Chapter ....37 I guess?

"Have you ever thought about expanding your business to the east?"

The question came from Aerarro Qoheros and was not thoughtless. His whisky trade was widespread and had already seen many coasts and houses. First and foremost, of course, the nobility of the Freehold and it's daughters. 

But the long journey and the dangers that lay along the way made business in the east rather unrewarding for him.

Initially, he was better able to control expansion and events where he had power himself, but that was no longer the case.

His business had long since taken on dimensions that he himself could not have foreseen. The expansion also took up a large part of his income, but with his parents' financial resources and those of his business, he was able to grow it quickly, a privilege of the rich.

Aerarro Qoheros had originally come to Azorath to discuss business as he preferred to discuss important business plans and figures in private, after all. 

Another reason was that he had moved a large part of his production to Azorath and some of House Qoheros' ships were on their way here anyway, so he just had to follow along.

"So Yi Ti?" he confirmed.

"It would only be logical. As far as I know, your family has been doing business with Yi Ti for generations, it would be quite easy to get into their market with your capital and the product," he argued.

"You are not wrong, but my capital is tied up right now. With Azorath and my future plans in the west, it will be years before I can turn my eyes to the east."

"If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to know if these future plans have anything to do with the business," Aerarro asked.

"Among other things," he replied vaguely.

Aearro just raised an eyebrow back, confused by his evasive manner. "May I know about them?"

He decided not to antagonize Aearro and give him the answer he was so desperately looking for.

He spread his arms out as if to embrace someone, "Of course, who if not you? It would only be sensible to have some trading posts further west to facilitate trade. I already have a few suitable places picked out, but all in good time, my friend. Until then, if there is nothing else, my attention is needed elsewhere."

Aerarro was smart enough to know when to stop asking and nodded respectfully, "Thank you for the information and don't let me keep you."

"Good, oh and I have prepared something for your long journey, please accept my gift" and clapped his hands together.

At his signal, the doors opened and three scantily clad women entered. They swayed their hips seductively and walked straight towards Aearro, who just chuckled softly: "I appreciate the gift," while the blonde sat down on his lap and put her hands around his neck.

Closing the door behind him, he exited the building while two of his Warborn went to his side. The road on which his carriage was standing bore no resemblance to a medieval road; instead, it was made of molten stone and promised a smooth ride.

He climbed into the carriage, which was pulled by several large horses, and sat down. As the carriage headed for the palace, he opened a box he had carried with him.

Inside were two short swords of Valyrian steel that had been made for him for his fifteenth birthday.

He was sure that the two swords were also a possible betrothal gift. He had, after all, spoken to his sister and Lysandra, and for a dragon rider and noble lady of House Baelaeron, it would be unheard of for her to be a concubine.

So they came to a mutual consensus and decided that he should marry them both. However, it was his sister's request that he should marry her first and that they have a separate wedding.

He could only honor this request as the wedding was one of the highlights of life for most people and it wasn't fair for either party to share it.

And while it wasn't the norm for a Dragonlord to have multiple wives, it wasn't frowned upon or disapproved of, it was just... unusual, so they were good to go.

The wedding was to take place in a few months' time, when he and Seraphine are 16 years old, thus fulfilling the condition he set for his parents years ago.

Knowing his mother, she was probably already planning the wedding with Seraphine, who had returned to Valyria a few days ago. As it would be the wedding of the heir to House Baelaeron, it would be a large wedding with many invitations and guests, most of whom he couldn't put names or faces to.

But his sister had wanted it that way, and he couldn't blame her.

He hadn't spoken to Lysandra yet, but he could imagine that she would prefer a smaller celebration, but who knew, because even he couldn't claim to know Lysandra inside out. Actually, that statement wasn't quite true, he thought to himself with some amusement.

The carriage came to a stop in front of the large entrance to the palace and he got out of it.

A number of servants were waiting at the entrance with cases of various sizes in their hands. They were the servants that his parents had sent to him. They had been raised and drilled since childhood and were perfect for tasks that required a little more grit in the brain than simple physical labor. Since he was leaving for Gogossos today, he had ordered them to pack his belongings.

He had studied blood magic with his aunt in Vaylria, but it was there that the most violent experiments and fantasies were carried out by the mages of the Freehold.

After his success with the Warborn, he wanted to see how the 'competition' was doing.

And since he was going to Vaylria anyway, there was nothing that could stop him from going.

Walking through the palace to one of the back courtyards, he saw Ancalagon lying asleep in a large clearing made for him. As Kaelarys approached him, his eyes opened narrowly as he sensed his rider.

The servants showed no fear as they approached the dragon, waiting at a distance for further orders.

Kaelarys stroked his hand over Ancalagon's muzzle as he sought closeness, "Slept well, my friend?" he said, and Ancalagon responded with something between a purr and a growl, closing his eyes once agin.

"Let's ride." 

Ancalagon opened his eyes at the words and lay down so that Kaelarys could pack his things onto him.

"Let's go," he commanded as he sat down in the saddle that was fixed between his wing joints, and Ancalagon pushed off with a thrust of his powerful hind legs as he spread his mighty wings and launched them into the sky.

---

Gogossos was hideous beyond measure.

That was the first thought that flashed through Kaelary's mind when he caught his first glimpse of the city of horrors on the back of Ancalagon. It wasn't the city itself, for it was, like so many others, somewhat beautiful considering the circumstances.

But the dark magic he sensed here, in an abundance like never before, destroyed the image for him. Even though he practiced dark magic himself and enjoyed its benefits, it wasn't pretty magic, and in a place like this, it was omnipresent.

The sheer tidal wave of dark magic seeping from the walls and grounds of the city left him speechless by the time he landed in an open field some distance from the city, as Ancalagon had grown to a size that made most normal dragon resting places unusable for him.

He knew from his aunt that in Gogossos, unlike in the other daughter cities, the local noble families had no right to vote and elect a leader of the city, who was of course subordinate to the council. In Volantis there were the three Triachs, in Lys the First Magister and the Conclave of Magisters, and in Gogossos a Triach appointed by the Council.

Gogossos was the place where bloodmages tested the limits of their magic, where ideas became reality, and where many of their secrets remained hidden. Not a place to be easily discarded.

There were, of course, a number of famous families in Gogossos: House Meroq, House Valtor, House Zalyne, House Haratis, and House Yarwyck, but they were irrelevant to him because he was merely here for the bloodmages and their experiments.

"Stay here and don't cause any trouble," he said to Ancalagon after he had dismounted.

Ancalagon only replied with a growl.

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Ehmm, sooo, now we are getting closer and closer to the question of whether you want to see him somehow, idk, will think of something to travel to the future after the Doom etc, will be some chapters until then, but yeah....?