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(EM Vol. 2: A Wandering Melody) Chapter 49: Blood and Dreams
🕑 Added 2025-08-09 14:00:10 +0000 UTCChapter 49: Blood and Dreams
123 AC, Dragonstone
Helaena Targaryen had known since she could remember that her life would end in misery and heartbreak at the hands of her family. She often lacked clarity in her dreams, but she always understood fragments of her feelings, like knowing to be wary of Lord Larys or her Uncle Daemon, like knowing that her marriage to Aegon would not be a happy one, or that her mother would dismiss whatever concerns she had with Aegon’s behaviour.
She often tried to describe it to her family, but they never understood. It was akin to describing colours to a blind man, or the beauty of a song to a deaf man.
This ended with her not fighting her marriage despite knowing the consequences of it. She knew Aegon’s nature, much like she did most people. He was not a nice man to have as a husband, but Helaena resigned herself to it. In the end, her choices hardly mattered. She would marry Aegon, have his children while he whored and drank his way through the streets of silk, and then, they would die when Black and Green warred against one another.
And so, instead of trying to discern the tapestry around her, Helaena chose to focus on insects. They did not change too much. Their threads were simple and safe. Their desires bear to the world, not layered with ambition or emotions. They were simple in ways that relaxed her, even if she knew that her family did not understand.
But now, things were different. Helaena stared at her children, healthy and hale, and their father gently holding Jaehaera as she babbled contentedly at him, and she couldn’t help but marvel at the change a single trip could cause.
It had been a reckless decision on her part, as many of the strings untangled and changed when Rhaenyra arrived in King’s Landing and healed her father with a drop of liquid fire and light. The absolute strings had changed, and Helaena had not known that it was even possible. She had two choices: to go to Dragonstone, to meet the uncertainty that awaited her there, or simply stay in King’s Landing and be certain of her fate that always ended with Blood and Cheese, betrayal and agony.
Jaehaera released a laugh, which made Aegon chuckle, “She’s a happy child, isn’t she?”
“She loves you,” Helaena answered, her voice soft yet distant.
Aegon smiled, distracted by his daughter’s small fingers tugging at his sleeve, but Helaena wasn’t looking at them anymore. Her gaze had drifted past the room, past the moment, into the tangled web only she could see.
“She did not, before,” she murmured, barely above a whisper. “She used to cry at shadows only she could see, shadows that whispered of a fall, of cold stone and broken glass. But the threads are different now. The fall has shifted, the stone is softened, the glass reshaped.”
Aegon blinked, confused, “What are you talking about?”
Helaena didn’t answer him directly. She almost forgot that he saw the world differently. What a blessing that was, to see with one’s two eyes. Instead, she simply claimed, “I’m glad that we came here.”
Her husband set down Jaehaera and picked up his son before whispering, “I’m glad we came too.”
Oh, how things were different now. It was wonderous that only a single trip, a few moments of kindness could change. Because beneath it all, Harry Potter was a kind man, a good man.
It was odd.
She had seen what power did to most, the way people changed as they gained more power, as they craved for more. Her father, the King, was the most powerful man on the continent, but was unsuited for it. He only loved the privileges that came with the position, but disliked using his authority or his responsibilities, thrusting them towards his Hand.
Her grandfather, the Hand in question, loved the authority his post provided, and enough to endure its responsibilities without hesitation, but power had made him ruthless and uncaring, treasuring it and fearing those who would threaten it.
Then there were those like Larys Strong, where power was a game that they treasured. Helaena had long since accepted that men like him would always slither through the cracks of the world, feeding on the rot that bloomed in the dark places.
But Lord Harry… Lord Harry was something else entirely.
She could see what was beneath his jovial expressions, the warrior who wished to put down his weapon, the Maester who loved nothing more than to see the world, the Stranger who walked amongst the living, who did not wish to reap. And beneath it all, the kind man, who helped a lost girl just because he could, the man who had changed things enough that she could almost see a path that does not end in misery. Well, she could feel that it is possible, but not truly understand it.
But she could also see dangers coming, old things waking, and she couldn’t help but be curious.
She looked at the window and took a deep breath. It was almost time.
Helaena turned towards Aegon and spoke up, “Do you mind watching for them until I return?”
“Where are you going?” He asked, slightly concerned, something that she did not think was possible back in King’s Landing.
“The beach is beautiful today,” she simply answered, her voice light, almost dreamy. “And the crabs have started walking inland… they never do that unless the sea remembers something it should have forgotten.”
After a few seconds, Aegon rolled his eyes, “Just say that you want to go on a walk and look at crabs, Helaena. But sure, I don’t mind staying with them. I’ll even tell mother to leave you be if she comes to ask.”
She smiles at him in thanks, before turning and leaving the fortress her ancestors once built. She went to her room and changed her garments into something less expensive and easily walked down towards the beach.
She was a princess with the blood of the dragons, but no one recognised her. There were many people with Valyrian features on the island from before Aegon the Conqueror himself. Helaena was just a single face amongst many.
The princess arrived at the beach and continued walking towards where she knew the Potters’ manse stood. She had never been there, or knew the affairs of Dragonstone much, but she walked there decisively.
Her journey was a calm one. She almost forgot what it meant to be outside of a castle, and most importantly, far from people. There were fewer strands, just the sounds of the waves and the sea. She took a deep breath to take everything in.
She had a wonderful night’s sleep. Her nightmares had lessened, and the inevitable flames that burned everything stopped waking her up at night since her father healed. She was unsure of many paths forward, how they would end, but it was much better than knowing one’s doom.
Helaena arrived in front of the manse, which was, as the whispers claimed, molten into the hill behind it somehow. Despite meeting the sorcerer and his wife, she expected them to be holed up in their manse, playing with magic. So, when she arrived, she was surprised to see them sitting on what seemed to be very comfortable chairs near the beach, with some sort of odd circular piece of fabric attached to a wooden pole above them. Ah, they were using it to stay in the shade.
They were also drinking from some strange ball that they had cut off, while staring at the sea. As she approached, Helaena noticed that they were also wearing some odd clothes as well, vibrant ones, almost scandalous for Lady Daphne’s sake. She suppressed the urge to blush, especially as they waved at her, “Helaena! What a wonderful surprise!”
The princess walked forward towards them and noticed that there was a third chair next to them as well, also in the shade of the cloth-tree contraption. Had it been there before? She wasn’t sure.
Still, she came and sat down on the comfortable chair and smiled at them, “Hello, Lord Harry, Lady Daphne.”
The golden-haired woman gave her a warm smile and gave her one of the odd balls as well. Not wanting to be rude, Helaena took it. It was strangely furry, but not quite. Still, she saw a small tube sticking out of it, and she imitated the Potters’ act and drank some of what was inside.
Her eyes widened at the taste. It was wonderful and very refreshing.
Lord Harry chuckled at her reaction, “It’s nice, isn’t it? We learned the recipe for that drink on a small Caribbean Island. Lovely people, too.”
Helaena just nodded, focusing on drinking instead. She hadn’t known she was so thirsty after that small walk. Lady Daphne kept smiling at her and asked, “How are Jaehaerys and Jaehaera? Genetic alteration, even if it’s minimal, can be quite dangerous. There’s a reason it was heavily restricted even amongst healers, despite the oaths they swore.”
Panic spread in Helaena’s chest at that statement, “Will they be alright?”
The sorcerer waved his hand without any concern, “Not really. Complications can happen when the patients are older, and even then, only rarely. Besides, Daphne knows what she’s doing, and we’ve made sure to monitor their health in case anything happens.”
His wife, though, rolled his eyes, “You said it yourself that a mother’s intuition can surpass even the most advanced detection methods.”
“I thought we both debunked this,” the man protested, “We found that when it’s true, it’s a low-level form of divination, a prediction of the future, not an analysis of the present, which makes it unreliable.”
“Yes, but we both know that Helaena is a seer, which makes her feelings on the matter far more important.”
Lord Harry pouted, which reminded her a bit of when Aemond lost a spar when he was younger, before… before what happened in Driftmark.
Still, she barely understood half of their words, and normally, she wouldn’t truly care. However, they spoke of her children, and a surge of protectiveness surged within her, “Are my children safe?”
“Oh, sorry, Helaena. They’re completely fine. Daphne just wished to know if you have any disturbing feelings towards them. This kind of healing is quite thorough, so don’t worry, but there’s still some chance of complications in the future given the modifications to your bloodline from your ancestors. It’s a very slim chance, of course, and we will be alerted if anything happens, but if you’ve had some concerning feelings regarding them, then it would help us avoid that chance altogether.”
Helaena relaxed slightly and thought of her dreams of her children. She hadn’t seen much, only of dragons flying excitedly, with a vague feeling of happiness when she woke up. She shook her head, “Not that I recall.”
“Then everything should be fine. We’ll still keep the under observation, and the most problematic period has passed anyway. A couple of months… sorry, moons, would all but guarantee that there wouldn’t be anything to worry about.”
Helaena nodded and relaxed, taking her drink once more. A part of her wished that the Potters hadn’t said that to her. She was still worried, but if her children’s saviours claimed that they were safe, then she could trust them. After all, there was very little she could do if they wished to harm them in the first place.
Lady Daphne seemed to read her mind, “We’re sorry we worried you, but that was our first guess at you coming to see us. Your children will be fine, I promise. With that out of the way, I can’t help but wonder why it you came all this way, my dear.”
Helaena wished she could answer that clearly, but it was hard to put it into words. Still, things were a lot calmer near the manse. She wasn’t assaulted by countless threads, just the sound of the sea, and complete silence from the Potters. Now that she thought about it, this was likely the first conversation she had while completely at ease, and despite the terror she had felt before, she was glad for just being able to speak to them. It felt different. Very different indeed, and much better than her insects, even.
Back to the question at hand, she wasn’t sure how to explain what her dreams showed her. Explaining something like this in words was always difficult. She did her best to explain and spoke up, “Cold lingers. It seeps through the stone, through the scales, through the bones.”
A part of Helaena dreaded the idea that the Potters would look at her with confusion, much like her family had as well, but the recognition on their faces seemed to calm her down, “Well, I suppose I should have seen this coming. That must have been quite a painful experience to have, huh? Still, the fact that you know that means that others likely do as well. A bit concerning, but not overly so. But here, let me try something, real quick.”
He stood up and raised his finger towards Helaena’s forehead. The princess almost resisted when she noticed that his finger released a faint golden glow, but stopped herself. However, the moment it touched her forehead, she couldn’t help but shiver and sigh in relief. It was quiet, true quiet. No, she could hear the sounds of the waves, but there was something missing that made her relax. She had thought that being so far away had made her truly quiet, but it was a far cry from what she was experiencing.
She gave the sorcerer a teary smile, “Thank you! Thank you so much.”
“You’re a very gifted young woman, Helaena. Or would it be more appropriate to say that it is a curse? People have been cursed with knowledge, much like you have, and most end up succumbing to despair or simply going mad. I am, unfortunately, quite knowledgeable with divination myself, not as strong as some, but I still have a few tricks, nonetheless. I suppose it’s only right to guide you slightly on how to control it. I could probably write a book. I have a few notes on my research, not anything really structured for someone else to read, especially not a young girl with very little understanding of magic.”
Was this some sort of offence to Helaena? It sounded like one, even if it obviously wasn’t meant to be one.
Lady Daphne giggled at her expression, “He doesn’t mean it like that. I can barely understand most of Harry’s notes, and a few things go over my head completely. He writes them for himself, not for someone else to read. It’s easier to just transcribe things. It’s like asking to give a Maester’s notes on warfare tactics to a child because they learned how to swing their wooden sword well.”
Helaena nodded in agreement. That made much more sense. Lord Harry, though, seemed to recognise how his words could have been interpreted, “Ah, sorry about that. Anyway, I’m guessing that your visions guided you here. I wouldn’t recommend always listening to them, but I’ll tell you more about it during our lessons on another day. As for now, let’s show you what we’re working on at the moment.”
The man stood up and helped his wife up, followed by doing the same to Helaena, and in a blink of an eye, their clothes returned to normal. They walked back towards the manse, whose door opened on its own, and they walked towards a corridor to what seemed to be a giant room. It was completely empty, aside from a few pieces of parchment with some scribbles on them.
Lord Harry walked forward towards a small table and grabbed a small metallic medallion of a wolf’s head, and Helaena shuddered as she could feel the coldness beneath it all.
“I don’t like it,” Helaena murmured.
“A wise sentiment,” Lady Daphne commented, “The magic inside it is vile indeed.”
Lord Harry waved his hand, and glowing circles appeared, making the medallion glow. From it a strange sphere of blue magic glowed, with a few darkened tints. After a few seconds, both sections were completely separated. “We found this on our last trip. This is our first lead towards knowing what really happened to create the White Walkers. The blue glow is a natural elemental component that belongs to the world, but the black one, even if it is quite a small amount, is irregular. It’s very chaotic and silent, like someone playing every noise at once while also being silent. We have ideas, of course, but it’s better to be certain. We wanted to do that by tracking both energy signatures down, but there seems to be barriers stopping them, barriers that I don’t think we should breach. So, here is the cold you dreamt of, what do you think?”
By the time he finished speaking, most of the room was filled with glowing circles, turning with odd symbols that she did not understand, seemingly making each glowing ball grow and shrink in different ways, but nothing happened. The words left her mouth without any particular thoughts, “I don’t know.”
The Potters didn’t seem disappointed and simply shrugged and focused on the symbols moving around them, writing things in their books.
Helaena, on the other hand, kept staring at the lights for a long moment, feeling her fingers twitch. She wasn’t sure what came over her, not truly. Before she realised what she was doing, she walked towards the medallion and prepared to touch it.
Lord Harry turned towards her with concern and spoke up, “Don’t touch it, Helaena.”
But she didn’t listen. She was simply too entranced, and she pricked her thumb on its edge. She was immediately thrown back by an invisible force, and she saw both glowing balls grow very quickly. Lord Harry’s circles turned black and seemed to contain the balls, while Helaena floated down very slowly. Slowly but surely, the balls were brought back to the medallion, and Lord Harry released a loud sigh, “Seriously, what is it with you Targaryens and touching magical objects with your blood. I swear, it’s like you lot have no self-preservation. You’re lucky we had our magic circles ready to contain everything. This could have gone pretty badly.”
Helaena was shivering in fright at the experience before the man’s face softened, “You worried me, kiddo. Now, why don’t we relax for a bit? This was eventful enough.”
Lady Daphne spoke up, though, “Harry, can you project a memory of what happened real quick? I think I saw something.”
The young girl didn’t know how one would show a memory, but the sorcerer seemed to grasp it easily enough. He created some odd glowing liquid from his hand and created another blue circle. Suddenly, the entire room changed, and Helaena could see herself touching the medallion on the other side of the room. They were truly seeing the memory of the event.
She saw herself being blasted back and saw nothing really of import, but Lord Harry hummed, “I see what you mean.”
He slowed everything back and restarted the scene, this time it being extremely slow. That was until it was so slow that she saw something flash the moment she touched the medallion, specifically the black ball of magic from the medallion shifts into an odd form momentarily. It was just a single moment, before it turned back into a ball, but she saw it.
Lord Harry waved his hand, and the image grew until he looked at it specifically. It looked familiar, just what seemed to be broken towers with some mountains behind them, but she wasn’t sure where she placed it, but it seemed like her host had. He whistled impressively, “Well, I’ll be damned. Who would have thought?”
“What is it?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“Well, it looks like we’re due a trip to Valyria. What do you think, kiddo? Wanna see what’s left of your ancestral lands?”
AN: I’m really not sure of my portrayal of Helaena. She’s kinda tricky to write, and I couldn’t find much about her characterisation. I wanted to make her someone who was overwhelmed with her visions, which seemed inevitable, and who focused on insects to help ground her. Without being tormented, I wanted her to be more lucid, especially now that her visions had changed. There will be more information about how her visions work during her lessons. I would have done it here, but I think it wouldn’t have fit very well. Still, I'm pretty excited about exploring Valyria. As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
Comments
Marius Petrauskas
nice
Mauricio Perez
I wonder if Harry will be able to hear what has happened to the land, all the anger and resentment the slaves of Valyria had as well as the blood rituals that were conducted
