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POV: Aegon Targaryen
Location: Dragonstone, Dragonmount
I turned to face the crowd and started walking towards them my boots sinking into the soft sand. My heart was still pounding in my chest, the experience of flight the intoxicating feeling lingering.
Father was the first I saw. Aerion's eyes locked on me, and for a heartbeat, I thought I might see only pride there. But it wasn't just pride. Relief washed over his face, deeper than I expected.
But behind it all was a flicker of fear. But not of me but at what I had just done fear of the power I now held and the consequences and runors that would spread.
Yet he stepped forward and clasped my shoulder firmly, the weight of that touch saying more than any words could.
Mother stood just beside him. Valaena didn't speak either her lips trembled with a soft, knowing smile, and a single tear traced down her cheek.
She looked at me as though she could already see the future of our house and hers, both secured by what I had claimed.
Movement caught my eye. Visenya had arrived, Orys at her side, both clearly roused by the commotion. Visenya's gaze wasn't soft like Mother's her eyes burned with a fierce, hungry determination.
I knew that look.
I had claimed Balerion, she would claim a dragon of her own which i knew to be Vhagar.
Orys, on the other hand, said nothing, but the way his brows lifted and lips pressed together told me all I needed to know. Quiet admiration, tinged with respect.
And then there was Rhaenys. She made no attempt to hide her feelings. Her hands flew to her mouth, eyes wide and sparkling like the night sky.
She gave a sharp, excited gasp, and I swear she bounced on the balls of her feet, the pure joy on her face as boundless as the sky Balerion and I had just flown through.
'This was going to be a long day' I thought to myself.
After some time I and the rest of the family are gathered in the solar and as soon as the door is closed father's voice is like a whip crack in the quiet of the hall.
"You are my son, Aegon, and I am proud of you" his tone shifted, stern now, "but if you ever sneak off to the Dragonmount at night again, you'll wish Balerion's fire had taken you instead."
I stood straight under his gaze, the warmth of Balerion's scales still clinging to my palms. "Yes, Father," I said, though a part of me wanted to tell him that the night had called to me, that the shadows had guided my steps.
He swept his eyes over the others Visenya, Rhaenys, Orys lingering on each of them in turn. "And none of you," he said sharply, "are to think you can copy your brother's foolishness. The Dragonmount is no place for children playing at heroes."
They agree but I caught movement from the corner of my eye Mother, seated with her hands folded in her lap. She hadn't spoken a word since I entered, but when my gaze found hers, I saw the faintest curl at the corner of her lips. Just a smirk, almost too small to notice.
It was enough.
She didn't need to speak for me to hear her. You did well, my son.
---
The heavy doors of the solar closed behind us with a final thud, sealing Father and Mother inside. Whatever they were about to discuss, it was not meant for our ears.
We barely made it halfway down the corridor before Rhaenys burst like a firework.
"What was it like flying?" she asked, eyes wide, voice already breathless. "Was it cold up there? Or warm? Did the wind sting your face? Did Balerion speak to you? How did you tame him? Can you take me next time you fly? Can you take me to tame my own dragon?"
Her words tumbled out like stones down a hill, each one faster than the last, her feet practically skipping to keep pace with her thoughts.
I opened my mouth to answer maybe just one of them but Visenya cut in, sharp as a blade.
"You'll get your answers faster if you let him speak, Rhaenys."
Rhaenys blinked, mouth still half-open, then clamped it shut with a sheepish grin.
Orys, walking just behind us, gave a slow nod, his arms crossed and expression unreadable. But the flicker of amusement in his eyes told me he was enjoying the show.
I looked between them—Rhaenys bouncing with questions, Visenya watching me like a hawk, Orys silent but attentive—and let out a long, tired sigh.
"I don't even know where to start," I muttered.
"How about the beginning?" Orys suggest with a shrug of his shoulders.
After a second of thought I nod and tell them everything.
"After our training, I didn't go to my chambers," I began. "I walked toward the Dragonmount. I knew there'd be no guards there to stop me."
Visenya narrowed her eyes. "And how did you know that?"
I looked her dead in the eye and repeated her own words back to her, savoring the moment.
"No one will be there," you said once. "Not at night. Not unless they're mad."
For the first time in a long while, her face actually shifted — the faintest crack in that hard mask she always wears. She looked almost… amazed.
"You remembered that?" she asked.
I allowed myself a small, smug smile. "I have a good memory."
Rhaenys laughed, the sound bright and quick. Orys just shook his head. But Visenya… she kept staring at me, and for once, I couldn't tell if she was impressed, annoyed, or both.
"I walked down the same hall we all had the first time we saw the dragons," I said, letting the memory play out in my mind. The heat. The echo of my boots on stone. The way the air seemed heavier, almost alive.
Rhaenys tilted her head. "When did I do that?"
Before I could answer, Visenya sighed and rolled her eyes. "You didn't. You were still inside Mother's stomach."
The look on Rhaenys's face — that mix of disbelief and insult — almost made me lose my composure. Orys clearly saw it too, because his shoulders shook as he fought to keep from laughing.
I smiled but pressed on with my tale.
"I passed Vhagar first. She was sleeping, her head tucked under one great wing. Meraxes was awake, watching me with those golden eyes, following me for a moment. Both could've been mine, if I'd wanted them i feel."
Orys raised a brow. "Then why didn't you? Either one would be easier than Balerion."
I paused, letting his question settle. He wasn't wrong Balerion was the largest, oldest, and most dangerous of them all. Even the dragonkeepers spoke his name with caution.
"I thought about it," I admitted. "But… easy never felt like it would be enough for me."
I leaned back, the memory of that night sharpening. "Balerion was the only one who made me wonder and I knew he was ment to be my bond."
I couldn't tell them the other reason is because I'm following the plot of a story from a past life.
"So not long after I found him sleeping in a crevices but even as I approached not making a sond he noticed me and I saw his large burning red eyes starting directly at me,"I told them, leaning back in my chair.
I could see they were all listening quietly even Rhaenys, who usually had something to say when being told a tale.
"I spoke, I made sure my voice carried — steady, authoritative but calm. If I'd sounded unsure, he would've known." I said recalling everything i had done like replaying a movie in my head.
"I looked him in the eye," I continued, "those burning red eyes. I didn't look away, not once. You don't turn your gaze from a dragon like Balerion unless you mean to leave — or die."
They stayed quiet, so I went on.
"He watched me the whole time. I walked until I was close enough to feel the heat coming off him. Then… he lowered his head. Not all the way just enough for me to reach him. His eyes never left me."
I glanced at each of them. "When my hand touched his snout, it was like… a thread of silk tied between us. Strong, but delicate. A bond. I could feel him, and I swear he could feel me."
I let that hang in the air, the way the memory still hung in my chest.
For a moment, no one spoke. Visenya's gaze was fixed on me, sharp and assessing, as though she were weighing my every word.
Orys stoic as ever couldn't help but lean forward as if he might miss a detail.
Rhaenys's lips were parted just slightly, her eyes wide, like she was picturing it all in her mind. Even she didn't try to break the silence with some jest or comment, which told me more than anything how much she was hanging on my words.
"That thread," I said at last, "it wasn't just in my mind. I knew it for what it was the bond. Stronger than steel, finer than spider's silk. I could feel his breath through it, his heartbeat. And I knew… I knew the first flight would make it stronger."
I leaned forward slightly, my voice steady. "So I climbed up to the saddle. His scales were hot beneath my hands, each one like a black iron shield fresh from the forge. He rumbled, not in warning, but in… approval."
I could still feel that moment, the anticipation, the raw power beneath me. "He didn't wait for my command. He marched forward, slow at first, and then" I let the pause draw them in, "we leapt into the sky. The air struck cold against my face, but Balerion's body was heat and strength. The ground fell away. The night spread around us, stars above, darkness below."
I allowed myself the faintest smile. "That first flight… it wasn't just me riding him. It was us moving as one. Each wingbeat was mine as much as his. And when we landed, I knew there would never be another bond like it."
I could still feel that moment, the anticipation, the raw power beneath me.
"I ckimbed to his saddle and spoke my command. He marched forward, slow at first, and then" I let the pause draw them in.
"We leapt into the sky. The air struck cold against my face, but Balerion's body was heat and strength. The ground fell away. The night spread around us, stars above, darkness below."
I allowed myself the faintest smile. "That first flight… it wasn't just me riding him. It was us moving as one. Each wingbeat was mine as much as his. And when we landed, I knew there would never be another bond like it."