𝐒𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐍 ( 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬. )

prologue.

THE NARROW SEA
( 282 AC )

VAEGON watched out the window of the small trading vessel as Dragonstone grew farther and farther away. Despite the raging storm that engulfed the sky and sea, the torches of those charging toward the Keep were still visible in the distance, even from the frothing waves the ship traversed. The young boy didn't quite understand what was happening, but as he looked over at the little baby girl in his brother's arms, he somehow knew that things would no longer be the same.

"Where are we going, Viserys?" Vaegon asked, his teary violet eyes looking up to his older brother for answers. Seeing his brother's face, grew quiet. Viserys held an expression so deadly that the little prince wasn't sure if he was meant to speak.

"Ser Willem is going to take us somewhere safe," Viserys muttered in reply, his violet eyes darkening with rage as he looked toward their ancestral home, which was being sacked by the rebels. Everything they knew was ripped away from them, and the boy of ten would now be forced to raise his younger siblings. Under the rage, fear—uncertainty stirred.

"I don't want to leave Dragonstone!" Vaegon cried out as his little hands gripped the wooden window frame with despair. "Mother is there! We can't leave her there!"

"Mother is dead," Viserys snapped. Vaegon winced at the harshness of his words. "All that is left is you, Dany, and me. We're the last three heads of the dragon, Vaegon, and we can't go back or we'll die. There are bad men after us."

The last three Targaryens had been hastily ushered through the secret tunnels of Dragonstone, rebels on their heels as loyalists fought to get them to safety. Ser Willem Darry was the sole surviving loyalist who managed to get the three children aboard a ship that took off into the raging Narrow Sea, toward the Free Cities of Essos.

Vaegon, a six-year-old boy, didn't know as much as Viserys, who was four years his senior, but displayed a decent understanding of what they were facing. Vaegon understood the slightest bit, knowing now that if they hadn't fled Dragonstone, they would be dead like their mother.

In his fear, the young boy wanted nothing more than to be in the arms of his brother, Rhaegar. The fondest of memories that the young boy possessed were of his oldest brother and his now deceased mother, who had been whisked away from his world like a fleeting thought. Rhaegar always knew what to do, yet they'd been informed that he was dead just shortly after they'd arrived at Dragonstone on the order of their King father. (Years later, Vaegon would realize it was the death of his brother that most likely forced their mother into the fateful labor. )

From the death of their mother came a blessing so sweet that it almost outshone the dreadful events that had occurred. Looking at the baby girl in Viserys' arms was calming to Vaegon as they swayed with the rocking of the ship. It was so calming, in fact, that the he was able to forget what was happening for a few moments and focus on the soft, innocent features of his baby sister. He couldn't understand how a newborn baby could be so beautiful, with her soft, silvery tufts of hair.

He had yet to see her eyes, but he knew they had to be violet like his own, or perhaps the deep indigo as Rhaegar's had been.

Looking up to Viserys, Vaegon asked, "Will Dany still be a princess? Like we are princes."

"Of course she will be," Viserys replied. "We're going to raise her together, Vaegon. You're going to help me, do you understand? Mother and Rhaegar are gone now, and we're the only ones left."

Vaegon nodded immediately, understanding that his sole drive is now to protect the little princess in front of him. He makes a vow to himself that he will never allow a soul to hurt her, or they would face his wrath by awakening the dragon. It would never happen.