The Dragonpit, Twilight.
At this moment, Rhaenys's Hill was silent save for the rumble of dragons.
Aemond's voice rang out again, cold and unquestionable.
"You choose. Either follow the King's decree and leave the dragons here. Or doubt me, return to the Red Keep with me, and question His Grace?"
Daemon stared at him, suddenly letting out a short burst of laughter.
"Boy, you forgot, there's a third path."
Aemond watched him silently.
A few seconds later, he nodded, the movement slow and heavy, as if carrying a decision already made long ago.
"If Uncle chooses that path... Then I will have to comply."
Only determination remained in his eyes.
He feared the Dragonpit collapsing, burying the Greens' three great dragons: Dreamfyre, Sunfyre, and Tessarion.
But if the Blacks refused to compromise, then let the war start now.
He patted Vhagar.
The old she-dragon moved.
Her massive head lifted, her neck slowly straightened, and her entire body began to shift from a prone position to a crouch.
Her rock-like scales scraped the ground.
When she stood fully upright, her head nearly touched the high dome of the Dragonpit, and the shadow she cast swallowed half the cavern.
She opened her mouth and let out an earth-shattering roar.
ROAR.
The sheer power and ancient quality contained in that roar caused Caraxes to involuntarily step back half a pace, letting out a wary roar.
Syrax let out a terrified shriek.
The three young dragons were so frightened they nearly curled up. Some soldiers on the high platform collapsed onto the ground.
Daemon, however, burst into laughter.
"Good... this is excellent!"
Aemond did not laugh, merely staring intently at him.
Rhaenyra's face was pale.
She looked back at Sunfyre and Tessarion, who had been led in behind her, then at Caraxes, who could unleash fire at any moment beside her, and finally, her gaze fell upon her three sons.
She saw the fury in Jacaerys's remaining right eye, the unwillingness on Lucerys's face, Joffrey's tightly bitten lip, and the young dragons trembling beneath them out of fear.
If dragonfire ignited and the rocks collapsed, they were the most likely to die.
"Mother."
Jacaerys suddenly spoke.
He slid down from Vermax's back, walked beside Syrax, and looked up at Rhaenyra.
The boy's face still held lingering anger, but his voice was strangely calm.
"We cannot fight."
"If we fight here, we won't win. You will die."
He paused, speaking with a choke.
"I don't want you to die."
He turned around, facing Aemond on Vhagar's back, and shouted with all his might:
"I! Will follow the King's command!"
"Brother!" Lucerys leaped off Arrax's back and rushed over to grab his elder brother's arm.
"No! Vermax is yours! What right do they have?"
"Because Mother might die!" Jacaerys abruptly shook off his brother's hand, his sole eye bloodshot.
"Look clearly! That is Vhagar! Here, Caraxes cannot protect everyone. Do you want Mother and all of you to die here?!"
Lucerys stood open-mouthed, his chest heaving violently.
In the end, he didn't utter a single word; only his eyes were red.
Their youngest brother, Joffrey, turned his head away.
Rhaenyra looked at her eldest son, at this child who had lost his left eye, whose betrothal was ruined, and who was now forced to give up his dragon.
The feeling caused her pain so great that she could barely breathe.
She raised her head and looked towards Aemond.
"You promise... if they leave the dragons, you will let them leave safely. You guarantee this in the name of Targaryen."
Aemond nodded. "I am merely executing His Grace's orders. The dragons stay; the people may leave."
"I swear by the Seven Gods and the name of my House, I will absolutely not obstruct their departure from King's Landing, nor will I touch their dragons. The Dragonkeepers of the Dragonpit will continue to care for them."
He spoke decisively, knowing he couldn't push too hard.
Leaving these three dragons meant the Blacks would lose three Dragonriders if war broke out later.
As for the people... let them go.
If he truly trapped them here, even if they won later, the Dragonpit would surely collapse, and the Greens' dragons would also be lost; it was a risk he dared not take.
At that point, the entire Targaryen family would only have two Dragonriders left...
Jacaerys closed his eyes, took a deep breath of the hot, murky air, and walked toward Vermax.
The dark gray young dragon let out a mournful cry, lowered its head, and nudged its master's cheek with its nose. J
acaerys hugged its head, buried his face between the scales, and his shoulders trembled violently.
"Go back," he said hoarsely, patting Vermax's neck.
"Go back with them."
Vermax whimpered, refusing to move.
Jacaerys stepped back a few paces and sternly ordered the cowering Dragonkeepers nearby:
"Take it away! Lock it up!"
Several Dragonkeepers nervously approached, carefully fitting heavy chains around Vermax's neck and talons.
The young dragon struggled, letting out a sorrowful, wronged cry, but under its master's gaze and the pull of the chains, it was finally, reluctantly, dragged toward the dark Nesting Area deep within the Dragonpit.
Lucerys and Joffrey did the same thing.
Arrax and Tyraxes's cries were equally full of confusion and sadness, and they eventually vanished into the shadows.
The three young dragons had left.
Only six dragons remained confronting each other in the Dragonpit: Caraxes, Syrax, Vhagar, Morghul, Sunfyre, and Tessarion.
Aemond ignored Jacaerys's sole eye, which was fixed on him as if trying to burn right through him.
Aemond spoke calmly.
"Now. You may leave."
He pulled the reins. Vhagar let out a low growl, and her massive body began to turn sideways, clearing the path to the huge archway.
Daemon gave Aemond one last look.
"Boy, I'll remember what happened today."
"I await you anytime, Uncle," Aemond replied calmly.
Rhaenyra's gaze lingered in the depths of the Dragonpit, where her three sons, having lost their dragons, stood like fledglings whose wings had been plucked.
Her heart was being twisted by pain, but she tightened her grip on Syrax's reins.
Syrax was the first to rush out of the Dragonpit, her golden wings slicing through the twilight.
Caraxes followed closely, his red-and-black silhouette disappearing into the deepening blue sky.
Aemond patted Vhagar. The old she-dragon let out a heavy growl, pushed off with her limbs, and her massive wings whipped up a gale, carrying Aemond into the sky.
Morghul followed, shrieking excitedly.
Following them, Sunfyre and Tessarion also took to the air, carrying their riders.
The Greens, four dragons, formed a loose arc in the sky, following the two dragon shadows flying toward Blackwater Bay ahead.
Aemond rode on Vhagar's back.
He watched the black dots gradually shrink.
Vhagar was too old and too heavy to keep up with Caraxes's speed.
However, it was enough. As long as he ensured they left King's Landing and the Crownlands.
Below, the streets and alleys of King's Landing resembled a grayish-brown spiderweb, and countless tiny figures looked up at the sky.
Six dragons ascending simultaneously, this was an unprecedented and unheard-of spectacle, one that would be sung by bards for years to come.
Sounds of panic, exclamations, and prayers mingled, faintly rising from King's Landing below.
-----
A/N:
If you are enjoying the start of the story.
Drop some stones to help this book reach higher.
You can read upto 20+ Chapters. + Images
You can also read "+2 Free Chapters".
www.patreon.com/
LastDreamer