Long Lost Queen

Chapter 16

It had been three days since they failed to find Kat through her parabatai bond with Isabelle. Magnus was desperately trying to find another spell, but had no success. Alec spent most of his time alone, either hunting in the woods or sitting in her room.
"Alec, come down we're going to eat dinner," Clary spoke from the doorway to Kat's room. He nodded at her, rolling off the bed.
"I made lasagna," Isabelle said with a sad smile. She knew it was Kat's favorite.
"Looks good Iz," Alec told her as he sat down. He was trying to please her; she's not a very good cook.
They ate in comfortable silence, all lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Simon broke that silence.
"So I found something in the yard last night," he proclaimed, rising from the table. He walked over to the kitchen then returned with a large envelope. "I think it might help us." He reached into the envelope and pulled out a photo. Of Kat.
Alec reached across the table and snatched it from him, the rest crowding around him. The photo was in greyscale but there was no mistaking Kat's profile. She was wearing shabby clothing, standing in front of what looked like the doors of an old mansion. Her hair was a mess and she looked exhausted.
"Did it come with anything else?," Jace questioned, taking the photo gently from Alec's grasp.
"No. Just the picture." Simon put his arm around Isabelle, who had begun to shake.
"She looks miserable," Isabelle whispered. "Where is she?" She looked up at Magnus, expecting him to have some idea.
Magnus had taken the photo from Jace and was slowly stalking away from the table towards the fire. He stared at the doors in the photo, the location clicking in his head. He had seen those doors before, in his searches for Kat all those years ago. He stared into the flames, the others standing behind him. Through the crackling of the flames, he uttered one word: "Wes."
*******************
Many miles away, Katerina Targaryen stared at her portrait above a crackling fire. She looked so different then, even though she hasn't physically aged. Her hair was swept around her head in fanciful braids, flowers draped in. She was wearing an expensive silk gown, the usual of the royals back then. Her purple eyes glowed, even in painting. Now, she stood in front of the fire that had rebirthed her, her new wings dragging on the back of her legs. She heard the sounds of her children calling to her, and she turned to see them curling on the couch, basking in the flames' warmth.
Wes had proven true to his word, and one day ago, lit her on fire. He ordered Enzo and Christine to build a small pyre in front of the mansion, large enough for her to fit in. She had stood by the doors, watching her friends build what would either cause her death or new life.
She was still overwhelmed with the new power she held. When she first stepped into the flames she expected excruciating pain, but instead found comfort. They seemed to welcome her like an old friend, and she curled into them willingly. The heat had surrounded her, and her body had jolted with power. The flames awoke a long dormant part of her. Her basic caster wings grew and changed into magnificent silver dragon wings, larger than any supernatural she had ever seen. Her claws and fangs seemed to elongate even more, and parts of her skin turned into think scales. Her pupils shifted into the purple eyes of a dragon, and the fire seemed to flow through her very veins. The stone dragon eggs, surrounded by the power of a Targaryen, hatched the three baby dragons now lying on the couch. The fire, Christine said, grew to be taller than the mansion, it's flames forming shapes of dragons that she would never forget.
When the fire died, Kat and her dragon children remained, unharmed among the ashes. She was naked, her clothes burned away, but her white gold hair stayed, and her changed body seemed to glow. Her green dragon had clung to her breast, the black and silver crawling over her shoulders.
Now, the next day, she still hadn't discovered how to return to her normal caster form. She knew she could, but she couldn't seem to suppress the power enough yet. She did everything she could to tire her self out enough. She fed her dragons until she bleed, flew around the mansion in her own dragon form, a majestic silver bigger than the house itself, and manipulated the fire in front of her until her arms shook. She was exhausted and she fell back on the couch, her children crawling into her embrace.
She held them close to her, their heat mixed with hers comfortingly. Her mind hadn't been able to slow down much either since she changed. She knew she was the same Kat, her personality remained the same, but her physical appearance changed so much she felt like a new person. What would Alec think of her? Would he still think she's beautiful? Would he still want to hold and kiss her? Would he ever want to make love to her? These thoughts attacked her every second since she emerged from the flames, but the feeling of her dragons calmed her.
Enzo and Christine had kept their distance until now. They stepped towards her gently, not wanting to startle her or her dragons. They sat in the chairs opposite her, and watched as she made the flames dance with her fingers. Every flick of her wrist created a response in the yellow and orange waves. It was mesmerizing.
She gently moved her children from her lap and stood, stretching her arms above her head. She hissed as her wings retracted into her back with a sharp pain. Her claws and fangs shrunk to their normal size, and the scales on her skin melted away. With one blink her eyes returned to normal. She sighed and sat back on the couch, her relief obvious.
"Do they have names yet?," Enzo asked her, his voice careful. She looked down at the three dragons curled up next to her.
"Yes," she replied lifting the green one into her arms. "This one is Viserion, named after my brother and his green eyes." She placed the green down and scratched the silver's wings as it growled with content. "Rheagal, named for my sister, and Drogon," she motioned to the black, "named for my father, Drogo."
"I like them," Christine told her with a smile. Kat returned it and stood from the couch, her dragons in her arms.
"Goodnight," she said as she shuffled towards the stairs. "I can finally sleep now."