The ringmaster hadn't expected that a single sentence from him would instantly quiet the previously animated and excited nobles before him. Even the women who had just stepped down from the soft sedan chairs all turned to stare at him simultaneously. Their up-and-down scrutiny made the ringmaster feel a chill down his spine.
Something's wrong… In the past, when he boasted about this, even high nobles and esteemed guests from the Purple Palace of Summerfield wouldn't react this strongly. Why were these nobles... Ah! It suddenly clicked for the ringmaster, and he shuddered.
He finally realized why.
Other nobles and commoners treated his tale of seeing a true dragon as an exotic rumor from beyond the seas. Even though it was no longer a secret among merchants and royal circles traveling between the Summer Isles and the colonies of Sothoryos that real dragons had appeared in the mysterious, eerie rainforests of that distant land, most still assumed these were merely sightings of giant wyverns or swamp drakes mistaken for true dragons.
But the people before him—they had not only seen true dragons, most of them owned them. They were partners to dragons.
The ringmaster had never regretted having a mouth more than he did now.
"Relax." This time it was Daenerys who spoke, sounding rather roguish. Just by standing there, the girl exuded an inexplicable pressure that swept over the members of the circus. Even without a dragon at her side or the scent of one clinging to her, her mismatched eyes flicked around before she spoke slowly:
"We just want to hear some details—like where you saw the dragon and what exactly you saw. Don't worry, don't worry, we're here to enjoy the show." She added firmly, "Our family has its laws. Even we, as members of it, cannot abuse our authority in the city."
The ringmaster felt like weeping. My ancestors, please help me. Sure, these nobles might not abuse their authority, and they might not care enough to punish them. But if word got out that they had offended House Vaelarys...
By the Lord of Light, we'd never make a living in Westeros again.
Wait, what did this lady—no, this princess—just say?
The ringmaster snapped back to attention. Daenerys and Igor didn't seem to have any intention of blaming him. Perhaps he'd been overthinking. He sneaked a glance at the children standing in front of them.
Daenerys looked full of curiosity. Igor was unreadable. Sebastian seemed deep in thought. Daemon and Osserys were still looking around, and little Daemon was even reaching out, as if he wanted to touch the circus lion from a distance, which made the animal trainer visibly tense.
Only little Daeron obediently held Sebastian's hand. If not for his short silver hair and clearly boyish attire, one might have mistaken the quiet, shy boy for a girl. No one could tell what was going through Daeron's blank stare—maybe he was curious about the dragon too, or maybe his mind was simply adrift.
It really did seem like he had overreacted.
"Your Highness, here's how it happened. Years ago, merchant ships sailing from the isles to Sothoryos sighted a true dragon in the forests near the coastline. But at first, the captains and sailors couldn't be sure what kind of creature they had seen..."
"Of course," Sebastian's eyes lit up when he saw Daenerys's confused look, and he eagerly explained to his younger sister, "Sothoryos is home to a type of winged reptile that doesn't breathe fire but has a body structure very similar to that of dragons. They're called wyverns." He gave a glance at the others and decided not to elaborate, instead returning to the ringmaster's narrative: "The larger species—like the striped wyvern, the swamp wyvern, and the coastal wyvern often seen near the shore—have been mistaken by passing ships for dragons in the past. But the dragonlords of Valyria scoffed at such claims. To them, even a juvenile dragon of ten or so years could easily roast and kill the largest wyvern, like a striped one. So… I'd guess what they saw was a coastal wyvern?"
"No." The ringmaster replied firmly. "The junk merchants of Tearstone and Claw Isle are well acquainted with wyverns. People of the isles know these creatures well." He bowed respectfully again. "If you permit, I can have my beastmaster bring out our little fellow for the esteemed dragonlords to see."
The children exchanged glances and turned toward the women in the sedan chairs. Brynden stared fixedly at a sleeping Syrae. The bustle nearby hadn't caught the boy's attention. Princess Elenna and Princess Rhaenya looked at each other, both equally clueless about this matter, so they turned their questioning gaze toward Seryna.
"Helena, would you kindly look after the children and the two princesses?" Seryna nodded to Lady Helena, then stood up with Valenna, the dragonrider of Silverwing, and approached the children.
As true dragonriders, Seryna hadn't stopped flying even during her pregnancy—making her far more capable than Queen Rhaenya, who had been grounded during hers. Valenna was the second-oldest dragonrider of House Vaelarys and bonded to the great dragon Silverwing.
The dragon aura from the two of them alone was enough to intimidate most wild beasts.
The ringmaster gave a signal to the beastmaster. The massive, dark-skinned man in a flamboyant feathered cape let out a sharp, piercing cry, cracking his long whip loudly in the air.
Two other dark-skinned performers yanked off the colorful covers on a large cage. Inside, a huge beast lay curled up. As sunlight hit the cage, the jet-black creature instantly leapt at the steel bars like a hunting hound scenting fresh meat. The beastmaster lashed out again, and the whip left a visible mark across the creature's black-scaled hide.
The pain only made it more frenzied. The creature stretched its body within the cage. Its wings—clearly hacked in half—tried to unfurl but were stopped halfway by the bars. It had a long neck, claws, and a tail that had been stripped of its stinger and wrapped in heavy chains, allowing only limited movement. Its crown of spines made its head resemble a dragon's, but to the children, it looked far more like a lizard than the dragons in the dragonpit.
"Ugh." Daenerys couldn't help but click her tongue, but seeing the look in Sebastian's and her brother's eyes, she forcibly swallowed the words "so ugly."
Seryna and Valenna, however, found it strange—this beast wasn't afraid of them at all.
That gave Seryna other thoughts.
"I can swear by the Lord of Light and the nature gods of the Summer Isles," the ringmaster raised his hand, "everything I said is true. The eyewitness really saw a beautiful, spiny-crowned dragon breathing fire and roasting a striped wyvern."
He paused. "That's why we say it was a true dragon. And recently… that dragon's appearances have become more and more frequent..."
While the children's attention was drawn by this statement—
Little Syrae suddenly looked at the wyvern in the cage and giggled.
Brynden turned quickly to look.
And that was a mistake.
As soon as he did, he felt something crash into his mind.
He blacked out on the spot.