Daemon's funeral was simple.
Dragonzel and Aegon collected his ashes and solemnly placed them back into the Targaryen family's ancestral tomb. There were no nobles watching, nor were there any ceremonies from yesteryear; only the children bidding farewell to their father, and Caraxes's lament.
This was also his personal request. The prince's exact words were: "I've lived a magnificent life. Born in blood and fire, dying in blood and fire, I have no regrets. You don't need to shed tears for a Warrior's departure."
Joffrey, who had been restoring the House Velaryon fleet at Tide Stone, returned. Five years after the war had ended, the impulsive yet shy youth had grown into a tall, strong man. The rise of the Varezes family had caused House Velaryon to lose most of their shipping routes, as the wealthier Lace Town and Silver Crown City were more attractive to East Continent merchant ships than Spice Town and Hull Town. The Velaryons' wealth was constantly shrinking, but Joffrey still managed to stabilize the situation.
He didn't actually do much; he simply signed an agreement with Sebastian Blaze, allowing ships flying the Velaryon seahorse banner to sail with the fleet under the Silver Dragon's Laurel Leaf Tower, using profit-sharing to significantly slow the Velaryons' decline.
Even so, Joffrey was still deeply worried about House Velaryon. When he learned of his stepfather's death, the brown-haired youth froze for a long time before rushing out of the Ninth Navigation Hall in a panic, flying back to King's Landing on Tyraxes.
Baela, far away in Lys, also rushed back to King's Landing on Moon Dance. This restless Dowager had always been extremely resistant to an easy life. In these past few years, she had spent far less time in King's Landing than she had on dragonback. People had seen her in the mountains of the Borderlands, where she traded horse meat and live sheep with Kalasa of Ago while riding Moon Dance. By the time Ray and Rhaenyra went looking for her on dragon, Baela had vanished again. Miners in the West had once seen a dragon with a spiny crown flying among the high mountains, and since then, bards in the West began to sing ballads of the Dowager riding dragon to hunt man-eating mad lions for the hunters of the West. Merchants traveling through the Neck had seen the Dowager lingering in the miasma-filled swamps, seemingly searching for the Crannogmen's moving water fortress. Lord Cregan Stark and Madam Alysanne immediately set off after receiving a raven from Count Serwin reporting a dragon sighting over the Wolfswood, but they found nothing.
The Dowager wanted to see the legendary giants. She stopped at Last Hearth for half a day, helping Earl Amber melt the solid ice that blocked the roads. Baela understood the North's difficulties; she refused Earl Amber's hospitality and continued North to the Great Wall's Black Castle, where she met Jason Lannister, who had donned the black and stubbornly survived the harsh winter and Wildlings' incursions. This former Duke of Casterly Rock had now become the Great Wall's Commander. His wife, Madam Johanna, had prepared a good deal of gold for him, but he exchanged this gold for supplies. It was this batch of supplies that allowed the Great Wall to withstand the harshest cold snap of the Conquest Era 132. Seven months of blizzards almost completely covered the entire Great Wall in ice and snow. Rangers couldn't sortie at all, and supply ships from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea found it difficult to dock. If not for the supplies brought by the West's lord, the Night's Watch force, which had swelled to over four thousand people after the Dance of the Dragons, would likely have frozen and starved to death in large numbers by the time the blizzards stopped.
Baela's arrival made the people on the Great Wall uneasy, as they had stood on the opposite side of this young "Dowager" during the Dance of the Dragons. But Baela didn't care about that; she rode her dragon to clear paths for the Great Wall's defenders and exchanged small trinkets from beyond the Great Wall with old Rangers. Baela wanted to continue North, but Moon Dance refused to fly over the Great Wall, so Baela could only vanish from people's sight again on Moon Dance.
Daemon had sent people to search for her everywhere, but they only brought back vague sighting reports. The most recent report was that Baela appeared in Lys. She accepted a large sum of gold from Lisandro and used Moon Dance to burn down the rebels who tried to overthrow the Rogare family's rule. She also used this money to fund a mercenary group called "The Unburnt Princess," wanting to experience what it was like to be a mercenary captain. Unfortunately, when the news of Daemon's death arrived, Baela immediately abandoned her dream of being a mercenary captain and returned to King's Landing on dragon.
The reunion of everyone lasted only three short days. People dispersed again; Daemon had passed away, but the Realm still needed governing. The Small Council continued to operate normally. Lotto Rogare from Lys took over the long-vacant position of Master of Whisperers, and along with Tyland, Bartimos, and the new Master of Laws, Marquis Forrest Frey, maintained the capital's administration. Aegon returned to Dragon Nest City with Dragonzel to continue studying the art of governance.
Dragon Nest City, Twin Towers.
Rhaenyra and Ray's room.
This room was originally only occupied by Ray, so it was filled with books everywhere. But ever since Rhaenyra moved in, the room became much tidier. All the books were neatly placed on the bookshelves, categorized according to specific labels. However, many of the books were written in a language Rhaenyra couldn't understand, so she could only categorize them according to the entries Ray provided. To this day, she still hadn't figured out what language those books were written in.
"Sister, remember to use the door next time."
Rhaenyra looked at the room's French window with an expression that conveyed she didn't know what to say. Baela jumped steadily from Moon Dance's back onto the room's balcony, taking one step into her sister's room.
"Can't let that brat Lingor find out." Baela let out a long sigh. To avoid Lingor, she deliberately didn't go to the Dragonpit, nor to the towers frequently visited by the children. Moon Dance landed steadily on the balcony railing, hanging like a large bat. It also didn't want to go to Dragon Nest City's Dragonpit, which it considered dangerous as it was another dragon's territory.
"Why are you hiding from him?" Rhaenyra closed the book she was holding, looking very surprised. "Isn't Dragonzel very supportive of you?"
"Dragonzel supports me, sigh," Baela pouted. "But that brat Lingor always thinks me running around is irresponsible. So every time I come to Dragon Nest City and he sees me, that kid will go find Dragonzel, and then it's just a waste of our precious time. Oh, Rhaenyra, on a serious note, did you find what I asked you to find?"
Rhaenyra looked at her sister warily, though she silently pulled out several large volumes Baela had asked her to copy from the Laurel Leaf Tower's Great Library. "I warn you, Ray has records of these books. They will definitely know you borrowed them."
"It's fine, it's fine. I left a letter for Dragonzel; he knows about this." Baela happily flipped through the books: Geography of the East Coast of the Narrow Sea, Disputed Lands: Travels of Hassan Lo Sator, Summer Sea Sailing Diary, Sothoryos Expedition, Snake Lizard Islands: Land of Blood, and Book of Kings: History of the Bone Mountains. "Eh? Why isn't there—" Baela stopped short. There was one more book on the list she had given Rhaenyra: Journey to the Dead Lands, written by Dragonzel.
Bards said that Dragonzel had once visited the lost Ancient Valyria, where he gained the power of his ancestors and a dragon, and upon his return, wrote this travelogue to guide future generations in continuing to explore their ancestors' ruins.
"That book isn't there." Rhaenyra shook her head. "That's something the bards made up. Think about it, with Dragonzel's personality, would he leave behind something so sensitive?"
"He wouldn't." Baela actually wasn't very confident about getting that book either. After thinking it through, Baela quickly put the books into the pouch at her waist.
"Thanks, I have to go quickly."
"Sister, although it's not really my place to say this." Rhaenyra watched her sister flip over and jump onto the balcony, then remount her dragon, and after a moment's thought, she said firmly, "I understand your dream of exploring for the Targaryen family, but you still have Moon Dance. What if something happens to Moon Dance?"
"Don't worry, I won't let a Targaryen dragon be stranded in a foreign land." Baela replied with a smile, "I've given Moon Dance instructions. If I fall into an eternal sleep far, far away, it must return to its homeland, Dragonstone, no matter what."
She waved her hand.
"Good Sister, wish me an eternal sleep at the end of the world. Tell Dragonzel that I will write a travelogue, and tell him to remember to receive it."
At this moment, in the circular, roofed courtyard at the top of the Silver Blood Tower, Dragonzel looked at Moon Dance taking off and still sighed.
"My dear, what's wrong? Is it Dowager Baela?" Diana sat beside Serena, playing with building blocks with her daughter, and couldn't help but look up when she heard her husband's sigh.
"Yes." Dragonzel lamented, "Baela, may your long-cherished wish finally come true."
High in the distant sky.
Moon Dance broke through the clouds, and Baela, gripping the dragon saddle's handguard, laughed unrestrainedly. But as she laughed, a tear suddenly flashed in Baela's eyes.
"Jaehaerys, I've walked the rivers and mountains of Westeros. Next, I will fly all the way to the end of the world." She looked up, quietly listening to the wind. "To see the world outside with you."
The wind howled past.
Leaving only Moon Dance's cry and the young Dowager's laughter.
From that day on, no one ever saw Baela Targaryen again.
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