Aegon pulled out of the dragon-bond and rubbed his throbbing temples.
His mental strength grew by the day, but it still wasn’t enough to hold the link for long.
Entering a dragon’s mind demanded far more than any ordinary creature.
“Sunfyre won’t be staying in the Dragonpit anymore.
And when he returns, no chains.”
The Dragonkeeper’s face darkened.
He stepped directly into Aegon’s path.
“My prince, that is against protocol.
The Crownlands are not Dragonstone, and King’s Landing is not the Dragonmont.
If Sunfyre grows hungry, he could hunt smallfolk.
Even nobles.”
Aegon waved Aemond over, then turned back to the man.
“Kneel.
I don’t like looking up when I speak to someone.”
Aegon knew perfectly well that a hungry dragon would eat anything.
But Sunfyre was different.
He had complete control over Sunfyre.
More importantly, this Dragonkeeper had forgotten who stood where.
A common guard, nothing more than a man paid to watch over a great beast, and he dared speak to Aegon like he was scolding a child.
Aegon could be warm with servants when they remembered their place.
But when one forgot, Aegon had no problem reminding him he was a prince.
The Dragonkeeper’s expression soured further.
He understood the warning.
When the man still didn’t move, Aegon smiled coldly.
“Perhaps I should mount Sunfyre and we can continue this conversation from his back.”
Sunfyre, already in sync with Aegon, lowered his shoulder and fixed the Dragonkeeper with an icy stare.
The man couldn’t hold under that pressure.
He dropped to one knee.
Aegon glanced down at him without interest, lifted Aemond into his arms, and climbed onto Sunfyre’s back.
I’ll speak with His Grace myself.”
His voice carried down from the saddle, flat and cold.
Sunfyre swung his head around and roared in the Dragonkeeper’s face.
Then he spread his wings, launched straight into the air, and vanished into the clouds.
The Dragonkeeper stayed on his knee until Sunfyre was gone.
Only then did he stand, carefully wiping cold sweat from his forehead.
For a moment he’d been certain he was about to die.
The look in Sunfyre’s eyes had been pure killing intent.
One word from Aegon and the dragon would have bathed him in flame without hesitation.
And this was the beast he fed every day.
It hadn’t felt a shred of attachment to him.
Another Dragonkeeper snorted openly.
He’d warned the fool before not to forget his place.
They weren’t the dragons’ masters.
They were keepers and guards.
The man hadn’t listened.
Now he’d made himself a joke, dressed down by a seven-year-old prince like a misbehaving squire.
Pathetic.
At the Red Keep, Helaena froze mid-play, a bug still wriggling in her fingers.
“Beware the shadow above the clouds.
Beware the shadow above the clouds.”
She shot to her feet, grabbed her skirts, and ran from the keep to the royal carriage.
“Hurry.
To the Dragonpit.
Now.”
The driver startled, then nodded.
“Yes, Princess.
Hold on tight.”
He snapped the reins and the carriage lurched toward the Dragonpit.
Inside the pit, Dreamfyre had gone restless.
The dragon let out a furious roar.
She had felt her rider’s fear.
Every Dragonkeeper in the pit scrambled.
The older ones knew better and hid immediately.
The younger, less experienced ones threw themselves in front of Dreamfyre.
“Easy!
Dreamfyre, easy!”
Their soothing did nothing.
But the young keepers were quick on their feet, and they dodged Dreamfyre’s stomping by the narrowest of margins.
Dreamfyre’s attention was fixed on Helaena, so she didn’t breathe fire.
All of them survived.
By the time Dreamfyre burst from the Dragonpit, Helaena’s carriage had just arrived.
Dreamfyre lowered herself at once and let Helaena climb on.
In the original story, Helaena didn’t claim Dreamfyre until she was twelve.
But in the years since Aegon arrived, he’d done more than build his own strength.
He’d guided Helaena toward the power of the dreamer.
In one dream, she had unexpectedly formed a bond with Dreamfyre.
Eight full years earlier than in the books.
Once Helaena was secure, Dreamfyre broke into a run, leaped into the air, and flew hard after Aegon.
As Helaena vanished on Dreamfyre’s back, a senior Dragonkeeper barked orders.
“Go.
All of you, to the King.
Now.
Tell him Prince Aegon took Prince Aemond on dragonback to Dragonstone, and Princess Helaena flew after them.”
The senior keeper wanted to curse.
When Princess Rhaenyra first flew at seven, they’d worried every time whether she’d come back in one piece.
Now this.
A seven-year-old carrying a passenger.
And the other one was even worse.
Five years old, riding an eighty-year-old dragon to who knew where.
If anything happened to Princess Helaena, the King would hang them all.