What is honor compared to a woman's love?
What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms . . . or the memory of a brother's smile?
Wind and words. Wind and words.
We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love.
That is our g...
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TW: abuse
273 AC- THE RED KEEP, KINGS LANDING
WHEN AERYS AND RHAELLA TARGARYEN WERE MARRIED, THERE WAS NO FONDNESS BETWEEN THEM.
The two siblings had never even gotten along well- but when King Jaehaerys demanded his two children wed, they were powerless to stop it. The tradition of Targaryen incest was dying down, but King Jaehaerys felt it should be brought back. When a woods witch came to Jaehaerys and told him of a prophecy. She said the prince who was promised would be born from Aerys and Rhaella's line. With full trust in the witch, the King arranged a betrothal between the siblings while they were still young.
When Rhaegar and Elaena were born, Rhaella felt she finally had a true purpose for her life- something only for her and Aerys. Having children was a duty for her, but they were the greatest blessing to come of her life. She loved her children more than life itself, and make it her mission to ensure their kindhearted nature.
Born amidst the fires of Summerhall, the twins gave Rhaella a strength the honor to her duty never could. She found herself spending more time with her husband, who was also infatuated with the twins. They were happy living within the walls of the Red Keep for the beginning of their marriage.
While Targaryen incest had slowly begun to die out over the years, when her parents, Jaehaerys and Shaera Targaryen, married in secret it seemed to have been revived. While she and Aerys were also married and had their twins, Rhaella did not wish to continue on the pure Targaryen line. It was long said that over three hundred years of heavy inbreeding, marrying brother to sister whenever possible to "keep the bloodline pure," resulted in many of the medical problems seen with incest, particularly mental instability. While she did not believe her children were unstable mentally, she feared for the future.
She could still recall the first time Aerys devolved his plan to marry their twins. They were only around six moons old when he first brought the idea to her. Instantly, Rhaella tried to combat these ideas- going as far as to write to her close friend Loreza Martell, trying to arrange a betrothal between Elaena and her younger son Oberyn. Doran, Loreza's first son had recently married Lady Mellario of Norvos.
While Oberyn Martell would not usually be the first choice as a husband for the King's daughter as a second son, the Dornish have always respected women, allowing them more opportunities for them. Rhaella did not want her daughter in the court of King's Landing. Though, she knew she would be able to live the rest of her days knowing her daughter was happily living in Dorne, drinking wine with her ladies-in-waiting.
