To Take What Is Rightfully Ours

Chapter 20. Saying a final goodbye

The first meeting of the Dragon Council (they were keeping the name because everyone found it hilarious yet liked it) went rather well. Cannibal and Sheepstealer were sticking to the deals Diane somehow managed to make with them, and the task of feeding them was delegated to dragonkeepers, so the Dragon Council could focus on other things.

As Diane found out, the main problem everyone on Dragonstone had was the lack of people. People were ready to work more, and fish more, and trade more, but there just weren't enough hours in the day. Fishermen didn't have enough bodies to fill the boats, the same went to any trade or farming. Dragonstone didn't have a lot of suitable land for growing crops but even with what little they had they didn't have enough hands to work it. Nuns and monks of Dragontemple were also overworked but that was nothing new.

'So what you need is people,' Diane summarized, getting affirmative nods from everyone. 'I'll find you people.'

She wasn't sure how she was going to do it at that precise moment but the good ideas always came to her eventually if she thought hard enough about them.

In her free time, Diane explored the castle. Even after living there for a while, it was still a maze and mostly a mystery to her. Even Gerardys didn't know all the twists and turns, and when Diane asked if they had a map, the maester said it would be nice to have one. But to make it they would have to send someone to explore the castle and they might just not come back. Not like the young and very curious servants didn't go missing every few years. Most of them were found, of course, more than half of them even still alive, but it made most of the Dragonstone inhabitants wary of the corridors and places they didn't know well.

So Diane made sure to always pay attention when she took unknown turns and made notes on the walls near the rooms she explored. The initial purpose of most was easy to figure out, even though some raised a lot of questions.

For example, Diane found the dragon egg that long ago turned into stone sitting on the table in the middle of the room. The room had no other furniture except for old, very dirty curtains. Diane looked at the egg for a few seconds, then made a confused sound and closed the door, drawing three question marks on the stone nearby. She would deal with it later.

'I do believe it was just forgotten there,' a painfully familiar voice almost made Diane jump out of her skin. 'After all, dragon eggs weren't such a rarity in the past.'

Diane turned very slowly in the direction of the voice. Rhaena smiled at her when their eyes met. She looked the same as Diane remembered her with her beautiful white locks and wearing one of her favorite black dresses.

It was the same as meeting her mother in the garden. Diane felt total disbelief that quickly subsided because, at this very moment, she didn't care what was happening. She just knew that Rhaena - her dear, precious Rhaena - was standing only a few feet away, and she would be damned if she let herself waste even a second.

So Diane reached out to her. Slowly at first but then Rhaena reached out too and Diane was urgently pulling her into a hug as soon as their hands touched. 'I missed you so, so much,' Diane said, not caring that her voice was shaking. She buried her nose in the crook of Rhaena's neck, and she even smelled the same as Diane remembered.

Rhaena let out a sob and clung to her, 'I'm sorry- I'm so sorry-'

'Shh, my love, there's nothing - absolutely nothing - that you should apologize for,' Diane assured, leaning back just a little to take Rhaena's face in her hands and gently wipe her tears away.

'No- I- I should have fought harder- I should have- they just took you away- they didn't listen-' Rhaena cried, and Diane realized what she was talking about.