Lucerys' Dream

Right from their wedding night Rhaenyra and Laenor tried everything they could think of to copulate, going from using wooden toys to drinking cocktails that allegedly brought arousal to the ones who drank it.

Nevertheless, nothing worked. 

They were both getting desperate; Rhaenyra had a duty as the Crown Princess to produce Heirs to support her claim to the throne and Laenor to continue his Velaryon lineage and give his father a boy to raise to become the next Lord of the High Tides. 

Soon, three months had passed and the rumors started. No one would dare to say it to their faces, but they could feel the stares. It was rather hard for both of them because half of the servants knew and blamed Laenor for his inclinations and the other half pitied the Princess, wondering if her mother’s birth issues were passed on to her and fearing for her health shall she continue her attempts to have a baby.

Not even her dragon, her beautiful Syrax, could assuage her fears. She would feel better while her girl kept her company, but she could not possibly be with her dragon all the time and whenever she left, the melancholy would once more take over her, bringing with it a restlessness that did not allow her a good night of sleep.

Rhaenyra had taken to hiding in her rooms every night, weeping as quietly as she could so she wouldn’t scare or worry her cousin, but in the night it completed two weeks of her withdrawing, Laenor put an end to it by holding her doors open until she crumbled against his chest, crying out all her anguish through sobs that rocked her whole figure till she had not more tears to shed and slept the entire night uninterrupted, curled against him.

On the morrow, she was awakened with news of an invitation; Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys were inviting them to commemorate their 22th. 

The idea of seeing her adored cousin Laena, whom she loved so very much, and her adored uncle gladdened Rhaenyra. Albeit still being mad at him, Daemon always managed to bring her out of her shell whenever her thoughts consumed her.

They traveled together on the very next day, each riding their own dragon and landed on Driftmark just in time for lunch.

It had been a much needed break, for both of them. Laenor already felt lighter with his older sister by his side, Rhaenyra could finally ignore her pressing duties for the sake of simply having fun and when the night came, the married 'couple' got ready for the ball with twin smiles on their faces.

Rhaenyra had chosen a well-cut black dress to show her curves and Laenor wore a silver piece to match hers. 

The feast had been a delight. She and Laenor danced together for a couple dances and then exchanged partners; Laenor with Laena and Rhaenyra being guiden by Daemon. Her uncle, obviously, used the dance as a chance to apologize, and she had been holding on to too many grudges to simply not give him her forgiveness. Daemon made her happier than she'd been in moons and soon the Princess found herself truly forgetting what she was trying so hard not to remember.

Once their dances ended, Rhaenyra parted ways with her uncle and went to locate her husband, only to find him in tears by his sister’s side in the gardens.

Laena saw her before she could make her way back to the halls, extending a hand and signing her to come closer. After a quick look around to ensure herself no one was prying on them, Rhaenyra approached.

Discovering Laenor - in his drunk state - had told his Laena about the problems they faced behind doors had been humiliating. Rhaenyra always looked up to Laena; her cousin was so beautiful and had such a carefree personality she could not help herself from admiring her and did not like the idea of Laena looking down on her, much less the thought of her cousin thinking her incapable of successfully seducing a man. But Laena - beautiful Laena - simply laced her fingers to Rhaenyra's and told them both she had the solution for their problems.

Her cousin did not elaborate and simply asked the Princess to bring Laenor to their rooms and make him presentable before getting up, fixing her dress and her hair and, after looking at them with one last glance that was full of self-confidence, leaving the gardens in a poised walk.

That night, after helping Laenor bathe and regain his common sense, the ‘couple’ received a visit to their chambers; Daemon and Laena walked out of a secret passage by the fireplace. 

Rhaenyra was the first to react, rising from where she was sitting. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Come now, cousin,” Laena started, leaving an amused Daemon’s side to come close to her. The woman, who had a few inches on her, looked down. “I’ve seen the way you look at me sometimes, whenever you believe I'm not looking.”

Against Rhaenyra’s wishes, her face began to burn. Laena grabbed her face by the chin and nodded her head towards Daemon. “And I’ve seen the way you look at my husband; it’s the same look I’ve seen in my brother.”

A strange noise escaped Laenor’s throat as he tried to find something to say. He seemed to be fairing even worse than Rhaenyra, scrambling backwards as Daemon left his spot by the fireplace and approached him.

It feels like a feverish dream. Rhaenyra could not stop looking from Daemon to Laena, both standing there, imposing, so sure of themselves and on the success of their risky plan they seemed to not even care about the consequences should Laenor or she ever tell a soul what they just said.

“Do you know how I know about this?” Laena asked, staring straight into her lips while passing a thumb on her cousin’s lips. Daemon chuckled from somewhere on Rhaenyra’s right, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from Laena now, not yet. “Because I know I also look towards you when you aren’t looking.”

It felt like being burned. She felt her body getting warmer, the beating of her heart rising unsteadily and by her side Daemon was whispering sweet dirty words to both Laenor and she, making it even harder to think.

The next hour passed fast after that, the four of them falling into bed in a mess of limbs and for the first time since their marriage, Laenor managed to climax inside of her, with Daemon coaching him from behind while Laena ordered them around from her place on the large bed, satiated.

They left three days later and once three moons passed, their prayers were attended; she was pregnant. Laenor had been extremely invested, and catered to her every need.

In two moons news of Laena’s twins being born came through their exchanged letters, the four of them excited at the prospect that their children would be so close in age.

Once more she saw herself flying to meet her cousin and uncle. Laena was obviously tired, yes, but she had a bright smile on her face as she showed them her girls, two small bundles with faces' that looked so much like her cousin Rhaenyra almost cried. Daemon was running around to pamper Laena with sweets and water and when he wasn't getting something for her, he was sitting by her side, staring at the twins.

Later, while Laena rested, Rhaenyra had Rhaena in her arms while Laenor held Baela. They looked exactly alike and the princess could see her uncle's nose on both the kids. 

It was only when Rhaenys and Corlys arrived that she realized they needed to return, they couldn't stay as long as they wanted because she had duties back in the Red Keep and she was already pushing it by coming to visit.

Her beautiful babe came to the world four moons later; her first-born son, Jacaerys, the picture of a pure Targaryen, her heir. 

Laena had traveled all the way from Dragonstone with both Baela and Rhaena on her arms and spent Rhaenyra's entire birth hours together with her, holding her hand and trying to keep the Princess calm as she cried and feared facing the same trials her mother had. She would not survive if her baby was a stillborn, she wouldn't.

But Jacaerys came to the world screaming at the top of his lungs, as healthy as they came, with hair so white and soft she could not stop herself from keep touching it and pressing his small head to her cheeks. 

With Jace in her arms, she could now face the lords of the Realm, the queen, the Hand and the servants with her head held right. She had done her part, fulfilled her duty and once again felt the pride of being a dragon again. On top of that, Syrax had just finished nesting three eggs - one of which was put on her babe’s cradle and when ratched, would be Jacaerys’.

She’d kept her son hidden as long as she could, taking him only to see his grandsire before bringing him back to his chambers, but as Jace grew so did the need to take him out to see the world. 

When the boy completed three moons, she began to take him into the gardens, spending her noons there with the babe on her lap. Laenor would be with them as much as he could, sometimes even taking the babe and she with him on short trips on one of his ships and he insisted on taking Jace for a ride in Seasmoke too, but she declined it, wanting Jace’s first fly to be with her. Since Laenor already had taken him on his first sail, he consented and when her girl recovered from her nesting, the Princess took Jacaerys with her to overfly King’s Landing.

With Jace being shown around, however, came vile rumors questioning her poor babe's paternity. The harsher ones suggested he was actually Daemon's child and could only have one source, but neither Rhaenyra or her husband could prove it so they endured the hushed out comments with practiced ease and settled for smiling falsely at the Hand whenever graced with an opportunity.

Alicent kept trying to talk to her when they crossed each other in the gardens. Her childhood friend seemed exhausted and was always surrounded by her two kids and babe, Rhaenyra's new brother who was just a few moons younger than her firstborn, Daeron. The princess was too upset to even try and pretend to accept the niceties and escaped as soon as she could.

The humiliation felt hot in her belly; while it was true she jumped on Daemon as a starved dragon, even in the middle of their euphoria that night her uncle had not come inside her. Jacaerys was not the first Targaryen-Velaryon to be born with only Targaryen’s features and it was absurd to think differently. Yes, her son’s skin was as light as hers, and his hair did not have the same texture as a Velaryon usually did, but his eyes and eyebrow had the same shape as his grandmother Rhaenys - a bit downwards.

Thankfully, upon hearing the rumors, her father was quick to define any comments regarding Jace's parentage treason; his grandson was Laenor’s son and whoever dared to imply otherwise would lose their heads for it.

Life at the Keep was calmer after that. Jace was an easy boy to raise, mostly spending his days dozing off or giggling at his father’s silly plays and was reaching each milestone from the books with at least a moon to spare.

Corlys and Rhaenys positively doted on him, - as did her father, giving Jace toys and sweets and talking about scheduled playdates all the time - sometimes bringing Laena and the twins with them since her uncle had once again been exiled. Rhaena and Baela were becoming even more beautiful as they aged and already were able to walk and babble some words. Jace was only now learning how to walk so he often followed the girls around by crawling, to their amusement.

But the Velaryon-Targaryen couple didn't visit only to see their grandson; they also wanted to encourage Rhaenyra and Laenor to have another heir - this one to be Laenor's successor as the heir of Driftmark.  Corlys may not have said it, but the princess could feel it and Rhaenys had no qualms to ask her for another son when she managed to get alone with her a couple of nights later, so when they received the invitation to the Laena's name-day celebration, it felt like the Gods were offering the perfect excuse to spend a few days away from home.

Their stay at Dragonstone had once again been filled with sneaking around and jesting. Rhaenyra hadn't admitted it to Laenor, knowing it was difficult for him to be a part of that arrangement, but she had been dreaming about a repetition for moons now and being finally able to kiss Laena and Daemon again was all she could think about when she was alone late at night.

Jacaerys had also been ecstatic at the prospect of spending some time with his cousins; her boy absolutely loved the twins - he could barely understand what was happening around him, but once he was put close to the girls he had forgotten completely about his parents and had toddled around with them to here the maids were leading them.

It had been a wonderful week, for all of them, and as they flew back to King's Landing, Rhaenyra had a smug smile on her face and knew, by the way Syrax was sending static energy through their bond, that the seed had once again taken.

The confirmation came barely two months later, when she began to feel nauseous in the morning. Her father had been static, ordering a tourney to celebrate and congratulating his child and Laenor over and over again as they stood in front of him and the rest of the lords present. 

After the announcement, the preparations began. She sent the news to Laena and Daemon to Laenor’s parents and they all reunited a few moons later to celebrate and search for the new babe’s name. It took them longer than Jacaerys’ name because both her and Laenor wanted something close to Jahaerys when they picked their first-born name. Now, however, there were so many possibilities that it took several weeks of research for them to decide. Took them moons to finally make a decision; the babe would be called Visenya - a name she always loved and desired to put on a child in the event she had a girl - and Lucerys if it were a boy.

This time around her pregnancy passed as fast and smoothly and when the time came she was not as scared as before, when she feared to follow her mother’s footsteps on her birthing bed. Still, the labor took hours to end and Rhaenyra was at the end of her forces when the child’s head left her body. There were cheers and congratulatory words for a well done job at her direction as they took her child away for examination. Rhaenyra had yet to hear her child’s cry and soon the thoughts of her dear late mother and the chain of still-born babes she had to endure invaded her delicate mind and she began to struggle to sit up.

Laenor had been in the rooms the entire time, holding her hand for support, and only left her to check on their child. The Maester in charge was pressing against the newborn's chest, trying to make him breath.

Rhaenyra was exhausted and already in the beginnings of a fit of terror - heart pounding desperately against her chest and breath coming short - as she tried to understand what was happening; no one in the room was telling her anything, for the maids holding her down also didn’t know. There were a bunch of people surrounding the newborn and they couldnt see anything. 

And then soft, weeping sounds began to sound from somewhere in the room.

"It's a miracle, a gift from the Gods!"

It was Laenor who acted, taking his child away from the nosy lookers as soon as the Maester that had been examining the babe allowed. The man then crossed the room in large steps and quickly put the small bundle in his wife’s arms for her to look at. 

“He’s fine, ‘Nyra, he’s fine.” He comforted, trying to calm her down but his words went above her head for she felt as if she were underwater, tears already wetting her red face as she he held the babe close, hands scrambling to take the cloth off his face to ensure he was safe and sound, but only truly began to get a hold of herself when the small mouth moved into a pout and she realized the sounds - the small whimpers and sniffs she had been hearing - came from the newborn babe.

A boy, Laenor said it was a boy. Her young Lucerys.

The Princess kissed his tiny head with a smile, rubbing her cheek against his as she laughed wetly. “Shh, Issa tresy, (my son)” She murmured, feeling the exhaustion taking a hold of her body as her eyelids became heavy. “Aōha muña iksos kesīr. (now mother is here)”

Her eyes closed against her will, but she feared not; she knew Laenor would protect their children.

Luke had been born dead. That was all Rhaenyra had thought about for the first week she had her babe in her arms, holding him closer each time she remembered it.

She did not wish to talk about it, but everyone kept bringing it up during the first moons of Lucerys' life, calling it a miracle, a gift from the Seven. Rhaenyra did not care what it was, she just wanted to forget those minutes of pure horror she felt and cherish her second chance.

And what a second chance it was. With Lucerys’ birth, the rumors contesting his older brother’s parentage disappeared completely. While Luke looked exactly like a Targaryen, with a skin whiter than hers and eyes a shade so unique of purple it looked almost blue, the charming mole underneath his eye that he shared with his grandfather and a reddish birthmark on his nape - at the same spot and with the exact same format as his father’s - silenced anyone that still dared to comment on the subject.

Corlys had been extremely smug by the discovery, parading Luke around the Red Keep and putting his face beside the boy’s every time he saw someone whom he had not yet shown the resemblance. 

Jacaerys’ attachment was even worse than when Luke was still on her belly; he followed his brother everywhere and wanted nothing more than to have him in his arms all the time, sometimes throwing a fit when not allowed to cuddle with Luke on the middle of his legs. It was always amusing to see a small boy of two name days with a babe between his legs.

Rhaenys was also taken by the newborn and always took him and Jace to stay around the gardens for a couple hours while Laenor and Rhaenyra collapsed in bed. 

Being a parent was harder than any of them could expect, especially considering Lucerys was not exactly what one would call a normal child - the boy was too quiet for his own good, crying silently whenever he wished to be fed, or to have his clothes to be changed, or anything regarding him  needing to be catered for.

Jacaerys, on the other hand, had always been the complete opposite and made sure to make his mind known. It was a strange contrast for her and she knew Laenor also struggled with it as he went to look for Lucerys every few minutes to check on the boy.

As the months passed and Luke still did not cry out loud, they started worrying something was wrong with his vocal cords. Rhaenyra took him to every Master she could find and when she was too busy with her duties, Laenor stepped in and brought Luke to the appointments.

In reality Luke simply did not seem to have any desire to fit the norm, as it was proved by the fact that after her son’s egg was put into his cradle it only took a month close to the boy for it to hatch and a baby dragon - a pearl-colored small dragon - struggling to get off of it with high pitched cries that had woken the entire family and caused them to run through the Keep in desperation only to find the four moon's old babe curled around his dragon, sleeping soundly - the shells of the dragon’s egg by his side. 

The morning after, they tried to separate the boy and the beast by having the dragon keepers bring the small dragon to the Dragon Pit, but for the first time in his young life Lucerys bawled, crying himself straight into a point where he couldn't breath. It had been a disaster, they didn’t know what to do, but at least now they knew there was nothing wrong with the boy’s voice.

Rhaenys kept repeating they couldn’t just keep a dragon - even if it was a babe one - on the Keep and Rhaenyra was inclined to agree, but once Laenor hurriedly entered the rooms, worried about what was happening, with Jace in his arms and her other boy also started crying, she had to give in.

In the end, they had taken the issue to her father. 

“Your Grace, I cannot help but advise against it.” Otto Hightower said.

“Nonsense, Otto. The boy is attached to his dragon and the beast is still too young to hurt someone, it’ll be fine.” Viserys had said, smiling down at his daughter before asking her to step closer and let him hold his grandson.

Luke accepted being passed on to her father without fuss and stood at the man’s lap for the rest of the meeting, to the amusement of most of the court. Alicent, who sat at the king's side with her second son, Aemond, did not even try to hide her scowl; Viserys never took any of her children to sit on his lap during a meeting and barely gave them any attention.

The queen had been growing increasingly closed off the last few moons and while Rhaenyra didn't try or want to approach her, the Princess did feel a bit bad for the girl. From what the maids were saying, Alicent was now facing a mind illness that caused her supreme sadness and only spent time with her children.

Rhaenyra felt sorry for her siblings, she did. They had nothing to do with her father's fooleries or their mother’s betrayal, but she was busier than ever these last few years with both her sons and duties in court, she couldn’t take the little time away she had to spend with Jace and Luke from her children.

The whole family was in the gardens, aside from her father, and enjoying a nice warm summer day by drinking refreshments and eating delicacies that had just arrived the night before. Jacaerys was busy in a quest to find the most strange shaped rocks to show Laenor and Corlys, Rhaena was admiring some flowers and Baela was attempting to hide the rocks Jace found from him.

Her boy was the picture of a perfect heir and enjoyed having his hair just long enough to reach his shoulders. Jacaerys was still a few moons away from starting his classes as a prince, but her boy was already able to read small words and made friends with everyone he met, being absolutely loved around the Red Keep by all the inhabitants with very few exceptions. 

As for Lucerys, having just completed ten full moons, was sitting as quiet as always in his grandmother’s lap, playing with a bunch of colorful blocks. Laena had not yet stopped grabbing him every few minutes to smell his hair and coo over his cuteness, which made something Rhaenyra did not want to think about stirr in her belly.

Her sweet boy still woke up crying most of the days and sometimes he bursted out into tears so suddenly it scared her. Whenever he did cry while awake, he held on to his head. It worried her - it seemed she wasn't able to do much but worry about Luke - but she knew it couldn't possibly be healthy for him to grab into his hair and sob so quietly as he did, unconsolable for a reason they couldn't explain. 

No matter how many Maesters they brought him to - Laenor even risked asking the Maesters from Dorne for help -, it seemed no one could explain what the problem was and the consensus was that Luke would face migraines his entire life.

She had broken out in cries for weeks after hearing the news, but after the babe completed nine moons they were finally able to offer Luke a respite to his suffering by giving him a few amounts of milk of the poppy.

“It’s quite a feat,” Rhaenys stated, talking about the boy's stocking-up-blocks skills. Her youngest had been fixated on the blocks for a while now. “Lucerys’ a very smart babe.” 

Upon hearing his name, Luke looked up at Rhaenys. Seeing the queen who never was with Lucerys on her lap was an ominous experience, of sorts. She always noticed that Rhaenys had an intense gaze and so did Luke, who ever since he was able to open his eyes looked at her with eyes so deep she could not help but describe as mystical. With both of them looking at her now, she felt as if they were staring deep into her. Laenor, as if reading her thoughts, said the same thing in her ear. 

This time around, Daemon was also in the Red Keep. Her father had once again uplifted her uncle’s exile, so obviously the first thing Daemon did was to take his family to King's Landing so he could bother his older brother and the Hand.

Her father had been in a good humor these last few moons, though. After the whole situation with Lucerys’ dragon, he started saying it was a sign from the Gods that he was on the right path. Rhaenyra did not know if she agreed, exactly, but anything that made him feel better was a bonus in her opinion.

As it is, Daemon was not having enough fun torturing lords at the court with his inane comments and so the best next thing was to try and find something else to entertain himself with. It seemed that something was to try and get Lucerys to speak.

She did not bother to tell him the babe was still too young.

“Skoros ēnka iksos bisy? (what color is this one?)” Her uncle asked, poking a red block on the top of Luke’s little castle and Lucerys - once again maintaining his pattern of surprising everyone at the most unexpected moments, answered him back in the cutest high pitched voice.

“Mele! (red)” The boy said, looking up at his great uncle with a beautiful smile.

“Did you- did you hear that?” Laenor shrieked, his voice breaking in a few syllables from the surprise.

Corlys put all of Jace’s rocks on the floor - to Baela’s delight - and Laena almost fell in the rush to get closer.

“Yes, yes I heard it!” Rhaenyra almost shouted, putting the basket of sweets that were in her lap on the grass and moving towards her son. “Can you say it again, sweet boy? What color is it?” But Luke just stared at her, face back to that blank expression of always. Before she could even feel disappointed, Daemon nudged Luke’s small foot.

“Se bisy? (and this one?)” He asked, this time pointing at a green block.

“Ka’ta! (green)” Luke immediately answered. 

Daemon shot her a look so full of meanings Rhaenyra felt all the air leave her lungs. Could it be possible? “Lucerys,” she started. The boy turned his attention from Daemon to her. “Kostagon ao vestragon muñnā? (can you say mother?)” 

“Muñnā!” The boy shouted, little hands bumping on the small castle he made and knocking down the blocks. “Muñnā!”

“Can you say mother?” Laenor, who also picked up on the new development, asked. As expected, Lucerys did not even acknowledge him. “Lucerys, kostagon ao vestragon kepa? (can  you say father?)”

“Ke’a. (father)” Luke butchered out, picking up a block and shaking it. 

“Are you shitting me?” Laena asked, her mouth open in an undignified way.

“Laena!” Rhaenys and Corlys admonished her half-mindedly and before they could ask Luke to say something else, Daemon grabbed the babe, lifting the boy by his armpits until their faces were at the same level. Lucerys’ hand shot up to grab his great uncle's hair. “Skorkydoso glaesā? (how are you?)” Her uncle asked.

“‘'ȳz! (good).”

Daemon turned to her, his face the smuggiest she'd ever seen - especially for someone whose hair was being stuffed into a child’s  mouth. "So, niece, how did you manage to raise a child that only understands High Valyrian?”