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The Crimson Dragon- chapter 2: A New Reality
🕑 Added 2023-04-22 23:12:08 +0000 UTCChapter 2: A New Reality
Four moons had passed since Rosalind McDaniels was murdered in a supermarket parking lot by a deranged drug addict and was reborn in A Song of Ice and Fire as Lilyanna Targaryen, the third daughter of King Viserys I Targaryen and the second of his second wife, Queen Alicent Hightower.
I’m so fucking bored!
There wasn’t much to do as a newborn, and it was demeaning not being able to do anything by herself, having to be fed, washed, clothed, and changed by a rotation of different women.
Now Lilyanna was laying in the cradle she shared with Helaena, the two had just been fed by their wet-nurse, an experience that her adult mind continued to feel embarrassed by.
Alicent was in the room, standing next to the cradle and looking down at them awkwardly. She was not surprised by the reaction; she knew from House of the Dragon and now firsthand that Alicent Hightower was not a natural when it came to motherhood.
It was expected of a child who was forced to have children of her own when she herself had not finished growing and was now expected to perform a duty that she was not prepared for. It was easier for Alicent to watch the wet nurses and nannies care for the children.
Lilyanna mentally sighed as she watched Alicent reach for Helaena, once the babe was in her mother’s arms, she immediately began wailing. The Queen tried to calm her daughter; the servants were standing by just as awkwardly, silently watching the display. After about ten minutes Alicent gave up and handed Helaena over to the nearest maid who began to gently rock Helaena, her crying slowly tapering off.
Lilyanna soon started gurgling, intentionally drawing her new mother’s attention. Alicent’s expression lighten up a bit when she heard her youngest, she carried Lilyanna in her arms, a smile forming when she did not cry.
“Hello, there.” Alicent spoke softly, “You are such a quiet babe, Lily.”
The young Queen often felt as if she was drowning when it came to motherhood. With Aegon, she struggled to love him and found herself reminded of her lackluster marriage and the end of her childhood whenever she looked at him during his infancy. And now she had Helaena crying her little lungs out every time she tried to hold her, actively trying to get away from her whenever she approached.
These feelings amplified whenever she saw Rhaenyra with her children. The Princess was warm and nurturing to her siblings, looking like The Mother reborn whenever she held them.
With Aegon and Helaena having the same features as Rhaenyra and with the two of them being more receptive to their sister than Alicent, it was easy for those who did not know any better to assume that Rhaenyra was their mother.
But not with Lilyanna...
Lilyanna Targaryen had quickly become the apple of her mother’s eye. She made Alicent feel needed in a way that no other person ever had before.
Lilyanna believed the strong attachment formed for two reasons: First, she did not act like a normal infant. Unlike her siblings, she did not cry, scream, or throw tantrums like Aegon, and enjoyed their mother’s affections unlike Helaena.
Second, was the fact that she was born intersex. Lilyanna knew that the consensus about her was that she was an abomination that the King and Queen should have killed. This caused Alicent to show a type of possessive protectiveness towards her daughter that had not been witnessed within the Hightower until the night her second son, Aemond had his eye taken by Rhaenyra’s Strong Boys.
If her current and soon to be born siblings belonged to the Realm as normal princes and princesses, Lilyanna would be the only one that belonged solely to Alicent Hightower.
~X~
Another thing to get used to in her new life was her new family.
In her previous life as Rosalind McDaniels, the only family she truly had was her mother, Marsha. But as Lilyanna Targaryen she had a large intermediate family and an even larger extended one.
So far, the only family she had seen regularly were her siblings, mother, and grandfather. Helaena, Alicent, and Aegon were the ones she saw every day with Otto stopping by the nursery every couple of days.
Rhaenyra was once a part of those she saw every day until last week when she left on her tour around the kingdoms in search of a husband. Lily knew that the tour would take around a little more than a year as her sister would only visit half of her suitors, ending the tour early and returning to King’s Landing without a betrothal.
Just in time to go a brothel with Daemon Targaryen, sleep with Criston Cole, be forced to marry Laenor Velaryon, and give birth to Harwin Strong's three bastard sons. How the fuck am I going to stop any of that?
The limitations of being an infant once again came to the forefront of Lily’s mind as she squirmed in her cradle. She could faintly hear Aegon giggling nearby as he played with his toys and Helaena’s gurgles close to her ear.
But what drew her attention was the door opening and revealing her new father, Viserys Targaryen, King of the Seven (Six) Kingdoms of Westeros. The servants in the room quickly bowed in the presence of their King.
Lilyanna was slightly thrown by his unannounced and sudden appearance in the nursery. Since she and Helaena had been born, the man had only come to see them a total of three times, during which he focused solely on Helaena and ignoring his youngest daughter entirely, much to Alicent’s chagrin.
Even then, Viserys made no attempt to hold Helaena, just staring at her for a few moments, pain and longing were evident in his eyes as he looked upon his second daughter. He would then leave while promising to return the next day, failing to do so each time.
It made Lilyanna wonder if he were thinking of Aemma Arryn and the sons and daughters she could have given him, children that would have resembled her the same way that Rhaenyra does.
Instead, he was forced to see Alicent Hightower in all the children he has with her. The second wife that could never live up to the memory of his precious Aemma, both her and their children being reminders of what he will never have with his true love. Lilyanna and her Hightower siblings will never hold the same place in Viserys’ heart as the many dead children he had with Aemma, a sentiment that would only grow more obvious as time went on.
“Papa!” Aegon yelled, running to his father with unsteady steps. Viserys gave his son a small smile as he picked him up.
“Hello, my son. How are you today.” Viserys asked.
Aegon then explained to his father how he was feeling and what he had done so far, his squeaky voice becoming more excited as he spoke. Viserys nodded his head a few times as he made his way over to the cradle, giving the illusion that he was listening to what Aegon was saying.
Viserys stared at his daughters as Aegon continued to talk, his purple eyes giving away no emotion. Lilyanna, sure that this visit would be like the others, closed her eyes and ignored the man above them, waiting for him to leave.
Hey tiny body flinching when she felt something brush against her cheek, she quickly opened her eyes and saw it was Viserys moving his finger across her face.
“I-I- Hello there.” The King stammered, interacting with his youngest child for the first time. If Lilyanna were a bit older and had stronger control of her motor functions, she would have rolled her eyes at man.
She was not surprised by his treatment of her, not only was she a child of the wife he did not love as much as the first, but she was also the freak with an unnatural body.
Lilyanna had prepared to not have a good relationship with Viserys, she was already aware of the non-existent and neglectful one that he had with her Hightower siblings from cannon. There was also the fact that Lilyanna never knew what it was like to have a good father-daughter relationship.
Ethan McDaniels, her first father, had left her and Marsha when she was four years old. He never visited, called, or wrote to her, ignoring her existence entirely. The only evidence of his marriage to her mother came when she was eight and divorce papers addressed to Marsha appeared in the mail. Once she was older her mom had explained that Ethan only married her because he had gotten her pregnant after a one-night stand and felt pressured by his parents to ‘do right’ by her and their unborn child.
It seemed that he could only ‘do right’ for about half a decade before running away.
Rosalind had not heard anything about her father from that point on until she was nineteen, her estranged paternal grandparents had called her and Marsha informing them that Ethan had suffered an overdosed and had died, and that the funeral was being held a few days later. Ethan had actually died a week earlier, and her grandparents had purposely held onto that information, Marsha angered, began cursing them out on the phone while Rosalind remained quiet.
Despite her anger, Marsha still went to her deceased ex-husband’s funeral with their daughter. Rosalind noticed that besides her father’s relatives, there was no one else there, no friends, colleagues, or acquaintances to fill out the empty seats.
It was a short and somber affair, her relatives keeping their distance from the two but constantly gazing at them. They did not bother to hide their comments about the deceased and the two women that he abandoned. The funeral officiant finished his speech, signifying the end of the event and the start of the so-called reception.
Rosalind ignored the stares and whispers as she walked towards the casket. She thought that the funeral directors deserved a raise for trying their best to make Ethan look somewhat presentable, because even with his hair combed back, his face powered with concealer, and being placed in a suit, you could still see how ragged he was.
Despite being in his early 40s, he looked like an old man. You could see the effects of years of substance abuse with his sunken cheeks, ganged fingers, various facial scars, and yellowed teeth. Marsha once told her that she had gotten her looks from Ethan and Rosalind had never wished more for that not to be true than in that moment.
Rosalind had thought she would feel something as she stared at her father for the first time in fifteen years. Most people in her shoes would feel anger, sadness, or resentment, but Rosalind felt nothing as she stood in front of the casket.
Despite being her father, despite his abandonment causing her and her mother to struggle just to make ends meet, Ethan McDaniels meant nothing to her.
After this realization, Rosalind walked back to Marsha and the two immediately left the funeral, neither bothered to say goodbye to the others as they did. This signified the last time Rosalind ever thought of her father.
So, to cut a long story short, she did not hold much hope that Viserys would be a better father than Ethan.
~X~
Viserys Targaryen knew that he was not a perfect man.
He was aware of what people thought of him, that he was a weak and ineffective King that people could walk all over.
This was amplified with Daemon taking over Dragonstone for several moons and stealing Baelon’s egg, his marriage to Alicent Hightower that pushed away his cousin Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and her Velaryon family, and now with his children.
Every time he looked upon his eldest, he could not help but think of his late wife, Aemma. Rhaenyra looked just like her mother, reminding him of the choice he made on that terrible day, either to have Baelon cut out of his mother’s womb or have both of them die.
Despite making a choice, he was still forced to watch his wife and newborn son die.
He wanted an heir so badly that he did not ask Aemma what she wanted or tell her what was going to happen, he just grabbed her hand and tried to distract her from Maester Mellos cutting her open and digging his hands around inside of her until she finally died.
Viserys knows that there is a part of his daughter that would never forgive him for making that choice, that will always hate him.
It was this decision that made his feelings towards his younger children complicated.
When Aegon was first born, he was unable to stay in the vicinity, worried that Alicent would meet the same fate Aemma did during her labors. But once he was informed that Aegon would live he felt excited at finally having a son, but it quickly turned to shame and guilt once he thought of Baelon, his heir for half-a-day as his brother Daemon styled him.
These feelings would come and go over the years, some days he was joyful as he stared at his young son, others would be like pins and needles were being pushed through his heart when he thought of how Baelon and the others that came before him, how they would have grown and matured.
Now he had two additional daughters given to him by his second wife, his twins, Helaena, and Lilyanna.
When he first heard of their births he was surprised, a part of him always believed that Rhaenyra would always be his only daughter, but now he was given three.
Then he was told of his youngest daughter's condition...
He thought it to be curse, one of many that the Gods had given his house whenever one of them was born. Either to die before their time or to live and suffer through various ailments.
When he was told that the baby was healthy but could die as they were smaller than their twin, Viserys used this as a reason to ignore the child. Better to not form any attachments if they were not long for this world. He could tell how much it upset his Queen, but he could not watch as another child died in the cradle.
With Helaena, he thought of her as a cute and quiet child, so different from Rhaenyra at that age, who screamed and cried as fiercely as any dragon.
But she did not look like her elder sister. Yes, they had the same silver-blonde hair and purple eyes but while his eldest daughter looked like Aemma, his second daughter looked like Alicent.
When Viserys entered his children’s nursery and saw an excited Aegon, he remembered how Rhaenyra was with her siblings. At first Viserys expected Rhaenyra to hate her half-siblings, especially Aegon, but she had surprised him with how loving and gentle she was with them.
He was previously in a meeting with his small council, once it had ended, he was informed of his children’s progress by Maester Mellos.
It was this that led the King to check on his children himself, it had been a while since he had properly seen them and thought to rectify that.
He now found himself staring at his young daughters while holding his son in his arms. While Helaena giggled at him, Lilyanna remained silent, her eyes closed. He does not know what led him to do so but when he saw this, Viserys rubbed his finger against his cheek to wake the girl up.
His daughter jumped in surprise at his touch, her eyes snapping open. Those bright amethyst eyes, the only thing she seemed to have gotten from him, he was sure that Lilyanna would grow to look just like her mother.
She did not make a sound as they stared at one another, nor did she move, remaining eerily still. He felt uncomfortable, as if his daughter knew more than she should and was silently judging him.
That is preposterous. I am just seeing things. Viserys thought with a shake of his head.
“I-I- Hello there.” Viserys internally winced at his stammering.
“I am your father, little one. I heard you and your sister have been progressing quite well.” Viserys felt incredibly awkward, he tried to think about how he acted when Rhaenyra was an infant, but nothing came to mind.
Once again, he was met with an unwavering gaze and silence from Lilyanna.
Maybe she is not as healthy as I have been told...
“Lily!” Aegon cried out from his arms, leaning forward to touch her. Viserys moved closer to the cradle and placed Aegon at the far end, allowing his children to be together.
Aegon moved towards Helaena, grabbing her arms, and waving them around. He giggled when she gurgled and began moving around. He then reached over and ruffled the small amount of hair on Lilyanna’s head. She gave him a gummy smile in return, her melodic laughter echoed throughout the room.
Viserys smiled at his three children playing with each other, their joy was infectious. Lilyanna looked at him once more, but this time gave him a beautiful smile before turning her attention back on her brother.
I suppose this is something I will have to get used to...
~X~
Lilyanna’s eyes snapped open, and the reincarnated soul found herself within a black void. Before she could question her surroundings, a powerful force pulled her forward, she was moving so fast that she could no longer keep her eyes open from the sharp wind.
When she finally stopped, Lilyanna opened her eyes and found herself standing in front of the Iron Throne.
She noticed that despite the large chair made from melted down weapons, she was not in the Red Keep’s throne room, she was still within the black void. She soon became aware that she was not standing on a floor but an ocean, the water was a deep clear blue, stretching as far as she could see, and came up to her ankles. She was able to see her reflection and saw that it was not the newborn Lilyanna Targaryen standing there, but Rosalind McDaniels.
‘Rosalind’ poked and pulled her face, she had not expected to ever gaze upon it ever again after she came to terms with her new life.
When she looked up, Rosalind jumped backwards and fell into the water as she noticed a woman standing directly in front of her.
The woman was beautiful, she had long silver-blonde hair that was kept loose and reached her lower back, purple eyes, and a slender body. She was wearing a black and red leather outfit that clung to her figure while looking like armor and she had two medium sized black daggers strapped to her waist.
She smiled down at Rosalind, there was a mixture of mischief and care shining in her amethyst eyes. Rosalind found herself mesmerized before she noticed the other two figures standing behind the woman, another woman, and a man.
The second woman looked just like the first with pale skin, silver-blonde hair, and purple eyes expect she was a few inches taller, with a more voluptuous figure, and her own hair was bound up in rings. Her face was more serious and sharper than the other woman, but she was no less stunning. She wore a similar black and red outfit as the other two, Rosalind was drawn to the slender longsword strapped to her waist, with its dragon-winged hilt.
She did not look upon Rosalind unkindly but with curiosity, as if she were a puzzle to figure out. Rosalind felt thoroughly examined under her gaze, as if all her inner most thoughts were on display for the woman.
The only man in the room was tall, broad shouldered with the same purple eyes and silver hair as the women only his own was cut short, just below his ears with full beard to go with it. Just like the women, his outfit was black and red, but was actual armor and he was wearing a circlet crown with big square rubies. And just like the women he was armed, with a long bastard sword on his own waist.
He was solemn, looking much more serious than the women by his sides, Rosalind was sure that he had never smiled in his entire life.
Part of her screaming that she knew the strangers, that they were important, but she could not figure out why.
It was then that the man began speaking to the two women, Rosalind could see his lips moving but no sound came out of his mouth. Same for the women who began to converse with the man, ignoring Rosalind as they did.
“Hey, who are you people? Where am I? And why can’t I hear you?” Rosalind asked.
The three strangers turned back towards each other; they each gave the other two a look before the first woman she saw within the void kneeled in front of her. Her gaze was just as kind as before, but she could still hear no sound when the woman started talking.
“I-I still can’t hear you.” She quickly informed the woman. The second woman placed her hand on the first woman’s shoulder, drawing her attention away from Rosalind. It seemed to Rosalind that they could hear her, but she could not hear them.
Rosalind stood up and watched as the three began to argue back and forth with each other, occasionally looking at her or waving in her general direction.
After what felt like hours Rosalind had become fed up with the situation and was about to speak, when she suddenly felt hands grabbing various parts of her body. One on her shoulder, another on her waist, and the last on her chin.
None of the holds were threatening or harsh, but they were firm and urgent as Rosalind was now forced to look the three strangers in the eyes as they held her. The man was the one holding her face, the first woman was holding waist, and the second woman was holding shoulder.
“Lilyanna...” The three spoke at the same time, their voices distorted. The sound hurt her ears; Rosalind was unnerved by it, feeling that something was wrong filling her gut.
ROOOAAAAARRRR!!!!!
Just as suddenly as the strangers spoke, a powerful roar shook the void, if not for the strangers’ hold on her body Rosalind would have been knocked off her feet by the sheer force of it.
To her it did not feel like a single creature could make such an intense sound, only a group could make such an earth-shattering roar.
At least three had to be working together to pull it off.
She looks back at the strangers once the roar had died down, they were opening their mouth about to speak again when the same force that brought her before them pulled her backwards.
Rosalind began to fight and struggle against the pull, trying to reach out to the figures but it was useless as she pulled further away, the Iron Throne and the three strangers becoming nothing more than small dots on the horizon after a few moments.
Rosalind looked behind her and saw a large white light, the closer she was pulled towards it the brighter the light became.
Rosalind felt the air leave her body once she reached the light and was pulled through...
~X~
She took a large gasp of air once she opened her eyes, choked breaths and wails left her mouth as she tried to take in her surroundings.
The darkness made her think that she was still in the void but thankfully one of her and Helaena’s care takers came into the room, candle in hand and disproved her suspicions.
“It's okay little one, it's okay.” The servant softly whispered to Lilyanna as she pulled her from her cradle and began to rock her.
Lilyanna took in as many large breaths as she could to calm herself down. She felt tears running down her face and realized that her crying was what drew the maid to the room.
What the hell was that?! Was it real or a dream?! And who were those people?! The infant thought.
Wait, three silver haired purple eyed strangers. One man and two women… Two of them wielding swords, the other daggers, and they stood in front of the Iron Throne…
No way it cannot be…
There is no way that they could be the Three Conquerors; Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys!
Right?
Lilyanna's thoughts continued to swirl around in her head for the rest of the night.
~X~
Meanwhile on the island of Driftmark…
ROAR!!!
Vhagar, the largest and oldest dragon in the world and the mount of Visenya and Baelon Targaryen, released a powerful roar that shook the entire island.
Once the roar died down, a young teenage girl dressed in nightwear quickly ran out of High Tide and rushed towards the dragon.
She had long silver curls, golden brown skin, and lilac eyes.
“Vhagar, what I’d wrong?” She asked.
“Laena!” A voice shouted, followed by the sounds of footsteps getting closer.
When Laena turned around, she saw that it was her mother who was following her.
Princess Rhaenys Targaryen was a great beauty with long midnight black hair and the same lilac eyes as her children. She had a lean and slender body and was tall, standing just an inch short of six feet.
“What happened? Why did Vhagar cry out like that?” The Princess asked once she reached her daughter.
“I do not know, she seemed agitated but now she is calm. I do not know what could have caused such a reaction.” Laena said.
She had bonded with Vhagar about a year ago and had never seen or heard the green dragon react to anything in such a way.
“It seems that whatever it was also affected Meleys as well.” Rhaenys stated once she was her own dragon moving skittishly not too far away from the pair.
“Yes, but they are calm now I suppose it was nothing.” Laena replied.
Rhaenys gave her daughter a non-committal hum. She did not think the incident was nothing.
Her father, Prince Aemon Targaryen, used to tell her that a rider should never ignore the behavior of their dragon, dragons were more capable of sensing things than humans.
Something had to have happened for Vhagar to roar like that and Meleys to be so agitated. I am going to have to teach Laena to pay more attention to the signs her dragon is trying to show her… Rhaenys thought.
Rhaenys placed her hand on Laena’s shoulder, pulling her along as they walked back to the castle.
Vhagar had watched the two walk away before turning her head and staring off into the distance, her head facing the direction of King's Landing.
