5Ch. 2
The two dragons, Rhaegal and Viserion, could be said to be small compared to Balerion, but they have yet to grow to their full size. Yet even at that smaller size, they are bigger than horses.
Byleth led Daenerys up on Rhaegal's back and then mounted Viserion himself.
With Rhaegal flapping his wings and lifting them up to the sky, Daenerys became the first Targaryen dragonrider in over a century.
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"Although I will keep searching for him, Drogon will come without us looking too hard for him in time."
"Are you sure?"
"I am. After all, I am his father. He can sense my blood." Byleth looked at Daenerys with a kind smile. "And you are his mother."
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"What have you been doing after The Doom? It has been almost four centuries since then, has it not?"
The two dragonriders overlooked the ocean on top of a cliff, enjoying the scenery away from Meereen.
"I have been roaming mainly Essos for the past few centuries, reclaiming all the dragon eggs that have been stolen from Valyria. Most of them have been destroyed on that day, but I have been able to recover most of my stolen children."
"Have you hatched any of them? The last known dragon before my three children were born died during Aegon III's rule, almost a century ago. People believed that dragons were extinct after then."
Byleth shook his head.
"No, I didn't want to. I was not sure if I could take care of them while hunting for their siblings' eggs. But the truth would be more closer to that I did not think that I was ready to see the remnants of Seiros." His face was blank except for the slightly narrowed eyes. "It's strange. I was married to her for such a long time and then she was just gone. Maybe I should have hatched one of our children… but compared to our human-looking children, dragons remind me so much of her."
Daenerys looked at the man with a small frown. She felt like she spent enough time around him to notice the subtle difference of painfulness marking his face, but she quickly turned her gaze back to the sea.
"I was married once, too," she said after long minutes of silence. "And I had a son as well. I didn't realize that trying to save my husband came with the consequence of sacrificing my son before he took his first breath. And even then, Drogo was never truly alive again…" She didn't want to continue but Byleth's nonjudgmental gaze made her continue. "I suffocated him. I killed him with my hands." Her expression turned into grief and shame.
"You led him to his god. You ended his suffering," Byleth said with a solemn look. "From what I hear from you, Khal Drogo was already going to die and blood magic never truly made him live again before you had to end his suffering."
"But I let it happen!" She exclaimed, the emotions of guilt and hurt and shame that she pushed down in order to lead her men and women bubbling up and spouting like lava. "I allowed the witch to do so!"
Byleth sat in silence for a moment. His lips thinned into a line. "We all make choices that we regret in our lives. Do not hide this sadness within your heart because you have to keep up a strong façade in front of your followers."
"How can you say that when you are a god? You have lived for so long and you wield so much power that the choices you make cannot be as terrible as sacrificing your son and killing your own husband."
The green-haired mercenary shook his head. "Since I lived a long life, I have made more mistakes than you will ever make in your lifetime. Before I became who am now—before when I was still somewhat human, I was a professor," he said softly. His face became expressive—sorrowful—as if he were just another human who wore his emotions on his sleeve. "It was where I met Seiros. I taught students how to fight and lead their soldiers and one of my closest students was the heir to an Empire. When her father died, she became the next Emperor but she wanted to break down the system of power that Seiros created over a millennia ago. I had to choose between Edelgard and Seiros… and I chose Seiros. So many times, I regret my choice. I killed Edelgard to stop her but the fears that she had about the system of power came true and led to the destruction of my homeland. I loved my wife, but I also cared for Edelgard. My choice led to the deaths of every person on the continent so Seiros and I left and relocated to Valyria. I always think, there must have been a way to choose them both, but I didn't."
Daenerys' eyes widened at the story that Byleth shared with her. She sat quietly, slightly embarrassed that she didn't think that he would never make a mistake in his life because he was now a god.
"There might not have been a way to choose both," she finally said solemnly.
"Yes, there might not be, but I will never know. Similarly, you will never know what happens if your son survived. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Khal Drogo would be alive either way. But even if we make a mistake, we step forward—just like you have been doing, Mother of Dragons."
A small smile graced the Targaryen Queen's lips. She nodded and they watched the waves rolling with comfortable silence.
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She has never thought that fighting could be graceful, but when Daenerys sees Byleth protecting her from the rioters in the streets of Meereen, she is mesmerized. He is as fluid as a dancer and as strong as fifty soldiers. His ivory sword is glowing in mystical orange light.
He looks like the God of War.
He looks like the God of Enchantment.
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The Mother of Dragons rode upon Drogon while Byleth rode upon Rhaegal. She didn't expect for him to jump off of Rhaegal, causing a small sound of terror escaping her lips before she saw that he was safely on Viserion's back.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Daenerys said with anger once they landed near the ground.
Byleth was taken aback at her anger and had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.
"Apologizes for scaring you, Queen Daenerys. But I will live even if I fell to the ground and the dragons are smart enough to catch me in any case."
She frowned even more deeply and looked at the man with an exasperated look.
"I don't care. You are now one of my people, god or not. Don't risk your life for stupid things, even if you have an infinite amount of it."
The mercenary blinked with a surprised expression but still nodded in understanding.
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She looks as if she was a small child caught with her hand in a jar of sweets.
"Sorry, I heard some scuffling and came in because thought that there was an intruder."
He looks back with the blank face he always has, void of any emotion. He merely holds a letter in his hand, most likely with updates on Drogon's last whereabouts.
After she composes herself, puts her dress back on, and shoos Daario out of her room, she feels something. A nagging feeling of annoyance.
She doesn't really understand it, but Daenerys thinks that it might be that she wants him to feel something when he came into her room and saw Daario with her. She pushes it away.
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A distinct jingle of armor rang out in her room.
Daenerys didn't even have to look behind her to know that it was the immortal green-haired mercenary who was able to come through the Unsullied stationed in front of her room, even with her order to not let anyone in. She even made a few of the Unsullied stationed on the ground floor, looking up at her windows to make sure Daario did not climb up to her room.
She was not in a state to let anyone talk to her right now; she would rather have Barristan alive and serving at her side.
But Byleth didn't speak to her but rather walked up to her side.
A bit of anger rose up within her—that was Barristan's place—but it quickly extinguished by the comforting silence.
The green-haired mercenary stood beside her silently until she fell asleep on her chair, and he tucked her in gently in her bed without arousing her even once.
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She doesn't care about dismissively stating that she will marry Hizdahr to Daario for political reasons but she feels almost embarrassed to say it to Byleth.
She wasn't even sleeping with the man. Why was it affecting her so much?
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She reminds him of Edelgard. The Targaryen Queen is strong, compassionate, and intelligent. Byleth feels a sense of duty to her that he never felt toward any other descendants he ran into before. This familiarity also makes him feel… guilty.
He tried to deny it but he knew the truth.
He was using Daenerys to try and undo the fact that he did not choose Edelgard all those years ago.
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