Dragon's roar (House of the Dragon)

018

Chapter 18: "You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece" Colors, Halsey.

A few days later, Jacaerys came back to Dragonstone with a special guest: lord Cregan Stark. Alannys was the one in charge of welcoming them with Baela. As she let her cousin be reunited with her betrothed, she led them all to the council's hall. She took advantage of this short time to talk with the lord of Winterfell. The lady could see he was cold and appeared as a hard man but she was sure he would eventually warm up to them. They all entered the great chamber where the Queen and her allies were already gathered. They bowed respectfully before Rhaenyra invited them to go around the sculpted table.

"First of all, I would like to thank you, Lord Stark, for your support."

"An oath had been made. I would not have been a good ruler if I broke it. And the prince Jacaerys seemed very devoted to your cause, he was convincing."

"All right. Now we need to establish our strategy" concluded the Queen.

Lord Corlys, who had just been named Hand of the queen, began to sum-up their whole situation.  Daemon was back at Harrenhal to try and hold the Riverlands but they still lacked allies in the South and the West, especially since they lost the Baratheons.

"We also have news from the capitol, your Grace '' announced a lord. " Ser Otto Hightower has been dismissed from his place as Hand of the usurper. We don't know who replaced him but we know that he went back to Oldtown."

"That could give us an advantage, your Grace, as Aegon is deprived from his main counsellor" suggested Jace.

"It could but we must be careful, this could be a trap. We still need to secure some of our alliances and we have no support in the South or the West" reminded Rhaenyra.

"The Lannister are Wardens of the West and they are under the Greens' thumbs. We will not have any support from houses of the West as long as they are ruling. We would need to negotiate with them" explained the Sea snake.

"We cannot negotiate with Jason Lannister. If we go to him, it would mean a fight" answered another lord.

The lords began to argue about a way to secure the support of the West and the South. Alannys decided she had enough of them arguing like children over it.

"I could go."

Everyone went silent at that statement.

"What do you mean ?" asked her uncle.

"I could negotiate with Lord Lannister. My lady mother was his sister, making me his niece. Maybe he would listen to his own kin. If not, I am ready to fight for our cause."

"No, I refuse" answered Rhaenyra.

"But, I..."

"I refuse. You could be the queen Visenya born again that I would not let you fight. End of discussion."

Seeing that her ward would not drop the subject, Rhaenyra ordered everyone to leave the room. As she faced her guardian, Alannys knew she would be scolded.

"Alannys, I cannot let you go. Why would you want to ?"

"Because I want to fight for our cause. I feel useless by just staying here. I have not been able to give you advice and fight yet. I need to do something."

"And you are. You are useful to that cause and I refuse to let you fight either way" answered the Queen.

"Why ?!" complained the young woman.

"Because you are my daughter ! The only one I got and the only one I still have. I already lost a son and I refuse to lose you too to this war."

Alannys stayed silent at this declaration. Rhaenyra had always treated her like one of her children but it was the first time she said it out loud. She acknowledged her ward as her daughter. The said ward felt a peculiar warmth in her chest at those words.

"You came into my life during a complicated time. I was recently married to a man who was one of my dearest friends but was not interested in me. I lost my best friend and I was afraid of childbirth and being a mother. I was lonely and you arrived in my life. You were my light, my firstborn and my only daughter."

"But I...I was only a ward" wondered Alannys as she grabbed her hand.

"And yet, you are one of my children. You are a Targaryen even if you do not bear the name. I vowed to myself that when I would be Queen, you would be granted the title of 'Princess of the seven kingdoms'. Would you like that ?"

The younger woman did not answer but she embraced her mother tightly.

"Thank you, your Grace."

Later that night, Alannys tossed and turned in her bed. The words of her guardian kept running through her mind. When she was younger, she felt like the girl abandoned by her father and who lost her mother. However, she found a family ; Rhaenyra, Laenor, Daemon, all of her brothers and Baela and Rhaena who were like her sisters. She wanted to protect them all and she needed to prove to Rhaenyra she was able to fight. 'You are a Targaryen'. This sentence refused to leave her as she rose from her bed to put on her riding clothes before exiting her chamber.

Reaching the Dragonmount was not an easy task. Alannys walked without stopping. She had a motive and she needed to achieve it. As she neared the caverns, a smell of sulphur came to her nose. She had not thought about it but she would rather not. Claiming a dragon was an act done only by Targaryens. 'You are a Targaryen'. She walked to the caverns, still unsure of what she was going to do.

"What am I doing ? I must be completely mad."

The Velaryon lady lit up the torch she brought with her. She walked to the entrance of the cavern. She walked along a tunnel until she arrived at some kind of cave. She was thinking about her mother's words. 'You are a Targaryen'. Well it was time for her to prove it. Suddenly, Alannys saw it ; the glistening of silvery and blue scales. Silverwing, that was the dragon she could claim. She approached the dragon to be able to see it properly. Silverwing saw her and began to walk in her direction. So that was it, she was going to claim a dragon.

"Doheris, Silverwing. I am Alannys."

The dragon did not stop and opened its mouth. Alannys tried to reach the beast with her hand. However, Silverwing breathed fire her way. The Velaryon lady only had time to turn and crouched but it was too late, the fire had reached her hair tied in a bun. She tapped on it to extinguish the flames. Silverwing approached her again and opened its mouth above her. For a second she saw her whole family ; Rhaenyra, Daemon, the boys, Jace, the twins and even Luke. It was stopped by a growl. Another beast came from the dark and closed its jaw on Silverwing's neck. It pushed the dragon further into the cave. Alannys raised her head to look at the two fighting dragons. She realised what was happening. The Bronze fury was fighting against Silverwing. When he won the fight, Vermithor came back to her. The lady kneeled before the old dragon. Then, she rose and put a hand forward, following her instinct. Vermithor put his head against it.

"Hello. I think that you and I are staying together now. I am Alannys."

As if agreeing, the dragon gestured for his back. Alannys approached it and managed to drag herself on his back as he exited the cavern.

"Fly, Vermithor."