Queen Rhaenys Targaryen was the second-born child of the late Prince Aemon and Queen Visaera Targaryen, the youngest of twins, and their eldest daughter.

She and her twin brother Rhaegar were both dragonriders. Rhaenys rode the dragon Vhaegon. She was the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms from the year 420 to 431 AC.

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Appearance and Character

Rhaenys was considered a handsome beauty, resembling her mother by her stoic nature. She had long, silver hair, and flaring indigo eyes. She had a dark arm, black and cracked, obtained from the Priestess Ash.

Towards the end of her years, Rhaenys grew plump, and could scarcely find the strength to walk. She grew into a maternal sort of beauty, but in the months before her death was pale, and looked almost sickly, according to Maester Girardis.

History

Early Years

Rhaenys Targaryen came into the world on the heels of her twin brother, Rhaegar, literally, and has been determined to fight her way out of his shadow ever since. Born upon Dragonstone as the second child and eldest daughter of Prince Aemon and Princess Visaera, Rhaenys has never felt truly at home anywhere else - whether the family traveled to Essos for extended periods of time, or lived within the Red Keep - and has always proven restless when away from those familiar grounds, wracked by sleepless nights or nightmares, or even screaming fits as a baby, calmed only by close proximity to her twin, if calmed at all.

The two were inseparable as children, and even the traditional dragon eggs placed with the babes must have felt the strength of the siblings’ bond - for the beasts hatched on the same stormy night in their cribs. Rhaenys proved the more willful and stubborn of the pair, speaking the word “no” before uttering so much as another sound, while the twins terrorized the nursemaids tasked with their handling under the supervision of a mother who was not wont to embrace or shower them with affection beyond the time allotted them at her breast.

The sibling’s rivalry began innocently enough once they had outgrown the nursery with the games that all small children tend to play: monsters-and-maidens, lord of the crossing, come-into-my-castle, hopfrog, rats and cats, and even one of their own creation - dragons and knights, which got their animals involved and too-often ended with something set ablaze. Favors were traded in the end, or toys usurped, and now and then a stolen kiss was the ultimate prize - affections neither encouraged nor discouraged by parents that held the secret of the betrothal of their eldest children close to their hearts.

Taming a Dragon

In their youth, it was Rhaenys who flew in the face of caution, issuing dares and answering them herself without hesitation. At the age of eight, it was the princess who was the first to climb upon the back of her dragon, Vhaegon, and usher orders for him to take flight with her holding fast, racing the wind. Her sense of accomplishment and the victorious smile that shone bright enough to light up features were tarnished when instead of being praised by her mother, she watched as Visaera turned her back and forced Rhaegar upon the back his own beast, bidding him to bring Nightwing to heel. That her father, Prince Aemon, had regaled her as his very own Visenya when he learned of the news was a triumph that paled somehow by comparison.

A Call to Arms

When time came that Rhaegar was shown to the yard to begin training at arms after breaking his fast each day, Rhaenys found that she was forced onto another path instead at the behest of a well-meaning Septa who had long-since learned to hold fast to the girl’s arm lest she wrest herself free and disappear to play outside. While time in the library often led to books of dragonlore stolen away, up the steps of the Stone Drum, where their pictures might be perused in the comfort of the Chamber of the Painted Table, Rhaenys would have much rather been at her brother’s side. One particular afternoon found her embroidery threads knotting, leading to a tempestuous rage and a refusal to waste any more of her time at the task. While her septa sought after her mother to make a report, the princess found her way to her twin brother, stealing away the practice sword he’d been fumbling with and using it instead to swipe and slice at any men-at-arms who threatened to take it away from her.

That her mother paused long enough to watch as Rhaenys exorcised a righteous fury in the yard that left pale any of her brother’s training to date was no small matter; it was attention enough that saw a sword of her own fitted into her hand the following day at her father's behest - after being sent to her room without supper by her mother's will. The end had justified the means, and the princess proved herself to those that trained her, as well as to her mother. Praise from the woman, however, was withheld as usual, while barbs were the encouragement that the prince and heir received for being bested by a girl time and again.

Brotherly Love

As teenagers, the pair remained as close as ever, seeking comfort in the other’s company in lieu of expectations of affection from parents who seemed increasingly unable to express such emotions as the years went on - even to one another. The games of childhood were long forgotten, but not the thrill of contesting each other - and the competitive streak between them grew more fiercely with each passing year. By their five-and-tenth name day, Rhaenys was no longer taller than her brother, nor was she the sure bet when they sparred together in the yard, though her confidence would not be shaken. As such, she laughed when a new game proposed by her brother demanded a kiss for a prize.

In the wake of his victory, the simple caress satisfied neither of them. On the grassy floor of Aegon’s Garden, she would give Rhaegar her maidenhead.

In the afterglow, a future that had always been assumed became far more real. Who better, after all, to be married to than her own twin? The boy she knew and loved best? Daydreams shattered like the looking-glass that fell to her feet when Rhaenys chanced to overhear one of her ladies boasting of time spent in the young prince’s arms. Walls sprang up overnight around a wounded heart to protect a bruised ego rendered foolish by a mind that knew better. Feelings were fettered while a certain coolness affected their interactions thereafter; kisses were refused and offered hands to hold ignored.

The Dragonmaids

Gossiping ladies-in-waiting who spent far too much time fawning over the latest fashions while fluttering their lashes at any and every knight-come-eligible bachelor that passed their way did not, Rhaenys decided, make for ideal companions - especially when they had designs on capturing the apparently fickle heart of her elder brother, Prince Rhaegar - and the three she had previously retained were summarily relieved of their positions with little explanation and a lot of assumptions about the whims of a mercurial Targaryen princess. Meanwhile, as mounting tensions between the twins too often came to a head and erupted during sparring sessions, it was decided that the pair ought to be trained separately in an effort to preserve the relationship beyond what had been perceived by their parents solely as sibling rivalry.

A Dornish girl, the daughter of an aging kitchen maid maybe half a year older than Rhaenys at the time, was the first to be offered the chance to train alongside the princess, a change from what accounted to the day-to-day doldrums of a handmaid otherwise. Others followed in her wake, two of them from other Crownlands houses who'd have made unlikely handmaidens if not for their size and bulk, then for eschewing more proper and far more ladylike pursuits.

With Prince Aemon at court serving as Hand of the King, the princess's change in retinue did not go unnoticed by her kin in the Red Keep. When her father presented his teenaged daughter and her ladies during a visit to King's Landing, King Aenar remarked about how his blossoming great-granddaughter looked more and more like her mother with each passing year and marveled at the sheer size of some of her dragon maids as he called them. The name was fitting and stuck.

The Black Princess

Rhaenys had never been accused of being a particularly pleasant sort of creature once the realization had dawned on the youth that there simply was no pleasing people like her mother, for instance. The princess had ever been defiant, willful, and quick to run afoul of, given an eager temper. Smiles became rare expressions even where her father and twin were concerned, for as years passed, time afforded them together seemed in short supply. Absence does not always make the heart grow fonder - even though separation was self-inflicted in some regards - but turns it colder. Darker.

And when Prince Aemon left for Essos in 405 AC, a foolish girl too long held out hope for the return of a beloved father, allowing mourning hues to taint far more than the clothes still adorned some two years after the Prince of Dragonstone was pronounced dead and his titles passed, not to his son, but to his sister-wife. When her twin disappeared without a word upon the back of his dragon Nightwing in a similar fashion in early 407 AC, with rumor suggesting a similar course, the princess might have feared the same fate, convinced by the night terrors that raged in his absence, but none have dared pose such inquiries for fear that it will be only by the grace of their blood spilled that scarlet ever return to her wardrobe elsewise.

Recent Events

407 AC

The year began with the announcement of the Tournament of Harrenhal, where all the lords and ladies of the Realm would compete against one another in a grand competition. For Rhaenys, it was a point of pride as the young woman had intended to enlist herself in the joust. Though her pride was thrown out the window by her mother, Visaera, Rhaenys went through with the plan during the Tournament.

Entering the lists as a Mystery Knight, Rhaenys went against Leyton Hightower during a round of the Joust. The Prince struck her arm as their lances met, and Rhaenys was wounded significantly, losing the majority of the use of her right arm, which was also her sword arm.

The two moons that followed were a tumult of loathing for Rhaenys as she slowly began to overcome the maiming, though not fully. Hers was a struggle to regain that which she most ultimately desired -- the ability to wield a blade once again.

Rhaenys would ultimately have her wish during the Ninth Moon of 407 AC after joining Selenya Targaryen on her excursion to Massey's Hook. Though hers was a story that would ultimately conclude in The Encounter at Massey's Hook, Rhaenys was confronted by Laenor, her younger brother, and given the Black Princess' Wrath, an extremely effective poison said to be potent enough to kill a dragon.

Rhaenys returned to King's Landing shortly after Laenor, and upon immediate arrival, sought out The Temple of R'hllor near Flee Bottom, and encouraged the priests there to heal her broken arm. She was introduced to Soot and Ash, the latter of which managed to heal her broken arm in a dark ritual in the following hours. She did not heal her arm in a traditional manner, however.

"But this... this black drank the light from the room. Smooth, the skin was, but it ran with cracks that themselves ran with lines of red thin and and livid and pulsing..." ― The thoughts of Leyton Hightower, regarding the Princess's black arm.

When Rhaenys emerged hours later, her arm was blackened and charred. Akin to greyscale, her skin was cracked and black, shining like obsidian. Between the cracks, her veins pulsed. Ash claimed it as a victory of R'hllor and Rhaenys insisted on giving her a reward, to which the Priestess only asked for safety.

Rhaenys sought out her mother immediately after. She inquired as to the release of Leyton Hightower, but her mother denied her attempt to take him with her to Dragonstone. Rhaenys would ultimately see him in the following days, teasing him with what might have been.

At the beginning of the tenth moon, Rhaenys returned to Dragonstone atop the back of Vhaegon in the midst of a storm. She met with her sister Aelinor, who had just hatched her own dragon. Their moment reunited was short lived, however, as they returned to King's Landing not three weeks later. During her time on Dragonstone, Rhaenys managed to acquire the Valyrian Steel blade, Truth, from Kaelon Rogare, who had just washed up on the holdfast's shores.

After returning to King's Landing, Rhaenys was heralded at court and named the Princess of Summerhall after her cousin, Maekar, was attainted. Tasked first with retaking her new home, Rhaenys set about to the Stormlands, and with the help of five-hundred of Gwayne Baratheon's men, secured the holding without bloodshed.

Rhaenys had previously issued a challenge to her cousin, Maekar, hoping that he would meet her at Summerhall and contest her. After waiting the two weeks she had issued him, Rhaenys continued west, towards Highgarden. Her tactics at Bitterbridge and Highgarden secured bloodless victories for Gareth Tyrell and his Reacher army, all but ending Maekar Targaryen's rebellion before it started.

Returning home to a sick Selenya Targaryen, Rhaenys nursed her until she died, promising her that her child, Visenya, would have a place at court and at her side, and that her last words to Rhaegar would not go unspoken. Though Rhaenys had initially despised the woman, she managed to overcome her her dislike, and came to pity her.

408-418

Marriage and Tour

Rhaenys was wed to Rhaegar Targaryen in the Second Moon of 408 AC. Their marriage began quickly, and as they began their tour of Westeros, Rhaenys quickly learned that she was with child. In the Eleventh Moon of 408 AC, Rhaenyra Targaryen was born in King's Landing, the first of five children between the two. An egg was placed in Rhaenyra's cradle - the first of Tyraxes' clutch.

Rhaenys doted on Rhaenyra as much as she doted on Visenya Silvermoon, Selenya's child by Rhaegar. Though Rhaenyra was her favourite, Rhaenys quickly endeared herself to both, distancing herself from her Dragonmaids for a time before returning to their embrace.

Upon the behest of her mother, an expansion of Summerhall began. During this time, Aegon Targaryen returned for the items that once belonged to him. Rhaenys allowed him to retrieve them, leaving him with a warning to never return.

The Fires of Summerhall

Rhaenys spent some time with her child in Summerhall, during which time she grew further distanced with her Dragonmaids. She allowed Maesters to perform limited experiments on her black arm, and took in the distanced scion of House Hightower, Malora, as a personal retainer.

Through Malora, Rhaenys was afforded some time to reconnect with Lord Hightower. Infrequent correspondence between the two had them speaking both insults and pleasantries to one another, keeping each other up to date on the happenings in the Hightower and the Royal Court.

Though the foundation of Rhaenys' trust had never been built, her mislike of the Hightower slowly waned over these moons.

Rhaenys returned to King's Landing some time later. During the middle months of 410 AC, Rhaenys learned again that she was with child, and as she grew heavy in the belly, Rhaenys found less and less time to spend with her Dragonmaids, keeping in contact with only Delphine constantly.

In the Second Moon of 411 AC, Rhaenys gave birth to the future King of Westeros, named Aegon Targaryen.

After his birth, Rhaenys took to Summerhall once again, where she learned from Malora of a woman named Toveine, who had come looking for her. Toveine had abandoned her earlier, during the Mummer's War, and though Rhaenys had not initially cared, she viewed it as an insult that she might return.

Rhaenys invited her back to Summerhall, where, in one dark night, Rhaenys strangled the woman to death after learning of a new romantic affair between her and someone else.

Tying Loose Ends

The death of Toveine would lend towards the slow, deliberate end of the Dragonmaids as Rhaenys Targaryen slowly grew distanced with them. While her relationship had initially been warm, if not loving, towards a majority of them, she grew distant over the months. All of her dragonmaids, save Cyndane and Delphine slowly abandoned the Princess's retinue, and she hardly had any care for it.

Those that left would face unfortunate fates. Jiang was toppled from a boat, while Aurelia met her end at a blade in the night.

Just short of a year after Aegon's birth, Rhaenys learned that she was once again with child. In the Eleventh Moon of 412, Rhaenys went into labor in what she described as the darkest night of her life. There was a very strong possibility that if the Grand Maester had not been there to attend her, the Princess might've died.

The boy that came of her intense labor was named Aemond. He was a huge, strapping lad, and Rhaenys took to him immediately, perhaps even more so than her other children.

Silvermoon

Choosing to remain in King's Landing until the birth of her third son, Daemon, Rhaenys took once again to Rhaenyra and Visenya, beginning to teach both the arts of the blade, though the latter seemed completely disinterested. Rhaenys would often read with Visenya, and began to expand her knowledge of the worldly subjects, understanding them far better than she had before.

Her doting on Visenya would only help to begin the rivalry between Rhaenyra and Silvermoon, though Rhaenys seemed oblivious at first, learning of it only after the birth of Daemon, in the Second Moon of 415 AC.

The Princess found herself once again with child not shy of six moons later, and in the Eighth Moon of 416 AC, gave birth to another boy, named Aerion.

The Finishing of Summerhall

The expansion of Summerhall finished early in the year 417 AC, and Rhaenys took all of her children to witness it's grand splendour. Once Rhaenyra and Visenya had both taken to their dragons, the Princess would fly with them often, taking trips between King's Landing, Dragonstone, and Summerhall frequently, often alongside her husband, Prince Rhaegar.

418 AC

And early in 418 AC, just before the announcement of the Grand Tourney of Summerhall, Rhaenys learned that she was once again with child. Since, the Princess has remained at Summerhall with Rhaenyra, while the rest of court celebrated yet another heir to the Targaryen dynasty in King's Landing.

Rhaenys has spent a great deal of time managing the affairs of Summerhall, and has begun preparations for the Grand Tournament, intending for it to 'stun the world,' as cited in a short letter addressed to Leyton Hightower.

A Mother's Death

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Obsessions

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Suspicions

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Confrontation

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Death

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Family Members & Household

Targaryen Family Tree