107
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298 AC
Volantis
Cirilla Blackfyre
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Riding through the gate and going out from the black walls I feel a bit awkward as I remember how things turned out inside the palace.
The Triarchs outright refused to change any of their conditions and wouldn't add anything we requested other than just throwing more gold at our feet. They didn't want to support our war against Westeros and told us to buy some unsullied if we needed help. They tried to even sell us ships of theirs for a 'discount' but we needed to crew them with our own people.
I felt like we were being looked down on even though they are the ones needing us to clear the red temple. A few comments slipped through about our ancestry and how the Blackfyres are not even 'true' Valyrians as they are. One of the requirements to be a triarch after all is to trace your bloodline back to the Valyrian freehold.
We left after Harry Strickland told them we would need time to think about our position with them not willing to give any extra. The entire situation has changed since we originally received word of the contract and yet they don't want to give anything extra to make up for it except gold.
If we wanted gold that badly we could just attack them instead of a temple, the fat-rich men hiding behind the black walls are sure to have more gold than a temple.
"We will head back to our encampment for today and try to make contact with the High priest, we might find he is more accommodating than the Triarchs." Harry speaks up to Daemon next to him and I overhear him.
I am hoping this goes our way, but the fact that he sings praises for a Targaryen prince makes the chances slim.
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298 AC
Summer Isles - The Cove
Eragon Targaryen
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More ships arrived and dropped off more men, we are only missing three hundred men before we will set off for Xon. According to one of the letters that came with the men Doran is going to send all of the rest at once next week.
He was doing it slowly over a few weeks to not draw attention but apparently, the Velaryons showed up at Sunspear and since they are 'allies' he is allowing them to stay in Sunspear. I have no idea if they are still there but from the initial meeting, he wrote about they were looking for me. Not that surprising since Laena Velaryon is 'engaged' to me but it is also bad timing.
I wonder how things have turned out over there with that situation, I am sure my mom is very 'happy' with me right now.
"What's it say?" Danny pokes my side and tries to look around me at the letter as I hold it in the light to read it.
"We won't be waiting around for as long as we thought, Doran, is going to send all the rest of the men in the next batch. Wiping out the pirates will be sooner than we thought so we need to get in contact with the Summer Islanders waiting near Ebonhead." Nata sits up hearing me and leans in.
"So I will need to get word to the men waiting near Ebonhead and let them know?" I nod and she smiles and sits back in her seat. "Good, they have swan ships of their own to use and I am sure they are itching to sail to Xon." Shiera slips another of the letters out from under my arm, it's addressed to me from Shaena but I don't mind if she reads it.
"So have you gotten over yourself and realized it's stupid to go without us yet?" Rhaenys with a sour tone joins in and I let out a sigh and drop the letter onto the table.
Rhaenys has been the literal 'spearhead' that has been jabbing at me for a week now about going with me to kill the pirates. If one goes they all want to go but we can't leave the dragons behind and the only noncombatant is Shiera and I don't want to leave her alone. I would rather they all stay together here but that also concerns me and I know I can't take Shiera and watch her while we are fighting.
"You know I can go without holding you back, I can treat wounded and also blast a hole in someone if it came to it. You underestimate how strong magic is and it only gets stronger as time goes on. There have been magic users capable of melting people's brains out of their heads and breaking legs without even being able to see them. Melisandre has the most experience with magic here and maybe one of the most experienced living people and she says magic is growing. It has been growing since you hatched stone eggs and around the dragons, the power only grows." Melisandre has been telling me similar things, magic was crippled and on its deathbed but has been slowly healing after the red star.
Her own words are that the dragons and I are intertwined with it all because I am the promised prince and magic will be one of my greatest tools. The first time I held a flaming sword lit with a golden flame that sparked from my thoughts I knew magic was 'real'. Visions and dreams are different from a roaring flame burning on steel that shouldn't burn to begin with.
Shiera with all the books and scrolls she has read and tried to recreate or learn long-forgotten magic has made great progress. I know for a fact she can use the Rhoynar water magic and bore a hole through someone. But to rely on something like that to combat people makes me nervous.
"Shiera, you have passed out from using magic before and if that happened while you were surrounded or something you would be killed or captured." She scowls at me and lowers the letter she was reading.
"Ok, and you get cut or impaled or something, who is going to fix you up? Does anyone else here including the healers outside know even half of what I know?" I feel all the eyes at the table looking at me and I wonder if it is even worth resisting.
I don't want to leave her, leaving her only gives a reason to leave some of our people behind to defend her. Her going lets us take the full power we have and throw it down on Xon to kill every last pirate. But then the dragons will have to go and then I have to worry about an arrow piercing them or something.
"What about the dragons? Will they also tag along and get shot down when some lucky archer spots them?" Her face softens as she looks over at the dragon's den and she bites her lip in concern.
"They can stay back away from the fighting?" She asks unsure of herself and I sigh.
"Let's say they do actually stay back, we have been training them for a reason, and let's say it works. We already know the dragons can tell when something is wrong since Danny tripped on herself and cut her hand on a stone. Meleys came all the way from the den to where we were in the woods and found her. Let's say someone gets hurt while fighting, what do you think the dragon they are bonded with will do?" Her nose scrunches up and she picks the letter back up and begins reading it again.
"They will come if we are hurt anyway, if they are here or there once we get hurt they will come. It doesn't make sense to risk them trying to fly to Xon from here if something happens." Rhaenyra joins in, she already said she is going and the only way she is not is if I bind her here.
She goes on about learning to water dance for a reason and that she will be equipped with proper armor and a weapon. The pirates that have been killed and captured have given great information and we know that none of the men on Xon are equipped to fight. They are armed with worn-out equipment that is stolen and running through raiding, they are not concerned with fighting since they don't plan to fight. The pirates are here to steal and enslave, they are not here to conquer.
"I agree, your worry is someone getting hurt or the dragons getting themselves killed trying to join in but that is something you can't control unless you chain them. You have sworn multiple times and vowed to never let them be chained so unless you are willing to break that then they will be at risk. They will either involve themselves or they will try to fly to Xon once they no longer care about listing to our words telling them to wait." Danny speaks up and I feel like I am being made out to be the bad guy for being concerned so I am starting to get angry.
"Why are you making it seem like I am doing something wrong for not wanting people or the dragons to jump in stupidly because they want to be included? This is not some fun adventure or something, it's going to cut some fuckers down and burn the corpses. This isn't some nice and happy thing and you are going to miss out on the fun by staying behind." I genuinely do not understand how I am wrong for not wanting them to be in danger, they are concerned for me and I get that but this is the role I have picked and I will stick to it.
I ran a sword through a stranger on top of a pyre to birth my 'children' not because I wanted cute little scaled kids but because I wanted power. I stood while my clothes burned off and surrendered myself to something I didn't understand so I could have the power to do what I want. I did it knowing full well I would use that power to kill many more people if it ever came to it.
Do they understand they are going to kill people, they haven't even maimed a person like I did before I ever killed someone? I worked myself up to it, I fought at the moon pool many times and cut people and crippled them before I plunged a blade into a body to end a life.
"It's not about being included Eragon, I didn't train all that time and agree to your long-term plans to sit back and watch. I am going to be involved and the sooner you accept that the sooner you can stop worrying about it." I don't even look at Rhaenyra as she sounds pissed at me, am I the one that is wrong here?
"Eragon you should trust them to not do something stupid." After a long and tense silence, Nata speaks up and I nod slowly.
"I do, I just don't feel comfortable with it." Maybe I am wrong, the people we are killing are horrible anyway.
It is different from what I did on the pyre but it's likely just as necessary for their own growth. They will ride dragons in the future and that will likely involve burning things and people down. There is no better way to know the weight of taking a life than personally ending it with a blade in hand.
Danny walks around and sits across my lap sideways so she can face me easily, her arms wrap around my neck as she sets her head against my chest. She doesn't say anything but my mood improves knowing why she did it.
"I guess we are going to go, dragons included." I will just have to make sure we hit them fast and hard and leave no room for them to draw it out.