Chapter 15.5- The Seadragon's Roar

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“He wants you all to come in now” Mother said, poking her head outside the room. I’d taken hold of Laena’s hand and essentially refused to let go of it since I managed to convince her to come here, to join us in this. We went into the room, and I felt her squeeze my hand like a vice caught in her grip as she caught sight of him for the first time.

“My daughter, my star of the sea” He called to her, voice still shaky but there was a strength to it now. Not the kind of strength the indicated survival, unfortunately, but the strength of the dying. The strength of one who saw his fate coming and did nothing to oppose its slow arrival— in this case, the arrival was far from slow but the point remained equally potent.

“Father” She released my hand, practically hurling herself across the last few steps to his side. Rhaenys did not complain at having her seat stolen. Instead, she went behind Laena placing her hands on her shoulders. They looked like a family in that moment. A family without me. Even before the Stormlands, I hadn’t been good at the emotional shit. Years with Baratheon men had done nothing but worsen any deficiencies I had when it came to emotional shit.

“I will miss you most of all” He said, giving her a wink. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“But I must get to business first. Maester Gunthor, I hope you are taking notes.”

“Yes my lord”

“These are the Last words of Corlys Velaryon the First, Seasnake, Lord of the Tides, Master of Driftmark, and Lord Warden of the Stepstones” He began, and I lifted my eyebrow at that last one. Claiming a domain we had yet to conquer was one thing. Aegon did it with Dorne after all, but claiming a domain that we had officially promised to someone else was another. If only I could pick his brain on that particular choice, but there were bigger worries at this point.

“To my Wife Rhaenys, I leave a lifetime interest of one hundred thousand dragons to be taken from High Tide’s treasury and held in her own name and to her successors in perpetuity. Be free, my dragon, and fly true” he said, and it was clear that this had not been discussed between them already from the shock on her face. It was not commonplace for Lords to leave their widows with gold separate from the House treasury. The general expectation was that the widow’s dowry and the largesse of the successor Lord would handle her welfare. Considering I didn’t think Corlys expected me to starve my own mother, the money was probably for her own purposes.

“To my star of the sea Laena, I leave two hundred thousand dragons for her dowry as well as three ships of her choosing from the Velaryon shipyard. I am so proud of you my daughter, my only regret is not living long enough to see what you make of the world” If Rhaenys’ bequest had been shocking, then this one had stirred the bees. To my sides, I could hear the various Velaryons begin to whisper to themselves in shock. Two hundred thousand dragons was a large dowry. Far more than even a Princess would command. Corlys had just made Laena the most eligible maiden in the realm. For some reason, I had a feeling that was the plan.