Unicorn foals

With the arrival of the twin brothers from House Lannister of the Westerlands, nearly forty or fifty young men of suitable age from the great houses of Westeros arrived over the next few days, as though they had arranged it beforehand.

Including their squires, guards, and other attendants, the number of visitors at Dragonstone Castle suddenly exceeded a thousand. The gathering was second only to Prince Baelon's funeral.

The young noblemen were naturally assigned guest rooms in Dragonstone Castle, while most of their followers found lodgings at the inns in Fisherman's Village and White Sheep Town, leaving only their closest male companions at their sides.

The shopkeepers in White Sheep Town and Fisherman's Village were delighted. After centuries of quiet, Dragonstone had actually begun growing livelier and livelier this year.

The shopkeepers in White Sheep Town took it rather better in stride. After all, the town had only recently been built, and they owed their current prosperity entirely to Danyla. Even the merchants running its shops had been established with loans and strong support from her.

Ever since coming to White Sheep Town, their clearest impression had been that life kept improving under Princess Danyla's protection. As a result, they regarded these unexpected visitors with a relatively composed attitude.

The merchants in Fisherman's Village were different. Their families had lived on Dragonstone for generations, and they were well accustomed to its isolation and backwardness. Though the noble House Targaryen in Dragonstone Castle had brought them peace and stability, it had not brought them prosperity or enough food to fill their bellies.

Faced with this sudden boom in business, the shopkeepers almost felt as though they had entered another world. Still, anyone capable of running a business in the poor, backward Fisherman's Village was naturally quite shrewd.

They knew very well that Princess Danyla was responsible for all these changes, so she held considerable standing among these common folk and merchants.

The young scions of the Great Lords of Westeros all knew perfectly well why the others had come to Dragonstone. To display their respective houses' strength, they naturally presented lavish gifts to Viserys and his family.

Every house's gifts were worth a considerable sum, with a total value exceeding a thousand Gold Dragons.

The gifts from the Lannister twins and Mund, the eldest son of House Hightower, were even more precious, each worth over ten thousand Gold Dragons.

Such extravagance was rarely seen in social dealings among the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms.

Yet compared with all that gold and silver, Danyla's favorite gift was the pair of long-haired unicorn foals Dax Bagna of Skagos had given her.

Danyla therefore had her people hurry to fence off a large stretch of fine pasture especially for the two little unicorns.

The unicorns of this world were powerfully built, with bear claws and tiger fangs. Fine, long, silvery-white hair covered their bodies, while one had a black mane and the other a white one. The single horns on their heads were crystal clear, sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight.

The two little unicorns Dax had given Danyla were only the size of goats. Perhaps because they had spent too long at sea, they were somewhat listless, looking dispirited all the time and refusing to eat.

After a day of adjustment, their condition had improved considerably, but they still seemed weak and lethargic.

Seeing their pitiful state, Danyla was overcome with maternal tenderness. Wanting to help them, she asked Dax,

"Dax, what do unicorns usually like to eat?"

Dax's voice was deep and hoarse, as it was still breaking, though it sounded rather appealing.

"Your Highness, unicorns eat all sorts of things. Moss, grass, leaves, brushwood, mineral rocks, meat-they eat them all."

"I see!"

At his answer, Danyla could not help thinking to herself,

Skagos really must be barren, then, if these noble magical creatures have to fill their bellies with anything they can swallow!

Unicorn

"If they eat anything, this should be easy!"

Danyla immediately had someone roast a goat with seasoning mixed with colored soil and shred the meat. Then they gathered the freshest, most tender grass, mixed it in, and placed it in the two little unicorns' stone trough.

The unusual aroma of the seasoning, mingled with the scent of meat and fresh grass, immediately caught the little creatures' attention.

Danyla had known that a magical substance even the Great Dragons coveted would surely attract them too!

The two little unicorns immediately ran toward the stone trough, then scanned their surroundings warily. Only after finding no danger did they quickly bury their heads in the trough and begin chewing voraciously.

Even so, every few mouthfuls, they raised their heads to inspect their surroundings.

"What wary little things!"

"Dax, if unicorns are this cautious even when they're young, how did you catch them?"

Danyla probed Dax Bagna for information.

"Your Highness, have you heard of wargs?"

Dax looked intently at Danyla as he asked. His clear, azure eyes somehow prompted her to answer without any hesitation.

"Isn't that a magical talent for controlling animals, possessed by the Children of the Forest and some people with First Men blood?"

At her answer, Dax's eyes brightened further, and he pressed on.

"It seems you really do know about them, Princess. Do you believe in them, then?"

Danyla nodded and said with certainty,

"Of course I do. We of House Targaryen can command dragons. Isn't that just another form of being a warg?"

Just as Dax was about to say something more, a large group of young noblemen approached from the distance, led by the Lannister twins and Mund Hightower of House Hightower.

Danyla's Dragon Guards and Dax's men stopped them at the perimeter, however.

"How dare you allow a wildling to be alone with Her Highness! If anything happened, could you bear the responsibility? Let us through to protect the princess!"

A young lord from a great house of the Westerlands shouted at the Dragon Guards.

His words immediately enraged the other youths from Skagos.

"Pretty boy, who are you calling a wildling?"

"Keep talking nonsense, and I'll beat you so badly your own mother won't recognize you!"

A broad, burly youth stepped out of the crowd and shouted.

The lingering childishness in his face made it clear that he could not be very old, yet he was already nearly two meters tall, with downy whiskers covering his cheeks.

His voice boomed like a bear's roar, instantly intimidating the delicate young lord from the Westerlands into silence.

At that moment, Tyland Lannister gave a meaningful glance to a tall young man behind him who was leading three large dogs.

The young man immediately tightened the hounds' leashes discreetly. In pain, the three large dogs lunged forward and began barking furiously.

The tall young man immediately began cursing loudly.

"You unruly stray dogs! Don't you know where you are? How dare you run wild here? Keep yapping, and I'll slaughter you to eat with my wine!"

"Ill-bred mongrels like you should be turned loose in some forsaken wilderness to chew mud. Let's see if you still have the strength to bark and howl then!"

This was Myracis's color.

This was what Myracis looked like now.