Chapter 18
Viserys and Maenera quickly adopted a pleasant expression on their faces, and not for the first time Daemon was surprised at how good his siblings could mimick happiness. He knew that his sister had her signature sweet smile and his brother the kindly expression he usually used in court. When the Velaryons were shown to the room, Daemon could see the fearful expression Rhaenys was sporting. Good, at least she realizes she is in trouble. The children were mostly confused and Corlys had a rebellious look about him. Was that how Daemon was looking every time he rebelled against his brother's whishes? If so he needed to change that as soon as possible, Corlys looked just about ready to throw a temper tantrum.
"Cousin, so good for you to join us on such short notice." His brother began.
"What is this about, cousin?" Rhaenys demanded, she really needed to break that habit. She was not the queen, she needs to be more respectful.
"Well since we realized that your husband and daughter were already on their way to Dragonstone, my siblings and I decided to keep the meeting we were supposed to have, here. After all where woud be better to have a family discussion than in our ancestral home.?" Daemon wanted to laugh, Rhaenys and Corlys were so confused about the pleasant tone his brother was using.
"Please, please, take a seat, there is no need to stand, we are among family after all." His brother continued and his smile became a little too sharp. Showing a little more teeth than usual. He saw it, but Rhaenys must have missed it.
"Thank you, cousin. I must say that this is an unexpected welcome."
"Well after our talk, I had time to calm down and realize that we were both under a lot of stress and things degenerated. " Viserys said taking an apologetic expression.
"Yes, it was not an oportune moment for us to have that confrontation." Rhaenys agreed, relaxing slightly.
"Cousin, I must say, I know why your daughter is here, and while I had no problem allowing your son to keep his dragon after I was crowned, your daughter is another matter entirely." Rhaenys tensed again, she was just about to comment when her husband beat her to it.
"She has dragon blood, it's in her rights." Corlys interjected.
"And I am not saying it isn't, but we must look into the future as well. Lady Laena while a prime example of a valyrian lady of good breeding, she is after all female. We just cannot know in which house she will marry. And unfortunately I cannot see the future, she will marry of course but the question is to whom?, We cannot allow another house to have dragons." His brother explained.
"The Old King allowed the Velaryons to house dragons."
"The Velaryons, you, are kin. There is a difference. It is one thing for you to have dragons under your house names and another thing entirely for other houses to have them. Just imagine what the Lannister would do if they had only one dragon at their command." Viserys spun his web.
"That is true." Said the Sea Snake, even though Daemon could see the skepticism in Rhaenys eyes.
"She could of course marry later on back into the Targaryen family, and at that point she would of course be allowed to choose her mount." His brother added dangling the carrot under their noses. "That being said while I cannot allow dear Lady Laena to chose her mount today, I can offer you something else. My sister had agreed to take Lady Laena as her chief lady in waiting, while my brother had offered to take Laenor under his tutelage, as squire." Corlys expression smoothed out a proud smirk on his face while Rhaenys expression hardened. The poor girl looked close to tears at not being allowed a dragon while the boy still looked confused. Honestly there was something wrong with that boy.
"Thank you cousin, but unfortunately we will have to decl..." Rhaenys started
"We accept." Corlys interjected and Rhaenys pursed her lips.
"Wonderful! Now the servants will be showing you to your rooms. It is too late to return to Kingslanding now. We will depart on the morrow."
***
Rhaenys was fuming. There something wrong with that conversation, but she couldn't put her finger on what. Her idiot husband agreed without a second thought, not even stopping to take into consideration her opinion. She and Corlys entered the rooms and she slammed the door.
"My dear, what ever is the matter?" Her husband asked.
"What is the matter? I will tell you what is the matter, Corlys Velaryon! Our daughter was just denied her birthright."
"She was denied now, but was offered something more important. The proximity to Viserys and his heirs. Now there is a chance for her to marry either Viserys or Daemon"
"Daemon is already married."
"We both know that she can die at any given moment if Daemon truly wants that. And let's not forget Laenor. He is already one and ten. He should have started fostering or being a squire Long before now. Daemon has his faults, but is the best swordsman alive, it would do Laenor some good if he is taken under the wing of Daemon Targaryen."
"You do not understand, something is wrong with that offer." She tried to make her husband understand.
"There is nothing wrong with the offer. Viserys is a fool and got cold feet after making the demands from you. This is his way of atonement."
"Viserys may be a fool but Daemon isn't."
"Daemon will do like he always has done, everything Viserys tells him to do."
"I am telling you, please listen to me. There is something wrong."
"You worry too much wife. Now calm yourself and let's go inform the children of their duties from now on."
***
"I must say, that was masterfully done." Daemon said pouring some wine for himself and his siblings and passing it around.
"You can always count on a greedy man to be greedy." His sister said a smile on her lips.
"Rhaenys is having doubts, she started refusing earlier." Viserys said
"Maybe she has, but it seems like Corlys had the last word."
"True, and even if she realizes, it is too late now. They already accepted. It could be seen as an insult if they take their words back."
"I feel a little bad for Laena, she would have been an amazing dragonrider, and she looked close to tears when you told her she can't have one." His sister said.
"It was true what I said, unless Daemon wants to take her to wife, I cannot allow other houses to have dragons. Two are already a problem." Viserys said taking a sip from his wine.
" No thank you. I am already married. You can keep your child bride." He interjected. He didn't want Laena, he already refused her hand once. His sights were settled on his sister, it was torturous enough that he had to wait at least two years before starting to court her. His brother can keep her, if he ever changes his mind and wants to remarry, or maybe to take her as his mistress? If that happened Rhaenys will probably try to burn all of them alive.
"I see how it is brother, you use that argument only when it benefits you." His brother said starting to laugh, Maenera following in his footsteps.
He didn't bother responding his mind turning to earlier today. His sister looked glorious with a dragon between her legs. No, no, no that was wrong, she is still to young. His sister looked glorious on top of Shrykos. There, that was better. It seemed that the madness his sister had was transferable, he started arguing with himself. Even though, he was curious, from where exactly did she acquired a dragon. Daemon was pretty sure that dragons did not grow on trees in the North. There was a possibility that his father had gifted her an egg at birth, but that dragon was too big to be a cradle hatching. It was almost as big as Caraxes, so that meant that it was old. But from where did it came from? All their dragons were accounted for, same for the wild ones. The dragon he had to admit was a beauty. White in colour, with a crown of spikes on her head. She was silent, graceful and fast. It complemented his sister beautifully. The dragon was not dissimilar in shape with Caraxes. Shrykos neck was not deformed as Caraxes and her roars sounded normal, but her body shape and the shape of her head were similar enough to his own dragon. Maybe that is why it seemed familiar?
Speaking of dragons, his brother hadn't said yet how he tamed Vhagar. If he was honest with himself he was glad that his brother had calmed their father's dragon. It seemed that Viserys had a knack for old enormous cranky dragons. First Balerion now Vhagar. While he won't trade his good boy, Caraxes for anything in the world, he had to admit that his brother's dragons are impressive. It was probably good for Vhagar as well to bond with Viserys. The old beast refused to leave Dragonstone since his father's death. More than once they had to send the dragon keepers on Dragonstone to check if she was still alive in that cave of hers. He supposed that his brother and Vhagar had a lot in common. Vhagar had suffered her rider's death, while Viserys had to endure his dragon passing. And they were of course both old and cranky.
"Viserys? You didn't tell us how Vhagar's claiming had gone. " He barely had time to finish his sentence before his sister snorted and he saw Viserys' cheeks glow red. "What am I missing? What happened?" He asked and his sister began to laugh in the earnest.
"Go on brother, tell him." His sister said and Viserys mumbled something, the heat in his cheeks never faltering.
"What was that?"
"I said, that I smacked her on the snout!" Viserys shouted and Daemon didn't know how to respond to that. He tried to imagine the scene in his mind but he truly couldn't.
"You mean to tell me, that you smacked, the biggest and oldest dragon, a relic that remained since conquest on the snout?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she wasn't patient. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts and she grew impatient with my silence and began to growl. So... I smacked her and told her to wait." His sister began laughing again. " Don't laugh at me! You could have warned me. I thought I was going to die!"His brother shouted at his sister.
"It was funnier this way. " Maenera replied, and Daemon lost it. He began to laugh so hard that he almost fell of his chair.
His brother was something else... He can't believe that he smacked Vhagar. Although he remembered the story his grandmother used to tell them about Father doing the same thing to Balerion.
Daemon begin to believe that the smack was the only reason Vhagar accepted his brother. The similarities between Viserys and Baelon being great. Maybe the old beast vision wasn't what it was and confused Viserys for Baelon. There was no point in speculation. What was clear was that his brother was a dragonrider again and that he claimed Vhagar, the largest and oldest dragon alive.
***
Daemon couldn't sleep. His sister's words were twirling in his head. True she was delirious and she didn't make much sense but still. "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.". The Viserys part he understood now. Viserys was meant to claim their father green beast, Vhagar. But the rest? Who, can't have what? The dragon? Was there a possibility for Laena to claim Vhagar if his brother didn't get there first? "You are not hers Daemon" she said. Hers who? Laena's? Rhea's? Some other woman? He didn't understand.
There was no point in asking Maenera, he knew. If she didn't want to tell him of the visions she won't. Her visions were hers and hers alone. Well maybe not all of it. Vaegon told them that Maenera told him some of the visions. He was glad that Maenera had a confidant. He truly was, but it bothered him a little that he wasn't the one that had her trust. Even his brother knew more than him. He heard what Vaegon had said, he needed to be more patient, he will. He also had the right to be bothered in the confines of his won mind. Maenera didn't have to tell him anything but it was stressing him out. He left the bed, letting his siblings sleep and made his way to the window. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, silent looking out of the window, questions flying around in his mind. What brought him out of his reverie, were two arms wrapping around his middle. He turned and saw his sister behind him.
"What is wrong, Daemon?"
"Nothing." She probably senses he didn't want to talk.
"Alright. Come back in bed, is too early." She said and took his hand and they both began to walk towards the bed. She was on her back and Daemon put his head on her belly. He could feel her hands combing through his hair. It was soothing, his eyes became heavy and he fell asleep.