𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 | 𝗮𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗿𝘆𝗲𝗻

Chapter 14: new beginnings

119 d. C

Dragonstone

It had been weeks since they had arrived at Dragonstone. Some days after their arrival Shiera had received a raven from Aemond informing her of his egg's hatch.
To say that she was happy for him would be an understatement. The moment her mother finished reading the letter to her she asked her to write him a reply stating her happiness.
Aemond had told her that once the dragon was big enough for him to mount he would make his way to her. Leaving behind King's Landing and reuniting with her along with his siblings and their dragons.
His father and siblings had been proud and happy for him. After so many years of hating himself, of hating being the only Targaryen without a dragon, he finally did it.
He thanked Aegon for the prank, saying that without him he would have never got a dragon so soon.
Aemond also told her that his mother and grandfather had tried to send Daeron to Old Town but his father had refused. It seemed that the hightowers were trying to take advantage of Rhaenyra's absence to plot Aegon's accession to the throne. And that involved making alliances through the princes.

Obviously Rhaenyra already knew of this because of her numerous spies who were scattered all over the Red Keep. If she had learned something from her uncle in her youth was to have eyes and ears everywhere.
Talya had done a good job informing her of all the queen's movements. She expected her to start plotting against her but truthfully not so soon.
On the other hand ser Erryk Cargyll had informed her of her siblings' doings. Aegon had taken upon himself to teach Aemond how to bond with his dragon now that he didn't have Jace and Luke, Helaena remained as engrossed with insects as always, Daeron had started stating his wish of being a knight at the service of his sister one day. Aemond, well, he was the wild one. He had begged ser Erryk for private fight training. Not that it was a problem for the knight, but the queen had stated her dislike for her son's choice of mentor. She had hoped he had struck a friendship with her sworn sword.

While they were in Dragonstone the children had taken to receive their sword lessons at the beach by the castle. There they were able to train and watch their dragons fly freely along the coast. They weren't chained and their growth seemed to have accelerated. Even Syrax, who had reached adulthood some years ago, seemed to have become a little bit stronger and bigger.
It was said that Valyrian magic still lingered in the Dragonmont and that was the reason behind why dragons preferred to nest in its caves.
It wasn't known how many wild dragons there were, but there was evidence of the presence of several legendary dragons. Vermithor, the Bronze Fury, Silverwing, Sheepstealer, Gray Ghost, and Cannibal were among the most famous.
They could all hear the roars from the castle at night, when the dragons danced under the moonlight.

Shiera, on the other hand, had become the cupbearer of the small council created by her mother to deal with Dragonstone affairs.
While she served the lords, with a little help whenever she miscalculated a little bit the distance between the cups and the jug, she learned the ways of politicking.
The people of Dragonstone were mostly fishermen and the lands weren't fertile enough for them to feed the entire population. So they depended on the crown lands and the isles near it.
Shiera had met the envoys of the houses sworn to Dragonstone. The Velaryons, Sunglass, Seaworth, Celtigar and Bar Emmon. Of course because of their family relations her father had been declared the official envoy of house Velaryon, meaning that making decisions were easier.

She hadn't met her grandparents yet. It was known that they didn't profess much affection for their grandchildren by Laenor. The obvious difference between father and children a silent offense to their house. At least Corlis sent ravens to Laenor and Luke as the latter would become Lord of the Tides. He expected Luke to become his ward in some years to better teach him the ropes of the lordship.

Now, as she listened to her mother and the small council of Dragonstone debate about the supplies for the winter she stayed seated at her mother's right.
That night she had a dream again so she knew that something would happen sooner or later. She just needed to wait.

119 d. C

Pentos

The last thing he expected when the maester said Laena was having problems giving birth was finding her body cremated by Vhagar. He knew that she wouldn't survive the labor, but he had hoped to spend her last moments with her. At her bedside with their daughters. Being able to have a farewell if not for him, for their girls sake.

Now he had to inform both of their loss and start preparing for this journey towards Westeros. He would be lying if he said that he didn't want to go back to King's Landing. Although he had been exiled more times than he could count, at the end of the day it was still his home. The people there were his family.
First they would have to go through Driftmark to bury Laena of course. He didn't feel like seeing his in-laws but it was something he owed to his late wife. The Velaryon tradition of being buried at sea dated back to the time of the conquerors. And he was not going to be the one to break that tradition.

So the next morning, with his wife's remains and daughters they made their way home at Caraxes' back and with Vhagar trailing behind them.