88
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298 AC
Sunset sea - ship
Morgana Dayne
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Does he not understand that he is ruining the faint hope of my dad coming back for my mom, given it's impossible but still? Ever since Uncle Benjen came down to 'protect' us and he spoke of the north much more than Aunt Lyanna I have always wanted to go. He would also talk about how my dad loved my mom but had to make a choice that involved more than his feelings and picked his duty over his love.
So I always imagined once he had his 'duty' done he could just swoop down and take us North where we should be. I should have grown up in Winterfell learning of the old Stark kings and about the different Houses. I should have a brother who would have been the Lord of the North and if he was never born then I should have been.
Yet I always knew that it was never going to happen, just a fantasy an untouchable dream.
But seeing it completely get cut without any possible chance of ever happening by Eragon taking my mom as his, well it has me a bit upset. I get that it isn't even his fault since my mom is the one 'moving on' but still I can't help the way I feel about it at the flip of a coin. I just wanted space and then I get shipped off with him to some Islands with my mom.
Though I am glad to finally see some new things, Sunspear or Starfall is all I mainly know other than random other Lord's places in Dorne.
"If you're just going to look on edge I will just head back inside but I don't get why you are mad at me for what your mom wants to do. I find it quite childish of you to take it out on me even though I am just making an effort to put more smiles on her face." I grip the side of the ship and close my eyes, he is being truthful and I know that.
"My mom is happier lately, she had settled into a melancholy the more I grew and the more independent I became. I believe she is feeling she is losing the thing that gave her 'meaning' and that is why she wants a child. She picked you as it not only was a good option but presented on a silver plate. I don't hate you for it but I just feel uncomfortable having my fantasies crushed." He leans next to me with his back facing the water and nods.
"Want to get it off your chest?" I almost shake my head but find myself nodding and feeling a little bitter about it.
"I just wanted to be where I should be, I feel like I am lost or something." He pushes off the rail and turns around and places his hands on it and leans forward to look into my eyes.
"Because your father doesn't have you where he is?" I nod and he snorts. "You could always just go there and make a fuss, call him a coward and let him know he hurt you his daughter by ignoring you for so long. Dorne accepts bastards and doesn't look at them poorly like the other kingdoms and I am sure Lady Stark would hate you but Northern Lords don't usually do the whole knife-in-a-back thing so you would live. Before you say you couldn't or something Lyanna and Benjen just left a while back and if you wanted to make it happen you could have. It's not the North you want in my opinion it's something the North means to you." Even though I am already aware of that it surprises me that he was able to catch on to that so quickly.
"Why do you say that?" How could he tell the difference between wanting to go where my dad is and something it represents?
"Viserys is the same, I don't think he wants to rule or a crown or anything like that I think he is looking for something else. I have seen it in him for as long as I can remember, a hunger for something that I have never known. Maybe it's just the childhood lifestyle he had that he was happy with or something but either way in my eyes it's not a pointy chair he wants." So he sees me as Viserys?
I am not sure how to feel about that but it does make my little bit of anger toward him snuff out. I am acting a bit stupid and I knew that so I can easily stop myself, I would rather not be compared to Viserys after all.
"I see, I would rather not be compared to 'His Grace' in the future if you don't mind." He pushes off the rail and stands back up with a snort and I turn to watch him.
"Sounds good, see you tomorrow Morgana I am going back to bed." He waves over his shoulder and I am left with my thoughts.
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298 AC
Sunset sea - ship
Eragon Targaryen
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"We should be there later today, we will rest for a day before we send the Sand snakes to Ebonhead to hunt down your friend." Ellaria stands behind me as I sit on the railing watching the waves crash into the ship.
"Sounds good, I can't wait to stand on dry land." Balerion lands next to me on the railing on his legs and has his tail facing toward the water.
Inside the black dragon's mouth is a tiny silver color fish that is flopping around in a crazed attempt to flee for its life. He shakes his head trying to snap its neck or something but the fish only matches him and thrashes more. He drops it and watches it hit the deck and keep flopping until Ellaria stomps on its head and it dies.
Balerion chirps and pushes off the rail and flaps down to it, standing above it he rears his head back and toasts the fish causing scales to pop off and a singed smell to fill the air. It seems he has a bit of control after the many fires he almost started and doesn't light the wood on fire as he stops when it darkens. He uses his nose and moves the fish with a flip and toasts the other side as well.
He bites on the head before tearing it off with a crispy crunch and taking it down.
"They are getting better at that." Ellaria comments and I nod with a smile forming on my face.
"They are, I am just happy they aren't trying to burn the boat anymore." A few of them have trouble with the heat of their flames and still light the boat on fire so after getting yelled at a few times they got the message.
Vhagar being a prime example just takes the fish higher in the air and burns the thing to a crisp after dropping it. Sometimes he can't catch it before it hits the water and something else will steal his cooked meal either a fish or one of his siblings.
He will sit on the rail with a very aggrieved look in his light blue eyes as he looks at any witness to the act.
Arrax being the leader of the team thief with his dive technique, he will watch Vhagar fly up and follow after him. Once the fish is cooked and falling he will tuck in his wings and speed straight past Vhagar and snatch the fish for himself.
The little fucker looks proud of it too as he eats his prize, sometimes he won't even eat it but give it to me or a different dragon. I think he just enjoys the act of stealing, to be honest, and that's a bit concerning so I keep telling him to stop.
I don't think it's taking though so I keep him distracted by throwing stuff up for him to snatch out of the air instead of his sibling's food.
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"It's huge." Daenerys comments as she looks up as we go under a massive archway into a cove with crystal clear water and a white sandy bottom.
"This is way nicer looking than I would have ever guessed." Shiera who is wrapped in my arms from behind leans her head back and I kiss the side of it.
"That's the camp I take it?" I look toward where Rhaenyra is pointing on the right side of the cove and see an entire setup of people going around working. A beach wrapping around the back of the cove has a cliff face and there is an entrance to a 'cave' that is full of people going in and out.
Tents and even some small houses that looks thrown together with different logs from the jungle line the sand. Good thing these people are Dornish or they might have a problem with sand with the way this is set up.
There are only supposed to be two hundred of the thousand 'spears' Doran is sending and we brought another two hundred. The rest will come in almost a month when we are ready to attack the pirates and then they will leave again after that. Some will stay but most will return after the pirates are dealt with since a thousand Dornish spears would seem like a foreign takeover and scare the Summer Islanders.
It is a foreign takeover but the less it looks like one the later people will notice and not unite together to kick us off the islands.
Defenses are set up all over, wooden towers for bowmen and even people on the archway now that I look up there. They probably have giant stones to toss down on anyone trying to come in.
"They weren't playing around, huh?" Everyone pretty much nods looking around as we get ready to get off on the unloading vessel.
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The looks the dragons are getting flying around are both awe and fear and most people with weapons are keeping them tightened in their grips. It would have been a tense situation if Ellaria didn't take control and started asking questions and taking over the different operations of the 'base'.
Most people are still giving them looks as they fly around or ride on a shoulder but a few already jumped back into working and that makes me calm down a bit. If some can adjust quickly maybe the others will as well, the dragons at this point will be hard to keep contained.
That and everyone already knows so there is no point in trying to hide them here, might as well let them fly.
"Let's go and see where we will be staying." Ellaria who was talking to some people that ran over after all our noise comes back over to us and we follow her.
"Where are we staying?" Rhaenys asks while dragging her feet in the sand, the sand here feels softer and has a cool layer under the top that feels nice on the feet, unlike the hot dry Dornish sand.
"In the 'cave,' it doesn't go deep it has a large entrance but stops shortly after, they have constructed different small houses we will be using. The cave is the most defended spot with people camping on top and guarding against people trying to climb down and others also along the ridge stopping any archers. Then we are surrounded by the rest who are camped out in front of the cave so you will be 'safe'." Most of the dragon-bonded girls are here because of the dragons and not wanting the dragons to try and run off looking for their bond. They all know how to fight except for Shiera who is not interested at all in fighting.
We arrive at the massive opening into the wall of rock that seems to almost hug the entire cove except for a few locations. The rock is open where we came in from the water, where this cave is and then to the east of us where it opens up to the jungle and people are going back and forth bringing food and wood.
Inside the cave, you can immediately see the back of it so it's not very 'deep', and the front half of it is sand. The back half is elevated and is a slippery-looking stone that they have built up to with a wooden ramp. Small wooden shacks are on the raised platform, there are fire pits made into the rock that they have tables set around.
Over the fires are different kinds of animals and fish and on the tables are fruits I have rarely or never seen. A giant crab with its main body the size of a hound and its pinchers as big as my arm or bigger.
"That's a gigantic crab." I was weirded out by the freakish crab until I smelled it and now I only want to taste it.
"They can break bones if they get a hold of you, one of the men fell asleep out on the beach and one grabbed his leg in his sleep and broke it." My eyes widen and the man in light armor and carrying a spear laughs.
Watching our stuff be carried over to the small houses and the girls look around at all the food that was prepared my nervousness slowly starts to fade and I start to get excited.