Alyssa giggled and shrieked as her father made his dragon do complex twirls and dives through the sky. She had never been as happy as she was in that moment, strapped to her father's chest and pressed between him and Baelon who himself was strapped to the dragon's back. Her father was smiling and cheering just as much as her, though Baelon was strangely silent.
"Are you not enjoying yourself, my son?" It seemed that father had noticed Baelon's mood as well.
"I am father," her brother replied though his voice shook, "But this is the first time I've ever rode a dragon," That was true but Alyssa had no clue what it had to do with how quiet he was being. After all, it was her first time too.
"Your second time," father corrected him and Alyssa found herself wondering when he had rode a dragon before and why he hadn't decided to tell her, "There is no reason to be afraid, Baelon. Nobody can harm you while Caraxes and your father are near." Alyssa agreed with him on that.
Caraxes was massive, big enough to carry all three of them and her and Baelon's clothes and looked very ferocious. She couldn't imagine anything challenging him, especially not with her father around.
Despite how big and ferocious Caraxes was her father said that even he could not fly straight to the capital from their home, because of that they were forced to land at a scary castle for the night where Alyssa saw more dragons than she ever dreamed of.
Father hadn't let her watch them for long before putting the siblings to sleep however. Even though she was angry with him for taking her away he was right that she was tired, she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
The castle was as scary during the day as it was at night but it wasn't all bad, the servants there called her 'Princess' and her brother 'Prince' while serving them a massive breakfast and dressing them in beautiful black clothes with red dragons styled on the front and back. Back home those things only happened when important people like Jeyne were visiting.
Alyssa had pouted when the servants went about brushing her and Baelon's hair, she had always been jealous that he had been gifted with their father's pretty silver while Alyssa was cursed with the boring black hair of their mother.
Though she supposed Baelon had to get something of their father's. After all, everyone always said that Alyssa had her father's eyes, mouth, nose, and brow. The inverse was true for her brother, his face resembled their mothers greatly and his eyes had been lightened by her pale blue.
Despite how comfortable it was they weren't allowed to stay in the castle long as father strapped them back on to Caraxes and started the second half of the flight to the capitol.
Now that Alyssa had stopped yelling and laughing her father had too went silent for a while, Alyssa was old enough to realise it was one of those silences that Baelon said shouldn't be broken and so she kept quiet.
"With father dying Vhagar will be riderless," Father said eventually and joy flooded Alyssa's chest, she was smart enough to understand where this was going, "Once the two of you turn seven or eight I would take you to try your hand at taming her."
Alyssa didn't try to stop herself from pouting, "Why can't we tame her now?" She knew she sounded spoiled but Baelon and her father often listened to her more when she did.
Father didn't answer for a moment and she feared she had said something wrong, she looked down at her brother but his eyes were focused on father's face.
"You're too young," he said finally, "I had wished to claim a dragon when I was your age as well but it is too dangerous," Alyssa felt tears start to burn at her eyes but she tried to hide them, Baelon would be disappointed if she cried over something small like this.
"Do not cry, my little dragon," Her father said sweetly, wiping away at her wet eyes, "I won't make you wait too long."
Something dark crossed over her father's face and when he spoke next it was with what Baelon called his 'Rogue' voice, "Someone might steal her if I do."
Alyssa didn't know what he was talking about but she knew better than to talk to him when he got like this.
She was quiet the rest of the ride.
-
When the three of them arrived in the capital, father hadn't allowed them to eat, change, or even brush their hair before taking them straight to their grandfather.
Alyssa had been surprised to hear that she had another grandfather and was confused as to why anyone would want to make such a long trip just to have others meet him.
She didn't dislike her grandfather back home but he wasn't as nice as her father and he didn't listen to and teach her like brother did. He wasn't mean but he had never picked her up or wrapped her in a hug. Part of that was due to how often he spent in his bed, Alyssa figured.
Though, this grandfather had allowed for Alyssa and Baelon to ride upon Caraxes and look at many other dragons so she was fairly certain he was better than her old one.
The city that they eventually arrived in was the largest she had ever seen, it was at least two times the size of Gulltown!
Father landed Caraxes in a courtyard and ordered food and water be brought for the tired dragon before ushering them away.
Eventually he had decided that Baelon and her weren't moving fast enough and picked them up, carrying them to a room with a man in white armor standing in front of the door. The man didn't try to stop them and simply let her father through.
Once the door had been opened her father seemed to realise that he had spent that last day and half riding on a dragon and tried to straighten out his hair and clothes before walking in.
Inside the room a man who looked much like her father laid in a bed covered in blankets, though Alyssa noticed that he had the same hair and eyes as Baelon. The man had wrinkles around his eyes and mouth though they did little to detract from his good looks.
Beside his bed a man bigger than her father, though not taller than him, stood. He had pale violet eyes though not as light as her brother's or the man on the bed's. His hair was more golden than silver and was cut shorter than her father's and on his face he had a mustache where her father was clean shaven.
Alyssa didn't think the man standing beside the bed was anywhere close to as nice looking as her father or the man on the bed. Beside her Baelon grabbed her hand and squeezed.
The man beside the bed said something quickly to father that Alyssa didn't quite catch and father responded in Valyrian, saying something she didn't understand.
The man on the bed pushed himself up and a smile spread across his face at the sight of the three of them.
"You probably don't remember your grandfather, children," the man beside the bed said and he was right that Alyssa didn't but Baelon probably did. He never seemed to forget anything, "It's okay, you can come and speak with him," He smiled gently at Alyssa and she began to pull Baelon towards their grandfather, he always had been the more nervous of the two when around new people.
Once they reached the bed the man extended his hand and Alyssa took it hesitantly, "I am your grandfather," he said slowly and softly as though speaking to a scared cat, "My name is Baelon. What about you?" Alyssa was put off to find out this strange and weak man had the same name as her brother but she didn't forget her manners.
"I'm Alyssa Targaryen and this is my brother Baelon Targaryen," she replied in as clear a voice as she could just as mother had taught her, "Why are you named after my brother?" She was allowed to ask questions now that she had been properly introduced.
All the men in the room laughed and Alyssa's cheeks grew red as she realized that they were laughing at her. She was just about to yell at the strange men when her brother grabbed her shoulder and spoke, "It's the other way around, Alyssa. I'm named after him."
She felt slightly embarrassed for asking a question that seemed dumb to the men but when Baelon explained things to her he didn't make her feel stupid the way the septons and maesters sometimes did. He simply smiled at her and responded as though what she said was perfectly reasonable.
Baelon had known more about everything than Alyssa did since she could remember and always did what he could to teach her. In return Alyssa brought him into games with the other children when he was too scared to do anything but sit inside and read.
The man on the bed, Baelon supposedly, broke off her thoughts as he reached down and lifted her onto the bed, still chuckling, "Not only is your brother named after me but you are named after my wife."
Alyssa rolled her eyes at that. Of course she knew that she was named after her grandmother, her father told her stories of her whenever he visited.
"This one has some spirit to her," her grandfather laughed again before placing her back on the ground, "I'm glad to have met you, Alyssa Targaryen," he said and for a moment looked much like father did when he spoke of grandmother.
Alyssa wondered what she could gave possibly done to make her father and now her grandfather scared and emotional to even say her name.
Father reached down and lifted Baelon onto the bed next to Baelon. Alyssa giggled at the thought.
She stopped paying attention to what they were saying and instead walked out onto the balcony to watch over the city. Shortly after she was joined by her brother though he paid more attention to what the men were saying than the game she tried to drag him into.
Viserys and Daemon were speaking low in fast Valyrian that Alyssa wouldn't have understood fully even if she tried to pay attention but Baelon seemed engrossed in whatever they were saying so she tried to understand as well.
They were saying something about cousins, claims, and dragons though for every word Alyssa understood there were 10 she didn't.
Baelon often got like this when the adults forgot that the two of them were there. Personally Alyssa always thought those conversations boring and she knew if anything important was said in them then Baelor would end up telling her anyway, so she looked back down across the city.
"Enough!" The man on the bed interrupted her daydreams of dragons, "I won't spend my last days hearing my sons plot against my uncles and nieces. Daemon, take your children and eat with Viserys, Aemma, and Rhaenyra. I'm sure they are hungry after their trip and wish to see someone their own age," Alyssa was surprised, nobody ever spoke that way to father besides mother.
"Understood, father. I will bring the children around again tomorrow," Alyssa was even more surprised by her father's reaction, he always fought mother when she spoke like that.
"I will look forward to it," Baelon the Boring replied with a warm smile towards Alyssa and her brother.
Despite not knowing him for very long Alyssa found herself thinking that she liked this grandfather more than her other one and was actually quite excited to see him in the morning and play with him once he got better from whatever was keeping him in bed.
-
A/N
The original schedule for this book was supposed to be every Sunday and Wednesday but I've decided that's a dumb schedule so from now on you can expect a chapter every Monday and Friday.
For those of you who have only watched the House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones TV show this story takes place 2 years before the first episode, less than a year before the council shown at the start.
I'm using book ages and descriptions here though, if things are left ambiguous in the books (which they often are for anyone not a main character) I might look to the show for reference. That means that rather than being a seemingly teenage girl in the first episode of the show Rhaenyra would be only 8 if those events take place here.
It's mentioned in passing here but in the Vale Baelon and Alyssa are referred to as Lord and Lady Royce by most servants, though prince and princess by their fellow lords. So yes, Baelon is heir to Runestone though with how quickly the Targaryens are dying they are more important as prince and princess, and thus possible heirs to the kingdom.
Now I'm going to go and try watching the next three episodes of the HotD, I've always been more of a book, wiki, and fanfic than TV show kinda guy and I find TV shows hard to keep interested in but I thought the first episode was amazing so I hope the rest continues that way.
Next chapter will be on its way Friday.