Princess Rhaenys's first class was held that very same afternoon. She entered Maester Luwin's solar after knocking politely and receiving permission to enter.
She carried several sheets of parchment and quills, which she laid upon the table before taking the seat the Maester indicated.
"Thank you for accepting Father's request, Maester," Rhaenys said with poise. She looked up at him, her purple eyes a vivid reminder of the Targaryen blood flowing through her veins.
"It is my pleasure to have the opportunity to teach you, Princess," Maester Luwin replied. "With what subject should we begin your lessons?"
"I wish to know of Nightshade, or Goldmere, as you may call it," she answered after a thoughtful silence.
"I assume you must know more of Nightshade than I or any other person in the Seven Kingdoms," Luwin said, curious. He assumed the daughter of a Nightshade Knight would be well-versed in his home's lore.
"I wish to know what most people here think and know of Nightshade," Rhaenys clarified with a small shrug.
The Maester chuckled. "How about I start with the first legend of these lands known to the Seven Kingdoms? There may be details even you do not know." He received an eager nod in response.
"You see, the lands the Seven Kingdoms occupy are called Westeros because, for thousands of years, they were considered the western edge of the world," the Maester began, leaning his elbow on the armrest of his chair. "Any ship that sailed west of these lands never returned. Until... one did." He raised a single finger for emphasis.
"An Ironborn ship. The crew claimed they saw a dense fog and a land beyond it, but nothing else. They did not even remember how they had returned to their own shores," he whispered mysteriously.
"There are conflicting records from the centuries that followed. They say the Ironborn sent more ships in that direction. Most returned empty-handed, though records from the Citadel hint that any salt wives or thralls aboard did not return from the journey." The Maester then retrieved a scroll from a nearby shelf.
"The first person who traveled there and returned unharmed and of sound mind was Aegon the Conqueror." He pointed to a passage on the aged parchment.
"When the Conqueror came back from lands wrapped in mystery, he bore two gifts and no words to explain them. One, a talisman, he set before Queen Rhaenys. The other, a silver coin, he gave to Queen Visenya, and the realm would long remember which hands had received them." The Maester read from the scroll.
Rhaenys was completely captivated, hanging onto every word with a bright shine in her eyes.
"It is said the talisman saved Queen Rhaenys and her dragon's life in Dorne, where it was destroyed in the process. Queen Visenya's coin, however, has been passed down through the family. It was last recorded to be in the possession of Queen Rhaella Targaryen," Maester Luwin explained, pointing to the crude illustrations of the talisman and the coin.
The coin's image was simple; a silver body with a golden sword carved into its center. The talisman's illustration was a chaotic mess of symbols from which nothing could be discerned.
"Is there a record of what the coin would do?" Rhaenys asked, her curiosity piqued.
"None in detail, Princess. There was hearsay that it possessed healing properties," the Maester said, shaking his head.
Rhaenys shrugged, showing little disappointment, and urged the Maester to continue with a look.
"There is not much else to say, Princess. There was a time the Ironborn sent an entire fleet toward Nightshade that never returned," the Maester said with a small frown.
"Then, recently, your father appeared, and during that same time, the meager trade we had with Nightshade began to increase."
He leaned back in his chair, rolling the parchment closed. "We do not even have an accurate estimation of how large Nightshade truly is," he added, gesturing to the maps scattered across his desk.
"Father told me that if you draw one straight line from Faircastle and another from the north end of the Frozen Shore, they will touch the edges of Nightshade," Rhaenys offered with a shrug.
She hopped down from her seat, glancing out the window to gauge the time.
"Thank you for your lessons, Maester. I should love to return tomorrow," she said, departing with a smile.
"Thank you, Princess," he whispered after she had gone. He immediately began tinkering with his maps, drawing lines and scribbling notes based on her description.
"Let's go see the wyverns!" Rhaenys cheered as she burst into her parents' room.
"It will be your uncle taking you there today. It will raise questions if we all go together every day," Ra told her, taking her hand.
He led her to Zeus, and she hummed a happy tune along the way. Ra had to walk with a slight bend to accommodate her height, a sight that amused several passing servants.
"Well, Uncle. Are you ready to take us for a ride?" Aegon asked Zeus. Ra had picked the boy up on the way.
"Of course. I have been looking forward to having just the three of us to make mischief," Zeus chuckled, pinching the children's cheeks.
He had procured ponies for them to maintain the ruse that he was teaching them to ride. While this lowered their travel speed, they arrived at the cave not long after departing, as Zeus had supplemented the ponies' feed with special potions and herbs.
"Do you feel any changes with the frequent flights on the wyverns?" Zeus asked as he settled both children onto their respective wyvern's backs.
"Yes. It is as if they now know what I want without me even having to say anything. The magic lessons are much easier now, too," Rhaenys said excitedly.
Her wyvern flapped its massive wings and soared into the sky without a word from her. Aegon followed suit, having felt the same intuitive shifts as he soared alongside her.
Meanwhile, Zeus channeled his magic, casting prestidigitation on the food he had prepared in case the wyverns desired a midnight meal. He watched with a grin as the children cheered, spreading their arms wide while circling the area.
"Three more years and they can live and grow in the safety of Nightshade," he muttered, waving back at Rhaenys as she waving to him from high above.
The sun had set by the time they returned to the castle, arriving just in time for dinner.
Rhaenys sat beside Ra and insisted on being fed by him because of a demand she had made in exchange for agreeing to the Maester's lessons.
She could feel Septa Mordane's disapproving look from the lower table, but she ignored it entirely.
After dinner, Ra and Zeus shared a moment to discuss their brothers and the happenings in Nightshade. Elia sat with the kids, teaching them magic and observing the differences in their casting compared to her own, caused by the wyvern influence.
"Do you know of any of our brothers who have ventured out besides us?" Ra asked, sipping the tea Zeus had brought from home.
"Hm. Skoll and Hati ventured out just one year after you," Zeus mentioned, causing Ra to raise an eyebrow. Skoll and Hati were not two separate Custodians, but one Custodian paired with a Nightshade magical beast known as a Cinder Wolf.
"Skoll did not mention that at my wedding," Ra muttered. He knew the Custodians had been busy with the children, and Ra himself had been too preoccupied with his marriage to talk much.
"Last I heard, he was in a place called Tyrosh," Zeus shrugged. He glanced at the kids, who were currently manifesting red lightning around their forms. "Are you teaching them Thunder Step, sister?"
Elia nodded. Thunder Step was an elemental, short-range teleportation spell that utilized the lightning element. Typically, the lightning generated is blue, but for the children, it was a vivid, striking red.
"Their lightning seems of a different color. Is that the only difference from the conventional spell?" Zeus asked, resting a hand on his chin.
"Their teleportation range seems unchanged. Then again, they have only just begun learning the spell. The difference I observed is that they seem capable of causing some damage with this lightning," Elia observed, casually manipulating a stray arc of red lightning between her fingers.
The lightning generated from a normal thunder step did not cause harm and was just an effect of the elemental nature of the spell.
A/n: Give me your thought on the chapter and reviews on the fic.
And.. you got any power stones? Well, hand em over then..