( ACT III; the dawn of the dragon. )
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chapter five: a vow spoken through time.

EVENING came with all of the beautiful and soft colors of a brewing sunset, the clouds scattered like an elaborate mosaic in the Essosi sky. In the prairie where the dragons nested, King Vaegon, Princess Daenerys, and Lady Raina Stark stood before a Red Priestess, clothed in the red-stained white robes of a traditional Valyrian wedding. Atop each of their heads, Raina and Daenerys wore ceremonial head dresses, their hair loose and flowing down their backs.

Around them, Haelyx and Drokar watched intently, the dragons seeming to hold a vigil as they guarded the sacred ceremony of their riders. The members of the king's council stood present for the ceremony, garbed in fine clothing for the intimate event. The makings of queens.

Torches flanking the priestess casted dancing shadows between the three of them, Vaegon facing the woman in front of them while Daenerys and Raina faced each other at his sides to form the four sides of a square.

Shadows framed their features where they stood, accentuating the curves of their lips and cheek bones. Each of the three felt an air of excitement, ready to fulfill the finality of what the Targaryen dynasty was about to become.

Aegon the Conqueror, Visenya, and Rhaenys reborn.

Selmy, Missandei, and Grey Worm stood off to the side to witness the ceremony, the Naathi woman holding flowers in her arms with an expression of pure joy on her features as she gazed with light filled eyes to the woman that had saved her from bondage. The knight held a pleasant expression while the Unsullied commander, in all of his stoicism, also appeared happy for the king and his to be wives. 

"Blood of three, joined as one," the priestess uttered the Old Valyrian words in commencement of the ceremony, a practice not seen in many decades for a Targaryen. The words were much like that of a spell, spinning fates together into a future greatness. "Ghostly flame and song of shadows. Three hearts as embers, forged in fourteen fires."

As the priestess recited the words, Vaegon looked between the two women he was taking to wife. Daenerys, blood of his blood, his silver queen as regal as any dream. The one he'd been through hell with, finally to be his. Then there was Raina, a winter rose, the dark haired beauty of the north and as fierce as a wolf. The unexpected yet wholeheartedly accepted.

His heart flutter as he looked between them, recalling that once he'd watched Daenerys taken from him by a stranger. Of the tribulation they faced when the world was against them. But now all the wrongs had been righted as she was being bound to him for the rest of their days. Gone were the transgressions they had faced, and all of the malice they had brought. They would now be united together, where no man could pull them apart.

"A future promised in glass, the stars stand witness. The vow spoken through time, of darkness and light."

The priestess produced a blade of the sharpest variety as substitute for dragonglass, a substance that seemed to have been unobtainable for the ceremony. She hands it to Vaegon, who cuts his lower lip with the edge. The pain is sharp and blood wells on the soft skin where it sliced, bright and crimson. He also cuts his palm in the same fashion before gently rubbing some of his blood on each of their foreheads, marking them as his.

Daenerys and Raina both follow suit, marking each other with their blood as well as Vaegon. Until they have all claimed each other. They then clasp hands until all three intermingle their blood with one another. They exchange a kiss to one another, further transferring their blood onto each other's lips. Until they all three bear the blood like rouge on their lips.

"One flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever," they say in a soft unison at the behest of the priestess's guidance, their voices melding together in a harmony. The torchlight around them flickered in the wind, sending their shadows dancing wildly.

Drokar and Haelyx chirp and emit rumbles deep in their chests as the three exchange kisses upon each others lips, once more intermingling their blood with promises binding them together. The dragons lower their heads to where the three stood, Haelyx close to Raina, the she-dragons golden eye watchful. Drokar did the same, framing Daenerys's silver hair against his black mass.

As the sacred ceremony came to a close, the priestess left the kings and queens to their embraces. Vaegon held each of the women in his arms as the members of their inner circle made their way over.

"It pleases me to see you find happiness, Your Grace," Selmy told Raina, a look of genuine content on the old knight's features as he referred to her by her new station. As the queen she now was. "It it good to know that the challenges of your days have not weighed on you. You are a queen now. More than Cersei ever was."

Raina's broad smile made Vaegon's heart ache with gratitude to whatever gods had brought her to him.

"Here, for both of you," Missandei said, stepping forward to place the now separate bouquet of flowers into each of the queen's arms. Wildflowers, for the equally fiery and wild women they were in their own ways. They took them gratefully, cradling the bundles in their arms.

Vaegon knew this union would not sit well once it reached Westeros. Once it came to light he'd not only taken Raina to wife, but Daenerys as well, many lords would be displeased to have lost the opportunity to marry within their house before they even knew they could. Not to mention the faith.

"I now have my queens," Vaegon stated with pride. He looked to Raina, placing his palm protectively over her belly. "As well as an heir, soon enough."

Missandei lit up at the news, Selmy donning an expression of surprise and Grey Worm allowing a smirk on his lips. They hadn't told them the news yet. They'd agreed its fruit would bear sweeter after the ceremony.

"You have a very strong claim, Your Grace," Selmy pointed out at the news.

"Even without the possibility of a marriage alliance," Vaegon replied. "I wouldn't trade the world. The Seven Kingdoms will accept us as we are."

"They will, when they see us on dragon-back," Daenerys smirked.

Drokar chirped in agreement.

HIZDAHR made another appearance to beseech the king and lucky for him, Vaegon was of high spirits. He now had two wives, two women he loved dearly and one carried his heir in her belly. Yet, he would not be able to include Daenerys. She would remain as one of his wives secretly, at least for the time being, for she would soon take part in a farse marriage with the man that now stood before Vaegon at the dais.

"Your Grace," the Mereneese noble greeted Vaegon from where he stood. "Good morning."

Vaegon nodded in greeting, offering a slight smile. "Hizdahr."

"You seem well," the nobleman remarked casually, perhaps the break the ice for the true reason he was there: for the fighting pits.

Vaegon was in high spirits. Of course he was. How now had two beautiful woman as his wives, who he'd lied with many times the night prior and the days that had followed their wedding ceremony. He had an heir on the way. Despite the tensions of the city of Mereen, he still found reasons to be cheerful.

"I am," he nodded. He glanced to Raina, who was seated at his side. "I had taken a wife. My queen. And she carries my heir."

Daenerys was not present, but she did not need to be. She would not be angered for the farce that Vaegon was displaying by not claiming her publicly as his wife as well. She knew her part and what she would play, and play it well she would. When she would 'marry' the man standing before Vaegon. A decision he'd only been willing to make for the sake of dampening the rebel movement.

Hizdahr looked to Raina, dipping his head in respect. "Congratulations, Your Grace. Mereen will flourish with a queen. I will be sure to pray for the health of the babe as well."

Raina returned his words with a silent dip of her head and a small smile, her movements regal like the queen she now was. She'd often been able to convey words without a single one leaving her lips.

"You did not come here for simple pleasantries this morning," Vaegon pointed out, frank with his words. "So speak. Tell me why you are here."

Hizdahr cleared his throat, as if preparing himself. "I have come to you before, Your Grace, on the subject of attending the opening of the pits. I come again for it. Just three days from now is the traditional beginning of the fighting season."

"I've already told you my answer," Vaegon replied in annoyance. He'd been willing to allow for the pits to reopen, but hadn't agreed to being present. It had been hard enough to allow the former. He didn't free the enslaved of Dragon's Bay to falsely relish in the fighting of those still in bondage.

"I know," the nobleman replied. "But being present for the fighting season would be beneficial to you. The citizens seeing that their king supports their traditions would garner more favor." He gestured in emphasis. "The pits are one of the few things that can bring this city back together and your presence would send a message. Especially with the unrest that you are facing against the Son's of the Harpy."

Vaegon weighed his options. If he played this right, overcame his distaste for the forced flighting of the pits and chose to be present during the opening day of the so-called festivities, he could give the right message to the citizens of the city. Perhaps stifle the motives of the rebels, if they weren't already too far gone.

Vaegon cleared his throat as he rose to his feet and left Raina's side where she had been seated on the edge of the throne, his hands clasping behind his back in a casual gesture. He descended the steps of the dais to stand before the Mereneese noble, who he was a head taller than. His height would perhaps play into the intimidation he needed, not that the man had any right to refuse the orders of the king.

Word had spread quickly of Vaegon's prowess in battle after Yunkai. Many supplicants had rightfully been weary upon standing before him.

"You will marry Daenerys. And will be present to the public alongside her on opening day with my queen and I," he stated firmly. In a way that suggested the noble had no say. Which he didn't. "It will symbolize the unification between my house and the free cities of the Bay of Dragons. The people will see that I respect their traditions and hope to garner trust. And hopefully we will gain that trust by doing so."

Hizdahr looked bewildered, confused by the king's order. "Your Grace, I wasn't aware I was worthy of taking the Princess Daenerys to wife."

"You're not," Vaegon replied bluntly with a shrug of his shoulders, making no effort to protect the man from his harsh words as his head tilted back in a manner that would command intimidation. His violet eyes gleamed with challenge. "But you will play this role in service to your king. Or perhaps the dragons might convince you otherwise."

The threat seemed to merely top the respect that Vaegon's words commanded, the authority that radiated off of him where he stood uncomfortably close to the noble. Hizdahr must have felt it, as he shuffled nervously from one foot to the other.

"Of course, Your Grace. I would be honored." His words came out meekly. As if his mere proximity to the king meant he was in danger. Perhaps he was, if the wrong words were spoken.

Vaegon's cold stone expression simply disappeared with a strange smile that seemingly borderlines on crazy. "Good. We will have the ceremony on the morrow."

Vaegon turned heel, climbing the steps of the dais and finding his place back on the throne. Once seated, he swatted his hand in a shooing gesture. "Leave us."

The king watched as the noble quickly dismissed himself from the throne room, flanked by two Unsullied to be escorted from the pyramid. Once gone, he turned to Raina, who still remained at his side.

Pulling her by her hips to sit on his lap, she allowed him, taking a seat as his hand remained resting on her waist. Her arm wrapped around him, her hand resting on his opposite shoulder.

"Surely once this nonsense has been dealt with, we can finally sail for Westeros," she murmured, her brown eyes looking down. To her belly, which was beginning to slightly peak out against the soft fabric of her blue summer dress. "I bore of these trivial battle of whether enslaving humans is correct or not."

"If we can ensure the rebels won't take back the city the moment we set sail, perhaps," he tells his queen. He ran soft circles along her side with his thumb. "I know that Selmy claims we could take King's Landing with the Unsullied and the Second Sons, but I'm not sure I trust it. I want the dragons to play their part, but Rhaellor is still missing."

Raina sighed. Her hand snaked to the back of his head, where she began to affectionately run her fingers through his short silver hair. "He will return. He's already shown himself once. Perhaps his return is on the horizon."

Vaegon wanted to believe her. That his mount would return. Seeing his wives with their dragons in the weeks past had been hard, his longing to finally be upon Rhaellor's back and in the sky eating away at him. He tried his best to reassure himself he'd be there soon.

"How will we leave with Daenerys if she is to 'marry' him?" Raina asked in all seriousness with a change of subject, looking to him with concern.

Vaegon pursed his lips. "You don't worry about that, love. I'll handle it."

The king had always been good at handling his challenges when facing him. The Mereneese nobleman would be no different once he'd served his purpose.

Note:
I honestly can't remember if I added the scene that Hizdahr asked for the pits to be open where Vaegon disagrees to attending the opening day so please ignore that if you see any discrepancies lol