Chapter 32.2- The Seadragon's Roar

She bled freely over Daemon’s body, allowing the blood drip on his lips and then his chest. “May the fires guide you home. Cousin” She said, and then gestured us forward.

Laena first, accepting the blade from Mother cut a thin line down her palm and bled over the dead man. My turn came, and I refused the blade, drawing my own hunting knife from my waist. I loved my family very much, but there was no chance I was bleeding on that thing. I closed my eyes, and then pressed my palm against the blade. I squeezed, allowing the blade form the cut before I allowed my blood pool on Daemon’s chest.

After that, I stepped back, and the rest of us did as well with Viserys being the last as he lingered over his brother’s body, just silently staring for close to ten minutes. No one interrupted him— not even when silent tears began streaming down his face.

He stepped back last, and the dragons moved to take our place. This funeral was taking place in the Dragonpit just like Jaehaerys’, but Viserys had been very specific in his desire for a small ceremony. Part of me wandered if it was to avoid being decried by the Faith. He was nominally a believer in the Seven. We all were. And what we had just done was what many in the Faith would call a queer ritual. If it was, then it was smart. Smart, but far from bold, and from what I knew about Viserys, that did not surprise me one bit.

“Dracarys” Viserys said first, even as he lacked a dragon of his own. To my surprise though, Caraxes listened, and breathed out a storm of flames on the stone tablet that held Daemon’s body. And then the rest of our dragons joined in. It was a rainbow of colours as five dragons breathed their goodbyes on to the corpse of one of the last true Dragonlords. I could give him that much. No one had held tightly to the traditions and beliefs of old Valyria like Daemon did.

We remained in silence, only interrupted by the sounds of the fire. Caraxes might have been the first to begin, but he made sure he was last as well. He kept going even long after it was clear that it was not healthy for him to do so. Like he was in an unspoken competition with the other dragons. Syrax had tapped out a while ago, and then Meleys stopped as well. Vhagar turned away, clearly bored and began to march back to her lair. Igneel kept going because just like me he was not one to back down form a challenge.

Only when I began to see the scales around Caraxes’ neck begin to glow from the heat he was unleashing did I tell Igneel to stop. There was no need to allow the dragon kill or injure itself just to prove a point. Caraxes stopped a second after Igneel did, making a sound that I would have considered a cough if it had come from anyone other than a dragon.