Blackwater Voyage

The first glimmer of dawn had barely crept over High Tide's stone windows when a muffled argument broke Daemon's sleep like a pebble thrown into still water. He opened his eyes. Gael's head still rested in the crook of his arm, her breathing even, while Mysaria was curled up on a small couch by the foot of the bed, her silver hair glowing softly in the morning light.

"Corlys Velaryon! Where exactly did you sleep last night?" Rhaenys's angry voice pierced through the door. "Don't tell me you squatted in the corridor all night! I can't stop you from breaking the king's laws, but don't drag my brother along with you to fool around across the Narrow Sea!"

"Darling, listen to me..." the Sea Snake said in an especially aggrieved tone. "It was Daemon who..."

Daemon abruptly sat up. Gael woke with a start, rubbing her eyes as she looked at him in confusion. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Daemon lowered his voice and quickly pulled on his outer clothes. "You and Little My should sleep a while longer. I'll go take a look."

He gently opened the door, and the sight in the corridor made everything clear at once. Rhaenys wore a red-and-black nightgown, hands on her hips, while Corlys had only a wool cloak draped over himself. His hair was a mess, and with his back to Daemon, he was trying his best to stay calm before his wife.

"Rhaenys." Daemon cleared his throat.

Rhaenys turned around. The moment she saw Daemon, the anger on her face vanished like a sand painting swallowed by the tide, replaced by a knowing, teasing smile.

"Little Daemon is awake?" She looked him up and down, the auntie-like grin in her eyes nearly overflowing. "Looks like you slept well last night?"

Taking the chance to turn around, Corlys's eyes lit up when he saw Daemon. He was just about to speak when Rhaenys silenced him with a glare.

"I..." Daemon tried to explain. "I was in Gael's room last night..."

"I understand, I understand." Rhaenys interrupted him with a smile and patted his arm. "Young people run hot. Perfectly normal. Go wash up. Breakfast is nearly ready."

She glanced at Corlys, and her tone immediately turned cold again. "You, come with me!" Like a goose caught by the neck, Corlys followed Rhaenys with a miserable expression. As he passed Daemon, he secretly gave him a look that said, Good luck.

Daemon shook his head helplessly. It seemed he would never again be able to look directly at this historically renowned Lord of Tides. When he returned to the room, Gael was already sitting up, and Mysaria was helping her comb her silver hair.

"Did Rhaenys misunderstand something?" Gael's cheeks were bright red, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"Don't mind her." Daemon walked over and ruffled her hair. "She's just like that. She likes to joke around."

But he had not expected Rhaenys's "joke" to continue throughout breakfast.

At the long table, Rhaenys personally piled food onto Daemon's plate. His silver fork was heaped with roast boar chops, smoked cod, and honeyed ham, nearly overflowing. "Eat more, Little Daemon." She smiled like a blooming sunflower. "Young people are still growing. They burn a lot of energy."

Gael lowered her head even further. Even the tips of her ears had turned red, and the bread in her hands was being squeezed out of shape.

Mysaria stood behind her, struggling not to laugh, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Corlys kept his head down and drank soup the entire time, as though some priceless treasure were hidden in his bowl. He pretended not to notice his wife's feeding behavior.

Laena and Laenor, on the other hand, ate happily, occasionally glancing curiously at the blushing Gael and Daemon, who was buried beneath food.

"Mother," Laena said after swallowing her cake, lifting her little face, "Laenor and I want Uncle Daemon and Aunt Gael to take us dragonriding."

Laenor immediately nodded and chimed in indistinctly, "Ride dragons! Ride dragons!"

Rhaenys set down her knife and stroked her daughter's head. Her tone was gentle yet firm beyond question. "No. Uncle Daemon and Aunt Gael have things to do. You mustn't disturb them." She gave Daemon a meaningful look—the message could not have been clearer: she was giving them time alone.

"Rhaenys, actually, we..." Daemon still wanted to explain. He instinctively looked to Corlys, hoping he would help clarify matters.

But Corlys suddenly seemed to remember something. He glanced at Laena, abruptly set down his soup bowl, and wiped his mouth. "Ah, I went to bed early last night and heard nothing at all. I nearly forgot there are guests waiting in the council hall." He rose to his feet and gave Rhaenys a perfunctory hug. "Enjoy your meal. I'll take my leave first." With that, he practically fled the dining hall.

Daemon: "..."

In the end, under the children's persistent pleading, Rhaenys relented.

Seeing the anticipation in Laena's eyes, Gael remembered how the girl had shyly covered her face when looking at Daemon yesterday and could not help worrying. "I'll take Laena."

Daemon naturally became Laenor's "exclusive knight."

When he carried the four-year-old boy onto Glutton's back, he clearly felt the little body in his arms stiffen. Then an excited scream erupted from him.

"Uncle Daemon! You're amazing!" Laenor's little hands gripped Daemon's clothes tightly, his bright eyes fixed on Glutton's dragon head. "You're even more amazing than Father's ships!"

Daemon smiled and patted Glutton's neck. The Black Dragon gave a deep response before beating his wings and soaring into the sky.

Looking down, he saw Dreamfyre circling below with Gael and Laena on her back, her pale blue wings gleaming like a flowing gemstone beneath the sunlight.

"Laenor, are you afraid?" Daemon asked.

"No!" Laenor answered brightly. "One day, I'll ride dragons just like Uncle Daemon!" He paused, then suddenly leaned close to Daemon's ear and whispered, "Uncle, you're much better-looking than the boys in those picture books."

Daemon's heart sank. Looking into the earnest eyes of the boy in his arms, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind—historically, Laenor Velaryon, the first husband of his great-grandmother Rhaenyra, seemed... to have had no interest in women.

No way... He's only four... Daemon clicked his tongue inwardly and instinctively pushed Laenor a little farther away, maintaining a "safe distance." It seemed he would have to keep away from this child in the future.

Three days later, the Sea Snake Corlys's fleet set sail as promised. Twenty three-masted sailing ships formed a silver dragon winding slowly across the emerald waters of Blackwater Bay.

Daemon's party was assigned to the flagship, the Lord of the Tides. Glutton and Dreamfyre circled above the fleet like two loyal guardians.

When the fleet passed Dragonstone, Daemon deliberately stood on the deck to look out at it.

The black island resembled a slumbering beast guarding the entrance to Blackwater Bay. The castle's towers shone with a cold gleam beneath the sun.

He knew that this was not only the first place where the Targaryen Lineage had landed in Westeros, but also the beginning of many stories to come.

"Dragonstone's obsidian mines are treasures." Corlys had come up beside him without his noticing, a telescope in hand. "When Aegon the Conqueror conquered the Seven Kingdoms, Dragonstone lacked iron mines, so many weapons were made from the obsidian here."

Daemon nodded and turned his gaze toward the distant sea.

The waters of Blackwater Bay truly were as calm as the stories said. Massey's Hook stretched out like a giant arm, blocking the waves of the Narrow Sea and making the waters within the bay as gentle as a sheet of blue silk.

Patrol ships of the Royal Fleet cruised in the distance, the three-headed dragon sigils on their sails clearly visible.

"That stretch of land on the left is Crab Claw Peninsula." Corlys pointed northward. "Crab Island, where we're headed this time, lies near the tip of the peninsula."

Daemon followed the direction of his finger. The coastline twisted away into the distance, and he could vaguely make out the outlines of cliffs.

He thought of House Clegane and House Bren, wondering how well Lord Clegane had restored Whispering Castle.

"I heard there's an area of sea in Blackwater Bay called Merling King's Spear?" Gael's voice came from behind him. She and Mysaria stood at the rail, gazing into the distance as the sea wind lifted their hair like two drifting strands of silver.

"That's right." Corlys smiled. "The currents there are swift, so captains all sail around it. The cod there are fat, though. The water is too salty to drink, even after filtering."

Daemon had tasted Blackwater Bay's water before. It truly was so salty and bitter that it made one choke, even harder to swallow than the water of the Narrow Sea. Flocks of waterfowl rose from the coastal marshes like a moving white cloud, forming a strange echo with the schools of cod beneath the surface.

"Tidehead Island is the largest island in Blackwater Bay, isn't it?" Mysaria asked curiously. It was her first time seeing such a large fleet, and her eyes were full of excitement.

"Exactly." Corlys's tone carried pride. "Before Ienar Targaryen led the Targaryen Lineage to Dragonstone, House Velaryon had already settled on Tidehead Island. Since making an agreement with the Merling King, we have guarded this bay for hundreds of years. When I made my nine voyages, every one of them departed from Hull." He looked toward the distant sea, a trace of nostalgia in his eyes. "Back then, the entire Narrow Sea knew the name of the Sea Snake, Corlys."

Watching his high-spirited appearance, Daemon suddenly understood why Rhaenys had chosen him. Though he was twenty-one years older than her, he possessed courage and wisdom that lost to no one—like the tides of Blackwater Bay, both powerful and embracing.

The fleet continued onward, and Dragonstone's shadow gradually vanished beyond the horizon.

Under the sunlight, Blackwater Bay's waters showed shades of blue, dark and light, stretching from near to far like a gradient oil painting.

Leaning against the rail, Daemon watched Glutton and Dreamfyre soar high above while Gael and Mysaria chatted softly nearby. His heart suddenly became exceptionally calm.

He knew that the journey to Crab Island still awaited them, and their tour of the Seven Kingdoms was far from over.

But at this moment, bathed in the sunlight of Blackwater Bay and listening to the waves slap against the hull, he suddenly felt that this kind of time was not bad either.

"What are you thinking about?" Gael came to his side and handed him a lemon biscuit.

"I was thinking," Daemon said, taking the biscuit and biting into it, "how lucky I am that you're here."

Gael's cheeks reddened slightly, and she gently leaned against his shoulder.

In the distance, a flock of seagulls flew across the sea, leaving behind a string of crisp cries, as though accompanying the voyage.

Their journey through the Seven Kingdoms had only just begun.