At the same time, a grand council gathered in secret inside the Palace of a Thousand Thrones.
Masos took a long breath, his face still pale. He spoke first. "That dragon is circling right over our heads. If we don't give him a real answer, he's not going to just fly away."
"What the hell are you talking about?" one royal snapped, face red. "We didn't steal the damn egg. Why should we hand anything over?"
It sounded fair, but the world didn't run on fairness.
The royal who had ridden out with Masos was still shaking. He was furious. "You idiot. Do you really think the Dragon King is some honorable man? He's forcing us to kneel."
They had no real cards to play. Rely on the useless warlocks from the Hall of the Immortals?
One of the quieter royals suddenly spoke up. "What if we poison him and that younger boy down at the harbor?"
The room went still.
They all considered it. If they could kill him cleanly, they could dodge the price that was coming.
But House Targaryen only had three dragonriders. One was pregnant.
Wendro cut in, voice hard. "No. If we were merchants or sellswords without honor, maybe. But we're not. We don't murder our guests."
Guest right still meant something, even here.
The royals weren't really worried about honor. They were weighing consequences.
Aegen, the elegant one, spoke next. "Even if we killed them, Daeron has heirs. Those children will grow up, claim dragons, and come for revenge. In two generations House Targaryen could burn Qohor to the ground."
Some nodded. Some scoffed.
One young royal said, "Don't forget—Daeron stole the throne from his brother Rhaegar. If Daeron dies, Rhaegar will come back and fight the unborn nephew for the Iron Throne."
Aegen shot back, "And what makes you think Rhaegar wouldn't avenge his brother once he's king?"
The argument went in circles.
Wendro stayed firm. "One dragon egg or two dead dragon kings? Even a fool knows which to choose. I'm not betting my family on this."
History proved killing Targaryen dragon kings never ended well.
Some of the older royals finally called for the warlocks of the Hall of the Immortals.
The servants came back shaking their heads. The warlocks refused to come.
Masos asked what they said. The servant just shook his head again.
No help with the poisoning.
Wendro and Aegen looked relieved.
But someone asked the real question. "If we don't kill him, where the hell are we supposed to find a dragon egg?"
Masos answered flat. "The egg is with one of the Thirteen or the Spice Guild. We make them hand it over. They won't dare refuse."
Qohor's power structure was simple. The royal family sat on top. Below them were the Thirteen, the Turquoise Brotherhood, and the Spice Guild. The Thirteen and Spice Guild were the strongest.
Wendro said, "Summon the Thirteen and the Spice Guild. If they resist, bring in the Turquoise Brotherhood and crush them."
The others agreed. The royals still held real power in Qohor.
Daeron rose from the bath and sent the slave girls away. He didn't use slaves. He accepted service from free servants and attendants only.
He dried his hair. His Targaryen blood ran hot, so the water evaporated fast. He dressed in his black clothes.
He had no idea the Qohorik royals had just debated murdering him and Jaehaerys.
Even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared. Poison wouldn't touch him. The second he sensed it, he'd cut them all down. Caraxes would feel it and burn the palace.
He was a dragonrider, but first he was a warrior. A High Knight who could carve through dozens of men.
"I've already shown Qohor enough force. They're not stupid enough to test House Targaryen again."
He ran a hand through his silver hair. "A slap, then a sweet date. The greyscale spreading from the Jade Sea is the perfect opening."
Greyscale was coming. Qohor couldn't dodge it.
He could warn them and win some loyalty at the same time.
"If Qohor handles the quarantine right and keeps greyscale from crossing the strait, the Triarchy and Westeros stay safer too."
He had a sense of duty. He didn't want his people dying from plague.
Even the people of the Triarchy counted as his now.
"Half a day gone. A day and a half left."
Daeron left the bath and headed for the main hall, servants leading the way.
The moment he stepped inside, Masos stood and introduced the other royals one by one.
Then he said, "Your Grace, please be patient. We're investigating who bought the dragon egg in secret."
"You're an honorable man, Masos," Daeron said with a small smile. "In the Seven Kingdoms we say give and take. You help me find the egg, and I'll give you something in return."
Masos looked surprised. "What information could we possibly not already know?"
"Greyscale," Daeron said.
---
The next morning.
In the square outside the Palace of a Thousand Thrones, members of the Thirteen and the Turquoise Brotherhood stood under the sun, waiting.
Zaro Zawan Dassos stood at the front, wearing a false smile. His eyes kept flicking toward a warlock in the corner.
He was a strong, dark-skinned man with a shaved head and a jewel in his nose. He carried himself with presence. One of the newer members of the Thirteen, he controlled more than sixty ships.
The warlock looked sickly—pale face, blue lips, skinny under his black robes—but his skin was strangely smooth, almost girlish. He was the chief warlock of the Hall of the Immortals.
"Damn it. Did something go wrong? Did the secret leak?" Zaro thought, panic hidden behind his smile.
With the red comet's arrival, magic was waking. The Qohorik warlocks had regained some power. When word spread that three dragons had hatched in Westeros, their magic grew stronger still.
But it still wasn't enough.
They wanted a source of real magic. A dragon.
No one could steal one from House Targaryen. But if a dragon egg appeared on the black market, they could buy it.
Recently someone in Slaver's Bay had offered one in secret. The warlocks saw their chance.
The chief warlock approached Zaro and convinced the ambitious new member of the Thirteen to fund the purchase.
The deal was simple. Once the egg hatched, the dragon would belong to Zaro.
With a dragon, Zaro could overthrow the royals and the other guilds and crown himself king of Qohor.
But the moment the egg changed hands, the Dragon King of House Targaryen appeared in Qohor.
Zaro cursed the royals under his breath. They had folded so fast in front of the outsider.
When he met them, they had been so arrogant.
Three royal representatives stepped out: Masos, the conservative Wendro, and Aegen.
The others had either been too ashamed or had already fled because of the plague threat.
Masos ignored the Turquoise Brotherhood and looked straight at the Thirteen.
One of them, a short fat man covered in gold and jewels, stepped forward. "Lord Masos. What can we do for you?"
Masos didn't waste time. "One of you bought a dragon egg in secret. It's stolen property. It belongs to House Targaryen."
"Now I'm ordering you to hand it over to our honored guest."
The fat man's face changed. He looked at the others.
Who bought it?
The rest glanced at each other, some confused, some realizing.
Only Zaro's smile froze. His hands clenched behind his back.
He looked at the warlock without thinking.
In that instant the chief warlock smiled darkly, placed a hand on his own head, and his body compressed and vanished. Only a tattered black robe remained on the ground.
"What the hell?!" Zaro shouted, realizing he had been played.
The others saw it too and understood from Zaro's reaction.
Masos roared, "Seize him!"
Camel riders charged. One drove a spear through Zaro's right thigh and pinned him.
Zaro screamed as they bound him.
He confessed everything. It was him. The warlocks had pushed him to buy it. They needed to raid the Hall of the Immortals before the egg disappeared.
Masos ordered men to search the warlocks' hall immediately.
At the same time, Daeron, hooded and cloaked in black, had already slipped into Zaro's mansion.
He moved past the guards without being seen. Old skills.
"The royals are slow. The Turquoise Brotherhood actually knows how to play the game."
He pushed open the door to Zaro's bedroom.
Yesterday evening the Turquoise Brotherhood had come to Jaehaerys and sold out Zaro and the warlocks' deal.
They wanted two things in return: remove Zaro and weaken a few of the Thirteen so they could grow their own power, and sign a trade agreement with the Iron Throne for protection.
Selling out a rival for profit. Made sense.
Daeron drew Dark Sister and cut open the safe. He pulled out a large-bellied antique vase.
He tried to store it. The panel said it counted as two items.
Vase & Dragon Egg.
He was about to smash it open when he frowned and spun around.
"What the hell is this sewer rat doing here?"
A warlock stood in the doorway, expression strange.