle buildings started to straighten up as the queen ordered them to be rebuilt so as to not interfere with the pipelines. Ser Largent was often criticized for his heavy-handedness in driving out the occupants before reconstruction could happen. It would take 5 years before phase 1 of this grand project was completed, which the queen marked by attending the completion ceremony of a closed cistern near Rhaenys' Hill with her newborn daughter, Princess Aemma. Improved water supply in the capital made future projects such as public gardens possible.
Secret passages under the Red Keep also concerned the queen. First constructed by Maegor the Cruel as a way to quickly flee in case he was besieged, Rhaenyra considered such a plan outdated and unnecessary after King Jaehaerys had built a shelter for the royal couple's dragons within the Red Keep. She set people to work filling up the passages that connect the Red Keep with the outside by gravel and mortar, to prevent people sneaking in just in case the existence of passages were to be exposed. However, King Maegor had such a complex system of tunnels built that work trying to fill it all up could never be completed for sure.
In memory of her father the King, the queen decided to use one of his designs as a draft to build another sept on Visenya's Hill. The result was the absolutely massive Great Sept of the Fourteen Flames, based the original heptagon design of septs but doubling the number of walls, each engraved with a volcano of Old Valyria. The sept was the center of a building compound, which was fittingly massive to match the Great Sept. Neither would be complete when the queen was dead.
Between these projects, Lord Bartimos Celtigar was strained organizing the manpower and funds necessary to keep things going, and in the year 123 he was found dead in his office, still calculating the cost of shipping stones from the Vale to King's Landing prior to his untimely death. Buried with due honors, the question of his succession quickly arose. Clement, Lord Bartimos' son, was his natural heir, but another branch of the family provided documents to prove 8-year-old Arthor Celtigar had the better claim to Claw Isle. The queen soon realized the problem laid with Claw Isle being a pathetic holding, making House Celtigar fight with itself for the treasure passed down from lord to lord, so she suggested to grant Arthor a seat on the mainland, near a plot of arable land. The problem was soon resolved with Arthor becoming the first Lord Celtigar of Crab Castle on the coastal flatlands between Rosby and Duskendale. The truly impressive thing about the entire affair was, though merely a small stone fort, Crab Castle was completed 3 moons after the queen ordered its construction. Like her other buildings, Rhaenyra was seen flying over Crab Castle when it was still under construction.
Funding these projects while minimizing the impact of increased taxes upon the smallfolk was Rhaenyra's top concern. To that end, she raised the "exotic tax", additional tolls on exotic wares brought from Essos, a measure that ruffled Isembard Arryn, her new Master of Coin, and Lord Corlys Velaryon - the Sea Snake's prized Spicetown was nearly murdered by this policy, after all. The queen had to dispatch Daemon on missions to Essos to secure favorable trade contracts for these two lords to ensure their continued cooperation, an opportunity the king did not miss to make merry. But he always brought many gifts back to the Red Keep, and legends speak of a dragon-binding tool among them.
The kingsroad was another one of Rhaenyra's pet projects, one she felt comfortable enough to tax the smallfolk for. The "road tax" was much resented by the crownlanders, but sections of the kingsroad within the crownlands, such as the Rosby road, were improved upon after the designs of Valyrian highways. While these were still pathetic roads by the standards of the Freehold, the new roads cut travelling time by a third, and as the only region in all of Westeros with these roads back in the queen's reign, became a part of the unique crownlander identity, something the region that had never been a kingdom of its own sorely lacked.
Later in her reign, while expanding the harbor of King's Landing, which laid beyond the River Gate, to fit in more merchant ships, the queen also set people to work clearing silt in the Blackwater to keep it functional. Plans were even drawn up to build a bridge across the river and another settlement on the other side, but they were never realized during Rhaenyra's reign. The very circumstances which cut short these plans prompted the queen to raise further taxes, because resources were needed to repair and improve the walls of King's Landing. This was the last great construction project started during her reign, and the new walls were fortified by new crenellation designs and metal skeletons.
Most ambitious of Queen Rhaenyra's projects, however, was a plan to permanently "bleed out" Flea Bottom by creating a network of towns near King's Landing - outside of the Lion Gate, the Gate of the Gods and the Old Gate - to house the influx of people headed for the capital. It ended up with mixed results: while the project accelerated the renovation of Flea Bottom, these towns replaced the slums as crime-ridden hovels, as trade to King's Landing could not sustain the livelihood of so many people without the extra income generated by crime. Immigration to King's Landing slowed as raiders along the kingsroad became more commonplace, with the City Watch sometimes sallying out to keep them in check.
Near the end of Rhaenyra's reign, the smell of King's Landing had greatly improved, a phenomenon the smallfolk attribute to the public gardens she built across the capital. This lead to them calling their queen "the Bee", as they believe she loves flowers, which anyone who had ever seen the queen's elaborate and exotic private garden could confirm.
The Cold War of Inheritance
Brewing since the birth of Princess Aemma, the can of worms called the question of the heir finally exploded with the birth of Prince Jaehaerys in 128 AC, with lords of the realm split over Maekar and Jaehaerys: the former because he is firstborn, the latter because he is his mother's firstborn son as queen regnant. There was a small faction in support of Aemma before Jaehaerys' birth, due to the same reasons. A sensitive question presenting a challenge to the legitimacy of the queen herself, court and realm nevertheless became more and more embroiled in the issue. Lord Corlys, despite his advanced age, supported Maekar due to the prince's betrothal to his granddaughter. King Daemon naturally supported his own son against his nephew. This very fact pushed most of the court into Lord Corlys' camp, joining the Sea Snake in demanding the queen proclaim Prince Maekar as heir as soon as possible.
In a surprising turn of events, the young Prince Maekar announced he would take the vows of a septon and renounce his claim to the throne. Though almost all of her advisors warned against so, the Queen agreed to her son's request, even allowing him to keep the dragon Sunfyre. This decision in effect broke his engagement with his cousin Rhaena Targaryen. House Velaryon was naturally displeased by having their stake of blood in the Iron Throne denied again. Disheartened by Rhaenyra's choice, Princess Rhaenys left Westeros altogether with Meleys, deciding against risking herself and her son against the queen and king in a battle of dragons. Where she went, none could say for sure, only that the Red Queen returned years later to Westeros alone and wounded, the princess no longer astride her.
With Maekar at Oldtown, Rhaenyra entered the most dangerous phase of her reign as both her husband and Lord Corlys chose to support the infant Prince Jaehaerys, while she was largely isolated in supporting her elder son Aegon, who was betrothed to Aemma, a decision backed only by the crownlands and House Arryn of the Eyrie. Here the details of events became wildly twisted in sources, but it could be assumed the queen's eunuchs stood by her during her darkest hour, with Lotanquo replacing Lord Arryn as Master of Coin and an independent unit of palace guards organized and placed under their command. As other lords joined to support Jaehaerys' claim, fantastical but logically impossible plots to various ends from both sides show up in sources, but the overall picture of the struggle between queen and the rest of her realm was indeed chaotic and bloody, with the Velaryon fleet blockading the royal fleet up in the Blackwater, skirmishes in the Vale between the queen's party and the king's party, and the suspiciously convenient deaths of a Lord Paramount and a leading queen's man involved.
Every move except outright civil war was employed, and tensions rose higher in 129, when Prince Aegon bonded with Dreamfyre, bringing the number of dragonriders on both sides equal again. King Daemon's support of Lord Corlys diminished visibly with this development, occasionally flying back into the capital to meet with the queen, but still the cold war continued, even though the Velaryon fleet retreated when Dreamfyre flew out of King's Landing. Captain Hoare of the God's Eye marched with the Bloodsworn across the Wendwater when House Buckler led a coalition of stormlords out of the kingswood, driving them off by setting the field between the armies ablaze, while the eunuch Efretar zo Dimimar led a force to break the rebellious riverlords' blockade upstream of the capital, but the ramshackle force fled in face of the royalists, restoring trade between the riverlands and the crownlands.
Later scholars have speculated on why the queen did not simply break the betrothal between her 2 children: some assume she was unwilling to let more dragonlord blood flow into the Velaryon family, so took action to prevent the rise of a second dragonlord family. This theory ignored the fact House Targaryen not only controlled the flow of dragonlord blood - the royal house also had a monopoly on live dragon eggs, though the risk of outsiders taming a wild dragon existed. There exist myriad other theories, but the cold war over the question of the heir would soon be superseded by a hotter one.
The Red Kraken's Reaving
A child of five when Rhaenyra first ascended the Iron Throne, Dalton Greyjoy had earned power and infamy abroad as a sellsword, making his name as "the Red Kraken" before inheriting the Seastone Chair at age 15. Sensing the weakness of the realm and the paralysis of the royal fleet, Dalton announced he shall bend the knee to no woman and declared himself King of the Iron Islands in the year 130 AC, renouncing overlordship of the Targaryens before attacking the Shield Islands. Rejoicing in the nearby prey free for plunder once again, ironmen raiders raged from Fair Isle to Oldtown, even attacking the Redwyne fleet at harbor in Ryamsport, Arbor island. Ravens from the westerlands and the Reach flocked to King's Landing, pleading for royal action. The rebellion was often cited as the cause of the Queen painfully giving birth to a stillborn child later in the year.
With the Redwynes in chaos after having lost half their fleet and the lord Redwyne, the Queen made peace with Corlys Velaryon by appointing him Master of Ships for life and granting him command of the royal fleet along with the power to do as he wished in the Stepstones, then dispatched him to fight "the Red Wyrm". Daemon, Aegon and Laenor Velaryon executed a perfect ambush on the island of Greenshield, decimating the ironborn stationed there with 3 dragons, but their attempt to retake Arbor with the Redwyne fleet that fled to Oldtown was denied by storm. Lord Corlys' fleet would arrive 2 moons later, bringing his decades of experience to bear against ironborn cunning and longships. After the Battle of Greenshield, the raiders refused to gather en masse, in case a dragon burned them all, but that left them vulnerable to the royal fleet's hunting parties. Forced away from the rich plunder of the Reach, Dalton came up with a plot.
Claiming the ironborn traditions were merely a product of the Iron Islands' harsh environment, the Red Kraken declared his intent to lead his people out of the islands, and to surrender to the Iron Throne in hopes of resettling somewhere more suited for sowing and living in peace. The Lord of the Tides, with the combined might of his own fleet, the royal fleet, and the remnants of the Redwyne fleet under his command, believed he had nothing to fear, so he docked at Greyshield, waiting for the ironmen to approach. However, under the cover of night and mist, Dalton launched fireships at the enemy fleet before retreating, successfully sinking over 150 warships of various sizes in the Burning of Greyshield Harbor. Lord Corlys was badly burned, and the only thing maesters could do was provide him with milk of the poppy before he died of his burns 5 days after the battle. Lord Laenor Velaryon of Driftmark, while eager to avenge his father, sank into despair believing he had failed him, but none of the 3 dragonriders could have seen through the trick from their positions above the clouds. Queen Rhaenyra ordered all of the dragonriders, including Septon-in-training Maekar, to retreat and regroup on Dragonstone, where she called a war council by the Painted Table.
With the Iron Islands now the greatest naval force of Westeros, longships raided the coast with impunity, and the ironborn occupied the Shield Islands, sacking Lannisport and laying siege to Oldtown. When Lord Jason Lannister led an army to retake the port city, the raiders simply left on their boats, waited until the Warden of the West was distracted, then sacked Lannisport again, destroying the port's ship making docks so thoroughly there would be no Lannister fleet for the next 20 years. Dalton and Veron Greyjoy defeated the Farmans, claiming Faircastle, where the brothers quarreled over the spoils. Denied what he believed his share, Veron sailed for Kayce, fought an army led by Lady Johanna Lannister, and routed them before claiming Kayce as his own.
The Harlaws attempted to seize Crakehall, but ironborn were not used to forest warfare, and were thus defeated by Lord Jason's relief army, but found more success in general along the ocean road, carrying off much plunder back to their homes on the Iron Islands. The captain who conquered the castle of Feastfires claimed the ancient name of Greyiron, but was found dead from wine indulgence merely 3 days later, the resulting infighting providing the Presters with an opening to retake the family castle. With the westerlands coast ablaze, House Goodbrother banded with other houses from Great Wyk to range further south, seeking their fortunes up the Mander when Dalton stirred from Faircastle to siege Oldtown, but House Tyrell was able to drive them back down the river's mouth, where the raiders turned to destroy the castle of Bandallon and House Blackbar instead. The Saltcliffes and Sunderlys sacked the countryside around Raventree Hall, but were unable to take the castle itself. A group of Greyjoys even separated from Dalton, going north to attack Moat Cailin. The attack succeeded only in consolidating the position of the young Lord of Winterfell, Cregan Stark, as the raiders were no match for the crannogmen and the army of the North in the swamps. Generally speaking, the further the ironborn were from the sea, the less successful their attacks were.
The throne was not idle while destruction was consuming its western territories. 2 years after the Burning of Greyshield Harbor, Queen Rhaenyra raised enough funds to hire the services of a Myrish fleet under the command of prince-admiral Condolhas, bringing 120 war galleys into her service. An impressive number, but far from enough to end the reaving of the ironborn, which was where the house of the dragon came in. Marshalling 5 dragonriders including herself and over 200 ships of war, the queen personally flew with the retribution fleet sailing for the Iron Islands.
Catching news of the danger, Dalton raised his siege of Oldtown and attempted to sail back to Faircastle, but when he revealed his plan to shoot the dragons from atop the castle's walls, his men, who had no wish to die within the confines of a wall, bound him up and tossed him into the sea near Greyshield, chanting "let the Drowned God be your judge" before sailing south to meet the queen's fleet. Their courage served them poorly during the Battle of Whispering Sound, or the more aptly named Pyre of the Ironborn - while over 200 ships too were marshalled on the ironborn side, they were ill-equipped to handle even 1 dragon, much less 5 attacking all at once. Prince Aegon and Dreamfyre performed especially well, sinking Dalton Greyjoy's flagship Red Kraken and 2 others with a blast of blue flame so bright it seemed white in Maekar's eyes. This battle became especially well documented both due to its political significance and the battlefield's proximity to the Citadel. According to the maesters, they salvaged banners of at least twenty different houses from the wrecks, which given the method of the ironborn's defeat was quite remarkable.
As news of the battle reached the north, many ironborn fled the green lands for home, but Veron enacted his brother's plan and holed up at Faircastle. After Dreamfyre swept the ramparts with fire, however, a thrall revealed the great reaver had dug in the cellars, which he believed safe from dragon fire. Such an act of cowardice had already cost him his men prior to the royalist landing, so it was quite a simple matter to apprehend the lone warrior with marines in the fleet. Then, Queen Rhaenyra declared that she intended to make good Dalton Greyjoy's feint, corral the ironmen out of the Iron Islands, send their highborn to the Wall, resettle the smallfolk across Westeros, and return the thralls and salt wives back to their homes whenever possible. Followers of the Drowned God who were still reaving responded by starting another battle under the cover of the clouds, hoping to recreate the success at Greyshield, but the dragons were flying low precisely to prevent that, so their success was limited, having sunk only 10 ships before the queen landed on the largest longship astride Syrax and demanded their surrender.
With this Battle on the High Seas over, Rhaenyra proceeded with her plan, abolishing the title Lord of the Iron Islands and abandoning the island chain. The Night's Watch swelled with ironmen, pushing further north in their scouting missions. While the thralls were welcomed home, ironmen smallfolk clashed with the original inhabitants of their new homes. As a phenomenon that often occurred even in the riverlands, the queen gradually moved the ironmen again to the crownlands, where there were few who have fought the raiders. Some of the ironmen even found service in the Velaryon fleet - which had fought them for over a hundred years - as oarsmen and marines.
Years would pass by as the westerlands and the Reach rebuilt from this disaster. Despite the material wealth returned via the Iron Throne's forces, the Lannisters still had much trouble rebuilding Lannisport because people refuse to move in. To make matters even worse, their shipwrights have been scattered and lost during the Red Wyrm's reaving, which was finally solved by borrowing shipwrights from Oldtown to train a new generation. The Iron Throne even cancelled tax arrears from the westerlands repeatedly, but in spite of these measures Lannisport shall remain the smallest of the cities of the Seven Kingdoms for decades. The Reach would undergo its own painful recovery, pulling back many settlements along the coast and fortifying those that remain.
One of the few good things about the war was the consolidation of Aegon's position as heir. The prince had fought heroically on the front lines, earning the respect of highborn and the rank-and-file, and even the High Septon grudgingly praised him for his valiant defense of Oldtown and the Starry Sept. Just prior to the victory parade at King's Landing, Aegon created even more cause for celebration by making common cause with his uncle Daemon to drive the Cannibal out of Dragonstone, forcing the old dragon to flee eastwards as Caraxes and Dreamfyre kept its heels hot. This act earned the love of the smallfolk who lived on Dragonstone and Driftmark, who made their gratitude known by extra contributions to the victory fair out on the tourney grounds by the capital.
Rhaenyra's last years as queen saw a time of further prosperity. Just prior to her death, King's Landing was home to 380,000 people give or take, an even higher number than during her father's reign. Trade routes connecting both coasts by land and by sea prospered again, the Red Kraken slowly fading from living memory. Trade with the Triarchy continued to flourish as Laenor did not clash with the alliance as often as his lord father did, keeping peace on the seas, which prompted the further growth of towns such as Hull and Spicetown within his domain. Peasants had their burdens lifted somewhat as the queen taxed them less and less, for she relied on trade tolls to pay her debts, which meant more land worked upon, more people surviving, and the expansion of settlements especially across the crownlands.
Death
Continued expansion of settlements on Dragonstone finally erupted in disaster when 3 coastal villages were burned down, totaling nearly 700 deaths. Investigation on site revealed the cause to be none other than Sheepstealer, then largest of the wild dragons on Dragonstone. Apparently, human activity on the island had grown too close to its lair, leading it to strike out and make a mark of territory. At her last small council, the Queen refused the advice of shooting it down with scorpions, citing the difficulties of trying to shoot a moving target which had no reason to close in on the shooter. Instead, after naming Prince Aegon as regent, she flew to Dragonstone on Syrax.
No official nor authority saw Syrax's battle against Sheepstealer, and what went down in the history books was pieced together from legends and sightings of the smallfolk. A sunny day soon turned stormy with the coming of a yellow dragon, which soon disappeared into the clouds while roaring. This dragon, apparently Syrax, was met by another, different, deeper roar, which was possibly Sheepstealer. The storm was ignited as the dragons breathed fire at each other above the churning waters, while inexplicable blood-red lightning also streaked across the sky. Dragon fought dragon for 3 days, until the day the storm broke. By this point, both dragons were no longer seen.
3 days after the sightings, Syrax's head washed up on the shores of Dragonstone. The news was quickly reported to the capital, and the small council realized what that implied.
Their queen had most likely died as Protector of the Realm.
Legacy
Children
By King Viserys Targaryen:
Prince Maekar Targaryen, elder twin to Aegon (b.118)
Dragonrider, bonded to the dragon Sunfyre
Prince Aegon Targaryen, younger twin to Maekar (b.118)
Dragonrider, bonded to the dragon Dreamfyre
By King Consort Daemon Targaryen:
Princess Aemma Targaryen (b.125)
Dragonrider, bonded to the dragon Silverwing
Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen (b.128)
Dragonrider, bonded to the dragon Vermithor
Stillborn child, malformed, unnamed (b.130)
Ruling Style
Queen Rhaenyra was lauded for her ability to start and end conflicts with minimal bloodshed, magnanimous and prudent in victory, not pushing her opponents as far as Maegor did. As such, she rarely faced open revolt, and even when she did the queen was usually supported by most of her bannermen. However, neither was she the Conciliator nor her father, often willfully butting heads with her bannermen, starting conflicts where it could have been avoided. Indeed, if not for the queen's struggle against the Sea Snake, the western seaboard of Westeros may not have tasted the wrath of the ironborn.
Starting from her days as queen consort, Rhaenyra relied heavily on eunuchs to execute her will, a practice many throughout the Seven Kingdoms did not approve of, especially the Faith. The queen ignored these opinions due to the usefulness of people whose power relied entirely upon her approval. While the eunuchs returned her favor with great loyalty, some maesters believed she had no need of them if she chose to learn from King Jaehaerys the Old.
Social Developments
Rhaenyra's reign remains one of the more controversial among the monarchs of Westeros, though that is more due to her policies than her gender, chief among these the rise of people not of noble stock. It is still evident in sources the Queen wants to counter the influence nobles have over the Iron Throne with smallfolk of her own choosing, which may be due to the corpus penned by one of its major participants, Lotanquo. Already part of the queen's secretariat in the days of King Viserys, the eunuch would rise to Master of Coin, holding the position when the queen was lost at sea. In addition to his small council seat, starting with Lotanquo, there was a permanent court historian in the Iron Throne's employ, providing future monarchs with a potent weapon in their delicate struggle against the Faith of the Seven. However, this is also the very reason works from Rhaenyra's era must be assessed with extra skepticism: Lotanquo's reliability as a historian was far less than his loyalty to the queen, so deeply involved the chief editor of the era's records was in the very events recorded.
According to sources within and without the Red Keep, Rhaenyra's most hotly contested policy was the establishment of imported court eunuchs, mostly from Essos. The almost total exclusion of noble-born and noble-employed servants from the inner quarters of the Red Keep was undoubtedly a great step forward in protecting her personal safety, but it also meant nobles lost an important part of their power, namely control over access to the person of the monarch. Nobles would continue to contest the very institution of court eunuchs in their attempts to reclaim power, usually backed by Faith criticism on castration - which the septons codified as a sin during Rhaenyra's reign, obviously targeting her eunuch aides. However, later Targaryen kings continuously refused to back down in face of such pressure. While Aegon gave the Seven Kingdoms a lord on dragonback over a hundred years ago, starting with Rhaenyra royal power waxed considerably further as she built up another system of agents to execute her will, independent of the lords of the realm. Eunuchs would play a great role to balance and push back highborn power and influence, so much they would be called "the Flightless Dragons" by the Citadel.
While often overlooked, the expansion of court positions in general during Rhaenyra's reign was also a large part in the increase of royal power. Weaker lords, especially in the crownlands, devoted less time to their land and more time politicking in King's Landing, which meant the queen played a greater role in their disputes. Over time, these minor lords evolved into permanent members of the royal court, extensions of the queen's will too.
Though wars were fairly common and moderately severe throughout her reign, even causing regional devastation, Rhaenyra had mostly succeeded in extending the peace inherited from her father by one more generation, an accomplishment for which she was much loved for. While she never went on a royal progress, Rhaenyra did show up all across the Seven Kingdoms, sometimes to take part in celebrations, other times acting as a mobile court arbitrating disputes between lords. This constant presence mitigated many feuds as the Queen's Peace was actively maintained by the queen herself swooping out of the sky. She was even hailed as "Rhaenyra the Peaceful" in the crownlands, and the region prospered under her rule.
Establishing Essosi eunuchs at King's Landing had an unintended side effect: King's Landing (and Duskendale, by extension) became a hot destination for Essosi merchants selling different products; over time, their quirks and gods bled into local society. Add to that Rhaenyra's construction projects in the crownlands, the mix was quite heady for crownlanders, highborn and smallfolk all. The queen launched many building projects during her reign, but the crownlands benefitted from most of them. This syncretism with the east and the favors showered upon the region by the throne gave rise to a unique crownlander mindset and identity. Instinctive disgust for followers of different gods melted somewhat, with the instinct of profit strengthened instead. Crownlanders also began to identify more strongly with the Targaryen dynasty and their Valyrian heritage, with House Celtigar of Crab Castle intermarrying with Lyseni in an effort to produce offspring that look more like their overlords, a practice soon took up by the Darklyns and other crownlander houses. Learning High Valyrian and seeking court positions were also common actions found in houses caught up in the atmosphere.
Trivia
Residents of King's Landing claim when Caraxes and Syrax were coiling, so too were their riders.
Valyrian magic was still a secret kept by the royal court and the Citadel, but over the course of her many construction projects, Queen Rhaenyra quite accidentally gave many workers the opportunity to learn mundane but useful Valyrian technology, such as volcanic cement, stronger mortar and advanced geometry. These technologies would spread throughout the crownlands and beyond, slowly changing the landscape of Westeros.
During the conflict between the queen and the Sea Snake, a septon claimed Prince Jaehaerys was automatically disqualified from the succession because the marriage of his parents wasn't witnessed by the seven-faced god of the Faith.
The Bloodsworn were one of the army units created during Rhaenyra's reign. Their name comes from the ritual where they drink wine with a drop of the queen's blood in it before swearing to serve her with undying loyalty.
Queen Rhaenyra once floated the idea of founding a mercenary company to provide funding for her construction projects. She later decided to establish a bank, but cancelled that idea after Jaehaerys' birth.
King Daemon had once considered finding potential dragonlords among the Old Blood of Volantis. When he asked for a dragon egg to test the possibility, Queen Rhaenyra vetoed the idea.
When Corlys Velaryon blockaded the harbor of King's Landing, Lotanquo planned to assassinate him by a false flag operation that would mislead Ser Laenor into burning his father's flagship.
While the Dragonpit was designed to house them, the dragons Vhagar and Meleys took to the wild when their riders passed away, instead of following the Dragonkeepers back to their vaults within the Dragonpit. This further spread of wild dragons during Rhaenyra's reign had the unexpected effect of putting an end to Vulture Kings once and for all, as the Red Mountains which once served as their hiding place was claimed by nesting dragons. Attempts by the Dornish to replicate the slaying of Meraxes were denied by the terrain, but serendipitous events happen only so often...
AN:
Hello everyone. This chapter took a lot longer than I expected to let all the pieces fit together, hopefully the end result is a story you find entertaining.
From this chapter on, more canon characters would pass until all we have left are the dragons. I think the irony of Aegon II succeeding Rhaenyra an allohistorical allusion too good to pass up, though.