Chapter 117: An Invitation from the Slave Masters
Leaning against Drogon's massive, warm neck, Daenerys gently stroked the jagged bone spurs along his cheeks, then glanced at Rhaegal and Viserion resting a short distance away.
She found herself thinking back to the moment the three dragons had first been born. In the blink of an eye, they had grown so enormous.
Drogon, in particular, had given her surprises far beyond anything she could have imagined—some wondrous, some terrifying. Not only could he shrink down and remain by her side at all times, he had now transformed into a four-limbed dragon, a creature that had never appeared in Valyrian history.
As she reminisced, Daenerys softly recounted amusing stories from the dragons' infancy. Yet she received very few mental responses from Drogon. She clearly remembered how he used to interject with the occasional strange thought, out of nowhere.
She didn't know why his mental voice had grown so faint. Fortunately, she had discovered his secret—his ability to recognize Valyrian script. Otherwise, communicating with him at all would have become difficult.
Her gaze drifted to Drogon's new forelimbs.
It seemed she would have to teach him how to write all over again. With proper forelimbs now, he certainly wouldn't be using his hind legs to write anymore.
As she toyed with his forelimbs, Daenerys suddenly noticed something else—his new forelimbs had five digits, just like human hands. Looking more closely, she realized that his hind claws had also gained an extra talon.
This should make learning to write much easier, she thought happily.
This time, Drogon probably wouldn't grow sleepy so quickly. His previous drowsiness must have been a symptom of his impending transformation—otherwise he wouldn't have fallen into such a deep sleep right after practicing writing.
Seeing his dragon-mother fiddling with his claws, Drogon immediately understood what she was planning. Still, being taught how to write by her in his spare time didn't seem so bad. After all, he had no intention of using a pen every day.
After playing with his claws for a bit longer, Daenerys leaned back against Drogon's neck and, without realizing it, drifted off to sleep.
Sensing her breathing grow steady, Drogon knew just how badly his transformation had frightened her. Now that she had seen he was safe, she had finally been able to relax.
He himself was hungry and had been considering sending Rhaegal and Viserion to steal a few more sheep. But seeing Daenerys asleep against him, he didn't dare move. Instead, he lay quietly in the grass, slowly recovering his strength.
Across the river, Jorah and the others had initially heard Daenerys crying faintly. Later, they saw her nestle against Drogon and remain still.
As time passed and she still didn't move, their worry turned into speculation—perhaps she had fallen asleep. Since Drogon and the other two dragons remained calm and motionless as well, they gradually relaxed.
Two hours later, Daenerys slowly opened her eyes and realized she was still leaning against Drogon.
Only then did she understand that she had fallen asleep without even noticing.
Seeing Jorah and the others still waiting on the far bank of the river, Daenerys quickly stood and said,
"Drogon, I'll head back now. Take good care of yourself and recover properly. I'll come see you again tomorrow."
Drogon, who had also dozed for a while, gently nodded at her words. He called softly to Rhaegal, signaling her to carry his dragon-mother across the river.
Reluctantly bidding Drogon farewell, Daenerys crossed to the opposite bank and briefly explained his condition to Jorah and the others. She only said that Drogon had undergone a transformation, deliberately not mentioning the fact that he had grown two additional limbs—there would be plenty of time for them to see that with their own eyes.
Hearing that Drogon was safe, everyone finally relaxed. Drogon was not only Queen Daenerys's greatest source of strength, but also the dragon dearest to her heart.
If anything had truly happened to him, it would not only mean the loss of Daenerys's strongest weapon—they feared even more that she might never recover from such a blow. They all knew exactly what Drogon meant to her.
After Daenerys left, Drogon had Rhaegal and Viserion continue flying to the grasslands to steal sheep for him. He kept eating to speed up his recovery.
He consumed several more sheep in intervals and finally fell into a deep sleep as night came.
When he woke the next morning, Drogon immediately felt much better. Lowering his head to examine the wounds on his chest, he saw that scabs had already begun to form. Elsewhere, there were no obvious injuries left, and new scales were close to covering his entire body.
To help the wounds around his forelimbs heal faster, Drogon avoided unnecessary movement. As before, he had his little brother and sister fetch food for him.
That afternoon, Daenerys returned with her guards. She checked the injuries on his chest, talked with him for a while, and then left again.
Before departing, she told Drogon that she might not have time to visit the next day. Hizdahr zo Loraq was inviting her, on behalf of the Great Masters of Meereen, to attend the gladiatorial games.
Hizdahr had previously extended similar invitations, all of which she had declined, claiming to be too busy.
After liberating Meereen, she had closed the fighting pits entirely. Only after Hizdahr's repeated pleas had she allowed them to reopen.
On one hand, she refused to let the Great Masters continue taking pleasure in the deaths of slaves. On the other, she simply despised blood sport fought to the death.
After the Meereenese unrest, Jorah and the others had advised her to attend at least one match. Doing so would help win over the former slave-masters of Slaver's Bay.
The audience would include not only the Great Masters of Meereen, but also the Good Masters of Astapor and the Wise Masters of Yunkai.
If Daenerys accepted the invitation and watched the ancient Meereenese arena games, it would signal her recognition of Meereen, of Slaver's Bay itself—an important step toward integration and long-term rule.
This time was the arena's end-of-month final, far more significant than usual. After confirming that Drogon was not in serious danger, Daenerys decided to attend.
Drogon himself had long wanted to visit the fighting pits and experience that blood-pumping atmosphere. But since his dragon-mother had always refused, he had never gone.
Now she was finally going—and he was the one who couldn't.
If he insisted, he could still attend in his adult form, so long as he avoided using his forelimbs. The problem was that if he appeared at the arena at full size, no one would be watching the combat anymore—they would all be staring at him.
Only by going in his juvenile form could he truly watch the games.
Judging by how his wounds were healing, whether he could go the next day was still uncertain.
Shortly after Daenerys left, Drogon recalled something troubling—the Sons of the Harpy had once launched an attack in the fighting pits.
This time, however, he doubted they would dare try again.
During the previous ambush on Grey Worm and the others, Drogon had killed many of their members. Hundreds more had been captured and interrogated, exposing the families behind them. Jorah and the others had wiped out several of their strongholds, dealing the organization a devastating blow.
Even for an organization as resilient as the Sons of the Harpy, mounting another major attack in such a short time would be extremely difficult.
Still, with Daenerys and her councillors' lives at stake, Drogon refused to take chances. He decided that no matter how his injuries healed, he would go and take a look the next day.
After Daenerys returned to the city, Grey Worm and Jorah immediately began preparations for her visit to the arena.
Security would be significantly tightened. After the last Harpy attack, defenses around both Daenerys and the Great Pyramid had already been reinforced.
At her side would be Barristan Selmy of the Queensguard, as well as two of her bloodriders—Rakharo and Aggo—who had returned to serve their khaleesi.
The third bloodrider, Kovarro, acted as the ko of Daenerys's small khalasar, leading the remaining Dothraki.
---