The King of Winters

Chapter-28

Daenerys

The red comet had started to fade as an old would in the sky. No one knew when it had appeared and it was fading from the sky as it had appeared. Though it was fading, Dany could see it clearly against the bloodshot sky of the evening from her balcony in the Red Keep. Can this comet mean something about her visions from her House of the Undying? Dany remembered all the things she had heard and seen there that day but none included a red comet. She would want to ask her brother about it when he returns. 

The peasants said a thousand things about it. Fool's talk was what Ser Jorah had told her when she asked him about it. But Dany was not so convinced with any of it. She believed that it was sent for a reason by the Gods. 

"What do you think about the comet, ser?" Dany asked him. 

"I don't have much knowledge about stars, Princess," Ser Jorah replied from beside her. "It means different thing to different people. And that is because no one knows the true story behind it. Ask a Septon he would say it is the sword of the Warrior, the glory of the Seven, ask a Maester he would say it marks the end of the season, ask a peasant he would say a dozen stories about it at a single time, ask another one he would have another tale to tell. Ask a wise man about it, he would tell you to pay no mind to it as you would do with the other stars in the night sky." 

Dany laughed. "So you tend to be a wise man, Ser Jorah?" 

"I tend to be no one, Princess," said her knight. "But it is wise to leave it away from your thoughts and get on with your work. It does no good to dwell on it." 

The Master of the Ships Aurane Waters chuckled from the other side of the balcony at that. Dany had misliked the Bastard of Driftmark at first but she had taken a quick liking to his mischievous smirks and hidden grins for her and his japes for Jorah after he saved her from the Qartheen Manticore and the warlock assassin. 

Dany turned to face him. "Do you know something about the comet, my lord?" 

"I'll not make any claims that I know about it, Princess," Aurane Waters said. "But I've heard some interesting things about it." 

"Go on," Dany asked him to continue. 

"You see, princess, people see that comet above and talk about only one thing," Aurane leaned onto the balcony and looked to the comet. "The Born King. They say that the gods have sent the comet to herald the return of the Born King." 

Ser Jorah frowned beside her. "Another one of the fool's talk." 

Aurane gave him a quick smile. "Easy for you to say, Ser. But I suppose your family in the north will be thinking of it in the same way." 

"Who is the Born King?" Dany asked.

The look both Aurane and Ser Jorah was of a surprised one. 

"You haven't heard of it?" Aurane asked. 

Dany shook her head. 

"It's nothing but a peasant tale, Princess," Ser Jorah said. "An old legend from the north while your brother took the kingdom from Eddard Stark. It had stayed dead for some years now but the comet has given life to it again." 

"The Outlaw is dead though," Dany said. She had heard those stories many times when she was a little girl. "What is this legend anyway?" 

"It's about Stark's son," Ser Jorah said. "He is dead, killed along with his father and mother. Though there are some commonfolk who believe that he is still alive and would return." 

Dany thought about the House of the Undying. She had not heard or seen anything about this Born King they told her of. Perhaps, he could be one of those who would betray her. The warlocks had promised that she would know three treasons, one for blood, one for gold and one for love. Can this Born King be one of them? And Quathie had warned about other enemies and dangers as well. Was he one of it? But Quaithe had said nothing about this Born King though. Anyway, she would want to keep Drogon close. She looked up at the evening sky but she could not find her black dragon anywhere.

"I cannot see Drogon," Dany told them. "Has he gone again?" 

Of late Drogon has gone restless. He never stayed in one place. One day he was in King's Landing and the next people saw him in Dragonstone. He flew all around Westeros and other places as well much to Dany's chagrin. He was flying around the Red Keep only a moment before and now he had disappeared again. She had heard that her dragon had made his lair in Dragonstone. Maybe he had gone there again. Of late Drogon spent most of his days away from her and King's Landing that Dany was in mind to lock him in the Dragonpit. "I think I should lock him up in the Dragonpit. But my brother says that it will affect his growth. Do you know how big a dragon can grow?" 

"In the singer's songs, there are tales of dragons who grew so huge that they could pluck giant krakens from the seas," Ser Jorah said. 

Dany giggled. Drogon was already large enough to hunt whales from the seas. But he needs to grow more if he is to pull krakens from the seas. "That would be a wondrous sight to see." 

"It is only a tale, Princess," said her exile knight. "They talk of wise old dragons living a thousand years as well." 

"Well, how long does a dragon live?" She looked up searching for Drogon but she could not find him. 

Ser Jorah shrugged. "A dragon's natural span of days is many times as long as a man's, or so the songs would have us believe . . . but the dragons the Seven Kingdoms knew best were those of House Targaryen. They were bred for war, and in war they died. It is no easy thing to slay a dragon, but it can be done." 

Aurane Waters walked beside them and said, "Balerion the Black Dread was two hundred years old when he died during the reign of Jaehaerys the Conciliator. He was so large he could swallow an aurochs whole. A dragon never stops growing, Princess, so long as he has food and freedom." 

"Freedom?" asked Dany, curious. "What do you mean?" 

"Your brother is right, Princess." He pointed to the distant dragonpit standing atop on the Hill of Rhaenys. It had been ruin at first but her brother had returned it to its former glory so that they could house their dragons if it was needed. "Your ancestors raised that immense domed castle for their dragons. The Dragonpit. That is where the royal dragons dwelt in days of yore, and a cavernous dwelling it is, with iron doors so wide that thirty knights could ride through them abreast. Yet even so, it was noted that none of the pit dragons ever reached the size of their ancestors. The maesters say it was because of the walls around them, and the great dome above their heads." 

"If walls could keep us small, peasants would all be tiny and kings as large as giants," said Ser Jorah. "I've seen huge men born in hovels, and dwarfs who dwell in castles." 

"Men are men," Aurane replied with a wink at her, making her blush. "Dragons are dragons." 

Ser Jorah snorted his disdain. "How profound." The northman had no love for the Master of Ships, he'd made that plain from the first. "What do you know of dragons, anyway?" 

"Little enough that I've seen them with my own eyes," Aurane Waters said. "And I've read books you can't read." 

Dany giggled at that. Ser Jorah frowned and Aurane continued. "You see the dragon skulls in the Throne room Princess, the skulls near the Iron Throne belongs to Balerion and Vhagar." 

"I know of that," said Dany. "The dragons from Aegon's conquest. They were the largest of the Targaryen dragons." 

"Exactly," Aurane said pushing his silver hair away from his face. He looked so much a Targaryen then. "That's what happens to dragons who have freedom, Princess. Your ancestors had other dragons as well. You can see their skulls too. Fierce dragons like Caraxes, Vermithor, Meleys... but none could match the might of Balerion or Vhagar. Because Balerion and Vhagar grew up in the open world while the others were raised in the Dragonpit." 

"So no Dragonpit for Drogon then?" Dany asked smiling. 

Aurane moved near her and placed his hand above hers. "No Dragonpit for Drogon." 

When Dany turned to see him he had a smile on his lips. Dany could feel the blood rising up to her cheeks. She turned away from him but did not pull her hand from his.