Rhaenys Targaryen

Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, known as the Queen Who Never Was,[5] was the daughter of Prince Aemon Targaryen and Lady Jocelyn Baratheon. She was married to Lord Corlys Velaryon of Driftmark. She was a dragonrider whose dragon was Meleys, the Red Queen.[3]

Rhaenys was a great beauty.[2] She had black hair[N 1] and lilac eyes.She was a clever, capable, spirited, proud,[2] fierce and fearless woman.[5] She had a fiery temperament.[4]

Rhaenys wore steel and copper armor which flashed in the sun.[4]History Early life Rhaenys was born in 74 AC on the seventh day of the seventh moon of the year. As her father was the Prince of Dragonstone, and she was his firstborn child, many considered her as being next in line for the Iron Throne, after her father Aemon. Queen Alysanne Targaryen, when being presented with her granddaughter, called her "our queen to be".[3]

Rhaenys became a dragonrider in 87 AC when she claimed the dragon Meleys, that had been ridden by her late aunt Alyssa Targaryen. In 89 AC, Rhaenys joined King Jaehaerys I Targaryen for part of his royal progress. She flew on Meleys to Highgarden to meet up with Jaehaerys, and together they flew to all four of the Shield Islands. On Greenshield she informed the king about her intention to marry Lord Corlys Velaryon, and received her grandfather's blessing.[3] Rhaenys married Corlys in 90 AC at the age of sixteen. She insisted on arriving at the wedding on the back of Meleys.[3]

In early 92 AC, Rhaenys learned that she was pregnant with her first child.[3]Rhaenys's father, Prince Aemon Targaryen, died in 92 AC. As Aemon had been the Prince of Dragonstone, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen had to formally appoint a new heir to the Iron Throne. The choice was between Rhaenys, Aemon's only child and heir, and Aemon's brother Baelon. Jaehaerys appointed Baelon as the new Prince of Dragonstone, passing over the pregnant Rhaenys and her unborn child. Rhaenys herself was the first to object to the king's decision, and her husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon, gave up his position as lord admiral and his place on the small council. Following that, Rhaenys and her husband returned to Driftmark. Others angered by the king's decision included Rhaenys's mother, Lady Jocelyn Baratheon, her uncle, Lord Boremund Baratheon, and her grandmother, King Jaehaerys's wife, Queen Alysanne Targaryen.[2]

Rhaenys gave birth to her first child, a daughter she named Laena Velaryon, late in the year 92 AC.[N 2] Two years later, she give birth to a son, Laenor Velaryon. Although both House Velaryon and House Baratheon insisted that Laenor had the better claim to the throne, Prince Baelon remained King Jaehaerys's heir.[2]

When Baelon died in 101 AC, King Jaehaerys called the first Great Council at Harrenhal to decide the matter of succession. Fourteen claims were considered, including the claims of Rhaenys and her children.[2] Rhaenys's uncle, Lord Boremund Baratheon, was outspoken in supporting the claims of Rhaenys and her son Laenor during the Great Council,[8] and Lord Ellard Stark gave his support to Rhaenys and Corlys as well.[9] Other supporters included House Dustin of Barrowton and House Manderly of White Harbor.[5] Yet the claims of Rhaenys and her daughter were rejected on account of their sex. Rhaenys and Corlys used their wealth and influence to persuade the lords present to vote for their son Laenor, one of the two primary claimants. For this they received support from Lord Boremund, Lord Ellard, Lord Manderly, Lord Dustin, Lord Blackwood, Lord Bar Emmon, Lord Celtigar, as well as others. However, Laenor was eventually passed over in favor of Baelon's son Viserys.[2] While the tally was kept secret, it was rumored the assembled lords favored Viserys by twenty to one.[10]

For having been passed over in the line of succession, the court jester Mushroom would name her "The Queen Who Never Was",[5][8] the nickname stuck among the smallfolk.[11]

Following the death of Queen Aemma Arryn, in 105 AC, Grand Maester Runciter suggested to King Viserys I Targaryen that he take Rhaenys's twelve-year-old daughter, Laena, to wife. King Viserys, however, chose Alicent Hightower, daughter of the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower. Angered by the third time she and her family had been scorned by House Targaryen, Rhaenys and her family did not attend the wedding in 106 AC. In 113 AC, King Viserys I and his small council began discussions concerning a betrothal for Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Viserys's heir. They eventually agreed on Rhaenys' son, Laenor. Rhaenyra and Laenor were wed the next year.[2]

Rhaenys attends the Heir's Tournament held to celebrate the impending birth of Viserys's son Baelon, along with her husband (wo is serving on the Small Council as Master of Ships) and her two young children, Laenor and Laena. As he enters the lists, Lord Boremund Baratheon asks Rhaenys for her favour to wear, publicly calling her the 'Queen Who Never Was' (a comment that infuriates Hand of the King Otto Hightower, though Viserys dismisses it as harmless talk). When two knights fight each other to the death, Rhaenys comments scathingly to Corlys that the knights participating are as "green as summer grass", none having seen real battle given the seventy years of relative peace since the death of Maegor the Cruel.