Chapter 9: Never poke a dragon

105 AC

Eighth Day of the Sixth Month

Chamber of the Painted Table, Dragonstone

"There are two main gates for the Grand Palace, one facing east and the other west, I will take the east and you will take the west, we will hit the courtyard first killing all the fools who have decided to take a piss outside, we will circle towards the right and bathe the entire courtyard in dragon flame," Daemon said as we poured over the map of the Grand Palace.

"And that will also funnel everyone to remain within the Palace which will become their pyre," I agreed with a nod.

"The Palace is made of wood and stone which means that it will burn and it will burn nicely," Daemon continued with a wicked grin,

"And will be filled with people and people burn all the time they are very flammable," I added thoughtfully which caused Daemon to chuckle.

While Caraxes and Sheepstealer did not have Balerion's black flames which were so hot that they could disfigure stone but they were hot enough to kill a knight in armor and burn wood that is all that matters right now.

According to Corlys' contacts, the Myrish Craghas Drahar won't be attending the celebrations just as he hasn't for the past ten years but two main admirals will be, Sharako Lohar and the Racallio Ryndoon, which means this is a chance to take out two of the best admirals of the Triarchy and ensure that there will be no retaliation from either of the Free Cities.

And with luck, a Dothraki khalasar might be passing by and they might sack Myr or slight it, either way, the city of Myr will be crippled for a long time.

"And after the Grand Palace, I shall head for the docks while you shall take care of the Citadel, without an army to maintain order the city will fall into anarchy, and without ships and reinforcements, the Crabfeeder will have no one to help him when we attack the Stepstones," Daemon continued as he brought out another map, this one of the entire city of Myr.

"Be sure to destroy the shipyards along with the ships at anchor and don't forget to destroy the warehouses by the piers," I reminded him,

He nodded, "I will, and after we are done with this city we shall head for the Stepstones, we will destroy the Crabfeeder's fleet and his army and capture Bloodstone,"

"Correction, you will be going to the Stepstones, I will be returning to King's Landing," I corrected him.

"What? Why?" Daemon asked in a shocked manner,

"Dacey's pregnant, she is due to give birth around three months from now, so I will be in King's Landing with her," I answered to which Daemon responded with a groan,

"You can stay and fight for two and a half months and return in time for the birth, besides we will be fighting a bunch of pirates, so it won't be dangerous," Daemon tried to convince me to stay with him in his fight in the Stepstones but I shook my head.

"I am pretty sure that is exactly what our uncle Aemon thought as well right before the Myrish pirates killed him," I dryly responded.

Before Daemon could respond to what I said, Corlys entered the room.

"There you are, I have been searching for you both, have you finalized your plans." He asked us as he walked over,

"We have," I said nodding, the look I shared with Daemon meant that our talk was paused for the time being.

"Good, it's a pity that you won't be joining us in the Stepstones, Prince Aegon, another dragon might help finish the war even faster," Corlys said with a little bit of dejection.

"How long will this war last that you need a second dragon?" I asked upon hearing that,

"A year maybe two," Corlys answered after thinking for a few moments.

"That long, please, the Crabfeeder's resistance will collapse within a month of our attack," Daemon scoffed with derision, Daemon was right, the Crabfeeder won't be able to fight a conventional war without support from the Triarchy.

Corlys narrowed his eyes, "That may be true, but the second we attack, the splinter groups of pirates will begin to form, hidden in every island, in every cove, they need to be thoroughly cleaned of the filth that is those pirates and it will take time."

"Won't most of these pirates flee to the Basilisk Isles?" I asked,

Corlys nodded, "More likely than not, which is why we will send an envoy to the Volantis asking them to root them out, every dead pirate is another ship saved,"

"If Viserys decides to annex the Stepstones then I might participate," I said to him in an attempt to placate Daemon.

Corlys nodded, "Yes, after you both leave I shall press the king to declare war which will give not only legality to your attack but also to annex the Stepstones, we may have to change our schedule by a few months to accommodate more men and ships but it will be worth it."

After an hour of talking and smoothing over the logistics, Corlys left leaving me and Daemon alone in the chamber.

For a moment, I believed that maybe things may go back to normal, one would have been forgiven for thinking that Daemon, Corlys, and I were old friends. I wonder when the bad feelings began. Was it when Rhaenys bonded with Meleys or was it after Rhaenys was passed over as heir? It all came to a head during the Great Council

The Great Council opened old wounds and brought the ugly out in everyone, that was the first time I had seen Daemon's bad side come out, until then I thought all the things written in Fire and Blood about him were just bullshit, turns out that Daemon was somewhat like Aerion Brightflame, all smiles in front of his brothers and father and a monster to others.

And unlike Aerion, Daemon had a dragon to back him up. His cruelty was exemplified by how he treated the people of King's Landing during his psychotic purges, the entire point of expanding the number of Justicars was to prevent him from delivering summary judgment and to give the people a chance to have their cases heard, those who were alive anyway.

Viserys and I knew exactly how dangerous Daemon could be and yet we loved him because he was our brother.

I decided to leave the Chamber before Daemon could resume our argument. It was bound to go nowhere and with a very important mission coming up it was best to keep it aside for now.

Dragonmont

Sheepstealer, who was also known as the Brown Bastard by the Shepherds because of all the sheep that he has been stealing to sate his appetite for mutton was unsurprisingly busy gorging himself on a sheep when I arrived near his lair.

After being tamed he no longer had to steal sheep but the monicker stuck, hopefully after a few days he might get a new epithet.

I found a couple of Dragonkeepers present, one of them was an Elder while the other was an Acolyte. The two of them upon seeing me immediately bowed their heads.

"Are things well with him?" I asked the Elder,

He nodded, "Yes, my Prince, things are well with Sheepstealer, though I would say that the past few years have made him into a glutton."

I couldn't help but chuckle, the Elder wasn't wrong, it had been less than a decade since I bonded with him and already I could see changes in him.

The lean and slender dragon that flew into the Dragonstone courtyard with a twelve-year-old kid on his back was no more, and in his place was a large brown dragon that no longer hunted because he was fed all the time, he was still huge and formidable and he still had a nasty temper when the Dragonkeepers got too close without a sheep.

While he had a natural slender build to his body like Dreamfyre, he was starting to become larger in girth which wasn't so bad, so far only Vermithor and Cannibal could pose a challenge to Vhagar and if this Dance was still going to happen, then I better have a large dragon with me.

"Maybe it is time, we started to make him hunt again." The Elder asked,

I nodded, "Yes, we should do that."

"It is a good thing, my Prince, that you fly every month to Fairmarket and back, it is helping to keep him in shape, though he could use more exercise." The Elder continued,

Yes, he wasn't fat as the Dance-era Syrax, yet. Monthly flights to Fairmarket and back were keeping him in shape. If it hadn't been for my work as Lord Justiciar I would have had more time. Back when I first bonded with him, I would fly all the time with him but now it has slowed down to travel and battle like Aegon the Conqueror.

While he may have grown lazy, his situation is no different from Meleys, if I cut off his Royal sheep supply and make him hunt again, his instincts honed in the wild would kick in.

"Has any dragon recently laid a clutch," I asked him, I hoped to find a freshly laid dragon egg for my future child's crib.

"Yes, Silverwing, she has laid a clutch of five eggs, we have managed to recover them before the Cannibal got to eat them." The Elder informed me,

"Good, I want to see them, I will be choosing one of them for my child," I replied,

They nodded, "The eggs have been placed with the others in the hatcheries,"

Hatcheries

As I walked into the warming chambers of the hatcheries, I took notice of all the eggs stored and incubated, once the dragon eggs hatched, then the Dragonkeepers would keep them in the Firepits until they are big enough to be taken to the Dragonpit.

Not many eggs hatch and among those that do the hatchlings tend to escape the Firepits and end up straight to the waiting maws of the Cannibal, the Dragonkeepers try to save the hatchlings but once they are out of the Firepits and in the Dragonmont, it is a survival of the fittest. The best example would be Sheepstealer and now Grey Ghost.

The Elder and two acolytes walked before me and brought out five of the egg incubators.

"These are the new dragon eggs," The Elder said to me as they opened all five of them.

I looked at all of them, the first was a platinum white with a streak of gold running through it. The second dragon egg was golden and silver with a fire-colored vein running through it like the previous one. A white with golden swirls and flecks, a green with red swirls, and a blue with white flecks.

I placed my hand on the golden and silver egg and took it, "I will be taking this one."

I wonder if it will hatch, the dragon egg placed in my cradle was purple and golden it didn't hatch, and the same went for the dragon eggs of my parents and brothers.

Seasmoke was the first dragon to be hatched in the cradle in a long while, the dragon eggs to hatch before he was Vermithor and Silverwing. I believe cradle eggs began hatching since the Strong Boys.

Ninth Day of the Sixth Month

Dragonmont

"You ready?" Daemon asked me as we walked towards the Dragonmont. Sheepstealer and Caraxes were already saddled and ready for battle and waiting for us at the top whilst we were armed and armored just in case the worst came to pass.

"Of course, a chance to burn an entire palace filled with people is never to be given up." I sarcastically remarked as I sheathed my dagger.

Daemon responded with a bark of laughter, "Good one, Aegon"

"How many people know that we are about to etch our names into the history books?" He asked me with a gleam in his eye that I did not like.

Good Heavens it was only a matter of time before he starts gushing over this.

"The Small Council and by looking at the Dragonkeepers, I have a feeling that they have an inkling of what we are about to do after all it isn't every day that the two of us wear armor to fly our dragons for what is supposed to be a flight back to King's Landing," I replied as I strapped on my helmet and opened the visor.

"Well, Good for them, for within a day, brother we shall make history, our names will forever be remembered with fear and respect in Westeros, and in Essos, the world will know what happens when you poke the dragon," Daemon said with his crazy grin.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Stoking Daemon's already massive ego was a really bad idea.