Happy Mothers Day!
It's crazy I was going to publish this chapter next week until I realized it was Mothers Day weekend.
This chapter is dedicated to the Mother of Dragons.
Chapter 13: The Bleeding Star
Rakharo was the first to notice the comet. Shierak Qiya they called it, the Bleeding Star. It cut through the sky like a bloody red blade. Daenerys saw it as a sign to begin the pyre and Daemon agreed. They took a new stallion and butchered it and placed it under the pyre so Drogo and Rhaego. So their khal can ride in the night lands with their babe forever.
"It is not enough to kill." Mirri mocked, "By itself, blood us nothing. You do not have the words to make a spell, nor the wisdom to find them." Neither Dany nor Daemon even spared her a look, "Do you think bloodmagic is a game for children? You call me maegi as if it were a curse, but all it means is wise. You are children with childrens ignorance. Whatever you mean to do, it will not work. Loose these binds and I will help you."
"Gag her." Daenerys ordered, "And bind her to the pyre."
Daemon moved quicker than anyone. He took a cloth from their new bloodrider, Aggo. Aggo, Jhogo and Rakharo are their new bloodriders. During the fourteen days of fighting they stood gaurd of Daenerys while Daemon faught. They proved their loyalty and they rewarded their loyalty.
Daemon glared at the woman as he approached. He grabbed her by her binds and dragged her, "You need me. I know the words to bring him back. Magic is a sword without a hilt and you surely bleed to death." He shoved her against the pyre and glared at her, "You think yourself capable, better than me? When I first saw you I felt it. You wear death like a shroud, and those around you will be consumed."
He forced the gag in her mouth, "You'll find us more capable than you think." He tied her to the pyre, "We are the blood of old Valyria, blood of dragons. Magic runs through our veins." He tightly tied the gag around her head and over her mouth.
He returned to Daenerys' side. "Let's light it."
She shook her head, "Not yet." The queen turned around, "Place them on the pyre."
Daemon followed her gaze to see Rakharo holding the dragon eggs. He turned to meet her gaze and they stoid like that. A silent understanding of what they had to do. The bleeding star, the pyre, the eggs, it all ment something, something greater than themselves. Daemon nodded and they both turned towards the pyre.
"My king and queen." Ser Jorah stepped forward, "I vowed to serve you, obey you, counsil you, protect you, and die for you if need be. But I implore you, both of you, let him go. I know what you intend, do not."
"We must." Dany turned to him and gingerly put a hand to his cheek, "You don't understand."
"I understand that you love him, the both of you did." He stated desperately, "I loved my lady wife but I did not die with her. I will serve the both of you until the day I die, but do not ask me to stand aside as you climb upon that pyre. I will not watch you burn."
"We won't." Daemon softly said taking Dany's hand from Jorah's cheek, "Fire can not kill a dragon." He gently walked Dany away from the knight, "They still see this as your fault. Taking in Mirri, seeking her magic. They still want me to take you to the Dosh Khaleen." He took her other hand in his, "I showed them my strength but now, you must show them yours. Adress them." He let go of her hand before walking to Jhogo who held a cask of oil.
Daenerys turned towards the Khalasar, "You are our Khalasar." She announced, "I see the faces of slaves, Lhazareen, Dothraki of Khal Ogo, I free you. Take off your collars. Go if you wish, no harm will come to you. If you stay it will be as brothers and sisters, husbands and wives." Their black eyes watched her, expressionless, "I see children, woman, and aged wrinkled faces. Yesterday I was a child. Today a woman. Tomorrow I will be old. To each of you I say, give us your hands and hearts, and there will always be place for you." She turned to their bloodriders, "Jhogo, I gift you with the silver handled whip that was our bride gift. Use it to defend our lives, blood of my blood." Jhogo took the whip and inclined his head, "Aggo." She called, "To you I give the dragonbone bow that was our bride gift. Use it to defend our lives, blood of my blood." The man took it and bowed his head, "Rakharo, you shall have the great arakh that was our bride gift. Use it to defend us blood of my blood." She then turned to Ser Jorah, "Jorah the Andal, you've already swore to use so I promise you this. Together we will return home, I vow that you will see your home of Bear Island before your death."
Jorah knelt, "I will go where you go, Your Grace, stand by your side always."
" Whatever may come?"
"Whatever may come."
She guided him back to his feet before reaching up to kiss his cheek, "I will hold you to that as the first of our Kingsgaurd."
"You honor me, my queen."
Daenerys turned to the Khalasar once again, "I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and Maegor the Cruel and Old Valyria before them. I am the dragon's daughter and I swear to you that those would will die screaming!" She declares with such a fiery passion some would've thought she would soon spew fire.
Daemon returned to her side and held a torch. She looked to him and she softly kissed his lips. Her hand joined his as they turned to face the pyre. They lowered the fire to the ring of dried grass and twigs drenched in oil. The fire caught and slithered around to the other side and two the smaller ring. Soon the fire reached the central pyre. They saw the fire rise to a conflagration reaching for the night sky, Drogo and Rhaego's souls reaching for the night lands.
Daemon turned to Jorah and the bloodriders, "Make sure none of them leave." He ordered before turning to look at the pyre.
The twins looked up at the red comet, the bleeding star. Blood red, the color of the dragon in their sigil. This comet was meant for them, a signal not from the gods but from their ancestors. Aegon the Conqueror, Visenya, Rhaenys, Jahaerys and Alysanne as well as their mother and father and their deceased brothers and sisters who most died soon after birth.
Mirri Maz Durr screamed through the gag as the flames consumed her. They soon heard her screams fade out to the roar of the flames. The maegi is dead.
"Fire and Blood." Daemon whispered.
"Fire and Blood." Daenerys repeated.
They joined hands before taking a fierce step forward. They step through the flames without wincing, flinching or screaming. The fire consumed them as they climbed inside of the pyre.
They never once had second thoughts. The silks and leather of their clothes soon burned and melted off their skin. They stayed in eachothers arms as the pyre collapsed around them. The sounds of crackling burning wood and the roars of fire filled their senses but even that couldn't drown out the sounds of stone cracking open.
Mother.
Father.
Their children cry out for them through the flames. Their claws gripped their skin and their scales gliding over them. They curled between them to find comfort in the protection of they mother and father.
They had lost one son but have gained three more. They are once again a mother and father. They vowed that none will harm their children, less they sought to face their wrath.
The pyre grew to thirty feet high. The roaring of the flames sounded like a great beast. Children cried, woman backed away and horses faught against their reins in fear. Ser Jorah never backed away but watched in awe.
At dawn the pyre died out into a simmering pillar of smoke and ash. Ser Jorah and the bloodriders did they duty and kept the Khalasar together a last request of the king and queen. The old bear cautiously stepped into the smoke dreadfully anticipating to see the burnt black bones of Daemon and Daenerys but instead he saw two messy braids of silver hair. They were unburnt.
Daenerys and Daemon leaned their foreheads onto each other, their eyes downcasted to something cloaked by smoke. They both looked up to see Ser Jorah as the smoke faded away to reveal the rest of the Khalasar. They slowly stood to reveal their children.
Jorah wordlessly knelt down and bowed his head at the sight of them and soon after the bloodriders and after them the Khalasar. The cream and gold dragon clawed tightly onto Daemon's collarbone and curled his head into his fathers neck, the green and bronze dragon coiled around their joined arms. A black and red appeared from Daenerys' back and perched on her shoulder.
Their black hissed and smoke shot from his mouth and nostrils. His brothers joined with their own calls. They unfolded and spreaded their translucent wings and stirred the air. For the first time in a hundred years, the dawn came alive with the song of dragons.
