302 AC
Elia had never experienced a true winter in her life. King's Landing was a hot city, and even when cooler winds blew, it was nothing too bad. Besides which, she had grown up in Dorne. However, winter was here now. Even Dorne had frozen over and found itself snowed on.
Elia had never had a problem admitting when she was wrong, but she still found it fantastical when Rhaenys and Robb sent ravens from Winterfell claiming tales of the Others and armies of the dead. Ultimately, she believed her daughter. She gave Rhaegar his due for being right about his war, this time at least, with his Red Priestess by his side.
Lady Melisandre, for all her foresight, hadn't exactly stopped the Red Keep from falling to chaos though. The news of Viserys' death had come as a shock to Elia. He had died trying to kill Daeron so he could hatch the dragon eggs and take them for himself. He succeeded in hatching Aegon's black dragon Darkwing, Daeron's red dragon Tyraxes, and Aerion's green dragon Widow's Wail but had died in the process. That had been followed up soon by the news of Aerion's death, which Elia only knew because Widow's Wail found itself in Dorne terrorizing the deserts just as it had done the capital according to reports. Aerion let his dragon roam wild and had cruelly named it Widow's Wail after his favorite sound. Elia was disappointed the boy had fallen so deep into Targaryen madness in so short a time, but his death was at his own hand. He had apparently abused his dragon. One day it snapped back at him and killed him. The dragon had only been brought to heel in Dorne after Daenerys and Jaehaerys went out with their dragons, Quicksilver and Ghost respectively, to put Aerion's dragon down. Enya had snuck out after them without Elia's knowledge or permission, and she had warged into the dragon. Since then, Enya had ridden the dragon she renamed Rhaegal after her father.
After that was when news of what came with winter reached them. Rhaenys called for aid in the North, saying her orange dragon, Sandfyre, would not be enough against the Others. So, Elia and most of the south made their way north to defend the Wall and the realm.
Since then, it had been a mess of folktale and myth come to life, so much so Elia was sure she had died and this was some strange afterlife. Or perhaps this was one long, insane dream, but no, her children were fighting for the fate of the world. Winterfell was large but not obscenely so. Elia had still managed to lose herself in it and not see Rhaegar at all.
She eventually found him in a room sitting by the window overlooking the courtyard. She did not know what she thought it was she would feel when she finally laid eyes on him once more. She did not expect relief. She heard that he fought on the front lines of the war and had been wounded before in battle.
"Your Grace," she greeted.
He looked back at her and nodded her over to him.
"I hadn't seen you since I arrived. I thought you would seek me out much sooner to say I told you so."
Rhaegar chuckled humorlessly.
"What would be the point of that?"
"You were right. The fight for the dawn, this is it."
"I was wrong about everything else to do with this prophecy. I thought all I would need is Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya. I hadn't taken Daenerys into account, and I thought Jon, Daeron, and Aerion were…" he trailed off.
The way he said Aerion's name was full of regret.
"I was sorry to hear about him."
"First, he would capture rats and rodents. Servants would find the remains. Then he started on cats. Daeron began collecting strays, feeding them. He'd bring their mutilated carcasses to Cersei in tears, but she covered Aerion's behavior up. She knew I would send him away. When he started on his dragon, I didn't even realize because I was so swept up with the war and Aegon's betrothal to Margaery. I should've realized when he named him Widow's Wail. I should've paid closer attention to him, been a better father. I should've recognized the signs of my father and Viserys in him as soon as they appeared, but I was blind to it. He paid the price for that. Mayhaps it is better this way. Enya is more at ease with the dragon than Aerion ever was."
Elia glanced out the window. Enya was in the courtyard rubbing a hand over Rhaegal's scarred side alongside Daeron and Tyraxes, probably debating who was the better rider. Aegon was a little ways away talking to Loras. The Long Night had made people not as worried about propriety, so she did not tell him to be careful in his interactions. It wasn't like he kissed his goodbrother in public. Jaehaerys was sitting with Talla near the heart tree in the godswood. Rhaenys chased after her son, Edrick, who ran amidst the snow with Aegon and Margaery's daughter, Rhaenyra, and Robb's direwolf. There was also Robb's half-sisters, Sansa and Minisa, with their direwolves and Arya with hers. Robb and his half-brothers found two she-wolves in the wolfswood, both having whelped recently. Now Lord Benjen, Ned, and their children had massive wolves following behind them.
Winterfell had all of a sudden become a haven for the long-extinct, and here they stood amongst it.
"The Crannogmen say she is a warg. It is why she has always had such a peculiar relationship with animals. If you saw what Rhaegal was before she got to him, you'd be even more shocked at the transformation."
"She is a good girl," Rhaegar said with fondness in his voice.
"She is. They are all good children."
"You did a good job with them," Rhaegar replied.
Elia smiled in thanks.
"When this is all over…" Rhaegar trailed off for a moment before rousing again.
"When this is all over, I'd like it if you and Enya came back to the capital. I would like to have all of my family together."
Elia glanced out at the courtyard, watching her children and grandchildren together and smiling despite the dire straits.
"Yes, I would like that. If we survive."
"You will," Rhaegar said, his voice leaving no room for doubt.
"How do you know?"
"I just do. You're you. You've survived more than I could probably imagine. You can and will survive this."
"You will too," Elia replied.
Rhaegar gave her another humorless laugh.
"I don't think I'm meant to, dear wife," he said it knowingly.
"Did your red witch tell you that?"
Rhaegar didn't answer that question. Elia looked back out the window at the fantastic sight in front of her.
"Well, if we die, we die, but first we'll live."
Note: This ended way too fairytale-like, but mind you this is the beginning of the Long Night and as stated ad nauseum, Rhaegar and Elia are complicated. In my head, they don't end up together or anything. Rhaegar dies during the Long Night and Aegon becomes king with Elia as Queen-Mother.
The greatest irony is Rhaegar was right about the prophecy, he just went about it in a horrible way that negatively affected his entire family. He isn't off the hook and I don't want it to seem that way. His relationship with his children will never be repaired, least of all Jon, but he and Elia's relationship is outside of that and there is an understanding between them by the end. No more secrets or waiting for the other shoe to drop.
