New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤 ✦ “Begin exploration.” Aelor pressed his small hands against the dragonbone hilt of the dagger.
The explorer panel appeared before his eyes.
[Exploration Task] Target: Aegon’s Valyrian steel dagger Exploration Progress: 2.5% Aelor let out a quiet breath.
It worked.
He had worried the system might not recognize the dagger now that it had already identified it once.
It seemed those fears had been unnecessary.
“Aelor, let me have a look.” Rhaenyra watched him with open curiosity.
She wanted to know what was so special about the dagger that her little brother was willing to clutch it this tightly.
“No,” Aelor said at once.
His hands tightened around the hilt.
“Absolutely not.” He was only just starting the exploration.
The progress would pause the moment he let go.
The journey from King’s Landing to the Kingswood took half a day by carriage.
If he held on to the dagger the whole way, he might be able to finish before they arrived at the royal camp.
“Why not?” Rhaenyra leaned closer, her eyes narrowing.
“You are not hiding something from me, are you?” “I am sleepy.” Aelor lowered his head and rested his cheek against the dagger like a miser guarding his last coin.
“I want to sleep with it.” Rhaenyra stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“Fine.
Sleep with your dagger, little miser.” Aelor looked to Viserys instead.
“Father, I will give it back before we get out.” Viserys smiled.
“You may hold it as long as you like.
Just try not to wave it around if you have another nightmare.” Viserys studied him with quiet relief.
Aelor had seemed livelier these past two days, able to speak without immediately gasping for breath.
Aelor nodded solemnly.
As the carriage swayed onto the road, he leaned against Rhaenyra and closed his eyes.
The morning light warmed the curtains.
Wheels rolled over stone, then dirt, then the packed road toward the Kingswood.
Voices rose and faded outside the carriage.
Somewhere beyond them, nobles, servants, guards, cooks, horses, and hounds were already gathering for the hunt.
Aelor ignored it all and kept one hand locked around the dagger.
By noon, the system’s voice finally sounded again.
[Explorer System] Exploration Complete.
Collect the lost relic.
Exploration Progress: 100% Aelor opened his eyes.
Something soft brushed the tip of his nose.
He blinked and found a strand of silver hair teasing him.
Rhaenyra was smiling down at him.
Only then did he realize his head was resting in her lap.
“We are here,” she said.
“The lords are waiting.” Aelor sat up at once, still holding the dagger.
Blue light shimmered across the dragonbone hilt, bright and clear to his eyes alone.
“Aelor?” Rhaenyra asked.
“Nothing.” He turned and handed the dagger back to Viserys, who had just lifted the carriage curtain.
“Thank you, Father.” Viserys took it and fastened it at his belt beside Blackfyre.
“You are welcome, my son.” The instant Aelor’s fingers left the hilt, the blue light broke away from the dagger and drifted into his palm.
[Explorer System] Relic collected.
Scanning…
Scan complete.
Excellent Relic identified: The Forebears’ Warning.
Activate relic?
Aelor lowered his eyes to hide the excitement in them.
Balerion’s skull had yielded a Legendary relic marked in red.
Aegon’s dagger had yielded an Excellent relic marked in blue.
The grade was lower, but Blood and Fire Are One had already raised his bloodline.
Anything connected to the Conqueror’s dagger could not be worthless.
‘Activate.’ [Reward] Valyrian Language Mastery Grade: Excellent (Blue) Effect: Complete proficiency in High Valyrian and the Low Valyrian dialects descended from it.
Assessment: “Learning another tongue is never a loss.” A sharp current ran up Aelor’s spine.
For an instant, every hair on his body seemed to rise.
Then knowledge poured into him: High Valyrian in all its old precision, the Low Valyrian dialects that had grown from it, their sounds, their roots, their logic, their histories.
The words settled into place as if he had known them all his life.
Rhaenyra noticed his sudden shiver.
“Are you cold?” “No.
I am fine.” Aelor forced his face into calm.
Outside, the royal camp stretched across the edge of the Kingswood in a bright confusion of banners, pavilions, horses, fires, and armed men.
Stags embroidered in gold snapped beside red three-headed dragons.
Servants hurried between tents with wine, trays, and bundles of cloth.
Hounds barked from their leashes.
Viserys emerged first, Blackfyre at his side.
Alicent followed, holding Aegon’s hand.
Helaena walked beside her nurse, and little Aemond was carried in another woman’s arms.
Rhaenyra stepped down next with Aelor at her side.
“Come, children,” Alicent said gently.
Rhaenyra’s fingers tightened.
Aelor understood why.
Once, Alicent had been Rhaenyra’s closest friend.
Now she spoke to her as if she were one of the children following the queen.
It was not cruel, not openly, but it still landed like a needle under the skin.
The camp erupted with cheers for the king.
“Long live King Viserys!” “Long live the king!” The cheers for Rhaenyra came more softly and from fewer mouths.
But when Alicent stepped forward with Aegon beside her, noble ladies pressed in with smiles, compliments, and curtsies.
Several men bowed low to the little prince.
“Long live Prince Aegon!” The first shout came from somewhere in the crowd.
Others quickly followed.
“Long live Prince Aegon!” “Long live the king’s son!” Rhaenyra kept her chin high, but Aelor saw the hurt she tried to hide.
He reached out and bumped her hand with his own.
When she looked down, he smiled at her.
Rhaenyra exhaled through her nose.
“I am fine.” “Targaryens do not yield,” Aelor said quietly.
Her mouth twitched despite herself.
Aelor glanced toward the first voice that had shouted for Aegon.
A golden-haired lord with a long nose was still smiling as if he had done something clever.
An older noblewoman stood beside him.
Aelor marked his face carefully.
‘I will remember you.’ The royal procession moved into the main pavilion.
The hunt had not truly begun, but the feast already had.
Wine flowed.
Musicians played.
Men boasted about hounds, horses, spears, and stags they had not yet killed.
Women gathered in clusters, trading news in tones sharp enough to cut silk.
Aelor entered the pavilion with Rhaenyra and soon found himself surrounded by the scent of perfume, roasted meat, and politics.
“They say the Crabfeeder has taken another ship near the Stepstones.” “A noblewoman was aboard, poor thing.” “Poor thing?
If Daemon Targaryen had not rushed into war with Corlys Velaryon, perhaps the pirates would not be so bold.” Aelor looked toward the speaker.
Lady Gilla, an elderly woman in rich blue silk, watched Rhaenyra with a smile that did not reach her eyes.
“What does the princess think?” Lady Gilla asked.
“Has Prince Daemon’s private war served the realm?” Rhaenyra’s face hardened.
Before she could answer, Alicent spoke from nearby.
“Lady Gilla, Daemon brought those consequences upon himself.
The princess is better suited to inherit than a prince who could not govern his own temper.” Aelor glanced at the queen.
He understood the calculation.
Alicent might someday oppose Rhaenyra for the sake of her own children, but Daemon was a different threat entirely.
She would not let anyone frame him as the rightful heir who had been robbed.
Lady Gilla gave a thin laugh.
“And yet his temper has dragged the realm into an unnecessary war against the Triarchy.
How many lives must be spent for a prince’s pride?” ✦ ✦ ✦ Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.