Dragon Flames | Aemond Targaryen

Chapter 1 - It's Only The Beginning (Part 1)

"My lady wake up, you can go and haunt me all you want then! - but you are not allowed to leave me here all alone as long I live.....not again....not under my command!....My lady....YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!"

Karina gasped "ah..aha..ha...This is the third time having this dream again......what the......what am I sobbing for? ha....."

Karina Lawrence woke with a sense of loss and sadness. Numb is the best way to describe it. The way she always felt after the dream. The last nightmare had been months ago, but if anything that made the shock more acute.

She rolled over to look at the bedside clock, groaned at the time, and then saw the message light on the phone blinking. She sighed exhaustless as she sat up to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. Unlocking the phone screen to see her messages. it's Ellie, Ellie Murphy, blowing out her phone first thing in the morning with twelve missed messages indicating Karina with urgency to dash over to their fencing class before their team couch shows up for their morning class.

"Hey Karina, I know you are awake! hurry your ass in here before the couch come in or else he will go nuts if you be late AGAIN!!! Please help...we need you here T-T ."

"Shit" as Karina muttered to herself as it escape between her breath. "I need to get my siblings ready to school too. Are they still not up yet?"

The morning light filtered into the house, the weak light of a stormy autumn day. Karina peered through the landing window into the garden where sheets of rain lashed down and saplings whipped back and forth in the wind.

"....How lucky am I..." Karina joked, feeling extremely battled by the lashing weather and blamed her bad luck for making the day even more miserable than it already was.

She rushedly climbed up the stairs in a hurry to the suite room where kids slept and as she clenched onto the door handle, she paused at the door with a familiar twinge down in the pit of her stomach returned. She closed her eyes for a moment and there, right on the edge of her subconsciousness, she started to hear a strange shallowed echo voice calling for her....a voice she was very unfamiliar to....but...felt longing for it as her fate was bound by a red tread to the unknown...

When she opened her eyes, she was tempted to go and look around the empty hallway on the second floor where the kids bedroom reside, thinking she might go and see where it was coming from. Silly. Life moves on, things gets easier, but curiosity can never do anyone any good. she shook her head and went to check on her younger siblings, James and Megan.

"Maybe I'm overreacting. Perhaps I didn't get enough sleep the night before after having this so called "dream," I just started makings things up in my head - Oh Good Morning!"

"Morn..ing..sis..ter..." as both of them replied with a yawn, still half sleep, as their sister enter their room with a warm gentle smile greeting them a good morning.

Karina chuckles "Okay chop-chop, both of yees will be late to school if you keep on staying in your bed for any far longer.." Karina replied enthusiastically while attempting to avoid sounding devastated or displaying any signs of discomfort.

Megan beginning to wake, a tangled of grey-blonde hair painting the blue pillow, her limbs akimbo and the bedclothes half on the floor. No doubt she would soon be protesting about having to get up and dressed. The scattering of drawings, the posters on the walls, glitzy clothing and the mess on the floor said the room belongs to a twelve-thirteen year old. Karina had to remind herself that Megan was only ten, still her baby sister for few more years yet.

In the adjoining room the mess belonged to Jamie. He'd come along only six years ago, time that seemed to be measured in a mere blink of an eye. Unexpected, unplanned by their parents who passed away in a terrible car accident six years ago, when Jamie was only few months old.

Since that day, Karina became the mother figure and a bread winner of the family trying the best of her abilities to provide the best living standard and care for her siblings. It had surprised Karina how much she loved him. Not a love she'd had to grow and nurture like she had with Megan, but an instant, protective love as powerful as it was scary.

Karina moved over to the bed where Jamie lay curled up in a tight ball, knees pulled up to his face, almost as she had left him the previous night. He reminded Karina of a hedgehog hibernating for the winter, protected from anything outside its own little world.

"James..." Karina whispered sweetly, "Jamie I know you are surely having a good sleep but we have to wake up now...Megan is already up...in certain instance...let me help you get dressed".

"..mhm.." Jamie replied grumpily

Karina attempted to sit Jamie up on his bed while still unconscious in his own little wonderland bubble, started to roughly dress him in a red polo shirt, trying to get his arms through the sleeves, paired it with his black pant and a school jumper that was emblazoned with his primary school's badge.

It was the part of their morning routine that neither of them particularly liked to begin their day together. Jamie isn't usually moody in the mornings, but even when Megan was his age, getting Jamie dressed every morning with him jumping up and down and trying to pull off the clothes that she was putting on was every now and then a daily struggle for Karina, as though they are trapped in a Monday-through-Friday drama. But today everything seemed to go smoothly for them both which Karina was relieved about.

"Okay, both of you make sure to brush your teeth thoroughly. I'll checking on you two in a moment, I'll be in the kitchen if you two need anything"

"Okay!" Both of them nodded in agreement as they walked their way to the restroom.

To prepare a quick lunch for her siblings for school, Karina would go downstairs and defrost some bagels, make tea, gather some orange juice, jam, and butter, as well as two lunch boxes. While preparing school lunch at the base station in the kitchen, Karina phone started blinking once more. To answer the call, she toggled the screen's button to the left. it was Ellie yet again.

Ellie: "Hello? Karina? Are you now on your way here? You are aware that if you are late for class five times a row this month, the fencing team will dismiss you, you know that right?"

Karina: "*sigh*- I know, no need to remind me....I'm about to leave out the door in a minute after dropping my siblings off...this morning is a total mess"

Megan: "Well said, At least I have good news for you to brighten up your day" Megan chuckles

Karina: "what is it?" asked with curiosity.

Megan: "Well our team were just got informed that our team couch will be late for class because of the weather conditions but you still need to hurry though, he could be here at any second now!"

Karina: "Okay I'll be there as soon as possible even if I have to run with my slip-flop on to get there on time. I need to go now, see you later. take care."

Megan: "I'll wait for you at the entrance gate. Just let me know when you get there. See you in a bit. Bye-bye."

As Karina wrapped up her brief phone conversation with Ellie, she returned back to finish making the kids lunches and packed everything into their backpacks, poured the remaining freshly brewed tea into her metal cup so she could drink it on the go to her fencing class as she running out of time.

"James. Megan! we're leaving now!" said Karina calling her siblings. "yours school bus will arrive in 5 minute!"

When they heard the call from downstairs, the kids raced down the wooden quickie stairs like chickens from the farm barn stumbling noisily to see who could get to the kitchen and grab their school bag first. Whom among the youngest pack can get ready at the door the fastest was a daily fun sport for them in the morning, and Karina found it to be an quite an effective way to increase their motivation and to speed up the process.

As soon as she was finished with all of the preparations for the siblings, she sprinted to the living room of the house, where her school and gear bags were lying on the floor next to the sofa, and gathered the last of her necessities, including a spare pair of shoes for her fencing practise as well as notes, and textbooks for her afternoon college lectures, As she was doing so, she heard a vehicle approaching the driveway and glanced out the window to see the kids bus was pulling over to pick them up for school.