𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒
___________

119 AC

𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚, although a considerably smart girl for her age, despised all things reading and studying, unless it was about something along the lines of dragons or old battle tales.She had no idea why, but whenever she picked up a book she found herself straining her eyes to try followed the words, as they jumped around the page or grew unclear.She had gotten her fair share of lectures from the scept because of this, who assumed that she just couldn't be bothered to "educate herself" and was making up excuses.

On the rare occasion that she did read, it was only because Jacaerys and Lucerys would beg and plead for her to read to them, with their wide, dark-brown, puppy dog eyes and pouted lips, she had no choice but to concede.She grew to find it relaxing over time, something she looked forward too, spending her afternoons leaning back against the trunk of the warm coloured tree, lazily reading a few chapters until usually one, if not both, of the young boys fell asleep.

The small courtyard the tree was located in seemed to be one of the few places, aside from her chamber, Visenya could find peace and quiet in the Red Keep.The tranquil nature and calming stillness of the courtyard, as the sun slowly disappeared behind the castle walls, usually sending Visenya off into a deep sleep herself.With the book still open in her lap, and her head leaned back against the tree, she felt a gentle tug on the material of her dress, just before she could fully nod off.

Slowly forcing her tired eyes open, she looked down to see Jace innocently peering up at her.

"I thought you had fallen asleep" Visenya yawned, trying to stretch her tired limbs without accidentally waking Lucerys in the process.

"I tried but the silence is too...unsettling" Jace whispered, as he glanced around the empty courtyard.

It only ever got so quiet when either a terrible death or urgent issue had taken place, or a small council meeting had dragged on for way longer than it should've.More often than not, it was the ladder, because the Queen Alicent refused to back down from her argument or let Rhaenyra have her way.

Visenya let out a small, quiet laugh in response, still being careful not to wake Lucerys, who slept soundly in her lap, curled into his sisters side almost like a cat.

"What do they even talk about for so long?" Jace tiredly sighed as he sat up and rubbed his his eyes.

"I have no idea, mothers tried teaching me about her council duty's and what not, but it is all so dreadfully boring" Visenya complained, rolling her eyes just at the thought of having to sit through a council meeting."They are nearly just as boring as Ser Harwins awful ghost stories" Visenya leaned closer to whisper in her brothers ear, as if she were telling him a top, classified secret.Jace shook his head, despite the quiet giggle he let out in response.

"I think you'd make a great queen" Jace spoke barely above a whisper, beaming up at his sister.

Visenya turned to him with her brows creased in confusion and surprise, baffled and overwhelmed just by the idea of having to bare such a responsibility, never mind doing a good job at it.

"That is the last thing I want" Visenya softly scoffed, shaking her head in disagreement.

"What do you want to do then?" Jace queried, turning to Visenya with those wide, innocent, curios eyes of his.

Visenya's favourite thing about speaking to her younger brother was that he always asked questions like this, as if he was actually interested in what she had to say and validated her opinion, unlike most people.Few people wanted to hear what a "naive and foolish" young princess had to say, many noble men adamant in the belief that women couldn't possibly think or have opinions for themselves, that they thought of nothing but marriage and babies.Gods, how Visenya desired to break the nose of every idiot man who spoke to and treated women like they were brainless animals, even when, without a doubt, she could easily outsmart most of them at only thirteen.

Jace had always clearly idolised Visenya, always put her on a pedestal as some sort of hero, he thought her to be the smartest and most bravest person he knew.Even if in Visenya's eyes she was far from any of those things, she appreciated her brothers innocent admiration all the same.

"Now that is a hard question" Visenya sighed, pondering on the question for a moment. "I want to...explore the world on dragon back, and eat nothing but cake" She grinned as she spoke the last part of her sentence, playfully judging her brother teasingly.

"That sounds like fun" Jace agreed with a nod and tired yawn, as he settled into in his sisters arms.

"It does doesn't it?" Visenya spoke softly, as she gently ran her fingers through his dark curls, a trick she learnt that always sent him to sleep quickly when he was only a baby."Maybe I can take you with me"

"Don't forgot Luce" Jace added, as his eyes grew heavy and slowly fluttered shut.

Visenya let out a quiet, breathily laugh, as she could tell from Jace's voice that he was mere seconds away from falling asleep. "I won't, he can come too"

The courtyard fell silent again for a while as Jace rested peacefully in Visenya's arms.Visenya nearly falling asleep herself, as she rested her cheek on Jace's head.Though her slumber, unfortunately, didn't last long as footsteps approached them and a deep voice drew Visenya from her sleepy state.

"Princess, your mother has requested your presence in the council meeting" The guard firmly spoke, hand tightly clasping the hilt of his sword.

Visenya huffed, as she forced to unwrap her arms from around both her brothers and stand with a tired groan.She briefly stretched her legs, as they had become practically numb from being sat in the same position for so long, before turning back to her brothers to bid goodbye.

"Go back to your chambers, I promise to read to you some more later, before bed" Visenya instructed with a soft smile, bending down to hand the book back to Jace, who nodded and smiled in response.

"Don't fall asleep on the way" She grinned teasingly as she ruffled Luces messy head of curls, who was still half asleep and completely unaware of what was going on.

With reluctance, and her stomach churning with anxiety, Visenya allowed the guard to escort her back inside and to the small council chamber, dreading of what was to possibly come.

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 guards stationed at every corner she turned, Visenya still felt on edge as she walked through the eerily silent corridors, nervously gripping the sides of her dress as each step she took echoed off the stone slabs which she walked.

Visenya paused when she reached the large wooden doors which led to the small council chamber, pausing in front of the unopened doors to take a breath and compose herself before entering.

"...-I have a proposal that I think would benefit everyone here"

Visenya stopped in her tracks when she heard her mother's voice come from inside the chamber, deciding to stay put for a moment longer, out of pure curiosity.

She toke a few steps back to avoid being seen whilst she eaves dropped, jumping and letting out a small gasp when she suddenly felt her back collide with a much bigger chest.

"Oh I'm s-..." Visenya cut herself off, mid apology, when she realised who it was she had bumped into."Never mind" She rolled her eyes at the sight of her uncle, Aegon, the most insufferable boy she knew, who had been non-stop tormenting her since they were children.

Her mother had always told Visenya that boys only tormented girls to get their attention, because they liked them, but Visenya found it rather difficult to be "flattered" by Aegons constant insults, pranks and tugging of her hair.

"No, no, go on, you were apologising to me?...for once" Aegon's usual cocky grin was plastered across his lips, as he nodded and gestured for Visenya to continue.

She only shook her head and then turned her back to Aegon in response, inching closer to the chamber door to try and overhear the small councils conversation.

"Excuse-..."

"Shh!" Visenya shushed him, to which Aegon scowled and scoffed.

"You know it's considered rude to eavesdrop?" Aegon lowered his voice, stepping closer behind Visenya, his jaw clenching in frustration when he only received silence in response. "Although when have you ever-..."Aegon was cut off again.

"They are talking about us" Visenya hissed, glancing over her shoulder at Aegon, whose grin faltered at her words.

"Who?Me and you?!" Aegon eyes widened in panic.

"No, Aemond and Lucerys..." Visenya sarcastically replied, thinning her eyes at him. "Of course us!what do you think I meant by we?!" She aggressively gestured between them, before turning back around to focus on what was going on the other side of the door.

"Sorry princess" Aegon replied mockingly, receiving a quick glare from Visenya, before they both focused their attention on whatever Alicent was now saying.

"Your kidding?!" Alicent let out a loud scoff, almost laughing, in disbelief.

"I think it is a rather good proposition, a smart arrangement" Viserys chimed in rather happily, but his words seemingly went ignored.

"Aegon and Visenya?!they can barely stand to be in the same room without fighting like children!"Alicent scoffed. "And they both clearly lack the skills and attributes to rule, even together"

"Then we can wait a few years, wait until they have both matured and learned to be at least friendly with one another" Rhaenyra argued.

Visenyas eyebrows raised and eyes widened, as she silently prayed to all the gods she could think of that her mother was not suggesting what she thought she might be.

"Believe me, Aegon will never mature" Alicent muttered bitterly, but still loud enough both Visenya and Aegon could hear.

Visenya glanced over her shoulder at Aegon, just able to catch the flicker of embarrassment and hurt in his eyes, the way he gulped back and tried to pretend the comment hardly bothered him.Aegon immediately evaded her eyes when he saw the sympathetic look on her face.He hated when people looked at him like that, like they felt sorry for him, like he was a wounded puppy, as felt nothing but belittled and pathetic.

"Maybe not, but I believe Visenya could influence him, and possibly vice versa" Rhaenyra replied calmly. "If we betroth them when Visenya becomes a women of age they can grow together, learn from one another, eventually be great rulers...together"

"Absolutely not, no" Alicent refused.

"Alicent-..." Viserys tried to intervene.

Visenya didn't spend a lot of her time with her grandfather, but when she did, he happily listen to the girl ramble on tirelessly about her interest in dragons and other various topics, topics most people would likely mock her for enjoying.Although deep down, Visenya knew he was only interested in her because she was so similar to her mother, his clear favourite child, she was still great-full her grandfather listened and cared enough to seem actually interested in what she had to say.

"No!I have made my mind up, it is a foolish, reckless idea and i-..."

"What about Aemond?" Rhaenyra had to almost yell over Alicent so she was heard, a deathly silence following her words.

Visenya pulled a face of disgust and disbelief at her mothers second offer.First Aegon now Aemond?!it was as if Rhaenyra was going through a list of all the people she knew her daughter could hardly stand.

Aegon tensed and stood up a little straighter, the silence putting him on edge as he waited for his mother to answer.Sure, he and Visenya hardly got along, but Aemond barely even spoke to her, and (in Aegon's opinion) his brother was far too young to be betrothed yet.

The silence that followed only put Aegon more on edge, surely his mother was not considering this after being so persistent in denying Rhaenyras original offer??Visenya marrying his brother would only be more tortures than marrying her himself.

Aemond already had everything Aegon wanted.

"I-...I don't believe Visenya would be a good fit for Aemond" Alicent sighed, breaking the long silence that filled the chamber.

Aegon snorted back a laugh at his mother's answer, receiving a harsh nudge to the ribs from Visenya, but was forced to stifle his grunt of pain to avoid being caught.

"Alicent, just consider it" Viserys calmly spoke, still attempting to change his wife's mind.

"No, I-..." Alicent was cut herself off, when she suddenly remembered something that had completely slipped her mind during the heated debate. "Did we not call for Visenya and Aegon?"

Visenya's eyes widened, completely having forgotten why she was there in the first place and how much time had passed, whilst she'd been eavesdropping.

"Ah-...yes, yes, they really should be hear by now" Rhaenyra's look of confusion and concern mirrored Alicents.

"I shall go find them, if you wish" One of the kingsgaurds offered, to which both Rhaenyra and Alicent agreed.

"Shit!Run!" Visenya whispered, quickly spinning around and speeding off down the corridor, before Aegon could even process what was going on.

"What-..." Aegon trailed off, looking around in confusion and panic, but the sound of the council door slowly opening quickly snapped him back into reality."Wait!" He whisper-yelled, before scurrying after Visenya, even though she was already far from earshot.

𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚 ran until she could no longer breath, until she felt the air tightening in her lungs, and forcing her to come to a stop.She placed her hand on the wall and the other on her chest, as she tried to catch her breath and process everything she had just overheard.

Her entire up bringing, she had been told nothing but bad things about the Hightowers, how they believed Visenya's brothers, and herself, to be born bastards and had no shame in spreading such rumours about the realm.Obviously that caused Visenya to have some built up anger and hatred towards Alicent, and her children, even if they were her own blood.

She had been instructed to not trust any of them, to stay far away, and she tried to do just that.

Unfortunately for Visenya, Aegon took a liking to constantly irritating her specifically, constantly prodding and poking her, wether it was with childish tricks or rude, snarky comments.He'd do anything just to rile her up and get a reaction out of her.

Visenya couldn't think of any reason as to why her mother would even think about betrothing her too him, of all people.Visenya hated his guts, and she assumed the feeling was very mutual.

Visenya snapped out of her thoughts when a hand was firmly planted on her shoulder, causing her jump back and turn around.

"I know you don't exactly like me, but you don't need to go running at the first mention of a betrothal" Aegon chuckled, breath heavy after having just ran (what felt like a mile) after Visenya.

"That is an understatement, I sprinted" Visenya scoffed, despite the smug grin tugging at the corner of her lips.But her grin faded and her eyes widened when a harsh reality hit her, what if her mother managed to convince Alicent of the proposal?

"You don't think they will actually agree to it do you?!"

"Try not too sound so horrified by it"Aegon drawled sarcastically. "And from the sounds of it, I doubt my mother is even on the fence of agreeing...thankfully" Aegon paused, before muttering the last part, as if he didn't truly want to say those words or meant them.

"What a nightmare that would be" Visenya dramatically shuddered at the thought, before turning around to continue walking away.

She assumed Aegon would go his own way, but, much to her dismay, he seemed followed.Visenya did a double take at the boy behind her, brows furrowing in confusion, as to why Aegon was trailing behind her.He was up to something, was her first thought.

"Why are you following me?" Visenya scowled, pausing in her tracks and turning back around to face him.

"Why don't you like me?" Aegon quickly replied, taking Visenya by surprise and leaving her speechless for a brief moment.

"Wha-...you really want me to answer to that?" Visenya forced an awkward laugh, as she nervously gripped the sides of her dress.

"No, I just wanted to see the look on your face" Aegon shook his head, his smug and proud smirk returning, to which Visenya huffed and rolled her eyes.

"And you wonder why people do not like you" Visenya grumbled under her breath, uncaring if Aegon heard or not.

Aegon opened his mouth, surely to reply with some witty comment or snarky insult, when a guards voice could be heard echoing from further down the corridor.

"...-Prince Aegon?!"

"Where do you think they ran off to?"

"They can't have gone far, you search to the right I'll look outside"

"What do we do?!" Aegon turned to Visenya, wide eyed, expecting her to come up with a solution to their current problem.

"I don't know!" Visenya threw her arms up in the air.

"For someone who prides in being a know it all, your awfully useless" Aegon whispered through gritted teeth, grabbing Visenya's wrist and pulling her down an empty, cramped corridor just as the Kingsgaurd turner the corner.

Visenya remained oblivious to the fact Aegon was currently pining her up against a wall, as she was busy trying to peer over his shoulder to spot the guard that was searching for them.She seemed completely unbothered with how close they were, especially in such in a small cornered space, to focused on impatiently waiting for the guards to pass.Aegon, on the other hand, was not so calm and collected about being in such close proximity to Visenya.

The second the guard disappeared down the corridor, Visenya pushed Aegon off her, having to prying his hands off her shoulders as his grip was unusually tight.

"Was there a need for that?!" Visenya scolded as she smoothened out the creased sleeves of her dress.

"Would you like to sit in on that insufferably boring council meeting while they make all our life decisions for us?"Aegon scoffed, tilting his head.

"Fair point" Visenya sighed, reluctantly having to agree with him.

"Your welcome then"

"Thank you" Visenya mumbled, certain that she nearly threw up in her mouth as the words fell off her tongue.

She immediately regretted giving her thanks, wishing she could swallow her words back up and pretend she never said them, the moment she saw the way Aegon's face lit up and his usual, irritating grin spread across his lips.

"Your what?Sorry I didn't quite catch that" Aegon leaned down closer to Visenya, as if to hear her better, even if the height difference between them was hardly an inch.

"You heard me" Visenya shoved Aegons shoulder with a grumble, forcing him to stand up straight again, as he snickered to himself in amusement.

"God, can't you take a joke?" Aegon rolled his eyes and groaned, as he noticed Visenya beginning to walk away from him, with a face of thunder and fists clenched in anger.

"Make it funny next time!" Visenya retorted, glaring at him over her shoulder, and disappearing 'round the corner before he noticed the grin she was desperately trying to suppress.

"𝐊𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢-....𝐤𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥" Visenya stuttered, squinting her eyes in hopes of the pages somehow becoming more clearer to her.

As if reading wasn't enough of a struggle for her, she was also required to learn high Valyrian.Visenya refused at first since it was pretty much a dead language and Targaryen's were only made to learn it for the sake of tradition but when she was told it was used as a way to communicate and train dragons she caved.

She found learning the dragon commands easy but speaking or understanding anything else incredibly difficult, mainly because she had to learn it off the base of a book.

"Kostilus"Rhaenyra interrupted as she entered her daughters bed chambers, pronouncing the word perfect and flawlessly as she did with almost everything.

"Thank you"Visenya sighed not taking her eyes off the book as she squinted them in an attempt to see the fading black ink better but it only grew her vision blurry.

"If you are finding it too difficult, then take a break for a while, no one excepts you to already be fluent"Rhaenyra spoke soflty as she sat down on the edge of Visenya's bed.

Visenya, who was sat on a chair facing the fireplace with her back turned to Rhaenyra, glanced around glaring at her mother with an unimpressed look covering her features.

"If i-..."Visenya hesitated before using her next words, as if they were cursed."If I am to rule one day it is necessary that I learn our ancestors language"

"Well unless you plan on deposing of your own mother you have plenty of time to study"Rhaenyra chuckled as she walked over to Visenya sitting on the arm of the chair which she sat.

"And I think we all know that ruling is on the bottom of your dreams list"Rhaenyra spoke lowering her head to whisper in Visenya's ear.

Visenya didn't reply nor look up at her mother, she closed the book in her lap and stared into the dancing orange flames, her lips turning into a thin line as her mothers words repeated in her head like a stuck record.

"Vi?"Rhaenyra called when she didn't receive an answer.

"Wether I desire to rule or not, I unfortunately do not have a choice in the matter"Visenya mumbled, barely loud enough for her mother to hear, diverting her eyes from the fire and instead fixing them on her boots as they tapped on the scratched,wooden floor boards.

"You can do whatever you dream of my sweet girl, as long as you are happy so am I"Rhaenyra spoke softy as she stroked Visenya's short but lush brunette locks.

"You say that but we both know the dangers if I refused the throne"Visenya nervously spoke as she chewed the inside of her cheek.

"Nothing and no one will hurt you, not as long as I am here, I promise"Rhaenyra stated firmly but when Visenya still didn't meet her gaze she placed a kiss to the girls head before heading to leave the chambers.

Rhaenyra reached out for the door handle but Visenya's voice calling for her caused her to pause and turn around to face her daughter once more."Mother...!"Rhaenyra hummed in response.

"Do not tell Jaehaerys I said this but...I think he'd be a lot better ruler then me"Visenya let out a nervous laughter as she peered past the side of the chair.

Rhaenyra also laughed at her daughters comment as she pressed her hand to her stomach."Do not worry, it will be our little secret"She whispered sending her daughter a playful wink before finally leaving the chambers.

A small smile crept to Visenya's face but her mother had already left long before she could notice, she turned back around to stare at the fire with a sigh.Even without using words Rhaenyra had always been able to know exactly what Visenya was thinking or feeling, that may have been a bad thing when Visenya needed to lie her way out of trouble but it definitely connected the two a lot deeper.

𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 was not a fan of Visenya and nor was she a fan of it.She wasn't a morning person but she definitely wasn't a night person either.If she didn't lay wide awake for hours tossing and turning as her mind refused to shut down and allow itself to rest she would be woken up in the dead of the night by some obscure but terrifying nightmare.

The nightmares rarely related to her real life but it still shook her to her core, Visenya had once woken up half the castle with her blood curdling screams.She would shoot up shivering and covered in goosebumps, shaking as if she had been electrocuted, and feeling as if strings were being tightening around her heart and lungs squeezing the air out of her and taking control of her breath.

The after effects had become less severe as she grew older and the nightmares became less frequent, but they never fully went away.

Unfortunately for Visenya the night had cursed her and she woke up with a fright, widening her eyes only to be met with complete darkness, shivering from the winter atmosphere as a cold sweat dripped down her forehead.Before she had time to process what had happened, calm herself down and collet her breath her door burst open and her brother, Jaehaerys, marched in.

Visenya jumped clutching her cover tightly to her chest"What the fu-..."She stopped herself when she saw the tears that stained Jaehaerys cheek glimmer in the candle light that now shone in from the corridor.

Visenya sighed realising that he had also been awoken by night terrors.She tapped the empty side of the bed beside her before throwing herself back, her head landing on the pillow with a huff.

The two didn't exchange a word as Jaehaerys climbed in bed besides his sister, she heard him sniffling and breathily heavily as he shuffled to get comfortable but still didn't say anything.Jaehaerys was not as strong as he liked to admit, Visenya knew that, she thought it was pretty obvious but apparently not many noticed the princes cowering posture or grinding teeth when he was nervous.

Rhaenyra had constantly reminded the two growing up that they have a special bond and should appreciate it but they never understood what she meant, they didn't understand much of what there mother said since she often spoke in poetry.

Visenya had her back to Jaehaerys as she stared awkwardly at the crack of light which peeked through her door unsure of what to say or if she should say anything at all.

"Nightmare?"Visenya spoke, it sounding like more of a statement then a question since she already knew the answer.

Jaehaerys hummed in response which was shortly followed by another intense sniffle.The boy hesitated for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek, before reaching out and gently taking his sisters hand.Visenya didn't respond nor move her hand away, she simply let him grip it tightly as if she would slip away if he dared to let go.

Even if he was younger Jaehaerys protected his sister at all costs.Since she was the eldest he assumed there was no one protecting or looking out for Visenya, like she did for them, so he brought the role open himself to do so.

(A/N)

- - - - - -

Can u tell I couldn't think of a good chapter name?🥲

Tried focusing on her relationships with others(specifically with her family since it's a huge part of her character)and also i hate when an Oc's only purpose is to be a love interest and they have no layers or story of there own.

Also just to clarify Visenya is about 13/14 ish in this chapter and the next and then in chapter 3 she is 15/16.( the chapters after that are following the present hotd timeline where she is 18/19 )

( I also got rlly confused with the timeline of when they moved to dragonstone etc so we're just gonna ignore any mistakes with that😀)

There is a lot of filler chapters in this fic where there just a bunch of added scenes that don't follow the plot since the fic was barely 10 chapters without.

Anyways hope u all enjoyed and enjoy the rest of the story!!!

💌