~The Blood of Old Valyria~
Chapter I
House Gelarion once wielded power in the Freehold of Old Valyria, its dragonriders and the magic they wielded well, making enemies aware of the fate that awaited them should they be threatened. Raynor and his sister-wife Vereena were the head of the house at the time. Raynor held power in the council of archons for many five years, a rarity in Old Valyria. He and his sister had three children: Weylor, Arein, and Daynerra. In the future the eldest son will marry his beloved sister, but it will be at Dragonstone, where they have gone with the Targaryens. The Gelarions and the Targaryens, despite their different status in Valyria, were friends, thanks to Daynerra and Daenys, who was later nicknamed Dreamer.
A few years after the two houses left Valyria, Raynor erected his own castle on an island not far from Dragonstone. The island was called Fire Island, and Raynor proclaimed the new home of the Gelarions Castle of the Flaming Dragon (Perzys Zaldrīzes Sombāzmion).
The Gelarions lived peacefully on their island, taking no part in the conquests of Aegon and his sisters, nor in the conflicts that followed. Up until the Dance of the Dragons, the Gelarions did not show their full power, and perhaps if they had intervened in some of the Targaryen feuds, the Dance would not have happened at all, but you can't blame them for anything. The Gelarions remained the only ones with knowledge of magic so extensive that it would have allowed them to become kings themselves, but the representatives of the House were quite content with the power they had. Their family grew, as did their power and wealth, and the dragons hatched.
Even before the Dances began, the Gelarions had a dozen dragons: Whirlwind, Hyrapion, Annax, Umbra, Heretax, Gelannan, Dawn and Sunset, and many more. This house was capable of creating a New Valyria with so many winged lizards. They also had dragons that came from the ancestral lands with Raynor and his family. Shadow, Carax, Vertax, Egarax, and Ezraxes. Shadow and Carax died a couple of decades before the Balerion the Black Dread, and after his death the largest dragon was Vertax. Egarax, Ezraxes, and Vertax were all just babies when they left Valyria, so they are now gigantic in size.
Dayraena Gelarion was born in 90 AC. She had a reputation for beauty at a young age. She was an inquisitive, intelligent, and quiet girl. Dayraena was considered by many to be the loveliest of the maidens. Beautiful as a goddess, blooming as spring. She had silver curly hair that fell below her waist. She came into the world with eyes of different colors: dark blue and purple. Slender and graceful, graceful and alluring, with a thin waist, full breasts, and rounded hips. Beautiful in every sense of the word. That was exactly what Dayraena was. She saddled Egarax at the age of ten and was trained in ancestor magic from an early age.
But it was hard to call her childhood happy. She was the first child in her family. Her parents, Lord Maylor and Lady Veiserra, were expecting a boy, so she received little attention when Dayraena was born. Her mother left her daughter in the care of her maids and took care of her son, who was born a year and a half after Dayraena's birth. The girl was abandoned by Lord and Lady Gelarion and therefore grew up without the special love that a child should have for his parents. Her younger brother Lucerius got all the attention. In spite of this, Dayraena grew up to be a fine educated girl. By the time she came of age, there were two more children in the family: Dayra and Meireya. By all laws, Lucerius was supposed to take his older sister as his wife, but Dayron - the eldest son of Greina and Daylor, a sister and brother of Maylor and Veiserra - unexpectedly showed up and asked for Dayraena's hand. His parents thought him a worthy match for their daughter, whom they hardly knew, and agreed to the marriage.
Dayron Gelarion was already known as a good warrior at seventeen, but he was nothing else, so in the future Dayraena will wonder "why was she married to this man?" but never get an answer. Dayron was nothing but a shadow beside his wife. He had the usual Valyrian appearance, and his temper was fiery. Sometimes in a fit of rage he repeatedly broke furniture, chopping it with the Valyrian sword of the Dragon Fang, which had been passed down from Raynor for generations. Dayraena thought he had lost his mind the first time he broke a table.
It was hard to tell if he loved his wife or not. He was often dissatisfied that Dayraena outshone him. This became the cause of quarrels and altercations that terribly annoyed the woman. Another cause of strife was Dayraena's reluctance to go to bed with her husband. The girl was disgusted with Dayron and did not want to have children by him. Her husband was quite cruel to Dayreena. Sometimes he would lock her up, taking away her books when the girl dared to disobey him, sometimes he would raise his hand to his wife, sometimes he would not let her out of bed until he had fully satisfied his desires. Relatives turned a blind eye to their daughter's torment. Only the younger siblings regretted that Dayreena had suffered such a fate.
Over the years of marriage, Dayreena's heart had become encrusted in ice. For four years Dayron tried to conceive a child with her, but then gave it up when he saw that there were no results. He no longer visited his wife's bedroom. Dayron began to spread rumors that his date was infertile, but in fact she was not. In four years, Dayraena could have carried and borne five children, but she deliberately drank the moon tea in secret from her husband, so that she could not get pregnant in any way.
More and more escape plans matured in Dayraena's mind, but something was wrong with each one. Once her youngest sister Maireya wanted to help a girl escape, but they were caught. Dayraena was then locked up for a month. She could not conjure, could not fly, could not walk on the island. She hated that life, but Dayraena wasn't going to put up with it. She didn't want Dayron to see her broken. So she continued to endure for two more years, until she came across one interesting curse in a spell book that she used on her husband.
One day Dayron just couldn't get out of bed. He was alive, but he couldn't move around anymore. The Maeseters didn't understand what had happened to the healthy man overnight, and Dayron didn't think much of his wife's abilities at all. No blame fell on her. Dayron fell into despair, for there was nothing he could do now. In the meantime, Dayron enjoyed his daily torment. And finally, after all these years, she felt free. For the first time in six years, she could breathe deeply and relax. Dayron was now in her power, and she obeyed no one. What could a crippled husband do to her? Because of Dayron's incapacitation, Lucerius became the new lord of the Castle of the Flaming Dragon. At that time he already had a sister-wife, Dayra.
Dayraena and Dayron continued to live on Fire Island. Dayron suffered from pain in his legs and daily saw his wife's face in front of him, whose mocking sneer appeared on her lips every time she saw him. Dayraena was now free to practice her Valyrian magic, to walk the island, and to fly the Egarax. Life was slowly getting better, and she never regretted what she had done to her cousin.
Over the course of her marriage, Dayraena had time to get to know the royal family. With the princess, they became especially close. When Rhaenyra lost her mother, Dayraena was there for her. She became attached to the princess as her own daughter and gave her all her love. They tried to write letters to each other as often as possible and to meet at King's Landing, but it was difficult to do so because of Dayrons' eternal control. With Viserys, Dayraena developed a good relationship. He was grateful to her for taking care of his daughter after Aemma died. After Lucerius became Lord of Fire Island, Dayraena began to visit the princess and the king more often.
And then, one day, Dayraena received a letter inviting her to the engagement of Princess Rhaenyra and Laenor Velarion. She was invited, of course, but also Lucerius and Dayra, as well as Dayron. The youngest Gelarion, Meireya, was now traveling in the Free Cities on her dragon Endarion. Since she was the last child, accordingly she had few responsibilities. As soon as she turned seventeen her parents began to insist on an engagement, but that same night Meireya flew away on her dragon and returned only a year later with her hair cut off to her shoulders and a slightly shabby appearance. She later told her older sister of her adventures. And Dayraena lamented that she hadn't thought to do the same when she was announced of her imminent marriage to Dayron.
Dayraena, who was now carrying a letter of invitation to her brother-lord, had no idea that at the celebration something would happen that would change her life forever.