ᴘᴜʀᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅᴇᴅ : ʜᴏᴜsᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅʀᴀɢᴏɴ

Ch. 3: Repair

"Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness."

☽ ☽ ☽

Tiny, fragile hands carefully glued individual pages back into the spine of the book. Alaesys sniffles and wiped her tears with her shoulder as she ignored the knock on the door. Her father, Laenor, poked his head past the door frame.

"Dove, May I come in?" Alaesys didn't say a word but just shrugged her shoulders. Laenor shut the door behind him and kneeled beside of his daughter, taking in the careful craft she was partaking in. "Tell me what happened." Laenor was out with his partner only an hour prior. Rhaenyra had came storming in, heavily pregnant with fire in her eyes. Alaesys had refused to talk to anyone, even her brothers and she locked herself in her room.

"I hate Aemond. I hate him." Laenor gave her a sorrowful look and tan a hand down her frizzy hair that had fallen out of her braid.

"Ally, you may not like him but he is family. I'm sure he didn't mean to destroy-"

"He did! He meant to! He took it from me and hurt my brothers!" Laenor was a bit taken back by his daughters fierceness. She was usually such a calm and quiet child, for that he and his lady wife were very grateful of. But now a fire was lit behind her eyes and she shook with such anger that the thin paper was quaking in her hands.

"Sweetheart, you are to be our future Queen. You cannot let someone so hateful ruin your spirit." Alaesys's bottom lip trembled but she did not cry. Laenor took the sticky honey from her hands and pulled her in a tight hug. She latches onto around his neck and hid her face in his neck. Alaesys's inhaled and could smell the faint smell of wine and salt on his clothing. To other it might be off putting but it brought her a deep comfort.

"I'm sorry I'm a bastard." Laenor's eyebrows furrowed and he held his daughter at arms length.

"Where did you hear that?" Alaesys's but her bottom lip and brought her worn down nails to her mouth.

"I'm sorry I can't be your daughter. I really try every day to be good. I try to stay out of trouble." Thick tears were now pouring down her cheeks. Laenor cupped her face and used his thumbs to wipe away the salty tears.

"Hush child. You are my daughter, no matter what. I will protect you with my life. You are mine. Do you understand?" Laenor was staring deep into the little girls eyes. He was on his knees before her and he took both of her hands, kissing the back of her hands before holding them to his head, a sign of love and respect.

Alaesys ran into his arms again and he lifted the girl from the ground, holding her tight to him. "My sweet Dove." Laenor kissed the top of her head and lowered her back into her chair. Laenor and Alaesys had a deep connection. He loved his boys with every fiber of his being, but something about having a daughter changed him. Unlike his sons, Alaesys did not have that extra parental figure. See Harwin never left out the young girl but he bonded more with the dark haired children. "We are more alike than you know."

Laenor squatted back down next to the table and began to help his daughter glue back in the pages of the book. "We are both different. Did you know I'm afraid too?" Alaesys jaw dropped. Her father? Was scared? The man who had seen war and told of his many battles at bedtime? "Shocking I know. I have secrets that I was so terrified of my entire life. Then we had you."

Laenor rested his chin on his daughters her and bumped her with with shoulder. "You and your brothers made me a stronger man." Alaesys giggled and closed the book again, resting a stone on top so the added pressure would help bind the book faster.

Laenor chuckled to himself. "Your mother tells me you've been going to the Dragon Pit to read to the dragons. Is that true?" Alaesys looked down at her hand and fiddled with her fingers.

"Yes, Cesyja has been getting bullied by the other dragons. Every time she is brought out to me she is covered in a new wound." Cesyja was born much later than her brothers. Even though she was the first dragon egg, she didn't hatch until Alaesys was almost two years old. She was a good bit smaller than the others but her wing span triumphed over the others already. It was almost comical to see her try to fly now.

Unlike her mother and siblings, her scales were that of pure white and her eyes, blood red. The maesters had told Alaesys and her mother that Cesyja simply lacked the color and pigment. Something that was fairly rare but not completely unheard of. She was sensitive to the sun so she preferred to fly at night.

That was alright, Alaesys preferred the nighttime.

"I see, well knowing Cesyja, she's probably picking the fights." Laenor ruffled his daughters hair and smiled. "Why don't we go see her? I'm sure she'd appreciate the visit." Alaesys face lit up. She sprung at any chance to visit her dragon.

The dragon pit never failed to scare her.

Laenor put a hand to her back and lead her inside. The dragon keepers greeted the two with a quick bow. Laenor ordered them to bring out both Cesyja and Seasmoke. Seasmoke was the first to appear. Seasmoke was similar to Cesyja in color. But his spine was colored with a rose tint. Laenor held out his hand to the dragon and let him sniff his rider. Seasmoke himself was still relatively slender and nimble.

"Come here Ally." Ally was lifted onto Laenor's shoulder and she held her fingers out to the beast. Seasmoke sniffed her skin and let his dark tongue rolled out and lick her fingers. Alaesys laughed and gently sat her hand on the beasts nose.

"Lykiri, Seasmoke." Alaesys spoke in a soft voice. Seasmoke shook his massive head and chirped. Alaesys leaned forward and kissed the dragon on the tip of his nose. Laenor bellowed our a laugh as Seasmoke wasn't sure what to do with the gesture from the little girl. Even the dragon keepers laughed at how such a beast seemed to be blushing.

"Can we bring Cesyja out father?" Laenor agreed and a dragon keeper fetched the small, wired dragon. Cesyja flapped her wings in panic, tugging at the chain around her neck. Laenor gently put his daughter on the ground and Cesyja approached her dragon with arm outstretched. "Rȳbās! Rȳbās Cesyja!" The dragon stretched her wings out and shrieked. Ally narrowed her eyes at the beast and raised her voice even louder. "Dohaeris!"

Cesyja tucked her wings back against her and shivered, no longer crying out against her master. Alaesys smiled and dropped her arm, lifting up her dress to approach her dragon. Cesyja ducked her head for her regular pat on the head. Seasmoke was receiving the same attention from Laenor with a scratch on the chin. Alaesys looked at her father with the biggest smile he had seen in awhile, and for the fur time in awhile, Laenor felt pure joy.