Rhaenyra was fully recovered from giving birth to her darling son.
It melted her heart every time she and Harwin got a private moment with Jace.
Harwin’s already big heart had only grown with the addition of a child.
The troubling rumors that were no doubt spawned by the hateful Alicent dogged them, but her father had quelled them.
Rhaenyra knew the danger had not passed.
Even her own precious sister doubted the boy was Laenor’s.
Laenor had told her of the conversation he had with Elaena.
Rhaenyra was not sure what to do about it.
She had not confronted Elaena; her little sister had not brought it up directly to her.
She halfway wanted to explain that they had tried.
It was awkward and difficult for Laenor, but he had performed, only his seed had not quickened.
Granted, they had not tried often but they had.
Having that conversation with her brilliant, seven-year-old sister, did not seem appropriate.
Whatever Elaena’s beliefs on the matter were, she did not speak of them to anyone as far as Rhaenyra knew.
Their relationship continued to be one of mutual love and affection.
Now that Rhaenyra had recuperated, it was time to fly with Elaena.
It was time to race dragons.
Rhaenyra’s dragon, Syrax had the advantage in size, and was a fast dragon naturally.
Not as fast as Meleys, her good-mother’s dragon, but undoubtedly one of the faster ones.
Viktoriya was still a small dragon, despite her rather rapid growth.
Had she an adult rider, it would likely have been a tad too slight to effectively carry someone.
No such problems for Elaena whose sizing had her look close to five than seven.
If there was one part of her formal learning Rhaenyra truly cared for, it was dragonlore.
Most concepts the Maester’s taught her came easy to her, but it was dreadfully dull.
Dragons, dragons were not.
She had mastered the ancient tongue of High Valarian, had learned how to ride, and care for dragons, and so much more.
She knew all the dragons of her family’s history; Balerion, Meraxes, Dreamfyre, Silverwing, and countless others.
Their race would be to circle the city three times.
They would fly up toward Dragon gate, follow the wall until the Blackwater Bay and follow it as they went around Aegon’s High Hill.
Flying once again over land, they would again follow the wall until they made it back to the Dragon Gate.
They had taken off and had just reached the Dragon Gate, Rhaenyra was grinning as the race began.
“Fly Syrax!”
Syrax let out a draconic screech and beat her wings with greater alacrity.
Rhaenyra took an early lead as she watched the smaller silver dragon try to keep up.
Laughing she banked her dragon to follow the wall of the city.
Rhaenyra could make out the small figures on the ground who were no doubted stopping their mundane daily tasks to gawk at the magnificent dragons soaring high above them.
She waved, though she knew it was unlikely anyone could see it.
Viktoriya had not caught up and Rhaenyra basked in the joy of flying as they glided through the air above the ships in the bay.
As they neared the Blackwater Rush she looked behind and saw her sister was lower to the water than she was.
Flying was like sailing in some aspects, wind mattered, and upward wind sometimes could give a boost.
Had she known where the rising air would be?
Or was that luck?
In either case the smaller dragon had managed to close the distance and the altitude with almost no energy expended on flapping her wings.
Now upon the Blackwater Rush, Elaena drew close.
Almost too close.
Rhaenyra saw that Elaena and her dragon were nearly atop of her.
Not wishing to chance a dangerous midair collision, she commanded Syrax with her reins to move left, only for Elaena to follow.
Rhaenyra frowned, what in the seven hells was her sister doing?
She wasn’t moving closer, just maintaining the distance.
Rhaenyra urged Syrax to fly faster, but as her mount flew faster, so too did Viktoriya.
They winged north, over the tourney grounds and flew along the wall passing the King’s Gate and then the Lion Gate, Viktoriya still on her heels.
She commanded her mount more speed and Syrax let out a roar and beat her wings with a fury.
Now she was pulling away and the silver dragon grew more distant.
The expenditure of energy the rapid flapping by Syrax was not something that could be sustained.
Dragons could fly hundreds of miles without resting, but not at their highest possible speed.
Humans could walk far without resting, they could run a decent way, and unless one was very fit, only sprint short distances.
Syrax was now doing the equivalent of sprinting.
With such a commanding lead, and only one lap completed, Rhaenyra slowed Syrax’s headlong rush.
Back over the waters and as they slowed, on came Elaena and her dragon.
Once more the smaller dragon timed her dive and gliding soar perfectly, but her sister couldn’t quite catch up.
They concluded the second circuit of the city, and began the third.
The race was on in earnest and Viktoriya was gaining once again.
Rhaenyra gave a whoop of delight; her sister was surprisingly tenacious!
As they came out of the Blackwater Bay and over the Blackwater Rush, Elaena closed the distance and was once again directly behind her.
The heir to the Iron Throne urged Syrax faster and faster.
Her dragon obeyed, though it wasn’t quite as fast as their earlier ‘sprint.’ Yet, despite the increased speed, Elaena remained nearly directly behind them.
As they turned the final corner around the Gate of the Gods, Viktoriya flew forward with a burst of energy above Rhaenyra.
“Go Syrax, go!”
Rhaenyra watched as the smaller silver dragon soared, half gliding in the warm air before tucking its wings close the body and then dive down toward Dragon Gate.
Syrax let out another screech and flapped her wings, trying to catch up to the smaller dragon.
Rhaenyra felt fear grip her as Elaena’s dragon dipped dangerously low, but before she got too close to the ground, she pulled from the dive and the silver scales glistened as the crossed over the figurative finish line ahead of Syrax.
They both then descend back to the Dragonpit.
Upon landing Rhaenyra embraced her sister.
“Hail to the winner!”
Elaena was smiling, not her usual polite smiles, but full-on joyful grinning.
Her sister never seemed happier than when she was flying. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
They could have been doing this years earlier, if only Alicent had not been such an overprotective shrew.
She quickly dismissed the thought; Rhaenyra was not going to allow that Hightower bitch to ruin her mood.
“Thank you, sister.
That was a lot of fun.”
“It was!
Though I should tell you, there is plenty of sky, no need to fly directly behind me.”
“Ah, well, I tried to keep a safe distance while still taking advantage of the slipstream.”
“Slipstream?”
“There is reduced air pressure directly behind you as you fly.
I was taking advantage of it to conserve Viktoriya’s energy for the final leg.”
Rhaenyra nodded in comprehension.
She still had another question.
“How did you know where the upwind locations would be?”
“Upwind… that is a descriptive way to put it, but can cause confusion with the way smallfolk use the term upwind.
I call them thermals, which create an updraft.
They are naturally occurring due to the variance of heat, but certain areas, due to the way the land and the water meet are regularly occurring and predictable.
On prior flights I had noticed a stable one over the Blackwater Bay and utilized it.
I believe our dragons can sense them too, and I’ve watched Viktoriya make use of them when flying on her own.
However, when someone is riding, I suspect they don’t naturally do it out of concern for the rider and following our instructions.”
Rhaenyra was impressed and more than a little shocked.
She had thought she knew everything about dragons there was to know.
It was humbling, but a deep well of pride over her little sister’s expertise overwhelmed that feeling.
She embraced her sister again and mussed her hair.
“My clever little sister!
Come, let us change out our riding clothes and you can tell me more about what you’ve observed Viktoriya doing.
I’ll have the cooks make us some honey cakes.
The new cook adds something rich to them, and they are truly divine.”
Elaena’s facial expression flickered to one of distaste, but it was gone in less than a heartbeat.
Rhaenyra knew her sister liked sweet things, but maybe the new honey cake recipe was too much.
Elaena would be too polite to say so, and likely just nibble.
Rhaenyra would instruct the servants to also prepare a regular batch as well.
Days like these were ones Rhaenyra enjoyed the most.
Flying dragons, meals with her sister, and when they parted some alone time with Harwin.
…
Who knew?
So …
just keep tossing them 😉
…