*
As Rhaegor spoke, the hall instantly fell silent, and the young people who had just spoken looked crestfallen, like wilted grass.
What Rhaegor said was true: the rise of the Varezes family itself relied on Vermithor and Silverwing, two dragons that had once belonged to the Targaryen family, summoned by Dragonzel. Now, however, they were opposing the Targaryen family taking Vermax.
"Big Brother, Little Jace wasn't entirely wrong about one thing." Serena pondered for a moment before speaking. Orion, beside her, obediently poured a cup of hot mulled wine with sugar cubes and nutmeg, and handed it to Serena.
"The ownership of dragons is a problem. Candlelight is in King's Landing, and Vermax is in Dragon Nest City. If we follow the agreement and allow the Targaryen family to tame Vermax, then it will be logical for our family's children to reclaim Candlelight in the future." She took a small sip of the hot wine. "But Brother, this also leaves a hidden danger. What about Vermithor and Silverwing?"
"Serena is right, Brother." Orion hurriedly added. "What if the Targaryen family believes Vermithor and Silverwing are also Targaryen dragons and wants us to allow them to tame them?"
"Are our dragons just for show?" Jacaerys said without hesitation: "Setting aside Father's great power, Brother, we can allow Vermax to be taken, due to the contract, the promise, and the friendship between the King and our family. But Vermithor is Father's dragon, and Silverwing is Uncle's dragon. We will never allow them to leave the Varezes family."
What he didn't say was that Vermithor and Silverwing were the two largest dragons in the world at that time. With them, even if circumstances changed, the Varezes family would undoubtedly remain the foremost family beneath the throne.
"Even at the cost of life?" Dan felt it was time to calm down. He said softly: "Syrax and I resonated, but as you saw, he resisted my taming. Without the help of my elder siblings, I might even have died from Syrax's dragonflame. Syrax is large, but he is just a young dragon, while Vermithor and Silverwing…"
Dan took the cup of hot mulled wine from his sister's hand, but Valenna silently took it away and returned it to Serena. The silver-haired maiden gave Dan a somewhat reproachful look, then handed him the drink that the quiet maiden had been preparing.
"Thank you, Valenna." Dan then somewhat awkwardly accepted the medicinal tea Valenna had brewed. He still had wounds from his previous attempt at dragon taming that needed treatment.
The youth drank the medicinal wine in the cup in one gulp, then continued.
"Vermithor is larger than a mountain, and Silverwing is also an old dragon. Our dragons combined would struggle to subdue them." Dan looked at everyone and stated his thoughts: "Big Brother, Little Jace, Sister, I think we should wait and see."
Jacaerys calmed down, but there was still some anger in his voice: "Dan, you are still too cautious." He was the first to state his opinion: "Brother, I will not participate in the Targaryen dragon taming."
"Neither will I." Serena said: "I agree with Dan's opinion, Brother. Family interests come first, but we will not assist the Targaryen people in taming dragons according to our family's dragon taming methods." She looked into Rhaegor's eyes, her heterochromatic eyes appearing particularly impactful at that moment.
"Brother, Father has given you the decision-making power. Make your decision."
Rhaegor looked at his younger siblings around him, and at Daniela beside him. Although she hadn't expressed an opinion, Rhaegor knew Daniela's thoughts very well.
She naturally stood on her family's side.
Rhaegor nodded, stood up, and surveyed his younger siblings before making his final decision.
"We'll go with Dan's idea." He continued: "The Targaryen family has its own dragon taming methods, and it's not appropriate for us to interfere."
While the children were enthusiastically discussing the dragon issue.
Twin Towers, Valarr's bedroom.
Since Lady Leira's passing, Valarr's bedroom had been desolate for a very long time. For a significant period, Valarr preferred to seek out his brother for drinking and conversation, or to go to Silverwing's Dragonpit to drink, rather than stay in his bedroom.
His body was already struggling to hold on.
"I never thought I wouldn't die on the battlefield in the end." Valarr lay on the bed, feeling his sunken stomach, which had become concave due to rapid weight loss. His wasting disease was very severe; his wounds would not heal and quickly ulcerated, he suffered from gout, and many other unnamed illnesses had also afflicted him, making him unable to ride a dragon and fly for a long time.
He saw Dragonzel sitting beside him, and Ray leaning against the door.
Dragonzel looked at his younger brother with a calm expression, but only Valarr and Ray knew that Dragonzel in this state was the most terrifying. You would never know which monster lurked beneath the calm, unperturbed facade of Dragonzel.
Ray still had his silver hair hanging to his shoulders, without a trace of beard. There were barely any wrinkles on his face, and his physique remained lean and strong, with little change from his youth. In fact, Rhaenyra now looked much older than him in terms of appearance alone. If others saw him, they wouldn't believe he was already fifty-two years old and had entered old age.
The youngest of the three brothers, who was merely a follower of his older brothers when they first arrived in Westeros, had now become a dragon knight who struck fear into the hearts of lords, and a great noble capable of standing on his own.
Valarr ignored his brother's expression of frustration and turned to look at his calm elder brother.
"Big Brother… I thought you could be immortal." Valarr said softly: "I didn't expect you to grow old too."
"Mortals will eventually grow old, and mortals will eventually die." Dragonzel grasped his younger brother's hand, a hint of crimson flashing in his deep purple eyes. "Valarr, you should also be able to feel it, your body…"
"I know the place where I was scratched by Silverwing's scale last time hasn't healed. I feel like there are little bugs crawling there, crawling and crawling. When I don't move, they just crawl and crawl. When I move, they seem to discover something… And my stomach, it hurts when I move. It hurts more than being hit by Silver Scorpion instructor's iron spear back then. It's continuous pain… Forget it, I'm not a child anymore, why am I telling you this?" Valarr looked at his brother and suddenly smiled: "Big Brother, Big Brother, tell me, I always feel like you're much older than me. When I was little, I listened to everything you said. But you were only older than me by a few dozen breaths, clearly."
Valarr rambled on, and Dragonzel and Ray listened in silence.
"Ray, you've grown old too." As he spoke, Valarr shifted the topic to Ray, who had been leaning against the door. "Come here… Let your brother have a good look."
Ray sighed and sat down beside Valarr: "Valarr, do you have to kill yourself?"
"The war is over," Valarr said somewhat aggrievedly, "Big Brother knows, I am a born warrior, my life is tied to the flames of war. I shouldn't die in bed, oh, ancient gods…" Valarr patted his stomach somewhat unwillingly: "I shouldn't have dodged that spear back then. I knew, I should have reacted. Silver Shield couldn't block it, and Silverwing wouldn't have had time to block it. As long as I didn't dodge, I could have died on the battlefield."
"Valarr, shut up." Ray sniffed hard: "A dragon knight who dies by a scorpion crossbow? Valarr, you…" He ultimately didn't curse out the rest of the sentence.
"It is very shameful." Valarr smiled: "But at least it's not as shameful as now."
"Valarr, if you wish." Dragonzel placed his hand on his brother's forehead, just as he often did to his younger brothers when they were children, and said slowly: "I can let you live for a very long time, for just a small price…"
"Blood for blood, life for life." Valarr said softly: "Forget it, Brother, I don't need to sacrifice dozens of innocent lives for myself. Those who died by my hand in war were enemies; I don't pity them. Those who died by the black skirt widow's sword in peacetime were criminals; I don't pity them either. Brother, I still remember the story you told me and Ray, the blood magic for extending life requires more than just prisoners, doesn't it?"
Dragonzel nodded.
Indeed, blood magic for extending life was inherently a blasphemy that reversed the predetermined melody of the gods. During the Ancient Valyria period, Valyrian Fire Warlocks and Blood Witches who mastered the magic of raising the dead, yet the revived were still corpses, were not satisfied with this. They sought spells for eternal life.
Thus, various forbidden experiments unfolded at the Fourteen Flames and in Gorosh of Sothoryos. Outside the slave pits of Gorosh, hundreds of Blood Witches conducted inhumane magical experiments, attempting to find a method for eternal life.
They succeeded, yet also failed. Before the destruction of Gorosh, the Blood Witches invented that magic, but the cost was too great: a Blood Mage's eternal life required the sacrifice of thousands of mortals with magical blood, and at least ten divine proxies; similarly, prolonging the life of a dying person required the sacrifice of hundreds of individuals whose blood contained magic.
"If you wish, I can let you live a few more years," Dragonzel repeated.
"Haha, Brother, I don't want to live those years off your blood; that would be too stifling." Valarr turned his head back to look at the bedroom ceiling. When Leira was still around, they hung tapestries from Crab Island on the ceiling. After Daniela and Valenna were born, paintings depicting myths and history were hung there.
Now that the children had grown, only the Crab Island tapestries brought by Leira remained.
"Big Brother, it's alright if I ride a dragon comfortably one last time, isn't it?"
Dragonzel closed his eyes, and only opened them after a while. "No problem. You can ride for as long as you wish."
"Thank you, Big Brother. I'm tired and want to sleep for a bit." Valarr shifted his head, smiling as he said, "There's still a banquet tomorrow, Big Brother. You mustn't forbid me from drinking at that banquet."
Ray wanted to say something but was pulled back by Dragonzel.
He only said one word.
"Good."
Valarr closed his eyes contentedly. Dragonzel watched his younger brother, silently placing his hand on a nearby candelabra. Flames swirled up, instantly igniting Dragonzel's palm. He moved his palm to his brother's forehead, and the flames suddenly receded like a tide, condensing into a single crimson point in his palm.
As the crimson droplet fell, Valarr's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Soon, snoring could be heard from the bedroom.
Leaving Valarr's bedroom, Ray sniffled sharply, almost failing to hold back the tears welling in his eyes: "Big Brother..." He wanted to say something, but ultimately nothing came out.
"Ray, tell the children." Dragonzel led his brother to the skybridge of the Twin Towers, overlooking the brightly lit Summerhall below. Even at night, it was like daytime—the dim lights of the Purple Palace, the sun-like glow of the Summer Market, and the countless candelabras in the Seven Dragon Cathedral that burned throughout the night.
"At tomorrow's banquet, do not stop Valarr from doing anything," Dragonzel's voice now had some tremor. "Tomorrow night, have the children gather at the top of Dragon Nest Tower."
The tremor in his voice gradually subsided, with no further words.
Ray nodded, then turned and left the skybridge.
The next day.
In the early morning, the first to arrive at Dragon Nest City were the children's wheeled carriages. Prince Daeron led his younger siblings, followed by the wheeled carriages of Aegon and Viserys's children.
Meanwhile, the King, the Queen, and the Prince of Oldtown landed their dragons in the courtyard of Dragon Nest City.
As soon as the three dismounted, Stormcloud immediately leaped down from the city walls, followed closely by Candlelight and Igaras. Their destination was simple.
The Dragonpit of Dragon Nest City.
King Aegon and Queen Samantha watched this scene with satisfaction, while Viserys, though somewhat displeased, still accepted what he saw.
Stormcloud eagerly flew into the Dragonpit and let out a soft roar. Candlelight and Igaras followed closely, landing on the rough ground of the Dragonpit.
The dragons in the Dragonpit poked their heads out. The moment they saw the three dragons, Shadow Nightmare, Arrax, and Vermax roared happily. Stormcloud and Candlelight excitedly climbed back into their former nests.
They were still there, but Candlelight's nest had always been shared with Dawn and could no longer accommodate two dragons. Candlelight looked left and right, then nodded to Dawn. Dawn happily tilted her head, blue light flashing. In an instant, blue and gray-black intertwined dragonflame shattered the mountain wall like an axe.
The space immediately became wider.
The two dragons affectionately rubbed against each other. Candlelight extended her tentacles to stroke Dawn a few times, and then Arrax's body outside the cave, before entering the nest with Dawn as if arm in arm.
Stormcloud also excitedly roared something to Shadow Nightmare and Vermax, occasionally roaring back and forth with Arrax opposite them.
Dawn, as always, disliked such exchanges. She remained in the nest she shared with Shadow Nightmare, quietly resting.
The newborn hatchlings were currently kept in their nests by Hovendes, preventing them from participating in the changes within the Dragonpit.
Only Syrax, baring her teeth, struggled to suppress something. Skyfire glared at Syrax, who was much larger than her. While she was gentle, she always lost her composure when facing Syrax.
After all, any other dragon would retaliate angrily against a dragon that would suddenly strike them.
"Wood... no bronze partner is watching."
"Shut up... endure." Syrax roared irritably and retreated into her nest.
And before Skyfire noticed, Igaras had already jumped to the front of her and Sarafasas's nest. When Igaras saw Sarafasas, much larger than herself, lying on a massive, bulging object clearly once used for dragon eggs, made of steaming mud and dragon secretions.
If someone had been nearby, they might have even seen shock and pain on a dragon's face.
Sarafasas let out a low growl, followed immediately by Skyfire's deep roar. Igaras maintained that expression, looking at Sarafasas, then at Skyfire.
Finally, she let out a low growl, preparing to turn and leave.
Just then, Sarafasas let out a lazy low growl, and Igaras instantly perked up, scrambling excitedly to the side of the massive dragon egg sac. She glanced at Skyfire, who had also crawled over, and immediately let out a series of roars that even Viserys would not have understood.
Strange expressions also appeared on Sarafasas and Skyfire's dragon faces.
As the dragons communicated with each other.
In the banquet hall beneath Silver Blood Tower.
With the King and Queen seated, a grand feast was about to begin.
King Aegon looked at the people below with satisfaction.
They were the future of the Realm. Never in the Realm's history had so many dragon knights and aspiring dragon knights gathered in one place.
King Aegon even felt a pang in his nose.
The Realm was truly rising under his rule.
"Haha, everyone's waiting for me, aren't they?" Dragonzel's Bloodsworn Brothers, Assor Baetimus and Joffrey Kavron, carried in a chair. Valarr sat in it, laughing as he looked at everyone: "What are you waiting for? Are you going to let the King and Queen starve? Serve the food quickly! And you, you, pick some good songs today. Let everyone have some fun."
Only then did the servants begin to set the dishes, and the bards and musicians began to tune their instruments.
"Prince Valarr, your health..." King Aegon inquired with concern, and Samantha also looked at her brother and father with some confusion.
Reading the sadness in her father's eyes, Samantha immediately understood something. She took her husband's arm and shook her head.
King Aegon also reacted and did not press further.
Dragonzel scanned the visiting Targaryens.
Prince Daeron was handsome and charming, his smiling face making one feel as if bathed in a spring breeze. Prince Rhaegar was somewhat somber, but managed to show a smile. The young girls, however, showed no particular expression.
Prince Aegon was a handsome young man, but his eyes were flirty, always glancing at Serena and Valenna. Prince Aemon was equally handsome; his leg was still somewhat lame, an injury from dragon training, but Prince Aemon stood ramrod straight, looking straight ahead. Prince Ilion was lively and restless, and under Aemon's watchful eye, he could only wear a bitter expression, eagerly watching the servants bring out platters of delicious food. Alysanne was a very beautiful girl, her eyes always darting towards Daniela and Jacaerys.
Indeed, Jacaerys, with his beard shaved, had inherited his mother's beauty; in terms of looks alone, he was no less handsome than Rhaegor and Daniela.
Just then, Viserys was the first to break the pre-banquet silence.
He would speak on behalf of the King.
The Prince, whose silver hair was already turning gray, stood up and raised the newly poured silver wine, his gaze falling upon Dragonzel beside King Aegon.
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