[THIRD’S PERSON POV]
While the King, the Queen, and the Dowager Queen continued to catch up with each other inside the quiet solar, sharing light conversations regarding the current prosperous state of the vast territory of Harrenhal, a sudden and terrifying roar from an arriving dragon reverberated violently throughout the entire castle.
The large retinue of the royal family and the various noble visitors to Harrenhal all looked around with pure panic etched upon their faces.
No matter where they were currently stationed in the courtyard or the stone halls, the unexpected sound of a screeching dragon was never considered a comforting sign for outsiders.
However, for the local servants and guards who actually lived within the thick walls of Harrenhal, this was merely an ordinary afternoon.
They were already completely used to the loud roars echoing from the sky, so they simply continued going about their daily duties without skipping a single beat.
One of the armored guards belonging to the royal retinue cautiously approached a busy servant who was in the middle of doing a massive inventory of fresh farm eggs in the courtyard.
The royal guard noticed immediately that the young servant woman did not even flinch or react to the incredibly loud roar, which led him to rightly conclude that this terrifying event was a completely regular occurrence for the locals.
“Hey, does the huge dragon of Princess Rhaena always announce itself loudly like that? Is that exactly why you have gotten so completely used to it by now?” the royal guard asked the busy servant.
She stopped counting the large woven baskets of eggs and turned toward the armored man who had just asked her the curious question.
“Oh, that is certainly not the dragon of Lady Rhaena. That loud noise belongs to the young dragon of Lord Aelor. It always announces itself loudly after coming back from a successful hunt in the nearby woods. Lady Rhaena rides Dreamfyre, and her dragon rarely makes a loud screeching sound. You will only know when Dreamfyre has arrived because she is always accompanied by…”
The servant began to explain the distinct differences between the dragons.
But right before she could fully finish what she was saying, she was abruptly interrupted by a sudden, earthshaking thud hitting the upper levels of the immense castle.
“That specific sound,” she quickly finished with a knowing smile.
Dreamfyre would always land heavily directly upon the ruined rooftop of the Tower of Widows.
The original roof had been completely destroyed by the black fire of Balerion the Black Dread decades ago, which had melted the thick stone structure to become a perfect makeshift landing area for large dragons.
Dreamfyre had started doing this specific landing routine every single day right after little Aelor was born.
It was incredibly evident to absolutely everyone in the castle that there was a magical, soothing presence that Dreamfyre absolutely loved feeling within that specific space.
“Prince Aelor already has a dragon?” the stunned royal guard asked in utter disbelief.
The servant just nodded her head firmly to answer his shocked question.
She then turned her undivided attention right back to her important work. Find the original chapter at g.com.
She desperately needed to finish doing a complete and thorough inventory of the collected eggs, especially since those vast supplies were going to be used extensively by the castle cooks to feed the massive royal retinue for their upcoming lunches and grand dinners.
“What will happen now that you have fully learned my son has a dragon of his very own? A dragonrider not being a member of the royal family is one of the greatest taboos that our grandfather had established when we were much younger,” Princess Rhaena said calmly.
Just like the earlier conversation between the castle servant and the royal guard, Princess Rhaena had also deliberately brought up the delicate matter of Aelor hatching a dragon egg earlier in the day, well before the black dragon of little Aelor had come back from its hunt.
“Aelor would definitely need to become an official member of House Targaryen,” Queen Alysanne stated firmly.
But as she looked over at her husband, who was noticeably contemplating exactly what he would do next in utter silence, Queen Alysanne started to become deeply worried.
She had only just reconciled with her estranged sister, and she desperately did not want their newly mended relationship to sour once again.
“You know full well that you cannot forcibly take a bonded dragon away from its chosen rider, unless you actually plan on killing my infant son, Jaehaerys.”
Noticing that King Jaehaerys was still not speaking a single word, Princess Rhaena immediately grew fiercely defensive, her maternal instincts flaring up to protect Aelor.
“Do you truly take me for Maegor the Cruel, sister?” King Jaehaerys blurted out in sudden anger, a sharp response that made Queen Alysanne look at her husband even harder to gauge his true intentions.
“We need to discuss this vital matter right now, because just as you said, sister, a dragon bond is something magical that simply cannot be undone by mortal hands,” King Jaehaerys then said, taking a deep breath to cool his rising temper.
“A marriage alliance between our newborn daughter and your infant son is the best path forward. Perhaps we betroth him to little Alyssa, considering that both of them are exactly at the same age? Or perhaps a future daughter if the gods grant us one? The finer details could be formally written down later on, but the most important part of this decree is that Aelor must officially marry someone from House Targaryen. Furthermore, Aelor will take the Targaryen surname as his own until he eventually inherits Harrenhal from you as a ruling lord,” King Jaehaerys added.
He confidently offered a political solution for their predicament, a royal compromise that Princess Rhaena found highly acceptable.
After a lot more thorough discussions regarding the future, Rhaena finally stood up from the heavy wooden table.
She gracefully walked toward the wide stone terrace of her solar, calling upon Jaehaerys and Alysanne to come look out over her vast territory.
When they eagerly agreed and stepped out into the sunlight, they immediately saw the dark figure of the dragon belonging to Aelor.
“Balerion?” King Jaehaerys said unconsciously, his eyes widening in pure shock, with Queen Alysanne also being completely stunned by the magnificent sight.
“I also made that exact same mistake at first. It is extremely uncanny how my precious Aelor has a dragon that is just a miniature version of the Black Dread,” Princess Rhaena explained to both of her siblings. Get faster updates on g.com.
“How long ago did that creature hatch from its shell?” King Jaehaerys then asked.
Another shocking detail that the king had quickly noticed was that the physical size of the black hatchling easily rivaled the impressive size of a young dragon that was already two years of age.
“Just past a single moon ago. That dragon hatched from its shell exactly one week after Aelor was born,” Princess Rhaena explained proudly.
As they watched from the high stone balcony, they saw the black hatchling look up at the sky.
They also saw the massive dragons of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne flying down to land near the tiny creature.
Vermithor and Silverwing both looked at the black dragon with intense, predatory curiosity.
Meanwhile, Dreamfyre also landed heavily nearby.
The black hatchling immediately flew away from the two unfamiliar royal dragons and quickly turned toward the familiar, comforting presence of his mother figure.
Meanwhile, it was not only the King, the Queen, and the Dowager Queen who were intently watching this magnificent scene unfold.
On a lower floor of the massive castle, the two young royal princes, Prince Aemon and Prince Baelon, were leaning out from a wide stone window.
Both boys were watching the incredible interaction between the four dragons down in the courtyard, their young faces filled with absolute curiosity and awe.
“That black dragon looks exactly like Balerion, only much smaller, do you not think?” Prince Aemon asked as he turned toward his younger brother.
“Yes, I originally thought that the Black Dread had somehow shrunk,” Prince Baelon answered, his wide eyes remaining completely glued to the magnificent creatures resting outside.
“One day, I will also claim a mighty dragon of my own and fly freely across the open skies. Perhaps I will even claim Balerion himself, or maybe the great Vhagar,” Prince Baelon added with fierce determination.
He wanted to have a dragon mount of his very own, especially since the beautiful dragon egg placed in his cradle had unfortunately failed to hatch.
Listening to these bold words, both of the young princes started vividly imagining themselves riding upon the back of a massive dragon.
They stood together by the open window for a very long time, happily fantasizing about the glorious day when they would finally become true Targaryen dragonriders and conquer the endless skies.