Chapter 16
Something woke up Daemon in the middle of the night. All his senses were screaming at him. He kept his eyes closed and his breath regular and listened for any sounds that may be of place. He didn't heard anything out of the ordinary, so he slowly cracked his eyes open and surveyed the room. Nothing. Not a single thing out of the ordinary. What the fuck woke him up then? His senses were still screaming at him. He pulled himself upwards in the bed and surveyed the room again. Still nothing. He looked at his siblings both were breathing peacefully. He couldn't see Maenera's face as it was smashed into his brother chest. He stared at them for a time, then he saw what appeared to be a black spot on Viserys chest. He slowly touched the spot and realized it was actually blood on his brother's chest. He quickly took Maenera of him, trying to see the source of the blood. As soon as he turned Maenera he was greeted by her eyes wide open blood pouring form her nose, ears and eyes. He, of course did the only reasonable thing any men in his situation would do, he panicked.
"Maenera! Maenera wake up! He exclaimed while shaking her.
"Viserys, wake up. Viserys, you big idiot, wake up, something is wrong with Maenera! He screamed at his brother and pushed him so hard he almost fell of the bed.
"What... Daemon what happened."
"Something is wrong with Maenera!"
His brother turned his eyes towards their sister and saw the blank eyes and all the blood. By now all three of them were covered in it.
"For fucks sake Viserys do something, don't stand there and stare at her!"
"I don't know what to do to help, you imbecile. I should call for the Grand Maester."
"Don't be stupid Viserys we can't call the Maester. What would we be telling him. "Please do something, our sister is trapped in a vision and she started bleeding."
"Yes well, I out of ideas then."
"So what we just wait for her to snap out of it or bleed out?"
"Wasn't uncle Vaegon on kid way to Kingslanding? Maenera told us a few days ago that he is on his way already with the records."
"She didn't tell us how far away is he. "
"You could take Caraxes and look out for him."
"Yes, I'm sure that I will find him from the back of Caraxes in the middle of the night." Daemon responded sarcastically.
"So what? We just wait?"
"Unfortunately."
"We should at least clean her up a bit."
And that is what they did. They started to clean all the blood from her person and stripped the sheets from the bed. They, themselves changed and then they settled around her standing vigil. The maids are going to faint when they come to collect the sheets in the morning. Daemon does not know how long they stayed like that , but at some point the bleeding stopped and her eyes closed. She still didn't wake up, nor she responded to any stimulus, so they waited, and waited, and waited some more until the down came, and with it a knock at the door. Viserys got up and answered, the Lord Commander was on the other side of the door.
"What is it?" His brother asked.
"I am sorry to disturb you, your Grace, but you told me to inform you immediately when Maestar Vaegon arrives." Well wasn't that a happy fucking coincidence... Daemon thought wearily. Daemon got up and made his way to his brother and Lord Commander.
"You stay with her, I'll go bring Vaegon."
All the early risers in the Red Keep could see a disheveled Prince almost running through the corridors. He saw Vaegon and they made eye contact.
"I am a little late." Vaegon said.
"You think?" Daemon could not abstain from responding. "Come on, she is in Viserys rooms."
When they arrived Vaegon gave his brother a quick bow and started examining Maenera.
"So?" Daemon impatiently asked.
"Well there is not much to say, the bleeding stopped which is good. She is a little to pale for my liking but that may be due to blood loss. She is not responding which is to be expected. There is not much to do now than to wait it out."
"That's it?"
"Yes"
"You said you were a little late. A little late for what.?"
"For this. When I received the Raven from the Princess she asked specifically to arrive at a certain date with the concoction I developed when she was young, unfortunately I encountered some trouble on my way and I was delayed."
"What concoction?" His brother asked.
"One that will put her to sleep. It is a way for her to force the visions to became dreams. When she was just a little girl your father asked for my advice in one of his letters. He asked if there is some way to force her visions to come via dreams. From what I understood from Baelon's letters and Maenera's the visions are come more peacefully via dreams than otherwise, so I developed this for her. They tried before milk of the poppy and didn't worked."
"Why doesn't she have it on her person all the time?" Viserys asked.
"Because it is highly addictive and it's basically a poison. Even one drop too much can cause her to never wake up."
"She is poisoning herself?"
"If you take it in the literal sense then yes. But it is much complicated than that. You need to understand that her visions can become so violent that it can cause fits and she has the chance of bleeding out. So yes when she anticipates that she will have a big vison she writes to me and I sent her the exact quantity needed for her to sleep through it. She didn't asked me for it in the last three years, so I was quite surprised when she asked me to bring it to Kingslanding."
"Well, it's obviously too late for it now. So we just wait..." His brother said and he could feel the helpless returning.
"You never said what exactly are the side effects of this poison." Daemon said only to keep the conversation going. On one hand he didn't really wanted to know what effect that fucking poison will have on his sister but on the other hand he needed to know so he could recognize the symptoms if it ever happened.
"As I told you, is highly addictive, that is why I am the one keeping it far away from her hands. Most side effects start after she wokes up. Lethargy, dry mouth, it takes a lot of time for her to stabilize again, slipping between unconscious and conscious states, she more than once complained of heaviness in her legs and arms. I knew it was an awful concoction the first time I made it, a horrible thing that I will never be proud of. What it did to the test subjects is not something that I want to remember. But your father gave me an order, to find something stronger than milk of the poppy and I did."
"How many times has she taken it?"
"Three times. Once before your father's passing, once before her mother's passing and only one time after. I know she tries to control her visions so she doesn't need it. She discovered that if she induces her visions every day, it's enough even half an hour, she would get this big ones much more rarely than before."
"I do not know if you are academically interested in her condition or you are really fond of her." Daemon tried to joke.
"A little bit of both I suppose. It is hard not to get attached when you are the only person that she has regular interactions with. I became her confidant after Baelon's death. She needed a person who she trusted to confess some of the more disturbing visions she had."
"And you were that person." Viserys said.
"And I was that person." Vaegon nodded.
"Did you bring the records with you?"
"Yes, she said that they will be needed if she is to be presented in front of the entire court."
"They are, needed I mean." Viserys said and Vaegon nodded again.
"While I am trying not to divulge what she had told me in confidence, I will give you some advice. You need to mature, both of you, you are not boys anymore. The mistakes you make now influence all Seven Kingdoms as well as this family. Daemon, you need to work on your impulsiveness and stop throwing temper tantrums when things do not go your way. You need to become more patient and to listen to advice. Viserys you need to listen to your family more, and grow a backbone, you are the King, the Dragon, you need not to be so easily swayed in your decision. You also need to claim a dragon. I will never understand completely the bond between a dragon and his rider, so I do not know how you felt since Balerion's death, but you cannot afford to be a dragonless King. Maenera tries to change the outcome of a lot of events, but if she is not successful you need to be prepared. And start training with a sword again, give become quite puffy."
Aaa.. there it was the cutting tongue of Vaegon Targaryen, scaring animals and babes alike since 63 AC. He was also right, despite the bitting comments Vaegon was extremely good at giving advice. They would be fools not to take into consideration what they were told.
***
They waited for more than half a day for her to wake up. During that time neither one of the brothers had left her side. Into the afternoon Maenera's eyes began to flutter and she quickly threw herself at the side of the bed and proceeded to vomit everything she had in her stomach. Both Daemon and his brother jumped to help her. Viserys taking the fair from her face while Daemon was rubbing her back. After she finished she fell back into the bed moaning in pain.
"Daemon..." She said her voice cracking." Daemon, please, it hurts."
"What does it hurts, little love?"
"My head, and my eyes. Is too bright..." She said an Viserys quickly closed the curtains.
"Is it better now?"
"Yes" she responded her eyes still not opening."Viserys? You still here?"
"I am here, sister."
"Did uncle Vaegon arrived? He was supposed to arrive, but he didn't, he...She wasn't there, she want in the room. The dragon is in the caves" she started speaking nonsensically.
"Hey, Maenera, focus. You had a vison, a big one. Do you remember that."
"Yes, yes the vision. Vaegon was late so it was a vision not a dream."
"Your right. Continue to focus" he turned to Viserys and quietly said." Send for Vaegon."
" Are you still with me, little love?" He asked petting her hair his voice soft.
"Yes."
"The vison came and you fell unconscious, remember that?"
"Mhmm, how long?"
"All night and all day."
"That's good. It's shorter, he said... He said... I don't remember."
"That's alright, you are going to be fine. "
"That bitch, I'm going to kill her... You need to remember Daemon the dragon is in the big cave." She started speaking nonsensically again.
"I will. What dragon?"
"Father's. Father had a great beast, green... Viserys needs to go.. she can't have it, it's not hers... You are not hers Daemon."
Thankfully Vaegon arrived and began examining her. She continued to talk about shit he didn't understand. Vaegon seemed to understand some of it though, because he responded and asked some questions. He gave her what seemed to be some diluted milk of the poppy. She felt back asleep and Vaegon turned to speak to them.
"She seems fine, if a little confused, but she usually is after an episode. She is trying to sort out the visions so she is a little overwhelmed. She would have been like this for the rest of the day so I gave her some poppy milk. She needs some rest. I imagine tomorrow she will be good. "
"Do you know what she is talking about?" Viserys asked and Vaegon hesitated.
"Some... Some things she was saying are a continuation of previous visions and some things are completely new. If there is something important I am sure she will inform you." Vaegon said and quickly exited the rooms. It was clear he didn't want to say too much.
"What now?" Viserys asked.
"I do not know about you brother, but I am exhausted. Our sister is fine and more or less sane, Vaegon finally arrived, and this day is fucked. I'm going to sleep. You are free to join me." Daemon said falling into bed next to his sister. His brother didn't even hesitated before climbing into the bed.
"Is it bad of me, that despite the suffering she has been through today, I am grateful that she did not took that poison?" Viserys asked.
"If it is then I am in the wrong as well, for I too am glad she did not take it." Daemon responded.