Jaehaerys swallowed hard with every word that came from his mother. A feeling of heaviness settled in his chest; he didn't want to listen anymore. He looked to his side; Daenerys had a stoic expression that he couldn't ignore. Jaehaerys took the princess's hand; it was small and trembling. It must hurt her.
He wondered if Daenerys had his moon blood, would she continue to feel bad after hearing this news?
His romance with Sansa was before he was married, so he was not obliged to remain faithful to anyone. He never felt guilty about it.
"A daughter," he said aloud. He felt Daenerys' hand slip out of his. He take her hand again.
"Yes. Rhaelle Snow," said the queen mother. Jaehaerys could see the look of disapproval on her face.
"Snow." It bothered him that one of his children had been given that surname.
Bastard or not, she was her blood. She might not bear the Targaryen name, but he didn't want her to have the name shared by all those born on the wrong side of the cradle.
"And Tywin wants to screw me over and take my daughter as a hostage," said the prince.
"Don't make enemies with everyone," said the queen, in a reproachful tone.
"He wants to marry his heir to Sansa, thereby controlling my daughter... potentially controlling me and... the dragons," he told his mother.
Anger rose in his throat and made him want to vomit. He ended up swallowing the bitter lump with a glass of wine.
"I thought you had stopped drinking," his mother said, frowning at the crystal glass.
"Tywin can't have my daughter," he ignored his mother's words.
He had to talk to Eddard. It would be an uncomfortable conversation, but he needed to have it. Eddard was not a politician, but he would surely be able to see that leaving his granddaughter with the Lannisters would not be a good idea.
"If the girl has no Targaryen characteristics, it would be best for you to deny your paternity," Rhaella said. "She is bastard no one will blame you"
"I'll blame myself", he answered.
"For the sake of peace", she said, trying to convince him.
"That's impossible, Mother," Daenerys interrupted, to the surprise of both of them. "It would be best to bring Rhaella to ArgentStone, so she can be raised here, alongside her father," she justified her words. Jaehaerys understood instantly what she meant.
'An heir,' thought the prince. 'An heir in case Daenerys never...' He forced himself to stop that thought. It wasn't fair to think that way. He would find a way to restore his wife's fertility.
"I will leave for Casterly Rock at dawn. I want to get there before Stark," said the prince.
"There's no need to rush," said Rhaella, eager to rest a little from the journey.
"You will leave later. In the meantime, you can stay here as long as you wish," said the prince.
Rhaella wanted to interrupt him and force him not to rush, but she couldn't. He was no longer a little boy she could tell what to do; he was a grown man, with dragons and an army.
"Prepare an escort of men, fifty men," said the queen mother, offering him advice. "Daenerys and I will leave in a few days," she said finally, looking at her daughter.
Jaehaeys looked at Daenerys, leaving the decision of whether or not to attend the tournament up to her. He didn't want to make a decision for her. At first, he had refused to let her attend, but he couldn't rule over her at that moment; it would seem excessive.
Daenerys didn't respond, probably pondering whether it was worth attending or if it was better to stay in her castle.
"Dany, you can accompany me to my chambers," said the queen, interrupting her daughter's thoughts. "Every day I grow older and need more rest," she said as she rose effortlessly. Not setting an example with her words.
The princess squeezed Jaehaerys' hand before standing up and accompanying her mother.
The prince remained alone, lost in thought.
"A daughter," he repeated in disbelief. He was a father, of a girl no less.
He wondered what Eddard's face would have looked like when he found out his daughter was pregnant with a bastard—and Lady Catelyn's, who had a natural contempt for bastards. The image should be amusing; in his previous life, it would have been. Catelyn paying karma for how she mistreated Jon Snow.
But not in this life. In this life, his daughter would be branded by society as a second-class citizen.
Crack!
"My prince," Tohrren entered the room in record time. He looked at the table, broken in half. He sheathed his sword slowly as he breathed calmly.
"Get out," said Jaehaerys, picking up the papers that had fallen during his outburst.
"It's not logical for me to react like this," he tried to calm himself. But how could he? He had a daughter.
In the medieval world, a woman's life was quite challenging, often considered little better than that of livestock. A sound bargaining chip for forging alliances. A bastard daughter? She wasn't even suitable for forging coalitions, unless you were a very powerful lord whom others wanted even a small fraction of what you had.
Jaehaerys wasn't that powerful yet, but he had to become so soon.
He looked at the ceiling of his room.
"I can't change the past," he said to himself.
He made a mistake and had a daughter as a result. He couldn't change that. He could only make sure that his offspring's lives were as good as possible, and that included Sansa, of course.
'How to surpass the Lannisters' offer?' He didn't have a fraction of their gold, but he had dragons.
'Give one to the Starks?'
He would be mad to let his dragons out of his family. No, he had to give them something else, something the North desperately needed and couldn't refuse, even if Lord Eddard hated him for it.
He looked at his notebook, his notes. He had been working on several ways to take advantage of the natural resources of his lands.
'This... the Lannisters can't give them this,' he thought, looking at one page in particular. Now he had to find a way to approach Ned without the Lord drawing Ice to try to cut off his head.
---------
"To tell you the truth, Daenerys, I didn't understand your reaction," said the queen mother. Her daughter's face was marked with disappointment, but strangely, also with happiness.
"Neither do I," said Daenerys.
"Doesn't the situation bother you?"
"No. It just... bothers me that I can't give Jae children," she confessed in a whisper. The queen looked at Balon and Brandon walking beside her, and both men nodded.
"It may be difficult now, but they will come in time," she tried to comfort her in a sweet voice. Daenerys tried to smile at her words.
"Maybe they will. But if not, it would be best for Jae to have an heir. What he is doing here in Argentstone deserves to be passed on to his children," explained the princess.
"A bastard is not a suitable heir," said the queen, not wanting to think about the political repercussions and the impact that would have on the faith.
'A bastard from the north taking control of one of the greatest fortresses, if not the greatest, on the continent.' She did not want her family to face problems of that nature in the future.
"Keep trying. You need an heir," said the queen, trying not to sound too demanding.
"I hope to have one. But if not, Rhaelle will be the heir to Argentstone. I'm sure she can be legitimized and become a Targaryen by name; she already has the blood. Perhaps she could marry into a great house to be more accepted," said the princess.
"The heir doesn't have to be a... bastard," Rhaella had nothing against her granddaughter; she just thought it was inappropriate for her to be the heir to the castle. "It could be Viserys," she offered a different solution.
"No. The blood of Jaehaerys will continue to rule this castle," said Daenerys.
The princess loved her husband very much. And she knew how important Argentstone was to him. Perhaps it was partly the guilt of not being able to have a child that drove her to seek a replacement for her non-existent children. Rhaelle would have to do; she would defend the little girl's right, the blood of her husband.
She had previously thought that Jaehaerys could have a child with Ros and pass it off as hers. Daenerys wouldn't have minded. She would never hate anything that came from Jaehaerys.
She wanted children of her own, of course, but she already had three strong, grown children. "Mother of Dragons," she had heard some maids call her by that alias. It made her very proud. She might not have human children, but her children ruled the skies, perhaps with Jaehaerys's offspring.
"Reconsider, daughter, for the sake of the family," Rhaella insisted.
"There is nothing to reconsider, mother. I have made my decision. Please respect it," she said to Rhaella, taking her hands as she spoke.
"I cannot," said the queen.
Daenerys sighed sadly as she hugged her. It would have been wonderful to have her family's support. She had already prepared herself for the possible mockery that would come from the ladies of Westeros.
'Just one roar from Blackfyre will shut them up,' the princess had not made public the name she chose for her dragon, but it seemed inappropriate to her.
It was the name of the king's sword.
-----------------------
Author: I still haven't decided whether to keep that name for the dragon... but damn, I'm finding it pretty hard to come up with a name I like.