Rhaegar poured out all the gold, spreading it across the bed.
He lay on the glittering bed. Though it was uncomfortable, he still enjoyed it.
In his spare time, he opened the books he had taken out with the gold. Fluent in Old Valyrian, Rhaegar began to read.
One book contained a brief history of a Dragonlord family called Daelgarien.
The dragon medallion was that family's crest.
It showed two great dragons coiled around each other, so lifelike they seemed full of vitality.
The Daelgarien family was an ancient and powerful family with a long history in Old Valyria.
More than three hundred dragons were recorded in its annals.
At the family's height, an astonishing sixty-seven dragons lived at the same time, young and old alike.
With such a legacy, it ranked among the foremost of the forty Dragonlord families, surpassed by only a handful.
The space bracelet on Rhaegar's wrist was one of the Daelgarien family's heirlooms.
It had belonged to one of the family's heirs.
For some unknown reason, the heir had lost it.
The more Rhaegar read, the more astonished he became. He gradually sat up straight, studying each line with a serious expression.
The book briefly introduced several Dragonlord families allied with the Daelgarien family and offered a rough assessment of their strength.
After finishing the first book, Rhaegar picked up a second.
The information in this one wasn't as important.
It was merely a detailed account of the Daelgarien family's vassals.
He switched to another book and continued absorbing its contents without pause.
After an unknown number of books, he finally found something useful amid the historical accounts.
—Dragon Habits
Rhaegar's spirits lifted. He silently prayed, It's about dragons. I hope I find something new.
"What is a dragon?"
"How are dragons born?"
"The bond between Dragonriders and dragons..."
The opening described the nature of dragons and explained when the civilization of Old Valyria had discovered and tamed them.
It was all old news, much like the theories some Maesters had written about.
Rhaegar didn't care where dragons came from. He only wanted to know how to hatch a dragon egg.
Unfortunately, the book didn't cover that.
It did, however, frequently mention Dragonriders taming dragons.
"Those with dragon blood can form a bond with dragons, climb onto their backs, and become Dragonriders..."
"Fire Mages theorized that dragons were more intelligent than beasts, second only to humans..."
"Dragons live for a long time, and their bodies continue to grow as the years pass. Many become so large that they can no longer fly in their old age..."
Rhaegar read carefully, then suddenly spotted an important note.
"Dragons belong to the sky and the wilderness. In their leisure time, the Dragonlords let them fly wherever they pleased and build their nests. In wartime, they summoned their distant companions with magical horns..."
"Magical horns? Another magic item, capable of summoning dragons."
Rhaegar had never heard of such a miraculous horn.
The Targaryens gave their dragons commands in Old Valyrian. They had no special Dragon-taming Tools.
He continued reading silently.
"Dragons are not slaves. They are blood kin to their Dragonriders. Those who chain dragons and keep them from returning to the sky will suffer a terrible curse..."
At this, Rhaegar's brows knitted together.
"You mustn't treat dragons like slaves, or you'll be cursed..."
Rhaegar immediately thought of the Dragonpit in King's Landing.
It was a huge structure built during King Maegor I's reign to house the dragons bred by the Targaryen family.
Balerion, Vhagar, Vermithor...
Many other mighty dragons had once lived in the Dragonpit.
At present, at least three dragons lived there.
Dreamfyre, Caraxes, Syrax...
They were all permanent residents of the Dragonpit, with Syrax foremost among them.
Syrax was Rhaenyra's dragon. She had yellow scales and had lived in the Dragonpit ever since hatching from her egg.
Rhaegar had never been near a dragon, so he didn't know how the dragons in the Dragonpit differed from those living in the wild.
But he knew one thing: every dragon brought into the Dragonpit was fitted with chains.
Dragons were fierce creatures with a strong sense of territory.
When several dragons lived in one place, conflict was inevitable.
To protect the young dragons, the Maesters of the Citadel had proposed shackling the dragons in the Dragonpit to keep them from killing one another.
Eyes fixed on the page, Rhaegar trusted the book's warning.
These books came from the Freehold of Old Valyria.
They were notes left behind by powerful Dragonlord families far mightier than the Targaryens.
They weren't some nonsense spouted by Maesters at the Citadel, who had no business making wild guesses.
I should find an opportunity to give this book to Father and let him decide.
Rhaegar pondered silently.
He soon finished the book and carefully stored it by itself in the bracelet, afraid it might be damaged.
Knowledge was worth more than gold, and every word in the book could help shape the Targaryen family's fortunes.
There were still many books, so Rhaegar kept reading.
When a person was absorbed in something, time flew by like a white horse glimpsed through a crack.
The night passed in the blink of an eye.
Dawn came.
The morning sun chased away the darkness and brought warmth to the land.
Having stayed up all night, Rhaegar suddenly noticed sunlight streaming into the room and surfaced from the sea of knowledge.
He glanced cautiously at the door, then swiftly put away the books and the gold scattered across the bed, stowing them in the little bracelet on his wrist.
He didn't want anyone discovering his secret. Not yet.
"Seven hells, when will these dark circles go away?"
Looking into the glass mirror on the bedside table, Rhaegar pointed at his panda eyes and groaned.
Still, the books hadn't let down someone who took the time to savor them.
While reading through the night, Rhaegar had discovered many minor details that the Targaryen family had never passed down.
For instance, taming a dragon wasn't just about giving it commands.
You also needed the ironclad will to believe that you could tame it.
If a Dragonrider lacked resolve and subconsciously believed he couldn't tame a dragon,
the dragon would sense his cowardice and never accept such a spineless man who lacked confidence.
The best way to tame a dragon was to climb onto its back and shout out your commands.
Let the dragon feel your fierce desire to conquer it, and soar with you across the sky and over the sea.
That way, the dragon and its Dragonrider would become one in thought.
With his heart pounding with excitement, Rhaegar washed up, then kissed his dragon egg before leaving.
He declared loudly, "Hatch soon! The sky is waiting for us!"
He was certain he would become a Dragonrider.
Any doubt in himself would be a betrayal of the Old Valyrian blood flowing through his veins.
The moment Rhaegar opened the door, he noticed Illyric's gaze.
There was an encouraging look in those brown eyes.
"Ser, could you stop looking at me so affectionately? It makes me uncomfortable."
After breakfast, Rhaegar voiced his complaint to Illyric.
Illyric paused, then said, "All right. But I approve of your ambitions."
Rhaegar's cheeks flushed slightly, but he pretended not to care. "Don't dwell on trivial matters. We still have a tournament to watch today."
The tournament had ended early yesterday to welcome Daemon.
But it was scheduled to last seven days, with events held every day.
That arrogant Dornishman was still being held in King's Landing.
Today, surely some powerful knight would defeat him and earn the king's favor.
The Targaryens weren't the most powerful Dragonlord family. They ranked somewhere in the middle to lower tier.
You could tell from the fact that Inys had brought only five dragons across the sea when he left.
By the time of King Aegon the Conqueror, fifty years later, only Balerion, Meleys, and Vhagar remained.
Then, during the Dance of the Dragons, the number of dragons soared to an unprecedented level.
Special praise was due to Syrax. One dragon hatched seven dragons, making her a paragon of early breeding and good parenting.
Before you continue