Jaehaeron Taegaryen - The Northern Dragon Chapter 7 The Childhood Of The Northern Dragon

Chapter 8 : 'The North remembers'

Chapter 9 : 'The Bastard of Winterfell

Chapter 10 : 'Bonding with a Snow'

Chapter 11 : 'The Ghosts of the Past'

Chapter 12 : 'Siblings'

Chapter 13 : 'The Dream'

Chapter 14: 'The Prince of Dragonstone'

Chapter 15: 'Stormborn'

are available here

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Chapter VII: The Childhood of the Northern Dragon

Even nowadays, the name of Jaehaeron Targaryen is subject to many debates. A Hero for the North, a Demon for the Faith, a Monster for the inhabitants of King's Landing and yet a defender of the common people of the Riverlands. The most honorable man in the history of the Seven Kingdoms to some, a lawless murderer for others. And while it is true that the majority of his actions are considered questionable by many maesters and many lords, all agree that there was a Westeros before the birth of the Northern Dragon, and a different Westeros after his death. And no one was stupid enough to deny the prowess of one of the greatest dragonriders in the history of the Seven Kingdoms alongside Aegon the Conqueror himself. But to fully understand the singular character that was the one who, once dead, was decked out with the nickname of 'Bloody Conciliator', it is necessary to return to his early childhood and to linger there for as long as it takes to draw the right conclusions.

Jaehaeron Targaryen was born in the year 97 AC, just months before his famous cousin; Rhaenyra Targaryen. Being the first descendant of both Valyria and the First Men, he was also the first male Targaryen to be born without the famous smooth hair of gold and silver that characterized the people of his noble House so well. Instead, he had inherited pitch-black curly hair that, according to Mushroom, attracted ladies like a flame attracts mosquitoes.

In his youth his father's rivals called him a bastard of the North, for Daemon and Lyanna had never married before the Seven.

They made fun of his black hair and his Northern ancestry, they called him 'Jon Snow', although this bastard nickname was never pronounced in public and even less in front of the Rogue Prince or the Northern Dragon himself. From the age of three, Jaehaeron stunned the Court by becoming the youngest boy to acquire the talents of reading and writing, which won him, according to Grand Maester Allar, the favors of his great-grandfather; Jaehaerys the Concialiator.

During the last years of the Old King's life and the early years of the Young Prince, they became inseparable.

Many claimed that Jaehaerys had seen in Jaehaeron, the only heir of House Targaryen who deserved to sit on the Iron Throne. But Septon Eustace rejects these fabrications. "Jaehaerys was an old man whose last years had been even more cruel than the first. His great-grandson had brought him the joy and the pride he had lost after the death of his sons. He was his only light of hope while awaiting his inevitable death, moreover, the little prince was excellent company with those he loved."

If these words were full of better meaning than those of the most fanatical theoreticians of House Targaryen, we are entitled to think that the Septon, undoubtedly underestimated the strong bond which had united the old man and his young descending. For shortly before the Great Council of 101 AC rendered its verdict on the succession of the Conciliator, a curious event occurred which was - fortunately - transcribed into history by the testimony of Ser Ryam Redwyne collected by the Grand Master Allar.

"I could not believe my eyes." the Kingsguard had declared. "When our King introduced the young prince to the Bronze Fury, I naively believed he was only offering the boy the chance to touch such a legendary Dragon as Vermithor. But when I saw the serious figures of the great-grandfather and the toddler, I understood that I was witnessing a promise for the future between these two curious characters. I did not hear what they said to each other, and if I had heard them, I would have taken their words to my grave. But what I saw...their emotions were so intense. The child was crying, but not out of fear or sadness, but out of determination. I had never seen a toddler experience such emotions as violent and sincere as this one. I believe... no... I am sure that our King asked his great-grandson to make him a promise. A promise that our Prince accepted, and which was sealed by Vermithor himself."

The Kingsguard's interpretation of this particular event provides a solid explanation for the events that followed two years later, when the Conciliator's long reign came to an end.

The Old King's funeral could have been as innocuous and dignified as those of other members of House Targaryen before him.

But his great-grandson -or maybe it was the Dragon rather than the Rider- decided otherwise. While the ashes of his great-grandfather were not yet cold, the young Prince took advantage of the fact that the attention was on his uncle Viserys to slip away discreetly to join Vermithor, whom he freed by deceiving the vigilance of the dragon keepers. The young Prince and his new mount took off into the sky of King's Landing under the flabbergasted gazes of the Court, and made three laps around the capital before returning to Dragonpit, where they both mourned the loss of the Old King. Viserys Targaryen, new King of the Seven Kingdoms and Jaehaeron's uncle, was at first furious at his nephew's disrespectful behavior. But when he saw the Bronze Fury mourn his former dragonrider and Jaehaeron explained to him that the key to Vermithor's cave had been entrusted to him by the Old King himself, he calmed down, and understood that the boy, although cheeky, only wanted to allow the dragon to participate in the funeral.

"Viserys has always had a soft spot for this boy," Otto Hightower confided to his brother in a letter, "he sees in him the son he has always wanted, and he is jealous of his brother for it. Jaehaeron, despite his young age, is far more responsible than his father will ever be. If Viserys forgives Daemon almost everything, he will forgive his nephew's few mistakes."

On this point the Hand of the King was right. Viserys was deeply jealous of his brother, and the latter, not content to notice it, boasted of it without the slightest restraint. But the heir of Jaehaerys loved this boy more than he was jealous of his brother. Actually, the one who despised this perfect Prince was none other than the new Queen; Aemma Targaryen. Although, 'despise' was too strong a word... It would be more accurate to say that the Aunt found herself unable to love the nephew as much as she should have. Jaehaeron represented what her husband had always expected of her, he was the son she had failed to give him, and every bravado of Daemon was another stab in her already bruised heart. And with each child she lost, with each miscarriage she had, some servants reported that they spotted their Queen watching the Prince from a window or a corner of the hallway, these were the only times Aemma Targaryen could be truly terrifying.

Mushroom, as always, dwells more on the effect the Prince had on the girls, starting from a young age. With no siblings at that time, Prince Jaehaeron and Princess Rhaenyra were as close as brother and sister. The Realm's Delight followed her cousin wherever he went, like a puppy, like Alyssa had once done with her brother Baelon. Rhaenyra was a child full of life, alert, enterprising and radiant as only those of the blood of the Dragon can be. Cherished and loved by all, Rhaenyra adored her cousin Jaehaeron more than anyone else, and despite his reserved nature, the young Prince fully returned her affection. When the children were only six years old, many in court suspected that they would one day be married, and become the new royal couple if the Queen revealed herself unable to give the King a son. However, Mushroom declared in his testimony that the Realm's Delight had a rival, a strong rival.

Alicent Hightower, daughter of the ambitious Hand of the King, Otto Hightower.

If there were some who considered that a young lady of the Reach did not represent a real challenge against a princess of Valyrian blood, these were very naive statements according to Septon Eustace. Alicent Hightower, upon her arrival at court, had demonstrated intelligence and knowledge very rare for a. lady of her age. She had spent much of her time in the library during her first days in the capital, and like her prince, she had shared King Jaehaerys' last days, reading for him.

Her intellectual prowess, though incomparable to that of his prince, remained impressive. And by a happy coincidence, -or by the will of the Hand of the King, according to Mushroom-, she had met the Prince and the Princess on her first day in the Capital, and had since shared many games with the royal children. According to Septon Eustace, the Prince certainly loved his cousin deeply and would die a thousand times for her, but he nevertheless preferred the company of this little lady.

"Rhaenyra overflows with energy," he wrote, "no one can contain her except the prince, but...this same prince had so many duties to perform and lessons to learn, that he was left with little strength to manage his royal cousin. Lady Alicent, on the other hand, was calm, educated, intelligent, gentle and talkative only when Jaehaeron was in the mood. It would not be outrageous to say that our prince found in the young lady a comfort and a moment of relaxation that Rhaenyra was unable to provide him. Rhaenyra was more another duty added to his burden."

However, it would be inappropriate to speak of 'rivalry' at this time. The three children were all six years old and did not care what the members of the court thought of them. Thus, the four years that followed proved to be relatively stable. The children grew up happily, bonding and learning from each other without suffering from the conspiracies and whispers of the adults.

But there was one man, who greatly despised Prince Jaehaeron, as he was the core of many teasings he had suffered over the years. Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake. The man had taken the decision of the great council of 101 AC very badly, which had seen his son Laenor deprived of the Iron Throne - his legitimate inheritance in the eyes of the Lord of Driftmark -. And as the years passed and Laenor grew up, he found himself in Jaehaeron's shadow like many other noble children. But for the Sea Snake, the insults that had emerged from Court were impossible to swallow. Indeed, Laenor proved to be gifted for a child of his age, but he was far from the level of his cousin, and when the two children found themselves in the gardens of the Red Keep to spare with each other, Laenor chained defeats all the more humiliating for his father than for him. The heir to Driftmark was not jealous of his cousin, on the contrary, he was very happy to learn from him the rare times the two boys trained together. But Corlys, Corlys boiled with rage when the jeers of the court came ringing in his ears.

"Is this the boy you intended to put on the Iron Throne, Lord Corlys?"

"Jaehaerys wisely chose his favorite, as did Vermithor."

"The earth doesn't seem to have been made for this kind of snake."

"The future of the Seven Kingdoms is assured, at least."

And so many other allusions and jeers that would boil the Sea Snake's blood like Smoking Sea.

Jaehaeron was not insensitive to the reactions he aroused, fortunately for him his father, Prince Daemon, was his fiercest defender. So much so that Viserys sometimes had to intervene to prevent his brother from tearing out the gossipers who had spoken harmful words about his nephew. Septon Eustace writes that there was no father and son more different and yet more alike than the Rogue Prince and the Northern Dragon.

"Jaehaeron is more reasonable, polite and modest than his father will ever become." He wrote. "No doubt he inherited this from his mother. But what he inherited from Daemon is even more precious, the skill with the sword, the ability to fly, the natural authority of a commander, the need to protect his family, all of this, Jaehaeron inherited from his father. No one can doubt that the blood of the Dragon runs through the veins of the little Prince, those that many tend to forget, on the other hand, is that it is Daemon's blood that runs through his veins.

There were squires and sons of great houses who had forgotten that fact when they made the mistake of challenging the prince to a duel while insulting him and his 'barbarian' of a mother. Jaehaeron did not just defeat those who insulted his mother, he humiliated them, but not in the same way as his father would have. Most of the time, the boys left the training ground with broken wrists, broken knees or missing teeth, Daemon was often content to inflict such quick and humiliating defeats on his opponents that they disappeared from the Court in the same day. Jaehaeron was more patient, and he liked to play with his food. Daemon was never more proud than when he crossed paths with a son of Lord who had been battered and broken by his own son. However, the most noticeable feature shared by both the father and the son was their tendency to melancholy. Indeed, it was not uncommon to see a form of all-consuming sadness in both their purple eyes, their difference was the way he handled their suffering. Daemon regularly scoured the brothels of the Street of Silk to drown his sorrows in wine and the pleasures of the flesh. Jaehaeron was more sober, more 'dignified' some would say, the weirwood tree of the Red Keep was the place where the young prince would open his melancholic heart, it was often the only place where he granted himself a little respite.

His insistence on worshiping his mother's Gods rather than the Seven-who-are-one won him more than one enemy, and is the reason why, even nowadays, he is still considered by the most rigid septons as a heretic.

Perhaps it was the will of the Gods of the First Men, when shortly after his nephew's tenth nameday, King Viserys received a letter from the Lord of Winterfell, Rickon Stark. Uncle of the late Lyanna Stark. Who had issued a formal request to the Crown to take the young Prince Jaehaeron as a ward of Winterfell.

Daemon flew into a rage on the spot and hastened to refuse the Lord of Winterfell's proposal. Viserys was less sure, as was the Small Council.

"Why not send Jon to the North?" The King asked his brother. "He will live in his mother's country, there will be family to welcome him there. And it would be good for the peace of the Kingdom if one of ours were to spend time in the North."

Daemon would have none of that. His boy would stay by his side.

"I will kill whoever tries to take my son away from me." He warned.

"And if he decides to leave on his own, will you lock him up in his room?" Ser Otto scoffed. "I think it would be better for everyone if Prince Jaehaeron were to decide his fate for himself."

And Jaehaeron decided, he would leave for the North and stay there until his majority.

Daemon had a hard time accepting his son's decision, even if the arguments put forward by him made sense.

Jaehaeron was suffocating in King's Landing and had been for years. Some people feared that he had gray hair before he even had a beard.

He simply had too much duties, and too many people within the Red Keep wanted his attention.

By the age of ten, the prince had managed to master five different dialects of the Old Tongue, he was an accomplished dragon rider, his High Valyrian was perfect, and his swordsmanship was that of a true prodigy. He had nothing more to accomplish in King's Landing, the Red Keep had become too small for him, and its inhabitants did not stop harassing him. The occasion to breathe the fresh and calm air of the North had been too good to be refused. For he longed to see his mother's country.

Rhaenyra had been so disappointed by his decision that she had locked herself in her room for days, refusing to speak to him. She only came out when he was about to leave, and threw herself in his arms to cry on his shoulder and make him promise to write to her every moon. Jaehaeron promised, offering his tender smile that everyone loved so much.

It took Daemon days to accept his son's decision, but he finally made his peace with it. His son had grown up too fast, it was time for him to let him fly on his own, for a time.

Jaehaeron Targaryen left King's Landing for Winterfell in 107 AC, according to Mushroom, a Lady's favor was on his wrist when he departed on Vermithor's back. He would spend the next six years North of Moat Caillin. Fortunately for us, words of his life in his Mother's country were immortalized in ink by Winterfell's maester, Alim Celtigar. But even today, no one truly understands how a Prince of House Targaryen, whose blood was of Old Valyrian, ended up becoming a Prophet of the Old Gods, and a Northerner almost as legendary as Bran the Builder.