"My king, I'm afraid we may need to leave King's Landing very soon."
Larys Strong leaned close to Aegon II's bedside, his eyes dark and unreadable.
As the Greens' Master of Whisperers, he had his own private network of informants.
According to messages from House Redwyne on the Arbor, the man known as Sea Burner Logar had tamed none other than the Cannibal—the king of the wild dragons!
Not only had Logar seized the Stepstones with the beast, but his feats across the Narrow Sea had spread his name across both continents.
That alone was alarming enough. What truly made Larys's skin crawl was the report from fishermen near Blackwater Bay. They claimed several more dragons had been seen flying over Dragonstone lately.
Some even swore they had spotted Vermithor—King Jaehaerys's old mount—along with its mate Silverwing, hunting fish in the Narrow Sea.
Combined with the prisoners the Gold Cloaks had captured heading toward Dragonstone and their tales of the queen summoning bastard dragonseeds, Larys Strong felt cold sweat break out on his forehead.
A terrible thought had taken root in his mind: the Blacks had succeeded…
"That damned Aemond took the entire army to Harrenhal. King's Landing is far too exposed now."
Even while bedridden and recovering from his burns, Aegon II wasn't completely blind to what was happening outside.
He forced his weakened body upright and grabbed Larys's arm with surprising strength.
"We must find Sunfyre as quickly as possible. Only with a dragon can we guarantee our safety."
Larys closed his eyes at the request.
He had worked hard to attach himself to Aegon, and he had little love for the volatile Aemond. He had no desire to see his newly won position destroyed by the Blacks.
"Let us hope the enemy gives us enough time."
After offering what little comfort he could, Larys let out a quiet sigh and slipped out of the royal chamber.
Meanwhile, the Black fleet cut through the waves of the Narrow Sea like a blade. Over forty warships sailed together in a vast formation, looking from a distance like a moving black wall.
Six dragons circled above the armada, their wings blotting out the sun. Their deep roars made the soldiers on deck look up constantly, eyes filled with both awe and fierce excitement.
Logar stood on the deck of the World Devourers' flagship, black armor glinting coldly in the sea wind.
He wore no helmet. His silver hair whipped wildly as he stared toward the Westerosi coastline growing ever closer, his gaze sharp as a hawk's.
Beside him stood Nettles and Addam. Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White lingered a short distance away, their expressions openly impatient.
As the queen's appointed vanguard, Logar's mission was to lead the dragonriders in breaking King's Landing's gates so the troops aboard the ships could storm the city and help Rhaenyra seize the Iron Throne.
He was taking this operation very seriously.
Although they possessed six adult dragons, Queen Rhaenyra had given strict orders: she wanted a living, functional capital she could rule—not a burned-out wasteland of corpses and ash.
Logar was to lead the other dragonriders in a show of overwhelming force to shatter Green morale, but they had to be precise. No indiscriminate burning of the city.
Because of those orders, he had summoned all the dragonriders to the flagship deck for a pre-battle war council.
"The queen's command is clear," Logar said, turning to face them. "We are only to use dragonfire against the defenders at the gates. At all other times, we must be careful not to damage the rest of the city. Our goal is intimidation first."
Addam and Nettles both nodded. The queen's order to spare the city made perfect sense.
King's Landing held over a hundred thousand people. A single uncontrolled fire could kill thousands.
More importantly, Rhaenyra had only just returned from Dragonstone. Mass civilian deaths would undermine her claim to the throne.
"What kind of bullshit order is that?"
The moment Logar finished speaking, Hugh Hammer let out a loud, contemptuous snort.
"The queen's being too soft-hearted. We have dragons! We should just fly over the city and burn every Green soldier to ash. Why all these stupid restrictions?"
All the way here, he had been seething at being placed under Logar's command. He believed he should have been named vanguard and given authority over the other riders.
After all, he rode Vermithor, the second-largest dragon alive.
Seeing Hugh speak up, Ulf the White glanced at Logar and quickly nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, these restrictions are too much. The enemy has spears and arrows. If we can't use dragonfire, how the hell are we supposed to fight?"
Their open defiance instantly turned the atmosphere on the deck ice-cold.
Nettles and Addam frowned sharply, shocked that the two would dare challenge Logar so brazenly.
They didn't know that ever since the queen gave Logar command over the other dragonriders, Hugh and Ulf had felt threatened. This was their way of pushing back—showing Logar they weren't pushovers.
Logar saw right through them.
Instead of getting angry, a strange, cold smile spread across his face.
"Oh? So both of you have a problem with the queen's orders?"
Seeing Logar didn't immediately lash out, Hugh grew bolder, his voice turning aggressive.
"What queen's orders? I think you're just a coward using her command as an excuse to avoid real danger!"
"We're not afraid to die. Cowards don't get to lead us!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the air on deck froze solid.
World Devourer soldiers immediately reached for their weapons and moved in, surrounding the two men with wolf-like glares.
Nettles's expression darkened. High above, Sheepstealer let out an angry roar, wings beating hard enough to whip up fierce gusts across the deck.
Sea Smoke flew overhead at the same moment, his massive shadow falling directly over Hugh Hammer, crimson eyes glowing with hostility—clearly siding with Logar.
Ulf the White jumped at the sudden reaction.
He thought Hugh had gone too far, but the words were already out. He tried to backpedal quickly.
"I mean… Lord Logar makes a fair point, but Hammer isn't entirely wrong either, because…"
Logar ignored the spineless Ulf completely. His cold gaze locked onto the defiant Hugh Hammer as he let out a low, dangerous laugh.
"So not only do you question the queen's orders—you also refuse to accept me as commander of the dragonriders?"
Ever since the Battle of the Gullet, Logar had wanted these two dead. He knew exactly what kind of men they were: treacherous, greedy, backstabbing bastards who would always want more.
Leaving them alive would only cause problems later.
"What? You think you can actually do something to me?" Hugh snarled.
He felt a chill when he saw Logar smiling instead of exploding in rage, but pride forced him to double down.
"I told you before—we're both bastards. You have no right to order me around. Even the queen's commands don't mean shit to me!"
With those final words, Hugh turned and started walking toward the edge of the deck.
Vermithor was circling nearby. He planned to mount up immediately and fight the coming battle on his own terms.
This would both protect him and prove to everyone that he was Logar's equal.
Ulf hesitated, unsure whether to follow Hugh or not.
Then Logar suddenly burst into laughter—cold, sharp, and terrifying.
"Good. Two idiots who don't know their place… I've wanted to cut you down for a long time. Today you've finally given me the perfect excuse."
"World Devourers!" Logar's voice rang out like steel. "Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White have disrespected the queen and refuse to obey their commander. Seize them immediately!"
He drew his sword in one smooth motion, pointing the blade at the two men with icy eyes.
"I will carry out their execution myself. Let them learn what it means to obey orders!"