He wiped the blood from his hunting knife on the grass beside him before sliding it back into its sheath. Then he sniffed the air around them and said, "It's getting late, and we haven't had time for lunch along the way. Let's take it down to the stream and dress it."
With that, Viserys stood up, threaded a vine from the ground nearby through the deer's hind legs, and dragged its carcass toward the water he had just scented.
The girls followed him through a patch of low shrubs and came upon a narrow stream. The water was shallow enough for them to see the layer of smooth pebbles lining its bed, and its gentle murmur sounded clear in the woods.
Daenerys walked beside Viserys, still thinking about the White Stag they had just encountered. She said softly, "Brother, do you think we'll see him again? That White Stag was so beautiful. I wish we could take him back to the Red Keep and keep him there."
Viserys looked down at his younger sister beside him. The woodland breeze stirred her silver hair, which seemed a shade paler than his own, quite close to the color of the White Stag's coat.
And unless his senses had deceived him, the last person the White Stag had looked at before leaving had not been Viserys, who had been testing him all that time, but Daenerys, who had stayed behind him.
Viserys quietly noted that strange detail, but his expression betrayed nothing as he answered Daenerys's question.
A faint smile curved his lips as he said softly, "The White Stag belongs here in the Kingswood. If we forced him into the Red Keep, we would only diminish his spirit."
He paused before continuing, "Besides, I think we must have quite a bond