Rhea Royce

Rhea Royce was the Lady of Runestone and the first wife of Daemon Targaryen, whose contemptuous nickname for her became the name by which the history recounts her. Her death in 115 AC ended their unsuccessful marriage but did not give Daemon the inheritance he sought: Runestone passed to her nephew, and his appeal was dismissed.

Identity and Marriage

Rhea married Daemon in 97 AC, during the reign of the Old King. The marriage was unsuccessful. Daemon found the Vale of Arryn dull and developed a strong dislike of his wife, whom he called the Bronze Bitch, a reference to the bronze runic armor worn by the lords of House Royce. After his brother Viserys Targaryen became king, Daemon petitioned to have the marriage set aside. Viserys refused, though he allowed Daemon to return to court.

The account gives little independent description of Rhea or her view of the marriage. She appears chiefly through Daemon’s disdain and the political claims made over her inheritance, a narrative emphasis that leaves her own perspective unrecorded.

Death in 115 AC

In 115 AC, Rhea fell from her horse while hawking. She survived for nine days, then appeared well enough to leave her bed; within an hour of rising, she collapsed and died. The sudden reversal made her death consequential beyond the household: news was sent to Storm’s End, and a messenger was dispatched by ship to Daemon, who was then at Bloodstone defending his small domain against the Triarchy and its Dornish allies.

Daemon flew to the Vale, saying he had come to lay his wife to rest. The history presents a more self-interested possibility alongside that stated purpose: he may have hoped to claim her lands, castles, and incomes. It does not establish his motive as fact.

Inheritance and Legacy

Rhea’s lands did not pass to Daemon. Runestone went instead to her nephew, and the ruling Lady of the Vale rejected Daemon’s appeal at the Eyrie, warning him that his presence there was unwelcome. He returned to the Stepstones without the inheritance he had sought.

Rhea’s place in the account is therefore defined by a contrast: Daemon’s insulting name for her persists, but her death does not make him master of her seat. Her brief final episode exposes both the limits of his claim and the contested boundary between marriage and inheritance.