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Laena Velaryon had caused quite the stir in court, appearing on the back of the largest living dragon with two babes swaddled in her arms, presenting them to court as if it were expected, welcomed even. After Rhaenyra's marriage to Ser Laenor, his sister had been swooped away by the Rogue Prince, the two flying off on Caraxes across the Narrow Sea to get married in Essos, seeing as the king did not approve of his brother's wish to marry so soon after his lady wife's death. It had taken a long time for young Aemma to understand the strange way people spoke about Lady Rhea's tragic accident, years passed before the princess learned that, while her death had been tragic, it had been anything but accidental. Years it took for her to understand that Daemon's whirlwind romance with Laena was but a slap in the face of his late wife's family, as well as a mockery of his brother, who had refused to marry the very same lady and split his House asunder with his choice in wife. The Lady Laena now appearing, two years after her unsanctioned marriage, riding Vaghar and presenting her daughters to court as if nothing was amiss, was the height of insolence, though whether she had intended it as such, or had simply wanted to present her parents with their grandchildren, was a mystery. Especially since Daemon had stayed behind in Pentos, leaving it to anyone's guess whether he had sent his wife and children as the pointed barb they had been received as, or if this was a scheme of the lady's own devising.
But Aemma Targaryen, third child of King Viserys the First, and currently five years of age, did not understand any of the intricacies and politics of court. She had simply seen her mysterious aunt, whom she had never met before, swooping in on the largest dragon she had ever seen, striding into the Red Keep with her foreign clothes and beautiful hair, looking like a warrior-princess from the tales of Old Valyria that her father told them, the few times he made time for his children, and been awestruck. Leana Velaryon was her new favorite person, especially since the princess had not reacted with disdain, like Aegon, when she had heard that Aemma's dragon egg hadn't hatched, instead she had smiled and offered her a hand, taking the wide-eyed little girl to see the Old Queen herself. Aemma's heart pounded in her ears as they went outside the city with an escort of two Kingsguard, Vaghar being too large to be housed in the Dragonpit. The two white knights, the bravest men in the Seven Kingdoms, had shrunk back when Vaghar lifted her enormous head and let out a deep bellow in greeting, Aemma having felt the noise vibrate through her bones, but Lady Laena merely stepped forward, not in the least bit afraid of this mighty beast.
She was the bravest woman ever and Aemma had to bite her lip to keep from squealing when her aunt took her tiny hand in hers and led her to touch Vaghar's snout. Surely she was dreaming?
Here she was, Aemma the Dragonless, stroking the muzzle of a dragon older than the Seven Kingdoms, a dragon that had aided in Aegon's conquest and had struck fear into the hearts of countless men. A dragon that lowered her side upon command, allowing Laena to climb up into the saddle, taking her little niece with her and securing the child firmly in front of her with the saddle chains.
Aemma was going to ride a dragon, and not just any dragon, she was going to ride Vaghar! Her! Not Aegon who was mean and always bragged about Sunfyre, not any of the snooty nobles who made comments about her dragonless state when they thought no one could hear them, not her father, the king, who had been the last man to ride a living legend like this. Her, Aemma, she was going to ride Vaghar!
“Are you ready, sweet girl?”, Leana asked, brushing some of her fine hair out of her face, a few strands having already escaped her braid.
The girl swallowed and nodded, even though her tummy was tumbling from the height they were at even with Vaghar still on the ground and her heart was racing in a mixture of excitement and fear. She would not be afraid. She was a dragon and dragons feared nothing.
Laena squeezed her gently where her arms were around her middle, before taking the reigns in hand, though a dragon this mighty would be steered more through their bond than these flimsy chords.
“Sōvēs!”
Aemma squeezed her eyes shut with a shriek as the dragon shook beneath her, Vaghar flapping her large wings to heave her massive body off the ground. While a dragon's bones where hollow to allow it to fly, a dragon this large was still heavy, needing a great amount of force to get it into the air. Aemma could feel that force, each flap of Vaghar's wings pressing her back into her aunt, her insides feeling like they lurching around like a hopping bunny, the wind tearing at her hair and clothes and biting cold teeth into the soft flesh of her cheeks. The little princess held on to the woman behind her, stubby fingers digging into the arm that was slung around her middle, her tiny heart galloping in fear. She didn't think she liked flying, after all. It was scary!
“Open your eyes, princess. Blackwater Bay's beautiful from above.”
Aemma pressed her lips together, about to shake her head in refusal, but then she remembered: She was a dragon and she wasn't scared of anything!, so she slowly peeked her eyes open, only for them to fly open wide in awe at what she saw.
King's Landing stretched out to the right of them, the narrow streets of Flea Bottom running into the smoking forges of the Street of Steel and the estates of the nobles that lived in the city, the Red Keep looming above them all, a silent guardian over the city and realm. She swept her eyes over the bustling port and the glittering waters of the bay, ships with their colorful sails gleaming in the black waters like gemstones set into dragonglass. It was beautiful and the little girl threw her arms wide with a laugh, feeling the wind caress her fingers. Where it had been a frightening monster before, now the wind was her companion, playing with her hair and dress and carrying the plumes of fire that Vaghar blew at her rider's command, scattering them into showers of sparks, the old dragon seemingly enjoying the sound of a child's laughter, her fiery breath turning different colors without Laena's input.
“She likes you!”, her aunt called, laughter in her voice as they fell into a dive, the Old Queen's talons skimming the water as she caught herself, snapping her wings open just in time to save them from the waves.
“Really?!”, Aemma asked, excited. Vaghar liked her! Oh, Aegon would be so jealous!
Her aunt nodded, steering the old dragon into a steady loop over the city, allowing Aemma to examine the chaotic sprawl of buildings below. Her home was kind of ugly, if she was honest, it smelled bad, too, but from up high it wasn't so bad.
“She does! When you have your own dragon, we might be able to fly together without her fussing. She can be kind of aggressive towards others. She chases Caraxes sometimes, we are lucky he is faster than her.”
Aemma giggled at the mental image of Vhagar chasing around the Blood Wyrm, she had never seen Caraxes, having been too young when her uncle left, but she imagined him like a big red snake with wings, wiggling through the sky as the great old dragon snapped her jaws at him. It was a humorous image that almost chased away the sadness that always came when she was reminded of the fact that her egg lay silent and dead, still kept warm by the dragonkeepers, but believed to never hatch.
“I don't think I'll ever fly with you... my dragon's dead...”, she said, leaning back into her aunt's warmth, missing her mother' hugs, them having gotten rarer and rarer now that she was deemed too old for cuddles.
Laena pulled her as close as the saddle would allow and pressed her cheek to the top of her head. She was warm and soft and smelled nice, Aemma wished they could stay like this forever, cuddled up and on dragonback. Affection and freedom, it was all she wanted, all Aemma would ever want.
“My egg never hatched either, it is being kept on Driftmark to this day, seemingly nothing more than a pretty stone... I believe it didn't hatch because I wasn't meant for that dragon, I was meant for Vaghar, but, perhaps, one day someone will come along, someone that that little dragon belongs to and it will hatch for them. So, do not be sad about your egg not hatching, maybe the dragon inside is not meant to be yours. Mayhaps your dragon has not been born yet, or you are meant to find them, somewhere in the wide vast world, just like I did.”
The little girl pursed her lips as tears sprung to her eyes. All anyone had ever said about her egg was that it was just not meant to be and, in a way Laena had said that too, but it felt different, instead of crushing her little heart, these words made it blossom. It gave her hope that, someday, she would ride a dragon too, that she had a dragon out there waiting for her. That she wouldn't always be Aemma the Dragonless.
“Do you really think so?”
Soft lips pressed against the crown of her head, making the tears fall from her eyes, her mother used to kiss her good night, she didn't do it anymore because now that she was five and had begun her lessons it was deemed inappropriate.
She missed it. She missed her mama, even though she was right in front of her, she was still gone in a way.
“Yes, I do. Some day, you and I will fly side by side, sweet girl, I know it to be true.”
Aemma wiped at her cheeks and swallowed her sniffles, she was a big girl and big girls didn't cry like babies.
“Do you have to leave for Pentos? Can't you just stay here?”, she asked, having already heard rumors of the Velaryon princess' upcoming departure.
The Lady Laena stroked her hair back, which was now a complete mess having escaped it's confines, and sighed with regret.
“I'm afraid so, princess, my husband awaits me in Pentos and I can already tell that I am not welcome here... There is a storm coming, sweet girl, and my father taught me to sail.”
Aemma frowned in confusion, looking around. The sky was clear for miles, she couldn't see any stormclouds and they were flying, not sailing! Adults were so strange sometimes.
“So you will leave?”
Leana gave her a squeeze and steered Vaghar in the direction where they had left the Kingsguard earlier.
“Yes, Aemma, I'm afraid I have to. But I will see you again, don't worry. Perhaps when Baela and Rhaena are older we will come back, I'm sure you will be good friends.”
Aemma perked up at that, having only caught glimpses of the twin babes and, while they were cute, they weren't very interesting to her right now. But having two friends of her own, ones that weren't snobby boys sucking up to Aegon, or Heleana who could be really weird sometimes, sounded absolutely wonderful.
“I'll show them all the best hiding places! And we can play in the Godswood and visit the kitchens, Cook always gives me treats!... but don't tell mother that.”
Her aunt laughed as Vaghar landed with a loud thump, the ground cracking under her weight.
“I won't tell, I promise!”
The two of them climbed down from the mighty dragon, who yawned and curled up into a ball, not unlike a lazy cat, basking in the sunlight. Aemma took her aunt's outstretched hand grinning up at her. She hoped that Laena would return soon, she couldn't wait to fly with her again, maybe even with her very own dragon, if she found them by then.
Little did she know, that she wouldn't find her own dragon, not before she saw Laena again, and that that reunion would be between her and a coffin, the little girl, who was not quite so little anymore, watching as her aunt was given to the sea and thinking about stormclouds and what good it would do to run from a storm, only to be caught in it anyway.
…