The first light of dawn crept across the horizon, painting the sky in streaks of pale gold and rose.
Vaelaris stood beside his black stallion, one gloved hand resting upon the animal's neck.
The air was crisp, carrying the scent of damp earth and distant smoke.
Vaelaris swung into the saddle, he urged his horse forward.
The stallion's hooves thudded softly against the damp earth as they moved toward the open field where Vaelkarax waited.
Vaelkarax waited beyond the tree line, his massive form half-concealed by the mist rising from the fields.
The dragon's scales drank in the dim light, their bronze-black depths shimmering like molten metal. His golden eyes tracked Vaelaris' movements, unblinking.
The dragon did not stir as Vaelaris approached, but the heat radiating from his body grew more intense, pressing against the morning chill.
Vaelaris dismounted, his boots sinking slightly into the damp grass.
He placed a hand against Vaelkarax's side, feeling the steady rise and fall of the dragon's breath beneath his palm.
Rhaena stood apart, her silver braid tight enough to pull at her temples.
Dreamfyre's wings half-spread, violet eyes tracking something beyond the horizon. Each breath sent mist curling into the cold.
"Harte is half a day's flight from here" Rhaena said.
Dreamfyre shifted behind her, restless.
"The latest raven says Harte has begun gathering men."
Vaelaris tightened a strap on his saddle.
"Harte is not the part that concerns me."
"The Faith?" Rhaena asked.
Vaelaris tightened the final strap.
"The Faith is only a banner."
His gaze drifted toward the horizon.
"I am interested in the men carrying it."
Vaelaris climbed onto the dragon's back, settling between the ridges of his spine.
The leather straps of his saddle creaked as he adjusted his weight, his fingers tightening around the reins. Vaelkarax shifted beneath him, muscles coiling like a spring.
Then, with a single, powerful beat of his wings, they were airborne.
The wind struck Vaelaris like a fist, tearing at his cloak and silver hair.
The world fell away beneath them.
Trees became patches of green.
Roads became scars across the earth.
Villages became little more than smudges of smoke.
Vaelaris did not look down.
He looked east.
The sky was brightening now, the first pale fingers of dawn reaching above the horizon.
Rhaena followed, Dreamfyre's silver form cutting through the dawn haze.
They didn't fly side by side. Vaelkarax held the lead, wings beating slow and deliberate, while Dreamfyre circled wide, her path arcing toward the western horizon.
Below, the land stretched in patches of green and gold. The kingsroad cut through it like a wound.
The road had been long.
For two months Ser Joffrey Doggett's five hundred men had marched through rain, mud, and dust, following the kingsroad south before turning east toward the coast.
They had grown lean beneath their armour, weathered by salt winds and hard miles.
Only now had dragon and army reunited beneath the walls of Lord Harte's castle.
The castle rose from the mist like a broken tooth, its walls grey and weathered, its banners limp in the damp morning air.
The sea lay beyond it, a sheet of iron beneath a sky the color of old bruises. The trees here were tall, their branches heavy with the weight of autumn, their leaves a mosaic of gold and rust.
The dragons landed beyond the eastern ridge.
Vaelkarax descended first.
The Black-bronze dragon burst through the morning mist like a creature from old Valyria.
His vast wings beat twice, scattering fog and loose earth alike, ground trembling beneath his weight.
Dreamfyre landed moments later.
Soldiers stopped what they were doing.
Dragonkeepers hurried forward the moment the dragons settled.
Some carried sheep carcasses slung across their shoulders.
Others rolled water barrels toward the ridge.
The nearest keeper bowed.
"Prince."
He rested a hand against Vaelkarax's neck.
Sparās kesir bantis. [Stay here for a while]
The dragon's golden eye fixed upon him.
A low rumble answered.
Then Vaelaris turned away.
The dragonkeepers visibly relaxed.
Ser Joffrey Doggett waited near the command tent.
He was a broad man in his forties, weathered by campaign and sea wind alike.
His red cloak was stained with mud.
His armour had not been polished in weeks.
Around him, the men of his detachment moved with quiet efficiency—checking straps, adjusting armour, murmuring around.
He stepped forward, his voice low. "Prince Vaelaris, Princess Rhaena."
Rhaena inclined her head.
Vaelaris got straight to the point.
"Report."
"The men are restless, my prince, but disciplined. Supplies will hold for three weeks."
"And the perimeter?"
"Perimeter has also been secured all around the castle, No one leaves. No one enters"
Suddenly as he remembered something, Doggett hesitated.
"There is something else, my prince"
Vaelaris noticed the change immediately.
The knight looked hesitnant, which perplexed vaelaris
Doggett produced a folded parchment.
"We caught some messengers attempting to leave the castle before dawn, each holding the same message and letter"
Vaelaris took it, it was the same as the one he was showed before leaving for harte
The seal had been broken.
He already knew what he would find.
The words were the same.
{The king is weak.
The Dragon Prince will free us.}
For a moment nobody spoke.
Rhaena read the parchment over his shoulder.
Her expression darkened.
"They are still spreading it."
Doggett nodded.
"Every village between here and Duskendale seems to have heard some version of it."
The knight spat into the dirt.
"They are trying to make you their banner."
Vaelaris folded the letter carefully.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"They are trying to make me their excuse."
"This isn't just Harte's doing."Vaelaris did not answer immediately.
Vaelaris did not answer immediately.
His eyes remained on the letter.
"Someone wants this realm divided."
At last he looked up.
"They seek to split it along the fault line of our family."
Silence followed.
"They wield the Faith as both sword and shield."
Doggett's jaw tightened.
"Then we must stop them."
"We will."
Vaelaris said "I will have see their strength with my own eyes how the forces of harte are accumulated in the castle"
He turned toward the ridge where Vaelkarax waited.
"Then we shall decide best way to break them."
He said smirking on his own.
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A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter of A Prince of Ash and Fire
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