79 79
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198 AC
Harrenhal
Aerion Targaryen
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"They say dark wings bring dark words but all news comes by those very same dark wings, even something as good as the birth of a Nephew." I hold up a letter before me at the table with my whole family gathered before me... at least the ones who are at Harrenhal. "But in my opinion, it is the white wings that bring dark words, Winter is here." A Summer that has lasted for five years might just see my children experience their first long winter.
"That is the Stark words." Gaemon speaks up while nodding his head earning himself a ruffled head of hair from his Brother Viserys.
"The Starks are always right when it comes to this, but I wanted to talk about this coming Winter. For most of you, this will be the first winter of your life, some of you caught the end of the last one but for the most part, this will be the first winter you all will experience together." I clear my throat as I sit back in my chair at the head of the table. "It will involve a whole lot of sitting around inside or melting the snow on the roads to let people travel around and bring us a steady supply of wood. The Hall of a Hundred Hearths will have four of its Hearths burning at all times until the Winter is officially over and that takes a whole lot of wood. So we will not be doing much other than lessons and training with the occasional local tourney when there is a good break in the poor weather." Most of my children seem unbothered but I know after a few months of sitting inside they will start to be driven 'mad'.
They love riding around outside through the town and the woods, but they will not have as much time to do that when winter sets in. Instead, this will be the perfect opportunity to really hammer in their lessons while Westeros freezes over for a few years. I can spend more time hands-on teaching instead of having them learn from the books I wrote myself to give them a far more advanced education compared to the common Lords and Ladies.
I can also prepare the ones who will likely be flying with me to Essos once this Winter ends.
"Will you take us to Skagos to see the new castle that is almost complete?" Aemon asks and I slowly nod, the actual castle that will be lived in and will host my very own 'Maester order' is close to complete.
The walls are almost done as well but the small towers and gates along the path up are still being worked on. As it stands the castle is impossible to attack by the native Skagosi at the very least, so I see no reason not to make the trip. We will be freezing our balls off regardless if we are here or there and at least up there we can explore the island more. I know there is more than one volcano and I am interested in finding out an exact number and I am sure the dragons will love digging new tunnels in some solid rock, unlike the softer hills in the Riverlands.
"We will." Small cheers erupt around the table and I can't help but smile as I shake my head, many of them are just cheering along with the older children as they themselves do not know nor care about castles in the distant North.
But Skagos is also close to Braavos and I can make some trips over to talk with the Sea Lord and the Key Holders to prepare for what is to come. It might not hurt to visit the House of Black and White as well, I might can figure something out with them. I have long prepared my own little assassination guild that I stole the sigil from my favorite assassin game. But even though it is trustworthy as it's my own trained people... It's young and has limited reach.
That is why I am trying to absorb the weaker guilds for hire into my own guild, but that might piss off the Faceless men. I need to see where they stand and come to an agreement or at least learn what lines I can and can not cross with them. I will still cross whatever lines they draw in the sands but I at least want to know where the lines are and when to expect a wrathful assassin guild to hunt me with a vengeance.
I do not think the many-faced God is a 'bad' God all things considered... he did let Arya be trained and then set free so she could kill the Night King. But that has been tossed out the window and I need to see if things need to be adjusted such as a dragon burning the House of Black and White to the ground.
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198 AC
Harrenhal
Daenerys Targaryen
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""She can't sleep inside for too much longer."" I run my hand through the silky smooth hair of my youngest child as she runs her own hands over her red-scaled dragon.
""But she likes it inside."" I smile and reach with my other hand to feel the thrilling little 'Red Queen reborn' who presses against my hand with her body as I do.
""But she is getting too big, she is almost the size of a horse and will need to go outside with the other dragons. They will keep each other warm in their little caves, it will actually no doubt be warmer in those caves than it will be in this castle."" My sweet girl huffs at that and seems dead set on keeping her bond with her in her room.
Maybe I can convince her Father to let her have the bigger room upstairs...
""I will see what I can do."" She nods happily and I stand to leave her room but stop when I spot my Husband in the doorway with Shiera leaning her back against his front.
Both of them are watching me and Alyssa so I roll my eyes at them before stepping forward to head toward them. My hands go out to land softly on the large baby bump that Shiera is proudly showing off. I feel pure joy feeling a tiny foot or clenched fist hit my left palm and I lean down toward the belly which looks ready for the birthing bed any day now.
""I will see you soon little Princess."" Shiera chuckles while Aerion sighs with the both of them having heard me.
"Why do the both of you think it's a girl?" I shrug as I stand back up straight and loop an arm with Shiera to lead her to sit down and get off her feet.
I know they are no doubt hurting right now, I will even convince Aerion to massage them for her.
"A Mother knows." Shiera cryptically responds as she leans against me for support.
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"Then he fucked me right there on the skull of the large dragon... the Red Waste had never been so hot as the day we made love on a dragon's skull that was even bigger than Balerion." I still long to know more about the dragon that died in the Red Waste, its skull was there when I walked through it in my first life and it looked exactly the same this time around.
Well... it looked the same until we rutted away on top of it like two wild animals.
"I call 'dibs' on the next tour around Essos." Narha playfully speaks up before sipping the fancy wine from Yi Ti I brought back.
"It won't be till winter is passed... likely when we are laying claim to the 'fertile and rich lands' that Aerion claims are squandered in the hands of slavers." Gwenys still seems to have her own doubts about the future and it is understandable with all the secrets and vows made in secrecy she has likely heard about.
It's easy to doubt things when you work in the shadows as she does.
"I will have you on Drogon with me when I burn down the great Horse statues over Vaes Dothrak." She will believe it when she sees it and I will have her see it with her own eyes.
"I look forward to it." She rolls her eyes before hiding her smile behind her cup.
"Stop tickling between my toes." Shiera huffs at Aerion and I look over catching him in the act of making Shiera giggle as she holds her stomach. "I am serious I might pee on myself." I nod along knowing that feeling, a big pregnant belly, and tickled feet are a quick way to find yourself wetting your dress.
"Did you see the Summer Island Prince who came to meet with you?" Bellenora speaks up from beside Aerion as he keeps massaging the feet set in his lap.
"Balerion said it was something that could wait as he feels the 'Prince' out and learns his true intentions. I do not doubt with Daenerys and my return that he will soon get anxious and spill his secrets so he can meet with me sooner. Balerion is good at squeezing out the intentions of those Island Princes and Princesses." No doubt another Summer Prince coming to ask for assistance in reclaiming his lands or offering something for a marriage alliance.
Since Balerion spoke of the dragons while he was in the Summer Isles there have been many visitors from the Summer Isles. Most were curious but the last few over the years have been wanting more than a peek at the dragons. They have wanted power to either reclaim lands or forge a Summer Kingdom as the woman who ended slavery on their islands did.
Though she did it with fancy golden bows and these men and women want dragons to forge the kingdom for them.
It is close to Naath though... I have been wondering if I could find the ancestor of Missandei if I went looking for one. I would be overjoyed to find her great-great-grandmother or something like that, it would be nice to see if there was a resemblance. I miss my friend and knowing she might be reborn and put in chains like before angers me and I want to protect her little peaceful island.
Aerion wants their shimmering silks as well to sell them in all the world's markets to make a fortune off the unique silk only produced in that way on the island of Naath. He even humored the idea of freeing a Naath slave woman and getting her with a babe so he could raise a dragon-blooded child to claim land on Naath. There is a dragon fort with ring walls on Naath that the Valyrians of old used to live in for many years. But they got lazy and the butterfly sickness latched onto one of them and it spread killing the rest.
I can't help but imagine what it would be like to have Missandei reborn and related to me through my Husband. She would not be the same but I would raise her to be the same loveable woman she was before and she could have Naath as her seat of power. I would teach her both the ways of the peaceful people so she can rule them easily and also the ways of House Targaryen so she can ride a dragon and defend the island from all threats.
With the Peaceful People's Blood and the Blood of the Dragon 'Missandei Targaryen' would be the first of many future guardians of Naath and the Princess of the whole island. Immunity to the sickness and the power to stop slavers from even landing on the beach, it would make for the perfect place to preserve a branch of House Targaryen. A branch that would be rich as the Lannisters with a seasonal harvest of their silk sold to both Westeros and Essos and one day even Sothoryos and Ulthos if those places can be tamed one day.
