The Dragon that Decides 10 (Patreon)

The Dragon that Decides
Chapter 10

-VB-

Doran sat patiently in his chair while his inner circle - those outside of his family, that was - bickered excessively on the future of Dorne.

“We need to seek out the dragon rider!” one of them yelled at his detractor.

Said detractor glared at the man who shouted at him. “And you don’t even know if they are Targaryeons!”

“They had the right colors and the sigil! What other evidence do you need?!”

“It could be a Blackfyre for all we know. With the Targaryeons gone, it wouldn’t be hard for them to declare themselves Targaryeons!”

“They have a dragon! They have a dragon bigger than two hundred yards! It doesn’t matter what you want or don’t want or what you think is right or wrong! They have a dragon!”

Oh yeah, that one was a maester with a chain in arithmetics.

“Maester Sumer, please, calm down,” Doran lightly rebuked the hysterical maester whose chains included the aforementioned red gold and yellow gold but also iron.

Iron, a maester’s mark of expertise on war, wasn’t for a show.

Old Sumer took a deep breath and calmed down. He glared at his detractor. “Most dragons used by the Targaryens weren’t as big as the one that flew over Sunspear, King’s Landing, and all of the capital fiefs of the Lord Paramounts. Even if that dragon cannot breath fire, which is an absurd thought, its sheer mass will overrun any army it comes across. Its scales will be harder than any other, and we do not have a dragon in Westeros that can counter that dragon because we don’t have a dragon,” he continued. “This is no longer a question of loyalty but a question of choosing the side that will inevitably win.” He then turned to Doran. “If we join quickly enough, then we can convince them to burn down the Lannisters, too.”

“Sumer,” Doran ground out in annoyance. “Do not presume to use our vengeance in your attempt to persuade me.”

The old man bowed.

The prince turned to the detractor. “I know that you see this a prophecy for dark times ahead. I need you to prepare a larger host for my personal retinue. Double their numbers if you must.”

His master-at-arms blinked. “My lord, that is … you will have twenty thousand men-at-arms then, Your Grace. That is …”

“We will make up for it by being safer than our neighbors in the future wars to come. Do it.”

The master-at-arms bowed and hurried to fulfill his task.

“And do it discreetly!” Doran hurriedly added after the running man.

He turned to the others.

“How goes the search?” he asked his spymaster.

The short man - not a dwarf like the Lannister’s youngest - huffed. “My contacts have told me nothing.”

“The dragon disappeared through some kind of gateway,” Doran gruffed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if no one between its destinations and stops saw anything. Still, have them keep looking. You never know.”

“Of course, my prince.”

Doran turned to the only other member of the Martell House in this meeting. “Oberyn-.”

His brother raised both of his hands in surrender. “I know. Keep going around and acting like myself so no one thinks we’re doing anything.”

“But make sure to keep yourself above all else.”

“Of course.”

-VB-

Jon Arryn glared at the Spider.

“How could you not know?” he asked, incensed.

“My reach,” the rotund man in robes responded with a cool stare in reply. “Is limited. You know this already, Lord Hand. I know many events happening from the North to Iron Islands to Dorne to Astapor. However, anything beyond Astapor is expensive beyond my means and meaningless.”

“If that dragon was raised beyond Qarth, then it is obviously not meaningless,” Stannis snapped. “Now, we are faced with a dragon.”

“It is unlikely to be Daenerys Targaryen’s dragon,” he huffed. “She received three dormant dragon eggs on her marriage day, and that has been only a year ago. No dragon grows that big that quickly.”

“According to who?” Robert gruffed. “Whatever you think, it’s obviously wrong. We saw a white haired young woman on top of a dragon circling the Red Keep. I saw that. That was the dragon whore!”

Varys grumbled internally. He didn’t see the rider even though he was on the keep, but then again, he was on lower levels, so he might not have seen the rider because of the altitude difference.

But how?

How did Daenerys Targaryen (if the rider was truly her) get her hands on a dragon so terrible?

Perhaps he should get in contact with his old friend in Pentos. Their plan might have to be put on hold, at least until they could get their hands on a dragon of their own.

It’s such a shame that the Mad King’s seven eggs were lost in Summerhall. He would need to get them to hasten their excavation. They were short on time now.