Chapter 270

He looked at the large transfigured mirror.

A stranger stared back at him.

He had become taller. Not by much. Only a few inches. But it was noticeable to him.

His body structure had changed little. He had lost some weight and some muscle but he could always gain it back with training. Still, he looked thin on the edge of being malnourished.

His facial structure had also thinned a bit. It had a boyish charm that it lacked before. It also made him look elegant and regal. As if the ritual had taken him as close to perfection as possible.

His hair had changed color. The black hair had turned into the golden-platinum color that only the pure Valyrians ever had. Only Daenerys the Dreamer in the Targaryen line was ever reported to have hair like this. Her and the other powerful mages in Valyria.

His eyes had changed as well. Once they were pale grey in color. Now, they were bright violet. And they almost seemed to glow with the magic that was now churning inside him.

So much magic.

Despite feeling slightly weak physically, he had never felt so powerful in his life before. Both lives.

If he was not wrong in his estimate, then he was twice as strong now as Dumbledore used to be in his prime.

The ritual been beyond painful and it had done a number on him. He had a feeling that his lifespan had also decreased by a bit, something that he'll deal with later.

But the power it gave him could not be denied.

He waved his hand and the mirror was suddenly ten times larger and covering the entire wall.

He chuckled in joy. The chuckle soon turned into laughter which turned into a coughing fit as it sent a jolt of pain toward his still injured throat.

Shouting and screaming for hours will do that to you.

At least that's what Ygritte told him.

He himself couldn't remember the ritual properly. Only faint glimpses of pain and torture that made him glad that he was incoherent throughout the ritual.

That much pain could break anyone.

He was lucky that he was not a vegetable like the Longbottoms and the other victims in Saint Mungos.

And if he was hesitant about using this ritual on Ygritte before (it did cost 3 live dragon eggs and a lot of time and ingredients to prepare), he was completely against it now.

The gain of turning her into a Dragonlady was not worth the risk of her turning into a vegetable.

Though if she insisted on taking the risk, then he would have no choice but to oblige.

She was his lover, not his servant after all.

"You done staring at yourself." Ygritte asked as she entered the room and he smiled at her and nodded.

She walked up to his naked body and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"It's going to take some time to get used to this new face." She said as they met eyes in the mirror.

"Do you not like it?" he asked with a smirk, knowing well what her answer was going to be.

He did not look ugly before. In fact, he considered himself to be quite good looking. But now… now he could easily take the spot of the most good looking man in Westeros. That is, if he did not hide his Valyrian features with a glamor charm.

King Robert Targaryen did held a great deal of hatred for the Targaryens after all.

"I like it." She said and kissed in the neck "I loved you before as well. And I would have loved you even if your face had turned hideous from the ritual. But I do like you better now."

He turned around and kissed her lips, picking her from the ground from her waist.

"I need to go and check on the egg." He whispered once they separated.

"Let's see this egg of yours then." She said and led him out of the room.

They crossed the corridor and reached the Incubation room.

He pushed the door opened and at the center of the room was a large black egg, double the size of any other egg in the room.

He went to the dragon egg and put his hand on top of it.

A feeling a warmth, happiness and contentment came out from inside the egg.

"Is it ready?" Ygritte asked softly, not wanting to break the pure moment.

"It is." He replied and removed his arm from the egg, instantly missing it's warmth

He wondered if he had unknowingly formed some sort of bond with the egg. He had been missing it's presence ever since he completed the ritual and became a Dragonlord.

"It has been ready to be hatched for some time." He told her "It was I who was not ready."

"And you're ready now?" Ygritte asked and he smiled.

"Yes. I suppose I am." He said as he conjured a fireball at the tip of his finger and put it under the palm of his left hand. It didn't burn him.

"Are you going to hatch in now. Today?" she asked.

He shook his head "I'm still weak from the aftereffects of the ritual. And I want to be at my best when I hatch it." He said "Let's go to the treasury. There's something I want to check."