THE OLD THEREBEFORE ︱ AEGON II TARGARYEN

𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐒

┌────── ⋆⁺₊⋆ ✵⋆⁺₊⋆ ──────┐

CHAPTER ONE
BEST LAID PLANS

└────── ⋆⁺₊⋆ ✵ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ──────┘

THE WIND CHILLED HER TO THE BONE.

The only warmth felt from the flames of the candles surrounding the makeshift altar they'd created.

They hadn't had time to dig enough graves for all who'd died in the Dragonpit, so they'd simply gathered the bodies and placed them to be wheeled to the Grand Sept.

They piled the bodies on top of each other, Ivy's one of the last to be placed.

It had been Lacey and Reyna who'd made the effort, her blacksmith love also having perished in the onslaught.

At least they'd died together, she thought, a bitter taste on the edge of her tongue.

On one side of Ivy lay a graying woman who'd seen more than enough death and war to last a lifetime.

Reyna recognized her from the Street of Seeds, a kindly woman who'd always managed to sneak Reyna a few extra morsels from her shop when she stopped by on her errands.

She thought her name may have been Alys.

The last body to be placed was a girl no older than seven, thin blonde hair matted with dried blood. Her eyes closed as if in an endless sleep that she would soon wake up from.

She'd lost count of the bodies piled beneath them, although she caught a glimpse of the pale hair of the blacksmith who'd eagerly asked for Ivy's hand and slipped a metal band around her finger with the promise of a true ring once they were wed.

Reyna had never met him.

But she knew his father was a well-known smith who'd treated Ivy as his own daughter.

He stood across from her, wife in arm, their little daughter buried in his leathers.

His name was Hugh.

His son's had been also.

Wooden crates and leftover straw were packed between the couple in a makeshift pyre, forever separated in life and reunited in death.

A poor altar for their souls but one nonetheless.

A dark-skinned man stepped forward, dressed in the robes of the begging brothers of the faith, his bowl rattling around his neck.

His name was Lazarus, a man of the faith who'd grown a following for his penchant for giving his profit back to the people, blessing them as they suffered.

"It is not easy to say goodbye to those we love," He began, arms folded across his plain wool robes, "Especially when they have been taken from us so cruelly and unjustly." Lazarus paused as he passed the young girl, tears shining behind his eyes, "This morning the Mother smiled upon her children, ushering them into a new era. An era of peace. Tonight, they find it in the Father's great hall."

Lacey sniffed beside her, eyes glassy.

Reyna wrapped her arm around her friend.

They were all they had now.

"I wish we could spend a day to properly mourn for each and every lost to the dragons," Brother Lazarus shared a rueful smile with the crowd, "But that is impossible.