Dragons of Destiny

Braavos 305 AC.

Aegon.

He could barely wrap his head around the fact that the woman sitting across from him was claiming to be his sister. Was that simply that then he'd have been able to deny it and send her on her way. The problem was that he was absolutely certain that she was who she said she was. That somehow Rhaenys hadn't died in King's Landing all those years ago and was now truly sitting in front of him. Dany sat beside him and held his hand in her own and Ghost rested by Rhaenys's legs and allowed her to rub his fur. The white wolf having come to greet her as they made their way back to the rooms the Sealord had given them.

For any other person, the idea of a long-dead sister being in front of them may have been too much to accept and he could see that Dany was having difficulty doing just that. His wife wished it so for his sake and for her own, that much was clear to him. Yet even after all they'd seen and faced, she was finding this to be almost a step too far. Some of that may have been because she'd met Rhaenys before or to be more precise had met a Rhaenys who was performing a mummery that she was no longer performing. Aegon knew without even looking at Dany's face that this was something she was still coming to terms with. The idea that she'd met family who'd lied to her only reinforcing the feeling within her that Rhaenys may be lying still.

Aegon though had died not once but twice. He'd lived a life that he lived no more and had seen and done things that the gods had ensured would now never come to pass. So the how or why of Rhaenys being here with them and his sister being alive was not as important to him as it should be, instead it was that she was here with them that he concentrated on. Family, he had more family, a sister of his blood and not just of his heart as he had in Arya. Someone who shared the same father as he did and just as he had with Arya all those years earlier, he felt a bond with Rhaenys already that he'd not felt with many other people.

"I know you have questions." Rhaenys said nervously.

"Why are you here?" Dany asked more angrily than he would have wished her to and Aegon saw Rhaenys stiffen.

"Not that we're not happy you are." he said with a smile which seemed to put Rhaenys at ease but made Dany grip his hand a little more tightly.

"I could only meet you here at this time and in this place, otherwise I'd have come to you before now or left with you when we met." Rhaenys said looking to him first and then to Dany.

"So it was you I met?" Dany asked suspiciously.

"It was, aunt." Rhaenys said smiling once more and Aegon found himself unable to not look at that smile and feel its familiarity.

"Why couldn't you leave with Dany, then?" he asked curiously as Rhaenys stared at him almost sadly, something she'd been doing since she had first sat down.

"It wasn't the right time and had I then all would have been lost."

He looked from her to Dany and felt Dany grip his hand once more. The knock at the door startled all three of them and he moved to it to find Ser Jorah was seeking Dany to let her know that Rhaella had woken. Aegon walked back in and spoke to his wife who with a kiss on his cheek and a look back at Rhaenys that showed that she had not been won over as of yet, then left the room. Rhaenys it seemed relaxed a little once his wife had left and he felt that she'd been far more nervous answering Dany's questions than she had or would his own. Something she confirmed to him a moment later.

"I think she's having trouble understanding why I didn't tell her who I was." Rhaenys said and Aegon nodded.

"Why didn't you? "he asked and he saw her relax, even more, Aegon quickly realizing that his questions were curious while Dany's were far more suspicious and that's why Rhaenys was so nervous.

"I couldn't, I wanted to, gods I wanted to. For so many years I wanted to go to her or to you." Rhaenys said her voice trailing off as she seemed to get lost in some memory or other.

"You knew of me?" he asked and she nodded and he was stunned to see a tear fall from her eye, the first of many.

"I'm sorry, Egg, truly, I…."

Watching her struggle with her words was too much for him and before he knew it he was up and out of his chair and holding her in his arms. The first embrace they'd shared was outside the Iron Bank and he'd been so shocked and stunned by what she'd said that he barely knew what he was doing. This one was very much different. For the first time in his life, he now held his sister in his arms and as he felt her lean into him, he wasn't sure if he could let her go. Rhaenys sobbed against his shoulder and he rubbed his hand softly on her back as he held her tightly.

"I've got you, I've got you." he said not sure where the words had come from and happy when he felt the sobbing stop and when she began to relax once more.

Even after she had calmed he didn't let her go, the two of them just standing there for the next few moments locked in an embrace. Rhaenys too showed no signs of wanting to move away and when he finally did move from her it was to a smile from her when he held out his hand and led her to the couch. She sat down beside him and he looked more closely at her face as he took her in once more. Her hair was as dark as his and her skin was tanned like Arianne's, yet it was her eyes that he found himself drawn to. Since he'd realized the truth about himself his own eyes had begun to change, at times flickering from the dark grey they'd always been to a deep purple as they were now. Looking into Rhaenys's eyes was like staring at his own in a looking glass.

"Our father." she said as she caught him looking.

"What?"

"Our eyes, we get them from our father." she said and he smiled at that, neither of them had got the Valyrian looks that Dany had but he was happy to know they'd taken something from their father. Even more so since he'd always been told he'd taken all he was from a man who was very much not.

"How did you survive? Where have you been? Why didn't you…." seeing and hearing her laugh he did too when she placed her finger to his mouth, Aegon shaking his head as he laughed and looked at her.

"It's a very long story, brother." she said after they'd both stopped.

"I'm going nowhere, please… tell me it, all of it?" he asked and she nodded.

"I will but first, there's something I need to show you." Rhaenys said and he watched as she got up from the couch and walked to a sack on the floor, one that he'd not even noticed she'd had in her possession.

A moment later she was sitting beside him again and holding a dragon's egg in her hands, it was a bright blue with specks of red and when she nodded at him he moved his hand to touch it. Aegon felt it immediately, the dragon that was inside that yearned to be released. When he looked at her face it was to see her staring at him with hope in her eyes.

"It's alive." he said softly and she smiled beamingly at him.

"She is and she's almost ready to hatch." Rhaenys said.

A Dragonrider, his sister was to be one just as he, Dany, and Rhaella were and for some reason, this pleased him most of all. He'd not given a thought to it in the short while since he'd met Rhaenys but knowing that she too would fly through the skies made him feel even closer to her somehow.

"This is why it had to be now, isn't it?" he asked as the thought came to his mind.

"This is part of it, yes, but there is more, Aegon, more you need to know." she said worriedly.

"Tell me, tell me all of it." he said and she nodded as she began to speak.

280 to 305 AC.

A life lived.

Rhaenys Targaryen age 2 to 5.

The noises scared her and so she ran to where she'd not be frightened only to find he was not there. Hiding under the bed, she closed her eyes and held her hands over her ears willing the noises to go away. When she felt the hand on her leg pulling her from under the bed she screamed and tried not to open her eyes, so scared was she of what she might see. Then she heard the voice and it was soft and gentle and it made her not feel scared anymore.

"Mama?" she said as she opened her eyes and looked into her mother's face.

"Come with me, Rhae, we must go." her mama said as she lifted her up into her arms.

"Egg, Mama?" she said softly only for her mama to shake her head.

They were in the walls now and the noises began to fade away and Rhaenys began to feel tired as her mama carried her through the darkness. When it was that she fell asleep she couldn't tell but when she woke her mama was gone and she was in a room she had never been in before.

"Mama?" she cried out, only for a woman to move to her and though she didn't know the woman, she looked like her grandmamma and so she wasn't scared.

"Who are you?" she asked "Where's Mama?"

"Your mother can't come with us child, as for who am I. My name is Shiera and I'm your aunt. You and I are going on an adventure and I promise you we'll have so much fun together, Rhaenys" the woman said smiling and since she still felt tired, Rhaenys just nodded and lay back down to sleep.

She was hungry when she woke up and Shiera brought her something to eat and drink and then told her that they were going far away and that she'd not see her mama, papa, or Egg for some time. It made her sad and she cried and cried as she pushed Shiera away and even though she was hungry, the next day she refused to eat. The day after she tried to do the same, telling Shiera that she'd not eat until she saw her mama or her papa, or even Egg even though he was only a babe still.

"I'm afraid it'll be many years before you see them again, little one. So you must eat to stay strong for when you do." Shiera said.

"No, I want my mama." she said crossing her arms only for it not to work with Shiera how it did with those who were always around her.

Hunger won out and despite not wanting to, she ate when it was brought to her and even took Shiera's hand when she led her onto the deck of the ship. She liked ships and when she felt the sun and looked out on the water she wondered if she was going to see her nuncles and cousins once more. It was this that comforted her, though she got bored with her time on the ship very quickly and when it finally reached land it was not to her nuncles she was brought.

"We will stay here for some time, little one. You may play with the other children but don't tell them your name." Shiera said as she led her through the streets.

Play, she could play, for some reason that was all she could think about as they walked and so she didn't really notice the people or the place she was in that much. Later that day she laughed as she and some other children chased each other outside the house where Shiera and she were to stay. When the children went away, she headed into the house to find a meal waiting for her that she ate hungrily. This time she even got a dessert and that night Shiera tucked her up in bed and kissed her on the cheek.

How long they stayed there was hard for her to know but she did get bigger and though at times she would cry when she thought about her mama, papa, and Egg or when she saw a cat that wasn't Balerion, she laughed at times too with her new friends. So she was sad to say goodbye and to find herself on a ship again and yet she looked forward to wherever they were going. As she did the next time and the next time and the time after that. Until the day of her fifth nameday when Shiera told her that where they were going next would be very different from where they'd been to so far.

"We can no longer stay in the light, my little ray of sunshine. There are too many eyes upon us and it is no longer safe for us to do so. The noises and those who make them head our way, Rhaenys, and we should not be here when they arrive." Shiera said and Rhaenys shivered a little.

"Where are we to go, Aunty?" she asked.

"Since the light is no longer safe for us, it's in the shadows that we must hide" Shiera said and Rhaenys nodded though she had no idea what it was her aunt meant.

Asshai.

Rhaenys Targaryen age 5 to 12.

She'd been more scared than she had been even when she hid under her bed when they had first reached the shadow city. It's people, how they looked at Shiera and her, and the darkness all combining to make her fear seem real. Two days, two days it had lasted for and she was scared to even step outside. Then curiosity and boredom helped her overcome her fear. Shiera had been close to her those first few times she'd left their home, then she'd begun to let her leave alone and in time Asshai became just like any other place to her.

Rhaenys played with other children, she took lessons and ate her meals with Shiera and things moved on like that for days, weeks, moons, and even years. Over time she forgot about her mama, papa, and Egg and the life she had before Shiera had come to take her away. At times she would see glimpses of a man with silver hair and purple eyes and imagine him playing the harp or a woman with dark hair who'd sing to her as she lay in her bed. She'd remember holding a babe in her arms while a woman held them both so that she didn't let the babe fall. But she couldn't remember who they were or why they were important.

It was on her eighth nameday that all changed and she learned the horrible truth about the life she'd left behind and why it had been so important for her to do so. She'd been playing with her friends when one of them began to speak about how her mother now had her brother in her belly. Rhaenys and the other children not understanding until it was explained to her that her friend's mother was with child. That night she dreamt of a dark-haired woman and of the babe she carried in her belly and that had been like an opening of a door to a room that she'd not entered in a very long while.

" Why can't I see him mama?" she asked.

" Because your brother is not here yet, Rhae." her mother said smiling at her.

" When? Before dinner?" she asked and her mother chuckled as she shook her head.

" No, not then much later than that."

" Later, I be seeping." she said worried that she'd miss her brother when he got here.

" Then I'll wake you little dragon." she heard her father say as she jumped up from the chair and ran to him.

" Papa." she said excitedly.

" Were you speaking to Egg, Rhae?" her papa asked and she looked at him confused.

" Egg, Papa?"

" Your brother, he'll be an Egg I'm sure." her papa said and she giggled as she thought of her brother being an egg.

She woke up crying and almost stormed into Shiera's room to find that her aunt was awake and was now looking at her worriedly.

"Rhae?" Shiera asked.

"I want to see my Mama and Papa, to see Egg, take me to them, I want to see them now." she said determinedly and only that she was angry and annoyed she'd have noticed the sad look that Shiera gave her.

"Come to me child, sit with me."

She cried herself to sleep that night as she lay in the bed and refused to leave it when she woke on the morrow. For more than a week, other than to go the privy or to eat she did nothing but lay in the bed and cry. Rhaenys knew now what the noises had been and that it hadn't been her mother who had taken her from the Red Keep, but Shiera pretending to be her. When her aunt had shown her the face of her mother instead of her own, Rhaenys had almost wished to believe that was her true face and it was the other that was the lie.

It was not and she hated her aunt a little for that. Though it was telling her the truth of things that she mainly hated her for. When she'd brought up that her father hadn't been in the Red Keep when the noises were made, it was far less of a victory than she had hoped it would be. Shiera quickly telling her that her father had met his own end somewhere else and that she was now alone but for a brother that she didn't know. She'd asked to be taken to him only for Shiera to refuse and so that had only angered her even more. For days she didn't speak to her when she brought her food or clean clothes and she thought about running away only to find herself even more scared at the thoughts of being alone. It was almost a moon after she'd found out the truth that Shiera then spoke to her and told her something that changed her mood.

"I can't bring your family back to you, Rhaenys. That was not my purpose and their lives were not in my power to save, only yours. I can only make you ready for what's to come and to tell you that when you are you'll have a family once more. One day you'll have a brother who will love you as much as you deserve to be loved. You'll have a different aunt than me who'll be like a sister to you and a niece who you can spoil as much as you yourself deserved to be spoiled." Shiera said.

"When?" she asked feigning disinterest.

"One day. I cannot say when for true as the future is unwritten but I can say that if you're ready then it will happen." Shiera said and Rhaenys glared at her.

"What do I need to do to be ready?" she asked.

Her lessons were much different from then on, lessons that were far harder for her to master, and even three and then four years from when she'd learned the truth of things she'd still not mastered them all. Magic was a difficult thing to understand and an even more difficult thing to control and when she felt she'd gotten the hang of one thing, it would often prove to her that she very much had not. Asshai was full of magic and people who were trying to learn it just as she was. Shiera told her there was more magic within her than there was in those here, and yet they seemed far more able to wield it than she.

Rhaenys age 16 to 22

On the day of her sixth and tenth nameday, Rhaenys found that there was a price for magic that always needed to be paid. She'd mastered some if not all of the lessons that Shiera had given her and was able to glamour herself just as her aunt was and able to see into the past and present in her dreams and with the Glass Candles. Though in both cases it was a hard and exhausting thing to do and if she tried to look into the future, which she had done more than once, then the toll it took on her was even heavier.

She'd been so busy with her lessons and her studies that she'd not paid much attention to her aunt. Had she then she'd have noticed the lingering looks and the way she'd stay in the room for longer and longer each time. It was as if she was taking note of her more and more and at night she'd almost will her not to go bed. Yet Rhaenys was oblivious to it and it was only after she had left Asshai that she realized what it was that Shiera had been doing. They had celebrated her nameday how they always did. The two of them sitting and eating their meal, Shiera then giving her a gift of some sort, and then her aunt would tell her tales of her father, mother, and both her brothers.

"He hid in the crypts and waited for his cousins to come along and then once they did, Aegon jumped out and did his best to scare them." Shiera said laughing as she spoke.

"By jumping out at them?" Rhaenys asked not quite seeing why this would be scary.

"Aegon was covered in flour, Rhae, to them he was a ghostly figure, one of the dead come back to life." Shiera said and Rhaenys began to laugh as she pictured the scene.

These were her favorite stories, the ones of her brother and her aunt. She loved stories of her father's childhood and those of her mother#s but they were tinged with far too much sadness for her to really enjoy as were the ones of Egg, even though she was in some of those. The ones of Daenerys and Aegon though made her laugh and she'd think of them as she lay in her bed at night. Imagining what it felt like for Daenerys as she played by the lemon tree or what it was like for Aegon to spar with his oldest cousin or tell tales to the youngest of them. She was on the verge of getting lost in those memories when Shiera stopped laughing and looked at her far more seriously than she had in some time.

"You must leave this place, Rhaenys. Tonight, you and I must say our goodbyes." Shiera said her voice almost cracking such was her sadness and yet it was the expression on her face that Rhaenys concentrated on.

"Where are we going?" she asked softly as despite its strangeness Asshai had been her home longer than anywhere else.

"Not we, you. My journey ends where it was always supposed to, here in this place and on this night." Shiera said her voice barely heard.

"Aunt?"

"Only death may pay for life, Rhaenys. That is the way of the world and at least I bought something precious with mine own. The dragon must have three heads and I've played my part and I've stolen far too many years to seek any more." Shiera said and Rhaenys looked at her and shook her head, tears falling from her eyes.

"No, you can't, I….you can't, please come with me, please…." she said, and even feeling Shiera's arms around her didn't stop the tears from falling.

She found out that her things had already been gathered and the ship was ready to take her away and as she boarded it she tried to keep her aunt's final words to her in her thoughts. It was hard to do as she heard the screams behind her as Shiera was dragged away. They were the same noises that had made her hide under a bed as a young girl and they were now ringing out once more and so Rhaenys closed her eyes as the ship sailed away.

"If I look back, I am lost." she said repeating Shiera's last words softly as the smoke from the stake they'd tied her aunt to, wafted into the air.

Leng, Yin, Qarth, Meereen, Astapor and Yunkai, onto Volantis and Lys. Tyrosh. Myr, Pentos, Braavos, Lorath, Norvos and Qohor. For the next few years, she traveled to almost every city in Essos, and in each, she sought out the same thing, answers. She sought answers to her past, to her present, and to her future and found things that angered her, gave her hope, and scared her to her very core. Each city she visited had its own connection to magic and yet not all the answers she found were magical in how they came to her.

In Pentos and Braavos the truth about what had happened to her family was finally revealed to her. How they had died and what had been done to them once they had, angering her greatly. Her mother had been raped and almost cut in two, her brother's head was crushed after he'd been thrown against a wall by a monster. By comparison, her father's death was almost a welcome thing to hear, other than what it had led to. She heard how her grandfather was murdered by a knight that was sworn to guard his back and how her grandmother had died birthing a child, her aunt. She found out she had another uncle too and wondered why Shiera had not mentioned Viserys to her and that to all the realm she had died in her father's room that day.

In Lorath she'd learned about her other brother and how he was being raised as a bastard by the Lord of the North and it annoyed and angered her that a king was raised in such a way. Yet in her dreams, she'd seen him smile, seen him happy and she'd laughed with him even though she wasn't there by his side. So it was that she concentrated on and not the questions she had about Eddard Stark and his plans for Aegon. When she reached Norvos she found herself drawn to the libraries and using her glamour was able to come and go as she wished. Rhaenys spending most of her time while there reading up on the tales of the Bloodstone Emperor and his reign of terror.

It was when she reached Qohor that the dreams truly began and she saw things that she wasn't allowed to change or be a part of. When she saw Aegon fall she had cried for days and it was only when she saw him rise again that she was able to move forward. Rhaenys looked on while her brother led an army as it marched through snow and she was there as a silver-haired man was given a crown of gold. In each city, she'd feel the need to move on, and each time she did then she'd leave immediately. Why it had to be that way she knew not only that it did and it was only when she found herself in Qarth once more that things become clearer to her. By then she wasn't Rhaenys, or not truly at least, she was Quaithe of the Shadow and when she saw her moving through the street she knew that she had to speak the words.

"Remember who you are, Daenerys. The dragons know. Do you?" Quaithe said softly.

Braavos 305 AC.

Dany.

Were it for any other reason than their daughter, then she'd not have left Aegon alone with Quaithe, Rhaenys, or whatever her name truly was. She knew that he believed her, that he so wanted to believe her, and only that the dragons seemed to know her and not fear her, that may have worried her some. Her husband had already been hurt terribly by one woman he'd thought of as a sister and Dany wouldn't allow another the chance to do the same. So as she walked to their rooms it was with the strangest thoughts in her head, as she tried to remember if Sansa Stark had ever been close to the dragons.

Those who the dragons trusted were allowed a certain closeness to them, not as much as she, Aegon, or Rhaella were, but they'd not be angered by their presence. For those who they did not trust, however, the dragons made their feelings clear and should they get too close then they'd be lucky if it was just their roars they'd face. As she entered her room to see Missandei and Arya trying to placate a crying Rhaella, Dany was certain that Sansa Stark had never deigned to go anywhere near the dragons. Had she done so, then the girl would probably not be breathing now, she thought with a smirk.

"Give her to me." she said as Missandei did so with some relief in her expression.

"Come, I'll take you to her." she said as she walked to the window and as soon as she reached it, Lyarhaex changed direction and flew from where she'd been in the sky with Drogon and Rhaegal to land close to where she now stood with Rhaella.

"I told you she wished for the dragon." Arya said and Dany giggled when Missandei stuck her tongue out at her goodsister.

Once she'd brought Rhaella over so that she could stroke Lyarhaex's scales, her daughter calmed immediately and so after a few moments she turned and walked back into the room and the red dragon flew back to her brothers. Taking a seat, she found Arya to be staring at her intently and she knew what was on the girl's mind without her speaking it.

"Yes, she truly is Rhaenys." she said and was surprised to see Arya almost deflate.

"How?" Arya asked as Missandei looked at her.

"I do not know. I'm sure she's telling Aegon as we speak but considering Aegon himself has come back from the dead, is it really a surprise that so has his sister?" she asked and Arya shook her head.

"Your niece, Dany." Missandei said and Dany smiled at that.

"Can she be trusted?" Arya asked a moment later.

"The dragons trust her, Arya. Ghost lay at her feet and let her rub her hands through his fur, does he do that for everybody?" she asked and Arya shook her head.

She was about to say something else when there was a knock on the door and Brienne stepped into the room with a letter in her hand.

"From the Sealord, your grace." Brienne said and Dany motioned for her to give it to Missandei to read.

"He says he wishes to organize a coronation of sorts, to name you and his grace as Braavos's king and queen and he pledges thirty ships and men to go with it to your cause." Missandei said with a smile.

"Does he say when he wishes to do this?" she asked and Missandei shook her head.

"As soon as you wish it, your grace." Missandei said using her title because Brienne was still present.

"Can you write him a response for me? Tell him we'll do so on the morrow." she said and Missandei nodded and moved to grab some parchment and some ink.

Once the letter was written and handed back to Brienne, Dany, Missandei, and Arya spoke on how long she expected to stay in Braavos and where they intended to go next. They and the Dornish would soon be splitting their forces as they sailed to Meereen and Arianne went to her mother in Norvos. Now that they had the Sealord on their side this would be even easier, as Arianne would have an escort of sorts, and should they need their help then the dragons would soon take her and Aegon to join them.

For Dany, it was the thoughts of seeing Meereen again, of showing it to Aegon and to Rhaella and freeing her people that gave her a sense of urgency. It had been that which had fuelled her when she'd dealt with the bankers and told them the truth of their situation. She and Aegon had considered stopping in Volantis to deal with Belicho right away and Arianne and Ned Dayne had suggested they go to Norvos since it was closer, but her people were back in chains and she would see them free once more. She smiled when Gendry came by to speak to and check up on Arya and though Aegon didn't join them for lunch, she found herself unworried.

It wasn't until later that evening that he did come back to the room and she was happy to see that he was in such a good mood. With a kiss to her cheek and a quick check on Rhaella who lay sleeping in her crib, Aegon then took a seat and she watched as he poured himself a large mug of water which he drank down quickly.

"All is well?" she asked as she sat beside him.

"I've asked Brienne and some of the Unsullied to take Rhaenys back to her room to get her things and bring them here and she'll join us for dinner later on once she's settled." Aegon said almost cheerfully.

"She's truly your sister?" she asked even though she hadn't really any doubts.

"She is Dany." Aegon said smiling "Gods I thought my life or yours was hard and they were, but hers was in some ways worse."

"How so?" she asked curiously.

"She was taken from the Red Keep just as her mother and my brother were being killed. Taken from all she knew and for the first few years, she believed they lived only to then find out the truth. Then as she grew she found out even more about that truth and about us, only to not be allowed to come to us, to be with us."

"Allowed by who, Aegon?"

"Shiera Seastar." Aegon said and though the name was familiar it also wasn't "Our great aunt many times removed, she was the lover of Bloodraven."

"The Three-Eyed Raven?" she asked worriedly.

"Aye. I think they were trying to prepare us for what was to come. Bloodraven and Shiera, I think they were working together, him in Westeros and Shiera in Essos. My father knew, maybe not all of it but he knew, The Dragon Must Have Three Heads. You, me, and Rhaenys, it was always meant to be but not all wished it so." Aegon said and she looked at him in confusion.

"Aegon?" she asked and he leaned forward and smiled at her before he kissed her lips softly.

"I know it's hard to understand. Gods I've spent most of the day speaking with her and even Rhaenys doesn't truly understand it, but I think I do. As odd and strange as it may sound I think I finally do." Aegon said smiling again.

"Tell me." she said and he shook his head.

"I will, I'll tell you it all but for now let us just enjoy the fact I have another sister and you another niece. Let's us take comfort that there is more of our family alive and that Rhaella now has an aunt, another one." Aegon said and she nodded, accepting that as being enough for now.

Dinner that night was both uncomfortable and very much not at the same time. Arya seemed a little put out that Aegon was speaking to Rhaenys more so than to anyone else but Dany could understand the reason for that. It wasn't just that he'd found a sister he believed to be dead, but Rhaenys herself seemed more than keen to speak to him. She was far more comfortable doing so than she was with any of them, including her.

Other than Rhaella that was, as at one point when they'd finished eating and Rhaella had woken, Aegon had held her and then allowed Rhaenys to do the same. The look on her face was one of almost pure joy and Dany felt herself relax more around Rhaenys from that point on. No one who looked at a babe that way could ever be a danger to that babe and even Arya seemed to relax a little after that. When they were finished eating, she looked on as Aegon spoke softly to Arya, and then after the others who'd eaten with them had gone, it was just her, Aegon, Rhaenys, and Rhaella left in the room.

"How do you not just hold her in your arms always, Egg?" Rhaenys asked and Dany chuckled upon hearing her call her husband that.

"Were I not so fearful of my wife's anger then I probably would, Rhae." Aegon said.

"She's so precious, so perfect." Rhaenys said.

"And now I have another person to fight with for her attention." Aegon said with a smirk as Rhaenys giggled while she played with Rhaella who was laughing too.

Dany sat and watched them speak to each other as if they had been together all their lives and hadn't just met that day. There was a comfort between them that she'd rarely seen Aegon have with anyone other than family. With Arya, it had taken time for that comfort to be shown given his doubts about his sister's loyalty, but once those doubts had been cleared up then this was how they acted together. She had never seen him that way with Sansa and their own interactions were different still and she wondered how he'd been able to accept Rhaenys so quickly.

Was it their shared blood? That it was more than it was with Arya and Sansa? The true blood of a sister and their shared dragon blood allowing for the connection to be formed so quickly or was it simply he had a hole in his heart that only Rhaenys could fill. Her husband cared greatly about family, it was why Sansa's betrayal had hurt him as deeply as it had. Was he seeking someone, something, to fill the hole that betrayal had left behind? She hoped it was more than that but as she looked at Aegon, Rhaenys, and Rhaella, she found herself hoping for other things too.

Braavos 305 AC.

Malora.

From the moment they'd landed here she'd reached out and found the lands to be much different than those they'd left. There were no Weirwood trees in Essos and so she instead found that she could see through the eyes of the birds that flew over these lands. She had kept to her room and reached out and for a day or more she had flown. How many minds she'd opened she knew not, fifty, a hundred, more, she couldn't tell only that there were many.

Lorath, Norvos, Qohor, she'd looked down on each of them as she had Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen. She'd taken birds, mice, cats, dogs, and even a small long-tailed monkey in Volantis though it would only do her will partly. Malora had watched as the girl had gone to Aegon and Daenerys and she had felt the power almost come off her in waves. It was an odd thing to feel and something she had only felt with Daenerys, Aegon, or Rhaella up to then. Whether that was because of their shared blood she couldn't tell at first, but Kinvara seemed to think it was far more than that.

"Those three are as one, and all three it will take to bring him down." Kinvara said after she'd interrupted Malora's warging.

"She has no dragon, surely Rhaella is the third?" she said and Kinvara shook her head.

"The princess has a different fate and an empire to rule over. The king, the queen, and his sister, they are the three heads or the dragon of this I am certain."

"And what of her mount?" she asked as Kinvara smiled.

"She shall be here soon as well."

She met Rhaenys Targaryen properly the next day for the first time and standing in her presence she could feel the power even more truly. It wasn't the same as that which came from Daenerys or Aegon and her magic's were different from theirs, again Kinvara offering up answers to questions that she'd not asked.

"She's touched the shadow." Kinvara whispered as they made their way to the Moon Pool and the awaiting Sealord and First Sword.

"Asshai?" she asked and saw Kinvara's nod.

Today there was an even bigger crowd surrounding the Moon Pool than normal and she could see how many of them were the true power behind Braavos. To the left of the Sealord stood men she knew were the key holders of the Iron Bank and beside them were the most powerful of the merchants, religious leaders, and even a man who she knew wore a face that was not his own. Aegon and Daenerys had brought a large guard with them and the dragons were close by, while Ghost stood by Missandei's side as she held Rhaella in her hands.

"We are here today to do something Braavos has never done before. We do this not just because the threat that comes our way is one we cannot face alone, but because we all know the truth of House Targaryen and those who lead it now. They are not what they once were and it is that which allows for them to be who they are now. I ask you to take to your knees and to welcome the King and Queen of Braavos, Aegon and Daenerys Targaryen." the Sealord said and she looked on as Kinvara moved when they did.

"Rise good men and women of Braavos, for you do not belong on your knees." Daenerys said and Malora looked to see smiles on most of the faces.

"Most of you have heard the tale of my wife, of how she broke the chains and burned the collars of those that were enslaved in the Bay of Dragons." Aegon said loudly.

"Mhysa."

"Breaker of Chains."

She smiled as she heard them chant the words and at how those who had been with Daenerys for the longest seemed to stand a little straighter now.

"Our enemy has not only placed those collars back around the necks of free men and women but seeks to do so to each and every person in Essos and so my wife has returned to finish what she started all those years ago." Aegon said looking to Daenerys and nodding as he climbed into the Moon Pool.

"This time I will not stop at the Bay of Dragons, nor will I let anything divert me from what needs to be done. Just like Braavos, all of Essos will be free, every man, woman, and child will grow up in a world where there are no collars, there are no chains and there are no slaves." Daenerys said to loud cheers as she too stepped into the Moon Pool.

The cheers hushed as Kinvara stepped forward and as both Aegon and Daenerys knelt down and placed their heads under the water.

"From out of the darkness comes the light." Kinvara said and she and all of those present had to shield their eyes when Aegon unsheathed Lightbringer and the sword glowed and the water in the pool shined.

She heard the roar of the dragons and then the light faded as Aegon helped Daenerys out of the pool. When she saw Rhaenys move forward she was surprised to see her carry a dragon's egg in her hand. More so when she placed it in front of Aegon and then cut her hand with a small knife that Kinvara handed to her. Then Daenerys did the same as did Aegon and soon she was having to shield her eyes once more as Lightbringer was unsheathed once again. Malora felt it was different this time, its light was not as bright, and yet it felt even more powerful to her. Soon enough her eyes adjusted and she was able to look as Aegon raised the sword and brought it down on the dragon egg. The crack was loud and so were the roars of the three dragons in the sky and yet she and everyone else heard the small screech that the blue dragon made as it was lifted into the air by Rhaenys.

The Liberation of Meereen 306 AC.

Daario.

In the past few weeks, he'd seen a princess who everyone had thought long dead somehow be proved to be alive and he'd watched as a dragon was born. Was that not enough for him to be sure he was dealing with powers beyond his understanding then looking at the blue baby dragon would be. She was already as big as Lyarhaex, only a few weeks old and she was already larger than a horse. Daario remembered the queen's dragons and though they grew quickly even they hadn't grown as quickly as this one.

He had heard people speak about how it was because there were now more dragons in the world and that somehow this was the reason, but he didn't believe that to be the case. Instead, he was certain it was because of those who rode the dragons, who had brought them back in the world and loathe though he had once been to admit it, because of the king. Aegon Targaryen was not who he had expected him to be and he had found that he actually liked the man. He was jealous of him still, but he liked the man and for once that was enough for him to put his jealousy aside.

She was not to be his, that much was clear, and seeing her with another man still hurt him somewhat. It at times made him feel as if he was Mormont and Aegon was him and yet it was much different. Daenerys had never smiled that way with him, she'd never looked at him that way, and seeing her, Aegon, and their daughter was like looking at a life he never could have had and never would have wished for. He had wanted her, only her, and his love was a far more selfish kind. Daario knew that he'd never have been able to share her love with another, even if that other was a child.

Aegon though seemed to take no issue with not always being the focus of her attention and if anything he seemed just as pleased when it was their daughter and not he that Daenerys looking at. Were it him then he'd have needed to do something to bring her eyes to him, where Aegon he did not. The man was an enigma to him at times and none more so than when he'd asked for his permission to serve the queen and himself.

" You wished to speak to me?" Aegon asked.

" You are unarmed." he said surprised.

" Is there a need for me to be any other way?" Aegon asked and Daario shook his head.

" At one point perhaps, but not now." he said and Aegon looked at him and said nothing "You know how I felt… feel about the queen." he said deciding to be truthful.

" I know, Aye."

" I came here hoping to win her back, thinking I would. Even when I saw she was with another I cared not. I planned your death many times since I've been here." he said looking at Aegon who seemed not to be disturbed in the least by his words.

" Yet I breathe still."

" Yet you breathe still" he said with a small chuckle "Your performance in the sparring yard gave me pause, the queen's words gave me pause, and seeing you both with your daughter made me realize that even could I kill you it would do me no good." Daario said and Aegon again didn't even seem to blink at what he'd said and he wondered if he was thinking about or planning what to do with him.

" My wife is a remarkable woman, I know that far better than anyone. I also know that Jorah Mormont loved her once, he loves her still and yet he guards her back and mine own and there is no one my wife trusts more to do so. Tormund is my truest friend, a brother to me in all but name and yet we were enemies once and he would have seen me dead if it had come to that."

He looked at Aegon and saw a small smile on his face and he wondered what it was he was thinking about that had put it there.

" We find our true friends on the battlefield, Daario Naharis, and what is a truer battlefield than the one we've both fought on? What is a truer battle than the one fought for love?" Aegon said and Daario nodded.

" I wish to serve my queen and her king. To guard their backs and see them safe and kept from harm. We are not friends you and I and you are not my king, not today. But who knows what the morrow will bring and that it won't find me on my knees as I name you both." Daario said and he caught the chuckle that the king made.

" Good, now I can call my wolf off." Aegon said and as he turned around he saw the red eyes and he laughed, Aegon was not as unarmed as he had thought him to be.

He looked a the walls of the city in the distance and watched as the ships began to head to land. Some would sail on and take the docks and the army would march and surround the city and he found himself looking forward to the battles to come. Daario had fled this city, but with a purpose and he had thought when he came back it would be by his queen's side. Partly this was true, though it was also not how he had envisioned it. Perhaps this was the only way it could be though and if so then so be it, his time with Daenerys was over, in that way at least. Now it was time for him to be with her in another.

Jaime.

He hadn't been able to speak to her, the words not coming to him and so he'd avoided her as much as he could. Aegon told him that he'd spoken to Rhaenys about him and that his sister didn't' blame him for what happened to their brother or her mother and that she was as grateful as he was for what he'd done to their grandfather. Yet still, he couldn't speak to her and could barely even look her way. It was why today was so much harder for him as he was told to stay by her and Rhaella's side along with Jorah and Brienne.

" Protect my family, Ser Jaime, guard them as you've guarded me." Aegon said.

The words were so much like those his father had said to him so many years before and he'd felt his chest tighten and his breathing became more stilted after Aegon had left on Rhaegal's back. They weren't docked and had more than a dozen ships close to them. Lyarhaex and Rhaeliax, Rhaenys's dragon that she'd named for her mother and father both, were on the deck of the ship and they had more than two hundred unsullied and Ghost with them too.

Arya, Gendry, and two hundred more of their men were on the ship nearest to them and all in all, there were perhaps two thousand men ready to protect the two princesses with their lives. Not that any of them expected an attack to come, as both Lady Kinvara and Lady Malora had said the victory won today with be swift and decisive, and by nightfall they'd be in the Great Pyramid itself. Jaime was happy to be standing outside the door of the cabin with Jorah while inside Brienne and Ghost waited just in case. Should anyone be lucky to make it as far as them then the white wolf and the fiercest woman he'd ever known would see to their ends.

He knew that like him, Jorah wished to be elsewhere though for different reasons. Not that he wasn't worried about the king and queen's safety, just that it was lesser on his list of concerns for the day. Aegon and Daenerys would be on their dragons and up there they were as safe as they could be. So he stood, he waited, and hoped the fight was as easy as Lady Malora and Lady Kinvara said it would be and that he'd find the courage to speak to Rhaenys sooner rather than later.

Tormund.

He could ride a horse as well as any, other than these men that was. The Horselords were like Jon up on the dragon and far more comfortable than he. They'd ridden to the gate of this city in far too quick a time and he'd barely been able to keep up. Unlike him, they'd been more comfortable with the weather in this gods-forsaken place too. Tormund was sure that this was a hell on earth as it made Dorne feel as if he was back beyond the Wall.

His furs were a thing of the past and though he'd never speak it out so anyone could hear, especially Jon Snow, the clothes he wore were a welcome respite from the heat of the sun. That they were so brightly colored was even something he was starting to enjoy. The yellows especially garnered him some appreciative looks from some of the Dothraki women, he'd found. It was how his friend would look at him as he was dressed in his usual black though that was starting to annoy. So Tormund had resolved to get the Dragonqueen to make the little crow were something colorful before this war was done.

"What are we waiting for?" he asked when Qhono rode his way.

"Dragons." Qhono said and Tormund smiled at that.

A little way down from where he and those around him waited for their signal, he could see more and more of the Dothraki. They had practically surrounded this city and he wondered what those inside its walls were thinking. Whatever it was they'd be thinking something else now and he smiled when he heard the dragons' roars and looked to the sky to see them flying overhead. As they passed over them, the horde, the Khalasar began to ride as one and he was moving before he knew it.

He heard the cheers as the dragon's flames were seen. The queen's mighty beast taking care of the archers on the walls while Jon took his own dragon to clear their path before them. By the time they reached the gates, they'd been burned away to ash and a moment later they were in the city and he was swinging his sword at some fool with a spear who'd not learned how to run. Ahead of him, the dragons were flying towards the sea and though men tried to stop their charge, they were no match for him and the Dothraki while they were ahorse.

Arrows flew, Arakh's swung, men fell and through it all, he swung his sword one way and then the other. On and on they rode and those who weren't cut down by the sword, Arakh, or arrow soon fell to the horse's hooves as they were simply ridden over and Tormund reveled in it. How he wished they'd had these men with them when he had marched with Mance. Had they been then his friend would live still and more of his people would have survived rather than been cut down by men unworthy to name themselves as kings. He followed a worthy one and as they reached the end of their ride, his eyes were drawn to the sky to find him and his Dragonqueen.

Grey Worm.

His men were ready and lined up as the ships moved to the docks. He would lead the first two hundred and behind him some of his men held the gangplanks ready. They came under attack as they moved closer to the docks, flaming arrows, and scorpion bolts, and whether the men they faced had bad aims or the gods were truly with them, they did little damage. He smiled when he heard the sound of the dragons roars in the distances and then when he saw the flames hit the men who had fired upon them.

One sweep of the dragons was all it took and yet after his king and queen had flown over their heads, both Drogon and Rhaegal were brought back in once again. This time they didn't lay their flames down, instead, both dragons just roared even more loudly and then Grey Worm and his men were then running down the gangplanks with spears in hand. His own didn't even taste blood as most of the men they faced were either dead or already beaten and once he knew the docks belonged to them, he ordered the rest of their men to disembark.

After he had done so for six ships he knew it was time. Taking almost a thousand men and leaving two hundred to guard the docks while the rest of their forces were landed, Grey Worm led the men through the streets and readied to face whatever came his way. He wasn't surprised that men hid and tried to ambush them and those who did so were shown no mercy. Soon enough they'd joined up with the Dothraki and now the real work would begin. The pyramids would be where most of the men would be waiting for them and they'd think themselves safe there but Grey Worm knew they were very much not.

"Should we proceed?" Red Flea asked.

"We wait for the king and queen." he said and Red Flea nodded.

They didn't have long to wait as the dragons landed in front of them and Aegon and Daenerys climbed down of their backs unharmed and unhurt. He, Qhono, and Tormund moved from their men to the king and queen's side and he watched as Aegon looked to the Great Pyramid and at the others with an awed look on his face, while his queen who'd seen them before did not.

"Send word for a parley." his queen said and Grey Worm called for two of his men to bring the word to the men inside.

This time their wait was a long one and he worried about the men he had sent as he knew that the masters never saw them as anything other than tools to be used. It would be just like them to kill those men and think they were sending a message, though if they did so they'd find the message sent back was not one they expected. Finally, after more than two hours the men came out. Three fat masters who had once ran this city and one large man who was perhaps the leader of their men.

He could see the contempt on the master's faces and yet there was worry there too when they saw just how large the dragons were and the sheer number of men they had with them. Still, these were cocky arrogant men and their arrogance was soon on show as they spoke in Valyrian to the king and queen.

"You have no right to be here in our city, go and go with your lives." a fat master said.

"We have hostages, women, and children and we will send you their heads each hour that you don't leave." another said

"We have powerful friends and this outrage will be answered." the last of them said and Grey Worm watched alertly as his queen moved forward.

"I let you all live once before and swore to you what would be done should you defy my will. Yet here you are now in my city enslaving my people once more and you dare to threaten me and to threaten those under my protection? So be it. Let today's message ring out loud and clear, Aegon." his queen said and Grey Worm watched as Aegon drew his sword, Blackfyre now in his hand, and then he moved like the wind.

The leader of the men was first, a slash from his right shoulder to his left hip that opened him and spilled his guts to the ground. Then one of the fat masters lost his head in the blink of an eye as did another until the last fell to his feet and soiled himself as he wept and begged for his life.

"Order your men to stand down and you live to see another sunrise. Do not and your death will be far more painful than that of your friends. My husband will cut you apart piece by piece and we will keep you alive so you can watch as our dragons eat you limb by limb." his queen said and the sound of the man's weeping grew louder as Aegon looked down at him and raised his sword.

"Please, please, I'll do as you say, don't kill me, don't feed me to your dragons."

By the time night had fallen, the only men in Meereen who were armed were sworn to his king and queen and the ship carrying the princess and Aegon's sister had landed. As had the one carrying his other sister and the one with Lady Malora, Kinvara, and Missandei. He now stood in a hall that he had not seen for more years than he could remember and he watched as his queen sat her throne and as she held the princess in her arms. Aegon stood on one side of the throne and his sister on the other, while he, Jorah, Brienne, Jaime, and Daario stood guard on the steps as the doors were opened and the people were led into the Throne Room.

"You are in the presence of their graces, Queen Daenerys and King Aegon Targaryen. The King and Queen of Meereen, the Khal, and Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea. The Mother and Father of Dragons. The Breaker of Chains, the Unburnt and the Resurrected." Missandei said and Grey Worm smiled, they were where they were supposed to be at last.