I am trying to write a fanfic for the first time, and I wanted to ask you how Calla would be treated by the Targaryens in an AU where she is bethored to Prince Valarr? This marriage happens as a way of stopping the first Rebellion before it happens btw, but I would like to know how Calla would be treated by the court, did she grow up at the new keep built by Daemon and Rohanne, or did the family lived at the Red Keep until the building was complete? Does the timeline works for a Calla/Valarr bethoral? Can a future Blackfyre Queen placate the rebels?
Best of luck with writing fanfic; working on a long form narrative is difficult. Iâm probably not the best person to ask, because I have very little experience actually writing fanfic; and because the showverse (Iâm assuming the fic takes place then) doesnât really care about politics (the political missteps of later GOT and HOTD are well-known, and AKOTSK to my knowledge doesnât care about it too much with Fossowayâs marriage). My advice is to write the fic you want to read, because Da3ron II would never agree to marry the heir presumptive to Westeros off to the daughter of a minor landed knight who he doesnât like; in OTL heâd rather marry Valarr to a woman to curb Blackfyre influence in Tyrosh, because to him and his family the Blackfyres arenât valuable family members but subhuman usurpers that deserve death (with the possible exception of Baelor, who argued clemency for rebellious brave men, lest they feel they had no other choice but to fight and take down innocents with them) or displacement. I had a pet idea that Daemon talked to Baelor about betrothing Calla to Matarys, his younger son, because he understood Valarr was going to marry elsewhere, but Matarys wasnât going to be on the throne, so Da3ron wasnât going to get paranoid Daemon was plotting to take the crown. Da3ron II would probably accuse Daemon of trying to assassinate him and Baelor if Calla/Valarr ever went through.
As for the timeline, in the novella Valarr seems to be around Aerionâs age, meaning he was born around 191 (heâs 20 in the show, so heâd be born ~189); Calla, meanwhile, was born between 185 and 195 (I headcanon toward the upper range and older than Daemon II, in 186). In all likelihood, Calla is a few years older than Valarr, but not old enough for it to seem strange theyâd be betrothed (itâd be the massive status gap that people would object to).
Itâs my headcanon Da3ron II wanted Daemon out of the Red Keep as fast as possibleâhence him being granted the right to build the keep on the Blackwater rush on his wedding dayâso I think instead, Rohanne and Daemon were in Tyrosh the first few years of their marriage while the keep was being built (this is sort of contradicted by the non-canonical app claiming Aegon and Aemon were born in Westeros, but I donât care what the creatively bankrupt ElioLinda have to say). Calla was either born in Tyrosh or when the keep was just finished. But thereâs no indication where Calla was bornânot even the continentâso if you want to say she was still in the Red Keep, you can.
Calla probably was not going to be treated very well. Firstly, sheâs the daughter of an illegitimate child, and Daeronâs High Septon claimed that even those legitimized are still born inherently untrustworthy and treacherous (an attitude passed on to Maekar, who passed it to Egg). Secondly, sheâs half-Tyroshi with a foreign name; Essosi women are generally treated quite poorly in Westeros (most of them are unofficially divorced or brutally tortured and killed), and Alyssa Velaryon said that Westeros would never accept a Tyroshi woman with âdyed tresses who worships foreign godsâ as queen (which isnât necessarily true if Kiera was married to two of their princes, but is still reflective of the anti-Essosi attitude at the time). Thirdly, sheâs the daughter of a minor landed knight, when the bride of a crown princeâwhen not his sisterâis the daughter of a powerful lord (Velaryon, Hightower, Arryn, Martell), which could offend the other houses with this minor lady being put above their own daughters. They also all know sheâs basically a hostage for her fatherâs good behavior, so sheâd be watched closely for any signs of defiance. Itâs putting her in a stressful situation where the odds are against her.
A future Blackfyre Queen would definitely placate Daemon, but doesnât actually address any of Da3ronâs missteps with the treaty and court. People who rebelled because Daemon was arrested for no good reason and they could be next would be quelled. People who believed in Da3ron Falseborn or that heâd filled the court with his own Yesmen would not be (unless heâd added other people to his court who refused to flatter him). However, I think people would turn on Daemon for âselling outâ, abandoning their cause and his birthright for his own personal security (thatâs essentially the feelings of the rebels in my AU where he agrees to be Hand), and his personal charisma is really the only thing he has to rely on to be ââpowerfulââ. No way would professional Targ hater Aegor Rivers or any of the people who lost family members to Da3ronâs war care Calla would be queen one day. The raids across the Dornish/Marcher border would probably be more frequent than theyâd be in canon, though.
But, like I said: write the scenario you want to see. These are just my personal headcanons/opinions, and if the show doesnât care about politics (and the later supplemental book material doesnât really as well), you donât have to stick with it either. Best of luck with writing.
