Chapter Text
Luke was fairly certain his parents would be very cross with him if they knew what he was doing.
It was just that Auntie Laena loved Vhagar a lot, always talked about her in her letters. About flying on her, the hours it took to check her over for itchy scales…worrying when she was out in the rain for no man-made edifice was large enough to hold the “old girl”.
Auntie Laena and his unnamed cousin were dead though now. Poor Vhagar, from what Luke overheard Great Uncle Daemon telling Grandmother and Grandfather had tried to pretend she couldn’t hear her at first, when Laena had screamed “dracarys” to her.
Vhagar had also been calling out, at various times today, mourning her rider. Auntie Laena was wonderful and always so much fun, the few times Luke remembered getting to visit her and Great Uncle Daemon…it seemed wrong for her to be dead.
It also made him terrified that mother might suffer a similar fate. She’d just had Joffrey but what if another baby came and this one… Baela and Rhaena had just been staring out blankly… Jace was sad too; extra sad really he was sad about Auntie Laena, but also for Ser Harwin. Luke was sad about Ser Harwin as well, but didn’t know him as well as Jace did. Still two people Luke cared for dead…
Jace and Grandmother Rhaenys were comforting Baela and Rhaena. Grandfather Corlys was comforting father and mother was trying to be supportive to all of them, and taking care of the small things the other adults where to sad to worry about right now.
No one however, was comforting Vhagar. Luke had decided that if no one else would, he and Arrax could. Auntie Laena had told him (in secret!) that she’d tried feeding Vhagar just about everything and like Luke’s mother and Luke and Rhaena, Vhagar liked lemon cakes.
So Luke and Arrax were making their way across the dunes while everyone was eating and being sad about Auntie Laena (well, Great Uncle Vaemond seemed angry, more than sad.)
With them was a sack of purloined lemon cakes. Luke didn’t intend of getting very, very close to Vhagar, she might just step on him and Arrax and squish them… but he thought she deserved something…
Judging the distance was a tad difficult thought, from Vaghar’s sheer size but when Arrax started to chitter nervously and hide a tiny bit behind Luke, though he was almost too big for that, Luke stopped. He set down his bag, and left the fabric fall open.
“Vhagar! Kostilus mazigon kesir!” (Vhagar please come here!) Luke called out.
Slowly, ever so slowly Vhagar’s massive head lifted from the sandy beach, she looked towards him, a low moan echoing out from her. Feeling alright for now, since she sounded curious, rather than upset, Luke waved his hand a bit over the lemon cakes in hopes of drawing her attention and maybe wafting the scent to her a bit.
“I’ve brought you some lemons cakes, Aunt Laena said you liked them, I’m sorry she died…so, have these okay?” Luke called out, slightly standing on his toes as though it might help the ancient dragon hear him better.
He gestured again at the cakes, before starting to slowly back away, not quite brave or foolish enough to turn his back on an unclaimed dragon.
He watched as Vhagar bent down to sniff delicately at his offering before managed to scoop them up in one bite. Feeling accomplished, Luke was almost turning away when Vhagar’s head was abruptly in front of him.
She gave a low, soft sigh, breath a mix of heat, old meat, and now lemon cakes.
Uncertain, Luke held a hand up, even as Arrax crooned in worry. “Lykiri Vhagar...” he said softly.
The dragon crooned gently at him and nudged her snout against his hand. He hesitantly began to pet her nose. Arrax seemed to abruptly decide that Vhagar wasn’t going to be eating them and gave a much happier chirp before going forward to rub against the old girls jaw like a scaly cat.
Vaghar gave a happy hum at the pairs ministrations, before slowly pulling back and then shifted her neck, so that Luke might look at the climbing ropes that led to her saddle.
Luke froze…what?
Arrax, having no such hesitation, was already clambering up in a combination of hops, flaps, and biting some of the ropes...
Luke blinked back at Vhagar. “You, you want me to ride you?” He asked in confusion. Vhagar gave another rumble and with it came the press of a mind, much sharper and larger that Arrax’s in Lukes.
He felt…he sniffled. Vhagar really was sad about Laena…and she didn’t really wish to be alone again…
Oh…
He hadn’t even known one could have more than one dragon…but Arrax wasn’t being eclipsed by Vaghar and already his silly little dragon was up in her saddle, chirping down at him as though wondering what was taking so long.
With a deep breath, mother was going to scold him a lot, because he wouldn’t be able to hide Vhagar at all, not like he still could Arrax sometimes, he went to the ropes and began the ascent up. (It was a very long ways.)
One there, he hooked one saddle chain to Arrax’s torso, and then got himself sorted in the saddle.
Feeling very, very nervous, he’d never flown all by himself before, he called out. “Soves, Vhagar!”
--
To say that Rhaenyra had expected today to be trying for a number of reasons would be an understatement. Loosing Laena, and to childbirth hurt deep in her soul…trying to keep herself away from Daemon was hard as well, the heartache that was Harwin’s loss also refused to lessen even now.
Trying to ignore all the nasty barbs shot from Alicent was another trial and letting Cole’s glares roll off her back…though if he glanced at Jace one godsdamn more time…
None of that compared to seeing Vhagar soaring overhead all of a sudden, and seeing Luke and Arrax on her saddle.
The explanation she got alter, once her son was back on the ground and a decent distance away from the old dragon was the sort of absurdity she had come to expect from her young children to be honest. Of course Luke had been worried that Vhagar was sad… and Laena’d told him about the lemon cakes…so why wouldn’t her sweet child take the largest living dragon a bag of cakes?
Rhaenys had started laughing and crying as Luke’s story progressed, finally kneeling before Luke to pull him into her arms. Luke seemed confused but happily hugged his grandmother back.
Luke did apologize to Rhaena, when he found out she’d thought to claim Vhagar herself. It was, to Rhaenyra’s amusement, only after both twins had sat on him that he finally stopped apologizing.
Rhaena telling him that she fully understood he hadn’t meant to claim her and no one had even thought it possible really to have two dragons at once.
Rhaenyra assured her, and a despondent looking Aemond (damn Alicent anyways for trying to deny her child a dragon out of spite for Rhaenyra) both their choice of egg from Syrax’s latest clutch.
She and Laenor ended up holding each other, for quite awhile, as Luke was made to repeat his tale several times. Helaena had even wondered over, stating a curiosity if Dreamfyre might like lemon cakes too.
Their child was fine, he was unharmed but what if he hadn’t been fine? All other thoughts were banished for this day and night at least, the parental terror of what might have been keeping them pressed close and with a mutual vow to never let Luke out of their sight again.