hi anon!!

this account is no longer being used, every work i will do in the future and any wips ( jon x reader x robb included ) will be found on the account @systraes .

helaena targaryen x jacaerys velaryon

synopsis: in times of uncertainty, rhaenyra and alicent strike a marriage pact to end the dance of dragons in fear of losing any more children. helaena and jacaerys marry, and the realm is all the better for it — as are jace and helaena, who, oddly enough; have never been happier.

warnings: nothing grim or nsfw. simply fluff.

authors note: what could've been :(( - old draft, needed to be posted or burnt, choosing the latter was too tiresome.

the humming, quaint symphony of insects filled the king and queens chambers as she knelt on the floor contently, an emerald beetle crawling over her soft palms as she smiled softly to herself. helaena’s smile only grew as she observed the critter, noting how its shell gleamed in the candlelight in a similiar way to her husbands dragon, vermax. “you missed supper,” a warm, familiar voice spoke softy from the doorway, his statement more of a question as jacaerys watched helaena, a glint of concern in his brown eyes.

helaena glanced over her shoulder, bashfulness written across her porcelain features as she gently stood up, careful to not drop her favourite beetle as she silently walked over to jacaerys, unable to bring herself to meet his intent gaze. “look,” she gently wrapped her fingers around his hand, placing the tiny viridian beast into his rough palm, “he looks like vermax, doesn’t he?” she asked, leaning into his side unintentionally as she anxiously shifted on the balls of her feet, wringing her hands together as she met his eyes.

a large smile spread across his face; the look of upmost adoration swirling within his eyes as he looked down between her and the beetle she seemed so fond of, “he does, although I hope he does not breathe fire, too.” helaena giggled quietly at his weak attempt of a joke, he always did that; tried to make her laugh, and he’d make himself look like some jester of fleabottoms taverns before he would see her frown, no matter the personal expense to his ego. helaena kept her fingers wrapped around his wrist as she led him over to sit on the floor as she had moments ago, he did as she wordlessly instructed, sitting down cross legged as she knelt before him, their faces level-height with her table covered in various golden cages of all shapes and sizes, storing a multitude of vastly different species of insects and critters.

“where does this one live?” jace asked sweetly, holding his palm out to helaena for her take his little ‘vermax’ home. she did so quietly, cooing softly at the critter as she closed the metallic cage. jace laid his hands in his lap, attention returning to helaena, who had her head propped up by her hands as she rested her elbows on the table, staring lovingly at every individual bug she owned.

“why were you absent from supper?” jace inquired gently, his voice and hands soft as they reached out to his wife. she turned her head to him, a small hint of a frown tugged at the corners of her lips as she shrugged, violet eyes finding solace on the intricately woven tapestry strung up on the wall behind jace, one he had made specifically for her to remind her of him when he was gone up north to visit cregan or busy attending the kings respective duties.

“I did not want to go.” she whispered as if it were obvious, his eyebrows knit together, raising momentarily in understanding, “because your brothers were here?” her subtle nod, and the way her shoulders slumped in relief at how he understood her without prying for an elaboration caused a large exhale to emit from her.

“a wise decision, my love — next time I may join you in your absence, I was close to taking aemonds remaining eye, the way he spoke about luke.” jacaerys continued to rant idly about his day, oftentimes rambling into tangents entirely unrelated to his main point of speaking. halaena did not mind at all, she remained knelt infront of him as he sat, holding his hands in her lap lovingly as the whisper of her touch traced the creases and scars on his palms, on occasion placing a bug in his hands and suppressing her giggle as jace scarcely seemed to notice.

“and here I am, treated like the coddled princling by my mother — she forgets I am the king now, it’s humiliating.” he let out a large, exuberant exhale as he finished talking, looking to helaena for consolation; it appeared through her body language as though she hadn’t listened to a thing, but jace knew her better than anyone, and silently awaited her answer. “nobody else thinks that of you, jace. and your mother means well, she is not cruel — she’s just afraid of losing her eldest son to change.”

he nodded, his lips curling slightly as he let out a relieved, heavy breath he had been holding in all week as he succumbed to the expected stress that comes with ruling seven kingdoms while he was separated from helaena. he leant forward, his hands softly cupping her face, “you and that mind of yours.” he said through a smile before pressing a grateful, loving kiss to her forehead before standing up. halaena’s pale face was dusted a light pink at his appreciative praise, placing the back of her hand to her cheek to try shield her smitten grin from him.

“which reminds me — I got you something,” jace said with a small groan as he cracked his back from sitting in the same position for so long, walking idly over to his cloak, beckoning helaena to stand by the mirror with a subtle tilt of his head. halaena mirrored his tilted head, in confusion however, her white eyebrows furrowing as she stood, walking awkwardly backwards to the mirror with suspicion, clasping her hands together out of a concoction of anxiety and excitement; a feeling of normalised by helaena.

she turned to face the mirror, looking at herself with a small frown as she grew self conscious, raking her hands through her ethereal hair and pinching her cheeks for a natural blush, hoping jacaerys would think she was pretty; the mean, teasing remarks spat by aegon and the judgmental looks shot by aemond in their youth formed a tight, painful mould in which every ounce of her self esteem was belittled and squeezed into something miniscule — until jacaerys. from the first moment their betrothal was announced, he had treated her with the upmost respect and looked at her with a genuine kindness and sincerity she had never encountered in the harsh gaze of men before.

now that they were married, his kindness had only amplified, and the croaking self doubt that he didn’t truly want this, or want her, had slowly crept into silence at the back of her mind with every moment jacaerys spent with her. unlike her mangy brother, no matter how agitating the craw of alicent and Rhaenrya were in asking when he would suffice his own heirs; he never put his own tasks or masculine urges before helaena’s comfortability and happiness. while the realm expected him to produce heirs, he produced something the realm hadn’t seen in two decades; a content helaena targaryen.

he slowly pryed her open, across months of amiable dragon riding, conversing about whatever insects fascinated her that week, and truly listening to her strange, forlorn dreams; helaena opened herself up to jace, their marriage had bloomed political and rigid, and through jacaerys efforts and patience, had blossomed into a reciprocated pact of trust, incomparable respect and true adoration. this much was evident when helaena of all people was the first of the two to bring up the topic of heirs — in her own way of course. “do you think our son would want insects everywhere, or would he fear them.” jace short-circuited, and mentally debated whether or not he had infact heard her right. but as she looked to him expectantly, a shy look in her doe-like eyes, he knew he had succeeded in winning the dreamer over.

that was no different from now, she loved him more than she had loved anything else; even dreamfyre, something she deemed impossible. but as he sauntered over to stand behind her as she looked at him in the mirror, she accepted it was true, truer than any vision or dream she conjured, truer than everything that had been presented to her throughout her life out of ‘love’ by alicent, or any of her relatives who shared the emerald-stained blood of her matriarch.

jacaerys noticed how her chest rose and fell heavily, the way she picked at her fingernails anxiously as her mother did. he reached around her front to gently pry apart her fingers from eachother, his gaze locked onto hers in the mirror, “do you trust me?” he spoke calmly in her ear, his dark curls brushing her neck from how his head hovered over her shoulder.

“yes.” helaena affirmed quietly, appearing visibly more comfortable as he placed a reassuring hand on her elbow, his thumb rubbing the dark blue velvet dress covering her skin momentarily before retracting his hands, pulling a small silver necklace from his cloak and gently reaching around her neck to place it on her, his eyes faltering in self confidence for a moment, worried she may not like it.

helaena released a small gasp, a ghost of a smile gracing her features as she looked at the necklace in the mirror. “do you like it?” jace asked, chuffed as he observed the look of pure, unabashed glee that painted her features as her nimble fingers reached up to touch the strangely familiar valyrian necklace. “this was rhaenyra’s.” she stated with an excited, honoured gasp. he nodded, placing his hands absentmindedly on her hips as he rested his chin on her shoulder, “yes, daemon gave it to her out of love, my mother sought I may do the same.”

helaena’s face was immediately taken over by a large, beaming smile as she spun around to face him, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace; unsure how to thank him equivalently to his gifts specialty and individuality which could only found in the ash and ruin of what was left of old valyria. a surprised huff of laughter left the man as his arms snaked the entirety of her waist, hugging her tightly before she pulled away to look at him, her hands now finding reprieve in fiddling nervously with the red gemstone in her necklace rather than the reddened nail beds of her fingers.

“I do not know what I can give you in return.” helaena whispered breathlessly, jace’s hands remained holding her close to him by her waist, a near amused grin toying at his lips as he shook his head, “remain happy, and remain mine — that is all I ask in return.” he smiled at her shy nod before leaning down, pressing a gentle, explorative kiss to her lips; smiling into the kiss out of surprise as she braced her hands against his chest, leaning up on her toes to kiss him more before she pulled away, shy and unable to meet his eyes once more.

the royal chambers were once more filled with the serene, continuous hum of insects; now paired with the quiet chatter and hushed giggles of the king and queen of westeros for the remaining hours of dusk. there was not a doubt in the whole of westeros’ minds that the dowager queen rhaenyra had made the correct choice in this marriage pact to end the war; and by dawn, ravens arrived across the kingdoms in celebration of the queen helaena’s pregnancy, affirming the long and prosperous reign of the targaryens and the close avoidance of the second doom of the last blood of valyria.