Viserys wandered through the market with his soul weighed down by bitterness.
The bustle of Vaes Dothrak, the smells of roasted meat and cured leather, and the curious stares of the Dothraki only intensified his sense of humiliation. That savage city was no place for a king.
Just as he was about to turn back, a voice caught his attention.
It was a speech.
Viserys stopped when he recognized the Common Tongue. As he drew closer, he clearly heard the words of a woman speaking of prophecies, bleeding stars, and ice demons.
He could not help letting out a mocking laugh.
"Only ignorant barbarians would believe in nonsense like prophecies and divinations."
The woman lifted her gaze when she heard him.
Her eyes were calm, deep, and showed neither fear nor anger.
"The Conqueror saw the prophecy of Fire and Ice in his dreams," she replied serenely. "A prophecy that House Targaryen has passed down from generation to generation."
She paused briefly and shook her head.
"I force no one to believe my words. If you do not wish to listen, you may leave."
Viserys's blood boiled.
"How dare you tell me what to do?!" he roared. "I am the king!"
Rhaenys blinked, clearly surprised.
She studied him closely, as if evaluating a stranger… or a madman.
"Are you out of your mind?" she asked. "Do you truly believe you are the king?"
Those words were like a spark in a powder keg.
"You are not permitted to speak to me like that!" Viserys shouted.
Ser Jorah, who was standing behind him, stepped forward and raised his voice with formality.
"Viserys III of House Targaryen, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm."
An uncomfortable silence followed the proclamation.
Then, a guard standing behind the woman stepped forward.
"Rhaenys Targaryen," he announced. "Daughter of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Princess Elia Martell. Survivor of the Sack of King's Landing when she was still a child. Second chosen of the god Thor Horse Head and first wife of Khal Kerse."
The words fell like thunder.
Jorah and Viserys were petrified.
Rhaenys let out a brief laugh.
"Greetings, dear uncle," she said softly. "At last, we meet."
Viserys reacted as if he had been bitten.
"Rhaenys Targaryen died in King's Landing!" he shouted. "She was murdered years ago! Do you think I'm an idiot? And look at your hair! It's black! You are definitely not a true Targaryen!"
He raised his voice with contempt.
"We Targaryens have violet eyes and silver-gold hair."
Like Daenerys.
The woman before him did not fit that image, and that alone was enough for Viserys to mock her in his mind.
She's just trying to pass herself off as my niece to steal my throne, he thought furiously.
"Believe it or not, I am a true Targaryen," Rhaenys replied calmly. "My appearance comes from my mother. My husband, Khal Kerse, can attest to that."
At first, Viserys wanted to dismiss her as a jealous fraud.
But something stopped him.
He looked at her more closely.
The angle of her face. The shape of her gaze. An unsettling echo of Rhaegar's face, his older brother.
His heart sank.
If that was true… there was no reason at all to feel relieved.
She was already married to Kerse.
He had given Daenerys away in exchange for an army.
If he had known that Rhaenys was still alive and already the wife of that savage, he would never have allowed that marriage.
He would have used his sister.
Or his niece.
After all, the Targaryens had always protected their blood through marriages between relatives. No one within their lineage saw that as unnatural.
If not for his obsession with reclaiming the Iron Throne, he would never have handed Daenerys over to a barbarian.
But now the situation was intolerable.
The savage had two women with dragon blood.
Two.
He would not allow this to continue.
He would order Kerse to return Daenerys to him… or to give him Rhaenys.
He did not care what had happened between them and that man.
He did not care if they already carried bastards in their wombs.
As long as one gave him an army of tens of thousands,
and the other ensured heirs with dragon blood…
That would be enough.