The Northern Dragon

CH 25: THE WALK OF PUNISHMENT

No, seriously, what did he do? As a woman, I am very curious.

Rhaenys hadn't had any nightmares since leaving King's Landing. She didn't expect that she would suddenly have another one tonight. One that made so little sense.

As she sat on the bed, her chest went up and down every time she breathed. Her hair was sticking to her sweaty skin. She looked as if she had just taken a shower.

Rhaenys felt a strange and unfamiliar chill as she recalled that dream. Slowly, she looked down as she lifted her hands, palms up. They were sweaty, as was the rest of her body, but they were also shaking. Her whole body was. From the inside to the outside, she felt so cold. She had never felt so cold.

The red dragon purred at that moment, parting his eyes open. He and the other dragons had been sleeping at the feet of the bed, curled together while the direwolves laid on the floor. Feeling his mother's movements, Rhaegal was the first to awaken.

He was a pure red dragon with only some black in his belly and wings. But his eyes, just like all dragons, were golden and orange, as if fire was contained within them.

Rhaegal was a dragon. It couldn't really understand human emotions. But it could tell that something was wrong with his mother. He stood on his two small legs and walked toward the head of the bed with some difficulty, the soft material under his feet making him stumble.

Rhaenys finally looked away from her hands when she felt the warm scales against her. Rhaegal had reached her at some unknown time and had rubbed his head against her, purring like a cat that asked for attention. Or in this case, tried to bring comfort to another.

Whether awakened by their brother or by Rhaenys, the other three dragons soon followed. The freezing cold she felt to her core vanished along with all the unpleasantness of that nightmare.

Aegal, always sticky, directly laid on her lap. Eliria wiggled between her brothers, managing to stand at the forefront, passing the still clearly tired Edgon easily. Rhaegal was the one who gave her some trouble.

Despite the magic used by the Valyrians, dragons and humans could not truly speak the same language and understand one another. None of that seemed to matter now, though. The feelings between them were real and that was enough.

The little dragons had gone to try to comfort her, but Rhaenys ended up being the one that had to comfort them and reassure them that she was fine. Only when she had managed to put them back to sleep did she get off the bed. After that dream, Rhaenys didn't think she could easily go back to sleep.

Rhaenys stared at the four of them curled on the bed with the warm covers wrinkled under them. They nuzzled their noses against each other, seeking the comfort of a familiar scent.

These were her children. She didn't know if one day she would give birth to a child that was of her blood, but even if she did, these four would still be her children. When she thought of the bones of the previous dragons that laid under the Red Keep or that were buried in the Dragonpit at the top of Rhaenys's Hill, it felt as if there was a knot in her throat.

There were seven dragons on top of this ship. One day, they would breed more. And one day, she and Daenerys would die, but the dragons would remain.

Quaithe had shown Rhaenys the history of her ancestors in Valyria. Magic came with bloodline, and a little faith. Her ancestors' bloodline was powerful, so powerful that even after the Targaryens forgot how to use magic, they could still control dragons. But one day, that magic would disappear. Now that there were only two Targaryens remaining, two of the same gender, their bloodline would one day disappear, and with it, their magic.