[THIRD’S PERSON POV]
The members of the royal family were introduced by the royal herald one by one.
The booming voice started with the current King of the Seven Kingdoms, followed by his Queen, and finally the children of the royal couple, announced carefully from the eldest down to the youngest.
Queen Alysanne was being gently supported by her ladies in waiting and several attending servants as she carefully stepped down from the heavy carriage.
However, the Queen looked visibly displeased by all the excessive fuss.
She had actually felt perfectly fine the exact moment their carriage crossed the borders of the Harrenhal territory, thanks to the unseen magical aura of the region settling her pregnancy ailments.
After her came Prince Aemon walking alongside Prince Baelon.
Prince Baelon was noticeably disheveled and even had a tiny bit of dried drool resting upon his cheek, making it entirely evident that he had just woken up from a deep sleep inside the carriage.
In stark contrast, Prince Aemon looked extremely dignified, perfectly playing his serious role as the crown prince.
The two young princes were closely followed by the two princesses, Alyssa and Maegelle.
Princess Maegelle was fearfully clinging to the arm of her older sister, an action which Princess Alyssa clearly seemed to hate.
Both Prince Vaegon and Princess Daella were being safely carried by the royal servants, as the two youngest children were still sound asleep.
The disheveled state of Prince Baelon was quickly cleaned up by his mother as the royal family approached the kneeling figures of Princess Rhaena and Prince Aelor.
“Rise,” King Jaehaerys commanded toward Princess Rhaena and Prince Aelor.
The two of them stood up proudly, while all the other guards and local servants remained kneeling respectfully in the dust.
When Princess Rhaena and Prince Aelor stood up, Jaehaerys and Rhaena just looked at each other in total silence for a brief moment.
Then, the King and his sister shared a deep, emotional hug, perfectly showing the incredibly good relationship between the two of them.
“It is truly great to see you looking so healthy, sister,” King Jaehaerys said warmly.
“And you as well, Your Grace,” Princess Rhaena replied.
She deliberately addressed King Jaehaerys with his appropriate royal title because they were still standing out in public, and it would not be proper for a ruling lady to simply address the King as her brother in front of the smallfolk.
Meanwhile, Prince Aelor was happily greeted by Queen Alysanne and his young cousins.
Seeing Aelor standing there, Princess Maegelle finally removed her tight grip from the arm of Princess Alyssa.
“It is so great to see you, Aelor. Maegelle complained endlessly that you rarely replied to her letters these past few weeks,” Queen Alysanne said to Aelor right after they shared a brief hug with each other.
“Muna,” Princess Maegelle complained shyly toward her mother.
She immediately came over to stop Queen Alysanne from talking any further, an embarrassed reaction which just made the Queen laugh wholeheartedly.
“You look absolutely horrible,” Aelor said directly to Prince Baelon, who still had a faint red mark on his face from sleeping.
“How dare you. I will gladly have your tongue removed for that insult,” Prince Baelon shot back with a highly serious tone.
“Here is my tongue then,” Aelor challenged playfully.
He immediately stuck his tongue out at Baelon.
The two young boys instantly began a fierce battle of making funny faces at each other.
Prince Aemon just watched his younger brother and his younger cousin with a highly tired expression, clearly already utterly exhausted by the immature exchange happening right in front of him.
Then, Prince Aelor turned his attention back toward the princesses.
He formally greeted Alyssa and Maegelle, the latter of whom was still blushing deeply from the revealing words of her mother.
“Please forgive me, Princess. I recently got into some deep trouble with my mother, and she punished me by making me follow her every single moment of the day. I have had no time to write,” Aelor offered as his honest explanation to Maegelle.
The young princess blushed even brighter but nodded softly and completely accepted his valid excuse.
“Yes, you should definitely be sorry for the rest of us. Maegelle has been complaining absolutely nonstop ever since you suddenly stopped writing back. I nearly became entirely deaf from listening to all of her constant whining. You should definitely make it up to me for my suffering,” Princess Alyssa interjected.
Her teasing complaint made Maegelle blush even harder.
The shy girl began playfully hitting the arm of her older sister, while Princess Alyssa just smiled happily, clearly enjoying getting some revenge against Maegelle for clinging to her earlier.
“What kind of terrible thing have you actually done that Aunt Rhaena would punish you for it? Especially punishing you this harshly?” Prince Baelon asked Aelor.
He was highly curious about the hidden misdeeds that the supposedly perfect Aelor would ever dare to do.
“I mounted Ancalagon completely without a saddle and jumped right into the lake of the Gods Eye to dive,” Aelor said casually, acting exactly like it was not a massive deal at all.
His blunt words made the members of the royal family who heard it gasp in pure shock.
Not only was Aelor, a boy only six years of age, now an official dragonrider, but the recklessly dangerous nature of what he had just done seemed extremely out of character for the usually composed boy.
Prince Aemon, Princess Alyssa, and Princess Maegelle all showed a bright flash of deep concern upon hearing his wild words.
However, Prince Baelon reacted completely differently from his royal siblings.
When he heard the bold confession, Prince Baelon, who had always been the most mischievous prince within the royal family, immediately laughed out loud.
He had once boldly tried to claim the Black Dread himself.
When he was completely ignored by the ancient beast, Baelon had bravely punched Balerion right on the snout.
Luckily, the strike did not even seem to be felt by Balerion, who just lazily ignored the violent action, but it had certainly been a highly terrifying minute for the observing dragonkeepers. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
Both Queen Alysanne and King Jaehaerys were far more interested in the specific part of the story confirming that Aelor had officially become a dragonrider.
That undeniable fact meant that Aelor would now officially fall under the wardship of the royal crown, exactly as their previous political agreement dictated.
“Let us discuss this private matter inside,” King Jaehaerys stated firmly.
He wanted to immediately stop any sensitive political discussions from happening out in the open courtyard.
He also wanted to ensure that the lingering risk of them being attacked in the open would be greatly lessened.
It was not that the King actually thought a sudden ambush was going to happen at Harrenhal, but it was always much safer to be perfectly secure rather than risk the lives of the royal family.
As they all began to move inside the massive castle, Prince Baelon, who was still incredibly curious about the specific details, walked very close to Aelor.
“So why exactly did you jump and dive into the Gods Eye? Did you just do it to test if Ancalagon would swoop down and catch you?” Prince Baelon asked curiously.
His loud question was easily heard by the other royal children, which made them incredibly curious as well.
“I saw a very bright, shining sword resting under the water of the lake, which I dove down to take. It is a highly beautiful sword, I will tell you that much. But I cannot show it to you today because my mother confiscated it. She will not give it back until I fully learn my lesson,” Aelor explained.
His grand explanation for the strict punishment caused Prince Aemon, Prince Baelon, and Princess Alyssa to become even more intrigued.
They all deeply wanted to know the exact appearance of the mysterious sword that had made Aelor willingly risk his own life.
“That is awesome! I simply cannot wait to see this mysterious sword you are talking about. I will bravely ask Aunt Rhaena to let me see the weapon, even if it is just briefly. I also want to know exactly where you jumped from; I want to jump down into the lake as well!” Prince Baelon said with immense enthusiasm.
“Mother would certainly never allow you to do something so dangerous. She would chain you to your own bed herself if she had to,” Prince Aemon pointed out logically.
His cautious statement was immediately followed by a firm nod of agreement from Princess Alyssa, while Baelon just rolled his eyes in profound annoyance at his older siblings.
“You are all a bunch of bores. It is a very good thing that Aelor is here to keep things interesting,” Prince Baelon declared.
Despite Aelor usually not being nearly as mischievous as Baelon, the two boys would often run off together to explore the countless hidden places scattered throughout Harrenhal.
It was a ruined castle so incredibly massive that they had still not even come close to finishing exploring it during their previous yearly visits.
“I cannot explore with you today. I am currently being punished, remember?” Aelor quickly interjected, stating the harsh reality of his situation.
His blunt reminder immediately seemed to make the energetic Baelon deflate with disappointment.
The massive royal family, along with Princess Rhaena, Prince Aelor, and the endless train of loyal servants and armed retinues, just continued to walk forward together.
They were making their grand way toward the cavernous center of Harrenhal, officially heading toward the legendary Hall of the Hundred Hearths to finally enjoy a lavish welcoming feast.