Bonds of Kinship
Thirty-First Day of the Seventh Month 293 AC
Flying can be many things—the solitary joy in mastery of the sky, the swooping thrill of the hunt, or the contemplation of deep truths once all the distractions of the earth had fallen away. On this day you find that it serves yet another purpose. There are smiles and laughter, yes, and you are glad to hear Rhaenys laugh wholeheartedly after the revelation she has shared, but that which is most precious of that day is the moment of clarity unshadowed by past or future.
As the brisk wind gusts over your scales and tangles the colorful scarves you had found for Elia and Rhaenys and the sun casts everything in sharp noon-day clarity, the conversation subtly shifts from the polite and cautious testing the waters and playing by a familiar measure to something more natural. It is almost as if the last tatters of your father's court fly away on the westerly wind, or perhaps the seabirds snatch it away when you dive close to the sea.
"...I've been helping Oberyn with the organization of the Orders of Sorcery. Much as he hates to admit it he needs the help." Your goodsister rolls her eyes in a manner familiar to elder siblings discussing the shortcomings of the younger. "Did you know he initially wanted to raise a sellsword company back when he was supposedly in exile? With the way he spends money he might have had to conquer half of Essos to pay his creditors."
"So he is not officially exiled anymore?" your mother asks, struggling a bit to be heard over the wind. A hatchling dragon's voice is not the loudest, and that is the only one she can yet assume, but she had insisted on doing so. 'It will be another way to ease Elia's mind,' she had said.
"No, it was getting too difficult to juggle that bit of mummery in addition to keeping me and Rhae hidden, so Doran arranged for his homecoming and the quiet departure of 'Wisdom Aenar'. The Tyrells grumbled of course, but they seem to busy with their own dealings to do much more than that, particularly since young Willas himself bears my brother no ill will and has been healed of his wound. Even Mace can only bellyache so far before it becomes absurd... more absurd than he usually is, I mean." From her tone it is clear your goodsister still bears the lord of Highgarden a fair measure of resentment over his failings in the war over and above the usual rivalry between the Reach and Dorne.
"Must you talk about Mace Tyrell? I know there is no danger of attracting the man up here, but it's the principle of the thing. He
would find some way to scare off the seagulls," your mother jests, setting Elia laughing.
Dany makes a questioning hiss as she completes the last of the circles and laps Rhaenys asked her to do.
"Mace Tyrell is remarkably loud when he is hunting," your mother explains. "So much so that it is practically impossible to catch anything with him along, at least rabbits and such you can set a hawk to."
"On the other hand he has been known to make boar hunting easier," Elia explains, eyes still dancing with mirth. "The boars sense a rival and attack."
"That only happened once, and it likely would have been forgotten had some minstrel not made a song about it," your mother finishes.
Strange to think about such things in your father's court, japes and laughter and brisk hunts through the Kingswood, but reasonably there must have been such instances else everyone would have gone as mad as he did in the end.
***
The five of you land under the cover of a glamour in Dragon Roost's courtyard, practically empty of soldiers now that the guards can train at the much larger Legion fields. "Alright now, I think those of us with wings have worked enough. Past time that those who don't have them walk for their supper," you announce mock seriously.
"I'm little, you can still carry
me," Rhaenys proclaims, red-cheeked and smiling. The girl's a dragon alright, not the faintest fear of flying. In fact, according to her mother, she had been more wary of being set on a pony.
"Someone else might be able to but you are too heavy for me," Dany proclaims as your mother unstraps the younger girl from Dany's back so she too can take human form.
"I could carry you..." your mother begins thoughtfully. "But then we would get to decide which way to go. It's only fair after all."
The child's eyes widen with surprise. "You mean I can choose where we go if I just walk..." She struggles out of your mother's arms. "I'm walking, I'm walking, see?"
"We do indeed see, very impressive," you say, struggling to contain a smile. "What would you like to see first?"
"The animals, the animals, I heard you had lots and all kinds, not just wolves and tigers but other stuff like giant bugs big as a horse and lizards that shoot lighting and a bull that can turn things to stone and..."
Elia clears her throat "Now Rhae, you know what I told you about how uncle Oberyn likes to tell stories sometimes..."
"He was indeed exaggerating," you admit in a carefully neutral tone. "I do not have any tigers."
That sets Rhaenys giggling for a minute straight, both at her mother's expression and in giddy anticipation of seeing so many strange things.
The trip to the Menagerie gives you and Dany the chance to share some of your more lighthearted adventures throughout the world and beyond, though for the sake of privacy you have to do it through mind-speech so as not to be overheard by the many other visitors in the midst of which the five of you have slipped in under glamour.
Just another family reuniting in Sorcerer's Deep with the locals showing around the newcomers, a disguise woven of small and simple truths.
Thankfully there are plenty of places in Mosshold for visitors to buys food also, and while it may not be as fine as you can get up at the keep it certainly provides a better view than a lonely dining hall. In fact it seems that Rhaenys is almost as fascinated by the crowds as she had been of the fantastical beasts. You end up answering as many questions on the subject of where they all come from as you do about the animals.
Finally, however, the day's excitement seems to catch up to her, her eyelids begging to fall. As she struggles against tiredness, she whispers a surprising question. "If you can't bring father back, could you at least bring back Balerion?"
"Balerion?" you ask, startled.
"He was my cat...
before." The girl looks down unable to meet your eyes "Please?"
What do you answer?
[] Accept, try to find the cat, or baring that make one that looks like her memories
-[] Write in solution
[] Refuse
-[] Write in explanation
OOC: I was sort of inclined to just go with the accept option by default, but this is an important character moment for Rhaenys, and a vote just seemed appropriate. 
]
