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Rhaenyra has never seen anything so beautiful in her life as the baby resting in her arms. The little tuffs of dark hair on his head tickle at her nose as she breathes in the very scent of him.
Her little boy. Her Jacaerys.
"Well done," Laenor is smiling at her. A hand reaches up to trace their son's face, "He's perfect."
Laughter bubbles up from her lips and Rhaenyra finds herself crying, blinking away tears as she craddles him to her chest. Laenor shifts closer, wrapping an arm around her, rocking them both softly.
"I did not know I could be this happy," Rhaenyra whispers, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. Laenor chuckles then. He presses a kiss to her cheek.
"Nor I this proud." Their foreheads press together. In her arms, her son sleeps. Breathing steady and strong.
The midwife had said he was the healthiest babe she'd ever brought in to this world. With a set of lungs fit for a king at that. Rhaenyra didn't care if it was empty flattery, she knew it was true. Her boy is special.
Syrax screeches in the distance, an angry roar follows and Rhaenyra stiffens. Her eyes widen as panic sets in. Her lungs burn. She gasps for air.
Laenor is up and moving before she can even ask. "I am sure all is fine. Stay here!" He gives the guard at their door a sharp look and the knight steps inside.
Jacaerys fusses as she struggles to her feet. A maid is at her side in a moment, reaching for him. Rhaenyra glares at her, holding Jacaerys tighter to her chest. The maid's hands move to her instead. She helps Rhaenyra to the window.
"What do you think, my brave boy?" Rhaenyra looks down at her son, bouncing him lightly as she presents all of Dragonstone to him. Jacaerys scrunches his face up, tiny eyes struggling to open as she describes it to him.
The dark stone. The massive towers. Carved dragons and breathing ones alike. Seasmoke is circling the castle. She smiles at the silver beast as he passes by the window. The maid startles as the glass shakes.
"Your father is going to teach you how to be a great warrior," Rhaenyra kisses the top of Jacaerys' head once more. Inhaling deeply, "You'll be a dragonrider. Noble and kind, fierce and honorable."
Her chest tightens again. Body growing warm as Syrax roars once more. The castle itself shakes with it. The burn does not come this time though. Her next breath shudders all the same.
Clearing her throat, Rhaenyra focuses on her son. She smiles, eyes fluttering, "This will be your seat one day, Jacaerys, when you are much bigger. As tall as your father perhaps."
She can almost imagine it. The way her son will hold himself. His shoulders back, chin high, like Laenor does when he stares down the Sea Snake.
The door burst open. Her guard steps forward, hand on the pommel of his sword. Rhaenyra blinks as Alicent stumbles forward, eyes wide and a hand protectively lain across her swollen belly.
"Syrax has Aegon," Alicent's voice cracks. She ducks her head, gasping as her tears flow freely, "She... she will not let anyone near and..."
"I will get him," Rhaenyra is already walking towards the door. Her maid scrambles to follow. Her guard shouts orders down the hall in front of them, clearing the way.
Alicent trails behind her, still crying, sobbing softly. Throat bobbing, Rhaenyra glances down at Jacaerys. She does not think Syrax would harm her brother. But Alicent has always been wary of dragons. Afraid, even.
"I will see him safely back into your arms, Alicent, I promise," Rhaenyra tells her, clutching Jacaerys to her chest. The queen looks at her, pupils trembling. Her mouth opens. Nothing but a squeak comes out, and then she's sobbing again.
Turning forward, Rhaenyra leans a bit more on her maid, picking up the pace as best she can. In the main hall, they are joined by the king. Her father is scowling.
"What in the devil has that boy done now?" Viserys snaps at Alicent. She rears back, as if she'd been slapped and Rhaenyra steps in front of her.
"Aegon is four now, Father. Even if the queen were not heavily pregnant with *your child*, you could not truly expect her to chase him about the castle," Rhaenyra narrows her eyes on him, lips pursing.
Her father startles. Leaning heavily on his cane, the king clears his throat, "Of course not, but this is not your usual child running underfoot, Rhaenyra."
"No. It is not. He's a Targaryen." Rhaenyra gives him a clipped nod and walks past him. "A love for dragons is in our blood, is it not?"
"He wants one like Syrax," Alicent hiccups, hand pressed to her throat. She is right on Rhaenyra's heels. Her breaths shaky and her words strained, "A golden dragon, he said, as bright as the sun."
Rhaenyra smiles at that as they walk down the steps of Dragonstone into the pits below. Tunnels and caverns cut beneath the fortress are accesible only through the air, descending over the Dragonmont, or from the castle itself. The first Dragon Pit in the Seven Kingdoms, crafted by dragons themselves when the Targaryens had first built their new home.
"Nyra!" Laenor is waiting near Syrax's lair. She smiles at the alarm twisting in his face and hands him their son.
While she is loath to part from him, Rhaenyra knows she must have her focus on Syrax when she approaches the entrance. Jacaerys fusses for just a moment before settling in his father's arms.
She arches a brow at the dragonkeepers standing around then, hands moving to her hips, "What's happened? Exactly."
"Prince Aegon wanted to retrieve an egg, your grace, for his new nephew," the keeper who steps forward has burning cheeks, "He was... quite quick on his feet, your grace. When we told him that Syrax was nesting, well, the prince went straight for her."
"Gods above," the king pinches the bridge of his nose, head shaking, "He went into a nesting dragon's lair? What did he expect, to be welcomed in and gifted an egg?!"
Alicent whimpers, hand pressing harshly to her abdomen. Viserys pales and Laenor takes two quick steps to her side.
"He is fine, your grace, I spoke to him myself when I arrived," Laenor holds Jacaerys in one arm as he wraps the other around the queen, "Not even afraid I don't think. He said Syrax didn't trust us and he couldn't leave without her permission." Rhaenyra breathes out, nodding sharply.
"Syrax knows him," Rhaenyra muses, head tilting, "I've introduced Aegon to her on several occasions. She's feeling protective. Syrax must simply have... added Egg to her most recent clutch."
A quick chuckle sounds from the king. Even Laenor cracks a smile, but Alicent remains stricken, eyes as wide as can be.
Without further debate, Rhaenyra stalks forward, chin high despite the wobble of her steps. Syrax growls as her shadow crosses the entrance of the lair. It quiets to a low rumble, and then a coo, when Rhaenyra comes into her view.
"I need to take Aegon back to his mother," Rhaenyra tells her. She speaks in soft tones. Her Valyrian slow and precise. At the entrance, Rhaenyra pauses. Waits.
"Nyra!" Aegon pops up from behind Syrax as the dragon shifts, tail whipping through the air. Syrax settles deeper in the lair and Aegon walks past her. A green egg in his arms.
"Did... did Syrax let you choose an egg then?" Rhaenyra blinks rapidly, but the egg her brother holds is clearly fresh. Still coated in the muck and grime of its delivery.
Aegon grins at her, eyes bright as he nods emphatically, "For me and the baby!" Rhaenyra furrows her brow. She does not get a chance to ask though, as a moment later a tiny screech fills the cavern. High and whiny.
Wings flapping hard, a golden hatchling follows after Aegon. The little dragon is barely the size of a cat as it struggles to fly. Twice it falters, before finally perching on Aegon's shoulder.
"This is Sunfyre!" Aegon giggles as the hatchling nudges at his head, his maw ruffling Aegon's silver hair. "His scales are even brighter than Syrax's!" Her brother preens, chin up and lips twisting into a smug smile.
"Well, if he hatched from one of her eggs, I'm sure Syrax won't be too jealous then," Rhaenyra manages to stutter. Her eyes flick briefly to her own golden dragon.
Eyes glowing in the dark of the cavern, Syrax snuffs, head lowering only slightly as she curls around her remaining eggs.
Permission. Rhaenyra inclines her head in turn and then ushers Aegon out quickly. She is careful to nudge the shoulder without a dragon on it.
"Mama!" Aegon calls out, running the moment he sees Alicent.
Rhaenyra's gut twists and she clamps her mouth shut, even as her gaze fixes on the egg in his arm. Bouncing in his arms, really.
"I got Jace an egg!" Aegon tells her, immediately rambling on about his adventure in Syrax's lair. The dragonkeepers an afterthought and danger not even considered in his narrative.
Her brother is completely oblivious to the way his mother nearly collapses when she sees him. She meets him halfway, falling to her knees in the middle of the tunnel before enveloping him in her arms. A crushing hug that has Aegon whining.
"Mama! The egg!" Aegon pulls from her grasp, turning with a pout as he hefts the egg higher against his chest. Sunfyre gives a sharp screech, snapping his jaw. "See? Sunfyre knows. The egg is going to be his little brother. He has to look out for it. Like me with Helaena!"
"Why don't we let the dragonkeepers take the egg? They need to prepare it for the cradle." Laenor offers as he approaches, swaying on his feet as Jacaerys begins to fuss. Aegon frowns.
He looks from the egg to Laenor and then back. A glance over his shoulder at Syrax's lair has Aegon's bottom lip sticking out, "Syrax didn't like the dragonkeepers." Laenor purses his lips as her brother turns his gaze on the keeprs in question, eyes narrowing into a glare. "I have to give it to Jace."
"You can show it to him first," Alicent jumps on that, hands rising to squeeze at Aegon's arms. Sunfyre shrieks. She drops her hands as Sunfyre takes off, wings fluttering. He tries to fly higher, but he falters once more.
"Yeah, okay," Aegon nods, tilting his head up to smile at Laenor. He shows no concern as Sunfyre lands on Alicent's shoulder. He merely passes her now very still form to approach Laenor, presenting the egg, "Can I show him now?!"
Laenor kneels, gaze flicking towards Rhaenyra as he angled Jacaerys towards her brother. Aegon coos at him. He presses the egg slightly against Jacaerys' side.
"Do you like it, nephew?" Aegon whispers in Valyrian. With a low whine, Jacaerys opens his eyes, lashes fluttering as he reveals them for the first time.
Briefly, even with her attention split coaxing Sunfyre away from Alicent, Rhaenyra's brows furrow at the dark color. But then her son squirms. A tiny hand moves to touch at his egg and a noise, soft and stuttering, slips from his lips. Almost a giggle, but that hardly matters as he smiles for the first time. Right at Aegon.
Her heart melts and Rhaenyra is blinking tears from her eyes.
"I'll learn everything about dragons!" Aegon promises him. He ducks his head low to touch his forehead to Jacaerys', "And then when you're bigger, I can teach you!" Tiny fingers tangle in silver hair before Aegon steps back.
The egg is given to the dragonkeepers then. Jacaerys screams until it is returned, only settling in his cradle once the green egg is placed beside him. Aegon watches him from above, hanging off the side of the cradle as he asks a thousand questions. Bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"How long till Sunfyre is big enough for me to ride?" Aegon puckers his lips, eyes wide as he turns his gaze on Rhaenyra. Beside her, Alicent whimpers.
The queen sits, her eyes closed and her head thrown back against the pillows, with a golden hatchling in her lap. Sunfyre is nudging at her hand, working it up and over his head until she begins to absently stroke his scales, petting him from head to tail.
"I have to be really good before Jace gets too big!" Aegon turns narrowed eyes over his shoulder, "Or Helaena!" Their sister blinks at him. Expression owlish as the toddler hugs her stuffed dragon to her chest. "If she claims a bigger dragon, she might beat me."
"It's not a competition, Egg," Rhaenyra reminds him, chin dropping low and gaze pointed. He scoffs.
"It is," Aegon whispers to Jace, tipping further into the cradle, "But we're the eldest, so we're going to win."
With a sigh, Alicent raises her head. She levels her eyes on Aegon and he drops back onto the flat of his feet. Nodding, Alicent beckons a servant over for water, drinking generously.
The baby is kicking, Rhaenyra can feel it against her side. Already fighting, her newest little brother. She lays a hand over the bump, grinning to herself.
"Technically, Aegon, I'm the eldest," Rhaenyra hums and his nose wrinkles. Alicent whines, head falling back against the cushions again. "And Syrax can already take two riders, so obviously, I'm winning."
"Mama!" Aegon stomps his foot and Alicent cracks her eyes open again to glare at Rhaenyra. Giggling, she merely ducks her head down, laying it on Alicent's shoulder.
"You're a menace, Rhaenyra, you and your dragon," Alicent says, voice low and dripping with disdain. Rhaenyra beams at her. Sunfyre rubs his side against Alicent's stomach, curling up on her lap with a low whine.
When Laenor returns a short while later with the king, Alicent and Sunfyre have fallen asleep and Aegon has given up all pretenses of restraint to crawl into Jacaerys' cradle with him. Rhaenyra oversees it all, smiling as her little sister babbles quietly to herself a few yards away
"Apparently," Rhaenyra drawls, smirking over at her father as he sits in a chair across from her, "It is indeed possible to walk in to a nesting dragon's layer and be gifted an egg." Viserys huffs and Laenor snickers.
He sets a plate of snacks down beside Helaena before approaching the cradle. Laenor grins, eyebrow arching, "If your name is Egg, you might even get a hatchling too it seems."
Rhaenyra reaches an arm into the cradle over the arm of the couch. She runs her fingers through the wisps of dark hair on her son's head. Laenor lays a hand over Jacaerys' chest, directly over top Aegon's own hand.
"What do you think, my love? Shall we try for another?" Laenor asks her quietly. She nods, tears already welling up in her eyes. With a shake of her head, she sniffles, wiping at her face.
"Aegon has already requested that Seasmoke provide a clutch of eggs, so he can pick an appropriate egg for his next nephew too."
Laenor throws his head back, biting his lip to stiffle his laughter. A faint snore from the chair across the room has Rhaenyra joining him. With a wink, Laenor purses his lips, "I'll tell Smoke immediately."
Half the room startles awake when they descend into their giggling. But with the exception of a snapping Sunfyre, no one seems to mind.