Chapter 524: There’s a Dragon in the Distance!

Main Hall, The Eyrie

"A dragon egg from King's Landing?"

Jeyne didn't show any emotion, but it was clear she was troubled. Skylar, standing beside her, remained calm. "This dragon egg originally belonged to heir prince Baelon, but it was given to Dany."

"The Vale accepts no charity." Jeyne's eyes softened slightly as she firmly rejected the gift. Rhaenyra undermined her position and stripped her daughter of her family name. No results, no acceptance of generosity.

"Do you want to send it back?" Skylar asked, regret evident in her voice. Her brother, the current Master of Whisperers, Tormund, had men just outside the Bloody Gate.

Jeyne did not hesitate. "Send it back."

"No! Don't!" A young, anxious voice interrupted, sounding like a small puppy guarding its food.

Jeyne frowned at the sound. With a steady pace, two figures appeared, one large and one small. Lyanna wrapped her arms around Rhaegar's neck and thrust her upper body forward. "The dragon egg is mine! Don't throw it away!"

Rhaegar was surprised and looked at the little sun in his arms, who was making threatening gestures. He recalled that when Lyanna was a month old, a dragon egg had been placed in her cradle—a beautiful, brilliant blue Dreamfyre egg, personally selected by Helaena as an apology.

Lyanna waved her tiny hands and begged, "Mother, don't throw away my dragon egg."

Unfortunately, no one paid attention to the energetic little girl. Rhaegar looked at Jeyne, and Jeyne looked back at him. She intended to say something sarcastic but found herself unable to: "Baelon sent me his dragon egg, and I was just about to return it to Rhaenyra."

Her voice was muffled, and her tone was sarcastic. Rhaegar smiled faintly. "Don't bother. Baelon's little scheme is no secret to the King."

Jeyne had nothing to say in response. She was a reasonable woman and didn't want to get involved with the next generation. Baelon wasn't bad; he was a gentle child.

"Anna, stop jumping around," Rhaegar gently held the little girl down. "Keep the dragon egg for Dany."

"Mine! Mine!" Lyanna protested, holding tightly onto Rhaegar's hand.

Jeyne looked at Skylar helplessly. "Take Anna down to rest."

Anna was Lyanna's nickname, used by those close to her. Skylar nodded and approached Rhaegar, respectfully saying, "Your Grace."

"Mm." Rhaegar handed the child to her, not forgetting to pinch Lyanna's cheeks and tease, "Little girl, even the pigs in the countryside are easier to catch than you."

Lyanna was indignant as she was taken away by force. The hall quieted, leaving only Rhaegar and Jeyne.

Rhaegar, honest and straightforward, said, "I came here to give Dany a proper family name."

Jeyne stood up in surprise.

"I'll listen to your opinion on what surname to give her," Rhaegar smiled.

"Good news always comes in succession," Jeyne remarked, though she seemed at a loss for words. "The troops in Gulltown are ready to move at any time."

"These are all trivial matters. All you need to do is decide on a surname for Dany." Rhaegar remained calm, treating the opposition as if they were merely fish on a chopping board. With his father Viserys secretly backing him, the opposition in the Vale was negligible.

For a moment, Jeyne was silent. The matter of her eldest daughter's surname had always weighed heavily on her. She harbored a deep resentment towards Rhaenyra and her children, especially since she had two girls in a row while Rhaenyra had three boys. It felt like a cruel twist of fate.

Rhaegar waited patiently, not disturbing Jeyne.

After a while, Jeyne came to her senses, lowered her head, and whispered, "Dany misses you very much. Go see her." She waved her hand lightly, signaling her desire to be alone.

Rhaegar picked up the incubator and left with the dragon egg. Jeyne's lack of refusal signaled her acceptance of the dragon egg—a gift from one child to another, there's no reason for a Lord to refuse such a gift.

...

The Maiden Tower

Through the willow trees in the back garden, a window panel can be seen high up in the tower. The Eyrie's environment is relatively barren. The windows are not made of glass but are made with iron bars and wooden boards.

Creak-

The window board is lifted, revealing a shaggy head with a pointed nose.

Bang, bang, bang...

Lyanna ran up to a closed wooden door,pounding it with her fists. "Sister, I met someone with silver hair just like yours."

"..."

There was no response.

Lyanna didn't give up. She sat down on the ground and continued knocking on the door. "Open up, open up."

Her sister never came out of her room. Every time she wanted to see her, she had to knock for a long time.

After a while, Rhaegar appeared at the end of the corridor and stood behind the little girl.

"Sister, open the door!" Lyanna was still knocking, unaware of Rhaegar's presence.

Knock, knock!

Rhaegar reached out and knocked on the door, whispering, "Dany, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Lyanna looked up in surprise and realized someone was there.

At that moment,

Creak-

The door opened a little, and a small head with long silver-blonde hair poked out. She was a little girl, about six or seven years old. Her fair face was hidden behind the door, peeking out timidly. Her purple eyes were full of anticipation and anxiety.

"Father~" The little girl let out a surprised cry the moment she saw Rhaegar. Bang! The door flew open, and the girl flew into Rhaegar's arms like a swallow returning to its nest.

"Be careful!" Rhaegar was quick on his feet and caught his eldest daughter.

Lyanna, still sitting on the floor, looked up with big, confused eyes.

"Father?"

"Yes." Hearing his second daughter's mumbling, Rhaegar smiled and replied.

He hugged his eldest daughter and set the incubator down. Then he turned to pick up Lyanna and closed the door behind him. The Eyrie is so high up that even in the middle of summer, you can feel the cold wind.

...

Inside the House.

Rhaegar, Daenerys, and Lyanna sat in a row, with two identical incubator placed in front of the girls. Rhaegar opened one container to reveal a blue dragon egg. "Dany, did Anna give you this?" he asked softly.

Daenerys leaned against her father, resting her head on his lap. "Anna put it here and said she wanted to hatch it with me," she whispered.

Rhaegar rubbed Lyanna's head and praised her. "Anna is wonderful. She knows how to share good things with her sister."

"That's right!" Lyanna puffed out her chest, proud of herself.

Rhaegar smiled, pushing the two incubator toward his daughters. "Now you each have one. In the future, you'll each have a baby dragon."

Daenerys hesitated, reaching out to touch the watery blue dragon egg in the container. This dragon egg belonged to Lyanna, but she was sharing it with her. It felt like a gift.

Rhaegar stroked her gaunt face and reassured her. "Take it. In the future, no one will dare criticize you, just like Anna."

Daenerys turned to look at her sister. Lyanna spread her legs, the bronze dragon egg nestled between them, and pretended to bite it.

"You can't eat this, Anna," Daenerys whispered.

Lyanna was taken aback, not expecting her sister to speak up. "I'll try it. Dragon eggs are hard," she said happily.

Daenerys sat up and found a handkerchief in the embroiderer's basket to wipe her sister's drool. Lyanna closed her eyes contentedly, like a lazy kitten. She adored her sister, who had silver-blonde hair and amethyst eyes, and was beautiful and smart.

Rhaegar smiled as he watched the two sisters interact. Dany had inherited his dominant genes, with silver hair and purple eyes—the Targaryen look. Lyanna had inherited her mother Jeyne's features, with chestnut hair and black eyes. Rhaegar did not discriminate; he thought both daughters were lovely.

He looked around the small room, noting its tidy organization. It wasn't that Jeyne was mean to her daughters; it was just the way things were done in The Eyrie. There were seven white spires, and the rooms were frugal, unlike the opulence of the Red Keep in King's Landing.

Suddenly, Rhaegar noticed the basket of embroidery. He reached in and pulled out two particularly conspicuous white handkerchiefs.

"Father?" Daenerys hugged her sister and kept a watchful eye on Rhaegar.

"It's nothing. I just want to see your work," Rhaegar replied with a smile, though his eyes grew serious as he examined the handkerchiefs.

On the first handkerchief, a red dragon with its head cut off was depicted, still in a flying position with its neck split in two and blood spraying. Next to the gruesome dragon's head lay a conspicuous golden crown.

"A red dragon with a crown?" Rhaegar whispered, immediately thinking of the Aethyrys family.

The embroidery on the second handkerchief was also familiar. "Daeryon!" Rhaegar's brow furrowed as he recalled the illustrations in ancient texts. The intertwining of two green dragons symbolized the endless power of reproduction, a theme valued by a Dragonlord family called Daeryon, though not as openly as the Aethyrys family.

"Father, don't you like it?" Daenerys crept up to him, clutching a handkerchief in her hand.

Rhaegar looked down and saw the embroidery on it. It depicted a green dragon with a well-proportioned body, a long tail like a scorpion's sting, and a body that spiraled into a circle with the tail connecting to the head.

Rhaegar's eyes narrowed as he recognized it. "Trickster," he muttered. The iconic long tail was the best balance for aerial combat. From the battle between the Trickster and Tyraxes, it was evident that the dragon's tail also had sensing capabilities.

This was the family crest of the Belaerys family. No, it wasn't just a family crest—it was a totem. For a Dragonlord family, a totem symbolized their glory and unique breeding of dragons.

"The Targaryens was not a high-ranking family," Rhaegar thought, "and apparently did not have such a privilege."

Rhaegar, feeling a mix of emotions, crouched down. "Dany, tell your father how you came up with these embroideries."

Daenerys, a little scared, whispered, "In my dreams, I always see a continuous stretch of volcanoes."

"What's in the volcanoes?" Rhaegar's interest piqued.

"There are dragons, dragon eggs..." Daenerys' voice trembled as she spoke, her body shaking slightly. "So many dragons, fighting and bleeding."

Her face turned pale, and her breathing quickened.

"Okay, okay, don't think about it anymore," Rhaegar quickly stopped her, seeing her distress.

Daenerys shivered, her eyes gradually going blank, and muttered, "Dragons! There's a dragon in the distance!"

"Dany, wake up." Rhaegar hugged his daughter and gently rocked her. "Don't think about it anymore. Relax."

His eldest daughter had inherited his Dreamer talent and had been plagued by visions since childhood. It was hard to imagine that her talent seemed to surpass even his.

Click! Click!

Rhaegar was worried about his daughter when a crisp sound came from behind. He turned and was momentarily distracted.

Lyanna was panicking, clutching her skirt. The bronze dragon egg seemed to come alive, shaking and covered in spider web-like cracks.

"Ka~~"

The dragon egg cracked open, and a bronze dragon head with a shell on its horn poked out. The baby dragon had broken out of its shell.

Rhaegar was momentarily awestruck and muttered, "A dragon in the distance, or a dragon right in front of me?"

(Word count: 1,915)