Introduction
Hello and welcome once again to “Three Heads of the Dragon: Kings, Pretenders, and the Ladies of Fire”, the first multi-author series for Wars and Politics of Ice and Fire. This series will explore the Targaryen dynasty from inception to destruction, and my pieces – the “Ladies of Fire” – will focus on the ladies of the dynasty – both those born into the red-and-black and those who had a great influence on the dynasty.
In Parts 1 and 2, we explored the lives and times of Aegon the Conqueror’s two sister-queens, Rhaenys and Visenya. By the time of Visenya’s death in 44 AC, the Iron Throne had already hosted both of Aegon’s sons, and the dynasty the Dragon had founded threatened to collapse into chaos. The realm would need a strong, capable leader to reassert the power of House Targaryen, and an equally strong queen by his side – not a warrior-queen like Visenya, or a scandal-haunted one like Rhaenys, but a clever, gracious, and virtuous woman. As it happened, the perfect pair were about to take the throne.