A/N: Another random one-shot... AHHH. The ideas are bursting out of my head as I wait (not-so-patiently) for HotD S2 to come out. The following 2 chapters (all in this same page) are part of an untitled short story with a House of the Dragon OC with... interesting leanings. She is fucked up. Think of Cersei as a child, way too curious, way too rude. But the idea refused to go away so I wrote it. You can expect the usual Game of Thrones themes to be referenced or written explicitly, including but not limited to: abuse, miscarriage, traumatic childbirth, underage marriage, violence, incest, etc. I am basing this off of Season 1 of House of the Dragon. For reference, the OC's face claim is Imogen Poots. If you look up gifs from her role as Arianne in Centurion, you'll see the image I have of her.
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CHAPTER ONE
The Red Keep, King's Landing, 126 AC
She was home.
"Stay close, child," said the man beckoning her after him. "Come, come, this way."
"Where's the Queen?" she asked. "I want to see the Queen. I want to see the Iron Throne."
"There will be time for that later, Erystia. Later."
Huffing in annoyance, she continued to follow him.
She wasn't supposed to be here. Her place was at Casterly Rock with her cousins, with her Uncle Jason. She was meant to grow as a lady there, and she'd eventually be wed to a good husband and as all other women, expected to further his line.
Erystia had different plans.
She was very young when she became aware that her cousins were idiots. Cerelle, Tyshara, Theina, Joanne, and little Ceira had no ambitions and they weren't particularly beautiful, either. Loreon was a fool and would only inherit Casterly Rock because he was a man.
She was smart. She knew when others lied, she knew how to get people to do what she wanted them to. She wove her words delicately and paired her commands with her delicate face, the second gift her mother gave her— the first was her life.
Her mother died in the childbed, living long enough to name her. Erystia was raised largely by her aunt, Johanna Westerling, and rarely saw her father, as he served King Viserys with the title of Master of Ships.
She grew tired of Casterly Rock. She wanted to be more than a lady, only daughter of a second son. She wanted everything she could get her hands on, everything she felt she deserved.
She didn't want to be some other lady, she wanted to be a queen.
The idea got in her head after she was old enough to understand that Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen would be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms one day. Being Queen sounded fun, it sounded important. She had the charm, the beauty, the grace.
She knew she wasn't born a Targaryen and wouldn't sit the throne. A Queen was a Queen either way, in her mind. There was a path that she could take that (if she was correctly interpreting her father's words to his brother) would land her there much more easily than it would Rhaenyra.
She could marry Prince Aegon.
She'd never met him in her whole life. She'd only heard of him, and there wasn't much anyone wanted to allow her to hear. She'd been told she could learn when she was 'older,' yet she was already a woman flowered who knew exactly how children were made and still no one would tell her anything.
They refused to refine her understanding. She had only a few points: men liked it, men would do anything for it, and men could be made to do things with it.
Simple enough. Yet not sufficient to know what exactly the Prince got up to when the day grew late.
Her father, tired of her constant questioning and demands to be taken to King's Landing, relented and brought her there with the purpose of keeping Princess Helaena company. He'd speak to the King and Queen about a potential marriage to Aegon once they were older; three-and-ten was too young an age for them to wed.
"Here," said her father, arriving at their quarters. "This will be your room, right beside mine. You'll spend your days with the Princess and keep her company whenever she requests it."
"And what about the Prince?" asked Erystia. "When will I see the Prince?"
"I don't know yet, child. We'll ask the Queen eventually. She's a very busy woman. Stay here for now, your new septa will come and see you shortly."
Whoever the septa was, she took too long to arrive. Erystia was left unattended, which only encouraged her to start examining the room. She examined her new dresses and tried every single one of them on, stopping when she reached a dress that was much more elegant than what she usually wore.
It cut flat across her chest, leaving her shoulders exposed. There was the smallest of tears at the front, so small she only noticed it because she felt a bump in the fabric. She imagined the dress folded forward, exposing more of her collarbones and a bit of her chest, just like other ladies.
Of course, the septa walked in right as Erystia forced the threads apart, so far she nearly flashed her entire chest to the stunned old woman.
"My lady!" said the woman, shocked. The room was a mess with dresses tossed everywhere, and the dress looked far too womanly for a girl of three-and-ten. "Remove that at once!"
Erystia didn't understand what was so bad about it. The septa kept snapping at her that what she did was wrong, that it was unfit for her age. Erystia didn't see why. She asked, the septa didn't answer. She tried to pry about Prince Aegon's nighttime activities, she received only judgmental looks. When wondering aloud why it was that men responded to sex the way they did, the septa nearly struck her hands in horror.
You must pray, little girl, your thoughts are unholy, they are not of the gods. Pray to the Maiden to forgive you. Pray to the Crone to give you wisdom. Pray to the Mother for mercy.
She didn't know why she had to do any of it. She just wanted to know.
Her father was told of her 'unseemly' behavior before suppertime. Tyland was exhausted from the day's work and was not in the mood to deal with it. When Erystia demanded to know more, he had a squire bring books and told her she would stay in her room and read instead of meeting the young Princes and the Princess.
Erystia didn't mind. And Tyland didn't check what books he was allowing her to read.
Everyone was stupid. Everyone who didn't read, everyone who didn't bother to ask questions. The septa was stupid for not answering them. The squire was stupid for not bringing more books.
All she wanted was to know. She wanted to understand why, after she first flowered, she began to think of things that didn't make sense. Why she saw men and felt like she wanted them in some way. Why she hungered for a crown in ways others didn't. Her cousins were content with who they were, why not her?
(Her cousins were stupid for not being ambitious. But her cousins had a mother and she did not. Did that matter? Did it mean anything?)
Princess Helaena could not answer her questions. She was even stranger than Cerella and Tyshara, but not as stupid. Helaena seemed to find other things interesting. Bugs, for example. She questioned why some creatures had more legs than others, she questioned why they had such unique structures. Erystia couldn't find out why men liked women and why some women liked women from Helaena. She couldn't ask Helaena what any of it felt like or why a whore was both a bad thing and a good thing.
No one was smart enough to tell her. That was plain and simple.
Princess Rhaenyra was too busy. Queen Alicent was too busy. Stupid Septa Marlow punished her and didn't let her go anywhere if it wasn't with Helaena. And Helaena only went to the Dragonpit when no one else was there, which meant Erystia didn't see Aegon, didn't get to ask Aegon anything about what he did that made everyone dislike him.
(Maybe he was like her. Maybe he was too curious. Maybe this was something people hated.)
There weren't many other people to answer her questions. The maesters had no time for little girls. Prince Aemond, Prince Jacaerys, and Prince Lucerys were too small to know anything of substance. Her handmaiden, Myra, resembled one of those thin stick-like creatures Helaena liked to place on her palm, and she was too meek to respond when Erystia asked far simpler questions. She would be of no help.
The Queen liked her. Erystia was frustrated constantly but Alicent watched how she interacted with Helaena. She feigned interest, at least, envying the fact that Helaena knew so much about the things she liked, while Erystia knew nothing about the activities she wished to understand.
"What is it like to be Queen?" asked Erystia once Helaena grew bored of telling her about a strange bug with sixty rings on its body. How she could see them all, she didn't know. They were so small.
"It's quite a demanding position," said Alicent, tilting her head. "I am a mother to my children and to all the people of Westeros at the same time. I am a counselor to the King, I am meant to ensure justice and that the truth always prevails."
"Do you like it?"
"It is an honorable position."
Erystia hugged her knees, resting her chin against them and staring at Helaena, who flinched when a servant tried to fix her sleeve. "I always know when people are lying."
"Do you?"
"Yes. You lied just now. You don't like it because it is honorable. Something else."
I like the power, I like that I am better than everyone else. And I hate it because I did not want it, not at first.
Alicent was mildly amused. "I like being revered."
"As should every Queen." She closed her eyes. "I want to be a Queen. I am smart and pretty. Not like my cousins."
She hummed curiously, "And how do you intend to accomplish this?"
It didn't matter to Erystia that her father said they'd discuss this with the Queen another time. "I want to marry Aegon."
"You wish to marry... Aegon?"
"He will be King. I can be Queen."
"You haven't met Aegon."
"Because the septa hates me, Your Grace."
"Does she?"
"She doesn't like my questions. I have too many. Bad questions, she says. I only want to know. When can I meet Prince Aegon?"
Alicent thought about it for a moment. "The Princes will be training tomorrow in the yard. You may watch alongside the King and the Hand, if you would like."
She smiled. "Yes, I would like that."
She was an odd girl, that was certain. Alicent couldn't help but admire her drive. She knew what she wanted and she knew how to get it.
Erystia was given permission to stand between Lord Lyonel Strong and her father while the Princes trained with Ser Criston Cole and Ser Harwin Strong. Princess Rhaenyra would have joined them, but she was resting after having just given birth. Erystia heard a servant say the babe 'proved a point.' She asked what it meant, but no one would tell her.
Aegon was the tallest of them. Expected, given his age. He was thin with a serious expression, hair long and wavy. He wasn't what she expected. He looked younger than her, though he'd been born a few months before.
Not impressive.
"Perhaps you'd be happier inside with Princess Helaena," said her father, watching as she leaned onto the balcony boredly, not amused with the skills being shown below.
"No," she said, forcing herself to stand back up. "I want to watch."
"Are you interested in swords, Lady Erystia?" asked the King kindly.
She scrunched up her nose and shrugged. She was more interested in the men who wielded them. Ser Criston and Ser Harwin was what she started to look at, not the young Princes. "They're not very good, are they?"
"Erystia," warned Tyland uncomfortably.
King Viserys laughed heartily. "They will learn. Ah, look, Ser Criston has challenged my sons."
She hummed as Aegon and Aemond began trying to knock the knight aside, abandoning their straw men. They weren't doing any better. Erystia stifled a yawn into her hand, growing interested when Ser Criston paired Aegon with Jacaerys. The size difference was very noticeable, but it seemed Aegon couldn't win as easily as one might expect. In fact, the only way he seemed to make a good hit was if he resorted to foul play.
Lord Strong was growing tense beside her, and she wasn't sure why. Maybe he didn't like that such a large boy was being paired with a much smaller one. She didn't think it fair, but nothing here impressed her, anyway. The future King was a bore.
At last, Aegon kicked Jacaerys in the chest, shoving him to the floor. Erystia pressed her cheeks together with her hands, narrowing her eyes as Aegon refused to let Jacaerys get up. Ser Criston was egging him on, something Ser Harwin soon stopped, pulling Aegon away.
"Aegon!" called the King, not happy to see Aegon beating into his nephew.
Then, out of nowhere, Ser Harwin began to beat into Ser Criston, requiring four men to hold him back. Erystia sat up, watching with great interest. The scene filled her with excitement, a strange feeling coiling and uncoiling in her belly, like the anticipatory jump when she was riding a horse and it leapt over an obstacle. She liked the sight of blood on Ser Criston's face, she liked how Ser Harwin thrashed and yelled.
It was certainly more entertaining than Aegon.
The feeling didn't go away for the rest of the night. She felt its warmth for several hours as she failed to think of other things. She wished someone would explain it to her, but they refused.
"You're a terrible swordsman," she said, catching him in the hall the following day before he could reach the Dragonpit.
"Excuse me?" he said, bewildered.
She stopped in her tracks, hands tucked behind her back. "You are a terrible swordsman. Kings should not be so bad. You will wield Blackfyre one day. Surely you can do better than what I saw yesterday?"
He scoffed. "Who are you?"
She curtsied. "Lady Erystia Lannister. Daughter of Ser Tyland, Master of Ships."
"And why do I care what you think?"
"You do," said Erystia pointedly.
"What?"
She shrugged, pursing her lips. "No sense in asking me why you would care when you already do care. You care about others' opinions. And others have many things to say about you. I want to know what those things are."
"You insult me and you expect me to trade you knowledge for that?"
She blinked expectantly. "Yes."
"Well, I won't. Go away."
Erystia followed after him, persistent. "I want to know why everyone speaks of you in whispers." She cut him off, leaning forward and batting her eyelashes at him (that had always worked before). "I want to know what kind of boy you are, Prince Aegon."
She certainly wasn't giving up. He liked it, secretly. All the other girls in the castle avoided him at every turn, hid from his stares. This one was putting herself on a silver platter for him. She wanted his attention and she was worthy of it. She was prettier than any other girl he'd ever seen, with bright blue eyes, long golden curls, a frown etched by pink lips, so pink it looked like she'd been suckling on berries for the past hour.
He thought of sinful things. Sinful things he could do to her, with her. The sort of sinful thoughts that were always in his head, that refused to go away. His mother said he was dirty, his septon said he needed to be purified. But he'd always been that way, he didn't know any better. And no one bothered to explain why he should behave any differently.
He grabbed her face and kissed her full on the lips. She pushed him away, stunned. "That does not answer my question," she said, offended.
"And what if it would?" asked Aegon. "What if I showed you instead of telling you?"
She hadn't considered this method of instruction. "And what would you show me?"
He pushed her behind a pillar, grabbing her waist and pressing his fingers into her belly. She felt that funny feeling again, and she understood it even less now than she had before. He kissed her once again, hands sliding down from her waist to hold her bottom over the dress. Erystia wasn't sure why she liked it, what this pleasure meant. But she let it continue because it made the burning in her belly go away. He kissed her hard, very hard, and he held her even tighter. She could hear him making noises and a few of her own emerged. Noises she didn't know a person could make.
And then he pulled away, wiping her mouth with his sleeve. "That's what I do," he said, not about to give her a full taste in the middle of the day. He'd be found out. "To girls. To pretty girls. Anyone I want, because I am a Prince."
"Well, you're a stupid Prince," said Erystia. "Other girls aren't as pretty as me. Especially not the ones in this castle."
"You're right, you are prettier than them."
"I want to marry you."
"Why?"
"I want to be Queen."
"I don't even want to be King."
"But you will be."
"That's what everyone says, but I don't think it's true."
"Then you're even stupider than I thought you were. I only want to marry the man who will be King. If that's not you, I can have my questions answered elsewhere."
He didn't know why this upset him. Whores liked him because he was a Prince, because he was special. Other girls feared him for that same reason.
This one didn't like him because he was only a Prince. She didn't fear him and she didn't even remotely appreciate the fact he'd given her attention. It was as if she wanted him to feel he benefited from this, he was the one lucky enough to get even a single look from her direction.
He both hated it and enjoyed it.
"Come to my chambers this evening," said Aegon. "I will answer more of your questions."
"No," she said. "Not unless you'll be King."
"I can give you more of what you just enjoyed. I can show you what else I do to pretty girls. How and where I touch them under their dresses. What it feels like."
Erystia didn't budge. "You kiss like a toad." Aegon scoffed as she turned on her heel, walking away without remorse.
He wondered how much more he could get from a girl like her if he were King.
She avoided him like the plague. If he came into the room where she and Helaena were looking at bugs, she would walk out and say she had to see her septa. If he invited her for supper in his chambers, she wouldn't come.
Even when Rhaenyra left King's Landing in favor of Dragonstone and the castle became more boring, Erystia still found something else to do that didn't involve Aegon. He had to resort to looking for her, wondering where it was that she hid all day if she wasn't in her room or with Helaena.
He noticed he hadn't stood by the window thinking of whores in several weeks. He noticed he hadn't gone to the Street of Silk in about as much time. Even drinking felt boring.
He wanted to see when she'd let him take it further, when she'd start paying attention to him. How was it possible she wasn't following him around and asking for more kisses? How in the hell had the gods made it so that he sought her company, her mouth, her body in his hands?
He wondered how much she'd be alright with if he wore a crown. If he sat the throne and carried a sword he could wield on his hip.
"Your father and I have spoken," said Alicent to Aegon, "about betrothing you to your sister."
He scoffed. "No. She's an idiot."
"Aegon, she is your sister!"
"And an idiot. No. Find someone else. A King should have a better bride than that."
It was the first time Alicent had ever heard him call himself a King. "And who would you have in mind?"
He blew air out of his mouth, not sure if he should even voice it. What would his mother think? Alicent had an idea who he meant, not because she knew of the kiss– gods forbid she find out about that– but because Lord Larys and Ser Criston had both caught Aegon following her around and asking Helaena when she'd call Erystia to speak with her. She assumed he found her beautiful.
She knew Erystia wanted to be Queen, but she was sure the girl had given up since she no longer spoke of it. She asked less questions, she lingered in the library whenever she had a chance, answering things on her own.
(Erystia didn't think it would have worked. Making Aegon want her had been easy, too easy. Look interested, let him have fun, then see if he wanted more fun. And he did. But she wouldn't give it. She wanted to see how far she could go before he grew upset, before he begged her to pay him attention.
This was fun. Toying with men was fun. Looking at men gave her a strange tightness in her belly but playing with their emotions gave her that funny feeling everywhere, and it made her feel like she was floating.)
"Lady Erystia," decided Aegon. "She is my age. Her father is on the Small Council. The Lannisters are wealthy."
"This is what you want?" asked Alicent.
"I want to marry her," said Aegon. "She is fit to be my Queen."
Alicent figured there was no harm in this if it filled Aegon with even an ounce more of ambition. "I will speak to your father and hers in the morrow."
He didn't see Erystia after that until they'd arrived in Driftmark for Lady Laena's funeral. She wore a black dress, hair pinned up and letting him see most of her neck and shoulders. She stood beside her father, the man filled with pride because the King and Queen had approached him about the marriage. He didn't know how much his daughter did to secure it, he didn't know that the young Prince had been so torn by the idea of her not paying any attention to him that he sought out a way to make sure she had to.
She was going to be Queen and no one would stop her.
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CHAPTER TWO
Aegon was losing his mind.
Even with the announcement of their betrothal, Erystia could hardly glance at him. He saw her giggling and flirting with one of Lord Jason Wylde's sons.
"She doesn't like you very much," observed Aemond.
"Shut up," said Aegon hotly, accepting another cup of wine. "You, focus on your own betrothed."
"I do, because it is my duty," said Aemond, watching Helaena try to catch a spider. "You're not doing yours standing here and drinking. You complain but you don't talk to her."
"She refuses to speak to me."
"So tell her something she can't help but talk about."
He knew just the thing that might anger her enough to make a comment.
"My father's going to give me Blackfyre," said Aegon smugly, appearing behind her as she finished expressing her condolences to Princess Rhaenys. "I'll be able to protect you when we're married."
Erystia scoffed immediately. "You'll fall on your sword and cut your own cock off."
"Seems you've learned a new word," he said, following her as she tried to walk away.
"I know what a cock is," she said, offended that he thought her that dumb. "I've always known."
He began to walk faster as she was determined to avoid him, entering the castle and slipping through the halls. "Yet... you didn't know what I got up to at night. What I use my cock for."
"I simply figured there was more to it if everyone was so insistent on remaining silent. If you only fuck at night, that is boring."
"That is boring to you?"
"All men do it. You are not special. Why then, does anyone care?"
"You cared."
"And then I didn't because you are a bore."
"I am not a bore. I'm going to be King."
She stopped, raising a brow. "You? King? You told me you didn't want to be King."
"I changed my mind. I want to be King, and you will be my Queen. I will answer all your questions and you will give me many sons for it."
Erystia leaned back against the wall. "What if I don't want to give you sons?"
"You will. It's your duty."
"What if I can't give you sons?"
"It's unlikely you are barren."
"What if you can't give me sons?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to give you sons–?"
She grabbed at his cock over his trousers, squeezing so hard, he yelped. "Maybe it's too small," said Erystia, staring into his eyes. "Maybe you don't know how to use it as well as you think you do. Good night, Prince Aegon."
Her words sent him into a different spiral this time. First, he wanted to be King because he wanted a chance to kiss and touch her again. He'd strayed away from whores and his cups to tend to this matter, and in return he got a betrothal that would guarantee she had to look at him whenever he desired her to do so.
Now, she accepted this, but she didn't seem to believe he'd satisfy her, that he'd perform his duties. It was insulting. Again, she expected him to want her, she expected him to make it his life's work to make her happy.
And like a fool he would do it because she'd yet to give him what he wanted and he needed it now.
The cups stayed empty, but his trips to the Street of Silk became more frequent. Eventually he dragged Aemond along, a way to cheer him up since he'd lost his eye in the incident he didn't witness because he'd been so busy trying to figure out where Erystia was and why she kept pushing him away.
He'd never cared to ask the whores what did or didn't feel good, but he started questioning it, and he let them guide him. He found he enjoyed the fuck more when they were liking it.
He was five-and-ten when they were married. In front of all the gods and men who witnessed their union, Erystia grabbed his face and kissed him the way he had been wanting her to for years. She pulled away and whispered in his ear that she wanted their bedding to be private, that she wanted no one to bear witness to what they'd do in his bedroom that night. It took everything in him not to cancel the feast altogether to skip ahead.
Whatever she'd read in her books had answered all her questions and then some. The funny feeling in her belly returned, something she'd come to understand meant that she was aroused, that she was curious, that she wanted to be kissed in certain places by certain types of people. She'd explored on her own but it was entirely different now that another being was doing the touching. Aegon had gotten much better, and he knew exactly how he would make sure she'd want him and no one else.
She had the same conditions for him.
It took only about three tries for her to figure out what he liked, how he liked it, and when he liked it. After Maester Orwyle confirmed Erystia was carrying their first child, she demanded he never go to the Street of Silk again. She didn't want him fucking any other women, she didn't want him fathering bastards. Only she was allowed to bear his children. And to hold him to his promise, she did not rest during any of her pregnancies at all.
They happened back-to-back. She wouldn't have it any other way. She planned to give him as many sons as he could so that no one would challenge his succession. First came the twins, Jaehaera and Jaehaerys. A year later their second son, Maelor. Then a third son, Aenar. Three sons, three rightful heirs for Aegon when he became King.
And she had plans for all of them.
She convinced Aegon to sit on the Small Council the moment Viserys was too ill to attend. He needed to prepare to be King, she would not tolerate him sitting around all day drinking and fucking her. She had children to care for, children she adored more than anything because they were destined for greatness. They were all beautiful and they would have the world at their feet because she made it so. She gave them a King for a father and she would hand one of them the Iron Throne.
She told Aegon what to tell the Small Council, how to use their children for the alliances they would need soon. She knew more than enough about the quarrel between Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent, she knew exactly how the Realm would react and what they needed to be prepared for.
Jaehaera was betrothed to the five-year-old Leon Tyrell, securing Highgarden as their allies. Aenar, she betrothed to the newborn daughter of Ser Kermit Tully– grandson of the current Lord Grover and firstborn son to the soon-to-be successor Ser Elmo. Ingrid Tully was expected to be a great beauty like her mother, and would bring them Riverrun.
Jaehaerys and Maelor were harder to place. Their marriages had to be more carefully chosen, and she wasn't sure who the best match would be. The Greens had House Lannister, House Wylde, House Redwyne, House Hightower, and House Strong more than secured. They couldn't expect House Arryn to back them, and they had no way of being sure what the Starks, Baratheons, Martells, or Greyjoys would choose to do.
She had Aegon demand that Aemond's betrothal to Helaena be forgotten. She insisted all three of his siblings should be used for personal gain. Helaena should be wed to Cregan Stark to secure the North. Aemond and Daeron should be betrothed to Prince Qoren Martell and Lord Borros Baratheon's daughters. The Greyjoys, they could find another way to deal with; if she learned of the current lord or his son having a daughter anytime soon, that was who she could promise Jaehaerys and Maelor to.
Erystia was loved by the people, she made sure of it. She made it known when she and her children toured the city, she made sure to stop outside of orphanages to have her little ones give gifts to others their age. She had Aegon cut his hair and dress nicer, she had him join her and promised him long nights of passion if he sang to the people with his children on his knees.
She did everything to paint him as a benevolent King, as a good father, as someone worthy of the common people's support. She knew they would need it, she knew they had to be loved. The more they wanted Aegon, the less chance there was they'd support Rhaenyra, who had abandoned the city years ago, who didn't show the people of King's Landing any attention.
Erystia tried her hardest to shatter the Princess's image. She made offhanded comments to servants about how Princess Rhaenyra had not answered a letter she sent offering to betrothe the Princess's son, Aegon, to her daughter, Jaehaera. No such letter had ever been sent, but many became convinced that Rhaenyra was rude and disrespectful for denying such an honorable ask. She let rumors float around, keeping alive the belief that Rhaenyra's sons were bastards, comparing them to the already well-known fact that Rhaenyra's children by her uncle, Prince Daemon, had Valyrian features while her supposed sons by Ser Laenor Velaryon had no such features.
And most importantly she made sure she would have something left even if Aegon did not succeed.
She assumed Aegon might suffer a terrible fate, either by Rhaenyra's orders or because he was often a fool, despite how hard she worked to mold him into the man she needed him to be to make her Queen.
The next one in line for the crown would be Aemond, and she needed him in her pocket. If he should become the King, he would need to wed quickly, and currently no marriages had been proposed. She intended for him to choose her as his wife if he needed to succeed his brother. She was already known to be capable of producing many children, mostly sons. She was beautiful and clever, she had been a prominent figure in the royal family for years.
Most importantly, she knew that Aemond desired her, even if he refused to admit it. Who wouldn't feel such a way? Erystia had made sure she always looked appealing to any man she needed a favor from.
Lord Larys Strong sometimes told her his findings first because she started walking her children through the gardens barefoot the moment she heard a whisper that suggested he liked such things.
Lord Jasper Wylde was called the 'Ironrod' for reasons outside of his unbending attitudes with law. Whenever Erystia needed to know about the happenings of the city, to determine where next to target Aegon's little performances or her shows of kindness, or simply to figure out what it was the common people needed so she might provide it, all she needed to do was come to the Small Council meeting with a more revealing dress than she usually wore, leaning down to kiss Aegon (who usually sat across from Lord Wylde). If she summoned him to her chambers that day, he came in a hurry. And the entire time he talked, she'd toy with strands of her hair, she'd push her chest up as much as she could.
She wasn't shy about using her powers on anyone, least of all Aemond. He became a different person altogether when he acquired Vhagar. And he was a much better swordsman than his brother. It didn't take much for her to compliment him.
"You ought to teach Aegon a thing or two about swords," said Erystia, finding him as he returned from the Dragonpit after a ride out on Vhagar. She had made a point to pin her hair up, dress once again too-revealing, but serving its purpose perfectly. Aemond's gaze had been on her chest the moment he saw her. "Lately, there is little I can do to convince him to practice. Of course, I do enjoy seeing him with the children. The last thing I want is for them to forget they have a father. Though, that might happen if said father cannot, for the life of him, fight to save his own skin."
"If he were patient, I'd teach him everything," said Aemond, forcing his gaze back up.
"I've always wanted to learn to wield a sword," said Erystia, reaching out to grab the hilt of his. "But I can never quite hold it right. At first, I thought my arms were not strong. But I've increased my strength since I the twins; I had no choice if I wanted to hold them both. Even then, I cannot lift it properly. Will you show me?"
He raised a brow, unsheathing it. "How do you normally do it?"
She demonstrated, purposely sagging her shoulders and holding the sword too far out. "How else–?"
He started to adjust her position, giving her an opening to press herself up against him, letting a small sigh escape her as he held her elbow and shifted it upwards.
"You are excellent at all that you do, Prince Aemond," she said sweetly, leaning back. "I wish your brother were more like you."
He drew away quickly, thinking it was his fault merely because the innocent look in her eyes was so convincing, as if she had no idea what she was causing him to feel. She knew exactly what; it was what she wanted all along. "You have a good husband. He is good because he wants to be... for you."
"He is a good husband," she said. "Though, as of late, not very attentive. You see, he's gotten to drinking again. I tell him he ought to do something productive, but he does not. Since Aenar was born, he won't even..." she sighed, "Why am I telling you this? Forgive me, my Prince, it's been a long day."
Immediately, he started following after her. "Are you worried?"
She shrugged, pretending she didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I shouldn't have said anything. I really only wanted to make conversation and I ended up saying far too much. You inspire trust, my Prince. I cannot help it."
"Aegon doesn't give you what you need?"
"Four children I've given him. Three boys, one girl, the same as your mother gave the King. And I have given them all to Aegon one right after the other. I wish to give him more heirs to strengthen his claim, I wish... to help him. But he isn't interested. He hardly... not enough for me to end up with child. Please, you must help me."
His mind jumped to something he was sure she was not implying (though it is precisely what she was). "Help you?"
"Yes, you must tell me how I might convince him to pay attention to me again. Or... you must tell me some other way I can ensure I give him another heir."
It was all a lie, Aegon bed her plenty. Too often, one might say. She encouraged it, but Aemond didn't know that. Aegon talked about fucking a lot less since he married Erystia. It wasn't for Aemond to know how regularly they lay together.
"You need another child, that is all?"
"Yes! Do you have an idea?"
Mother, forgive my sinful thoughts. Warrior, give me the strength to not succumb to my impulses. Crone, show me another path.
But she needs help and I think I can help her...
She was staring up at him with those large blue eyes, those pouty lips. And he realized how much he hated what Aegon got to have just because he was older. He got a beautiful wife then suggested Aemond be pawned off to the Baratheon girls. He had Erystia all to himself, a woman who at the age of nine-and-ten had already bore him four children. And how dare he not appreciate that?
He wanted to be King. He wanted to have a Queen consort like Erystia, a woman Aegon didn't value enough.
"I can give you an heir, my lady," said Aemond quietly, unable to see another path. He had to have it, he had to have her. Even if Aegon didn't knew, it would be a glorious 'fuck you' to his brother for everything he had that Aemond didn't.
(What would it matter? The heir would still be silver-haired. Didn't matter which Prince fathered him.)
It had been the first of many times that Erystia would bed Prince Aemond. When she became pregnant a fourth time, she had no idea who the father was. Aegon or Aemond– it didn't matter. She had them both wrapped around her fingers, just a tad more than everyone else. She had it all.
Erystia was willing to take everything further than the others, even further than whatever Alicent and Ser Otto Hightower could come up with.
When Rhaenyra and her sons returned to King's Landing to hear out Ser Vaemond Velaryon's claim, she expected that Rhaenyra would betrothe her sons to Baela and Rhaena Targaryen. She thought a bit of poison would be a suitable addition to the meal. Just enough to strike a fever over the course of several days in one of the boys, to weaken the alliance with the Velaryons. Otto shut the thought down instantly.
She was impressed when Daemon cut off Ser Vaemond's head. She stayed the night with her children while all the Targaryens and Hightowers had dinner with their King, withering away more each day. She knew trouble would come, she knew they would wish they had listened to her.
The King died that night. Her father and the other Small Council members were mobilized immediately to prepare for Aegon's coronation. She dressed him herself after fucking him in a way she never had before, whispering how she was going to give him a fourth son, how she'd give him more heirs than Jaehaerys ever had. She wasn't sure if it would be a son or if it was his son, but to Aegon it didn't matter because he was going to be King and he liked it.
Erystia stood behind him as he was crowned King of the Andals, and the Rhoynar, and the First Men. She lifted Jaehaerys, still such a little boy, as he was declared Prince of Dragonstone, having him wave at the masses, who loved Aegon because of her. Because she made him lovable.
She showed no fear as Meleys broke through the crowd; she wished Princess Rhaenys had killed more people so that they could push the narrative that Princess Rhaenyra didn't care about the civilians, that she let them be slaughtered in her name.
She'd tried to convince Ser Otto to add a mission to his trip to Dragonstone. Had she succeeded, she was sure they would have secured Aegon the crown for much longer.
"Absolutely not," said Ser Otto, shocked that she would even say such a thing.
"Aegon and Viserys are Rhaenyra's only true born sons," said Erystia firmly. "While you are giving her the peace terms, while both Rhaenyra and Daemon and their dragons are distracted, a team of men can sneak into the castle at Dragonstone and kidnap them. We will hold them here and produce burned bodies of young children dead of illness in Flea Bottom and claim they cannot control their dragons, that one of their beasts killed the two boys. I will raise her sons as my own; no one will know. Once we have the boys, we will kill her bastard sons one by one."
"It is too extreme," said Ser Otto. "How–?"
"Those bastards are in our way of victory," insisted Erystia. "Without her sons, she has no dragonriders other than herself, Daemon, and what, Rhaenys? Princess Baela? An elderly woman and her granddaughter? We will break her advantage. They'll have only four riders, only one of those dragons having experienced real battle. We have Vhagar, Sunfyre, Dreamfyre, Tessarion, and Jaehaerys has already bonded with Shrykos while Jaehaera has bonded with Morghul."
"Rhaenyra will be mad with vengeance–"
"It'll happen anyway! We've just been informed that she lost her babe because of the news she received from Princess Rhaenys. Dragons will die all the same. Let us make certain the ones that do are hers. Unridden, they are vulnerable. We need them dead. As soon as we take Aegon and Viserys, I will smuggle my children to the Citadel where they will be safe. My husband's heirs will not be at risk."
They refused to take her advice. They refused to even let her leave the Red Keep.
Perhaps if they'd listened to Erystia, they would have won. She would have stripped Rhaenyra of her heirs. Her father, the new Master of Coin, had made the right choice by getting their gold elsewhere. Even when Rhaenyra sat the throne, she became hated by the people that she had no choice but to tax.
Instead, because they didn't listen, because they didn't let her take her children to the Citadel, she lost Jaehaerys and consequently, the son she'd been carrying, the baby boy whose father she was unsure of. Then she lost Maelor and Aenar to a mob in Bitterbridge.
Erystia survived because no one believed she could have orchestrated so much of what happened. No one doubted the innocent look on her face even after she fed the idea to Aegon that he should burn his sister alive.
Rhaenyra's son Aegon the Younger let her live because he married her daughter Jaehaera, because a boy of ten had no idea what a woman like Erystia was capable of. What she used to be capable of before her sons were ripped away from her.
When her sweet girl killed herself, miserable and afraid, Erystia left the capital. No one would take her to wife other than her cousin, the idiot Loreon. She gave him one son to carry the Lannister name before she died on the birthing bed, laying in a pool of her own blood, and when her body was dragged off the bed, the blood seemed to form a crown.
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A/N: Ah, the relief of getting a fic out of your system after it will not stop bothering you is so real. Erystia was meant to be superrrr fucked up because I wanted her to be an ancestor of Cersei. I also wanted to explore how the Greens might have won, since my last two kinda-one-shots were about avoiding the Dance altogether. Hope you guys liked it or at least found it interesting!