Valera Targaryen: The Storm Bringer

045

109AC

Kings Landing

"What do you mean the boy is missing??" Queen Alicent spoke sharply, careful to keep her voice down as to not be overheard.

"All that I know is that the woman caring for him was found with a sword through her but there was no child." Larys Strong pressed his lips into a fine line, knowing that the information he has is not enough to satisfy the Queen.

"Find him, or you will end up worse than that Bravosi whore," the woman threatened, her cheeks flaring to be just as red as the curls that spiraled down her back.

109 AC

The Stepstones

Princess Valera Targaryen and Prince Daemon Targaryen dressed completely in their house colors two nigh past their victory against the Triarchy. The Princess wore her hair similar to how her ancestor, The Warrior Queen, Visenya, would. The Prince wore his now short, silver hair slicked back, as his once long locks had been cut just above his earlobe due to the matting of blood after the final battle. Both Valera and Daemon were crowned that day, their steel crowns placed upon them by Lord Corlys Velaryon. The simple crowns were made from the melted swords of their enemies and embellished with the precious stones that were looted from the dead Triarchy soldiers. Upon the placing of the crowns, Daemon and Valera were named King and Queen of the Stepstones and Narrow Sea.

A feast was held after the coronation and it lasted through the night and into the early hours of the morning. The men drank, ate and danced until they could no longer keep their eyes open, many of them falling asleep in the dinner tent, cups still in hand.

The Targaryen Prince and Princess lived on the largest of the multiple islands for a short yet tortuous three months until Valera received a raven from her father. King Viserys invited his daughter and brother to move back home, wishing to have them celebrate the birth of his new daughter, Princess Helaena. Viserys also offered Daemon his position back as Commander of the City Watch and Valera a seat on his council. Prince Daemon was uninterested, content to stay in their meager Kingdom, but Princess Valera was persistent and eventually able to wear out her husbands stubbornness.

The three months that Valera spent in her measly kingdom as The Queen of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea changed her more than the past four years had. The day Corlys Velaryon laid her steel crown upon her silver hair and named her a Queen, Valera had an awakening of sorts. She realized that every bad thing that has ever happened to her, could have been avoided, if she had truly accepted that she was going to be Queen and had used that power to her advantage. For years, Valera ran from her responsibilities, subconsciously or purposely and she realized now, how weak this made her out to be. In fairness to herself, she blamed her weakness on her grief. It was her grief that hid away from the world, first from her family, the court and the smallfolk, followed by allowing herself to be shipped away to Dorne like a broodmare. Her grief allowed her father to marry a Hightower. Her grief left her weak and unable to protect her son. "I am going to be Queen, heads should have been rolling for the loss of my son," she told herself. Finally, her grief sent her running from Kings Landing after the loss of her son, allowing the search for him to cease while also allowing Daemon to keep her in The Steps where he treated her as if she was not, in fact,  The Heir to the Iron Throne and Princess of Dragonstone.

Never again would the Princess allow herself to be so weak and when she received the call to come home from her father, she knew it was time for her to take her power back and remind everyone exactly who she was. 

She was Valera Targaryen.

The Princess sent by Gods.

The Storm Bringer.

The Heir to the Iron Throne.

The Princess of Dragonstone.

She wished for someone to disrespect her again just so she could show them who she was, just as she did with Prince Daemon.

Less than a sennight prior to Princess Valera and Prince Daemon departing from the Stepstones, the two dragons had gotten into a fiery exchange. Prince Daemon struck Valera during a fight over the topic of if they were to depart the islands. In the heat of the moment, Princess Valera made a comment along the lines of, "If you do not return with me, I suppose I could just have Qoren come with me instead." 

Unsurprisingly, Prince Daemon disliked such a comment, raising his hand to his wife and leaving a red hand print sprawled across the side of her face. In response, Valera looked at Daemon as if she was almost amused and calmly walked out of the tent, returning in only a few minutes with some of the men who were her guards on the island, one of them being Ser Laenor. Prince Daemon was caught by surprise when Ser Laenor and one of the other men grabbed him from behind as he drank, another man tying his legs together. The men drug him into the main section of their tent where Valera stood, her Valyrian steel dagger in hand and a sick smile on her face as a bruise began to form where her husband had dared to hit her. 

It was the first time Prince Daemon actually seemed afraid, Ser Laenor was said to have recalled when retelling the story to his father.

The Princess walked up to her husband, holding the dagger up to his throat. The tip of the blade dug into the thin skin of his neck, causing blood to slowly drip down. "If you e v e r  hit me again, I swear to you, husband, I will make you wish you had died on that battle field." Valera Targaryen told her uncle. "I am not  some common whore you get to treat whichever way you want. I am your wife, more importantly, I am your Princess and the heir to the throne and someday I will be your Queen.  You will respect me, you will  treat me as I am supposed  to be treated." The Princess paused for dramatic effect, her smile becoming devilish in nature, "because if you don't, I will lock you in the dragon pit where wild beasts with no training belong." 

authors note

a little short chapter but i hope you enjoyed it, I wanted to show off the new side of Valera that will be emerging :)