Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 39: Falconry, Falcon

"Okay, go and get ready first. Wait." Longzel frowned and looked at Valar from head to toe.

"What's wrong?" Valar looked at himself in confusion. Nothing was wrong. Why did Longzel look like he wanted to eat him?

"What are we going to do?" Longzel tapped the smooth breastplate of the Silver Shield twice. Looking at Valar with a serious face, Jakaris beside him pricked up his ears and wiped away the fine dust with a cloth, trying to listen to what this big brother, whom he had already admired after only a few days of contact, was saying.

"Fight the Vulture King. Ah, no." Seeing his brother's face suddenly darken, he quickly changed the subject: "Falcon hunting. We are going to go falcon hunting in the mountains."

"Why are you wearing armor, Eagle Hunter?" Longzel raised his eyebrows. "Just wear it. If you go out on horseback wearing armor, the horse will get tired before you even see the prey."

"Got it." Valar muttered and went out to take off his armor, leaving only Longzel and Jakaris in the room.

The two princes arrived at Blackhaven in secret. Their dragons were not strong enough to support them to fly from Dragonstone to Blackhaven. They could only take a ship first and then reach their destination under the protection of the Silver Blood Army. The two children first studied with Dragonzel's former servants Lynn and Hoffa for a few days before they officially began to serve as servants of Dragonzel and Valar. As the two princes who had received a full set of aristocratic education, they were naturally familiar with the work content of servants. After all, before coming here, Prince Jacaerys served as the cupbearer of Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon, and Prince Lucerys also served as the cupbearer of Earl Corlys Velaryon.

"My lord, please don't blame Uncle Valarr. He was probably too anxious, so he asked Xiaolu to help him put on the armor. Xiaolu was the same. After all, this was the first time he really saw Valyrian steel armor." Seeing that Longzel had no objection, Jacaerys spoke.

"You too, right? Little Jie, you've been staring at the dragon rider for a long time." Longzier smiled. He took the armor handed over by Jakaris and put it into the package of protective gear. Jakaris scratched his head a little embarrassedly. "After all, the royal family only has one set of leather armor that is said to be decorated with Valyrian steel." The brown-haired boy tied the silver blood around Longzier's waist and helped him adjust his collar and cuffs. "We are also curious about what the real Valyrian steel armor looks like."

"Now that you've seen it, what do you think?"

"It's very strange, very beautiful, and there's something indescribable about it." Jacaerys honestly expressed his feelings. "Looking at it sometimes feels like seeing Wolmax."

Vermax is Jacaerys's dragon, a dark green young dragon of the same age, growing rapidly, and currently living in the dragon cave in Dragon's Nest.

After emergency construction, the main tower of Dragon Nest City, the "Silver Blood Tower", and the two auxiliary towers, the "Twin Towers", connected by a corridor have been renovated. If it were not for the urgency of the military operation, Long Zeer would have moved there with his family and close ministers.

"Anything else?" Longzel also helped Jakaris fasten the straps of his leather armor and continued to ask.

Jacaerys shook his head. "That's all I saw."

Longzel smiled and nodded, but did not continue talking. Instead, he changed the subject. "Xiao Jie, Prince Damon asked me to let you learn something from me. Well, this is natural. After all, as a squire, it is a customary tradition to learn from the knight."

"I have learned a lot from you." Jacaerys strapped the sword on himself. "Thank you for your gentleness and patience."

Longzel smiled and motioned Jacaerys to follow him. The two young men walked out of the gate of Black Harbor City together. Outside Black Harbor City, the 300 heavy cavalrymen summoned by the Dondarrion family were already in place. These heavy cavalrymen from the borderland were generally equipped with chain mail covered with robes. Most of them did not have horse clothes or vests. The patterns on the robes could be used to distinguish their families or origins. A small number of them were equipped with beautiful plate armor and heavy horse clothes. Longzel knew that they were the retainers of the Dondarrion family or those wealthy knights with property. The other part of the heavy cavalrymen who were not so wealthy were their attendants. Earl Edric also recruited an additional 800 longbowmen, which was already the limit of the Dondarrion family.

They were flying flags with purple lightning, and another group with a brown flag was also gathering under the city. Their flags had three bundles of yellow wheat painted on them.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, this is Lord Gerold Selmy of Harvest Hall, and this is his eldest grandson and heir, Sir Harold Selmy." Earl Edric introduced the two noble knights in brown smocks to Longzier. Gerold Selmy was an old man with a frosted face and a big beard, and Harold Selmy was a short and strong young man with a chain hammer inserted in his belt, and his eyes were sharp as he tried to see something from behind Longzier. "Sir Harold, my dragon will only hunt when it sees prey." Longzier saw what Harold wanted to see and said with a smile. Harold quickly withdrew his gaze and looked at his grandfather a little awkwardly.

"Harlo is too young, and His Royal Highness and His Royal Highness are making a fool of themselves." Jello smiled and pulled his grandson behind him. "Your Highness, I brought 50 cavalry and 300 armed infantry. I'm sorry, the Selmy family is just a small family, and this is our limit."

"It's okay." Longzel patted the old earl's shoulder. "Tell the cavalry to travel light. We are going to hunt eagles. Leave some people with equipment to cover the rear and set off again when we get the signal."

"As ordered."

"Brother, the Silver Blood Army is ready too." Valar came slowly over on horseback with Prince Lucris, followed by the fully armed Sebastian Jieyan and Aslan Longdel.

"It's you two this time." Longzel walked over with a smile and punched Sebastian and Aslan, who had just rolled off their horses.

"Those guys are repairing the city, and this time there are only two of us." Sebastian took over the conversation. "According to your instructions, we brought 400 cavalry and 1200 Silver Blood Army soldiers equipped with longbows and crossbows. The cavalry are all equipped with horse bows."

"Very good. Have Stonehelm, Allseeing, and Nightsong responded?"

Jacaerys replied with gnashing teeth: "Lord Swan of Stonehelm and Lord Cullen of Nightsong said they have no plans for falconry recently, and without the consent of Duke Baratheon, they cannot respond to the call of another lord. Lord Granderson of Allsight did not reply. They are all borers of the kingdom. They should have actively responded to the extermination of the Vulture King. How dare they do that?"

Longzel held Jakaris's shoulders and shook his head. "It was part of the plan that they didn't come. Little Jie, sometimes the silverfish in the kingdom have their benefits. Valar, notify everyone and prepare to set off."

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

The Vulture King stood up at once. His army was heading towards the city of Weir, hoping to receive support from Weir as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, there is a group of silk-clad cowards from the Stormlands hunting with eagles nearby. I saw them clearly, about three to five hundred strong." The Dornish scout answered confidently. "They are carrying a lot of supplies, and even wine!"

"Really?"

"It's true."

"Okay!" The Vulture King rode on his beloved sand horse and shouted to his subordinates, "Eagle cubs, the hunt has begun!"

Second update check-in


(End of this chapter)