Chương 110: A True Dragon
"Why did you bring a parrot to court?" Visenya raised an eyebrow.
"Rhae has a mind of his own." Aerion chuckled. "He won't cause trouble... well, not too much of it, anyway."
"Aren't you wonderful?" Rhae landed on Rhaenys Targaryen's hand without any resistance. "So exotic and majestic."
"Wonderful." Rhae nodded, looking at Rhaenys. "So exotic and majestic."
"How much for him, Lord Aerion?" Rhaenys turned to Aerion and smiled. "I truly want this bird for myself."
"He's not for sale." Aerion replied rather bluntly.
"He's not for sale. He's not for sale." Rhae proudly nodded several times.
"Oh, really... that's a shame. What if I ordered you as queen to gift it to me?"
"I would have to disobey you." Aerion shook his head. "As much of a fool he is, Rhae was a present from my lady. Such gifts are of the heart... and so, he is priceless to me."
"... I see."
"So much fuss over a bird." Visenya scoffed. "You haven't grown much, have you, sister?"
"The parrot is of Targaryen colours, though... and speaks so clearly."
"Targaryen. Targaryen." Rhae nodded, tilting its head at Aerion.
'Are you selling me out, you damn bird?'
"I've heard about what you've been doing... trading, pillaging and even conquering. I don't recall my brother allowing you to do that." Rhaenys stated. "The King's Peace is a law which states that any lord who goes to war without leave from the King is a rebel."
"Ah... wasn't that law intended for internal disputes of the Seven Kingdoms? As far as I am concerned, I was doing my business externally." Aerion smiled. "The King's Peace is a law I know quite well, my queen. Reaving foreign places is very much permitted and I am, after all, lord paramount of the Iron Isles. Should I allow my people to struggle when I can bring them great fortune?"
"You really tried." Visenya glanced at Rhaenys.
"... Seems that you know your laws. Still, making enemies of Free Cities without leave is quite unreasonable. What you do as lord paramount reflects on your king..."
Aegon soon joined in on their conversation. "What are you all talking about?"
"Well... me taking Lys can't be that unacceptable, can it?" Aerion smiled, turning to Aegon.
"You took Lys. So it is yours." Aegon stated simply. "However, the next time you decide to take a city... you will inform me first and ask for my leave."
"Ask for my leave," Rhae repeated.
"Fair enough." Aerion chuckled, looking at Aegon. "I will do so next time."
"Speaking of Lys, it is said that their queen surrendered to you the moment you entered her palace." Aegon stated. "That is impressive. I wonder, what did you do to to make such a woman bend?"
"Well... what can I say? I have a way with the ladies." Aerion shrugged.
"Mnnh... yeah... fuck me... fuck me..." Rhae repeated a few moans he had overheard. "Harder... harder... gods, you are so strong!"
"Hahaha!" Rhaenys didn't contain her laughter "Hahahahahaha..."
Visenya found it hard to maintain her straight face and so did Aegon. Aerion was more of the same.
'That perverted parrot probably flew into some brothel earlier...'
"I did not sleep with her, as Rhae is trying to suggest." Aerion chuckled. "A simple talk was all I needed."
"I see." Aegon nodded. "You have proven to be a capable diplomat before. Regarding that... I wish for you to join my small council."
"Oh?" Aerion crossed his arms, grinning slightly. "And what position would you offer?"
"The master of ships and Lord admiral. Since Daemon fell at the shores of Gulltown... I have been without one." Aegon Targaryen looked strong, although there was a tone of sadness to his voice. "You have proven yourself as an exceptional naval commander and I trust you more than most. So... will you take it?"
"... Certainly." Aerion nodded, bowing slightly "It would be my pleasure to take command of your fleets whenever you may require them for warfare."
"Then I hereby welcome you to the small council, Lord Aerion...ah, that is rather strange to say off the tongue."
"How so?"
"Aerion was our father's name." Rhaenys replied, chuckling.
"Oh, right..." Aerion laughed. "Isn't that a great coincidence?"
"Indeed." Aegon nodded.
"You will be expected to stay at court more often given your new position." Visenya stated, looking him in the eye. "And if you happen to be late to a small council meeting..."
"What gives you the impression that I would be?"
"Your lax disposition, for one. You tend to leave the ruling of the Iron Isles to another lord which shows that you are not dedicated to your post."
"Forgive me but I was busy filling ships with gold... among other things." Aerion shrugged. "Vickon is a capable man whom I trust. Is there any wrong with making use of a man's full ability?"
"I am certain that Aerion will take small council matters seriously." Aegon countered Visenya. "He is a lax person who knows when to be stern... am I not wrong?"
"I'd be one of the first through the door and the last to leave." Aerion agreed with a nod.
...
At court, Rhaenys eventually reunited with Jocelyn and a few other ladies. The talk of the day was mostly Aerion... as it would be whenever he made an appearance. They wouldn't miss a chance to gossip about his manhood, even after all this time.
"Is he rough... with his large endowment?"
"No, not at all. At least... it wasn't anything I couldn't handle." Jocelyn smiled, enjoying some wine while she bragged. "He is more skillful and articulate, only striking when the time is right."
"Oh... that is quite amusing." One lady replied. "I thought he was more of a wild beast."
"... He can be a little unruly, true. But a wild beast? Far from it."
...
Later, Rhaenys invited Jocelyn on a leisurely walk through the growing King's Landing.
"Someday... this will be a great city, even greater than Gultown, Oldtown or any town." Rhaenys stated. "The centre of all Seven Kingdoms."
"I'm certain it will be." Jocelyn nodded. "It's already growing rather swiftly."
"Mhm... anyway, how is your marriage with Lord Aerion? I take it it's a rather joyful one, from what I've observed."
"It is." Jocelyn chuckled. "Every night is just as exciting as the last with him. I believe every lady secretly dreams of bedding him... but, in the end, he is mine by right."
"Oh, that is no secret." Rhaenys smiled. "Handsome as any maiden's dream with equally stunning charm. No, less exceptionally talented in seemingly everything he does? You are quite fortunate to have him, my lady."
"You almost sound envious."
"... Do I? Why, my husband is the king." Rhaenys replied.
"True enough." Jocelyn shrugged. 'And Aerion is an Emperor... back home.'
~
"Why'd you take me to Dragonstone?" Aerion inquired, taking in the island's rather familiar air. It was the island where he and Rhaenys… his twin sister Rhaenys had come into the world.
"I am a woman of my word." Visenya replied, glancing at the landed Vhagar. "We will see if you can ride Vhagar on your own today."
"And if I can't?"
"You've already done the difficult part by earning the dragon's trust. The rest is willing her to do as you wish… which is mostly instinct. You either have it or you do not."
"Let's see if I have 'it', in that case."
Aerion smiled when he approached Vhagar. As he had done hundreds of times before with other dragons, he mounted the top of the dragon and comforted her. He straightened his posture and willed her to fly.
"Fly, Vhagar."
Woosh.
In several elegant waves of its wings, she took flight and continued to ascend higher into the skies. However, Vhagar started to get noticeably disgruntled... shrugging off Aerion over a thousand feet in the air.
'Oh... Seven Hells...'
Aerion cursed, looking down at a fall that would most certainly end his life... whether he landed in water or not. He tried to channel Aeromancy but the violent force pushing him down broke his train of thought. A look of horror flashed across his face as his worries grew.
'You are part dragon...'
He recalled Bellona's observation, calming his breathing. He suppressed his fear... and regained confidence.
'𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏.'
Wings... he imagined them sprouting forth.
And so they did!
Woosh... woosh... woosh.
Aerion floated several metres in the air, his newfound black dragon wings flapping against the wind. His shirt had two holes in them, from which they had emerged. Black with emerald undertones... they had the colour of Vermithor. Or rather, Vermithor had 𝒉𝒊𝒔 colour.
"Hahaha..." Aerion laughed away his previous fear of splattering against the ground, observing his new wings. 'So it is true.'
"... Wings?" Visenya Targaryen's eyes widened. "What are you?"
"I don't even know myself... it just happened."
Aerion half-lied, saving himself the trouble of having to explain what a vampire was.
...
"So I believe I know what happened when Vhagar threw me off her," Aerion spoke to Visenya over wine. Dornish red, to be precise. He had been kind enough to introduce it to her.
"I've once read that a dragon only ever accepts one rider at a time. If another tries to ride a taken dragon... no matter how familiar, they will be thrown off. However, with the chosen dragonrider's presence, a dragon is willing to carry others... that was our case."
'Vermithor's a bit special... it seems. Beyond its many talents, it has also chosen both Jocelyn and I. He has three heads for three riders, I suppose. As for Vahagar... she tricked me with her initial good behaviour. In the end, I was no different to that rule.'
Aerion recalled how Rhaenyra Targaryen had lost a son who had tried to ride her dragon.
"I... should have known that." Visenya sighed. "If you had not sprouted those wings of yours, you would have died falling from hundreds of feet. Forgive me."
"What is there to forgive? You are queen Visenya while I would just be another fool who tried to ride a dragon."
"Because you are important."
"Am I?" Aerion wondered. "Because I seem to recall that you said that I leave the ruling of my lands to other people... which, admittedly, does make me sound quite replaceable."
"Find me another man who could have taken Harrenhal alone, ensured that there was not a single casualty on the Field of Fire and led a third of the Iron Fleet to a successful reaving of the Summer Islands. No less, you tripled the size of your fleet throughout and earned an additional fortune from trade. If you could find someone else who could accomplish all of that... mayhaps, I'd see you as replaceable."
'Gods, forgive I asked.'
"I didn't know I had someone paying such close attention to my feats." Aerion smiled, nodding slightly. "It is true, you won't find another man like me."
"There must be something that I can do to make up for threatening your life in such a way..."
"Hmm..." Aerion shrugged his shoulder. "You don't have to."
"There's nothing that I can do? Anything at all... as long as it is reasonable, of course."
Aerion felt his vampiric emotional senses flare up a little when Visenya spoke the words 'anything at all'.
'She didn't mean it in that way, did she?'
"Spar with me. I want to see how well you wield that valyrian steel sword of yours."
"We were going to anyway." Visenya shook her head. "Something else."
"You're not making this easy, are you?" Aerion laughed a little. "Alright... you asked for it. I have just the right ingredients."
"The right ingredients for what?"
"Oh, you'll see."
...
Aerion had a nice pot of soup prepared for Visenya... it was nothing out of the ordinary, except for one thing. It was full of spices, leaving no bit of soup untouched. Dornish spices were the most dominant but there were some others from Lys and the Summer Isles in there too.
"I can smell the heat coming from it." Visenya grimaced slightly. "Do I have to eat all of it?"
"Mhm." Aerion nodded, grinning slightly. "Since I was on the verge of death... it would only be fitting that you would be too. Although, this soup wouldn't really kill you. Just burn your tongue... a little. I suggest eating it quickly so the spice doesn't strike till you finished a good bit of it."
"And when it does 'strike'?"
"... Oh, don't worry about it." Aerion chuckled. "Targaryens can tolerate a little more heat than others, can't they?"
"That is true..."
Visenya nodded, taking a deep breath before taking her first spoonful of soup. She got to about half of it until her facial expression visibly changed.
"So it begins." Aerion smiled in a playful manner. "I believe you'll be needing some water."
"..." Visenya bit her tongue, continuing to eat the soup... much to Aerion's surprise. She drank all of it and ate its contents right after in a swift manner.
'No way she just did that.'
Suddenly, she stood up and stormed out of the room.
Aerion laughed.
"I thought as much!"
...
Aerion had laughed his fair share at watching the usually stern Visenya desperately try to fight the flames that lit up her mouth. It had taken almost five for her to stop drinking cold water occasionally in her struggle... however, she eventually won.
"I hope you don't hate me from now on." Aerion chuckled. "It was just a little fun."
"You remind me of my sister..."
Visenya finally stated, finally having mostly overcome the attack of the spices.
"In what way?"
"Your love for mischief, adventure, music and overall cheerful disposition."
"I suppose I do have some things in common with Rhaenys... but she doesn't train at arms, does she?" Aerion replied.
"No, she does not."
"Hmm... I still haven't sparred you, for that matter."
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