Alyssa Velaryon

Alyssa Velaryon was the Queen of King Aenys I Targaryen, the second king to sit the Iron Throne. A member of House Velaryon, she was widowed a few years after her husband ascended the Iron Throne and watched as her good brother, Prince Maegor, claimed the throne in stead of her son. 
Alyssa and several of her children were kept as hostages by Maegor to ensure that her eldest son, Aegon, wouldn't try to contest his uncle's claim to the throne. However, Alyssa managed to escape with most of her children and proclaimed her son Aegon as the true king. However, Aegon's death at the hands of his uncle ended his attempted claim to the throne.
However, Maegor's cruelty and the continued chaos of his war with the Faith Militant turned the rest of the Seven Kingdoms against him. Alyssa was instrumental in rallying Robar Baratheon, the Lord of Storm's End, to the cause of her son, the newly-declared King Jaehaerys I. Maegor's death under mysterious circumstances allowed Jaeharys to claim his father's throne unopposed.
Alyssa served as Queen Regent during her son's few remaining minority and remarried to Lord Baratheon, who had served as Hand of the King. They had two children: Jocelyn and Boremund Bartheon.
== Biography ==
=== Wife to the Dragon's heir ===
Alyssa was the daughter of the master of ships, Lord Aethon Velaryon, and the granddaughter of King Aegon I's master of ships, Lord Daemon Velaryon. As a scion of Valyria themselves, the Velaryons had always maintained strong ties to the Targaryens of Dragonstone, and followed Aegon's conquest and forging of the Seven Kingdoms into a single realm under his rule. As such, they were prominent playsers at court for the whole of the Dragon's rule and even into those of his successors. When the Conqueror sought a wife for his sons, he had to look away from the incestuous practices of the Targaryens, his sister-wives having provided him with only two sons. To reward the Velaryons, he married his eldest son, Aenys, to Alyssa in 22 AC. 
The match proved a great success. Alyssa possessed a Valyrian's beauty to match Aenys's, and their union was both happy and fruitful. Six children were born to them: Rhaena, Aegon, Viserys, Jaehaerys, Alysanne and Vaella.
In the final years of Aegon's reign, a growing rift began to show at court over the issue of succession. None openly contested Aenys's position as heir to the Iron Throne, but the question remained of the position of Prince Maegor, King Aegon's son by Queen Visenya. Before the birth of Alyssa and Aenys's children, Maegor had been second in line to the Iron Throne. Now, some argued that the Conqueror's grandsons (some even arguing in favour of the granddaughters as well) preceded him in the succession. Aegon never chose to clarify the line but two factions began appearing at court, each on favouring the rights of the sons of the Dragon. Queen Visenya acted as her son Maegor's foremost defender while Alyssa stood faifthully by her husband. Alyssa's great fertility was also a stark contrast to Maegor who, despite his marriage to Ceryse Hightower, had no heirs to match his brother's.
Aegon kept Aenys close to him, training him to one day rule after him. After the Conqueror turned sixty in 33 AC, the prince and his wife took over the royal progresses that had been a hallmark of Aegon's rule. Half of every year, they travelled the Seven Kingdoms to shore up the new unity of the Targaryen realm.
=== Queen ===
Alyssa outlived her husband, and became a hostage to her good-brother, King Maegor I Targaryen, when he took the throne, thereby passing over Aenys' heir, and Alyssa's eldest son, Prince Aegon. Alyssa remained a captive on Dragonstone until the death of Dowager Queen Visenya Targaryen, the chaos of which gave her an opportunity to escape with Jaehaerys and Alysanne, her two youngest still living children. She took the Valyrian sword Dark Sister with her.
Alyssa's escape caused the death of her eldest still living son, Viserys, who was tortured for nine days until he died. His body was was left in the courtyard of the Red Keep, as Maegor hoped Alyssa would come to claim his body. She didn't.
Alyssa rallied lords to the claim of her now only living son, Jaehaerys. Upon Jaehaerys' coronation in 48 AC, Alyssa became Regent. She kept this position until Jaehaerys reached majority two years later. Half a year after stepping down as regent, she married the Hand of the King, Lord Robar Baratheon. With him, she had two more children: Boremund and Jocelyn.
Category:Characters
Category:Female
Category:Historical characters
Category:Queens