The Princess and the Queen

by George R. R. Martin

When King Viserys I Targaryen dies, his widow Queen Alicent has their eldest son Prince Aegon crowned King Aegon II before Viserys' daughter Rhaenyra, the only surviving child of his first marriage, can claim the Iron Throne herself. Though Rhaenyra is the king's oldest child and had been named his successor years before, Alicent and her supporters declare Rhaenyra unfit to rule and argue that, as a woman, Rhaenyra should be placed after Alicent's own male children in the line of succession. After Rhaenyra declares herself Queen at the Targaryen ancestral seat of Dragonstone, her middle son Lucerys Velaryon and King Aegon's younger brother Aemond take their dragons to seek the support of Lord Borros Baratheon of Storm's End. However, Lucerys and his dragon are killed there. Rhaenyra's husband Prince Daemon has Aegon II's son and heir Jaehaerys murdered in revenge. Soon both branches of the Targaryen royal line are at war, with dragons on both sides. The people of King's Landing, tired of the constant conflict and fear of dragons destroying their city, storm the Dragonkeep, destroying it and a large portion of the dragon population in Westeros. Eventually, all of Rhaenyra's children, except for Aegon and Viserys, are killed and she herself is captured by Aegon II and fed to his dragon, Sunfyre, though the war continues.