VISERYS
115 AC
The King of Westeros walks through the hallways of the Red Keep at a fast pace with two members of the Kingsguard by his sides.
During the morning, he wakes up to the common vision of not having his wife by his side.
It was normal, of course.
Laena is an active young woman that loves to ride horses around, ride Vhagar, or do any kind of physical activity in general.
Yet, she would always return to eat with him in the middle of the day.
But today, she did not return.
So, after eating, the King departed in pursuit of his wife, worried about what could have happened to cause her delay.
And while walking through the hallways of the castle, he can see more and more the complete difference between him and his second wife.
He is getting tired and sweaty.
His legs burn, his face is red, and he is having trouble breathing properly.
He only wants to lie on his bed and take a nap.
Like an old man.
Something scary for a man that has yet to reach his fortieth nameday.
As he walks through the halls of the castle without any clue, Viserys finally finds a maid walking by with a basket of clothes that were probably just washed.
Viserys sighs when he stops in front of her, and the maid quickly bows, nervous.
“Your grace, what can I help you with?
Do you need water or anything else?” She asks, worried about the sweaty king.
Viserys shakes his head and finally manages to talk once more.
“I need nothing.
Have you seen Queen Laena around the castle?” The king asks between his breaths.
The maid’s eyes shine with realization.
“I did see her just about now!
She was visiting the grand maester about something.
I did not want to hear her conversation.” The maid says, embarrassed.
The king nods his head as he calms down.
“Good choice.
Thank you for the information.
Here.
Take it as a symbol of my gratitude,” the king says, taking a gold dragon from inside his clothes.
The maid is shocked, but she quickly accepts and smiles.
“I can’t be more grateful, Your Grace!
You should probably take that to dry you off.” The maid says, offering him a white cloth.
Viserys hesitantly accepts and nods.
The maid quickly goes away, and the king continues his walk, now towards the chamber of the Grand Maester.
Once he arrives there, he sees Laena just getting out of the grand maester, wearing her riding clothes and looking at the ground with a tough expression.
As Viserys gets closer to her, she notices and opens a short smile.
“Finally!
You have been missing for hours more than you usually do!
Something happened to you, so you had to meet the Grand Maester?
Did you get injured?” The King asks, worried.
Laena snorts, almost offended.
“Me?
Injured from riding Vhagar?
Don’t make me laugh, Viserys.
I am a very skilled dragonrider.
It would never happen.
I just wanted something to deal with a headache.
Nothing serious,” the Queen says.
Viserys is unsure, but he nods in understanding.
“Well, what about we go to the garden?
I want to take a rest after walking around the castle searching for you, and we could use some tea and a good talk.
How does that sound?” The king asks, gently.
Laena laughs a bit and gets closer to him.
“Fine by me.
You are a very sweet man, Viserys.
This is undeniable.” The Queen says this before kissing his right cheek and taking her arm around his arm.
Viserys smiles with satisfaction, and the married couple goes in the direction of the gardens after Viserys dismisses the two members of the Kingsguard.
Viserys sighs in relief as he is finally able to sit on the simple iron chair in the garden, with Laena sitting on a chair on the other side of a small round table.
He smiles at her.
“My mother was very similar to you, did you know that?
She loved to ride Meleys around and even took me on a flight when I was only a babe.
I don’t have many memories of her, but when I look at you flying through the skies, I wonder if my father looked up to my mother in the same way I do to you.” The king proclaims before letting out an extensive sigh.
Laena smiles with compassion.
“I have heard that Princess Alyssa was also very…
lusty,” the Queen points out, a bit embarrassed.
Viserys laughs.
“She surely was.
If she lived longer and had as many children as she wanted, the Red Keep would be too small for all my siblings and nephews.” The king jokes, laughing a bit more.
Laena laughs too, but it becomes a sad smile very quickly.
“I am afraid, you know?
I am afraid of having children.
Alyssa, Aemma…
I don’t want to be another woman to be killed by childbirth at a young age.” The queen confesses, sadly.
Viserys sighs.
“We already had that conversation.
My mother and Aemma are not a case for everyone.
Rhaenyra is doing well.
She just gave birth to her second son, and both eggs of her boys hatched!
The same with little Daeron.
Have you seen his dragon?” The king asks, joyful like a kid.
Laena smiles with that.
“A beautiful hatchling, indeed.
He will be a majestic dragon one day, almost as beautiful as Sunfyre,” the Queen says.
Viserys laughs.
“She.
It is a female dragon.
Daemon thought it was strange that his son had a female dragon, but destiny wanted it to be that way,” the king proclaims.
Laena laughs.
“I think it is better.
We already had the red queen, and now we have the blue queen.
Sounds amazing to me,” the Queen proclaims.
Viserys laughs once again and nods.
Servants get closer to them and bring a full teapot, serving both of them before leaving.
Viserys takes a sip and quickly moves his mouth out, letting his tongue out.
“It is hot!” The king says, trying to cool his tongue.
Laena laughs hard.
“Stop being such a child, Viserys.
I doubt it is that hot.” The Queen says before taking her own sip.
She retreats as well but manages to keep her mouth closed as she swallows.
Viserys smirks.
“What did you say before?” The king asks in an ironic tone.
Laena snorts and the two of them laugh.
After that, they finally get to have a normal sip of tea before Laena looks at her husband with a serious expression.
“I have heard about the new child of Rhaenyra.
What is his name again?” The Queen asks.
“Lucerys.
Prince Lucerys Velaryon.
He will succeed Laenor as Lord of Driftmark one day,” the King proclaims, proud.
Laena frowns.
“And what does he look like?” The Queen asks.
Viserys frowns back to her, looking at his tea.
“Like his brother.” He says before taking another sip of his tea.
Laena sighs and looks at him with a serious expression.
“Rhaenyra’s situation is only getting worse.
What do you plan to do about that?” The Queen asks.
Viserys almost chokes on his tea, but he manages to let it out of his lungs with a few coughs.
He looks at Laena with a forced neutral expression.
“What do you mean?” the king asks.
Laena sighs.
“Viserys, the excuse she made when she did it the first time was already hard to believe.
With the second one, it is completely unbelievable.
You will continue to support her even when she is dragging the names of our houses in the mud?” The Queen asks with an irritated tone.
Viserys sighs, laying down his cup on the table before frowning at his young wife.
“I don’t want to hear about vile accusations against my heiress, Laena.
Jace and Luke are what Rhaenyra says they are.
I will never doubt the word of my daughter, and that is final.” The king proclaims, almost struggling with his words.
Laena stares at him.
Purple staring at purple.
Her irritated expression fades in sadness with a sigh.
“She will never learn if her father keeps defending her mistakes, Viserys.
You will not live forever.
What will she do after you die?” The Queen asks, skeptic.
Viserys frowns once again, thoughtful.
He then sighs.
“I know that she is not perfect.
But she is still my precious daughter.
I am sure that she will be a great queen one day; she only needs more time to mature.” The king proclaims in an honest tone.
Laena sighs, getting up from her chair.
“Most of the time I think you care more about Rhaenyra than the realm itself.
A king can’t rule properly without sacrifices, Viserys.
I never saw Rhaenyra sacrifice anything in her life.
She has a disturbed vision of what ruling is.
I can’t stop you from protecting her and her two living mistakes, but I want you to remember that other people will not just accept that.
Her position is already frail by being a woman, and it is only getting worse.
Princess Alicent is clearly not happy with the decisions Rhaenyra made, for example,” the Queen proclaims with conviction.
Viserys sighs deeply, stroking his forehead with one hand before looking back at his wife with a lost expression.
“And what do you think I could do?” The king asks.
Laena snorts, still standing in front of him.
“She needs to be instructed.
Prepared.
My mother prepared me very well, as far as I can say.
She can do the same to Rhaenyra: discipline and how to take better care of her body.
Being attractive is a very powerful weapon for a woman.
I have heard that Rhaenyra has been getting more stout with each pregnancy.
She will also have to deal with the possibility of war,” the Queen proclaims with a serious tone.
The eyes of Viserys go wide.
“War?
With who?
“Why?” the king asks, worried.
Laena sighs and shrugs.
“I don’t know.
I just have that feeling.
Things are getting more and more tense.
The ambitious crows feed on this tension to gain power.
It does not matter if there will be war or not, Rhaenyra needs to be ready for that possibility,” the Queen says.
Viserys nods slowly, frowning.
“You want to make her learn how to use a sword?” the king asks.
Laena denies with her head.
“It might be useful for her own defense, but no.
Her lack of physical ability compared to a man makes any real battle a high chance of death to her.
I am talking about riding a dragon to war and strategy.
The most infamous women that ever walked through this world are not remembered by their skills with weapons but by their cleverness.
Their skills to use their beauty as a form of manipulation and their sharp minds to make elaborate plans and battle strategies.
Rhaenyra even has a dragon to fight for her.
She needs to learn how to make the best of what she has.” The Queen proclaims with confidence.
Viserys frowns, absorbing all of that.
“So, you are asking me to demand that Rhaenyra learn with Rhaenys’ way of thinking?
Are you sure it will work out?” The King asks, unsure.
He knows his daughter.
Rhaenyra was never interested in war and did not have enough temperance to create elaborate plans.
Laena sighs.
“To some extent, yes.
Rhaenyra will still be very stubborn and emotional.
We can’t do anything about her personality, but we can try to make a better version of what we have with her,” the Queen proclaims honestly.
Viserys nods before sighing once again, looking at the clouds in the sky above them, closing his eyes as he relaxes on the chair and takes a deep breath.
He then looks at Laena with tearful eyes.
“I know everything, Laena.
I know.
I just can’t punish Rhaenyra the way I would have if I confirmed her actions.
I can’t do that with her.
I can’t do that with Aemma.” The king proclaims with complete honesty.
Laena looks at him with a sad expression.
“I understand you.
You are a man that lost a love and can’t deal with the burden that fell on your shoulders.
I might hate the way you choose to do things, but I care about you, Viserys.
More than you will ever care about me,” the Queen says with a hurt tone of voice.
A pair of tears rolls down her cheeks before she leaves towards the castle at a fast pace.
“Laena!
Wait!” The king exclaims, struggling to get up.
But as he gets up, she is already gone from his sight.
Viserys sighs as he looks back at the sky, reflecting on his entire life in a few seconds.
All the wrong decisions he made.
He remembers faces.
The mother he is almost forgetting and the father he loved.
As a young boy, his father made the promise that he would take care of his family to the bitter end.
“I am trying, Father.
But what should I do when my own family is falling apart and going against each other?” The king whispers to the nothingness of the above.
Viserys takes a deep breath and walks inside the castle with conviction.
He has things to fix.
The fifth King of Westeros walks towards the entrance of his bedroom.
The guard on the door nods to him before leaving, letting Viserys knock on the door.
“Laena, please, I want to talk.
I want to resolve things with you, once and for all.” The king proclaims with a soft tone.
The silence reigns for a time before he can hear steps coming towards the door, and then it suddenly opens.
Laena’s beautiful hair is a mess from lying down on the bed, and her expression is one of pure neutrality.
Almost like she is looking at a lifeless wall.
Viserys sighs.
“Laena, I am sorry for all that is happening.
Can we talk inside?
I want to be completely honest with you about how I feel.” The king proclaims.
Laena thinks and then sighs; she moves and lets her husband walk in.
The two of them sit on the messy bed, a bit apart from each other.
Viserys takes his wife’s hands, stroking and looking at them as he starts talking.
“My grandmother, Queen Alysanne, was the one responsible for my marriage with Aemma.
At the start, I was against it because Aemma was much younger than me, but then we got closer, and in time, we fell in love.
We were a married young couple, immature and passionate.
It ended up with Aemma giving birth to Rhaenyra at too young an age.
It shattered her already delicate health.
Yet, when I became Prince of Dragonstone, I realized that I needed a son to be my unquestionable heir.
And after failure after failure, my desires finally took my beloved Aemma from me.
My love died because of my choices.
I can’t look at the mirror without thinking about myself as the man that killed Aemma.” The king proclaims in a sad tone, trying to take hold of his emotions.
Laena looks at him with sympathy, firmly holding his hands.
“It was not your fault to be concerned about the future, Viserys.
I am sure that Aemma would never blame you for what happened.” The young Queen says with confidence.
Viserys smiles at her, not convinced, but he frowns as he continues to talk.
“And then, after losing my wife and my son, Otto told me about what Daemon said in a brothel with his men from the City Guard.
He called my son the heir for a day and celebrated his death.
I was hurt and angry, and then, in a moment of pure emotion, I decided to name Rhaenyra my heir as a way to punish Daemon.” The king proclaims in a downcast tone.
Laena frowns.
“If you named Rhaenyra just as a punishment for Daemon, what changed after that?
Why are you so defensive of her now?” The Queen asks with a curious tone.
Viserys sighs one more time and looks at her eyes.
“When I accepted your hand, Rhaenyra told me she was worried that I would pass over her just because you could give me other children and possibly a son.
I promised her, Laena.
I promised to her that I would never pass over her.
I failed with Aemma.
I can’t fail with our daughter.
I refuse to.
I will do whatever I need to keep my promise to her, even if Rhaenyra is making bad decisions that I should not tolerate.
I am sorry.” The king says, looking at his wife with sad eyes before looking down to his hands, trying to understand what he really became as a man.
Laena sighs and opens a weak smile before hugging Viserys.
He rests his head on her shoulder as they hug.
The Queen strokes his short golden-silver hair with tenderness.
“You are a good man, Viserys.
Too pure for this world, I have to say.
You understand that your feelings turned you into the personal weapon of your daughter and that she is using you as an anchor to do what she wants, right?” The queen asks in a serious but soft whisper in his ears.
Viserys nods his head slowly, calmed down by the sweet smell that Laena has.
“I do, but my hands are tied here, Laena.
Not only Rhaenyra’s life depends on me following her wishes, but also her children.
These boys are my grandchildren, independent of the circumstances of their birth.
They are not guilty of the sins of their mother.
They must be protected,” the King proclaims with confidence.
Laena ends the hug but keeps her arms on his chest while looking closely at his eyes.
“I agree with you.
They are innocent.
And…
I guess we all are with our hands tied.
My father is one of the wisest men I have ever met.
He knows the truth.
Yet, he did not expose Rhaenyra for his own benefit.
He is playing her game,” the Queen says honestly.
Viserys frowns at her.
“He is probably waiting for you to give birth to a son so he can have another claimant to support.” The king points out.
Laena denies with her head.
“I don’t think so.
Even if I did not give birth to a child yet, my father would not tolerate it lightly.
Rhaenyra must have come to an agreement with him.
I just don’t know what agreement,” the Queen says.
Viserys sighs, laying his arm around her as Laena rests her head on his chest.
He slowly strokes her hair.
“I can only pray that things will work out fine.
Daemon and his family are close in body and distant in soul, and Rhaenyra is creating her own future problems.
Gods…
how can I be such a disgrace at dealing with my family?” The king asks the above, sinking deeper into his misery.
Laena hugs his body from the side.
“There is always time to do things better, Viserys.
I certainly believe that you can.
You just need to give yourself another chance.” The Queen says with confidence, raising her head to look at him.
Viserys frowns, confused.
“What do you mean?” the king asks.
Laena opens a short smile, almost timid.
“I did not feel a headache early on.
I consulted Grand Maester Mellos because I have some suspicions.
And he confirmed it to me,” the Queen says as she takes a hand of Viserys and moves it to her own belly.
The heart of the king almost stops with the shock of what she means.
He looks at Laena’s face, seeing her tearful eyes.
“I am with child, Viserys.” The queen says, opening a truthful smile.
Viserys smiles back and hugs her tightly.
He laughs amid his disbelief.
“I can’t believe it!
After such a time…” the king says, still at a loss for words.
He then looks at Laena in the eyes and, by sheer impulse, kisses her on the lips.
The kiss is full of a level of affection that they have never shown to the other.
Their tongues don’t fight but dance together.
And when they break the kiss, they still look at the other with a smile.
Laena laughs, drying her tears.
“That was certainly unexpected.
I did not even know that you were able to use your tongue while kissing me.” The Queen jokes, making Viserys laugh.
He then holds her waist more firmly.
“Maybe I was neglecting my wife a little bit too much.
You certainly deserve more of my affection.” The king says before kissing her again.
The kiss gets more intense this time but lasts shorter.
Laena breathes deeply before she opens a large and malicious smile while she moves her soft hands on his chest, biting her lower lip.
“I could use some affection, but first, a good queen must be able to serve the king very well.” She says as she gently pushes him down in the bed.
Viserys laughs with her action.
Laena moves to sit on him with her legs going around his body.
As she slowly removes each part of her clothes and moves her hips around, Viserys can only let out a grunt of anticipation.
Maybe he still can find pleasure in a world without his Aemma.