Trigger Warning: traumatic childbirth.

***

Haisa always kept one ear out to monitor what was happening in the Red Keep in case her services were needed. Technically Daemon paid her only to treat his immediate family but she was a healer nonetheless and ever since she moved to the Red Keep, she had her hands full with the servants and the guards who needed medical attention and did not want to deal with maesters. In case of an emergency, the royal family would have to take precedence, of course, but other than that she was free to do whatever she wanted and she liked keeping herself busy.

So Haisa figured she was one of the first people to know when the Queen fell and went into labor a month earlier than was expected. She was not invited to attend her birth, of course. She might be Daemon and Rhaenyra's trusted healer but she was no royal maester or a midwife.

Speaking of midwives...

'What do you mean she doesn't have any?' Haisa asked one of the maids that she was friends with.

'The maester tends to Her Majesty and her maids are expected to help her,' the woman said.

'But no midwife?'

'No midwife.'

If you ask Haisa, it was a disaster waiting to happen. However knowledgeable the maester might be, no one knows more about the process of giving birth than a midwife. And if the child was coming earlier than expected and with such a difficult pregnancy, having a midwife at least on call was essential to the survival of both the woman and her baby. But the maester didn't seem to share her opinion on that matter.

'They want to cut her!' Bianca exclaimed, rushing into her mother's room. Haisa sent her daughter to eavesdrop because at the age of three and twelve, no one paid the girls much attention and they turned out to be perfect spies.

Haisa's eyes widened, 'They what?!'

'The- I heard maesters- talking that-' Bianca said, trying to catch her breath. 'That if the child doesn't come in the next few hours, they will have to cut her up or they both die!'

Even though Haisa didn't know the exact techniques maesters used, something told her that the Queen was not going to survive it. She had been exchanging letters with Dragontemple for months now and she was aware that the nuns there knew how to extract a child from the womb without killing the mother in the process and she even requested the materials to teach herself that, but to her understanding such a technique was not a public knowledge. Which meant the maesters were planning on butchering the Queen. How was this not a treason?

'Mum? Where are you going?' Bianca inquired when Haisa suddenly got up and headed to the exit.

'I need to see Prince Daemon and Princess Rhaenyra,' she answered before walking out. She didn't know whether or not they would want to try to help or intervene somehow (the bad blood between the Queen and the Princess was public knowledge) but she felt like they at least had a right to know about what was going on.

***

'Well, that's... unfortunate,' was the first thing Rhaenyra said when Haisa told them about the Queen's struggles with giving birth.

Daemon and Diane, who had been spending the evening trying to play a card game from Essos with only remembering half of the rules (Rhaenyra found watching it all unfold rather entertaining), looked at each other. They always did that when something important happened, and the princess figured it was their way of making sure they were on the same page. Which was a good thing if Rhaenyra thought about it. After all, if there was a need for blood to be spilled it was better for Daemon and Diane to be in agreement on whose blood to spill.

'I'm failing to understand how it concerns us,' Daemon said.

'I mean... there is nothing we can really do about it, is there?' Diane added. She sympathized with Alicent's struggles to some extent but she was no midwife. There was literally nothing she could do to help.

'Are they going to butcher her?' Rhaenyra suddenly asked, making Haisa look in her direction. 'That's why you are here, isn't it?'

'Yes, Your Grace. I know it is not my place but I am a healer. And after I found out there is no midwife present in the Queen's bedchamber, I felt obliged to bring my concerns to someone,' Haisa explained.

Rhaenyra groaned, hiding her face in her hands for a second, 'Did the King agree to it?'

'That I do not know. But my daughter overheard the maesters talking. They are pretty set on it. And if they do it, I'm pretty sure the Queen will not survive it.'

'And if we get you to the Queen, will you be able to help?' the princess asked.

'I can't guarantee it before I see her, but I have delivered dozens of babies. I am no midwife but I have dealt with some difficult cases. I pride myself in always prioritizing the life of the mother.'

Rhaenyra nodded, then looked at Daemon and Diane.

'If we are going to intervene, we have to do it right now,' Diane said.

'Maybe we should just let nature run its course,' Daemon offered. Diane looked at him very pointedly. 'Or not?' he slowly continued and then added, 'What?' because his daughter's stare was making him uncomfortable.

'If she dies, I might be the next one in that bed,' Diane said without really saying anything but hoping her father would get the hint.

'How is this-' Daemon started and then it clicked . 'Oh no,' he immediately jumped to his feet. 'We can't let her die. That's- you- no! She is not dying today!'

Haisa blinked at such a change of attitude towards the situation but then Daemon never really did what she expected him to do so it was no surprise.

The prince turned to Rhaenyra for confirmation and she nodded after a few seconds. Whatever grudge she held against Alicent, she didn't want to let her get butchered like her mother had been. No one deserved that.

'So what are we doing?' Daemon asked because, even though he was eager to act, he was not sure what they were supposed to do.

'We are taking over the birthing room,' Diane clapped her hands and got up. Crisis was her natural habitat and she always felt rather confident in situations where she had to act fast and make swift decisions. 'Father, get your Dark Sister ready.'

'Are you sure we have to be quite that aggressive?' Rhaenyra asked, rising to her feet as well. Haisa just looked baffled. Daemon, who had already put his hand on the handle of his sword, did not look baffled at all.

'I'm not saying he should use it. I'm saying he has to have it on him and visible in case we need to threaten Mellos' life.'

After all, Diane was quite sure the maester wouldn't give up his control over the Queen's birthing room that easily.

'I can definitely do that,' Daemon nodded.

Rhaenyra looked at Haisa, 'Do you have everything you need with you?'

'Always, Your Grace.'

'Then let's go and make sure the Queen survives.'

***

Taking over the birthing room was nowhere near as epic as taking over a fort or a castle but it involved strategy and coordination nonetheless. Daemon's task was to get Mellos or any other maester that might be there out of the room (preferably without spilling blood but it wasn't completely off the table under certain circumstances) and then guard the door so no one would come barging in, trying to stop them. Diane and Rhaenyra had to make sure that Alicent would be cooperative and not decide to die just to prove a point, and her maids would be willing to still help out during birth. And Haisa had to focus on Alicent's survival (and on the survival of the baby if it was possible).

They barged in with a bang. They did not necessarily plan on it but they were occupied with other things so no one had time to stop the doors from banging on the walls. Mellos jerked and turned towards the noise. He was standing near the center of the room and away from the bed (which was a red flag itself because what the fuck could he see or do from so far away) while Alicent seemed to be struggling to even stay seated on the bed with the help of her maid, her hair a mess and glistening with sweat.

'Effective immediately the Queen does not require your services, Grand Maester,' Diane informed him nonchalantly. 'Please, vacate the bedchamber as soon as possible.'

'You have no right to do this!'

Immediately the Dark Sister appeared before Mellos. It wasn't precisely close to him but Daemon held it at an obviously threatening angle. 'It might be in your best interest not to disagree with my daughter,' the prince said, his eyes sparkling just a little. It was obvious that threatening Mellos was something that Daemon enjoyed.

'Threatening the life of the Queen is treason!'

'We are not the ones who plan to cut her open. Can you say the same about yourself?' Diane snapped. She didn't hold a grudge against Mellos or anything and he could be an interesting person to gossip with sometimes, but he was getting on her nerves today. Or any day when his laughable healing skills were involved.

Mellos blinked, obviously startled by the fact that they knew.

'It's all I needed to know,' Diane said without waiting for Grand Maester to answer. 'Father, get him out.'

'You heard her,' Daemon grabbed Mellos by the shoulder and dragged him towards the exit. The maester realized it was in his best interest not to struggle and let the prince lead him out of the Queen's bedchamber.

As soon as the doors closed, Diane directed her attention to the bed where Rhaenyra was trying her best to talk Alicent into allowing Haisa to examine her. She didn't seem to be succeeding.

'Just go away! Just leave me alone- I don't want it!' Alicent cried, weakly pushing Rhaenyra away with one hand. She was obviously tired after so many hours of labor that didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

'Alicent, listen, we wish to help you. Haisa is a healer, she can help you and your baby-' Rhaenyra tried to gently reason with her but it became obvious to Diane that Alicent was way past that. She wasn't even sure how much of what was going on Alicent was comprehending.

'No! No, no, no! It was supposed to be easy! Like it always was!' the Queen sobbed and then moaned in pain, gripping her stomach as another contraction hit.

Realizing that they were not getting any answers from her, Haisa redirected her attention to one of the maids, asking her important questions like how long the birth had been going on already, how far apart contractions were, etc. Thankfully, the maid understood the severity of the situation and was happy to help in any way she could.

'Alicent! Look- Look at me!' Diane demanded, climbing onto the bed and grabbing the Queen by her shoulders. Alicent glanced at her, her eyes wide and scared. She looked like a deer at the archer's aim. It wasn't that far from the truth. 'I know you hate me, and I'm not your biggest supporter either, but right now you have to listen to me. You are going to let Haisa examine you-'

'No-' Alicent started, but Diane wasn't having it.

'You are. Because the alternative is letting the maesters come back and cut into your stomach through your skin and organs - because these idiots didn't learn how to do proper child extractions in so many years - while you are screaming in agony and slowly - or not so slowly - bleeding out until you die!' Diane ended her monologue with a sharp intake of breath because so many words in such little time were a little bit above her lung capacity.

Alicent just looked back at her with her eyes wide open and her mouth agape. Rhaenyra cleared her throat. 'I think you're scaring her-' she pointed out.

'Good. Because scared is precisely what you have to be right now,' Diane said, looking right back at Alicent. 'You only have three choices. Either Mellos comes in with a knife and funeral attire. Or you don't do anything, let your child die inside of you, catch an infection, and also die. Or you can let Haisa examine you and we all will be free by the time the dinner is served. So what is it going to be?' she demanded.

Alicent blinked a few times, then did a sharp intake of breath and muttered, 'She can examine me.'

Diane let out a laugh and patted Alicent on the arm, 'Good girl.'

Rhaenyra and she moved out of the way so Haisa could perform a proper examination. 'I'm surprised your way worked,' the princess muttered.

'To be fair, it wouldn't have been my first choice. But I saw that your gentle approach was not working and she definitely wouldn't have listened to me being all nice and caring, so I didn't have many options left. I figured she wasn't cooperating because she was either too scared or not scared enough, and I gambled that it was the latter.'

'So... pure luck?'

Diane chuckled, 'More like an educated guess.'

'I believe I identified the problem,' Haisa said, bringing their attention to the most immediate problem. 'The baby is not in the right place for the delivery. It's in a transverse position and there's no way for it to come out.'

'S-so wh-what now?' Alicent stuttered. She looked extremely terrified, and it made Rhaenyra feel slightly bad for her.

'I can try and move the child inside your belly into the right position. Now, it will be unpleasant, I'm not going to lie, but it is your only option.'

'A-alright,' Alicent nodded after a second or two.

'It's better if someone holds her hand,' Haisa very obviously hinted.

Rhaenyra and Diane glanced at each other. The princess did feel sorry for Alicent but she didn't really feel like holding her hand right now or ever for that matter. Not after how she recently acted. Not after what Diane told her Alicent had done in another timeline. It was just... Rhaenyra felt like she would do more harm than good with such an attitude.

Diane groaned, 'Fine,' and then she was approaching the Queen's bed and kneeling beside it.

'I hate you,' Alicent immediately said to her.

'Not completely undeserving, I may say, but alas,' Diane grabbed one of Alicent's hands a little bit too harshly than was probably necessary. 'I'm afraid you'll have to endure my support for the time being. Not like I enjoy it either but sacrifices need to be made in the name of womanhood and all that...'

Alicent's nails dug into the skin of Diane's hand and she spat out, 'You are my husband's mistress!'

Maids that were still in the room looked at each other and Diane didn't have to turn her head to know what the freshest gossip in the castle was going to be. It wasn't bad and it didn't really change anything but the fact that Alicent was the one to blubber about it was a little bit ironic.

Still, Diane decided to act surprised to cover all her bases. So she chuckled and said, 'My dear, how did you come up with such a ridiculous notion?' because it was never too late to gaslight someone.

Alicent blinked as if she wasn't expecting such an answer and then the next contraction hit, making the Queen shift her focus. As soon as it passed, Haisa proceeded to try and reposition a child inside Alicent's womb and she couldn't do much else but scream in pain while Diane held her hand.

***

Daemon scrunched his nose when he heard Alicent scream again through the tightly shut door. It was going on for a while and he did not want to know what Haisa was doing to her but at least as long as Alicent was screaming she was alive.

Daemon cleared his throat, adjusting his hold on his sword. He never, ever thought he would be guarding Alicent's bedchamber but here he was. It was for the greater good and the prince was in no way complaining but he still felt tremendously out of place. He also wondered where the Queen's guards were at. Because when they barged in, there was no one guarding the doors. Daemon had been prepared to use his "I'm a fucking prince, you should fucking listen to me" so they would let them in without any blood being spilled, but the guards were nowhere near in sight. Did Mellos send them away? Did Viserys? And if so, was it because they didn't want them to hear Alicent's dying screams when the maesters butchered her? Daemon didn't like that thought but had to admit it was most likely what happened.

There were some more screams, most likely the result of another contraction (he got bored and timed them), and then Daemon heard the rapidly approaching footsteps. Mellos ran away somewhere as soon as they kicked him out of the birthing room, probably to snitch on them to Viserys or Cunttower, so Daemon had been waiting for guests for a while now.

'Daemon!' Viserys exclaimed, turning the corner. Mellos and Cunttower followed right after him. 'What is the meaning of this?!'

'I have no idea what you mean, brother,' the prince said innocently. But then Mellos approached him and tried to push past him so Daemon immediately moved his sword to block the way, 'No.'

'Daemon, stop it this instant!' Viserys demanded. There were some more screams on the other side of the door. 'How can you be so cruel to deprive my wife of the maester's help?'

'Your maester is an incompetent cunt who is all too happy to cut your wife open as soon as it gets slightly complicated,' Daemon looked at Mellos pointedly.

'I am not! But the Queen is having difficulties with her labor which is not progressing the way it should,' the maester rushed to defend himself. 'In such instances, it's advised-'

'Why wasn't I consulted?' Otto suddenly asked. Daemon, who forgot the Hand was there for a second, raised an eyebrow while Mellos and Viserys just looked at him. 'This is a very serious matter, putting the life of Queen in danger-'

'Killing her,' Daemon corrected, very badly hiding his comment under the cough.

Otto gave him a nasty glade but continued, 'You do not have the authority to make such a big decision!'

'Well, I understand- but I informed the King about the situation and he didn't reject the- this procedure if the labor won't progress naturally,' the maester defended himself. He would not be accused of being insubordinate!

Daemon and Otto both looked at Viserys who shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, and then Otto moved to take a few steps around the corridor and get his mind under control so he wouldn't say anything he wouldn't be able to come back from. Daemon, on the other hand, didn't care to spare anyone's feelings (even more so his brother's who was getting harder and harder to love by the day).

'Really, brother?' Daemon asked. 'Again?'

Viserys bristled, 'What would you have me do?! If a woman can't give birth, she will die anyway! But why doom the child to the same fate?'

'Oh, yes, because it worked so splendidly the last time!' Daemon took a step forward. He tried not to think too hard about the fact that he was defending Alicent fucking Hightower at the moment because it made him feel weird and instead focus on the fact that he was defending the memory of Aemma. He hadn't protected her from Viserys and the maesters then but he could protect another woman from the same fate in memory of her. And it had to be good enough.

'You are making me some sort of villain, Daemon. But all I did was make a hard decision. Sometimes I have to make such as the King and as a man,' Viserys said as if trying to make his brother understand.

Otto, who was still taking a circular stroll around the corridor, stopped and looked at the King's back in some sort of surprise. Was this really how Viserys viewed the situation? A hard decision? Not his quest for a male heir that Otto used to get Alicent into the King's bed? Ha, so that was what Viserys was telling himself to sleep peacefully at night. Interesting.

Daemon let out a chuckle. 'Is that so? So if it happened to Rhaenyra, you would be okay with me cutting her open while she screams in agony and bleeds out to death, right?'

The anger flashed in Viserys' eyes and he pursed his lips tight but he didn't say anything because his brother cornered him. Daemon wasn't happy about making that suggestion but the past events told him that Viserys only really understood empathy when it was somehow connected to Rhaenyra. Despite all his faults, Viserys did love his daughter. The way he went about it was something Daemon could definitely disagree on but the fact remained unchanged. The prince figured such a hypothetical scenario - because he would rather die than let Rhaenyra get butchered - might give his brother a much-needed perspective but he wouldn't hold his breath.

'Is she alone there? With only the maids to help her out?' Otto suddenly asked because Viserys apparently refused to speak now as some sort of weird protest. And he didn't sound angry or accusatory which gave Daemon incentive to actually provide the Hand with useful information and not just tell him to go fuck himself. After all, Alicent was Otto's daughter. Daemon didn't actually know how much he cared about her - probably, not a lot, everything considering - but he still said, 'No. Rhaenyra's trusted healer is with her. She has attended to a lot of women in labor before so I'm confident in her skills. Also, Rhaenyra and Diane are there.'

'Diane is there?' Viserys and Otto simultaneously asked, then looked at each other. Viserys visibly scowled while Otto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His day just kept getting better and better.

Daemon observed them for a second, then rolled his eyes and muttered something that could have been a High Valyrian curse. Honestly. Alicent could perish any second now for all they knew, and they still were more worried if his daughter was in their vicinity. Unbelievable.

Suddenly they heard Alicent's screams again that came to a halt abruptly, then there were a few moments of rather unsettling silence, and then the infant's cries reached the corridor. A few seconds later the doors to the Queen's bedchamber abruptly opened and something flew out of there, hitting Mellos straight in the face. The maester staggered back with such a force of impact that he lost his footing and landed flat on his ass. Daemon choked on his laughter, realizing that Mellos was hit with a ball of slightly bloodied fabric. Viserys and Otto just looked at the maester on the floor, flabbergasted.

'And no one had to cut anyone to get this child out!' Diane exclaimed, walking out of the room. She put her hands on her hips and surveyed the corridor. 'Haisa will be checking on the Queen from now on. If I see any of the maesters near her, I'll cut you open. Understood?' she asked, pointing at Mellos who was still sitting on the floor. The maester immediately nodded. 'Good,' Diane nodded as well, moving her attention to Viserys. 'You have another son, Your Grace.'

Viserys smiled in relief, 'Well, that's amazing news-'

'Diane, I need your help!' Rhaenyra suddenly shouted from the room, and Diane's face immediately fell.

Before anyone could ask anything, Diane ran back into the Queen's bedchamber and shut the doors behind her with a bang.