The next day.
The crew maneuvered the ship and began heading toward the exit of Braavos.
As they feared, the soldiers of Braavos intercepted them and asked to search their ship.
Perhaps because they were dealing with a great House of Westeros, the soldiers were more courteous when requesting it.
As they had agreed, the captain accepted and the soldiers began the search. Harry simply cast a spell on them, making them walk around the ship without seeing anything before leaving.
There was still a little gold left along with the Valyrian steel weapons and, of course, the armor, which was the most valuable of all.
So he couldn't allow them to discover anything.
Once the search was over, the group was finally able to continue on their way.
Harry also relaxed and left everything in the crew's hands as they headed toward Pentos.
The journey didn't go particularly well, and three weeks passed before they could finally reach the city.
During those days, Harry continued injecting magic into the egg, but it showed no signs of hatching.
Even so, in his opinion it hadn't been a waste, since the egg had regained its scaly and shiny texture; it no longer looked like a crudely carved stone.
The egg seemed to glow and felt incredibly alive.
Dacey and Val had teased him several times, telling him that maybe it needed body heat and that he should sit on it.
Harry simply ignored them as his hand gently stroked the egg; he could feel that the moment was near.
Their arrival in Pentos was much less impressive than their arrival in Braavos, and calmer as well.
Harry sent the crew to look for a man named Illyrio and identify where he lived. As for why he didn't go himself...
It was because the egg had started to tremble.
Taking out several things, he quickly created a ritual circle around the egg, making magic flow toward it to feed it.
The egg didn't make them wait long. The tremors seemed to increase in frequency until a 'crack' echoed throughout the room.
At the same time, the magic around them seemed to react intensely, causing the sea breeze to rush into the room.
As Harry, Dacey, and Val watched, a small reptilian head with tiny horns emerged.
With a soft growl, the rest of the egg seemed to explode as the little one spread its wings and stretched its tail.
It was quite small, very similar to the newborn dragons from his previous world.
The little one looked around before focusing on Harry, standing up and spreading its wings with a high-pitched screech.
Harry extended his hand with a smile and the little dragon immediately climbed up his body.
Its small claws caught lightly on his clothes as it climbed, its body surprisingly warm against him. The sunlight coming through the window made its black scales shine faintly whenever it moved.
Extending a finger, he gently stroked its little head before turning toward Dacey and Val, who were staring at the little dragon in amazement.
For Val, perhaps it was just another creature, but Dacey knew the importance of dragons in Westeros.
If it became known that Harry had a baby dragon, armies would probably march toward the North.
Once it was an adult, few things could stop it.
"Go and have someone bring me a chicken and a bottle of wine," Harry said, looking at Dacey.
"What for?" Dacey asked curiously as she nodded.
"I'll make dragon milk so this little one grows healthy and strong," Harry said, smiling.
"You do know that dragons don't produce milk, right?" Dacey asked, looking at him in disbelief.
"What do you know about dragons?" Harry asked, looking at her.
"More than you, apparently. Dragons don't produce milk," Dacey said, holding back a laugh.
"Which one of us managed to bring an apparently extinct creature back to life?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow.
Dacey only rolled her eyes and left to bring what Harry had asked for.
Harry looked at the little dragon with a wide smile. He had always wanted to have one, even in his previous life.
Suddenly, he frowned slightly when he felt the magic in the surroundings. Normally, it should have been considerably drained, but not only had that not happened, it actually felt a little more abundant than before.
Quickly murmuring the spell, the mist swirled in his hand before forming a number.
25.1
Before he could be surprised, the number changed to 25.2.
Harry dissolved the mist as he brought a hand to his chin. It seemed as if the world was reacting to the birth of a dragon, increasing the magic in the surroundings and lending more weight to his theory about the interaction between magic and creatures.
Leaving that for another time, he brought the little dragon closer to Val, who was unexpectedly quiet.
Taking her hand, he slowly extended it toward the little dragon. It seemed to sniff her curiously before allowing her, under Harry's gaze, to stroke its soft, scaly skin with her finger.
Val seemed fascinated as her fingers stroked its head. The small horns pricked her skin slightly, but they weren't even close to being able to hurt anyone yet.
Dacey returned with a bottle of wine and a live chicken that flapped its wings trying to free itself.
Harry placed the dragon on the table before transfiguring something into a small cauldron and pouring the wine inside. He quickly killed the chicken before draining its blood.
Looking at the liquid, he made the mixture boil and fill with magic before serving a portion in a small dish and placing it in front of the dragon.
The little one sniffed it curiously before tasting it. It seemed to like it, as it quickly drank all of it.
Harry didn't forget to give Dacey a smug look, which she ignored with exasperation.
"The others are asking about you since you haven't come out. The captain also said that he found out where Illyrio is," Dacey said as she looked at the little dragon that had finished drinking the 'dragon milk.'
"I see. For now, we need to figure out what to name it," Harry said thoughtfully as he looked at the small black creature.
"For starters, is it female or male?" Dacey asked, looking at Harry.
This made Harry freeze briefly and avoid her gaze uncomfortably, since he actually didn't know whether it was male or female.
"Forget it, we'll think about it later. First I'm going to take care of something," Harry said casually as he stroked the little dragon's head.
Dacey and Val couldn't help giggling, guessing the reason for his change of mind.
"All right, take care of him, or her, give it the milk every half hour and please don't let it burn my ship," Harry said, standing up and leaving.
Dacey and Val nodded as they watched the little one, which began exploring the room like a curious cat, climbing over the furniture and sniffing everything.
Harry went outside and looked at the crew, remaining silent for a moment before speaking.
"You can go out and have fun, just make sure you're back by nightfall. You guys can go too. If you need money, you can ask me," Harry said somewhat casually, but to his surprise, everyone wanted money.
Harry was left speechless and could only give them some of the gold that had been left over from the ship deal.
After talking with the captain and learning the location of Illyrio's mansion, he dismissed him as well.
Looking up at the sky, Harry estimated that it was around midday. With no time to waste, he pretended to enter the ship again before leaving under Disillusionment.
You never knew who might be watching him.
The spells felt much easier and the reaction when using them was almost imperceptible.
Walking through the city, he noticed that it wasn't as prosperous as Braavos, but even so, it was better than 99% of the cities in the North. Only White Harbor could compare to it.
It took him around half an hour of walking to reach a large walled mansion. Taking a great leap and grabbing onto the edge of the wall, Harry easily infiltrated it.
The mansion was quite large, full of gardens, ponds, and pools. Several servants or slaves took care of the entire place, but of course none of them could see him.
With no lock able to stop him, Harry walked to what he considered the most luxurious room in the mansion.
Using a detection spell, he easily found a chest with three dragon eggs. He couldn't help smiling wider, although he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to hatch them; it was too much work.
Besides the magic needed to incubate them, feeding them once they grew wouldn't be a small matter. In any case, there were many interesting experiments he could do with dragon eggs.
Anyway, first he would see how raising the newly hatched little dragon went.
Using Reducio, he shrank the chest and tucked it inside his clothes before looking for the two Targaryens with some curiosity.
Walking toward another of the large rooms, Harry quietly opened the door, making it seem as if the wind had opened it.
Upon entering the room, he wasn't surprised to find someone there.
What did surprise him was seeing an incredibly beautiful young girl, with platinum-blonde hair tucked behind her ears and small braids framing her face.
Her violet eyes seemed to look uncertainly toward the door that had opened on its own.
Harry had thought the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life was Val, but it seemed that she now had some serious competition.
Looking away from her, Harry observed the room as he walked silently. A place could say a lot about a person: how they were treated, their desires, their fears.
Nothing in that room indicated that a woman lived there, so he assumed that she didn't feel entirely comfortable in that place.
The real surprise came when he noticed that the girl kept looking in his direction.
Looking at himself in a mirror, he confirmed that the Disillusionment Charm was still working perfectly.
Looking at the girl curiously, he couldn't help but approach her and noticed that she seemed to timidly step back.
This really confused Harry. After thinking for several seconds, he made the tiny chest containing the eggs come out of his clothes and levitate several meters away from him.
It was then that he noticed that her gaze seemed to follow it. Even so, as he observed her surface thoughts, it seemed to be some kind of instinct or sixth sense.
She didn't seem to know what was happening.
Harry couldn't help wondering what caused this. If they caught her attention so much, why hadn't she found them before?
Confused, he revealed himself in front of her, making the girl jump in fright and quickly step back until she stumbled against the bed and fell onto it.
"You! You... who are you?" the girl asked with evident fear on her face.
"Don't worry, I didn't come to hurt you. My name is Harry Stark," Harry said, pulling over a chair and sitting a few meters away from the girl.
"Harry Stark? From Westeros?" the girl asked almost reflexively.
"That's right, a Stark from the North," Harry said, nodding.
"A traitor," the girl said despite her fear.
Harry only chuckled as he looked at her, neither denying it nor defending himself.
"Is that what your brother told you?" Harry asked, looking at her.
The girl remained silent, looking at him with fear, but also with defiance.
"In my opinion, the traitor was your father, although more than a traitor, he was a madman," Harry said mockingly.
"You... don't lie. My father was a good man," the girl said in a voice too soft to convey the anger she seemed to feel upon hearing his words.
"You didn't even know him," Harry said with a half-smile.
The silver-haired girl noticed that Harry was looking at her as if she were a child. Her lips tightened as she clenched her fists.
"You didn't know him either," she said in a slightly louder voice.
"That's true, but my grandfather was burned to death, my uncle was strangled, and my aunt bled to death. It all happened because of the actions of your father and brother; that can't be fabricated," Harry said, looking at her.
The girl remained silent, looking at Harry. She wanted to say that he was lying, but was he? She didn't know for certain, nor did she have any argument to deny it.
"Did you come to kill me and my brother?" Daenerys asked, assuming he had come for revenge.
"Of course not. Neither you nor your brother had anything to do with it and, to be honest, I didn't even know my grandfather or my uncles. If you were your father, it would be different, but I wouldn't seek revenge against you," Harry said honestly.
"I was only curious about you. Tell me, what's your name?" Harry asked, looking at her intently.
"Daenerys," she said after a moment of hesitation.
"Daenerys, a beautiful name," Harry murmured to himself.
Daenerys felt her cheeks grow warm for some reason. Even so, her curiosity ended up overwhelming her other feelings. How had he appeared out of nowhere in the room?
"And tell me, what are you planning with your brother? Do you want to reclaim the throne?" Harry asked in a somewhat mocking tone.
Daenerys's expression immediately hardened as she looked at Harry angrily.
"It's our birthright," Daenerys said, looking at him.
"That might be true if your family were still on the throne, but that isn't the case anymore. You don't even have dragons. The possibility of you reclaiming the throne is so incredibly small that it would be better to say it's impossible," Harry said, shaking his head.
"We'll have an army. My brother and Magister Illyrio are negotiating with the Dothraki. Their warriors are like an endless tide," Daenerys said, repeating Illyrio's words.
Harry remained silent for a moment, looking at the girl with some disbelief, wondering if she really knew what she was saying.
"You mean the savages who kill everything in their path, raping and pillaging? Some kingdom you'll have left after they attack," Harry said mockingly.
"Besides, even a child in Essos knows that the Dothraki fear the sea. What? Are you going to build them a bridge?" Harry said mercilessly.
"Not to mention the payment you'll have to give the Dothraki for them to even consider doing it," Harry added.
Daenerys couldn't help lowering her head under Harry's relentless attack.
She was innocent and shy, but not stupid. The things Harry was saying were true, even if they weren't pleasant to hear.
"You can't know what they'll offer them," Daenerys said in a vain attempt to defend herself.
"I don't know, but I can think of something," Harry said, looking her up and down.
"Men do stupid things for women," Harry said quite seriously.
It wasn't difficult to guess that Daenerys was probably part of the payment.
Daenerys couldn't help lowering her head, since it was something she knew, but tried not to think about.
When you have no options, it's better not to suffer needlessly.
"It seems your brother isn't very good to you, selling you to some savages. It isn't even certain that they'll honor the agreement afterward. Who can force them?" Harry said, frowning.
He loved and cherished his sisters. Was the mere and distant possibility of gaining a throne really important enough to sacrifice one's own family?
"Do you think they would honor the agreement?" Daenerys asked with her head lowered.
"I don't think so, but like I told you, men do stupid things for women. You're beautiful; if you managed to manipulate the man they sell you to, maybe you could get them to fight for you," Harry said, not really sure.
"You just have to understand their culture to know if it's possible. I hope your brother has considered that," Harry said, although he didn't expect much from a culture of raiders and rapists.
Looking at the girl who was more or less his own age, Harry couldn't help but soften.
"Do you want to come with me? That way you won't have to go through that fate," Harry said, looking at her.
Unlike what had happened with Val, he had no ulterior motives. Daenerys was too young and naive for his taste; his intentions were genuinely pure.
"Are you going to help us reclaim the throne? If not, why do you want to help me? What would make my fate in your hands any different from what it would be with the Dothraki?" Daenerys asked helplessly.
"Even if I had bad intentions, your fate would be much better with me," Harry said, shaking his head.
Harry looked into her violet eyes filled with confusion and didn't know what to say. Her situation was difficult; escaping was madness. She probably wouldn't last even one night before being captured and sold because of her beauty. She was small and weak, and her life was truly in someone else's hands.
"It wasn't my intention originally, but consider my visit an opportunity to change your fate. Before, you had no other choice, but now you really do. Find the answers you need and decide. As you can see, I can protect you," Harry said before disappearing.
He hoped the girl would react to the situation she was in and make an intelligent decision.
Daenerys waited several minutes without seeing Harry again until finally two tears ran down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away with her hands.
Harry's words struck her deeply, reminding her of the situation she was in. Years ago, her brother had stopped being the caring person who looked after her.
Now her brother only saw the possibility of reclaiming the throne. Rubbing her eyes, Daenerys shook her head and pushed those thoughts aside.
Adopting a slightly firmer expression, she walked toward the mansion's library. Harry was right. She needed to learn about the Dothraki; only then might she be able to control them to protect herself and reclaim the throne.
She really didn't want to marry a savage, but she didn't think her brother was going to give her another choice.
"Lady Daenerys," said a nearly bald man with a beard.
"Ser Jorah, I'm going to the library to read," Daenerys said softly as she continued walking.
Jorah bowed as he followed her.
"By the way, Ser Jorah, you're from the North, aren't you?" Daenerys asked without stopping.
"That's right. I was born on Bear Island. I'm from House Mormont, a vassal of the Starks," Jorah said as his expression brightened slightly at the young woman's question.
"Oh... tell me, is it true that my father burned the then Lord Stark alive?" Daenerys asked as she reached the library.
"It's true," Jorah said after a moment of hesitation.
"And what about his eldest son?" Daenerys asked as she gripped the edge of the door with one hand.
"He died strangled trying to free himself to save his father. It seems he was forced to watch as they burned him," Jorah said, feeling that he was getting himself into trouble, but he didn't want to lie about something that would eventually be discovered.
Daenerys bit her lip, imagining the cruelty and desperation Harry's uncle must have suffered.
"After that, the entire North ended up taking up arms and marching south," Jorah added without her asking.
"Robert Baratheon, the current king, was in love with Lyanna Stark and, in fact, was her betrothed. After Rhaegar kidnapped her, Robert also ended up taking up arms."
"I see. I'm going to read, so don't disturb me," Daenerys said with apparent calm as she entered and closed the door behind her.
Her eyes reddened slightly. What family could endure that kind of provocation? It was more than understandable that they rebelled.
No, even the word rebellion seemed wrong to her.
Her brother hadn't told her any of that. She couldn't help wondering what other things she didn't know.
Taking a deep breath, Daenerys searched among the hundreds of books until she found one about the Dothraki.
Daenerys read carefully for more than an hour and, the more she read, the more horrified and disgusted she became by what her fate might be under her brother's and Illyrio's plans.
She could barely accept marrying a stranger. She had thought they might be able to communicate and understand each other, but what she had just read had shattered all her illusions.
Just thinking about being part of all that made her sick. The possibility of being shared with the Khal's bloodriders disgusted her to the point of making her want to vomit.
How was that any different from being a prostitute? No, at least prostitutes were paid and sometimes could even choose whom to serve. She would be in a worse situation.
Closing the book, Daenerys put her hands to her head as she leaned against the table, trying to calm herself.
The sound of the library door opening and familiar footsteps brought her back to reality.
Looking up, she saw her brother approaching.
"My little Daenerys," Viserys said with a smile that at first glance seemed affectionate.
"What are you doing here?" the platinum-haired young man asked with some curiosity.
"I was just reading a little. Where did you go?" Daenerys asked, looking at him as she subtly covered the title of the book with her forearm.
"I went with Illyrio to negotiate with the Dothraki. They agreed to invade and reclaim the Iron Throne for me," Viserys said, clearly in a good mood.
"And how much do we have to pay them?" Daenerys asked, looking at her brother.
"You don't understand. They don't care about money. They want you. You'll marry Khal Drogo and make those savages help us reclaim the throne," Viserys said with a smile.
"If you know they're savages, why do you want me to marry them?" Daenerys asked, looking at him.
Viserys's smile seemed to freeze. He stared at his younger sister for a few seconds before slapping her.
The sound echoed clearly through the room. Daenerys didn't even raise a hand to her face; she only looked her brother in the eyes.
"Don't forget that—" Viserys began, looking at Daenerys furiously.
"Yes, you sold our possessions so you could feed me. You repeat it constantly, but do you know anything about the Dothraki? They kill, pillage, rape," Daenerys said, not caring about the burning sensation in her cheek.
"Do you know that some Khals share their wives with their bloodriders?" Daenerys said in an outburst, with a trace of hope that her brother didn't know about all of that.
"Their forty thousand men with their horses could fuck you if that's what it takes to reclaim my throne," Viserys said with a coldness that completely froze Daenerys's heart.
Daenerys didn't know how she returned to her room, moving almost like a lifeless doll.
Although she understood that she would probably have to marry to forge an alliance and thus be able to reclaim the kingdom, something her brother had been instilling in her since childhood, she had never thought it would be like that.
Much less had she expected her brother to see her as nothing more than a commodity. As long as he could reclaim the throne, he didn't seem to care what happened to her.
----
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