His mother did not like the fact he was joining his father's war, nor did his sister, for different reason's and in truth neither did he. But unfortunately, his father had seen the advantages of having Seafoam join them. Having an aquatic dragon in a naval battle was better than having a fire one. Now he had to join a damnable war he wanted nothing to with, at least he would see his family again.
The war had started over year ago, but his father had only sent word for him to join him, and his mother, in their conquest with 'The Sea Dragon' and half of the leftover fleet stationed to protect Driftmark and the neighboring waters. He handed the position of Castellan to his uncle, and his father youngest brother, Maeryn Velaryon. The man had gotten injured during a tourney when he was younger and had a crippled leg. His eldest son's were already fighting in the war with Laevon's father and only he and his youngest stayed on the island.
Laevon was more than happy to leave Driftmark, he had been feeling bogged down having to stay on the island and ensure to its management. He had not slacked on his job, but his duties had prevented him from taking to the sea's, training in the yard, swimming with Seafoam, and a multitude of his other hobbies. His body craved to be in the water, free from the restrictions of the land. The cool feeling on the skin, the weightlessness, the freedom, it called to every strand in his body. He would have it now, just not in the way he wanted.
It had taken his another two moons after receiving the letter to get his the men and ships together and then another week before they finally arrived at the stepstones. His parents and Daemon had managed to secure a few islands in their initial strike but the Triarchy had responded quickly and stopped their advances, the Crabfeeder giving his father a run for the title as best Sailor. They still held the advantage, but it was quickly becoming more and more a deadlock. He and the others knew it would only be a matter of time before they became too entrenched in these islands. It was why he had been called, he had just the weapon to change this.
His ship was the first to make land, having used her tremendous speed to get ahead. The modest fleet of twenty-five were still a few hours behind him. He was not worried about an ambush or anything of the sort, Seafoam has already checked to see if any enemy ships were in the vicinity. The sea dragon could move in water faster than dragons could fly, and it did not take her a long time to check the area around them for a days journey.
As he disembarked he could see his family standing at the make shift dock, his mother, father and cousin, Prince Daemon stood at the front, the lesser branches of the family behind them.
He smiled at them as he made his way down, as mile that was returned.
"Mother, Father, I have come as instructed." he said as he stood in front of them
"It is good to see a fresh face, my son. You have grown!" his father said as he patted his shoulder taking a deep look at him. The man pulled him into a deep hug his larger frame encompassing him. He returned the hug.
His father soon stepped back and his mother approached, she look at him with eyes that were full of apprehension, frustration, relief, and happiness. She had written him multiple times telling him to refuse his fathers summons to personally come; stating multiple valid reason's, like his age, lack of experience and inability to fly. All of them were very good reasons to say no, but he was not a coward and would not say no to a summons from his lord, even if the Lord was his father. Not when he felt he had the key to shift the tides of the battle.
"I am glad you made it safely, my son." she said
"Your presence has been missed deeply at Driftmark mother, my brother and sister miss you, both of you, so much. They have sent letters for the both of you to read." he said as he hugged the woman.
"We will read them when their is time." his father said, before motioning him to the Prince beside him. "Laevon, meet the younger brother of His Grace, Prince Daemon Targaryen."
"It seems I have finally been noticed. I was starting to think I had become see-through." the prince joked, but Laveon could see that the lack of acknowledgment had bugged the man.
Laevon looked the man in the eyes for a few seconds, the older man exuded the arrogance of someone who had never been denied or told no. The superiority complex just oozed of of him, like slime.
"Apologies my Prince, I did not mean you any slight." he said with a small bow "I was only excited to see my parents."
"You are only a green boy, I did not expect much to begin with." the prince replied before turning to Corlys "Now that we are done playing family, meet me in commanders tent in at noon Lord Corlys, I have received important news. We still have a war to win." and with that the Daemon was on his way, cutting through the small crowd who parted for him.
He watched the man walk away, the insult playing over in his head. It was only when the man was out of sight that he felt his father hands on his shoulder's. The man sighed before he spoke
"Do not let Daemon's words bother you. If you show any weakness he will just do it more. Let it wash over you like the waves and he will stop, eventually." the man patted his pauldrons "Come, greet the rest of your family. Afterwards, you will sup with us and tell us how things are in Driftmark. Your letters are detailed enough, but hearing it from the dragon's mouth it best."
"Yes father" he nodded and flanked by his parents he spoke to the rest of his family.
It was a few hours later, about an hour before noon and the commander's meeting began that he finally had time to himself. His father had personally shown him to his tent where he and his men were stationed. He was currently pouring over his map, pinching and pulling the map to see the different islands and their locations. He had been through the stepstones about ten times before his fathers war and after he got his ship, and had visited many islands during that time. He had always managed to avoid or outpace pirate with his ship. He had all the islands that were close to the coasts of Dorne and Myr and some of the more interior islands. The only space he was majorly lacking in were the more central islands where the pirates presence was more severe.
One the map their was a small drawing of a white Sea Dragon that was moving relatively slowly. The Dragon was more than a days trip away from the island. He had sent Seafoam out to explore the surrounding area, knowing that whatever she saw would update on the map, for as long as she was in a decent range of it. So far nothing of note had showed up.
What he held now was okay but it would not be enough for what he wanted to accomplish. He was pulled from his thoughts when a knight peaked his head through the flap. He was, Harold, if his mind remembered correctly; one of the two knights currently assigned to guard his tent.
"My Lord, their are some people who want to speak to you. They claim friendship." the knight said
"How many?" he asked looking up from the map
"Three, my Lord"
Laevon smiled "Let them in, Harold"
Aelor nodded and pulled from the tent and a few seconds later three individuals walked in, each of the notably of Valyrian descent. Two boys and one girl. They walked in lacking the tension that most lowborn would have meeting a highborn. Laevon smiled at his friends and waved them over.
"You lords sure do go all out." Mago whistled as he took Laevon's tent in.
Mago was a shepherds son, a forth son to boot. He was large, giant even, standing over six and a half feet tall and he was only two years older than Laevon. Laevon had found the man during one of his many trips to Braavos, where the man had been looking for an apprenticeship at one of the harbors. Laevon had made some promises to him and he had been under his wing ever since. It had been just over a year since he had joined.
"When you have the ability, you might as well show off. Who doesn't want to live in comfort?" Laevon replied he leaned back into his seat.
"It is good to see you comfortable my lord." the other man, Syrio, said as he took one of the free seats. Syrio was a disgraced merchants son who had a talent for the sword and had come to Driftmark to become a squire. Laevon had brought him into his inner circle after watching him best some of the lesser skilled knights in the yard.
"I am only truly comfortable in the sea, Syrio. This-" he waved around the room "Is merely convenience for me. It shows my status to others, that is all that matters." he finished.
"Status this, status that. Don't you lords get tired of the cock measuring?" Elaeyns, the only girl in their group replied. She had sashayed up to the table and looked down at the map "What are we looking at here, my lord" she said in a mocking tone.
Laevon only gave a sly smile. Elaeyns was the only one of the three that came from some type of significant background, she was the daughter of the Pirate King Sorren of the Basilisk Isles. She had run away a few years ago and had found herself into slavery in Lys. She had been put with the more valuable slaves, given her stunning looks. The girl embodied the Valyrian features almost as well as he did, and he knew he was the absolute peak.
Laevon had brought her on a trip to Volantis after finding about her heritage, planning on using her to make inroads with her father. But the plan had been squashed when he saw what her mind had to offer. The girl could read the waves better than she could read and she sniffed out storm from days away. After she had been taught to read or write her genius began to show even more. Everyday it seemed she picked up a new skill. She had a mouth on her but it was worth keeping her around. Outside of her mind, it was doubly impossible to take her back, as he had already bedded her. Elaenys was a few years his elder and had been in his entourage for the longest of the group.
"Will you ever learn to watch your tongue?" he asked with a raised eyebrow
"Last time I checked, you enjoyed my tongue. Should I regail us of your words. *ohh, Elle keep g-*"
He quickly reached up and covered her, she still continued by making mock moans. The other two laughed at his misery.
"I do not think it is necessary, Elle" he said through gritted teeth, doing his best to stop the flush rising to his cheek. "I would prefer we keep private matters private."
She winked at him and licked his hands causing him to pull back in disgust. "Well, don't ask me to mind my tongue then, my lord. I know when and where to speak." she said.
Mago walked to the opposite side of the room and brought three chairs for each of them to sit in. Syrio grabbed tray with cups and a pitcher of wine. He poured one for Laevon and himself and sat it down. The others poured for themselves. The three took their seats and turn their eyes to him expectantly.
"How are things with the crew, Syrio" he asked, swirling the metal cup.
"Everyone has been settled in the surrounding area. Everything is organized to your specification and latrines are being built as we speak. Though the Driftmark reserve fleet have been...difficult. I do not think they are happy to still be lead by 'A bunch of green boy's' as they like to say." Syrio reported, his tone was neutral but Laevon could see the tick of annoyance on the man's face.
Syrio was his Quartermaster. It had been between him and Elaenys on who would take the position when he got his ship. Syrio had won out given his calmer head, even if he lacked the sailing experience of Elaenys. He was able to speak to the men in a way that Laevon could not and Elaenys was incapable of doing. He had a knack of calming people down from the ledge and his skill with the swords kept any challengers at bay. Mago was not the type of man to manage people so he had been passed over, his talents lay elsewhere. In the end, Mago became his Boatswain and Elaenys his Sailing Master. Both excelled at their position.
"I am sure they will get over it, maybe come to enjoy in the next coming days. Let me know if any get too out of hand." He said, he continued to swirl his cup.
"I'll crack some skulls if you need it my lord, just say the word." Mago said, after downing his cup and slamming it on the table "It has been a long time since I was able to crack heads on The Sea Dragon" the man said
"You don't get to 'crack heads' because delivering punishment is not your job. It is mine and it is one that I am perfectly capable of handling. I would advise you to not overstep." Syrio said looking the larger man in his eyes.
Mago matched the gaze for a few seconds before huffing and filling his cup again. Laevon wanted to laugh at the interaction, but he could understand why Mago gave in. Syrio might be the shortest of their group, Elaenys barely beating him out by a half inch, he was by far the most deadliest. Mago had become a fierce and deadly warrior over the years he had been in Lavon's service, but Syrio's skill was unnatural. He moved with cat like grace but struck with a fierceness of a bull. Laevon was the only one who could match the man in a sparring match and maybe even win a few bouts, but in a real to the death fight? He was not confident.
"Stop measuring cocks, both ya do nun but laze 'round any way." Elaenys took a drink from her cup "We came here for a reasons. Laevy, what's the battle plan?" she asked him.
The eyes in the room turned to him and he could only shrug. "I do not know, the commanders meeting has not taken place yet. We know just as much as we do about the war as we did when we left. Seafoam is exploring the surrounding area." He looked down at the map and sure enough there was the form of a white Sea dragon slowly moving about the island. She was swimming back to the Island, taking a different route this time. It would be a few hours before she returned he planned to go see when she did.
"A smart that, I don't think the winged ones can follow directions like her." Mago said as he eyed the map with interest.
"They cannot, I've been lucky (or cursed) to see the Dragon's with a rider on Dragonstone when my father still had his good name. They do not due much without their rides instructions." Syrio added, his eyes locked on the map too.
The other two looked at him for confirmation, to which he nodded "Syrio has the gist of it. Except they do do things, just not anything one would call productive. Not like Seafoam." he shared
"Why is she so special?" Eleanys asked "besides, you know" she then wiggled her body mimicked the snake like shape of a snake.
Laevon shrugged his shoulders, he had an idea of why but it was only a theory. Still unproven and likely to remain so, at least until their were more Sea Dragons around. "I have my guesses but i do not know." was all that he said.
The conversation then moved on too other things. He soon lost interest and stared into his cup of wine. He had not drank from it yet, wine had started to not sit well with his stomach. He was not too sure but he was fairly sure he had developed a minor allergy to grapes, or some other substance in the wine. Given it was all their was to drink besides the northern swill they called mead, he was in a bad situation. He had been surviving just fine off alcohol laced casks filled with rain water, but he had begun to crave some flavor in his drinks. Just drinking water all the time, no matter how much fruit he squeezed into it, was dreadful. He would have to find a solution soon.
"My Lord" Harold's voice called out.
Laevon turned to see the head of the knight peak in again, he raised his eyebrow at the man.
"Runner, the meeting is starting." Harold said.
Laevon nodded his head and stood. he smoothed his clothing as he spoke to his followers, "It will likely run late, we will meet first light on the morrow to discuss. For now, retire to your tents and prepare."
After receiving their confirmations he nodded and left the tent heading towards the center of the camp where the commander's tent was. He could hear the clinking of armor as Harold followed behind him. The other knight would stay behind and continue to guard his tent.