A faint smell of sulfur filled the air. The dragons danced, and the sky turned brilliant with color.
"Dragons! They're dragons!"
"They really are dragons!"
"Gods, not just one dragon. Three little dragons!"
"Long live the Storm! Long live Gendry I! Long live Queen Daenerys!"
People on Dragonstone and the north bank of the Blackwater Rush had heard the stories of the true dragons appearing, but this was the first time so many had seen dragons dancing before their eyes, a whole group of them, clear and visible.
"I saw them. The black dragon, the green dragon, and the white dragon."
The children clapped the hardest. Today, they had seen dragons.
They had all heard stories of dragons. Dragonriders who rode the beasts, heroic knights who fought them, and dragons killing dragons in The Dance of the Dragons.
The dragons' horns, leathery wings, scales, bodies, and the way they flew.
No one truly understood dragons. They had been gone for more than a century, but now they had truly returned.
The people of Westeros cheered with delight. At the very least, they knew dragons were weapons of war, enough to hasten the end of any war.
The high ranks of the Stormlands, the Crownlands, and the Twin Cities Alliance were the proudest of all. They were his foundation. The other lords also cheered, for the Storm matched with dragons was a warrior at the very peak.
The Riverlands, the Vale, The North, and Dorne all owed the Storm gratitude for rescue, and Gendry also had people planted among them. Even the vast, complicated The Reach could hardly contend with a Dragonlord, much less when it was already divided among several factions.
The envoys of the different realms had mixed feelings. The envoys from Lys and the Slaver's Bay city-states, who had come to negotiate peace, felt as though thunder had struck them.
Three dragons flew above the Dragonpit, first in great circles, then in smaller circles around the honored guests, and finally above Gendry and Daenerys.
The dragons were like flowing fire, their leathery wings beating as they formed a small ring. They, too, were crowning Gendry. This was the most precious crown in the world.
"He truly can command dragons," Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, said as he watched them. The Red Viper was a wild and passionate man, but he was also learned.
"How is that possible?" Arianne Martell said. "With so little Dragonblood?"
There were many people in the known world with Dragonblood, but Daenerys had the purest.
For everyone else, that trace was indeed too thin. House Martell and House Baratheon mainly had the most recent Dragonblood.
"Is it magic? Fire and blood share the same source," the Red Viper murmured. "Dragons are miracles of fire, but they are also creations of magic. If a dragon forms a pact with the Storm when it hatches, they will be bound together."
"It seems our golden crown was not sent to the wrong place," the Black Pearl said to the Braavosi envoy.
"Daenerys Targaryen is the last dragon, but Gendry's bloodline is far too distant. Princess Rhaelle Targaryen was only his great-grandfather's wife..." the Braavosi man said quietly.
"Nothing is impossible. Dragons are miracles, and they are magic. The Storm is the Storm. It seems Gendry's fire and blood have also drawn the dragons. Fire and blood share the same source," the Black Pearl said after a moment of thought.
Olenna Redwyne watched her son Mace cheering and could not help frowning. That fool. Why was he still clapping so hard, without the slightest sense of danger?
"Grandmother, what are you thinking?" Margaery asked.
"A dragon is a dragon, child. It represents power. They are still small now, but these three dragons are no ordinary beasts. Sooner or later, they will show their wildness and ferocity," Lady Olenna said softly.
The commoner king had not gone mad by dreaming of dragons. He was simply tired and powerless before compromise with the great nobles.
"Your grandfather did not come. It seems he missed quite a show," the Queen of Thorns said without emotion.
"He is asking for trouble, that relative of mine in the High Tower," Margaery thought as she glanced around. Her Hightower cousins had sent no visitor of real worth, none from the main branch.
The Targaryens had not relied on warmth. They had relied more on force. A single dragon consuming an entire company of knights had happened before.
The Dragonlord's return meant the revival of royal power.
A strong royal power was fundamentally different from the decayed, appeasing authority of the late Targaryens and early Baratheons.
The Queen of Thorns believed she was not the first to understand this, but she had to prepare.
"Boom."
Balerion roared in celebration from the air. His scorching black-red spiral of flame frightened the people below into screams. The green dragon and white dragon also showed off their valor.
This was the pride of the Dragonlord family. In the past, Dragonlords would ride their dragons around the city. The dragons now were only the size of foals and could not carry riders yet, but it would not be long before they broke through the sky.
Mya Baratheon gently removed her sister-in-law's bridal cloak, while Gendry took the groom's cloak from his younger brother Edric.
Gendry fastened the groom's cloak around Daenerys, and Daenerys fastened the bridal cloak around him. From this day forward, they would guard one another.
"This kiss is for my love."
The black-haired Storm and the silver-haired girl shared a long, deep kiss, and applause thundered below the stage.
The crown once again scattered rainbow light. The High Septon stepped forward solemnly.
"Gendry of House Breaker and Daenerys of House Targaryen shall be one body, one heart, and one soul."
From this day onward, the Dragonlord family would consist only of the descendants of Gendry and Daenerys. House Breaker was the main branch of House Baratheon, while House Baratheon itself had effectively been absorbed a second time, much like House Durrandon.
Everyone cheered for the union of two legendary royal houses, and celebrated the birth of a new Dragonlord family.
Though House Baratheon was said through the male line to descend from Aegon's bastard brother, its maternal line was also the ancient and legendary royal house of Durrandon, like a living fossil of the "Godsgrief" line. As for House Targaryen, it was the only Dragonlord house among the Forty Dragonlords to survive until now.
But it was not yet time for the guests to leave. There was another wedding, the wedding of Mya and Ser Mychel, personally presided over by the king and queen.
Ser Mychel was a young and handsome talent of the Vale, but even his mentor Lyn had not been a match for the Storm, much less Mychel himself. Before the Storm, Mychel was much dimmer.
The king's sister also had short hair, cut neatly and sharply. She was tall, lean, and strong. Today, however, dressed in a black-and-gold gown, she looked bright and beautiful. Her most striking feature was her eyes, large and blue.
The king and queen stood beside the newlyweds. Several dragons began clawing and biting one another, fighting for the right to stand beside Gendry and Daenerys.
"Be quiet," Daenerys could not help scolding her dragons.
Everyone watched the ceremony again. Since House Redfort were descendants of the First Men, the High Septon stepped aside.
Marriages among the First Men of the Vale were not so complicated, but they had borrowed much from Andal rites. After all, the heirs of the Vale were pure Andals.
Only Northern weddings truly retained the flavor of the First Men.
"The little king's sister has the same hair and eyes as him. Looks like that litter of lions really weren't the old drunk's children," a sharp-eyed commoner whispered.
"Shut your mouth." His wife quickly covered his mouth. "Do you not want your tongue anymore?"
Gendry and Daenerys began the ceremony. Lord Leyton, Mychel's old father, removed the red groom's cloak from his son, while Queen Daenerys personally removed Mya's gold-and-black bridal cloak. This was an honor.
"Mychel of House Redfort and Mya of House Baratheon shall be one body, one heart, and one soul," Gendry declared solemnly.
The crowd cheered for the newlyweds. Though they did not possess the peerless grace of the Storm and the True Dragon, they were still a handsome and beautiful young pair.
"A clever move," Randyll Tarly thought. Dragons were beyond price. Gendry's other Baratheon relatives had no claim to them.
With this, the ceremony ended, and the guests withdrew for the moment. A grand feast still awaited.
Even the common people who had come to watch received small candies and little gifts in the names of the newlyweds. Everyone praised the couples endlessly.
The cost of the entire event was paid eagerly by House Tyrell, the Twin Cities across the Narrow Sea, and the wealthy merchants of King's Landing.
Ser Barristan and Ser Balon, both in full white scale armor and snow-white cloaks, led the way as the procession left the Great Sept. Gendry's young, strong gold-cloaked squires were also in the procession.
Anguy the Archer, the redhead from the Marches; the strong Crownlands man Lothor Brune; Harry the Arse of the Vale, blond-haired and blue-eyed; Jon Snow of The North, long-faced and plain; Guyard Morrigen of the Stormlands; Robar Royce of the Vale; Grey Worm of Astapor; and others.
There were even two tall female warriors, the girl of Tarth and the girl of Bear Island.
Gendry and his wife followed closely behind, the dragons circling over their heads, making them seem almost sacred. After them came Mychel Redfort and his wife.
Edric and Robert Arryn carried baskets, scattering rose petals for them.
Next came Great Lord Stannis Baratheon and his wife, Great Lord Eddard Stark and his wife, and Great Lord Mace Tyrell and his wife. Arianne Martell, representing Doran, walked with Great Lord Edmure Tully.
Bronze Yohn Royce walked with the Queen of Thorns. The old woman moved with a limp, protected closely by two tall, powerful Lysene guards.
"Your guards are truly devoted," Bronze Yohn could not help remarking.
"What did you say?" the Queen of Thorns asked, pretending not to hear. In truth, she was not deaf.
The Red Viper was a special case. He could have stepped forward, but he had brought his Paramour, and the other great figures would inevitably have opinions. The Red Viper did not insist.
Only then came the young, beautiful couples, Ser Garlan Tyrell and his wife among them.
Gendry and Daenerys came out arm in arm, and outside, cheers rose and fell like waves.
Everyone deeply loved the Storm. They had once loved Renly, but in truth, they loved the handsome, bold, once-fearless King Robert even more.
People also had a good impression of the Tyrells. Food and supplies had recently flowed without end into the capital along The Roseroad. The fools had selectively forgotten that it was Mace Tyrell who had sealed off the south and caused this damned famine in the first place.
Gendry and Daenerys stepped into the sunlight like a golden generation.
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