If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
[---]
123 AC, Dragonstone
Corlys Velaryon stared at the calm sea around Dragonstone, having broken his fast less than an hour prior, and found himself lost in his thoughts.
Was there something so undoing as a daughter, or granddaughter in this case? Of all the children he had expected would make him feel old, Rhaena had come last. She was the dutiful child that he had always wished any of his children would have become.
Corlys had been blessed with two wonderful children whom he loved immensely, but he wouldn't say that they were perfect. Laena was a wild girl and very stubborn when she made a decision. The fact that she rode Vhagar did not help at all, and it was that stubbornness that got her to marry Daemon and stay so many years away from their home.
Laenor was dutiful, but his nature complicated things. He had hoped that he would have grown out of it. After all, Corlys had seen this behaviour during long trips at sea, and many of them fathered bastards in many ports across Essos. He had hoped that Laenor would have grown out of it, or at least, been able to father heirs. If Corlys had known… No, as much as he wished otherwise, he had to admit that even if he had known that he couldn't do his duty, Corlys would have still pushed for the match with Rhaenyra. He regretted it now, but there was nothing he could do, not anymore.
Oh, how he missed them, his children, even the headaches that they tended to give him.
And now, his granddaughter, Rhaena, seemed to surpass them both in the trouble they brought him, putting them in the sight of a sorcerer with power that Corlys had never thought possible.
He still had nightmares of what happened in Pyke. A god had fallen, and a fortress that was thousands of years old had crumbled into nothing.
But it was more than that, wasn't it?
Corlys kept himself informed of the news of the affairs of the Iron Islands. It was out of caution, at first. Larys Strong's accusation during dinner had taken him by surprise, even if Rhaenys handled it well. He didn't know what the man's motives were, not for sure, but Corlys knew that it wasn't in their favour. Perhaps he wanted to delay Rhaenys' appointment as Hand, or he wished to spread fear of a secret Dragonrider who had burned Pyke to the ground. It didn't matter, truly; the man was now still unconscious, with the local Maester barely able to keep him alive due to his injuries.
Anyway, not wanting to be taken aback once more, Corlys started to pay attention to what happened in the Iron Islands, and what he had found was complete and utter chaos. There were dozens of stories of the fall of Pyke, some of them blaming it on some sort of divine retribution, or anything of the like. Most of the houses there were fighting one another to rule that pile of barren rocks, and in just a week, half a dozen houses ended up extinct from just the fighting. Funnily enough, half of them perished trying to raid the Westerlands in the chaos, with Jason Lannister rumoured to have gathered his fleet when he heard news of the Ironborn stirring.
Interestingly, the biggest casualty so far was the faith in the Drowned God. The rumours of the god's death in some divine battle spread across the islands, and the accumulation of the losses had started an uprising, especially from the thralls kept there. The fact that most of the nobles were at sea suddenly weakened any resistance that could have stopped them. Drowned priests were ironically drowned to death, and many castles had fallen. Oddly enough, the Harlaws stayed on their island and fortified it. Given that most surviving prisoners on Pyke had gone there, they likely knew most of what happened, and would likely wait out the conflict where they would likely benefit the most.
Corlys wished he could say that the stories of a divine battle that decided the fates of the Iron Islands were false. There was no other way he could describe what had happened. The sorcerer was no ordinary one, that was for sure. The fact that he had casually killed seven Shadowbinders without any effort on his part was proof of that. If Corlys hadn't seen the display of power on Pyke, he would have doubted the truth of that statement. He was only happy that Potter hadn't blown up Dragonstone in another battle, even if, in the scale of it all, fighting a god or a few sorcerers were very different things.
If he were honest with himself, Corlys wished to stay away from the sorcerer and return to the safety of Driftmark, where the world made sense, but alas, Rhaena was insistent on going on 'adventures' with the sorcerer, if one could call the madness that they endured such a casual title.
What choice did they have but to agree and let Rhaena go gallivanting in the North of all places with the Potters? He only hoped that Winterfell remained standing and that he did not kill another god.
He hadn't had the time to speak to Rhaena, but she seemed safe and sound, thankfully, but he knew that whatever comfort he had would fade when he saw a white owl dive towards him and his wife, giving them both a small piece of parchment telling them that the Potters would come soon.
The message in question was still in his hands as he stared at the sea. Oh, how he wished to just sail away. Everything was much simpler when he was sailing, just having to deal with pirates and a few sudden storms, nothing quite like this.
His wife entered the room and saw him with the message in his hands, "I know that you're nervous, Corlys, but fretting by the sea won't change what's to come."
Corlys didn't answer at first. He just kept looking at the waves, as if hoping they'd carry him somewhere far away, somewhere where things made sense once more. "You've seen what they can do, Rhaenys, and they have never requested to meet us, not like this."
A hoot broke his concentration. He turned and saw that the white owl was still there, perched, and giving him an amused look. He called it as such because it was the only way he could describe it. It figures that unnatural people like the Potters would have pets who were just as unnatural.
And so, Corlys found himself glaring at a smug bird, wondering when the world had become utterly insane. Rhaenys' snort showed that she seemed to find it just as amusing.
A familiar voice behind him scolded, "That's quite rude, Hedwig."
Corlys turned and saw the sorcerer and his wife standing there, the guards having seemingly not seen them or simply decided not to announce their presence. He was leaning towards the former rather than the latter.
The owl bobbed and flew towards the voice, perching itself on the man's shoulder, who started to pet it, "Sorry about that. It's been a while since she delivered any mail, and it seems like her manners have left her completely."
"She is a beautiful creature," Corlys replied, finding no other thing to say.
Rhaenys, on the other hand, was thankfully more composed than him: "Lord Harry, Lady Daphne, it's very nice to see you once more."
"Sorry about the suddenness of it all," the golden-haired woman answered, "We had planned on letting Rhaena talk to you first, and take her time, but the events of last night made us more inclined to speak to you first."
"Events?" Rhaenys repeated, "Did something happen to Rhaena last night?"
"Rhaena did make a few mistakes, ones that we are inclined to forgive for the most part and had planned on leaving the punishment to you. We were not speaking of Rhaena's actions, but those of Baela."
Corlys could almost feel the ground swaying under his feet. What in the name of the gods had Baela done? He hadn't known that his other granddaughter had interacted with the sorcerer in any way, or that she had even left the castle. She had seemed so quiet the night before, barely touching her supper, but that wasn't rare for Baela when she was brooding. Gods, what had she done?
"She attempted to burn our manse down," Harry Potter said plainly, as if announcing the weather.
"She… what?" Corlys' wife exclaimed. He couldn't exactly blame her for the loss of composure. After all, he shared her shock.
No, it would be better to say that he was terrified of the man. Memories of Pyke flashed before his eyes, and he couldn't help but wonder why Dragonstone or Driftmark were still standing if Baela had attempted to kill the sorcerer and his wife in their own home. Why was Baela still alive, given what happened to the Shadowbinders who attacked him previously?
He had made no efforts to hide his discomfort with the man in any way, but his wife had quickly gotten used to the man. If Corlys had to guess, it was the fact that she had gotten used to dealing with dragons that an immensely powerful sorcerer didn't seem that much of a jump up.
She treated the man like she did a particularly large dragon rather than a person, much like she did Vhagar when Laena first claimed her. And the way she reacted would have been the same if Baela had taken a wooden sword and attacked Vhagar while she was nesting.
However, instead of incinerating the girl, like Vhagar could have, like he had the Shadowbinders, he gave them an unconcerned look, "I know. I was surprised too. I genuinely thought that Daemon would have been the one to try that of all people. Then again, Baela does spend a lot of time with him. For her benefit, it was a very impressive attempt given the size of her dragon. Don't worry, I made sure that the manse was dragon-proof when we first came. We wouldn't have even noticed if it weren't for the warnings I put in place. To be honest, I'm mostly concerned about Baela's anger issues. That kind of behaviour is… troubling, especially from a young child."
"But she is unharmed?" Rhaenys asked despite having seen her when they broke their fast.
The golden-haired answered instead of her husband, "She is. We had a small talk about it after. It turns out that she found out that Rhaena has been coming to meet with us. Rhaena also refused to have her join us, so the girl went into a rage for 'stealing her sister'. We don't think she'll try to do it again, given that it didn't work, but we thought that the punishment should be in your hands. Her father disciplining her would be hypocritical, and I don't think that Rhaenyra would take this seriously with the King being on Dragonstone."
Corlys looked horrified and turned to meet his wife's eyes, only to see recognition in her face of all things, "The dragon's rage. That's what we call it. It doesn't happen to all Targaryens, but after bonding with a dragon, their anger is far more intense, fiery, if I had to put it into words. It's something that we all learn to live with, but I suppose Baela is young and Daemon is not exactly the picture of restraint."
The sorcerer hummed, "I suppose some emotional bleeding between two bonded creatures, like a human and their dragon, could cause some emotional instability, feel things differently in a way. Or maybe it's remnants of your ancestors' alchemical blood magic ritual to even allow a bond to form in the first place. I could look into it, but I doubt your family will be happy to allow me to study them, and let's be honest, I'm not that invested in it."
Corlys understood most of the man's magical explanation, but the fact that the man didn't seem to care all that much about their ability to claim dragons, other than some marginal curiosity about the magic involved, was very telling about how little he thought of the beasts that had conquered an entire continent.
Rhaenys seemed to take the dismissal of her family's gift in stride and said, "We'll speak to Baela after this. Now, I believe you said that there were issues with Rhaena in Winterfell. You did go to Winterfell, right?"
"Ah, yes, I almost forgot. I was going to let Rhaena tell you herself, but since we're here, I don't mind telling you what happened," The sorcerer answered casually. "Well, we went to explore the Winterfell crypts with the help of Cregan Stark, who should become officially the Lord of Winterfell when he reaches his majority in a year. Anyway, this ended with us finding a sort of magical trap where the body of Bran the Builder resided. Anyway, Rhaena stole something from the ruins, which belonged to House Stark, a medallion with a little magic inside it. She accidentally bled on it, and it destabilised the entire thing. Fire and Ice don't mix well, and the medallion had been there for thousands of years; it wasn't exactly in perfect condition. Anyway, the release of magic from the medallion she stole activated a trap that almost destroyed all of Winterfell."
The Velaryons blanched with every word the sorcerer spoke. Corlys found himself gripping the edge of the stone wall so tightly his knuckles ached. He could barely breathe by the end of the sorcerer's explanation. He wasn't sure what he had expected, something foolish perhaps, but to think that Winterfell could have met Pyke's fate at the hands of his granddaughter of all people.
"And no one was harmed?" Rhaenys asked tightly.
Lady Daphne answered this time, "Oh, don't worry, we had it handled. One of the first rules we told her was not to touch anything, especially anything magical, without telling us. Now, I'll admit that we should have noticed it when it happened. We were both distracted slightly by the trap itself, and a few other revelations… We will be more vigilant in the future, and we will take measures to make sure that it doesn't happen again, but we can only protect Rhaena so much from her own actions. We set our rules with your granddaughter's safety mainly in mind, and she broke them knowingly."
Corlys hummed, "She was quiet this morn. I thought that she was exhausted."
"She knows that she is punished. We agreed that we would not take her on another expedition until you believe she is punished enough for her recklessness. She already believes that we hid some information from her as a punishment as well. Then again, the spat with her sister has also likely dampened her mood."
"And have you?" the Sea Snake couldn't help but ask.
Both mages shared a look before Lord Harry spoke up, "In a way, I suppose. As we said, we were distracted by some disturbing revelations, ones that we are not fully sure about. We'll look into it ourselves, but we would not have told Rhaena about it either way. And it wasn't all bad; she became friends with the future Lord Paramount of the North and helped stop his uncle's attempts at discrediting him. Believe me, Cregan is grateful. Rhaena could fill you in with the rest."
This was just supposed to be a simple trip to Winterfell. Corlys hadn't visited Winterfell himself, but he had been to White Harbour. People went to the ancient fortress every day, selling their wares in Winter Town, and so on. The biggest danger was supposed to be the wild animals in that gigantic forest surrounding the castle, not secret traps from the corpse of Bran the Builder.
He had his doubts about the story, but another flashback into what happened in Pyke silenced him. At least, this time, no one died, and there weren't any gods involved. Corlys couldn't help but wonder when the lack of a divine encounter was a positive thing.
Rhaenys spoke up, "We will speak with her. We will speak with both of them."
"That's fine. Given this punishment, we're likely not going to take either of them on our next expedition, which frees us to visit some of the more problematic places we planned to see, places that are not suitable for a young girl accompanying us. However, tell both Baela and Rhaena that they are welcome in the manse should they wish."
Corlys shivered at that but relaxed at the fact that the mages seemed to have taken their agreement seriously, especially their authority in punishing their granddaughters. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "Will you be going to Asshai then?"
The question seemed to surprise the Potters for some reason: "Why do you ask?"
"Everyone has been expecting that you'd retaliate for the Shadowbinder attack. The fact that you remained in Dragonstone has calmed most people, but Rhaenys and I both know how little distance means to someone of your capabilities."
And if he was honest, Corlys was looking forward to hearing the news of Asshai falling in the sorcerer's wrath, much like Pyke had a few days prior. He had hated that godless place for years, wallowing in his helplessness, and now he could see a path where the world would exist without the taint of Asshai.
"I wasn't bothered by it, if I was honest," the sorcerer replied, "I was waiting for them to retaliate against whoever hired them. Larys Strong seemed like easy prey, and I wanted to know who else was involved. After all, why would I bother when they would both be set against each other instead of fighting me?"
Corlys could see it. Training a Shadowbinder was an investment in Asshai, one that often resulted in many deaths and just as many years, just to be competent. He was sure that most of them were older than the Targaryen dynasty. Killing seven of them at once was unthinkable, but it was also crippling to whoever gathered them, to the strength of Asshai itself, both in magic and in reputation. He had seen what a single one could accomplish, let alone so many dying at once.
They would wish for their revenge against the easier target and gain information before targeting the sorcerer again, if only to satisfy their pride and show the world that they were still mighty. Whoever hired them must have given them information, and it was common for Shadowbinders to target their own clients should they feel cheated. So, Potter waiting for the sorcerer to kill their clients before he could fight them was a smart ploy. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly align with what Corlys wished, not that he could do anything to change the man's mind.
No, it was Larys Strong's involvement that surprised him the most. He was an intelligent man who did not seem reckless enough to risk the wrath of a sorcerer, even if the thought of defeating seven Shadowbinders at once was ludicrous. "You do realise that if Larys Strong was involved, then Otto Hightower was likely the one who made the decision. I assume that you are the one responsible for Larys' fate."
"Not really," Harry Potter answered casually, "I knew that he was afraid that I'd investigate the matter and stopped him when he tried to spy on me, using magic of all things. Against me? I stopped him from being able to use it again, but the whole thing with the boat had nothing to do with me. It does sound a bit like a curse, if I'm honest, or it could be bad luck, but I'm dubious. It was too quick for the Shadowbinders to have already retaliated against him. I'll check it out later when I examine him. I'll admit to being a bit curious about it."
Corlys was shocked by that response. He looked at his wife, only to see her do the same. For one, Larys Strong being some sort of magic user without any of them knowing was extremely disturbing, and his involvement in trying to kill the man who had healed the King was doubly so. However, it was the fact that the sorcerer had missed something that truly surprised them.
"Larys Strong disappeared last night," Corlys said, watching the sorcerer's face. "The Maester says it couldn't have been done alone. The King has demanded that all leaving ships return and even asked us to summon a few knights from the Driftmark to assist with the search. You were not involved, I assume."
The sorcerer raised an eyebrow at that, then turned to his wife with a thoughtful look, "Well, that's inconvenient."
Neither of them elaborated.
[---]
AN: I know that this is a slow chapter, but since the last few were emotional, I decided to use this as a transition for the next part, even if it did get away from me a bit. It was funny writing Corlys' reactions, as someone who was doing his best not to shit himself after seeing what Harry did to Pyke, although I don't know if it exactly fit my characterisation of him. Anyway, I told you I had some plans for Larys' survival instead of just killing him, and I'm excited for the next few chapters. A few of you probably know where I'm going with this. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
[---]
If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.