Rhaego : The Child of Ashes

Chapter 79: The Weight of Distance

Far from Westeros, the wind never truly left Meereen.

The top of the Great Pyramid of Meereen was wrapped in the cool hush of night. Daenerys Targaryen stood alone on the broad marble terrace, the wind tugging gently at her silver-gold hair.

Far below, the city sprawled like a dark sea dotted with flickering torchlight. Somewhere out there, the Sons of the Harpy still lurked in the shadows, waiting for weakness.

She held the letter from Sunspear in her hands. It was already worn from how many times she had read it.

Rhaego is safe.

The words should have brought her peace. Instead, they stirred a storm inside her chest, relief so sharp it hurt, tangled with fear, frustration, and a mother’s helpless ache.

My son is halfway across the world, she thought, with allies I have never met in person. With people who once suffered greatly for my family... and may expect repayment.

Dany closed her eyes, letting the night wind brush across her face.

She trusts Oberyn.

She even trusted Doran’s careful words to some extent in his letter. But Rhaego was her blood, her only living child. The idea of him being so far away, making decisions that could shape their future without her, left her restless.

Slow news did not soften the truth, it sharpened it. Each day between messages stretched the imagination further than reality could safely hold.

Each day added possibility where certainty should have been.

The sound of soft footsteps behind her made her turn. Oberyn Martell approached, his scarlet robes whispering against the marble. In one hand he carried two cups of wine.

"You should be sleeping, Your Grace," he said lightly. "Queens who do not rest make poor decisions."

Dany gave him a tired smile as he handed her one of the cups.

"I doubt sleep would find me tonight, Prince Oberyn. Not after this." She lifted the letter slightly.

"Prince Doran says Rhaego is safe. That he is... making alliances."

Oberyn leaned against the balustrade beside her, gazing out over the darkened city.

"My brother is many things," he said, "but he does not lie about matters concerning family. If he says the boy is safe, then he is safe. For now."

Dany took a small sip of the strong, spiced wine.

"He is only a boy," she murmured.

"Yet he crossed the sea and is now running around with Arianne Martell trying to win allies for me." A soft, pained laugh escaped her. freewebnøvel.com

"Sometimes I forget how much fire he carries."

Oberyn chuckled quietly.

"He is your son. Fire was always going to be in his blood. And from what little I saw of him before he left, he has a good head on his shoulders. Stubborn. Thoughtful. He won’t let anything happen to himself easily."

Daenerys looked back out over Meereen, her fingers tightening around the parchment until the edges crumpled.

"I should be there," she said quietly, almost to herself.

"In Westeros?" Oberyn asked.

"In Dorne," she corrected, her voice tightening.

Oberyn snorted.

"If every worried mother crossed the world to watch her child, half the kingdoms of Westeros would be empty."

Daenerys shot him an unamused look.

"I am serious."

"As am I."

Oberyn studied her for a long moment, the night wind stirring the scarlet robes around his shoulders. Torchlight from the city below painted faint red reflections across his sharp features.

"You think presence guarantees safety," he said gently.

"I think absence guarantees nothing," Dany replied, a trace of frustration bleeding into her words.

Oberyn inclined his head, conceding the point. freeweɓnøvel.com

"That is closer to the truth," he admitted. "But still not the same thing."

A long silence settled between them. The wind moved through the broken edges of the pyramid’s upper levels like a voice without language, carrying the distant murmur of the city, shouts, laughter, the low rumble of her dragons shifting restlessly in their pens far below.

Oberyn spoke again, his tone careful but firm.

"You are thinking like a mother."

Daenerys turned sharply toward him.

"And I should not?"

"You should," Oberyn said, meeting her gaze without flinching.

"But not only like one."

The words landed more heavily than any open criticism could have. Daenerys looked away, staring out across the sprawling darkness of Meereen. The city she had taken in fire and blood still felt fragile beneath her feet, like a beast that might turn on her at any moment.

"I keep thinking I should go to him," she admitted. "Take Drogon and fly west. Bring him home."

Oberyn was silent for a moment, then spoke gently but firmly.

"You know that would be a mistake."

She looked at him sharply.

Oberyn stepped closer to the edge of the terrace, looking down at the flickering lights below as though weighing the entire city in his mind.

"This city is still alive because you are here," he said.

"Not because it is healed. Not because it is safe. Because you are holding it together by will alone." He turned slightly toward her.

"And will is not infinite, Your Grace."

Daenerys’s voice grew quieter.

"You are telling me to ignore him."

"I am telling you not to disappear into him," Oberyn replied softly.

"I have known your son only for a few short months. But I know boys like him. They do not survive because their mothers abandon their kingdoms for them. And kingdoms do not survive because mothers abandon their sons for them."

A faint, dry smile touched his lips.

"It is an unpleasant problem, I admit."

For a moment, Daenerys said nothing. The wind tugged at her silver-gold hair, carrying the faint scent of smoke and spices from the city below.

Oberyn met her gaze without flinching.

"Meereen is still bleeding, Your Grace. The Harpy’s Sons grow bolder every week. The masters grumble in their pyramids. The freedmen grow restless. If you leave now, everything you have built here could collapse within a moon’s turn. Your son is safe with my brother and niece. Let him do what he believes he must. Trust him, as you are asking others to trust you."

Dany’s fingers tightened around the cup.

"He is my only child, Oberyn."

"And you are his mother and his queen," Oberyn replied.

"The boy knows that. The best thing you can do for him right now is to hold Meereen. Make it strong. So that when the time comes to sail west, you do not sail alone and desperate."

"If it were your child," she asked at last, "what would you do?"

Oberyn did not hesitate.

"I would not abandon my city to chase what I already fear," he said.

"And I would not assume that distance means helplessness."

Daenerys exhaled slowly, some of the tension easing from her shoulders. Below them, Meereen shifted and breathed in the night alive, fragile, and still hers.

"I feel as though I am being pulled in too many directions," she admitted.

Oberyn nodded once, understanding.

"That," he said simply, "is what it means to rule."

A long silence settled again, but this one felt different. Less sharp. Less consuming.

Not resolved.

But steadier.

A long silence stretched between them.

Finally, Dany exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving her shoulders.

"You speak wisely, as always."

Oberyn smiled, though there was a fierce glint in his eyes.

"I have waited many years for vengeance. I can wait a little longer. And so can you. Your son is playing the game now. Let him play it well."

Daenerys turned her gaze back toward the west, beyond the city, beyond the sea.

Come back to me safely, my sweet boy, she thought. And when you do... we will face this world together.

The night wind carried the distant sounds of Meereen, the cries, songs, the low rumble of her dragons in their pens. For now, she would stay.

For now, she would rule.

And for the first time that day, she did not feel as though she stood at the edge of collapse.

Only at the edge of choice.