Capítulo 5: A sin for a sin.
Walking into Dragonmount
I was greeted by a handful of dragon keepers who bowed lightly the moment they saw me walk in. One of them approached me as I felt another dragon land on the platform.
"Zaldrīzes, jāes jēda Abraxas iā aōt?" (My prince, should we call Abraxas for you?) the old Dragonkeeper asked me in a friendly manner.
"Daorun lenton, Abraxas sōvēs iā ñuhā voktys, hāedar." ("There is no need, Abraxas responds best to my voice, Grandmother") I said to the old Dragonkeeper before greeting my grandmother, who was approaching us with quick steps.
"Vealor," she said, hugging me in her rider leathers, most likely back from a patrol around the Gullet and Crownlands.
"How were the skies, anything to note?" I asked her, as the ground shook a bit due to Meleys leaving the landing platform.
"Other than the usual, there wasn't anything else to note," she said before she finally noticed both Yue and Ignis, who had just walked into the pit.
"I see this one doesn't leave you," she said, talking about Yue.
"It's my duty, Princess," Yue answered before my grandmother turned to me.
"Has there been a new council meeting while I was away?" she asked me.
"No, but there has been a new development. It will be discussed at the next council meeting," I said.
Before I heard the sound of heavy footsteps and armor clanging.
"Take your mount again," I heard a familiar voice approach, while Yue and Ignis stood at the ready.
"You as well, Vaelor," Daemon said, approaching me and my grandmother.
My grandmother, who had a hold of my arm, let go while stepping to my side to engage with Daemon.
"I alone patrol over a hundred miles of open sea, endlessly," she started, taking off her gloves.
"So that the blockade may hold," she continued.
"If that is the case, then Meleys must eat and rest. Don't you think so, Uncle?" I said, opting to intervene.
"As well as you, Grandmother. It will not do you well to ride hungry and tired. Yue here will escort you to your quarters," I said, as Yue stepped forward.
Daemon only stood there, his heart slowly starting to race, before my grandmother started departing from the landing bridge, Yue right behind her.
Daemon approached me from behind as I walked to the edge of the landing platform, feeling the intricate cave connections while the sound traveled through it.
"We're going to King's Landing," he said, while I kept observing the vastness of Dragonmount, hearing the different heartbeats of all the dragons that occupied the dormant volcano, looking for my companion.
"For what reason?" I asked.
"Killing Vhagar. I cannot face that whore old bitch alone," he whispered so that Ignis, who stood far from us, wouldn't hear.
"With my dragon and yours together, we stand more than a chance to kill Vhagar and her rider," he continued, knowing all too well where he was going with this.
"A son for a son, you mean?" I said, while he shifted uncomfortably next to me, most likely surprised I knew what he was going to say next.
"Yes, precisely," he agreed.
"And does my mother know of this plan? She is, after all, the queen, or do you think otherwise?" I said, shifting my masked face to him.
"Your mother would not understand. She is too preoccupied with Lucerys to make difficult decisions," he said.
"No, you're just afraid she will say no, because you, as well as I, know that what you are planning is wrong," I pressed.
"He almost killed your brother!" Daemon all but shouted.
"I only serve justice by bringing him and Vhagar to rest," he continued.
"Is that what you believe? That you are an advocate for justice?" I asked, connecting to my companion and telling him to approach the landing platform.
"Don't make me laugh, Uncle. You, as well as I, know that all you are doing is serving yourself. A son for a son?" I scoffed.
"More like a sin for a sin. What Aemond did, on all accounts, was wrong and sinful, and he will get his due by dragonfire," I said, while I felt the vibration of Abraxas's footsteps.
"But what you will not do is folly our war efforts by not only undermining my mother, your queen, but also by killing Aemond, who was just recently named kinslayer by the Faith," I told him, while he was finally starting to understand where I was coming from.
"I am not here for decoration, Uncle," I continued, as the Dragonkeepers and Daemon finally felt the approach of my long-time companion.
"I am here to right a wrong that was committed," I said, while Abraxas finally arrived and inched forward, still hidden by the shadows of the cave.
"All I need you to do is trust me," I said, while I felt a hot breath right in front of me. Daemon and the Dragonkeepers took steps back.
Inching my hand forward, I felt the familiar rough sensation of Abraxas's scales.
"Can you do that?" I finished, while my dragon inched his face even closer, so that I had to hold him back with both my hands.
"Lykiri Abraxas, shuush," I whispered to him.
Daemon, who had gone silent, turned around on his heels and stormed off the landing platform.
Good, he needs to understand that as much as he is the King Consort, the power is within my mother and, in turn, me, her heir. Daemon is too much of a wild card to be left alone with his doings.
"You think he will listen, my lord?" Ignis, who heard our conversation, asked, while I only hummed in response, enjoying the presence of Abraxas.
"He has no other choice but to listen. Daemon himself may not know it yet, but he is not cut out to rule. He may think he is, he has ambition, cunningness, and he is, most of all, a skilled dragonrider, but a ruler he is not," I told Ignis.
"Better for him to realize quickly than to make a mistake that will cost him dearly," I said, still humming to Abraxas as he grumbled, finally noticing the smell of Seasmoke.
"O hush, he was only greeting me," I told Abraxas, pushing against him.
"But that's not the reason you came to me. Tell me, Ignis, what have you discovered?" I finally asked, knowing that Ignis came to relay something.
"Yes, I came to tell you that the blockade has shown fruit. One of the ships we sent to aid the blockade has found a lady," he said.
"A lady?" I asked.
"Yes, Lady Missaria, or as she is liked to be called, the White Worm," he said.
"The White Worm, you say?" Now that's a name that raises more than one red flag—the same White Worm my spies have relayed that all but put Aegon on the throne.
"Where is she being held?" I asked, wanting to speak with this woman as soon as possible.
"In one of the cells, my lord. She hasn't spoken a word since being brought in. We've been feeding her and treating her as per our custom, but…" Ignis continued.
"Yes?" I said, urging him to say what he has in mind.
"I don't know why, but everything in my gut is telling me not to trust this woman," he said passionately.
At first glance, Ignis might appear to be a brute lacking any trace of intelligence. However, in all the time I've known him, his instincts and advice have never led me astray. If he says something is off about her, I have no reason to doubt his judgment.
"Thank you, Ignis, for relaying this to me. Now, there is something I want you to do for me," I said, stroking Abraxas while the dragon had his eyes closed.
"My lord," Ignis said, standing at attention.
"I want you to send a handful of our men to infiltrate the Red Keep. It will be hard, I know, but this is important. If they can go in as rat catchers or servants into the Keep and keep an eye out for someone, I would appreciate it," I said, remembering someone truly important to me, still in King's Landing.
She needs to be out of there as fast as possible. Knowing the Greens, it won't be long till they command her to do something truly against her character. Helena is too kind for this world.
"Of course, my lord. You need only to say who," he said, ever the loyal servant.
"Good. I need them to look after, Helena Targaryen," I said.
"It will be done, my lord," Ignis said, as he bowed and walked away to do as he was commanded.
"GRRRR," Abraxas vocalized, most likely feeling the worry I was feeling.
"Skoros jevi ēdrus?" (You want me to sing to you?) I asked Abraxas, as he vocalized a yes.
So I gave him what he wanted and started singing the very song that would call out to every dragon in Dragonmount.
But I wasn't worried about that, for Abraxas was here, and he was all but their king.
"Drakari pykiros
īkummo jemiros
Yn lantyz bartossa
Saelot vāedis"
Abraxas was a different type of dragon. I knew it since the day he hatched from the egg that my grandfather, Corlys Velaryon, put into my cradle. For instance, Abraxas was a large dragon—very large.
If I were to compare him to Vhagar's size, I would say he was only a couple of feet smaller than her, but the difference between Abraxas and Vhagar was like night and day.
For one, Abraxas was only 12 years old.
"Hen ñuhā elēnī:
Perzyssy vestretis
Se gēlȳn
Irūdaks Ānogrose"
Abraxas may have been large, but his build was lithe—not as skinny as Caraxes and not as bulky as Vermithor. He was something in between. Perfect size for speed and complex maneuvers.
"Perzyro udrȳssi
Ezīmptos laehossi
Hārossa letagon
Aōt vāedan"
There was also something that differed with Abraxas compared to all other Targaryen dragons. While all the dragons had the traditional two hind legs and wings for arms, Abraxas had four legs, and his wings sprouted from his back.
"Hae mērot gierūli:
Se hāros bartossi
Prūmȳsa sōvīli
Gevī dāerī"
For as long as I could remember, I was looking for reasons why he looked so different. Was he deformed while developing in the egg, as the maester had said? Was it just one of his own personal characteristics, like the long neck of Caraxes, or was there something else to it?
I continued the song.
"Se Abraxas sōvīli
Valyrio perzyro
Henujagon se iāngos
Yn ānogros daor
Hen lentor pryjās"
(And Abraxas the mighty
In the Valyrian flames
Commands the sky
And none can stand
Against his fire)
It was after I escaped slavery and found Abraxas again, in the ruins of old Valyria, that I discovered what he truly was.
"Se gevives syt zālagon
Vezofraks dracarys
Se Āeksio zōbrie
Gevī iārex"
(And his power to rule
Crown him with fire
For the King of all dragons
Forever he reigns)
It was in one of the many tombs I found in a ruined library. Many of them were burnt, but from what I could salvage, I found the very question I'd been asking myself for a long time.
The King of Dragons, the alpha of all flying creatures.
Born from an ancient dragon egg every 400 years, following the passing of the previous Dragon King. With four legs and majestic wings sprouting from its back, this unique being emerges with a singular purpose: to balance the dragon population by laying numerous eggs and to rejuvenate the magic in the air with its presence.
It fit the description perfectly, because Abraxas was not an egg incubated by the dragon keepers; it was one found by my grandfather on his travels across the Seven Seas, and it had been laying in his treasury for a long time until the egg started giving off heat.
It was a sobering thought when I found out that my dragon was something completely different from all the other existing dragons.
"Abraxas, the Night Fury," I said out loud.
"Suits you quite well," I said, as one of the dragon keepers approached me.
"My prince, news from the queen," he said in Old Valyrian.
"Speak, elder, what is it?" I said.
"The prince Lucearys has awakened." That's all I needed to hear before I told Abraxas to go back into his den and I departed for where my brother was.
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Going up the flight of stairs to where I knew my brother's room was located, I saw the maester standing outside the door while two Kingsguard members stood at each side.
"My prince," Ser Erryk said, while both the maester and Ser Steffon noticed my arrival.
"I heard the news," I said, observing what was going on inside the room, to find my mother crying tears of joy, while another also cried, but his cry was more one of relief.
"Is my little brother well, Maester?" I asked, continuing to observe my mother and my little brother's interactions.
It was a miracle that he survived something like that. If I and Abraxas had been any later… No, it is not wise to dwell on that.
"I won't lie and tell you everything is fine, my prince," the Maester started. "But the difficulty has passed. Now that he is up, we can be sure that his physical injuries will heal." The Maester stopped, sounding a bit on edge.
"But?" I said.
"I worry for the ailment of his mind. The prince is young, and he faced a near-death experience," the Maester said, making it clear what he was talking about.
"He also lost his dragon, a bond no man can explain with words." I knew where the Maester was going with this. He feared that Lucerys had suffered a mental scar.
I did not blame him. After all, I suffered a similar fate—mine less severe than his in some aspects, but alas, a similar one. I know the effects it has mentally.
"Hmm, you should not worry about that. I know someone who can treat him if it comes to that," I said, feeling shuffles coming from the room and hearing Lucerys ask who saved him.
Moving away from the door, I patted the Maester's shoulder before saying, "Well done, Gerardys. You have served the crown's interests well. I will be sure to reward you for this," I said, making my way to where one White Worm was being kept.
"I was only doing my job, my prince," I heard him say, before Ser Steffon said something that stopped me.
"Will you not greet him, my prince?"
Turning my masked face toward where I knew Ser Steffon stood, I said, "The boy needs his mother's comfort before he learns that his dead elder brother still lives," before leaving.
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POV( Rheanyra)
Looking at the now sleeping form of Lucearys, Rhaenyra couldn't help but compare it to when he first came into this world.
All teary-eyed and with his pug nose, he looked like an angel.
All would have been well if it were not so obvious that he was not the seed of a Velaryon.
"Damn those greens."
Ever since she could remember, all of her children had faced scorn, except for Vealor, and she had not realized it at the time, but she had formed a small resentment toward him because of it.
Laenor had, on many occasions, told her that she was neglecting Vealor, that she was focusing too much on Jacaerys and Lucerys, and that he would stand to gain a lot from his mother's affection.
At the time, she did not believe she was neglecting the boy—how could she? She loved him as much as, if not more than, her other boys.
But she thought about it, actually thought about it, and it became clear to her that she was neglecting the child.
It wasn't something big like not seeing him or speaking with him, but small, yet still noticeable, things.
When he came to her with a worry, from the dreams that would plague him, she would be dismissive and harsh. When he told her about what he did on the training yard or learned in one of his lessons, she would not pay him any mind, opting to listen to what Jacaerys had to tell her instead.
So, when she realized all of this was a form of neglect, she tried to fix it, but it was too late for that. He had already grown accustomed to his mother not paying him heed, so he had made friends with someone no one could have expected… Helaena, his aunt, and her sister.
The door to the room was opened abruptly, which took her gaze away from Lucerys' face.
"I'm sorry, my queen, but a council meeting has been called by Prince Daemon. He says it's urgent," the Maester said as he entered the room.
"Now?" She asked.
"Yes, now, I'm afraid," Gerardys confirmed.
Rhaenyra was starting to think Daemon needed a leash. He was becoming too unpredictable for her liking, but who was she kidding? This was Daemon she was talking about.
"Alright, I heard you, Maester," Rhaenyra said. She leaned in and gave the sleeping Lucerys a kiss before departing from the room. But before she left, she asked the Maester whether or not the news of Lucerys had reached Vealor.
"Oh yes, he even came to see him, but he left after seeing that he had woken up," the Maester said, confirming that Vealor had been there.
"Did he say where he was going or what he was going to do?" She asked, not knowing anything about her son's activities ever since he came to Dragonstone.
"No... but it did seem urgent. I heard that some of his men had found and captured someone," the Maester said, dropping a bombshell on her.
"What! Who? Why wasn't I notified?" She asked, bewildered. How could she not have been told of this? She was the queen, after all.
"I'm not sure, your Grace. I only know because I overheard some of the princess' men talking about it. I'm sure he would have told you at some point," the Maester said, clearly nervous.
Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere, Rhaenyra proceeded on her way to the council meeting. She needed to know who they had found and why she wasn't informed.
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This is it for the day, the next chapter will be released next week, in the meanitime I would like to know what all of you think so far?
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