The sunlight set the lake to shimmering before her, with specks of gold flickered across its blue-green surface. The God’s Eye put the filthy Blackwater to shame, its water so fresh and full of life she could smell it.
Dany wasn’t the only one enjoying the lake. A group of horses were whinnying happily as they sated their thirst. Beyond them were serving folk filling pots and washing clothes. Squires were stripping down for a swim as hounds barked and darted at the ducks amongst the reeds. One of the dogs splashed Talla and Gael as it frollicked, interrupting their questioning of a trio of newly arrived knights to the progress.
Three more bodies joining a party so enormous it could pass as a small army. Behind her hundreds were raising a makeshift village which would be gone by daybreak.
This was House Targaryen on the move.
“I wonder if the water feels as lovely as it looks,” she said to her armored protector. “Let’s pray there’s time for a swim.”
“You’ll catch a chill,” Daeron chided, removing a gauntlet to wipe at his sweaty brow.
“In this heat? I’ll melt first. It’s maddening that you can bear armor at all,” she replied. “Perhaps I’ll feign drowning. You could free yourself of that steel to rescue me. You’ll get a swim and be a hero all at once.”
“Don’t you dare. Dragons don’t fare well in the God’s Eye. Didn’t your tutors ever teach you of the battle here? A prince of green and one of black, both atop their dragons. Over this water they met and did dance above the lake-”
“Daemon upon Caraxes. Aemond One-Eye riding Vhagar. They died. Only not here,” she pointed north over the lake’s endless waters. “They fought at Harrenhal and we’re nowhere close to it. You should’ve paid attention to your lessons.”
“Didn’t have to. My teachers were afraid of me. I was ugly in spirit long before my face caught up, Silverbright.”
“You’re terrible.”
“My little sister is wise beyond her years,” he kicked a rock into the shallows and grumbled a curse. “So it’s safe to say our quarry isn’t around here. We ought to keep looking. Riding off already put Shaena in a foul mood. Any more disappointments and our lovely queen will deny me that moonlight swim I hope for.”
“You just told me not to swim here!”
He winked, “I like to push my luck.”
She swatted at his chest plate. To that Daeron snatched hold of Dany’s waist and feigned throwing her into the lake. Their laughter drew many a stare but she cared not. They hadn’t been together in months. After the visit with Jon at Wendwater Keep, Daeron had ridden off. Keeping the king’s peace here and there, checking on the work at Summerhall, winning glories at Highgarden. Always somewhere else.
Leaving Daenerys to tend with their family. A task which grew more and more burdensome.
Too often it fell to her to try and keep peace between the queen and the princess. Visenya did not welcome her upcoming wedding to Edmure Tully and Shaena often took the brunt of those protests. The closer they came to Riverrun, the more frequent the arguments became. Truly, she had come to prefer the wailing of Jay’s twins to the angry words between mother and daughter.
Unsurprisingly, another row had erupted during the midday ambling that the queen had invited the princesses and their ladies on. Shaena’s attempt to break the monotony of the wheelhouses by taking in the countryside had quickly descended into more acrimony.
When people talked of Shaena, they would speak of her refined features. Visenya had a softer look than her mother, her eyes especially. They were large, round pools which looked purple or blue depending on the light. Before her easterly travels, Visenya’s fuller figure had set her apart from Shaena and Dany. Now it was her hair, which her niece had taken to dying a striking pink, defying any notion of changing it back.
Dany had been riding close enough to catch Shaena glaring at those pink braids when Visenya brought her horse alongside the queen’s.
“I’m not being unreasonable,” Visenya had said in a poor attempt at whispering. “Why must I wait so long? Torn from Volantis and now court as well. Banished from the world itself. This marriage is an exile by another name.”
“Riverrun is not some backwater,” Shaena had lectured. “By river or road, many a visitor will come your way. It is the host that makes a hall grand, not the hall itself.”
“How would you know? You’ve never lived anywhere but court. Please, if I must marry this man, have us come back with you. Father need only name Lord Tully to some grand appointment after the wedding and-”
“No. Hoster Tully died barely half a year ago. The new lord paramount needs time to show off his new bride to his bannermen. The riverlords are a divided lot more oft than not. Able and firm, Lord Hoster managed to shepherd them together for the rebels. Edmure could do the same, this time for our benefit. If we drag him off at court, he’ll lose sway in these lands at a key time. No, for now Edmure Tully does us more good at Riverrun. As will you.”
Visenya had scoffed at that and a red flush of anger crossed Shaena’s face.
“Daughter, you’re blood of the dragon. Our ancestors made these lands our realm. You can make Riverrun your home. Your father long gave your way to most of your whims, now you must accept his will in this. Find the good in it. Charm your husband and his riverlords. Once both are yours, you will return to the capital a power in your own right. Giving Lord Edmure an heir would go a long way…”
“I am not a brood mare!” Visenya’s outburst had drawn the attention of everyone within earshot. “How many friends did I win us in the Free Cities? Now I’ll never see them again. There was power there I might have harnessed for us. All I learned of those lands will be useless. This riverlord will have no use of such culture. The depths, the refinement. As close to Old Valyria as there is...”
“Then teach him!”
“Send him a tutor! Not your only daughter,” Visenya’s voice had faltered, lowering from rage to despair. “Mother... my queen, you raised me for better.”
“And I thought I raised you better. Sadly we have both met disappointment. Hold your father to account for that.”
The marriage between King Aerys and Queen Rhaella was never a happy one, yet many were content with how fruitful it proved. The Tragedy of Summerhall and other misfortunes left the survival House Targaryen resting on Aerys’s line.
Thus it was a gift from the gods when, despite many miscarriages and difficult births, Rhaella persevered in giving the king seven children to reinvigorate the dwindling Targaryen line.
Between the birth of Rhaella’s first child and her last, twenty-five years would pass. They were born in the following order.
Rhaegar (259), Shaena (264), Daeron (268), Aegon (271), Jaehaerys and Viserys (274), and Daenerys (284).
Rhaegar, heir to the Iron Throne, was well-loved by the people but a melancholic prince. Shaena came as an answer to Aerys’s prayers for a daughter as he wished to keep the Targaryen line pure. Thus Shaena was betrothed to Rhaegar from her first name day and wed him on her sixteenth. Daeron, second son and apple of the queen’s eye, would grow to squire for Ser Arthur Dayne himself. Aegon proved to be armed with all the charm and promise his father showed in his youth. Jaehaerys and Viserys, born in the same year, were the sons Aerys kept closest as his madness took hold, unable to trust his elder princes. Daeron’s defiance and Aegon’s ambition unnerved the king nearly as much as Rhaegar’s popularity.
Lastly came Daenerys, who Queen Rhaella died birthing during a storm at Dragonstone. Conceived during the reign of Aerys, born at the beginning of Rhaegar’s, Daenerys would be the youngest dragon to rise from the ashes of rebellion.
Her fate in the hands of the others.
DAENERYS
-289 AC-
Her bare feet padded silently across the empty corridors of Maegor’s Holdfast. The hour was late and the night chill made the stone floor cold against Dany’s feet. She’d left her slippers back in her chambers where an intruder woke her only moments earlier.
“Naughty Meraxes.” She scolded the black kitten cradled in her arms. “You scared me, sneaking into my room, knocking over my dolls. Bad kitten.”
Meraxes nuzzled against her chest and purred some, making Dany’s pout turn into a grin. Her fifth nameday was soon and she decided then and there to ask for a kitten. Or a puppy.
She really wanted a dragon, like the ones she had been dreaming about. In those dreams she flew on the backs of dragons, waving down at the world below. Her dragon dreams always made her happy even though Viserys told her they were nonsense and she was simple for having them.
I’m not simple… Vissy is just jealous he doesn’t fly when he sleeps.
That made Dany yawn as she rounded a corner where two empty suits of armor stood guard. The Red Keep was full of such things and the flickering of torches set the shadows to dancing. She kept away from them, a little fearful they could come alive and grab her.
Then they started whispering and Dany jumped in fright. It took a moment for her to realize it wasn’t the suits of armor talking. Someone else was. Many people, and they were shouting. The sounds of it echoing down the corridors to her ears. As Dany drew closer the voices started to sound familiar. These were voices she had known her whole life.
Voices she loved.
She came to a pair of heavy oak doors, one of which was ajar just enough for Dany and Meraxes to peak through. Within she saw at two-white cloaked Kingsguard knights and a number of people arguing.
None more important than the king and queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
“This treason must be answered.” Rhaegar spoke with his iron tones, his gaze moving from person to person. His purple eyes burned from beneath the long, lovely hair hanging about his face. “Balon Greyjoy sets his longships to reaving, burns the Lannister fleet at anchor and names himself King of the Iron Islands. There is only one king in the Seven Kingdoms and I shall remind the Greyjoys of that personally.”
A chorus of disapproval rose up at that, one voice coming out clearer than the rest.
“Nonsense.” The queen spoke firmly. “Let others lead this fight.”
Dany wished her dolls could be as pretty as Shaena, who wore a gown of the deepest blue and had her hair done in a long platinum braid. Her sister stood just as tall as Rhaegar but intimidated Dany more, for Shaena was much stricter. The queen stood apart from all the others and not because she was the only woman. It was just a part of who Shaena was, when her older sister spoke, people listened.
Especially with the tone she used now. One Dany recognized and knew meant Rhaegar was in big trouble.
“It is for a king to command, others to obey.” Shaena challenged Rhaegar while gesturing to the others. “Crush the Greyjoys if you must, but do so from the Iron Throne. There’s any number of lords or knights you could send in your stead. Some in this room.”
“I stand ready.” Jon Connington grunted, his red hair as bright as the torches around. “Give me the ships and leave to do so, Rhaegar. Your will shall be done.”
Ser Barristan spoke up as well. “Grant me a command and I would gladly act in my king’s name. The Hand reports we can have the royal levees ready to sail within the week.”
“Good, for I shall sail with them.” Rhaegar held up a hand to stop Shaena’s argument. “Good men fought and died so I could wear this crown. I will not sit idle now that it comes time to defend my throne. Especially not when my brothers throw themselves into the fray.”
Connington frowned. “Viserys will only sail if I do. Trust that he won’t see much fighting if I have any say. The lad is not much of a squire and until I make him one, I won’t lose the charge you’ve given me.”
“See, Rhaegar? The ser knows what he is about.” Shaena pressed on. “Tywin Lannister is not like to risk Aegon either, not with our brother wed to his darling Cersei. When you sent Jaehaerys to squire for Baelor Hightower it was expected he might join with them in battle. Now they do so in your name. Fighting for their king. Safeguarding your realm, your life.”
“Shaena has a point, brother.” The second Kingsguard knight added gruffly. Muscular and broad-shouldered, his words came out with just as much strength. “The Greyjoys have already proven themselves as dangerous as they are treacherous. There’s no guarantee of victory.”
“There never was.” Rhaegar’s voice dipped some. “Yet we fight all the same. I want the ravens to fly across the realm. To Riverrun, Winterfell, Casterly Rock, as far as we can reach. Let all know their king will act when his subjects are threatened.”
“Then House Targaryen fights as one.” The Kingsguard offered his hand and Rhaegar took it, which made Dany smile a bit.
Until Meraxes fought free of her hold, the tiny kitten lunging down to the floor and bounding into the room with several loud meows. At first, all eyes went to the cat, and then to the open door it entered through. Finally, it was Dany they looked upon, finding her grabbing at her nightgown and lowering her head sheepishly.
“Daenerys.” Shaena spoke sharply, hand on her hip. “What do you think you are doing? Are you spying on us, young lady?”
“Meraxes woke me up.” She explained as Shaena opened the door and pulled her inside. “I think he got lost. He needed help to get back to Visenya’s room.”
“So you wandered the castle in the dead of night. With no minders… and no shoes! We raised you better. You’ll catch a chill.”
“Vissy says dragons don’t catch chills.”
That earned a frown from her sister and laughs from the Kingsguard knights. Dany was heartened when Rhaegar lifted her chin so she could see his smile. It was a warm smile, if just a little sad. His touch a gentle one and the closest Dany knew to that of a father’s.
“That’s just a saying, Daenerys.” Rhaegar explained. “Some believe us Targaryens to burn too hot for illness yet it’s only a fable. We’re just as mortal as the smallfolk in the city streets. Kings, queens, even little princesses, all have to be mindful of their health.”
Shaena raised an eyebrow at that. “A wise lesson, husband. One I beg you to heed before leaving to test your mettle against the Greyjoys. A far deadlier adversary than a chill.”
“Enough, Shaena. Do not speak to me as if I am one of the children.”
“Are you going on a trip?” Dany interrupted her brother and sister’s quarrel. “I want to come with. Are we going to Dragonstone again? We can bring Meraxes-”
“No. Perhaps when I return we can do so, but for now I have matters to attend in the Iron Islands. All will be explained tomorrow, the only journey you need worry on is the one back to your bed.”
She didn’t want to go back to her room, there were a thousand questions left to ask. Before she could, the younger Kingsguard scooped up Meraxes and came Dany’s way.
“I’ll take her.” Daeron said, lifting Dany up against his chest like she weighed but a feather. “Come now, Silverbright, time to get all wayward princesses to bed.”
There was no arguing against that. Not with Daeron wearing his Kingsguard armor and carrying her about. Whenever he did so she felt a maiden from the songs. After Rhaegar and Shaena kissed her head, Dany pressed against the white enamel chest plate and gazed up at her older brother.
Daeron was the only one of her brothers to sport a beard, though his hair was the shortest of all them, kept just about his ears. She thought his face a handsome one, even with the scars.
The bones about Daeron’s left eye were misshapen and deep indents crossed through his flesh above and below. All said her brother was lucky not to have lost his eye in the fall yet Daeron had never ever called what remained of it a blessing. Where the young knight’s right eye was the lightest shade of lilac, his left showed little of that color. The iris there had broken so now a black slit took of much of his eye. Like that of a dragon’s.
The Dragonseye. After what father did, that’s what people called Daeron.
It was his dragon eye Dany looked into as the knight carried her through the halls of their home.
“Are you going too?” She asked, biting her lip. “To the Iron Islands?”
Daeron nodded. “My place is with Rhaegar. Don’t worry, we shall be back before you know it.”
“You’ll miss my nameday. You promised.”
He hadn’t really but she was still pouting when Daeron kissed her brow, his whiskers tickling some.
“It can’t be helped, Dany. I was there when you were born, I’d be here for this if I could. We all would.”
“Not all of you. The others are far away.”
“They are, but I wager Rhaegar could get Jay to come back with us after all this is done. Egg, too. Until then, trust that Shaena will make your party a fine affair, her children and Cersei’s boy will keep you company. There’ll be so many gifts and guests, you won’t even know we’re gone.”
“I would.” Dany laid her head against Daeron’s shoulder, closing her eyes. “If any of you weren’t here, I’d know.”
She couldn’t imagine life without her sister and brothers. Their mother died on Dragonstone the night Dany was born and she prayed each night for her. Their father was dead too, but he was a bad man and she didn’t like to think about him.
Other girls had parents but it was her siblings Dany had depended on for as long as she could remember. Rhaegar took care of them all and played his harp for her. Shaena taught her how to act a princess, picking out her gowns and seeing to her courtesies. Daeron watched over them and made her feel safe. Egg told jests and gave her the finest dresses. Jay sang her to sleep with his soft voice.
And Viserys… well he told her about their family. The kinds of stories the others wouldn’t share.
