A/N: Welcome to my latest story, The Seadragon's Roar. If you're new to my work, welcome and please do be sure to check out my other stuff, and if you're familiar with my stuff then I hope you enjoy this one as well. Next three chapters chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
103 AC
Was Corlys pleased when we returned two months later than we were supposed to? No. Was he less pissed when he saw Vhagar for the first time? Also, no. Must have been a result of the two of us trying to scare him with the dragon and pranking him that she had gone out of control and begun to rampage. Still, there were few regrets on my end, and on Laena's end, there were none. Should I have let her convince me to spend time on the unnamed islands teaching her to fly and helping her strengthen her bond with Vhagar? Nope. Not at all. Most of the flying had been bareback, so we'd ended up giving her a series of bruises and welts that led to a dressing down from Mom that neither of us would be forgetting anytime soon.
Still, it was all well and good until the raven had come. Dark wings, dark words as they say. In this case, the dark words had been about Jaehaerys' death. Not really his death, to be frank. There was little love to be lost between House Velaryon and the old King. No, the dark words had been Viserys' coronation. It was indeed going to come to pass. We had known it was an inevitability, but everyone knew there was a difference between logically knowing something and then being confronted with its occurrence.
As the runner-up from the Great Council, I basically had no choice but to be present with the family. To do otherwise would be to signal dissatisfaction with the decision— to signal intent not to abide. And that was risky. Maybe even as risky as what Corlys was suggesting— rebellion.
"Half the realm voted with us. Half the realm will rise with us. We have the dragons. We have the seas. We have all that we need to press your claim" He said, sounding exasperated, words directed at our mother who had shut him down the second he had brought it up.
"You would have us rebel. Have us become traitors not just to who we are but to everything we stand for. Have me betray, and definitely even slay my own kin. Kingslayer, Kinslayer, usurper, those words they would call us across the realm" She parried his attempt to push with grace that I would not hesitate to call Queenly, and I knew Corlys could see it.
"They are the betrayers and usurpers. The throne is yours by law and by right. All you would be doing is pressing your right with swords at your back."
"We swore an oath, Corlys"
"An oath taken at the point of a sword is no oath indeed. Baratheon is more than willing to march twenty thousand storm knights to your cause".
"You've mentioned this fool idea to him?" She sounded aghast. It was almost like she did not know the man she married. Corlys Velaryon did not take no for an answer.
"Mentioned? Pah. It was his idea after all. All the realm must be thinking it now. Let us strike now. Send letters to the realm. See who rises in our favour, and then strike at King's Landing. Caraxes and a hatchling Syrax will be no match for Meleys, Igneel, and now Vhagar. We have aerial supremacy, naval supremacy, and the superior lawful claim" He said.
"A claim that Laenor eloquently brought before every lord of the realm and saw voted down? That is the claim you want me to turn my cloak and slay my kin over?"
"You were born to be Queen, Rhaenys. My love, just look at you. You deserve that throne far more than that weak willed, softspined, spawn of Baelon."
"And yet, the gods have not deemed it fit to bless me with the throne"
"The gods have put it within your grasp, my love. All you have to do is reach out and take it".
"You make it sound so simple" She said.
"It is. My love, it is." Corlys said, and I watched her begin to fold. Oh fuck. I had no idea how I'd escape this foolishness if the both of them somehow agreed on it. The precedent it would set alone. There would be a Dance every few decades when one side decides they have the dragons and the will. Rhaenys then looked over in our direction and her face hardened.
"Vhagar is ridden by my daughter, not even one and ten. Igneel is ridden by my son yet to see his tenth nameday. These are the beasts and riders you intend to unleash on a battlefield? No. I will not hear it, Corlys. Not now, not ever. We will attend the coronation. We will bend the knee and when the time comes, we will arm twist Viserys into merging the claims. He will have a son sooner or later, and Laena would make a divine queen. His present daughter, Rhaenyra, is of an age with Laenor— there is a match there."
"Are royal weddings— even two of them— worth a throne? Worth giving up on your birthright? And who is to say he will agree?"
"They are the best we can hope for. Our blood will rule the seven kingdoms in time. We will have a Princess for the Lady of Driftmark. And as for Viserys, surely you do not think you are the only one who remembers half the realm voting in our support. He will seek to wed the clams if he has any sense."
"And if he does not? You would give up a certainty for a probability?"
"I would give up the world to see my children safe, Corlys." She said, staring him down. And for perhaps the first time in his life, the Sea Snake yielded. He took the no for what it was and nodded before turning to leave the room. As he did so, Rhaenys turned around, tears beginning to build in her eyes before she walked up to us and enclosed us in her grasp.
I understood what she was giving up for our safety here. A throne. Not just a throne, the throne. The one she had been raised to rule. The one that her father had assured her was her birthright. She would give that up for us. I will give you a throne, mother. I silently swore.
—
While Rhaenys won the argument to decide whether to plunge the realm into a civil war or not, Corlys won the one to determine how House Velaryon appeared at the funeral of King Jaehaerys and Viserys' coronation. The answer to that was in full force. He sailed atop his flagship, the eponymous Sea Snake, while the rest of the extended family took quarters within The Laena Velaryon. She was easily the biggest ship in Westeros, and he was going to show her off.
For the dragon-riding part of our family, however, there was but one choice. Several leather-workers, tanners, and blacksmiths had to be requisitioned and practically whipped into working day and night, but they had managed to make a worthy saddle for Vhagar in the two weeks before we were to set off. That was where I stood now, helping Laena onto her massive dragon, even as the Bronze bitch sent heated puffs of air in my direction every few minutes to register her displeasure.
When I finally managed to secure my sister into her saddle and locked the chains, I took a step back. A step back that was helped by the Bronze Bitch's tail pushing me until I landed right on my arse. Igneel had watched the whole thing with patience, but that was clearly the last straw. I heard him roar in my mind and in reality as he pushed away the Dragon handlers that had been taking the duty of saddling him— the Bronze Bitch had badly burned the two dragon handlers who had gotten close, and even though she was her full bitchy self with me, it was still better than what she did to others.
I pushed myself to my feet, forcing myself between both dragons. "Igneel, calm. Calm. I'm okay" I whispered to him in high Valyrian even as I pressed upon the bond we shared, trying to emphasise that he didn't want that smoke. Behind me, I could hear Vhagar snort like she felt the entire thing was funny. Yup, she was definitely a bitch, I thought to myself as I led Igneel away. We were in a massive field so that meant I could go some distance to speak to my dragon.
"Yes, I know she's annoying" I said to his first roar while I worked to complete putting the saddle on.
"I agree. She has no right to treat people the way she does just because of her size," I said, to another roar. And the roar that followed made me almost double over in laughter. Even as I heard Vhagar roar from a distance away. She probably had some idea she was being mocked.
"Yeah, she's undoubtedly put on some weight in the midsection" I said.
"You should probably stop doing that" I heard Mom's voice before I saw her. And when I did, I felt my breath be knocked away by the sight. Corlys had commissioned new riding leathers for all of us, but while Laena and I were children who looked cute in ours, Rhaenys' made her look breathtaking. It was like she was dressed for war— to be queen of the skies.
"Vhagar's all talk" I said, before turning fully in her direction, ignoring Igneel's growl at losing g my attention.
"You look beautiful, mother. All the stars put together would struggle to compare with your beauty" I continued as I stepped closer and gave her a bow. She merely arced her brow in reply.
"For one, I know you're not stupid enough to actually think that. For the other, thank you for the compliment. Now maybe save some of that charm for the largest living Dragon the world over so I don't have to dig through dragon dung for the remains of my favourite son" She said with a smile.
"Only son" I pointed out.
"And therefore the favourite," She continued. I smiled and turned back to Igneel as Meleys was led over by the dragon keepers. Unlike Vhagar, she did not make a scene as she was led over to her rider already saddled.
"We'll leave in the next five minutes. By now, your father should be arriving the city. So by the time he disembarks and harbors, we should have arrived the city itself." She said.
"If the Bronze Bitch behaves" I said with a dirty look in Vhagar's direction. It was a reasonable gripe to be honest, she had changed direction on more than one occasion and sent Laena going in directions that she wanted to go in rather than what her rider wanted.
"Ow ow ow ow" I found myself saying against my will as Rhaenys grabbed a hold of my ear.
"Are you hard of hearing you fool child? If Vhagar decides to eat you, do you think there is anything Meleys or Igneel could do to stop her?" She scolded.
"Fine, fine. I'll stop pissing her off." right as soon as she stops pissing me off, I continued mentally. Rhaenys gave me a look but said nothing.
"Go sit in your saddle before I decide to bend you over my knee" She said, and I did not need a second warning. I was off, and in a matter of minutes, all three dragons were.
The journey to Kings Landing was more or less a straight line. That meant that Igneel was best placed to win a race for that distance. But then there was the length of the journey to consider. We had strength and speed in spades, but endurance was one part of our training we still had to work on. That meant we had to pace ourselves and ended up solidly in the middle of the pack. Meleys in front, and Vhagar behind.
From the skies, King's Landing was a jewel of a city. It made both Hull and Spicetown look drab in comparison with its hills, its massive walls, its multiple gates, and at the very center of it the behemoth of red stone— the Red keep. It was a massive castle that put most others to shame. In my opinion, High Tide was more beautiful, but there might have been some bias there. In the harbour, we could see the ships bearing the Velaryon sails, and how they put all the others next to them to shame. Meleys' roar announced our arrival as she sharply banked and began a circuit around the city that would have been hers if the world was fair.
I leaned down on my saddle and rubbed Igneel's scales, pulling at our bond. He took the signal and roared an answering roar before banking as well, joining Meleys' circuit. We had rehearsed this so many times that I could see it all in my mind's eye. But Igneel and I were not the cause for concern. That was why I turned in my saddle to see behind me— Igneel knew his role well enough that I did not need to direct him. In every rehearsal, Vhagar had done one of two things— either followed through and performed her place or gone rogue and done something else. 'Come on, you Bronze Bitch' I silently prayed, and it seemed she could somehow hear me because she turned her head right in my direction.
Those green eyes met mine, and I could see intelligence in them. An intelligence that knew just how important this would be to me. So I was not truly surprised when instead of roaring, she shot bright flames all around her, obscuring her head from view for a second, and then she moved. I almost fell off the saddle in shock as she moved at what had to be double her usual speed for a few seconds, mouth open and snapping in my direction. Fuck. I turned, barely managing to keep my wits about me as I begged Igneel to accelerate.
He listened, and we missed her snapping teeth by the scales of our hide, and then she slowed, moving back to join the formation as rehearsed, growling all the while. For the rest of my life, I would swear that the dragon had been laughing at me on this day, and no one, not even Laena, my partner in all things, believed me. We completed the seven laps around the village with no issue before landing in the Red Keep itself. Faux pas? Maybe. But Viserys had gotten our knees to bend. We would not see him chain our dragons like dogs as well. At least, I wouldn't.
In the Keep's courtyard stood Corlys and his men. He had his wife in his arms bare seconds after she dismounted.
—
"We are gathered here today to pay our last respects to King Jaehaerys Targaryen, the First of his Name, the Conciliator, rider of Vermithor, husband to the Good Queen Alyssane, father to…" I tuned him out as the High Septon continued to drone on and on. This was the price of the Old King's close relationship to the faith, boredom at his funeral. His body would still be cremated by a dragon procession in Valyrian fashion, but it was still clear that this was an Andal funeral more than anything else. Not something I would have cared about much if it didn't mean hours of standing and kneeling, and sitting on wooden benches as this foggy old man ran through an obviously ill-rehearsed sermon. He'd already gotten the order of the children wrong on two separate occasions.
I turned my attention to him and looked around the hall. Rival claimants or not, we were still the second most powerful house in the realm and Viserys had no choice but to seat us as such. We were on the second row, right behind the main Targaryen line. Viserys, Daemon— who had yawned on three separate occasions, Aemma, and a young Rhaenyra Targaryen. The realm's delight as she would one day be known was just a little girl now, awkward, clumsy, and stumbling. She'd already asked to leave twice, and I could see the strain in Aemma Arryn's smile at dealing with the little brat.
I turned from them, looking behind me to see the rest of the realm arrayed in all her splendor. Otto Hightower and his domestic family took the row behind us, and I scoffed internally when the man sent a smile and wink in my direction. Behind him was House Lannister, and I was sure the rest of the Lords Paramount were arranged in an order from there. Probably one that was planned to avoid giving offense as much as possible.
At least, to avoid giving offense to those this King considered as allies. There was no missing how Lannister and Tyrell who had both voted for Viserys were the first two lords. Or that Baratheon and Stark, my most vocal supporters, were off to the back. Viserys had won now, and it seemed like he was telling the world that failing to support him was a mistake. Behind House Baratheon, which were the last of the Lords Paramount, were the Essosi delegations. The Sealord of Bravos had sent a delegation with his son as the head. A delegation that Corlys was eyeing with too much interest for my taste. Laena would not find herself engaged to a wastrel. Not on my watch.
What felt like hours later, the High Septon finally finished? And then the body was taken out. The burning was to take place at the Dragonpit to allow the commoners and the likes to pay their respects. And they did. They came in their dozens, hundreds, and thousands while I stood to the side waiting for the procession to end.
When it finally did, Viserys stepped to the stage and said the final blessings in High Valyrian. He stepped back then, towards his wife and their daughter, who stood next to her toddler dragon.
"Dracarys" Rhaenys called first, and we all followed her lead. Meleys, Caraxes, Igneel, Vhagar, and even Vermithor, who had somehow sensed the body's arrival in the pit, turned the old King to ash, and so began the reign of Viserys the First.
A/N: Long live the King, I guess. Next three up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) ( same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.