Jaehaerys II Targaryen

Jaehaerys was born in King's Landing in 225 AC, the second son of then-Prince Aegon Targaryen and Lady Betha Blackwood. His father, once he became king, decided to break with the sibling marriages House Targaryen had practiced since Valyria, convinced such unions had done the family's blood more harm than good. In 237 AC he and Queen Betha arranged betrothals for their children with the sons and daughters of the realm's great lords; Jaehaerys was matched with Celia Tully, daughter of the Lord of Riverrun.

The prince wanted none of it. He was in love with his sister Shaera and meant to marry her, so his parents did everything they could to keep the two apart. In 239 AC his elder brother Duncan gave up his claim to the throne to marry a commoner, and Jaehaerys became Prince of Dragonstone and heir. A year later, barely fifteen, he slipped past his guards along with Shaera and married her in secret; by the time their parents found out, the marriage was already consummated, and Aegon V had no choice but to accept it.

Jaehaerys and Shaera had two children, Prince Aerys and Princess Rhaella. On the advice of a woods witch, a friend of Jenny of Oldstones, Jaehaerys decided that they too would marry each other; his father, resigned by then, stopped standing in his son's way.

Aerys and Rhaella's firstborn, Prince Rhaegar, was born in 259 AC. That same day the Tragedy at Summerhall struck, killing several members of House Targaryen, including King Aegon V himself and his eldest son Duncan. The crown passed to Jaehaerys all at once.

Jaehaerys came to the throne at thirty-four, the least warlike of Aegon V's children. He soon faced a threat that had been building for some time: the Band of Nine had seized the Stepstones, and the king feared the islands would become a staging ground for an invasion of the Seven Kingdoms.

Determined to finish House Blackfyre once and for all, he mustered the armies of the Iron Throne and wanted to lead the attack himself. His Hand, Lord Ormund Baratheon, persuaded him to remain in King's Landing and led the campaign in his place. Targaryen troops reached the Stepstones in 260 AC, and the war dragged on for most of that year, until a young knight named Barristan Selmy killed Maelys Blackfyre in single combat. With their leader dead, the rest of the Band of Nine lost all interest in Westeros.

His frail health led many to write him off as a weak king, but Ser Barristan Selmy, who joined the Kingsguard after the war, thought otherwise. In barely three years Jaehaerys restored order to the realm, ended the Blackfyre threat, and mended ties with Great Houses that had drifted from the Iron Throne under his parents' rule.

He was a pale, sickly-looking man, with very large purple eyes, shoulder-length hair and a thin beard, and a weary look even when he smiled; he wore the crown that had once belonged to Maekar I. In 262 AC he died in King's Landing after a brief illness that left him unable to breathe properly, at thirty-seven years old. His son Aerys succeeded him.