Land of the King

Chapter 49: Dragonspawn

4280 E.L

She woke slowly from her dreams. Túrin was seated beside her in a chair.

"Hey, don't stress yourself too much," he said.

"What, what happened?" Jaenara asked, still disorientated as she looked around. Túrin must have brought her back to the camp as they were both currently in a tent and she was lying on a bedroll.

"Whatever that thing was, it got into your head. You walked off in the middle of the night and I went after you. At the same time the Brindled Men infiltrated the city and attacked us. Allard and the others were able to drive them from the camp but they almost got us both. Your dragon came in at the last second and saved us,"

"Thank you Terrax, I'm sorry I called you a coward," Jaenara thanked her dragon in her head. It was clear now that Terrax had known something was not right in the city but at the moment of her need, he had returned swiftly and had saved her.

There was someone else that she needed to thank as well, "Thank you, for saving me."

Túrin smiled, "You are welcome."

"What's going to happen now?" Jaenara asked.

Túrin's smile faded, "We're packing up camp. It's too dangerous for us to stay in Yeen any longer. We should never have come here in the first place. Allard and the others are loading everything onto the ship as we speak. This tent is one of the last to go."

"And Terrax?"

"Still circling around the camp. He won't land but he hasn't left either. It seems he doesn't trust you on your own anymore,"

Jaenara chuckled slightly. That did sound like Terrax, overprotective overgrown lizard that he was.

"Jaenara, whatever that thing was, it targeted you because it knew that you were the most emotionally vulnerable. When you were under its spell, you kept crying out about your mother," Túrin said, concerned.

Jaenara flinched, "Right I pulled my sword on you, I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine, you didn't even stand a chance against me anyway."

"Hey, I was being mind-controlled by a dark entity, I'm sure I could put up more of a fight usually, and where's my sword?"

"Back there with Anglachel, and stop trying to change the subject Jaenara. From the moment we met you've been a complete and utter enigma. You, a Valyrian could speak perfect Sindarin, you knew more about the histories and legends of Arnor than any other Valyrian I've ever met. You were taller and stronger than most any other non-Arnorian, and back in that place, you were crying about your mother. It was confusing at first but little by little things seemed to fit into place," Túrin said.

Jaenara kept her face impassive but on the inside she was panicking, fearful that the truth would come to light.

Túrin looked right into her eyes, stormy-grey meeting shining-amethyst, "Jaenara, you're half Dúnedain aren't you?"

It was too late to lie, he had stared into her eyes and seen the truth there. Jaenara broke his gaze and averted her eyes.

"Please don't read my mind," she said.

"The fact that you knew I was doing that is even more damning don't you think?"

"Valyrians can use telepathy as well," she countered.

"But it does not come naturally the way it does to the descendants of Númenor does it?"

Jaenara had no answer to that.

"Answer me Jaenara. I almost died back there saving you for this. I deserve to know the truth."

"You're right, it's just, just so painful to remember,"

"It's alright, take your time, I'm here for you."

Jaenara took a deep breath, encouraged by his promise of support, and began to tell her tale, "Very well then. I was born in the year 4259 by the reckoning of the Arnorians and the year 2532 by the calendar of Valyria. My father was Aerion of the House of Belaerys and my mother was Lina, a descendant of the Captives of Lys and Tolle Rusta…"


4270 E.L, Ten years earlier

Jaenara Nimloth, daughter of Lina, was a slave girl in the service of the House of Belaerys. From her mother's side she was a descendant of Númenor.

Though technically slaves and property of the House of Belaerys, Jaenara and her mother's status was greater than most any other slave and Lina was the head slave of the manse they had been sent to, overseeing its maintenance and ensuring it was in perfect condition for the use of their masters. A gilded cage.

Her mother, Lina, was a descendant of Arnorians captured and enslaved during the Fall of Lys and Peluicarnë during the Kin-Strife over a millennium ago and was one of the few slaves of pure Númenórean descent left in Valyria.

Her acquisition had been a political move by the lord of the house, Lord Freeholder Baelon, who had seen her as property, something to boost the prestige of the house. By the time that Lina had been purchased by House Belaerys, the Valyrians had already mostly given up on attempting to steal the longevity of the Arnorian peoples for their own, with some resorting to trying to breed Arnorian traits into their bloodlines.

Interbreeding between the Arnorian slaves and their Valyrian masters was a controversial idea. On one hand it bore the possibility of inculcating the superior lifespans and characteristics of the Dúnedain into the bloodlines of the Forty Families. On the other however, it ran the risk of sullying the purity of those bloodlines, the most exalted in Valyria, potentially causing future generations to lose their Valyrian beauty and ability to ride dragons.

With those two arguments, not all houses had deigned to mix their blood with a people, that for all of their superior characteristics, were still seen as inferior by the egotistical and arrogant dragonlords.

Those that had however chosen to take the risks and experiment with breeding Arnorian traits into their bloodlines soon found great rewards for their risks. New generations possessed greater physical, mental, and sensory capabilities and a superior lifespan, and for a time it ushered in a new era of complicated eugenics by which these families attempted to maintain these traits alongside their traditional Valyrian looks and dragonriding abilities.

As time passed however, the practice fell out of favour as the benefits granted by the interbreeding with the Arnorian slaves began to lessen with each generation. Those of mixed descent eventually lost almost the entirety of the gifts bestowed upon them by their Arnorian heritage due to unknown causes and many, whose blood was so intermixed with that of a foreign and 'lesser' race, could no longer even be guaranteed to have the full abilities and appearance of their Valyrian heritage as well.

In a panic, the Forty Families cancelled the project entirely before running yet another complicated eugenics program riddled with incest and marriage matches between various houses to restore the 'purity' of the Forty, before closing the page on that chapter of history.

The remaining Arnorian slaves were soon whittled down and their numbers had never been great to start with. Some were kept as status symbols and others were put to work in manual labour or gladiator arenas, their superior physical strength making them perfect slaves for such roles.

Jaenara's mother Lina was perhaps the last truly Arnorian slave in Valyria, in both culture and blood, and her acquisition had greatly enriched the prestige of the Belaerii which had been the intent of Lord Freeholder Baelon.

Baelon however could not have predicted or known that his eldest son and heir Aerion would become enamoured with her.

For a time, Aerion and Lina had been happy with each other, with Lina even giving birth to their child, Jaenara herself. Jaenara's grandfather had not intervened, believing the affair harmless.

However, when Aerion had made clear his intent to take Lina as a second wife and legitimize his bastard daughter with her, his father had intervened and forced him to relent or be disinherited before exiling Lina and Jaenara to another manse in Valyria.

The eleven-year old Jaenara had been raised entirely by her slave mother, with not a single member of her paternal family ever visiting her sans her grandfather who had come to see her on occasion, yet there was little affection from Baelon Belaerys for the little halfblood girl.

To the young Jaenara, it seemed that she was nothing more than property at worst and a valuable experiment at best to him. Whenever her grandfather had visited, he would always inspect her like a piece of meat, checking her height and weight whilst testing her education and knowledge.

Yet despite her apprehension, Jaenara had still latched onto her grandfather, for she was so starved of paternal attention. She had also befriended his dragon, the great Terrax, the largest and oldest of the Belaerys dragons. Well she said befriended but of course, she meant that the dragon did not incinerate her to ashes and even allowed her to touch him whenever she approached on the rare occasions that her grandfather visited her.

With little to no attention from her paternal family, it should be no surprise that the young Jaenara was very close to her mother.

Her mother affectionately called her, her little white flower, hence her name, Nimloth, in the language of her mother's people. It was a fitting name for Jaenara's skin and hair was as pale as any true Valyrian. From a young age, Lina had taught her how to speak in the language of their people, Sindarin, and taught her the legends and tales of their true homeland. Jaenara had grown up on stories of the great and tragic heroes of the Quenta Silmarillion and many mighty kings of Númenor and Arnor, memorising all the histories and tales of those olden heroes and royals, inculcating in herself the desire to one day see her mother's homeland.

In her spite for the House of Belaerys and the lover who had spurned and abandoned her, Lina had raised her daughter as Arnorian as she could. And though she had begrudgingly taught her the language, customs, and histories of Valyria as well, she had done her best to ensure they never took root in her young daughter and for her own part, Jaenara had mostly rejected her Valyrian heritage for her mother's sake.

Yet just as Jaenara came to harbour the desire to escape Valyria and see Arnor, the contradictory desire to one day be recognized as a true Valyrian and Belaerys grew in her as well, tearing the young girl apart and confusing her.

Such was the burden of a child of two races. Was she Arnorian or was she Valyrian? Did she wish to escape to Arnor and join her mother's people or did she wish to remain in Valyria and be recognised as a true Valyrian? For the first eleven years of her life, the young Jaenara had thought that she had known the answer.

But when she woke that day, she could not have known that her life and her seemingly ironclad belief in her Arnorian heritage would change forever.

Miles away in the main manse of House Belaerys, the ailing Lord Freeholder Baelon Belaerys wasted away on his deathbed. A rare disease had beset him, incurable even by Gogossosi blood mages. His son, Aerion prepared to take up the mantle of leadership in the family whilst his eldest grandson, Aelyx waited to claim his grandfather's dragon.

Yet upon the dying breath of Baelon, Terrax took flight from the topless tower he had been roosting in near his rider's manse and made his way across the city.

In the manse that she lived in, the young Jaenara looked up to the sky and saw Terrax descending upon her.

Scared, she ran, but the dragon was faster and soon he had landed right in front of her.

As 'friendly' as Terrax had been to her before, Jaenara knew that he was still a fearsome dragon and so she approached warily. To her amazement and shock, the massive dragon nudged his huge snout into the palm of her hand.

Behind her, Lina watched from the door of the manse, and her heart broke a little.


A man had come later that day. He had come flying upon his own dragon, one smaller than Terrax.

The moment he had dismounted the dragon, Jaenara had known who he was. The resemblance to his father was uncanny, and Jaenara easily recognized Aerion Belaerys, her father.

As he approached, Terrax sensed her apprehension and growled at him, but Jaenara calmed her dragon.

"Amazing. Eleven years old and bonded to your dragon for not even a day and yet you already have him under your command," Aerion said.

Jaenara and Lina remained staring at him. Jaenara with anticipation and apprehension and Lina with a mixture of longing and hatred.

Aerion Belaerys knelt down in front of his daughter, "Hello Jaenara, do you know who I am?"

"You're Aerion Belaerys, the new Lord Freeholder of House Belaerys," she said more than a little defiantly. Having the largest dragon in the family now had emboldened her.

"And?"

"You're my father I suppose, but you never even came to see me once."

Aerion chuckled sadly. He looked up to Lina, "You raised her with quite the fire." Looking back to Jaenara, he grabbed her hands and placed them in his, with Lina clenching her fists in anger behind them, "Yes I never came to see you. I am truly sorry for that Jaenara. I was ordered to stay away by your grandfather. I am of the understanding that he visited you a few times?"

"That's right," she replied.

"Was he good to you?"

"Kind of? He was always measuring my height and testing me with various questions."

"I see. Well then Jaenara, I think you've guessed it by now, but your grandfather died this morning and Terrax came to you. Do you know what that means?"

"Yes. It means that I am now a dragonlord."

"That's right, and as a dragonlord you have the right to the Belaerys name and the right to live in the main house with me and your siblings. Do you want to do that?"

To Jaenara this was one of her deepest and greatest desires, but could she leave her mother like this? She whipped around to look at her mother but was reprimanded by her father, "Don't look at your mother, she has no say in this decision. You have the right to make this decision by yourself."

"Alright, but on one condition," she said after thinking for a while.

"Name it."

"I want Mother to come with me," Jaenara demanded.

Aerion laughed, "Easily my darling. Go on, go get your things packed. I need to discuss some things with your mother."

In hindsight, Jaenara should have known that it was a bad decision. In her childish innocence and happiness, she had failed to see the looks on her parents' faces as she left excitedly to pack her things.

The following months were almost like a dream to Jaenara. Her stepmother ignored her but her siblings had cheerfully accepted and welcomed her. She had attended all the same lessons as them, catching up on the Valyrian education that her mother had neglected and every day she would return to the rooms she shared with her mother and excitedly tell her about her day learning how to be a Valyrian, blind to the growing despair in Lina as her daughter was turned away from everything she had taught her.

Jaenara was encouraged to think of herself as Valyrian and not Arnorian and little by little she felt herself identifying more and more with her Valyrian heritage than her Arnorian and with her father's encouragement, she stopped listening to her mother's lessons and stories to fit in more with her Valyrian family. She had foolishly thought that she could have it all, have her Arnorian mother and her Valyrian family at the same time, and so she was completely blindsided when that day had come.

Jaenara was returning to her quarters after yet another day of lessons in Valyrian customs and culture. That day had been particularly fun as their tutor had let her and her siblings go early and they had raced each other on their dragons around the city.

Her mother was waiting for her on the balcony.

"Mother? What are you doing out on the balcony, you should come in."

"I saw you racing with your siblings on your dragons earlier," her mother said.

Jaenara was changing out of her racing breeches into a more comfortable dress and replied, "Did you? It was so amazing Mother! I could feel the wind all over my face! It was exhilarating. It's a pity I didn't win, but Terrax is quite big and slow and I'm quite inexperienced so they said it was fine."

"Yes, a pity," her mother said ominously.

Jaenara was not stupid, she could tell her mother was acting strangely.

Having changed into her dress, Jaenara walked onto the balcony and was shocked to see her mother standing on the railing.

"Mother! What are you doing! Get down from there, it's dangerous!"

"Do you know, your father once swore to set me free and love me as his wife? He broke that promise but I never held it against him, I knew that he had had no choice when your grandfather forced him to back down. No what I held against him was what he did afterward. The way he casually went out and did his father's bidding, cruelly conquering and enslaving others the same way I was enslaved, the same way my parents and their parents and all my ancestors had been enslaved since we were dragged out of our homeland," Lina said.

She turned to face her stunned daughter, "I knew then that the man I loved was dead and gone forever, if he had ever truly existed in the first place. Yet I still had one thing left to live for. You Jaenara. My little white flower, my Nimloth. To me it's hardly a pity that you cannot win a race with your half-siblings but rather that you turned away from everything that I raised you to be. It remains my greatest fear that you will grow up and become just like your father.

Do you hate me Jaenara? Resent me for forcing you to be more Arnorian than Valyrian? Is that why you made me come and watch you turn into this?"

Jaenara was crying now, "No Mother! I love you! I asked Father to bring you with us because I wanted you to stay with me! Please don't leave me!"

Lina's eyes were dark and her face grim, "I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore Jaenara. I watched your father turn from the man I loved into everything I hated. I won't watch you do the same, watch you become just like them, just another dragonspawn," her mother said.

"Mother please!"

But her pleas were for naught for Lina jumped off the balcony then and out of her daughter's life.


Author's Note: Well that was depressing. This is the second time in the story that an important character jumped off a balcony in front of a family member, who remembers the first?