The Fallen Queen - A Game of Thrones Fanfic

Chapter 4 - Tales

The old lady didn't go away that night, and the only reason Daenerys let her stay, was because of what she did next after she said there were lessons for her to learn; a dragon came down from the skies and hovered above them. His size was bigger than Drogon's, and his eyes were haunting. Another dragon, and a bigger one, was still existing.

After Nettle showed her this, it was clear that Daenerys still had a lot to learn and understand, so she then wanted the woman to stay.

"Not many speak about me in their tales, not many remember who I was... but my age is as old as the stories told of the Dance of Dragons..." The old woman spoke to her while they were both eating in the morning. Her dragon kept a distance, he was far from them, but constantly around.

Daenerys nodded. She remembered the tales of the age her family fought against each other to rule the Seven Kingdoms. She knew the stories, but she didn't hear about the old lady. Besides, she still doubted her identity, since if what she said was true, it would make her over 200 years old. Only red witches were known to live that old, and from them, only the rarest and most powerful ones. But she kept listening.

"It was never of any interest of mine to join the battle... I was happy playing with my friends, having my life free of worries... I was still a young girl when my friends lost interest in our usual games..." She smirked after that comment, ate another bite and then continued. "They wanted to be warriors... they wanted to be mighty warriors and fight on Rhaenyra's side... she promised the most craved thing anyone would ever want... dragons... to anyone who dared to conquer one... and back in those days, many bastards believed to be the next best dragon rider..." She laughed, shaking her head to the thoughts, it was as if she could still see the events unfolding in front of her. "Stupid boys... stupid girls... many died trying to claim what was never theirs..."

Daenerys remembered, just like the old lady was telling her, about the civil way of her ancestors. She heard all about the time brother fought brother, and dragons fought dragons. Those were the years that changed the history of her family, both had their reasons to want the throne, and both had their followers. But what always bothered her was that the main reason Aegon II didn't spread the voice that women were not meant to rule. It really made a big difference in her when she started to harvest the idea of becoming the next ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.

"Then I went there, and I saw the foolish attempts of each of them... how would they tame a dragon by claiming they owned them? How silly is that? Don't you agree?" The woman stared into Daenerys' eyes.

She took a deep breath, she felt there was a sort of test behind the woman's question. So she chose her words carefully. "They were foolish, for trying to tame what they did not understand..."

The woman seemed satisfied with her answer, so she nodded and continued. "Indeed... you can not tame what is untamed by nature... a dragon is not a pet... a dragon is a force on its own, has a mind on its own, and will only follow the one who meets his own nature at heart." She then looked at Drogon, who seemed also invested in her story. "He is with you because he believes in you... not because you claimed him..."

Daenerys took a look at him and rested a hand on his scaled body, he closed his eyes and rested his head next to her. It was true, and she was acknowledging it, she never owned him, like she never owned any other who followed her. They followed her because they believed in her.

After a long silence, the woman continued. "Ah, to see Rhaenyra laugh each time one failed... that was what made me want to try it... I wanted to erase that grin from her face," She chuckled. "So I studied each of the dragons, and could see which one was going to match me..." The woman's eyes glowed with mischievousness, the memories were vivid. "She was not surprised when the already before claimed Silverwing, Vermithor and Seasmoke found new riders... they were already used to humans and the first riders didn't take too long to find their soft spots and ride them." She shook her head. "Easy catch, easy ride... the riders proved to be worthless later, a big loss... She never thought they would betray her, but what more can you expect from those who wanted everything laid in front of them? Those are always the ones who you should be most careful of..."

Daenerys remembered the stories of Ulf the White and Hugh Hammer, the ones who betrayed Rhaenyra. Slowly, she started to match the stories with what the woman was telling her. It made sense. More than that, it seemed to add details to the stories she had heard of.

"But to me, from the three riderless dragons remaining, only one seemed to be the best match. No one was crazy enough to claim Cannibal..." She grinned, from afar, her huge dragon seemed to huff. "He was insane, though to me he was more just misunderstood..." She smiled softly after. "There was Grey Ghost, who was impossible to catch. He would fly away as soon as he saw a human. No, I was not aiming at him... I had my eyes laid on Sheepstealer... the one who was clever, witty, fast, and above all, seemed to calculate everything he was doing, like a human. I wanted him..."

Daenerys' eyes grew wide, suddenly she realized who she was talking about, and her eyes met the old woman. "Nettle... Netty... the one who rode a dragon and tried to fight Aemond..."

The woman grinned and nodded, bowing her head. "The one and only..." Then her grin became just a sad smile. "I am sure we would have succeeded if it weren't for Rhaenyra's jealousy and mistrust..."

Everything was adding up, the old woman's stories seemed to match the old tales her brother and family had told her before.

"But that is enough for today... I am tired, and the body of an old woman is not that good as the one of a young one like yours..." She said with another smile.

Daenerys nodded and helped her get up and to one of the rooms in the tower. She herself preferred to the balcony at the top, but the old woman liked to stay undercover. She took some of the furs with her and made a comfortable bed for her, the woman was thankful.