Author note at the end.
(〒﹏〒) I love you guys.
I fucking hate stairs.
They had been almost fun for the first couple of days but by the end of the week, however, I was ready to declare them a form of psychological torture.
Hightower had stairs too, but at least that place possessed the good sense to install pulley platforms and lift systems.
The Eyrie, being perched on a mountain and offered no such mercy.
I genuinely pitied whoever was responsible for cleaning these towers.
Do the job once and your knees would file for early retirement.
“I see you have finally decided to reach the Cloud Tower,” Jeyne said.
She stood near the open edge, looking out over a sea of clouds that drifted only a few feet below the stone.
Strong winds tugged at her hair and made the fabric of her gown snap and flutter around her.
“I believe it was the right choice,” I answered, standing tall outward but still catching my breath.
“Though I question whether my legs share that opinion.”
She gave a small smile and a shrug of acknowledgment as I crossed the remaining distance toward her.
I had flown above the clouds before.
That was an experience that still cannot be described.
Up there is a sudden absence of borders, the pure freedom of wind, up there it’s you, your mind and your bond.
It felt like growing a set of wings.
For anyone who had never ridden a dragon, however, this was probably as close as they would ever come to touching the sky.
“I hear you plan to leave by noon,” she said.
“I have said what I came to say, heard your decision, and managed a few nights of rest.” I smiled and glanced downward, far below, Tessarion was taking her midday meal, blue flame reducing a pair of unfortunate sheep to crisp black shapes.
“And my queen is growing restless.”
Jeyne’s brows rose.
“Your queen?”
I smirked and pointed toward the blue dragon.
“My Blue Queen is the only queen I answer to.”
“Indeed.” She rolled her eyes dramatically, though the corner of her mouth twitched up.
For a short while we simply stood in silence, watching the clouds roll past in slow, endless waves.
“Do you ever wish to fly, my lady?” I asked without looking at her, my gaze fixed on a distant peak.
“To see the clouds from above rather than below?”
I could feel her eyes on the side of my face.
“When I was a little girl,” she began after a moment, resting her hands against the low stone wall, “my father used to carry me up here on his shoulders. He told me stories of how the first Arryns, in the Age of Heroes, flew to these mountains on giant falcons and waged war against the giants who lived in the caves. He promised that one day, when I was a woman, we would fly away together.”
Her voice softened.
“As I grew older I began to understand that not every dream we hold as children comes true. Not in the way we hope, at least.”
“For most of my life I was far from both my mother and my father,” I said.
“I had any number of dreams and wants as a boy, most of them stayed out of reach, eventually I learned something simple: the dreams themselves remain, even when the people we first dreamed them with are gone. Regret is always worse than failure. So we should still chase them.”
I turned and offered her my hand, palm open.
“Are you willing to chase one of them, my lady?”
Jeyne stood very still, the wind kept pulling at her hair, for a long moment she simply looked at the offered hand.
Then, slowly, she took it.
I gave a small nod of acknowledgment and began guiding her carefully back toward the stairs.
“Did you truly spend all your young years in Oldtown?” Jeyne asked as we descended the long spiral stairs, an odd note of concern in her voice.
“Surrounded by nothing but maesters and septons?”
I chuckled.
“You make it sound as though I missed the company of warriors and merchants from every corner of the realm. And beyond. The maesters were rather odd company for a boy, I’ll grant you that but they had their moments.”
“And the septons?” she pressed.
“Did they succeed in instilling the principles of the Faith in you?”
I gave a small shrug.
“The Faith has some good morals. Guest right. Not drawing steel under another man’s roof. Not coveting what belongs to someone else. I can respect those. But I do not treat the Faith as absolute law. I see it as a guide, not a master. I will not let it dictate every action I take.” I glanced sideways at her.
“And I am not certain the gods hear our dreams clearly, my lady. If they did, they would never know whose side to take.”
She nodded once, as if the answer satisfied her
We reached the bottom of the stairs and continued in relative quiet.
“And what do you think of the restrictions the Faith places on matters of love?” she asked, almost coy.
Is she testing me?
“The Maiden teaches that no love is purer than another,” I answered without hesitation.
“Who are the septons to decide otherwise? Love is love, regardless of the form it takes.”
Jeyne studied me for a moment.
“You are wise beyond your years, my prince.”
I chuckled.
“Your lady-in-waiting said much the same thing.”
She went awfully quiet after that.
We passed through the Gates of the Moon and out onto the broad grass field beyond.
In the distance Tessarion lay stretched across the green, eyes closed, a low, contented grumble rolling from her throat every so often.
“Stay here a moment,” I told Jeyne.
She nodded while I walked toward my dragon.
“Tessa!”
Her eyes snapped open and she heaved herself up from the grass with surprising speed for her size, shook her great head the way a dog might after a nap, and dusted her wings with a few lazy flaps before lumbering toward me.
“Carhhhh,” she rumbled, pressing her massive head against my chest.
I scratched the familiar spot beneath her jaw and patted the warm scales.
“I see you finished supper.” I glanced at the blackened patch of ground where the sheep she had been reduced to ash and bone were nowhere to be found.
I turned and gestured for Jeyne to approach.
She took a careful step forward.
Tessa’s head lifted at once, she rose to her full height, fixing the distant figure with a sharp, assessing stare.
Jeyne froze.
I gestured again, more firmly this time, seeing my hand signal, Tessarion slowly angled her body sideways, presenting her flank.
“She fed you while we were guests here,” I told the dragon quietly.
“We can be gracious to our host.”
Tessarion looked from Jeyne, now standing much closer, back to me.
Her jaws parted just enough to show a gleam of teeth.
It looked suspiciously like a smirk.
“No,” I whispered sharply, “I am not trying to mate with her. I am simply fulfilling one of her childhood dreams.”
Tessarion blinked, then snorted a thin stream of black smoke through her nostrils as if to say, ‘Sure, buddy.’
Jeyne waited patiently at my side, watching the exchange with a mixture of caution and fascination.
“May I have your hand, my lady?”
She blinked.
“What?”
“Your hand.”
After a brief hesitation she placed her fingers in mine.
I felt the resistance when I guided her palm toward the dragon’s side, but I did not release her.
Slowly and carefully, I set her hand against the warm blue scales.
“She is a beauty, isn’t she?” I said, pride clear in my voice.
Jeyne stared at the dragon, then at me, looking almost dumbstruck.
“I cannot begin to comprehend your play, Daeron,” she said at last.
“Your brother has been named king. Your sister has been declared queen. The realm is preparing for war while both sides gather every scrap of support they can find. And yet not once since you arrived have you asked me to call my banners or renew any oath. You simply… wish to court me. At a time like this.”
I chuckled as I climbed up onto Tessarion’s back and offered Jeyne my hand again, pulling her up to sit securely in front of me.
“It is exactly as you say, my lady,” I answered, settling the riding straps.
“My family is about to tear itself apart, and the realm with it. How many lives will be lost, scattered, or ruined? No one knows. Call me mad or call me reckless but I do not know if I would survive it, hence I believe there is no better time to go looking for love, than now”
I took the reins and gave them a firm yank.
“Tessa. Pērios!”
A/N: So I plan on writing one more chapter with Vale and Jeyne and Jessamyn.
Half of you suggest doing the Poly and the other half are against it.
I’m planning to leave a foundation for this relationship in the next chapter and shelve this pairing for a while, so if I want I can use it in the future.
Also I wanted to clarify on the Lady Dimi situation on chapter 1 since many seems to be confused by it but then I decided to not do it, since it is fucking hilarious to see the misunderstanding grow.
I am currently writing a Dick Grayson, Plot with Pórn kinda crack fic, it is not uploaded anywhere yet, so let me know if you want to read it.