My opponent raised his sword as quickly as he could but he barely got it up in time before I batted it away and followed up with a strike at the older boy's head that sent him stumbling. I was quick to follow after him and lashed out with a kick that sent him to the ground and knocked his sword out of his hand. I walked after him and brought my sword above my head.

"I yield!" Benedar was quick to yell out and immediately I stopped the strike, throwing my training sword to the ground and tearing off the incredibly stuffy helmet all of us were made to wear.

"Good fight, Ben," I smiled down at the boy and offered him a hand which he used to help himself up, "You've gotten better," I told him and I could hear Wyl Waynwood scoff from the side of the yard while Alyssa and Alayne Lynderly cheered for my victory.

Two years ago, shortly after Daemon's visit leading up to the Great Council, Rhea announced to us that Jeyne Arryn would be coming to foster in Runestone. With her came many other young Lords and Ladies and so Runestone has been more akin to an elementary school than a keep for the past few years.

The most notable of these young Lords and Ladies was of course Jeyne herself. She was an adorable child with long brown hair and grey eyes. Her personality was a lot like my sister's and they had become fast friends which led to me spending the most time with her out of any of the other kids.

"You did an amazing job Bael!" Alyssa was upon me the moment I had the massive bulk of wool and leather off of my body and wrapped me up in a hug, getting my sweat all over her dress.

"You get better everyday, Baelon," Jeyne was much more subdued than Alyssa but from the way she was smiling you would think I had just won a gold medal. It was refreshing how important everything was to children. The enthusiasm they had for a six year old beating up an eight year old with a stick was pretty infectious.

Of course it went both ways and the slightest insult was pouted over for weeks.

"I wouldn't celebrate too much. Little Ben is the worst swordsman I've ever seen and Baelon still is no match for me," Arnold Arryn was seven years older than me and had accompanied Jeyne from the Eyrie. I had tried to cozy up to him just as I had the other children but Alyssa and Jeyne had kept me away from him for the most part.

Understandable considering the way the boy always went on about how much stronger and capable men were than women whenever he got the chance. I wondered if he had any idea exactly who's castle he was in.

"Baelon is still young, cousin. But give him a few years and I'm sure he'll be to your level, perhaps even to the level of Adrian," Adrian Redfort was the best swordsman out of the older boy's and Arnold had never beaten him.

Arnold's face turned red and he opened his mouth to reply in what would no doubt be another long winded argument between the cousins but Alyssa was already pulling me away.

Since the young Lords and Ladies had come to Runestone I had done my best to get to know each of them as well as I could and let them develop some fondness for me. Even if all they could remember of me was, "That kid I used to play with as a child," I would consider that a win.

There was Benedar Belmore, the second son to Lord Belmore, who I was closest to save for Alyssa and Jeyne. He had red hair and blue eyes and like Arnold said he was the worst of us all with a sword, bow, riding, or anything physical. He spent all of the time he could in the library which is where I had most of my interactions with him.

Besides him there was Robar Hunter, heir to house Hunter, who was larger and older than Ben but not by much. He had brown hair and brown eyes and was the fastest of us along with being best with a bow.

There was Jessamyn Redfort, she had blue eyes and red hair and was around the same age as Jeyne. She was very shy however, and hung to Jeyne wherever she went so I only saw her when I was with my sister and her.

There was also her cousin Adrian Redfort, third son of Lord Redfort, who was the oldest, tallest, and strongest of us all. I learned swordplay from him when I could be bothered to ask after our regular training.

The last of the children was Wyl Waynwood, heir to house Waynwood. He was a plan boy a year or two younger than Arnold and if I was being honest he was rather dull. He followed Arnold around everywhere and tended to agree with anything he said.

Despite trying to spend time with the other children however I still spent most of my time with Alyssa. Case in point, her currently dragging me to Vhagar, something she had been doing everyday since she turned five and mother allowed us to ride more frequently.

"Do you think father will come visit soon," Alyssa asked in Valyrian. She always used the language when speaking about our family, a habit she had picked up from Daemon and I no doubt, even when there wasn't much reason to.

I took a moment to consider her question, Daemon had been absent more than usual since the Great Council, which had unsurprisingly gone the way it had originally. The Rogue Prince spent most of his time in King's Landing and though he made time to visit on occasion it was significantly less than he had before and the visits had only dwindled as time passed.

Alyssa was obviously hurt by his absence but I knew why he was gone. The king's health had been declining rapidly since the Great Council and if things continued on the way they had in the original timeline then he would be dead before the year was over.

"I'm sure father wants to visit, Alys," I put a hand on her shoulder as we made our way to the stables which housed my dragon, "He has been very busy lately."

"I know," She responded with a pout, "But mother says you should never be too busy for family."

"Mother is right," I agree, "But father is very busy," Alyssa looked distinctly dissatisfied with my answer but her pout quickly turned into a smile as we saw Vhagar.

The moment I had realized who I was and was old enough to walk I had immediately started reading all the books I could on dragons in the Runestone library. Eventually Daemon had taken notice and was more than happy to provide me any books he could that Runestone didn't have but none of them truly did me any good.

No matter what way you look at it there simply isn't a good way to attempt claiming a dragon. Sure having a good relationship with the dragon might help and maybe if you were descended from its precious rider you would have a better chance. Even the one thing everyone agreed helped, Valyrian heritage, wasn't a guarantee. If a dragon decided you were dinner, blond hair wasn't going to help you. Simple fact was that if a dragon wanted you as it's rider then you would be its rider, if not then good luck not dying.

So I had decided to just go for it. I would never be in a better position or have a stronger dragon to claim so why not make the attempt when I could? It was either I died and got to leave this world before anything truly terrible happened to me or I got a massive boost to my strength and a headstart in becoming a true player in this world.

So I resolved to go to Vhagar and simply approach her before making an attempt to mount her.

Of course the moment I walked into the Godswood and Vhagar set her eyes upon me I was frozen with every thought of mounting her leaving me. For those few moments my brain was stuck between running and making myself look as small as possible.

Eventually she turned her, surprisingly intelligent, eyes from me and scoffed before laying back down. I promptly collapsed to the floor and sat there for what felt like hours before forcing myself to stand on shaky legs. I couldn't get any farther than that, my mind was stuck between approaching the dragon and running as far away as I could.

I ended up spending hours with Vhagar and being late to the funeral and the vast majority of my time must have been spent in that one spot.

Eventually Vhagar got tired of waiting and stood up before stalking towards me. At that moment I had thought I was dragon food and made to run but only accomplished falling over again before she simply laid her head down directly in front of me and stared at me with her eyes that were the size of my entire four year old body. Shakily I reached out a hand and laid it on her head and she didn't immediately swallow me whole. I suppose that was the moment I claimed her, though it would be more accurate to say she claimed me.

Even after two years the sheer size of her was still surprising. I had thought Caraxes massive when I first saw it and I certainly wasn't wrong. At the time he was the largest animal I had ever seen, his body alone had the mass of two elephants to say nothing of his wingspan.

Vhagar was double his size.

She was beautiful, light bronze scales highlighted by green-blue and as we walked towards her she cracked open an eye that was the brightest green I had ever seen.

"Who's the most beautiful dragon in the whole world?" I couldn't help but laugh as my sister treated my dragon as a puppy and not the weapon of mass destruction she was.

Thankfully the servants of Runestone were used to Alyssa and I's schedule so Vhagar was already saddled and ready to take to the air.

Riding a dragon never got old. The feeling of power I had, looking down at farms and towns passing by as specks on the ground, knowing that I could erase them all with a simple command was exhilarating like nothing I had ever done before.

It was strange what owning a nuke revealed about you.

In front of me I could hear Alyssa giggling and screaming, yelling out commands that Vhagar made no move to follow until I repeated them. My sister had always been obsessed with dragons and I had no doubt that once we were in a position for her to make a claim on one she would do so immediately.

Especially after I had received a letter from Rhaenyra in which she told me of how she claimed Dreamfyre. When Alyssa had found out she had wanted to immediately fly off to King's Landing or Dragonstone and claim a dragon for her own. When Rhea had told her no she had come running to me but I had denied her as well.

She swore she wouldn't speak to me for the rest of our lives afterwards but she barely lasted a day before cracking, though she was pouting for the next week or two.

We didn't know how Jaehaerys would have reacted if Alyssa went to claim a dragon, considering both sides were currently equal in terms of numbers if not in firepower. So Alyssa would have to deal with being the only one of the new generation without a dragon of her own.

Eventually we were forced to land and when we did it was to find Caraxes in the stables. Alyssa's mood got even better at the sight, if that was possible, and she couldn't get out of the straps fast enough before rushing off to find Daemon.

When we saw him he was speaking in a hushed tone with Rhea and the two turned to see Alyssa as she came running towards them, though Daemon didn't look very happy and neither did Rhea.

"What's wrong, mother?" I asked once I had caught up.

"You will be going to live with your father in King's Landing for a while, Baelon," She reached down and pulled me into her side with a sigh, "Your uncle, Viserys, is to be king."

-

AN

Chapter is a bit late but hey close enough I feel like lol. There'll be another chapter Monday(or maybe early Tuesday but who's paying that much attention?)

So two year timeskip this chapter, next one will be in King's Landing and the story gets to actually live up to its title. I wanted to put the title at the end of this chapter but I couldn't, it hurt me too much.

Most of the children in this chapter are ones that I created to flesh out the Vale, only Adrian, Jessamyn, Jeyne, and Arnold are in the books. Adrian Redfort becomes a member of Rhaenyra's Queensguard while Jeyne becomes Lady of the Vale and is good "friends" with Jess. Arnold tried to take the Vale from her a couple times.

I know not much happened this chapter but I wanted one between the timeskip and going to King's Landing.

Please point out any mistakes.