The smithy at Castle Black was surrounded by guards, sealed tight.
Torrhen and Jason had brought Lynn's most trusted Northern soldiers and Night's Watch Rangers to encircle the smithy, cutting it off completely from the outside world.
No one was allowed near it.
Tyrion might keep quiet about an egg, but hatching a dragon was another matter entirely.
Tyrion would certainly report it to the Lannisters.
So Jon had already tricked Tyrion into leaving, and every member of the Night's Watch had been ordered to conceal the dragon's birth from him. Anyone who disobeyed would be sentenced to death!
The stakes were too high to take lightly. This was Lynn's wish as well.
Inside the smithy, waves of heat struck their faces.
The enormous furnace in the center had been heated until its entire frame glowed red.
Roaring flames surged out of it, lighting the whole space as brightly as day.
The air was thick with the scorching smell of metal and coke.
Lynn stood before the furnace, cradling the ice-blue Dragon Egg.
The Dragon Egg pulsed with warmth in his arms, like an impatient heart.
It seemed to sense the powerful heat around it and grew unusually excited.
Maester Aemon stood beside Lynn.
He had taken off his gray maester's robes and wore only a thin white shirt.
His aged face bore an utterly solemn calm.
Jeor Mormont stood guard at the door.
His hand gripped his sword hilt tightly, and his weathered face was filled with tension and anticipation.
"Lynn."
Maester Aemon's voice rose amid the crackling flames.
"Put the egg into the fire."
Lynn's arms stiffened.
"Master Aemon, are you sure?"
"Dragons are born of fire." Aemon's tone allowed no argument.
"No matter what kind of dragon it is, only the hottest flames can awaken its dormant