8 Targaryen

During the trip towards the last of the Targaryen lands, Kaelarys kept quiet inside his palanquin. Valyria could be said to be the closest thing to a utopia of magic, but as long as it was ruled by humans, it was bound to have conflicts.

Dragonlords were no different from Westerosi Lords in many aspects, every single one of them wanted to one up the other, and the Targaryens were no different. The rules may be different, but the people are the same.

'If I could, I would bet my money that they are pissed at the Valyrians for calling them cowards and ridiculing them… and now that they have nothing to lose because they are exiling themselves, nothing prevents some hotheaded idiot from picking a fight.'

"My Lord" a voice came from outside.

"Yes Valanar, speak up" he answered in a calm low tone.

"You can bet that the tales of your circumstances have reached them, they might try to pressure you into a duel to earn more riches for their future endeavors," he said.

Kael chuckled "No Valyrian would demand a duel for a petty reason, they would be shunned by the whole freehold."

"Aye my Lord, but these wyrmlings are leaving the freehold, considering how desperate they were selling their things as fast as possible, one can believe that they might try to increase their fortune by … unorthodox… means"

'Just as I thought...' Kael thought "I understand Valanar."

"Just don't let them bait you to call for a duel, I will fight for you if they try anything funny…" he spoke solemnly, but then chuckled and added, "I always wanted to taste wyrmling's blood with my Revenant, I wonder if it will turn red like your Dragonheart … or does it need high quality dragon's blood for that?"

Kael smirked at that, but his eyes narrowed.

'It's time to meet other 'dragons.'

They arrived at a huge port that looked more like an open castle, with white long docks, crafted of finely fused stone that made them look otherworldly and magical. The personnel were organized, and many vessels with different sails were being loaded and unloaded. Long cranes, made of carved wood and metal, helped the workers.

On the horizon, leaving the bay, one could see a castle over the water, the size was small when compared to other castles, it was but a small keep, but it was built on top of an archway that served as a gate for the vessels, every ship that entered or left this place would go through that gate, it was called the Western Water Gate.

On a corner, a group of six to seven platinum-haired people were gathered, ordering their soldiers and workers to load a couple of massive ships, if Kael had to guess, he would assume that those would be their actual family ships, while the soldiers would be sent on smaller ones.

'Or.. mayhaps most of their soldiers are already in Dragonstone by now...'

One of them noticed the Regallyon host arriving and called for the others, there were three small kids among the group, one girl of roughly 6 and 10 name days old, a small boy of only 10, and another one even younger, around 6 or 7.

The grown-ups had different hairstyles of different lengths, one was thinner, and one was bulkier. One was smart looking, and the other was battle-hardened. The third however was a woman, she was pretty and had a fierce but collected air around her.

As Kael judged their host, they also judged his.

"Who's that, brother?" Asked a thin Valyrian man. He had straight platinum blonde hair and deep lilac eyes. "Another one that came to mock us?" he spat on the floor in anger.

The tall, handsome, and smart-looking one kept his gaze on the palanquin "I don't think so, but considering their numbers they are no lesser family. They are one of the 40."

The thin man smirked "Oh great, we might earn something out of this."

The tall man grunted "Jaelar!"

"What?" the thin man, Jaelar, shrugged. "They don't seem very powerful. Only one small palanquin, Dragonlords usually ride their dragons around. So, it's someone sick or some family that is already screwed."

As the incoming host stopped, the tall handsome man with short platinum hair and bright lilac eyes approached the palanquin.

"Fire and Blood friend. I am Aenar, Lord of the Dragonlord family of Targaryen." He introduced himself cordially, offering the peaceful greetings used among the Dragonlord Families.

"Fire and Blood, Lord Aenar Targaryen. My name is Valanar and I came with my liege, he wishes to speak with you and your daughter." Replied Valanar in kind, although he teased, he knew that Kael didn't come here to wreak havoc.

Aenar nodded, and basic amiable greetings were exchanged so, according to Valyrian culture, they came on friendly terms.

"With all due respect Valanar, whom is your lord?" Asked Jalear, intruding on the conversation. Which earned him a solemn look from his brother.

A solemn and calm voice came from the palanquin.

"I am Kaelarys, Lord of the sacred Dragonlord family of Regallyon."

As the Targaryens heard those words, their eyes went wide. They are a small family and never actually met anyone from the big sacred five families in person. They knew of them, obviously, but to meet one? Ha, it was as unlikely as Dunk meeting Egg, but again, everything related to Egg is unlikely, including his moniker.

Aenar straightened his back, he respected the sacred five dearly. They were the pillars of Valyria and the only families capable of forging Valyrian steel, also they knew magic that no one could even understand, especially the Regallyons that were the most mystical family in the Freehold.

Jaelar on the other hand had a weird gleam in his eyes. He also adjusted his posture but something about him was off, and his brother noticed.

A man came out from the palanquin. He dressed in long black robes that slid across the floor as he walked, the inner part of the robes was red and had many silver-colored ornaments. But looking closely one could see weird patterns on those silver-colored ornaments.

'Valyrian steel!' both Aenar and Jaelar Targaryen thought at the same time. They were scrapping for a couple of Valyrian steel swords and this Lord in front of them used that rare magic metal for ornaments and jewelry!

Even his cane was made of Dragonbone with Valyrian steel, how rich and powerful those sacred five really were?

Jaelar kept staring at the young man that approached, he looked handsome with his long platinum hair and bright amethyst eyes, but he was pale and slightly sick-looking. 'Oh, so it's him… the famous Regallyon Dragonfyre.'

Aenar on the other hand paid attention to small details, he noticed that every time the cane hit the ground, small embers spread. 'He looks sick and weakened as the rumors said but, even weakened he is like a real dragon!'

"Well met Lord Regallyon, it's an honor to meet you. I've heard a lot of things about you." Said Aenar respectfully.

Kael smiled "Well met Lord Targaryen, it's an honor to meet you as well. I also could say that I heard quite a bit about your family, but I don't think you would take that in a positive light."

Aenar could only smile bitterly "Aye my Lord, rumors got out of hand and now we are… well… in an awkward situation."

Kael nodded but looked around, towards the two big vessels. "Rumors you say? I don't think calling it rumors would be fitting, not when you are equipping your own ships to leave this place."

Aenar could only chuckle "After everything that happened, it's not like we have a choice… We either move or endure the mockery."

Kael narrowed his eyes 'He is downplaying the impact of his daughter's dreams, is he intentionally doing it so I don't take it seriously or was he really forced into this situation and is not happy with the outcome?'

"I was wondering if I would have the pleasure to meet your new dragon. I heard its name was Balerion, a very good name… it honors our gods." Kael decided to move on, showing doubt right now would be counter-productive. He was here to strike a deal after all.

Aenar nodded "Yes my Lord, Balerion is still growing up… he is a beast like no other, at least for us. He eats as much as our other four dragons combined. But he is currently sleeping, and we all know to never wake up a dragon from their nap." He finished with a depressed chuckle.

"He?" Kael raised an eyebrow at that, since he came to this world, everyone called their dragons 'It', for they were no man.

The Targaryen lord understood what Kael meant "Aye, we like to believe that Dragons are equal to us, well at least I do. And I hope my descendants will adopt my belief."

Kael was in thought for a few seconds "You know what Lord Targaryen, you gave me a good new perspective today. Dragons indeed are our companions, and now that you said it… it feels rather… degrading… to call them 'it', I thank you for your insight."

Aenar was happy that one of the Freehold's most powerful Lords actually understood and shared his ideals, with a smile on his face he nodded "Aye my Lord, they are our brothers."

They talked a bit more about dragons, nothing related to privileged information though, to the dismay of Jaelar that was expecting to get something out of this encounter.

"Let me introduce you to my family My Lord, this is my brother Jaelar Targaryen" The moment that Kael saw Jaelar he knew it 'oh, found the hotheaded one.' Then Aenar proceeded to introduce him to his beautiful wife, a mature lady six and thirty name days old, but she still looked in her twenties. 'Praise the Valyrian blood.' "This is my sister and wife Elaenys Targaryen."

"Fire and Blood, Lady Targaryen," said Kaelarys with a soft smile.

"Fire and Blood, Lord Regallyon" she replied with a gentle smile but bowed her head a bit. Powerful families deserve respect, and she respected the power and traditions of their people.

"And these," said Aenar gesturing to the three kids to approach "Are my children, the younger one is Rhaenar, and the middle and heroic looking one is Gaemon" that earned an embarrassed look from his middle son, which made him chuckle. "And this young lady here is my eldest daughter, Daenys. The one that you probably already know" he said with a bitter smile at the end.

Kael couldn't help but chuckle "I like your family lord Targaryen," He said as he eyed the three kids, well… two kids and a young woman… "Fire and Blood," he said to the three of them.

And the three of them replied together "Fire and Blood"

"My Lord, I don't mean to be disrespectful but I don't think you came here just for introductions and to meet us." Said Aenar. He might be friendly and welcoming, but he was a born leader.

"Aye, you are correct about that Lord Targaryen, you see… my family is very dedicated to what people call "magic" and we tend to research and record many of those things." He said and turned to young Daenys "And I came here because of her."

That raised Aenar's eyebrows "I'm sorry my Lord, but little Daenys is no sorcerer"

Kael smiled "Yes, that is true. But dreams, visions and prophecies can be considered magic, although very hard to study since it's a rather… unorthodox… type of magic, but it's magic nonetheless."

"How can I help you than my Lord?" Asked Daenys with a slightly scared expression. It seems that she was already a shy girl before all of the dream things happened, and that made her even more fearful. She looked like a frail porcelain doll that would break at a slight touch.

"I know that with your family relocating away from the freehold means that I can't really invite you to my family tower and have long conversations about your dreams and visions." He said while looking at her.

She was about to reply when Kael continued speaking.

"But I heard that you wrote a book, a book called 'Signs and Portents', that is related to your visions. And I wanted to buy that book, say your price."