NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Chapter 1
3rd Moon 94 A. C:
On a warm day of the 3rd moon in the year 94 A.C., two births took place in the Red Keep, but only one of them would bring a living child into the world, namely Baelon Tagaryen, the first grandson of the heir to the Iron Throne, Prince Baelon, after whom he was named and the first great-grandson of the good King Jaehaerys who had already sat on the Iron Throne for 46 years that year.
Jaehaerys was not present for the birth like the rest of his family, because he had a dream the night before.
A dream so light that it could only be true. It reminded him of the stories his mother told him about Daenys' dragon dreams. In the dream, he saw a dragon egg that could not have been more fitting for a Targaryen prince. It was black with red elements that spread like cracks on the egg. The colors of a Targaryen.
When he woke up the next morning, he immediately sent a Dragonkeeper to secure the egg for his grandson or granddaughter and to have it warmed in a cradle. But when the Dragonkeeper came back and reported that there was no such egg, at least not in the dragon pit in King's Landing, Jaehaerys decided that the egg must be one of Silverwing or Vaghar, since they were the only two dragons that laid eggs and were not in King's Landing. So Jaehaerys decided to fly to Dragonstone with Vermithor to look for the egg in Dragonmont. When he arrived there, the garrison and the steward were very surprised by his arrival, since it was clear to everyone that both Princess Rhaenys and Princess Aemma were about to give birth. After a few explanations and a short search, the dragon egg was found in Silverwing's nest and looked as if it had not seen the light of day a few moments ago.
Jaehaerys set off with the egg back to the Red Keep as fast as his old bones and the Bronze fury could carry him. When he returned, he felt uneasy, but when he looked down at the egg in his arms, a small spark of hope filled him. And so he walked with determined steps through the Red Keep and approached the chambers of Rhaenys and Aemma until he stopped in front of the doors and asked the guards there where the rest of his family was. They answered that most of them were with Aemma and Viserys, as she had given birth to a boy and they were now celebrating the arrival of the boy Baelon. The rest, consisting of Queen Alysanne and Lord Corlys Velaryon, were with Princess Rhaenys, from whom one could only hear quiet sobbing and not cries of euphoria and joy like in the next room.
After the old king had taken in the information, he naturally wanted to go straight to his eldest descendant and support her, just like his wife did, but he had the feeling that the egg that he had just been able to carry without any problems was now getting heavier and heavier, as if it no longer belonged to him and demanded to be returned to its rightful owner.
And so he brought himself to open the door to Aemma's room and look into the happy faces of his family. There on the bed lay Aemma with a small bundle in her hands. It didn't cry like Jaehaerys knew from his own children, but just looked around searchingly. But when he saw the egg in Jaehaeryse's hands, he started to cry as if he wanted to get rid of it or urgently wanted to have it with him. Without hesitation, Jaehaerys approached and placed the egg in the cradle of young Baelon. Shortly afterwards, Jaehaerys' son placed his namesake in the same cradle and the child's cries immediately stopped.
After a moment of silence, Jaehaerys remembered his granddaughter in the next room, who had apparently lost her child. After he had told the rest of the family about the guards' report and they were just as worried as he was, everyone except Viserys and Aemma went into Rhaenys and Corlys' room to find that their worst fears were right - the heir of Driftmark and High Tide had not survived the birth.
And so the gods had saved the life of Viserys' eldest son and taken that of Rhaenys' only son.