Visenya

Kingslanding

"Hello daughter," Aerys said, sitting upon the throne and paying her the attention she had asked of him. "I presume this is important, I have cleared my court for this."

Arianne cleared her throat, unable to look at him for no longer than a few moments. She gazed up at Rhaegar, who sent her a knowing smile, and then to Rhaella, who looked away from her in shame. "I am with child. Maester Pycelle has told me it is a girl."

There was a short silence, none of the three knowing exactly how to respond. "All the more reason for me to have those Dornish bastards of your killed," Aerys laughed, his words directed to Rhaegar.

There would be no need for that, Rhaegar told himself. He had written to Elia since she had so conveniently forgotten that those were the grandchildren of a Mad King she had taken and told her to flee Dorne and not tell anyone where she had gone. Oberyn had written back, confirming she had left, easing Rhaegar's mind a little. When Aerys was dead she could return, and he could see his children.

Standing from the throne Aerys neared Arianne. He walked down the steps, granted it did take him a while, past his Kingsguard and placed a hand on her stomach. "You have done your father proud. Finally, a true line is secured." Aerys lifted his cold hand and turned back around, leaving the Throne Room through the back doors.

Rhaella, who had waited for the doors to close behind the Kingsguard rushed down the steps and brought Arianne into a hug. She did not say any words, her body saying them all for her. I'm sorry. Congratulations. I love you dearly. Rhaella sensed an agitated Rhaegar behind her, she kissed Arianne on the cheek. "I am so proud of you." And so Serene would be. "Of both of you," she repeated, turning to Rhaegar and patting his chest. She moved out of the way, turning to leave the same way that Aerys had. Rhaella sniffed, trying to keep from crying as she moved into the private passage that led to her quarters. She could not believe that her son was having another child, and her second son had been sent away. She could not believe she'd be bringing another child into the world that Aerys had created.

Arianne looked up at Rhaegar expectedly, unsure of what to make of his expression. He was unsure if she would be comforted by his touch, so he placed a hand on her hand. "You are having a daughter," Rhaegar smiled coyly. Arianne nodded, there was so much she had wanted to say to him. "You are having my daughter. She will be called Visenya, Visenya the dragon-rider." Rhaegar smiled, resting his hand on her stomach. Exactly where Aerys hand had been only a few moments earlier. The only difference being that Arianne enjoyed his touch, and it seemed whatever was inside her did as well. Her whole body warmed up, and she pulled Rhaegar in for a hug.

"I'm sorry-,"

Rhaegar placed an elegant finger on her lips. "Don't be. I understand."

"Kiss me," Arianne smiled, pulling him in closer.

Rhaegar smiled, placing a sweet kiss on her lips. They tasted of strawberries and lemon cakes, he wondered if Visenya would be born addicted to sweets as Arianne was.

In all honesty, he was nervous. They hadn't been close in a moon, and he was never one to sleep with another. Well ... there were Cersei and Alyse, but they didn't count. If anything, they were there to keep his bed warm and lend an ear to listen to his troubles when he was feeling overwhelmed, and when Arianne had left him to fend for himself when she had ignored him. But now he had Arianne and there was nothing anyone could do to change that, he was to father a child with a woman he himself had chosen, even if it was indirectly. "Come," Rhaegar whispered, taking her hand in his and leading the way from out of the Throne Room. "Don't follow us," he told the guards behind him, indicating to the sword that was at his hip. The guards dressed in Targaryen armour stepped back and bowed.

"Where are we going?" Arianne asked him, skipping a few steps to catch up with him.

"To speak, in private."

They reached the guest house that Rhaegar had commissioned before they were married, the very one they had left the day of Rickard's death. The very one they spent two weeks in, doing very little talking. Arianne couldn't believe it had been six weeks since their wedding, feeling it was just yesterday. He clicked open the door, and sat down on the first seat he saw, pulling Arianne down next to him on the plush cushions. "How are you feeling?"

Arianne looked away from him, "as one would when they have had to kill the man who raised them."

Rhaegar swallowed the forming lump in his throat. He stood from his seat for a brief moment, pacing the room as if he were looking for something. He found it; it was a folded-up letter that was sitting on a small table. "Rickard told me he thought the King was to send him to the Wall, and I think for a brief moment he thought he could challenge it. There is no challenging my-,"

"Our father," Arianne interjected, Rhaegar sent a confused look her way. "Stop lying to yourself Rhaegar."

"What are you talking about?"

"J-," she thought about her words. "Jaime told me, fa-...Ri-...Lord Stark, he went to Starfall only spending a sennight there. How could I be conceived and born in a sennight Rhaegar?" Arianne asked him, biting her lip as she waited for his response.

Rhaegar, who had believed what his mother had told him, was now wondering Rhaella's motives for lying to him. Did she think we wouldn't agree to wed? "I don't care," Rhaegar interjected. "We are made for each other Arianne." He wasn't sure if she had brought it up to try and move away from him again, as she had done last time. It had made her physically ill, so what would her reaction be this time? "Do you care?"

She sent a small smile his way, "I kissed you not a few moments ago you oaf, I couldn't care if you had one eye and three noses. I just wanted you to know as well."

"I do not care in the slightest," Rhaegar responded, taking her face in his hands, leaning and kissing her. They both knew the time away from each other had left them yearning for each other more, but now wasn't the time to act on those actions. She waited for him to continue what he had begun saying. "there is no challenging our father," Rhaegar continued. "I was supposed to speak to Brandon before he left, but the Northern party left so quickly I didn't have a chance. So, instead, I wrote to him what Rickard wanted him to know – to not grow hot-headed, not to be impulsive and think about his actions. To marry Lyanna to Robert, for the Stormlands as an ally. This was his response," Rhaegar said his breath shaky as he handed Arianne the piece of parchment.

Arianne, who was not sure why Rhaegar was so nervous to show her the letter, took it from his hands. She opened it, saw the image inside, felt her breath catch and ripped it apart. Brandon had sent back a drawn image of a direwolf devouring three baby dragons, beneath it the words 'fire and blood' – the Targaryen words that Aegon the Conqueror had seen fit for his growing house.

Why would Brandon send something like that? Arianne asked herself. He knew that the Mad King was MAD. Perhaps he thought Rhaegar wouldn't tell anyone about it. "Have you shown that to anyone?" Arianne asked him. Even when Brandon was committing treasonous acts she would look out for him, he had the North to look after now, there was no time to act like a hot-headed young man.

"No, and I doubt I can now," Rhaegar lied. He sighed, picking up the torn pieces from the floor. "Brandon is just angry, and he is hot-blooded."

"He wouldn't," Arianne responded, her eyes giving away her true thoughts. Her light purple eyes stared into Rhaegar's indigo eyes. He won't. Brandon wouldn't be foolish enough to rebel against Aerys, Arianne knew that Ned or Catelyn would keep him at bay. If not for his brother and wife, his bannermen would refuse it.

Rhaegar, who was tired of worrying about it, he had spent for too long looking down at the image, rested his head on her shoulder. He had shown it to the Seer, Vesta Sene, who assured Rhaegar that Brandon wouldn't rise against Aerys. "Nothing will come of it, don't worry."

"What does it mean?" Rhaegar asked Vesta, handing him the sketch. "No, I know what it means, will it happen?" With Arianne's absence, he had been relying heavily on Vesta's comforting words.

"No," Vesta sighed from his seat, throwing the paper back down on the table. "He is just angry; he will not rise against the King."

Rhaegar bit his lip. He had just returned from saying his farewells to Viserys, the young boy was to ward in Essos. He knew his little brother would feel saddened without his mother, but he would grow and understand what it meant to be a Prince. "What of my three dragons?"

Vesta rolled his eyes, "how many times are we to go over this?"

"Tell me once more," Rhaegar said, the prophecy relaxed him. It put his heart at ease knowing all would be well soon enough. "One daughter, two sons. Three dragons. The Prince that was promised is not Aegon, nor is it you. It will be your son."

Arianne's breathes brought him back from his memory, "are you alright?" Rhaegar asked her.

"We are never given peace," Arianne confessed. "There is always something on our minds."

"We have peace now," Rhaegar noted, indicating to the empty room. He did miss the few times they had together, where they used to talk about their dreams, their past, their childhoods. He'd never forget holding her from his balcony when she laughed at his admittance of never wanting to become a warrior.

"What is so wrong with a Prince who is bookish?"

Arianne let out a squeal, holding onto his hand tightly. "Forgive me! I didn't mean offence," she was still laughing.

Rhaegar squeezed her waist, half her body was hanging from the balcony and her feet were as heavy as stone as she tried to move his hand from her head. "Apologise," Rhaegar joked, shaking her head with his hand. He stood behind her, and to anyone who was looking from afar, it looked as if they were playing out an odd sexual fantasy.

Arianne looked down at the water beneath his balcony, "I'm sorry!" He let go of her, pulling her upper body back up. "Are you insane!?" Arianne shouted at him, hitting his chest as she felt the blood from her head rush down her body.

"It is said it'll come to me soon."

"We do," Arianne smiled, tracing her hand on her stomach. Amid all the commotion of Brandon's behaviour, she had little time to share with Rhaegar the joys of being parents. Well, he had already experienced it, but never with her.

Rhaegar placed his own hand over it, "I can't wait until she is here. My Visenya."

"Our Visenya," Arianne corrected him smiling, nonetheless. They spoke from there for hours, the singing birds outside quietened down, almost as if they were listening to their words. Rhaegar spoke of wanting to return to Summerhall and how he missed his birthplace. He talked also of Dragonstone and how much he believed Arianne would enjoy it there.

"Would you like to go there? To get away from this place?" Rhaegar asked her.

Arianne propped her legs on top of his, "I will go anywhere you go," she smiled back, moving closer to him and running her hands through his silver hair.

There was quiet in the room, the only sound coming from the sheer blinds that blew in the wind. He looked to her, his wife. She looked bright, lighter than she was when he first saw her at Harrenhal. Something about staying inside for too long had changed her skin tone and given it a glowing colour. Or perhaps that was due to Visenya. Her cheeks were pink, her brow furrowed, and her body called his name over and over again.

Rhaegar moved her freshly washed hair from her shoulder and then she slid the fabric of her dress away from it, kissing her shoulder. She did not need words to know what he was instituting, so she moved her legs from the floor to wrap around his waist. They had grown to understand each other without words during their honeymoon period, speaking so little that Arianne wondered if he would ever tire of fucking. The answer was no, he did not. The private garden's, the dining table, the bed, the floors, the bathing tub – he'd initiate everywhere and anywhere. To the point where Arianne felt herself grow tired of his presence towards the end of it, and she knew her coldness came out the day Rickard was executed.

Rhaegar smiled up at her, kissing her lips tenderly as he worked to rid her dress. He slid both sleeves out and watched as Arianne wriggled out of it. The dress fell, only a little, to her waist. Arianne then unlaced his shirt and pulled it from his head, leaving them both partly naked and enjoying the heat from each other's body. Rhaegar kissed her once more, this time, the hunger for her touch showing itself as he bit her lip. He lifted her up using his knees for a brief moment, undid the laces on his trousers and sat her back down.

He wanted to rid it all, for a time. To forget about how stressed he was, how the Kingdoms were falling from Targaryen grasp thanks to his father, how he felt so alone yet so surrounded. Rhaegar just wanted to feel ... as a Prince expecting a child should. Unbothered, happy and proud.

Arianne had now rested her head in the space between his neck and shoulder, her moans so close to his ear that he felt them infiltrating his mind – ridding him of his stressful thoughts. Rhaegar held onto her waist, conscious not to hold too tightly. He felt sweat on his brow, the light wind outside helping a little. She took his hand from her waist and placed it by their side, taking control now and leaving Rhaegar to enjoy. It was Rhaegar's turn to moan, closing his eyes as he did so. This was what it meant to be a Prince he thought to himself, smiling slightly.

...