Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 429 A rare break

Steaming hot air swirled in the vaulted stone chamber, shrouding the dome inlaid with fluorescent crystals in a hazy mist. Twelve ancient dragon head stone sculptures surrounded the bathing pool, and warm spring water gushed out from the dragon's mouth, stirring up tiny ripples on the moonstone-paved bottom of the pool. Hoffa leaned lazily on the edge of the pool, his silver hair stretched like silk in the water, and his ice-blue eyes were looming in the steam.

The bronze door was pushed open suddenly, and a clear pine scent mixed with the smell of sulfur poured into the bathing palace.

“Ha! I knew you were here!”

The sound was as clear as the impact of swords, and a slender figure strode into the mist. The son of Damion, the fourteen-year-old Hagen Vareses, shook his wet silver hair, and his violet eyes sparkled in the steam. He only had a velvet towel wrapped around his waist, and his naked upper body had already begun to show the agile outline of a dragon rider. There was a fresh scratch on his left shoulder that was still red, obviously left when he had just trained the dragon. Hagen inherited Kongyi, and now, the ferocious dragon covered with spikes is still the most important dragon reserve of the Vareses family.

"My irresponsible father left you to me," Hagen squatted by the pool, tilting his head to look at Aegon who was stretching his muscles and preparing to go into the water, "I heard that you scared my father and others so much?"

Hoffa suddenly emerged from underwater and splashed water on Hagen's face: "Be polite, this is His Royal Highness the Prince."

"Oh? Then, my dear prince," Hagen said with an exaggerated salute, pretending to be serious, "would you rather be chased by a mountain lion or have your butt roasted by dragon flames?"

Aegon's face flushed, and he grabbed the floating wooden ladle and threw it at Hagen. Hagen laughed and dodged, doing a beautiful somersault into the pool, and the splash of water hit Hoffa directly in the face.

"Take off your clothes on the steps."

Hoffa looked at Hagen's wet bathrobe with a sullen look.

Hagen neatly untied the silk bathrobe embroidered with silver dragons and laurel leaves and threw it on the steps, not feeling anything wrong at all. "Why are you here too, Blue Eyes?"

"I just came back from outside." Hoffa was a little tired: "The plague in the territory is almost under control, but no one knows what will happen tomorrow."

The underground bath palace of the Varese family has been expanded several times. After Longzel's death, the hot springs here have gained some magical effects, making people more relaxed. It is said that they can also treat some diseases. Of course, it is just said, but it can indeed speed up the healing of wounds with the cooperation of medicines.

Aegon clumsily tore off the coarse cloth Duncan had given him, which had already stuck to the scabs on his wounds. Seeing this, Hagen came ashore and drew out the dagger he carried with him. A flash of cold light appeared, and the tattered clothes fell like leaves. The two young men gasped at the same time. The prince's thin body was covered with blood marks from the scratches of branches, and there was a purple bruise on his right shoulder from the water hitting the rocks.

"Oh, gods!" Hoffa stood up suddenly from the water, water drops rolling down his muscles, "What on earth have you been through?"

"I fell when I was running away." Aegon explained hurriedly. Hoffa didn't know his situation, and Aegon was afraid that he would vent his anger on others, but the boy grimaced in pain the moment he stepped into the hot spring. The sulfur-smelling spring water soaked into the wound, first stinging like a needle, and then turned into a shuddering comfort. He suddenly remembered the bath in the Red Castle in King's Landing, where rose petals always floated, but it never made him so relaxed.

Hagen pulled out a glass bottle from the bottom of the pool like a magic trick. The dark green ointment exuded a minty scent. "Turn around," he ordered, and he touched the ointment on Aegon's shoulder scars with his fingers, and said with some heartache, "This is what my bastard father made with Sayer's venom. There won't even be a scar tomorrow."

The black dragon statue in the corner of the hot spring suddenly spurted out a stream of scalding water, startling Aegon and hiding in Hoffa's arms. The older boy laughed out loud and ruffled the prince's unkempt short hair. This was the masterpiece of the deceased Jacaerys and the still strong Dan. Dan brought out the blueprints of the bathing palace from the ancient ruins of Sothoryos, and Jacaerys completed the transformation of the bathing palace. The three boys sank into the water, leaving only their heads exposed. Aegon's unkempt silver hair floated in the water, finally regaining its original color. Hoffa suddenly scooped up a pool of spring water and splashed it at him: "You almost scared us to death!" Water droplets dripped down the prince's silver-white eyelashes, sparkling in the steaming heat. "Next time you dare to run around, I'll let Wormisol bring you back, like a disobedient lamb!"

Aegon wiped his face, his violet eyes narrowed in the steam. "It won't listen to you! Wormithor only recognizes Uncle Igor."

"Oh? Then do you want to try?" Hoffa showed a sly smile and suddenly reached out to grab Aegon's ankle. The two boys immediately splashed in the water, and the splashing water wet the dragon-patterned tiles on the edge of the pool.

Hagen leaned against the pool, lazily pouring hot water over himself. "I think you should have let your father go directly to King's Landing to pick you up. The black blood fever has no killing power on the old man. His Sayare can just spit out some poisonous smoke and make those bandits piss and shit their asses off!"

The three boys laughed and made noises for a while, then gradually quieted down. The mist from the hot springs swirled between the stone dragon heads, and in the distance came the sound of gurgling underground waterways.

Aegon stared at the mint leaves floating on the water, and his voice suddenly became very soft: "Hoffa, Hagen. To be honest, my hands were shaking when I cut my hair." He touched his uneven short hair unconsciously, "I was really scared at the time. I was afraid that I would never come back."

The boy looked at the two older boys with some resentment.

"It's all Lord Brynden's fault. He loves scaring children."

Hoffa's smile faded. He swam over to Aegon and suddenly put his arm around the prince's shoulders. Drops of water trickled down between the two boys' skins.

"But you are brave." Hoffa's voice was rarely serious. "You know what? When I was your age, my dad took me to the dragon's lair, and Womisoel just sneezed in the lair." He made an exaggerated shaking movement. "I was so scared that I wet my pants and cried for my mother. My mother almost beat me to death when she found out about this."

"Hey!" Hagen suddenly emerged from the water, his silver-gold hair sticking to his forehead. "And you hit the mountain lion on the nose with a rock! That's much better than some people--" He deliberately dragged out the tone and glanced at Hoffa, "some people were chased by bees and ran around the yard naked last time."

Hoffa's face flushed red instantly: "That's a poison bee! A poison bee!" He pounced on Hagen, and the two Vareses boys twisted in the water. Aegon looked at them and suddenly chuckled. This was the first time he had really laughed since he disappeared.

Hagen struggled to expose his head from underwater, spitting out a string of bubbles: "Honestly, Aegon, you should have seen Hoffa's stung butt. It's so swollen that it looks like two apples were stuffed in it!"

"I'll kill you!" Hoffa roared and pushed his cousin into the water, but he slipped because of his big movement. The three of them fell into a ball and the hot spring water splashed out of the pool.

In the mist, the laughter of three young boys echoed under the ancient stone dome. In the distance, the hum of steam came from the bronze pipes, as if the sleeping dragon was responding to their joy in a dream. At this moment, there were only three friends and relatives who had known each other since childhood, and only three boys playing in the hot spring, temporarily forgetting the plague and disputes outside.

(End of this chapter)