The Crimson Dragon |ASOIAF|

A New Reality

Four moons had passed since Rosalind McDaniels was murdered in a supermarket parking lot by a deranged drug addict and was reborn in A Song of Ice and Fire as Lilyanna Targaryen, the third daughter of King Viserys I Targaryen and the second of his second wife, Queen Alicent Hightower.

I'm so fucking bored!

There wasn't much to do as a newborn, and it was demeaning not being able to do anything by herself, having to be fed, washed, clothed, and changed by a rotation of different women.

Now Lilyanna was laying in the cradle she shared with Helaena, the two had just been fed by their wet-nurse, an experience that her adult mind continued to feel embarrassed by.

Alicent was in the room, standing next to the cradle and looking down at them awkwardly. She was not surprised by the reaction; she knew from House of the Dragon and now firsthand that Alicent Hightower was not a natural when it came to motherhood.

It was expected of a child who was forced to have children of her own when she herself had not finished growing and was now expected to perform a duty that she was not prepared for. It was easier for Alicent to watch the wet nurses and nannies care for the children.

Lilyanna mentally sighed as she watched Alicent reach for Helaena, once the babe was in her mother's arms, she immediately began wailing. The Queen tried to calm her daughter; the servants were standing by just as awkwardly, silently watching the display. After about ten minutes Alicent gave up and handed Helaena over to the nearest maid who began to gently rock Helaena, her crying slowly tapering off.

Lilyanna soon started gurgling, intentionally drawing her new mother's attention. Alicent's expression lighten up a bit when she heard her youngest, she carried Lilyanna in her arms, a smile forming when she did not cry.

"Hello, there." Alicent spoke softly, "You are such a quiet babe, Lily."

The young Queen often felt as if she was drowning when it came to motherhood. With Aegon, she struggled to love him and found herself reminded of her lackluster marriage and the end of her childhood whenever she looked at him during his infancy. And now she had Helaena crying her little lungs out every time she tried to hold her, actively trying to get away from her whenever she approached.

These feelings amplified whenever she saw Rhaenyra with her children. The Princess was warm and nurturing to her siblings, looking like The Mother reborn whenever she held them.

With Aegon and Helaena having the same features as Rhaenyra and with the two of them being more receptive to their sister than Alicent, it was easy for those who did not know any better to assume that Rhaenyra was their mother.

But not with Lilyanna...

Lilyanna Targaryen had quickly become the apple of her mother's eye. She made Alicent feel needed in a way that no other person ever had before.

Lilyanna believed the strong attachment formed for two reasons: First, she did not act like a normal infant. Unlike her siblings, she did not cry, scream, or throw tantrums like Aegon, and enjoyed their mother's affections unlike Helaena.

Second, was the fact that she was born intersex. Lilyanna knew that the consensus about her was that she was an abomination that the King and Queen should have killed. This caused Alicent to show a type of possessive protectiveness towards her daughter that had not been witnessed within the Hightower until the night her second son, Aemond had his eye taken by Rhaenyra's Strong Boys.

If her current and soon to be born siblings belonged to the Realm as normal princes and princesses, Lilyanna would be the only one that belonged solely to Alicent Hightower.