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"Let's raise a glass
Or two
To all the things I've lost on you
Ho, ooh
Tell me are they lost on you?
Ooh, oh
Just that you could cut me loose
Ho, ooh
After everything I've lost on you
Is that lost on you?"-Lost on You; LP
The first thing Elia Martell did as soon as she realized she was breathing, alive and safe, was let out a heartbreaking cry that reached her soul.
Her hands clung tightly to the sheets and her eyes closed so tightly that it even caused her pain. Her lips let out a cry heard only by her ears and no one else. She felt in complete agony and severe nausea as she processed everything that had just happened in what for her was a few seconds ago. Her pain and her death still fresh in her memory.
She cursed the Targaryen.
She cursed Rhaegar Targaryen.
She cursed Lyanna Stark.
She cursed George Glegane.
She cursed Robert Baratheon.
She cursed herself for having been so stupid and staying in the vipers' nest, instead of going to her beloved brother and saving her children.
Oh, by all the gods. Her children, her babies.
She let out a scream filled with so much agony that it was silent, her vocal cords could not express the immense pain she felt in her soul, her heart and her head. How could she allow her babies to die like that? Her beloved Aegon and her beautiful Rhaenys.
Oh, why was she being punished like this by the gods.
She had lost everything, all because of a stupid prophecy and lust from two adults who should have known better about the victims of their stupidity.
Rhaegar, I have lost everything for you, tell me, was it worth it?
Elia remained in a catatonic state for days, ignoring the maids she didn't know, the rooms that weren't hers, and the ones that call her by a name that wasn’t hers. She simply shut down her entire being, processing the fact that her babies died in front of her eyes, and that she herself was brutally raped and murdered.
She almost dies when her mind finally processes the fact that she has been called Alicent Hightower. Oh, the gods were cruel to send her to the past, in the body of another Targaryen victim. Another poor wife who suffered from the actions of men. Elia wanted to burn the whole place, and burn herself in that fire to go to the afterlife with her babies, but no. She was Princess Elia Nymeros Martell, a lady of Dorne, who in the past had killed Queen Rhaenys Targaryen herself.
Her story as Elia Martell ended tragically, and she wasn't about to let the same thing happen now that she was Alicent Hightower. Oh no. She will now be the one to play the game and take the Targaryens off her board. She won't let the house of dragons mess with what was hers once again. This time, she would defend her children. If the gods gave her a second chance, it is to correct her mistakes and Elia would correct them.
She was going to use her knowledge of the future and turn everything around so that her children could triumph, and if with that she had to put an end to the Targaryens, that was what she would do. Neither Otto, nor Rhaenyra, nor Daemon himself would stand in her way to place one of her children on the throne, or to keep them alive. If she wiped out all the Targaryens until only her children were left, she would care little about it.
This time, she would show them the fire of the Sun.
Alicent Hightower did not want to be separated from her children since she woke up and realized where she was, her four children were the only thing that mattered to her, to the point that she ordered that they would stay with her to sleep from now on, from the eldest to the baby. She even threatened her father when he dared to open his mouth and go against her.
That is why at this moment she was reading them a book about the history of Valyria while they leaned on her, listening attentively while they closed their little eyes and remained in physical contact with each other and with her.
Alicent felt like she wanted to cry, and her voice cracked. That's how things were supposed to go. Rhaenys and Aegon should have been like this, together and with her, safe from the stupidity of Rhaegar and Lyanna, who did not deserve to die while leaving only death and suffering behind.
“Mom, are you okay?” Her little Aegon asked her as he heard her voice cut off.
Alicent stroked his long, wavy hair, just like hers, except Aegon's were an almost platinum blonde. She became sentimental every time she heard Aegon's name, reminding her of her former baby.
“I'm fine, my sun. I'll just read a little more and then we'll sleep, is that okay?” She replied with a soft smile, caressing his rosy cheek, causing Aegon to smile and nod, snuggling closer to her.
She continued reading as she thought about the fate of her children and her emerald eyes darkened. History was going to change, because none of the Blacks would touch her children. She wasn't going to allow it.
If Aegon didn't want to be King, fine, let him be free. Either way, it is clear from afar that Aemond is the one who is actually made to rule, having everything that Viserys does not have. If Helaena wanted to have her bugs, she would give her thousands. If her baby Daeron wanted to be a knight, he would be the best, but he would be with her. This time, her children would not suffer from the stupidities of Otto, Viserys or the useless Rhaenyra.
Yes, she met the Crown Princess, and what a disappointment she was. She couldn't believe that Viserys actually thought she would be a great Queen with how capricious and immature she was, even after having so many bastards. Even Rhaegar, as much as she hated him, was a much more competent Crown Prince and intensely loved by the people.
Was she being cruel?
Maybe, but Alicent didn't care about that. She had no love for the Targaryens, except for her four little suns of course, and if she had to get Rhaenyra's bastard children out of the way, she would do it without hesitation. It was her children, or Rhaenyra’s, and she was not going to allow them to suffer a cruel fate.
She didn't care if the gods sent her with another idea in mind or to save the Targaryens, they had chosen wrong if that was their idea. She had no love for the Targaryens and for her, they could kill and marry each other as long as she kept her children safe. But knowing Rhaenyra's stupid ambition, she wouldn't be happy that her sons were still alive, threatening her throne, so she had to get her out of the way.
Alicent smiled and kissed the foreheads of her four children.
The dragons did not know the storm that was coming, because Elia Martell, now Alicent Hightower, was not going to rest until she made sure that her children were safe.