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‘Wonderful’. Rhaenyra thought. This was truly the most easily expected thing to happen and yet she still hadn’t done anything about it. By all accounts she should be rejoicing! Here in her arms she held a silver haired babe an adorable little creations that had come from her! She had done what her mother hadn’t and survived giving birth to a son. She had had the son her father had always wanted, the one her mother had died for, she had done it on her first try.
The baby in her arms who she had been handed to her after she pushed a monster out of her, and went through the worst pain in her life, was just laying there like he hadn’t just made her go through hours of pain.
This kid was already way too much like her that was for sure. Causing people to work hard all so he can just nap apparently.
He coos up at her, and wiggles one of his perfect little fingers. Rhaenyra makes a face at him and he smiles making Rhaenyra giggle. Her little boy was going to be happy he wasn’t going to have to deal with what she did. He was not going to lose her for a very long time she was staying right here with her little boy. She would not let her son end up basically an orphan like she did.
Either way back to the problem of her silver haired babe. She should be rejoicing that her son carries the coloring of old Valyria but the issue of it is in fact that what’s obvious to her, mainly because she had spent years staring at it, is that this babe had the face of her uncle Daemon. And sure that was fine, cause that was her uncle in a normal family that would just be seen as strong genetics, but what people like her backstabbing step mother Alicent might immediately jump on the rumor that Daemon is in fact her son’s father and not her husband Laenor.
Whether that was true or not was beside the point. Rhaenyra was a married woman how dare they question her son, her heir. Whether she had turned to Daemon 9 months ago because she was wed to a different man, then that is her business. Wed to a man who preferred the company to squires over her when she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Whether she’d been trapped because she deigned to try to find freedom, whether she’d had begged her uncle to help her. Alicent didn’t need to know about any of it. She was glad her son had silver hair she would just have to pass off that he looked like her and that any other thing was something he inherited through her from her uncle. She just needed to get through this. She could do it. She’d been dealing with that backstabbing bitch for years, she could handle it for this new adorable little guy. She could hide in her room for a few days with her new child and just heal and stop worrying about the court guessing anything about her son-
“Princess?” A maid who Rhaenyra hadn’t notice appear, asked quietly. “I am afraid the Queen sent a message that she wishes to see the babe right away.” Rhaenyra was going to kill that maid, asking for her son right now he had barely gotten out of her and they were already trying to take him. She calmed down. No she couldn’t kill the maid, the maid was just a messenger for that witch. How could Alicent even think of making Rhaenyra walk right now. She had just gone through so many hours of labor. She retracted her earlier thought she can’t do this.
Laenor who had been sitting in a chair next to her unhelpfully, looked up from staring at their son. He finally spoke. “Does the Queen wish to come here then? Or what does she mean by summoning us now?”
“She means to embarrass me and probably hoping I die from this, so her precious son can be crowned.” Rhaenyra hissed out.
Laenor gave Rhaenyra a look. Rhaenyra breathed in and then out. She couldn’t afford for people to know she was losing her cool like this she needed to calm down. The walls could talk.
The maid looked uncomfortable, but she asked politely. “Perhaps I can take the babe, Princess? I can take the little prince to the Queen while you rest?” That immediately set warning bells off in Rhaenyra’s head and she stopped Laenor from agreeing.
The idea of her precious fragile little babe who she hadn’t even named yet, leaving her arms and going to the woman who believed Rhaenyra had ruined her life, sounded like the worst plan ever. Besides her baby was so cute, it made her forget all the words she called the midwife as her precious baby had been refusing to come out. She kissed her boy and he smiled at her, actually smiled. Oh this was truly something she never thought she could feel.
Rhaenyra wipes a tear from her eye and sighs. If her boy had to go see the Queen then she would not let him go alone. She would go with him. She had promised to not leave him alone and she intended to keep that promise.
“Laenor, help me up. We can’t keep the queen waiting.” Even Rhaenyra could hear the sarcasm in her own voice.
“Are you fucking kidding me Rhaenyra? You actually mean to go? You’re still bleeding aren’t you?”
“Just help me up Laenor!” Rhaenyra snaps back at him. He sighs before reaching for her, unsure of what to do, he gently takes the baby and then offers his arm. With the help of him and some of her other maids she’s able to stand, and when she is, she asks to hold their son again. Laenor hands him back and then offers his arm.
As they walk, the walk is slow and every moment feels impossible for Rhaenyra. To pass the time and to take her mind off of the pain Laenor begins talking.
“What do you want to name the baby? I don’t think we’ve ever talked about it have we?”
“No, we haven’t. Especially since your squires have gotten more attention lately then you first born son’s arrival.” Rhaenyra knows she shouldn’t be too harsh with him in the hallway especially right now. But she can’t help it, he didn’t have to just go through hours of labor for this precious babe. And he isn’t the one in pain now as they are forced to walk up these stairs. Why does the Red keep have so many stairs?
“When I’m Queen I’m getting rid of all these stairs.” Rhaenyra mumbles.
Laenor ignores her comment about the squires and smiles before he speaks. “Should everyone be required to fly a dragon if they wish to switch floors then? Or should they simply gain the ability to float?”
Rhaenyra hadn’t realized she had spoken allowed. She huffed. “They should be grateful that no recently given birth woman would have to climb those stairs ever again.”
She sighs she probably sounds ridiculous right now but she can’t bring herself to care, she is instantly regretting letting her maternal instincts make this decision this hurts so bad and she’s digging her fingers into the baby’s swaddle to keep from crying out. Laenor’s arm is across her back and his hand is on left her arm supporting the baby, which helps but it doesn’t make the lingering pain go away. “To go back, as for the name. I was thinking on our father’s deal. That the first born will inherit the Targaryen name when they ascend the Iron Throne. I thought a Targaryen name for this child and perhaps Velaryon names for any other children we have?”
Laenor seems to think it over before smiling. “That sounds good to me, as long as you do not name this baby something that would make people laugh at him for it. We don’t want our boy to be the poor soul who is remembered 100 years from now as something foolish like Baeloriagel or something.”
Rhaenyra scoffs. “It’s truly too bad our other sons will end up with fish names. Besides I have a perfect name planned for our son, I want to name him after the three conquerors father Aerion. I want our son to be named Prince Aerion.”