Chapter 32.3- The Seadragon's Roar

“Rhaenys” Viserys said, eyes still pinned on the melted remains of the tablet Daemon’s body had laid on.

“Cousin?” Mother asked, stepping up to him.

“You said the one who killed him was Iron born?” He asked, and I felt myself go still. Oh fuck no. That was literally the opposite of a productive outcome from this visit.

“A bastard spurned by his people already. His only recourse had been to be a pirate’s steward”

“And you chose to take him on as your own after defeating his captain?”

“Yes. A mistake I now realise. I had seen a boy not much older than my own son and had seen the potential for a redemption then. It was foolish of me, Cousin” She said. And I realised the genius of her strategy. If she started by blaming herself and then taking responsibility for it, there was no chance Viserys would keep pushing. Not with the kind of person he was.

And I was proven right as he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“It was not your fault. I realise now that piracy is a scourge around the known world. Those people are not deserving of life. Ask me whatever you might desire for your campaign and I will grant it” he said, eyes narrowed.

Now, if only that offer had come much earlier.

“We have finished the campaign, Cousin. The Stepstones are yours” She said.

“Truly?”

“I told you this earlier” She said, somewhat in a deadpan.

“I had other things on my mind then” He said, twisting to look at the tablet again and his face near crumpled.

“So what revenge can I get? What can I do with this rage that twists in my heart, Cousin?”

“When Corlys died, I felt the same. The man that had killed him had fallen in the fighting. The one who directed the attack was in hiding and could not be found. I wallowed in that rage for a while until I realised that it was not that Corlys would want. Daemon would not want you focused on rage and rage alone. He would have it fuel you. I grieved Corlys by completing his conquest of the Stepstones. That was what he had died seeking. I can not tell you how to grieve Daemon, for he was yours more than anything else, but I can tell you that deep down you already know what you must do” She said. Viserys turned to the tablet then.

“Leave me” He said, and it was clear he was talking to all of us. I was the first out of there, not wanting to be in that atmosphere anymore. Viserys’ grief was an almost physical thing that weighed down on you when you were in his presence.