"Sigh, I didn't expect the so-called 'Number One Among the Young Generation of the Western Continent' to actually be you," Tam said with emotion.
The Dragon Queen's broad smile, born from meeting an old friend, froze on her face.
"The number one among the young generation of the Western Continent?" She puffed up her cheeks and ground her teeth, mimicking Erlu's habit.
General Wildfire had returned.
After more than a week of back-and-forth trouble, he finally came back with a twelve-year-old ugly little girl, two mages, and four shapeshifters.
Tam was an old acquaintance of Dany's and could even be considered half her mentor.
When the others were led away by the maids to wash and rest, the Dragon Queen warmly invited the Shadowbinder into the study. The two closed the door and began catching up on old times.
"Yes," the Shadowbinder Tam said, completely unaware of the emotional change in her "little sister," her tone complex. "Aside from those demigods who have existed since ancient times, you have almost no rivals among the younger generation."
"Do you know the Crab King of Garthor? I killed him!" Dany said.
"Would you have been his match without your dragons?"
"My dragons are part of my strength."
"Eight thousand Unsullied and forty thousand of your Mother of Dragons Guards are also part of your strength, then? By that logic, you'd surpass the true gods and be invincible under heaven.
For extraordinary mages, only the power that belongs to themselves is real and unwavering.
For example, if one day your dragons become dragon gods, yet you remain mortal after a hundred years, the dragons will still be dragons, but you will be nothing but a handful of dust."
Even though she knew the woman before her was the Dragon Queen and not the little apprentice Leila she once taught, the Shadowbinder couldn't help but lecture her as if she were still a novice student.
"I'm not being arrogant," Dany sighed awkwardly. "It's just that this 'number one among the young generation' title has already been ruined by Lisbon. You'd better not call me that anymore."
"That's what everyone in the transcendental world says," the Shadowbinder replied, delivering a verbal blow that made the Dragon Queen's lovely face twist in frustration.
"Tell me," Dany said angrily, "if I wiped out all the evil gods in the city-states of the Western Continent like Kohor's Black Goat would my title change then?"
"You…" The Shadowbinder was taken aback, then suddenly realized something. "Ah, so that's it!"
"What?"
"Have you already set your sights on killing the Black Goat?" she asked.
"So what if I have?"
The Shadowbinder spoke slowly, "Demigods can often foresee danger to themselves. The Black Goat has existed for thousands of years, dating back to Valyria's era. Its worshippers are spread across Kohor and the northern forest tribes. Without a doubt, it is a powerful deity.
Recently, it manifested without any sacrifices from its followers and summoned its priests to join the siege of Slaver's Bay.
Right now, almost every khal in the Dothraki Sea has received gifts from Kohor's merchants, and many of them have Black Goat priests whispering in their ears.
It's very likely the god foresaw your hostility toward it."
"That sounds rather mystical."
"From now on, whenever you plan to deal with transcendental beings, never speak of it aloud, and never let a second person know. There are too many in this world who can divine prophecy," Tam said seriously.
Dany kept her words in mind, then smiled. "Then when you were in Volantis, did you foresee my true identity?"
"After the burning of the Black Tower, I had my suspicions," the Shadowbinder said oddly. "But I came from Asshai only to hatch dragons."
At that, Tam finally asked the question that had long troubled her.
"What's the secret behind hatching dragons?"
"Hatching dragons is a kind of innate gift. It has nothing to do with R'hllor or sacrifices to evil gods. It's like how I can learn the meditation of great magisters, but others who get their hands on it can't grasp it at all."
The Shadowbinder was stunned for a long while, then sighed. "Then spreading that rumor about sacrificing one's kin to hatch dragons was truly wicked of you.
Over the past half year, I've sacrificed at least three hundred people to R'hllor. A Shadowbinder doesn't fear blood, but pointless killing…"
"Hey!" Dany raised her hand, her big round eyes rolling in exasperation. "Don't pin that black pot on me!
Yes, I did say something about hatching dragons through family sacrifice but that was when I had just arrived in Astapor and was short on money!
I needed to trick the Good Masters into raising the price of dragon eggs so I could trade for Unsullied.
From start to finish, I never once publicly spread that claim. You people twisted it yourselves, and I even publicly denied it several times."
"Your denial only made us more convinced!" Tam interrupted.
Dany pouted. "That's your problem, not mine."
"All right, I don't want to talk about that anymore."
Tam opened the pack by her feet and pulled out a black ebony box inlaid with red and blue gemstones.
It was about the size of a rice cooker and looked exquisitely crafted.
"By the Seven," Dany gasped, her pupils contracting. "You even stole the dragon egg from Volantis?"
"You sensed it?" Tam was equally surprised. Facing the Dragon Queen, she lifted the lid, revealing a black-and-red dragon egg resting on cyan Yi Ti silk.
"You've been spreading word under the name of 'Prophet Buchen,' establishing the 'Seven Gods Dragon Church' in Yi Ti. He had no choice but to leave.
If he had departed suddenly, I couldn't have given the Volantene a reasonable explanation and would have been implicated myself.
Besides, everyone knows it was I who brought 'Leila' to the Archon of Malajo's mansion.
No matter what, my reputation in the Western Continent is ruined already, so I don't care about adding a charge of 'stealing a dragon egg.'" The Shadowbinder's tone was conflicted.
Sensing her unease, Dany quickly comforted her. "Don't worry. Your reputation won't suffer.
In future histories, you'll be remembered as a brave, upright, kind, honest, and immensely powerful legendary archmage."
"How would you know that?" Tam asked curiously.
"Because I'm the one who'll be writing those histories."
Such shameless words, yet the Dragon Queen spoke them with perfect dignity.
Though her face was hidden behind a red-lacquered wooden mask, the Shadowbinder's hands, trembling atop her knees, betrayed the storm raging in her heart.
"When will this egg hatch?" she asked dryly, changing the subject.
"It's ruined!" Dany cast a glance at the dragon egg and sighed regretfully. "R'hllor may be greedy, but he is honest enough. When he accepts a sacrifice, he always responds.
This egg belonged to the Targaryens. It wasn't completely petrified before and still held a trace of life, but now it's filled with the maimed remnants of the dead from the world beyond."
When Tam entered the study with his backpack, Dany immediately sensed the eerie and sinister aura of death within.
However, since Tam himself was a Shadowbinder who frequently offered sacrifices to dark gods, the Dragon Queen assumed that the baleful aura came from the magical materials or artifacts he carried.
"The dragon egg… truly ruined?" Tam asked in a trembling voice.
"It might still hatch into an abomination, but I don't recommend keeping it," Dany said.
"Keep it? I was planning to give it to you," Tam sighed.
"Then destroy it!"
Buzz, buzz, buzz
Just as they were speaking, a sudden red light flashed across the dragonglass mirror opposite them.
"What kind of magical artifact is that?" Tam asked in shock.
"What do you see?" Dany asked curiously.
"The magical fluctuations are somewhat like a glass candle, but the aura is vast and immense."
"It's a Valyrian magic network node."
As she spoke, Dany activated the magic mirror. Instantly, there was no image, no sound only a beam of eerie blue light that shot straight into the center of her brow.
That was how a magic network node was normally used.
The previous "live broadcast" had been like trying to stream a 4K movie over 2G mobile data.
After a while, the Dragon Queen opened her eyes, her expression strange. "They're courting death," she muttered.
Led by the centaur handmaiden Qiqi, Tam left the queen's study carrying his pack and went to the guest chambers on the second upper level.
Then Tyrion entered with his niece, requesting an audience with the queen.
"Your Grace, this is Myrcella, my niece."
"I've seen Your Grace before," Myrcella said politely.
Without needing her uncle's instruction, the young girl curtsied to the Dragon Queen with practiced grace.
"Come, sit and talk," Dany said, gesturing to the couch opposite while examining her.
Myrcella was twelve years old, about one and a half meters tall considerably taller than her uncle. Her features were delicate and refined, her skin as fair as milk, and her hair a mass of soft golden curls.
Fragile, beautiful, and well-mannered.
Her large sky-blue eyes shone with curiosity and a faint trace of confusion, but without fear or timidity.
A very brave young girl.
There was only one flaw most of her left ear was gone, and a scar like a centipede ran across her smooth, rosy cheek.
It was nearly a match for the scar on her uncle Tyrion's face.
Feeling the Dragon Queen's gaze lingering on her for a while, the girl shrank her neck slightly, a flicker of shame passing through her eyes.
Dany turned her attention back to the dwarf and asked in puzzlement, "What did you do in Westeros to make Prince Doran willing to let her go?"
"Before I even reached Dorne, Prince Doran had already planned to send Myrcella back to King's Landing. But…"
Tyrion glanced at his niece, his cheek twitching, reluctant to continue.
"Let's just say my dear sister wasn't pleased with Myrcella's betrothal to the young Dornish prince. Before the High Sparrow rose to power, when she was still Queen Regent, she sent Ser Balon Swann to Dorne to bring Myrcella home.
That alone was bad enough, but you know how mad my sister can be."
More than once, Tyrion had tried to speak ill of Cersei, only to stop himself upon noticing his niece beside him.
He sighed. "My sister invited the Dornish escort to accompany Myrcella back to King's Landing, but secretly arranged for men disguised as bandits to ambush them in the Kingswood under my name. The plan was to kill Prince Trystane, her betrothed."
The Kingswood was a royal forest outside King's Landing.
Back when Tyrion had served as acting Hand, he'd taken a few clansmen from the Mountains of the Moon under his wing. One of them, a wild man named Shagga, had led his Stone Crows to settle in the Kingswood after Tyrion fell from power.
And so Cersei conceived this vile little scheme.
"The Dornish are no fools. Once they learned of her plan, they decided to turn the trap back on her," Tyrion said with a bitter smile. "If I hadn't taken Myrcella away, she would've been caught in the crossfire of others' power struggles just like her face.
Prince Doran is a man of principle. He didn't want to break his word, nor harm the girl. But the Darkstar incident made him realize that things wouldn't always go as he wished.
When he received a letter from my uncle, he immediately agreed to release her."
Myrcella's eyes dimmed, her scarred face showing a trace of sorrow and melancholy.
"Then why bring her to me?" Dany asked, confused.
"Your Grace, I've done you a great service!" Tyrion said, perking up with pride. "I convinced my uncle to surrender the Iron Throne and lead Casterly Rock to pledge allegiance to you. You'll soon receive his letter of fealty."
Dany shook her head and sighed. "I won't be receiving any letters from the dead."
(End of Chapter)
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