𝓐𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓻𝔂𝓮𝓷
4 years later,

The afternoon sun is a welcomed sight after a week or more of thunderstorms and cloudy days. Today however was not a normal day, today marked the 10th year of Helaena's death leaving an eternal hole in the Realm. And though we'd initially planned a ball in her remembrance, the current climate of the capital was... volatile to say the least.

"Father, does that mean we won't be holding the ball?" My son asks, growing almost as tall as I in his 15 nearly 16 years of age. He however hated these affairs for a far different reason than I had at his age.

I can see my son's grin from the corner of my eye, something like his mother's where Visaera always held more of my likeness in her malicious streak.

Aelyx quite despised the attention and swooning of the ladies of the court, ignoring the many letters from possible suitors across the realm.

"Not this year I'm afraid," I answer curtly, resigned to spend the rest of the evening in solitude, thankful myself that the festivities had been canceled.

I'd known my sister and wife had meant well, eager to celebrate Helaena's life instead of settle in our mourning but some small towns across the realm were still struggling with the Winter Fever. The high rising taxes only further the divide between the Queen and her subjects, so much so that I worried for Elaena's rule whenever that day was to come.

Even my mother had caught something damning in the confinement of Maegors Holdfast, fighting each day to regain her strength.

Strolling through the gardens I pick out a handful of flowers along our way, but Aelyx's mind is elsewhere.

"Have not one of those suitors met your liking?" I ask him, promising my wife I'd talk to him of the matter but he immediately stiffens up, becoming suddenly enamored with the clouds in the sky.

"You and Mother married for love, is that too much that I ask-"

"Of course not. Your mother and I decided on such matters before you were born, but that's not to say you may find love and partnership in one of these young ladies."

Aelyx rolls his violet eyes, kicking at the dirt, "You mean as Jaehaeryn has?"

I come to a screeching halt in the gravel pathway to look at my son, "What was that?"

My son crosses his arms over his chest, struggling to meet my glare or speak for that matter, but we're interrupted by approaching footsteps, saving him from my interrogation.

"My prince, Princess Baela is to depart for Dragonstone on her trek to the North. Princess Elaena requests your presence at the dragon mount for goodbyes if you're willing,"

"Thank you, Ser," Smiling to myself I exchange a glance with Aelyx. Only my wife would pose such an order as a polite request. Giving my son's shoulder an affectionate squeeze he knows he's only avoided my questioning for a short while.

We've yet made it to the dragonmont but with a simple glance to the sky, it's quite clear they'd grown bored waiting for us.

Tyraxes and a nearly grown Seasmoke race through the clouds with Moondancer not far behind, the siblings nip at each other's heels playfully but another joins them.

With a roar of an entrance, Stormfyre breaks through the valley where Jaehaera joins them, leaving only Jaehaeryn at the beach below, watching them with crossed arms.

From a distance he was my older brother's clone, holding himself in just the same way, yearning for a dragon but only further isolating himself in his sarcasm.

As our wheelhouse comes to a stop Jaehaeryn seems relieved to no longer be alone on the sidelines, clasping Aelyx's hand like brothers when we arrive.

"Left you down here with the squalor did they?" My son teases but Jae rolls his eyes, ignoring this first jab.

"Jaehaera was meant to meet me here but it seems she's made other plans," he scoffs. Aelyx shrugs his broad shoulders, looking to the sky to watch the colorful beasts mingle, "A dragon rider is never too keen on missing out on a ride. You and my sister will understand one day, cousin,"

I even cringe at this remark, smacking my son on the back of the head, "You're lucky to have hatched a dragon, young prince. Both your mother and I had to claim dragons, there's no shame in such a thing."

My teaching moment is cut short by large flapping wings approaching, blowing up the sand around us as Stormfyre makes her landing. The boys however are entranced by the dark blue-scaled beast who shimmers like a starlit night just before dawn.

Stormfyre shared the same horns as the dragon from which her egg came, Jaehaera's mother Helaena's dragon, Dreamfyre.

We'd wondered if maybe Visaera or Jaehaeryn would've bonded with the grown dragon in the 10 years past my sister's death but alas, Dreamfyre remained alone in the dragon pits, waiting patiently for whatever the gods intended.

Unclasping her saddle my niece carelessly jumps down, sinking into the sand with the force from the height of her dragon.

"Jaehaera! Seven hells, be careful would you!" Jaehaeryn shouts out for his half-sister, running after her to check in as if they were still only small children.

"I'm quite capable, brother. I am no mere princess," My niece flips her long braid over her shoulder, her round cheeks pink with adrenaline and I'm reminded of my sweet sister in our youngest years, riding our dragons through the morning mist before our Mother would drag us to our morning prayers.

A smile tugs at my lips, my throat burning with tears I wouldn't dare shed.

Gods how I missed Helaena,

How she would've loved to see our children growing side by side,

"As I'm ceaselessly reminded," Jaehaeryn rolls his eyes, offering her his arm but she strolls right past him, drawn to Aelyx who of course seems more occupied with the sky, watching his mother, Aunt, and Uncle fly closer to make their grand entrance.

"Uncle! Aunt El said I can visit Visaera!" Jaehaera shouts but my stomach twists at the thought of my sister's daughter being out of my sight, especially on the anniversary of her death.

"She said to ask him, Jaehaera! You know Uncle Aemond will say no," He tells her in a hushed whisper and I frown when the pair turn to meet me, my niece noticeably deflated and I instantly want to change my mind, to make her smile again.

Elaena rides with grace, circling wide and longer than the others to find me below. I can almost see her dazzling smile from afar and I'm already walking her way, eager to have her by my side after having hardly seen her all day.

Though I wielded Visenya's sword and rode the same dragon, my wife was the very image of our ancestor with striking violet eyes and an otherworldly beauty that still amazed me to this day.

She would be Queen one day, yet she'd always been my Queen.

"You came," She breaths, smiling with the underlying sympathy I'd grown to recognize over the years, "They told you it was your choice to join us, didn't they? I didn't want you to feel pressured-"

"Aelyx loves his Aunt dearly. Baela will be gone for months, I needed to bring him." I reply, placing my claiming hand on her waist to tug her closer to me and lean in for a kiss but she pulls back.

"Our nearly 16-year-old son is perfectly capable of finding the dragonmont on his own." She giggles to herself, stealing a small kiss as I stare at her wordlessly.

Elaena was right of course, she only meant for me to admit it outwardly, so I gave her what she meant to want.

"I had my selfish intentions," I whisper against her ear, the tension between us crackling like a roaring heath but my wife knows what I mean to distract myself from.

"Tell me, how are you truly feeling, my love?" She asks me, the sympathy in her eyes wrapping around me like a warm blanket.

With a deep sigh, I meet her gaze, "As well as to be expected. Jaehaera looks more like her by the day... She even claims to be visiting our daughter,"

Elaena cringes, almost forgetting the request she'd made after her adventure in the skies.

"I told her that you and I would speak of it, I hadn't given her our answer yet." She frowns and I chuckle at her pouting lip, tracing it with my thumb.

Stumbling over her words my wife continues, "She'd thought out the entire plan truly, you'd be proud. She's already asked Baela to accompany her and is convinced Lucerys and Rhaena won't mind accompanying her home,"

The both of us turn to gaze pridefully at our family as Baela and Joffrey join them, their dragons making Stormfyre look rather small in comparison.

We'd built this tight-knit community of love and loyalty.

We'd built it together.

"Hmm, as long as she knows she's coming home to Kings Landing to remain with her family-"

"She knows Luke and Rhaena will be back in a few days time. It's not for long, my prince." She assures me, pressing a kiss to each of my fingers and I'm wet clay beneath her hands, eager to be molded for her greatest desires.

"Sister!" Baela calls out for Elaena, running toward us and I sigh, watching our moment fall to the wind.

"You were wonderful up there! Cregan would've been blown away!" My wife beams at her sister, wrapping Baela in a warm embrace.

Baela and Cregan's wedding had been beautiful, though I hadn't expected to return to Winterfell ever again, Elaena had been relieved that both her sisters had finally settled down, Joffrey on the other hand had refused betrothals left and right leaving quite the impression on Aelyx who'd become the talk of the Keep a time or two with his activities considering the young ladies of court.

Saying our goodbyes takes a bit longer than usual with Baela's indefinite departure. Our children had grown quite fond of their Aunt and her willful spirit, in many ways I knew it'd inspired Visaera's independence who'd been taken under Baela's wing since her birth.

"Take care of our Queen while I'm gone, sister. I'll send Rhaena and Luke your way once I meet them at Driftmark,"

Baela is nearly to Moondancer and Jaehaera to Stormfyre before another voice calls out from the stone stairway.

"Baela! You've forgotten just one farewell before you've gone!"

Lifting her Royal skirts from the sand, my sister rushes to meet us, happy to have caught her and our niece before they disembark.

"You were busy, I didn't wish to trouble you-"

"You're never of any trouble, it's a privilege to have watched you grow, to help raise you with your father." Rhaenyra might shed a tear as he brings her daughter close once more, whispering so low only Elaena and I can hear, "Your Mother and Father watch over you with pride, they always have since the day you were born,"

The fires burned dim the night of Lady Laena Velaryon's funeral in Driftmark, and that night everything had changed forever.

The waves had crashed the shore as if even the gods, old and new, were in despair of her passing just as they had when my sister was murdered, the thunder shaking the stone walls of the Red Keep.

"Send a raven the moment you arrive." Elaena smiles at our niece, tightening the straps on her riding cloak, "And follow Baela closely, don't stray from the usual route, understand?" she continues, ever the protective mother, and just then the clouds seem to part, a ray of sunlight shining through.

"Yes, Aunt El, I understand,"

Elaena's parental exterior crumbles at Jaehaera's small voice, unshed tears going as fast as they've come, "And if you can convince your sister to come home with you for a visit, her mother and father would appreciate it very much," My wife laughs, bringing a hearty laugh from even my tight chest.

Once again they both take off for their dragons but I chase after my niece giving her my final goodbye, wondering if I still had time to change my mind but once I see the bright joy dancing in her irises I know there's no stopping her.

The Velaryons would keep her safe.

That is if Lucerys wished to keep his life.

"You are so loved, fly safely, hm?" I'm not sure what else to say, the words stuck in my throat as I stare at the innocent product of my brother and sister.

How could something so innocent and beautiful come from such a loveless marriage?

"I promise, Uncle. I'll be back in a few days time," She assures me, smiling sweetly.

Watching her go, Elaena slips her fingers through mine giving me a slight squeeze and in what feels like an instant Moondancer and Stormfyre are small specks of color in the sky, their mighty dragons fading from our sight through the clouds but I'm still holding my breath watching them go.

The remainder of the afternoon is spent in a haze, the fog of unease weighing on my shoulders as if the storms from prior this week had lingered within.

"Uncle Joffrey! Would you take me to Dragonstone?" Jaehaeryn asks, having had pestering his family members all evening about claiming a dragon.

Joffrey Strong meets my narrowed stare but quickly glances away, "Maybe we'll refrain from trips for a few months,"

"Sounds like a wonderful idea, could I join father?" Aelyx asks, shoveling another bite of food into his mouth but Jaehaeryn shakes his head.

"Not in a million fortnights! You'd just ruin it!" His cousin teased, sticking out his tongue when he thinks Elaena and I aren't looking.

"I'd assume he'd rather go with my sister," our son continues and Rhaenyra's face scrunches up in a  puzzled look, "Visaera?"

"Boys," Elaena warns, and with one stern look from my wife their backs straighten and they continue eating in silence, earning an impressed expression from Joffrey who'd reminded me of Jace when his dark hair was cut shorter.

Dismissing myself from dinner, Elaena offers me a heartfelt smile and though I return her sentiments it doesn't reach my eye, my body language telling my wife all she needed to know.

The sunset was divine, shining almost as bright as the yellow in Helaena's usual skirts and attire, burning like the sunshine she was.

I almost don't hear Elaena approach over the crashing waves and Vhagar's deep breathing but it's a pleasant surprise. Helaena wouldn't want me to be alone in my grief on a day like today.

"I brought a blanket but if you'd like to be alone-"

"No," I shake my head, holding out my hand for her, "Please,"

Stretching my sore muscles, I stand to wrap the blanket around her instead, snaking my arms around her waist to rest my chin on the top of her head as we both watch the sun fall over the sea.

After a long comfortable silence, Elaena's small hand squeezes mine, turning to glance up at me over her shoulder, "She'd be proud of the father you've become, of how honorably you've raised her daughter."

Slowly I brush aside the wind-blown hairs from her face, biting at the dried skin on my lip.

"You believe so?" I ask her, looking deeply into my beloved's captivating eyes where all of a soul's sincerity lay.

She sighs, turning to face me as I tug her closer and suddenly we're on the beaches of Driftmark again, that very night years ago when I realized how deeply my true feelings ran for her, my best friend.

"I know so, husband." Elaena's voice is silk, flipping a switch within me while she strokes my scar down my cheek, gazing at my sapphire eye fondly and I find myself smiling down at her when her shoulders perk up, an idea striking her.

Arching my eyebrow I ask her without so much as muttering a word.

"Do you suppose you could take me for a ride on Vhagar?" She asks sweetly, and I hum in agreement, tracing the length of her spine with my fingertips, "Like our first time meeting her those years ago when we were children,"

Glancing over her shoulder my wife appraises Vhagar who senses our excitement, slowly waking from her slumber.

"What of the boys?" I ask her, my gaze flicking to the castle.

Elaena nibbles at her bottom lip and instantly draws my heated gaze to it. Lifting her chin, I pull her lip from her teeth, "We'll be back before they've even realized we're gone, love."

"Let us fly then, just as we did that night at Driftmark."

The night sky was a sight to behold, Vhagar's smooth flying making a perfect dragon for such sightseeing, but my attention is forever consumed by my wife who closes her eyes to lean her head back against my chest, smiling contently in the cold breeze.

Splaying my hand out across her stomach I keep her snug against me as I lean down to sneak a kiss on her neck.

Beneath my lips, Elaena hums in what seems like satisfaction but I quickly realize she's singing for me, in High Valyrian.

"The bleeding star had flown so far,
The air had turned to ash,

The walls of stone would stand no more
but the song will never end

Oh, the blood pays the debt
Fire cracks the hills, white heat burned the steel,
Oh, the blood pays the debt,"

The final word doesn't pass her lips before Vhagar steers us in a different direction without so much as a command from me.

"What's she doing?!" Elaena asks, jerking up in attention from the comfort of my chest.

"Hold on," Tightening the straps around her legs I begin calling out to my dragon in desperation but nothing seems to get her attention.

"Vhagar, No! Home, Vhagar!"

My loyal dragon merely ignores my commands, grunting in annoyance as she takes us higher through the clouds.

"Has she ever done this before?" Eleana shouts through the wild wind and I shake my head at first but then I remember.

"There was once, the night of Storms End. She flew Luke and I North, as far as she could for our safety..." I trail off, my gut twisting at the possibility that trouble is yet to come.

"Aemond," she breathes her eyebrows furrowed out of concern, and I know all that sigh holds.

Our children, my sister, would wonder where we've gone, they would worry.

"I know," I assure her, my grip around her waist tightening as I look out into the clouds, "She'll bring us home,"

Minutes turned to hours, and the longer she flew the more we speculated where she could be taking us.

It isn't until the early hours of the morning that Vhagar descends through the sky and we can make sense of where we are with the daylight but the air is thick with fog and rain, drenching us through our clothes.

"This is familiar, the patterns of this road over the hill," she realizes, but she still seems lost.

"Have you been here before, my song?" I ask her, the pits of my stomach gnawing at itself in hunger.

We needed food, we needed warmth and Vhagar needed rest.

My wife's expression is tense, her beautiful eyes narrowed, deep in thought as she tries to remember, "Maybe in my dreams,"

My stomach churns at the many possible scenarios my song had endured in her darkest hours, fending off demons beyond my comprehension carrying the burden on her own without telling me as she had in our earlier years of marriage.

What else had she seen that I wasn't aware of?

I'm still watching her tenderly when she grabs my hand with a gasp as our destination becomes clear over the waves of orange fog and rain.

What lies before us is not done justice by textbooks, tapestries, or paintings.

We'd only heard stories of Old Valyria. Some of pure horror and others of excellence from its brightest days, but after the doom no one dared return, and the Princess who had was a testament to those after her.

What was the once great freehold of Valyria had been destroyed by the very thing that had given it its glory.

According to my father, the capital city was built inside a volcano, similar to Dragonstone. Valyria's highest nobles lived in the buildings closest to the volcanic face, where all fourteen volcanoes had erupted at once, bringing our old land its doom.

The skyscrapers that remained were leagues higher than our own in Westeros, the architecture of a different time. Dragons were etched into the pillars that still stood, crumbling with time while most of everything else was lost under hardened lava.

It was magnificent even in its rubble and debris mimicking my father's model that would now hold new meaning.

Valyria was no longer inhabitable or welcoming to humankind but here we were somehow flying through its skies.

"How? We should be dead-" Elaena asks, shivering in my arms while she gazes up into the orange clouds with her mouth agape in awe.

"VHAGAR! Lenton!" I shout, horrified that I've flown us to our death but Elaena places her hand on mine.
*Home

"Elaena-"

"Vhagar brought us here, and perhaps for a reason," She speculates but I shake my head fervently, "Has the atmosphere alone driven you mad?" I scoff, my mind in no position to wrap itself around the gravity of our situation.

"Vhagar was alive during Aegon's conquest, but I'd never thought she'd seen Valyria, not when her egg was hatched at Westeros." I continue but my wife is still deep in thought, gazing over the grand cityscape.

Holding her tight I feel Vhagar shift beneath us and my heart jumps into my throat, her intentions clear.

She was going to land, here, in Old Valyria.

***