The Rogue Prince

The Rogue Prince, or, a King's Brother is a novelette by George R. R. Martin, published in the 2014 anthology Rogues. It is set in the Westeros of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, hundreds of years before the events of A Game of Thrones (1996) during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen. The Rogue Prince serves as a prequel to Martin's 2013 novella The Princess and the Queen and focuses the reign of Viserys I—from his grandfather Jaehaerys I Targaryen's death to his own—that chronicles the evolving relationship between Viserys and his brother Prince Daemon and the king's plan for succession to his daughter from his first marriage even though he has a son from his second marriage, which cements a rivalry within the Targaryens that plays out in The Princess and the Queen.

The work is presented as the writing of the fictional Archmaester Gyldayn, also the "author" of Martin's The Princess and the Queen.

With his father Baelon already dead, 26-year-old Viserys is crowned king upon Jaehaerys' death. Married to Aemma of House Arryn, Viserys names their daughter Rhaenyra as his successor, though established laws of primogeniture would make his brother Daemon next in line. After Aemma's death, the King marries Alicent Hightower. They soon produce a male heir, Aegon; but Viserys never rescinds his choice of Rhaenyra to succeed him. The king and queen subsequently have a daughter and two more sons. Establishing her own household at the Targaryen ancestral seat of Dragonstone, Rhaenyra is wed to her Targaryen cousin Laenor Velaryon and has three sons. Because Laenor is known to prefer men and Rhaenyra's boys do not appear traditionally Targaryen, rumors persist that they are illegitimate. Animosity between Rhaenyra and Alicent also puts their children at odds with one another. After Laenor's death, Daemon marries Rhaenyra in secret. They have two sons—another Aegon and Viserys—and a daughter Visenya. The subsequent death of King Viserys sets the stage for The Princess and the Queen.