Chapter 25.3- The Seadragon's Roar

“Laena” I whispered in her ear.

“Good” She said and then we kept dancing. The moment slipped, and I wondered if I had imagined it— the heat, the tension.

“Tell me what the issue is, Laena”

“How old is Igneel?” She asked instead.

“You know exactly how old Igneel is. He hatched in my crib” I said instead, not much appreciating the distraction.

“Septon Barth says it could take a dragon up to fifty years for their scales to fully harden” She said, and then it clicked.

“You’re not scared for yourself. You’re scared for me. And when did you even start reading Barth? Did Bernard bring a copy with him?” I asked when it clicked just where she had gotten the information.

“Your copy, dummy. Ser Ben doesn’t have an issue bringing me whatever I might need from your room” She practically gloated into my ears as the sailors switched to what felt like their nineteenth rendition of drunken sailor. By this time, we had just about given up on trying to dance to their ever-mercurial tunes and just settled for swaying side to side while we spoke.

“We’ll discuss the theft later. Back to being worried about Igneel and I. We’ll be fine. There’s no reason for us not to be fine. I might not ride Vhagar, but Igneel is plenty dangerous. He’s near as big as Meleys and Caraxes” I said.

“Not even close. He’s still got a way to go before he’s as big as they are and even then. Meleys has been in war before. So has Caraxes. Igneel— Igneel is new to this. What if something happens? If the dragon dies in war, the rider soon follows” She said.

“And you got this from the long long history of dragons dying in war, yes?” I said, poking a hole in her reasoning.

“Meraxes and Quicksilver that we know of. And then we know that Old Ghis managed to slay over a dozen dragons in their war against Valyria. Whether we like it or not, scorpions work. Maybe not as well as arrows against humans, but they’re the only weapons that can kill a dragon, and your Dornish pet said something about improved scorpion designs.”

“Won’t matter. Hitting a target flying as high as we should be while it rains down fire should be all but impossible. And don’t underestimate Igneel and I”

“I know. But would it not be safer if you stay here instead— defend Bloodstone. Mother thinks...”

“Did she put you up to this?” I whispered, perhaps more harshly than I should have.

“No she didn’t. Calm down. I haven’t even spoken to her about it yet. I wouldn’t go behind your back like that. I was just going to say that Mother thinks there is a possibility that another fleet could sail from Lys to take Bloodstone directly while we face the Triarchy and Dorne.”

“That’s unlikely. Icarus says it will be a two-pronged attack”

“And you trust your spy that much now?”