dragon lore z

It was to that end that I made my first effort to accumulate dragon lore during one of my monthly 'examinations'. I meant no disrespect to Grand Maester Mellos, the spindly old man had a kindly demeanor and was not exactly harsh in his examinations, I had a hard time not being worried that he would try something foolish that could see me end up on the wrong side of infant mortality. On the bright side the man looked and behaved like the platonic ideal of a kindly grandfather with a bit of absent-minded professor sprinkled on.

As he poked and prodded Aegon. I eyed his study looking for the right title now that I was more confident in my reading skills.

Whatever one could say about his skills (and to be fair they were not as misguided as my paranoid mind suspected) the man was organized. The chamber looked like an immaculately ordered library and study, which meant that previous attempts had resulted in failure as the Maester only every kept a few books out of his neat shelves.

Today I was fortunate however as I spotted my prize on the Grand Maester's desk.

"Eh ow...!" I whined as I poked at my maid while pointing towards the desk.

"What is wrong my prince?" She asked with amusement, they had grown used to typically having a fairly solid reason whenever I bothered to actually make a sound.

Looking her in the eye with a smile, I pointed at the desk again. "Eh!"

"What is it my prince?" She asked as she walked me over to the Maester's desk.

I reached down and tapped my prize triumphantly and chuckled in affirmation.

"What's this now?" grand maester Mellos asked as my antics drew his attention up from my brother.

"Beg pardon, Grand Maester but the prince seems to be wanting this one." She said as she tapped my prize. "He's a bright lad, when he gets like this it is hard to stop him."

"Oh?" Mellos asked as he finished up with Aegon and passed him off to his own caretaker before moving over towards us.

I looked the man dead in the eye and nodded before pointing at the book, "Eh!"

"How odd," Melllos said as he picked up my prize. "It seems odd that a child so young would want a specific book or even understand what one is."

"Beg pardon GrandMaester, but the prince is an odd one. Oft we find him trying to read over the books in his chamber at night," the maid said awkwardly while I carefully kept my features cheerful. Damnit this is not good, they were on to me.

"Hmm, remarkable if true," Mellos said as he moved to his shelf and pulled out one of the books with a very similar cover to my prize and turning to me with both behind his back. I tried to not arch a brow, what was he up to?

He walked up to me and extended both books to me. Oh, I get it. He is trying to see if I actually wanted the book or just liked the shape.

I reached for my prize and tapped it while looking at him, "Eh!"

"Remarkable indeed," the Maester said in amusement.

"As I said GrandMaester, he is a clever lad," the maid said with something resembling pride. I counted it as a win if I had managed to get them attached to me.

"Indeed," The Maester said as he stroked his short, nonexistent beard. "Tell me girl, do you think you can read this?"

The maid blushed, "I'm afraid I don't know my letters very well milord. I can read the tales well enough but such a tome…"

I growled at the Maester despite myself, I had grown a little attached to my maids myself but I did not care to see them put in humiliating situations.

"Of course, of course," Mellos said in thought as he stared at me. "No matter, I do not mind."

"Grand Maester?" The maid asked.

"I would be remiss if I failed to see that the royal princes do not live up to their potential," the Grand Maester said as he wizened features twisted into a kindly smile.

"Do not worry lad, I quite enjoy Barth's work myself."

And so the Grand Maester would come a few times every week to the nursery to read to me. Given that he invited the nannies to listen, I forgave the slight against them earlier. A peripheral benefit was that the maids kept Aegon quiet while the old Maester read.

As I expected Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History was a veritable font of knowledge. It was helpful that Mellos seemed to go out of his way to put complex ideas in more simple terms in the hopes of making the ideas absorb more easily into my mind.