Helaena Targaryen went into labor some time after that.
The first shout of pain woke up the guards and her maidservants, the second woke up her mother and her brother (though not her husband, he was not to be disturbed as another woman had lain beside him), the third had everyone in a fervor - this was happening now.
Her cries echoed through the silent halls. Loud and unrelenting.
Something was wrong.
Queen Alicent Hightower was scared. Rather, she was terrified, practically shaking. Her daughter could not die, her firstborn's heir could not die.
The memory of the queen who came before her - Rhaenyra's mother, Queen Aemma Arryn - flashed in her mind. Bright, blaring flashes of alarm. The queen had died, had died after her husband had chosen to save their baby - his would-be heir - and then the boy had died anyway.
Helaena could not die.
She had been pushed to the edges of the room by the maesters and the maidservants bustling around her daughter's quarters. She glimpsed her daughter writhing in pain on the bed.
Helaena could not die.
Whispers circled the castle as the maidservants pulled the child from her.
A girl.
A baby girl who did not laugh or cry. She did not make a sound.
But Helaena was still crying, still screaming.
Another child. Twins.
The princess' quarters were in chaos. They needed to save the child, tiny and still silent in the arms of the maesters. Save the princess, losing too much blood on the bed. Save the other baby.
The fear in the room was tangible, a living, breathing thing. And the Stranger lingered nearby. Death was there beside all of them.
Then a sigh of relief.
Not only did the second babe cry and scream almost as loud as its mother, but it was a boy. A healthy boy.
A boy. An heir.
Aegon Targaryen now had a true-born heir to the Iron Throne.
YOU ARE READING
Children of Dragons | Aemond Targaryen
Fanfiction"It had been a long time since Aemond had known real fear. So long that he couldn't even recognize the feeling when he came upon the man drowning his betrothed in the bath. That fear was replaced with anger. Rage. He had known rage. He knew it well...
