The life of Saera Targaryen told in four acts.
She was her father's forgotten daughter, cast aside as she looked nothing like her mother. Her younger days were spent beside her uncle. Years following her marriage with Ser Harwin Strong, she catches...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Daegon settles beside Helaena, her fingers delicately dancing upon the silken beads of her new creation. "My mother speaks about the marriage between your mother and uncle," she whispered in her earthly voice. "They were wed, and my father is cross," he answered. He couldn't understand his father's anger - Alyssa told him that their father would never understand them. Harwin was from the Andals, and they were Valryians. Instead, he finds himself understanding his granduncle, Daemon, who has comforted him with every sleepless night. Daemon was his true father, not Harwin.
"Mother says it isn't right for a woman to take two husbands." she mimicked her mother's rants - he frowns. Queen Alicent was not a Targaryen - she wouldn't understand them. "It is not wrong, the Seven Gods forbid it - but we are above their customs." he mumbled, avoiding a conflict of interest with his friend. Helaena hums, and returns her attention to the embroidery.
She and her siblings were always closer to men than gods. Their voices were hollow and thin, their faces were soft and unstriking. They were not dragons, merely shells of the dragonlords before them. "I suppose, mother rarely makes sense." she agreed, prickling her finger with a tiny needle.
A gasp escapes her mouth and Daegon takes her finger gently. "Are you alright?" he inquired, wiping the blood away from her bloodied pointer. "Yes," she replies - and he takes the embroidery away from her lap. "I'll do it for you, muña and Alyssa taught me." he offered, navigating the design with ease.
Finishing the gold and white dragon.
—
Harwin sits with his legs open, eyes drunkenly staring at his wife. His heart was pounding with betrayal - agony that coursed through his veins. "You have forfeited all rights in being disappointed with me." she grits her teeth - his eyes were solely focused on her. "Your uncle has lied to you. He wishes to have you, as would any man that has the glory of your presence. There is nothing but respect between me and Rhaenyra." he lied, pleading his fake innocence.
She takes a step forward, taller than him by a few inches - as he was sitting down. "Do not lie to me," she warns. He stands up, his armor clinks - and he stares at her blankly, a hint of desperation in his sad irises. "I have been your dutiful husband. This betrayal is harming me and our children." he lied, avoiding her eyes. "Our children? Since when have you cared for them?" she antagonized. There was no point in swaying her - not when her decision was already firm.
"I have loved our children since I first held them in my hands. Two babes that are born because of our love." he confessed.
"Rhaenyra's children are yours, are they not?" she scoffed, his eyes turned to the ground. His lips were pursed, his eyes held nothing but shame. He was silent and sulking - a contract to her body that held nothing but confidence. "I know of the affair between you. I have been idle for all these years because of the vultures that seek my father's throne. I love my sister, Harwin - and you've made it hard to do so." she explained, fists clenched.
"I've been a horrible husband." he groans, heart threatening to collapse in his chest. "How can I make it up to you?" he asked, all efforts of reconciliation dying with the flames that came out of Melarys' mouth. His wife's anger was dangerous - slow to anger, and slow to forgive. He didn't want to be at the end of her sword - not when he was still at her mercy.
"Return to Harrenhal, forget about your life here." she levied.
There was a time that she cared for him, but those days were spent - gone with the wind. "You cannot ask me to do that," he argued.
"It is what I want," she interrupted.
"- I will kill you if you cannot give me that."
—
"Betroth your daughter to my grandson." Otto opened his mouth, lips pressed into a thin line. It wasn't a question - it was a demand. "Why should I do that, my lord?" Saera inquired - eyes glaring at his figure. There were lords across the realm aiming for her daughter's hand, but she wasn't letting go of Alyssa.
"War is brewing, you are aware of that." he pointed, attempting to dominate the conversation. Saera rolls her eyes - he wasn't smart. "Brewing because?" she interrogated, prepared to bold towards her father's chambers and accuse his hand of treason. "Aegon is the rightful heir to the iron throne," Otto began, circling her with confidence.
"Rhaenyra wishes to be Queen - and you are left defenseless." he breathed, stating the plain obvious. "Your sister is heir because of decree, and it can be vanquished - because the Lords of Westeros are not in favor of her. Which leaves you where, my lady?" he proposed.
"Are you suggesting that I help you supplant my sister as heir?" she insinuated, but he shakes his head with a delicate chuckle.
"I'm merely suggesting a path to safety. We must engage Princess Alyssa to Prince Aemond, it is the only way for peace."
—
The fire had grown too high, and Harwin had just recently awoken. Behind him, he could hear his father's screams as he desperately tried to claw his way out of his room. "Father!" he screams as he takes a crowbar and begins prying the metal doors open.
Lord Lyonel bangs his hands upon the wall, "Harwin, leave!" he commanded but his son would not listen. He could not have his father die — the situation at court was a delusional one, they both had to defend their honors and succeed against The Rogue Prince's elusiveness.
"No," he refused as the fire gently stalked towards his foot. "Harwin, as your father. I command you to leave!" Lord Lyonel exclaims as his son continues banging across the door.
Harwin knew that he was powerful — that he was more than capable of saving his loved one. "And as your son, I apologize!" he yells back as he successfully derails the doorknob.
But by this time, the fire had grown too much to bear. He only realized that his flesh was burning, when the ringing in his ear halted.
He screamed loudly — and was brought back to rumors of Harren's Curse. He falls onto the ground, as his father's screams begin to drown out of his ears.
He desperately tries to extinguish the flame in his forearm. Only to fail, and for the fire to reach his entire body.
He yells in agony, as his flesh falls apart.
And with every last breath of Harwin Strong, he was cruelly reminded that those who try to fight fire are only destined to burn.
—
"I leave Princess Alyssa to you, Queen Alicent - may you guide her in my absence." Saera smiles, placing hand on top of her daughter's head. They were needed in Harrenhal - to guide her eldest son in his new position as lord of his house. "Are you sure that you don't want to leave with your mother?" Queen Alicent asks the little girl, and she nods. Alyssa didn't want to step foot inside of Harrenhal - in fear that her father's ghosts would come to haunt them.
Saera gently wiped the tears away from her daughter's eyes. "We will return - for your nameday and all your cousin's namedays. You can visit us, if you wish." she explained, wrapping her arms around Alyssa in a deep embrace.
"I love you, my dear." she pressed a kiss on her forehead.
