There wasn't a corner of the Red Keep Aemond didn't have Alys after he was crowned. From the moment those two words left her lips, he sent everyone out and swore himself to her, worshiping every inch of her. The king would always rule the realm, but the queen would always rule the king.
He knew it wasn't possible for Rhaenyra to change her mind so easily. It had to have been Alys who changed her mind. Or maybe it was always supposed to be him sitting the throne.
He always had Alys in his corner, even when he didn't know it. She wanted him as her husband and as her king. And she would be his queen. He would keep her safe from any harm and he would love her with everything he had in him.
He trusted her with his life, more than he would ever trust anyone. All the more justifying his decision to name Alys as Hand of the King.
It was a smoother transition than they had all hoped for, mostly because the whole realm didn't know who to fear more: the king or the queen. Alys openly practiced her magic without any fear of consequences. Aemond always encouraged her magic and promised that no one would ever even utter a word in protest or mockery.
Every now and then, there would be an execution for criminals of Flea Bottom and Aemond used to be beaming practically, as that was Alys' area of punishment. He was like a little kid waiting to see his wife make a murderer's head explode. And every time they'd return, the door to their chambers would barely be closed by the time his hands were under her skirts.
Within a year of their reign, the king and queen welcomed a baby boy into the world. They bickered about the name for days before anyone finally got to meet the sweet boy, but eventually Aemond gave in to his wife's pick.
Prince Daemon Targaryen II.
Their families were the first to meet the child and naturally, Daemon was smirking the moment he heard the name. The Rogue Prince was quite determined to consistently bring up to Aemond that he was still her favorite uncle. And each time Aemond would shoot his wife an annoyed look, but it only made her smile.
Vhagar had surprisingly laid a rather large clutch of eggs when Alys first became pregnant, and Aemond was the one to pick a bright red egg for his son. Within a few weeks, the egg hatched a beautiful blood red dragon with golden wings they'd name Visellar.
Every day the two would sit in the Godswood, when the sun was shining its brightest, and Alys would sit in front of Aemond while she read to their son in her arms and little Viserllar squeaked around on the ground. Aemond would pretend to listen the entire time. He'd mostly just switch between admiring Alys or little Daemon. He was happy, beyond happy. He couldn't imagine a better life than with his family. Something he thought he'd never truly have. Occasionally Aemond would kiss Alys' temple when she'd smile at her favorite parts of the book.
His favorite part would always be when she wouldn't realize her magic would make the clouds appear and disappear whenever the tone of the book would change. He loved seeing how natural and effortless she made everything.
Barely another year had passed when they welcomed twin girls, Saera and Aerea. Little Daemon wasn't too fond of having to share his parents' attention, but he was always a delight and on his best behavior whenever his favorite uncle was around. That uncle being the one he was named after, of course.
Both twins had an egg placed in their cradle, one a dark blue while the other a shimmering emerald. Aemond thought it best to give his only child with the same colored eyes that egg of course, and little Saera would adore her little green and gold dragon they'd all call Aegor while Aerea would wait for the day her egg would hatch.
In the meantime, she would naturally be her father's favorite, as he had a soft spot for his dragonless daughter. She remained his cupbearer, learning about the court and the realm itself through each council meeting. She would study just as hard as her father once did, but where they differed was when she finally claimed a dragon, she didn't care one bit about ruling anymore.
On a visit to Dragonstone, very similar to her father, Aerea had snuck out in the middle of the night and woke the entire island up with her echoing cheers as she landed Silverwing right outside the castle. To say Aemond was proud was an understatement, although Alys was more livid at her seven year old daughter managing to sneak out and do something so dangerous. Inside, she was so proud of her little girl being so brave and fearless, even in front of such a massive creature.
Alicent remained in the Red Keep, absolutely adoring each and every last one of her grandchildren. They all loved their grandmother and were frequent visitors of hers over the years. She'd read to them from the same little brown book, but there was always a different story being told from it. But they would always just be old stories of her and Viserra in their shared youth, and all of the tales Viserra would tell her of the world.
Rhaenyra and Daemon remained on Dragonstone with their children, but they were both frequent visitors of King's Landing, as it was only suiting for their titles on the small council. Rhaenyra, the master of Coin, and Daemon, the Lord Commander of the City Watch. It was a sign of trust, but also one of gratitude Aemond had for bestowing these titles upon them. He also enjoyed annoying the Rogue Prince with the same old position he once held under Viserys' reign.
Corlys reclaimed his seat as master of ships, but his presence was never the same after he lost his wife and children. Alys could see it all over his face with each council meeting, and eventually she would tell both Aemond and Corlys the truth of Ser Laenor.
It was no surprise to see Corlys had stepped down the next day, and was never seen from again. Although his letters to the king and queen from Essos were quite frequent over the years.
There was so much back and forth on who would take his place. Alys knew better than to ask her husband to give Jace the position, knowing their history, but to everyone's surprise he had Baela take the position. When Alys would ask why her, Aemond would just shrug and say it was silly to not have a Velaryon as their master of ships. It also help that Baela still had Moondancer and could easily leave just as she came. She wouldn't have to stay in the keep if she held the title.
Ros also had an odd turn of events. She'd served Alys ever so loyally, along with the children, but now she was married to lord of her own. She'd married a northern lord she'd met at a feast, and ended up leaving with both Alys and Aemond's blessing. Ros would visit every once in a while, but Alys made sure to visit just as often with her own family. Even Aemond would attend, but he would find any excuse to antagonize Ros. He wanted to see if she would be so brazen to slap him again, but she never took the bait. She knew better.
But he was never immune to being called a prick by her.
Near the beginning of their eighth year as king and queen, they were surprised with another child. A sweet, little girl they named Viserra. Born with one emerald eye and one violet eye. A mix of the most beautiful parts of her parents. The queen regent's favorite, of course.
Little Viserra didn't show as much interest with the court or the realm in general, but she did take a liking to her mother's magic. She loved the pretty fireworks Alys would put in the sky for each of their namedays. She wanted to be just like her mother, even down to the matching colors of their dragons. Viserra's deep blue dragon would be named Rhaenar
They were a happy family, bonded in more ways than one. But their strongest bond would always be through Aemond and Alys. Their love and union brought a prosperous, thriving realm, with no challenges from any. They knew there would be no succession challenges against their children when the time would come, but they would make sure their children would be brave if there ever was.
For they came from the bravest woman Aemond had ever known. One who conquered the world and made it their own. His sweet, loving Alys.
****Holy shit I cannot believe that's it! Thank you so much to everyone for reading and engaging with this story so much. I've had it stuck in my head for months and seeing y'alls response to it has meant the world to me****
****A HUGE shoutout to purplewriter_x for all of your help and inspiration with this story! I couldn't have done this without you! I am so happy I stumbled upon The Maid (which y'all need to go read already. Idk how many times I can say it. It's 😚🤌) Also now I have to give a shoutout to her newest story Epiphany, which is so sweet and cute and has me kicking my feet all the damn time 😩😩😩Love you!!🖤🖤🖤****