Born in the year 23, Rhaena Targaryen was the eldest daughter of King Aenys I and Lady Alyssa Velaryon. She first married her younger brother, Aegon, with whom she had twins, Aerea and Rhaella. She then had to marry her uncle Maegor, of whom she was one of the "Black Brides".
She rode the dragon Songefeu.
Her name, Rhaena, is probably a variation of her paternal grandmother's name, Rhaenys Targaryen.
Rhaena Targaryen was born in the year 23 after the Conquest. Her birth challenges the order of succession to the Iron Throne established until then: indeed, Rhaena's father, Aenys, is unanimously recognized as the legitimate heir of King Aegon I, as the first of his sons.
On the other hand, it is difficult to establish who is second in the line of succession: Aenys' daughter, Rhaena, or Aegon's youngest son, Maegor? The rules of devolution of the crown were not yet clearly established at that time, and both Maegor and Rhaena could later claim to succeed Aenys.
In order to solve the problem, Queen Visenya proposes to betroth Maegor and Rhaena, as allowed by the Valyrian tradition that the Targaryens still follow. Their marriage would confuse their legitimacy and their claim to the throne.
But Rhaena's parents reject this union and the High Septon of Villevieille is adamantly opposed to it, as incestuous marriages are still considered sins by the Faith of the Seven. King Aegon I finally decides to marry his son Maegor to the niece of the High Septon, Ceryse Hightower.
As a child, Rhaena is shy, reserved and solitary. She loved animals and taking care of her younger siblings, especially Alysanne. At the age of nine, she met her future dragoness, Sonny Flame, which helped her overcome her shyness.
In the year 35, at the age of twelve, Rhaena rides her for the first time. In her teens, Rhaena was accompanied by ladies-in-waiting who became close friends, such as her cousin Larissa Velaryon and Samantha Castelfoyer.
After the death of her grandfather Aegon I in the year 37, Rhaena's father became king of the Seven Crowns as Aenys I Targaryen. After being crowned to the cheers of the people of King's Landing, Aenys travels to Villevieille with his entire family to receive the blessing of the High Septon. Together, they pass through Vivesaigues, Port-Lannis and Highgarden, and everywhere they go, the little people flock to applaud them.
In the year 41, Rhaena is married to her younger brother, the crown prince Aegon Targaryen. This union is denounced by the High Septon, who had already been offended by House Targaryen three years earlier, when Maegor Targaryen entered into a bigamous marriage with Alys Herpivoie, while he was still married to Ceryse Hightower.
The High Septon declares Rhaena and Aegon's incestuous marriage to be obscene and the unborn children of incest to be abominations. The lords and the people start to hate Aenys and her children.
On the day of the wedding, the Sons of the Warrior spread out in the streets to show their displeasure and to spot those of the lords who attend the wedding. The ceremony is presided over by the Hand of the King, the septon Murmison.
At the banquet, Aenys grants her son the title of Prince of Peyredragon, previously held by Maegor. The mother of the latter, Queen Visenya, furious, leaves the reception without the king's permission and immediately returns to Peyredragon.
In order to ease the tensions among the people, Aenys sends the newlyweds on the road to meet the people, as her father Aegon I had done, which had earned him admiration and adoration.
Rhaena and her brother-husband discover that they are booed by the crowd wherever they go. Soon, the grumbling against the royal family turned into a full-blown insurrection, which culminated in the War of Faith.
Rhaena and her brother-husband abandon their wanderings and take refuge in Crakehall. Lord Crakehall grants them hospitality under the rights of the host, but thousands of Poor Fellows besiege Crakehall in the year 42. Aenys I dies three days after learning of it.
The death of their father makes Rhaena's brother-husband, Aegon, the new legitimate king of the Seven Crowns, but he is overtaken by their uncle Maegor who is crowned as Maegor I Targaryen. In the days following the judgment of the Seven of Maegor, Queen Alyssa Velaryon proclaims her son Aegon king of the Seven Crowns from Lamarck.
The Poor Folk raise the siege of Crakehall to follow Ser Horys Hill as he marches to King's Landing to meet Maegor. Rhaena and her brother-husband take the opportunity to leave Crakehall for Casterly Rock. Lord Lyman Lannister offers them his protection, and his wife Jocasta Lannister realizes that Rhaena is expecting a child.
After Maegor's victories against the Militant Faith, Aegon's party seems compromised, and Lord Lyman Lannister lets him know that he will not raise his ban for him. However, he refuses to obey Maegor when the latter demands that Aegon and Rhaena be expelled from Casterly Rock.
It is in the Lannister's house that Rhaena gave birth to twin daughters: Aerea and Rhaella. Being children born of incest, the High Septon makes it known that he considers them abominations.
Towards the end of the year 43, Aegon declares his claim to the Iron Throne and, mounted on his dragon Vif-Argent, leads an ost of fifteen thousand men, composed mainly of the troops of the minor lords of the Western Lands and the Conflans, as no overlord has rallied to Aegon. Rhaena remains in Casterly Rock with her daughters. Her brother-husband was killed in the battle under the Œildieu.
Rhaena, Elinor Costayne and Jeyne Ouestrelin are soon called the "Black Brides" by the people, as they are all widows. Some hope that Rhaena will challenge Maegor during the ceremony, but when the day comes, Tyanna of the Tower, Maegor's mistress of whisperers, introduces Rhaena to her two daughters, Aerea and Rhaella, whom she holds hostage. Rhaena, in tears, is forced to take her wedding vows.
The wedding night would have been eventful according to various contradictory reports. Some claim that the three new queens shared the same bed, while others report that the king visited them one after the other during the night.
Rhaena herself claims in later years to have tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Maegor with a dagger hidden under a pillow. The day after the wedding, Maegor appoints his great-niece Aerea as his heir, until a son is born. Aerea remains at the court of King's Landing as a hostage, while her twin sister is sent to Villevieille to become septa.
A little less than a year after the wedding, unrest begins again in the Seven Crowns, and Rhaena's last brother, Jaehaerys, proclaims his claim to the Iron Throne with the support of the powerful House of Baratheon in the Stormlands.
Rhaena takes advantage of this opportunity: she manages to flee on the back of Soneforth to join her brother in Accalmie. She has with her daughter Aerea and the Valyrian steel sword Feunoyr.
Rhaena joins Jaehaerys and their sister, Alysanne. Together they mount their dragons and fly to King's Landing, where they arrive nine days after Maegor's mysterious death.
