With the cargo loaded, Rhaenys and her niece Rhaenyra arrived together, followed by dozens of slaves Daemon and Corlys had newly "rescued" on this voyage.
Laena had gone back ahead of them to find Vhagar. Rhaenyra, who rarely handled such affairs, looked exhausted. Rubbing her temples as she walked, she pressed a hand to her forehead and complained to Rhaenys beside her, "A lot of the elderly, women, and able-bodied adults stayed this time. Most of those left are children and craftsmen."
Driftmark was relatively prosperous. The elderly and women could learn to make handicrafts, weaving cloth, embroidering, or making fishing nets in workshops, and barely manage to support themselves;
The able-bodied adults could also earn a living hauling cargo at the docks.
But children could not support themselves, and Driftmark had no orphanage-Corlys had never taken much interest in charity-
Those children could only return to King's Landing aboard the ship and be placed in the Faith's care.
Still, people could not stay on Driftmark every time. However much Corlys wanted to bring in more people, Driftmark was only an island, with limited land.
Often, they were sent to sparsely populated Crackclaw Point instead. Especially over the past two years, after Daemon and Rhea's relationship had "fallen apart" again, Driftmark and Crackclaw Point had become the only two places that accepted these slaves unconditionally.
Moreover, it seemed that some of the able-bodied slaves Aegon had personally rescued during his time in the Stepstones had joined Daemon and Corlys's men, serving as "pioneers"-
Aegon's title of "Lord of Dragons" had thus taken deep root in their hearts through those earlier rescued slaves, even though Aegon had not taken part in their own rescue.
So most of the craftsmen who volunteered to go to Crackclaw Point had discussed the matter together: