High in the sky, Talvey held Gael in his arms as they rode on the back of Terentius, while another dragon shadow belonged to Gael’s young dragon, Mirnilla.
Soon, the two dragon shadows slowly circled and landed in the open clearing on the west side of White City—this was the exclusive dragon pit of House Valthorn.
“Roar—”
“Roar—”
…
As the two dragons landed, roars echoed one after another across the dragon pit.
At this time, there were five other dragons in the dragon pit: Duke Iseorn’s’Scarlet Fury’ Draxis, Orion’s Misgar, Visenyra’s Solmar, and Talvey’s two other silver dragons, Valysor and Valysia.
“My Lord Talvey, the horses are ready.”
At that moment, several dragon guards walked over, and one of them, with a burn scar on his left cheek, led two horses to the side of Talvey and Gael.
“This is my fiancée, Princess Gael Targaryen!” Talvey introduced Gael beside him to the dragon guards.
“Princess Gael.” Only then did the dragon guards realize that this incomparably beautiful woman was their future mistress, and they all bowed in salute.
“Hello everyone.” Gael nodded at the dragon guards, finding that these dragon guards were much better in both appearance and equipment than those in King’s Landing.
Talvey introduced her, saying, “These dragon guards are all descendants of the ancient Valyrians who survived alongside the family’s ancestor, Iser Valthorn. They have served House Valthorn for generations, tracing back thousands of years. They are the most loyal subjects of House Valthorn, and they will take good care of Mirnilla.”
Hearing Talvey’s praise, the dragon guards present involuntarily straightened their spines.
“Rogo, is the meat supply sufficient lately?” Talvey turned his gaze to the scar-faced dragon guard and asked.
Rogo answered respectfully, “Reporting to My Lord, cattle, sheep, and sea fish are transported here every day, enough for the dragons to feast to their heart’s content.”
Talvey nodded and said nothing more, pondering in his heart how to develop The Arbor.
Over the years, he had given his father quite a few ideas, and he wondered how things were progressing now.
Everyone envied dragonriders, but no one knew how much meat a single dragon consumed daily.
In this world where commoners couldn’t even get enough black bread, the burden of supporting several dragons was extraordinarily heavy.
Fortunately, unlike traditional Westerosi nobility, House Valthorn still maintained a high degree of centralization within its domain, so there were no major nobles, while those minor nobles were merely house knights without their own fiefdoms, relying on stipends from House Valthorn—albeit very generous ones.
The Arbor was not small, spanning over 17,000 square kilometers, and most of it consisted of fertile plains.
Although their living conditions were slightly better than those of the common folk on the Westeros continent, it was barely enough for subsistence, making meat intake difficult, especially since the island still had to support these few dragons.
Talvey thought to himself, “Let’s ask father about the situation on the island first, and then consider how to develop it.”
“Let’s go, Gael, Mother must be dying to see you!”
After speaking, Talvey lifted Gael onto the horse’s back.
“Then let’s hurry, Talvey, I can’t wait to enjoy the scenery of White City either.” Without waiting for Talvey to mount his horse, Gael rode off first.
“Slow down.”
Talvey spurred his horse to catch up.
…
Arriving first, Gael entered White City and finally met Talvey’s mother and her entourage in front of the Golden Dragon Fountain.
“Long time no see, Great-Aunt.” Gael first saluted Talvey’s mother, and then bowed to Talvey’s grandfather and father, “Good day, My Lords.”
“Dear Gael!
We’ve finally waited for you to come!” Visenyra stepped forward to take Gael’s hand, her eyes filled with doting affection as she playfully scolded, “Why are you still calling me Great-Aunt and My Lords?
Since you’re in White City now, you should call me Mother.”
Gael’s face turned completely red at this, and she timidly called out, “Mother.”
“Mhm, that’s right!”
After speaking, she pulled Gael in front of Talvey’s grandfather and introduced her, “This is your grandfather, Duke Iseorn.”
“Hello, Grandfather.”
Upon hearing this, Duke Iseorn burst into hearty laughter: “Hahaha, good! Good!”
Duke Iseorn was a tall and sturdy old man with meticulously combed silver hair.
At this moment, his naturally commanding face retained not a shred of intimidation, replaced entirely by a warm and kind expression.
Among all matters concerning House Valthorn, the one thing Duke Iseorn cared about most was the issue of heirs.
Therefore, the matter of offspring had become the greatest worry in the hearts of every head of the family.
Every generation wanted to branch out and multiply their descendants, but it was as if they were cursed: throughout the generations, there was only ever a single direct heir, and even bastards were extremely scarce.
Over the course of more than two hundred years, there were only three bastard branches, and they were likewise sparse in population.
That was why Duke Iseorn felt heartfelt joy at Gael’s arrival.
Visenyra then introduced the middle-aged man beside her: “This is your father, Orion.”
“Hello, Father.”
“Welcome to The Arbor, Gael.” Although Orion spoke with a certain poise, he could hardly conceal the joy and satisfaction deep within his eyes.
He was tall and lean, and his overall demeanor resembled that of a scholar rather than a noble lord.
Visenyra cast a charming and graceful side-eye at Orion, as if saying, “You’re clearly extremely pleased with the arrival of your daughter-in-law, why are you putting on such a solemn act.”
“Quickly, Mary, prepare the banquet right away and use all the precious ingredients.” With a kind smile on his face, Iseorn instructed a middle-aged maid behind him.
“Yes, My Lord, I’ll go right away.”
Mary immediately ran into the castle.
The last time she had seen the Duke look this happy was when the little master Talvey was born.
“Grandfather, Father, Mother.” At this moment, Talvey, who had just arrived, dismounted and greeted his elders.
“Well done, Talvey, you didn’t disgrace the prestige of our House Valthorn.” Duke Iseorn patted Talvey’s shoulder with a proud expression, extremely satisfied with his performance in The Stepstones.
“Let me take a look!” With slightly reddened eyes, Visenyra pulled Talvey and patted him up and down to check if her son was injured.
Talvey grabbed his mother’s hand and said, “Don’t worry, Mother, I didn’t even scratch a piece of skin!”
“Mhm, mhm, as long as you came back safe and sound.” Visenyra shed tears, her voice choked with emotion.
Talvey reached out to wipe his mother’s tears, and Gael also quietly stepped forward to hug Visenyra’s arm, comforting her in a low voice.
“Alright, Visenyra, isn’t Talvey fine? Let Talvey and Gael rest for a bit first.” Orion spoke up to comfort his wife.
Visenyra finally steadied her emotions, “Right, Talvey, quickly take Gael to wash up and have a good rest. Once the banquet is ready, I’ll send someone to notify you.”
“Alright, Mother, then let’s go inside first!”
Only then did the family step together through the doors of Iser Tower…