Then came Storm's rise: Eddard Stark was drawn south to King's Landing, the Weeping Blood Sword and the red comet appeared, and before his death, Robert wrote the will that set off the turmoil, legitimizing his bastard children. King's Landing fell into unrest, and war began.
But none of it had shaken him as much as the dragons appearing before him. If King Robert had seen dragons rise again, he would surely have found it absurd too.
"The dragons are our children," Daenerys answered. "When they hatched, we were the first ones they saw."
Gendry nodded.
Stannis was utterly astonished as he looked at Gendry and Daenerys. In that case, they had brought more miracles than he had hoped for. Dragons, the most wondrous treasures of all. House Baratheon had married into House Targaryen before, but unlike House Velaryon, it had never produced a dragonrider.
"How did you do it?" Lord Stannis could not help asking. The attempts of kings through the ages had all ended in failure. Yet Daenerys, the orphaned daughter of House Targaryen, and Robert's son now possessed a dragon horde. The Weeping Blood Sword had appeared. Perhaps this was the great upheaval the Red Priestess had once spoken of to him...
"Life. Only death can pay for life," the Red Priestess said softly. She thought of the dead: the Beggar King Viserys and the headless king Khal Drogo. Their deaths had provided the opportunity for the magic dragons' revival, or at least one of the keys to their appearance.
"My lady, you are right. But magic had to return before dragons could be born," Maester Qyburn explained.
"But can Baratheon blood command magic dragons too?" That astonished Stannis even more.
"Fire. Life is like a flame." The Red Priestess looked at Gendry. "The Baratheons possess some