NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Chapter 3 : Echoes of the Past
Death of Prince Aerion, and until my dragon flight.
The death of Prince Aerion hit the family hard. Poor little Aerion didn't even make it past his mother, dying stillborn. But the gods showed their blessing when, eight moons later, Aemma was with child again. Nine moons after that, a squealing girl was born on the second moon of 94 A.C. His brother called her Rhaenyra, and soon, his father began calling his granddaughter the realm's delight.
He still wonders if he should talk to his mother. Even at two years old, he could babble quite a lot. Four years after Rhaenyra's birth, he sneaked out of his chambers and made his way to the dragonpit. He knows the city inside and out; it's one of the few things that was new to him. However, he visited the city when he had to parley with Cersei, the woman who betrayed them. More and more, he wonders what Tyrion promised or if the man knew what his sister had planned. Tyrion was honest and told the truth, swearing himself to Dany. But after that, and not being here, he realizes that honor is all good and one should strive toward it. But in the end, you have to keep your family alive and hold the realm together. Only then can honor come.
He often discusses it with his behemoth of a friend, the only real friend he has. Laena is well, but she's still only five years old. He's a man of 27 namedays now. With Balerion, he can speak of all things without having to be on his toes. So, whenever he can, he goes to the old dragon nestled in the pit. He left Balerion unchained as he had forbidden it. Balerion now often took flights on his own and would fly to the ocean to hunt for sea creatures.
Soon, on the 98 A.C. third moon's second day, he went to his dragon
Page out of the Journal of Aemon Targaryen the White Dragon.
Aemon Targaryen (98 A.C.)
"Balerion, how are you, my friend?" He asked happily aloud when he arrived. "Good young fellow, but where are your guards? Aren't you supposed to be with someone?" The old dragon asked. "No, I'm ready to fly, Balerion," He said, excitement going through his entire body. The massive dragon lowered his shoulder, and he climbed the ropes to get on his back.
"Ready," The dragon roared. "Yes, Soves," He shouted in High Valyrian, the giant dragon leaping into the air with the morning sun starting to shine through the sky. It was a breathtaking sight as they flew. "Thank you, Balerion," As he was strapped to the saddle, the dragon roared, making it so that most, if not all, people of King's Landing would wake up. "I'm in so much trouble," He murmured aloud. "You are my friend," Balerion rumbled as he flew toward the east to the dragon. 'The time flew by on the dragon's back; thank the gods, the Targaryens still have saddles. He was terrified when he first flew on Rhaegal's back, gripping his spike for dear life. The memory left him melancholy but also with happiness at the past ride with his past dragon.' He wondered as he sat comfortably on Balerion's back.
"Rhaegal, my grandchild, Dreamfyre egg, no?" Balerion rumbled. "The dragon eggs Elissa Farman stole are very similar in appearance to your description," Balerion said. "Most likely, the three eggs Daenerys hatched were similar in appearance to her, yes," he answered the ancient dragon.
"Dragonstone, I missed you, old castle," He said as the ancient fortress of the Targaryens came into view. Balerion had told him much about how the Valyrians built the black stone walls, castles, and cities. The architects infused the stone with volcanic lava, and the dragon flame would melt the stone so the masons could hammer the stone into shapes or fuse the laid stone together into solid walls, making them almost unbreakable.
"It's where the capital should have been for us. We gave your family its power, but the hubris of men is never far away from someone. Even Aegon thought of that. There is a reason why most dragons in the dragonpit stop growing, not only for the lack of freedom," Balerion rumbled.
"Mmm, funny. Dany said the same to me when we were in the dragon pit. All those many years ago. She said, 'This place was the beginning of the end for my family. Skorverdon daor, a dragon, is not a slave.' They were terrifying and extraordinary; they filled people with wonder and awe, and we locked them in here. They wasted away; they grew small, and we grew small as well. We weren't extraordinary without them. We were just like everyone else.'" He finished speaking of the memory.
His mind then drifted off to here. 'She wasn't normal. She was beautiful, and something in her broke. That made her give fire blood to so many people. The day, everything went from bad to worse, and it would eventually end with him killing his last family on the part of his father. Becoming a kinslayer; oh Dany, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you.'
"You have to let the pain go of the past, Aemon, or it will consume you in the end. The fate of your aunt was tragic, but she was fire, and with all the death and betrayal around her, with you not being there or accepting that part of your family, perhaps you could have helped her and maybe even saved Rhaegal and the girl Missandei. But that is the past of a future that can't be rewritten. One that isn't around anymore. The only thing that is still around from that time is the memory you carry from that time. Without it, you wouldn't be who you are today. The only thing you can do is move forward and keep the memory of the ones you love so you don't forget them," the old dragon rumbled.
"There is this saying, Aemon, even dragons have them. 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift; that's why it's called a present,'" Balerion chuckled. 'The dragon actually talks like Maester Aemon,' He thought with a smile."I shall keep that in mind, my friend. I better not throw away advice from an almost three-century-old dragon," he answered with a chuckle.
After seeing Dragonstone, he flew back and smelled the city damp as it came into view. 'Let the scolding come,' he thought. "Aemon Targaryen!" His mother yelled at him in a high-pitched voice and hugged him in relief as he stepped down from Balerion. "You, little evil boy, do you want your parents to die from a heart attack?" She said, glaring at him sternly in the face. "So, boy, what do you have to say?" His father said, looking sternly into his face. That face and his mother looking at him were one of the few times he still felt like a kid.
"I wanted to fly with my friend," he said in a childlike voice. 'He felt guilty but couldn't tell them he was talking with Balerion. They would think him crazy.' He thought as he stared down to the pavement. "Sorry, scared you, Muna, and Kepa," he said, looking down at his feet. "Well, it seems our boy at least has enormous willpower. The last child who tried to ride the dread went missing for moons on end. But you must promise me. You will not ride without me again until you are ten namedays, my boy, or else I will have you read the seven-pointed star in one go," his father said, hugging him and ruffling his hair. "Even if I'm at you, you have shown courage in riding the Black Dread." His father said, shaking his head.
"I smell another with blood like yours, Aemon. It is your mother," Balerion said curiously, his eyes widening. "Muma, babe in your belly?" Placing his hand on her belly, his mother looked shocked at him. "Aemon, I'm not with child," she said, looking at Baelon. "Lya, I don't know. But when did you have your moonblood? But Aemon does want a little brother or sister?" His father said. 'Thinking of siblings, to be honest, Rhaenyra felt like a sibling, as Robb, Arya, Sansa, Brandon, and Rickon had felt like, even if they were half-siblings. But a new true sibling, he knew he was excited for. The only true siblings he had were Rhaenys and Aegon, but they were both murdered before their time.' He thought somberly.
"I don't know, my dragon. Now you ask, I don't know," she said, with half a smile. "I'm happy if you are, Muna. I want a pup or small dragon," his high child voice said. He was genuinely excited and hoped Balerion was right. He had hoped for a little brother or sister and to be a true brother without reservations, like he always had to act around his previous Stark siblings.