The silver dragon spread its wings, a shimmering scythe cutting through the clouds.
Rhaegar looked back one last time at the silhouette of Storm's End, offering a silent farewell to the Doe. Neither Roberta nor Rhaegar felt the need for tears; their youth was a shield of certainty, a belief that every horizon belonged to them.
As he flew, the landscape of the Stormlands blurred beneath him—emerald rainforests, moss-slicked holdfasts, and misty crags that stood in stark contrast to the scorched red dust of Dorne. He carried with him the memory of a rose dancing in the storm, but as the wind whistled past his ears, his thoughts turned back to the steel.
Rhaegar's visit to Storm's End had yielded more than just diplomatic goodwill. It had yielded power.
On the ancient, sea-battered stones of the drum tower, Rhaegar had discovered carvings that hummed with a primal resonance. These were not mere decorations; they were the "Net" runes, woven into the very foundations of the castle by Brandon the Builder or the Children of the Forest to ward off the wrath of the sea god and the intrusion of sorcery.
In the palm of his hand, a pale grey flame flickered, manifesting as a web of interlaced X-shapes.
[Explorer: You have discovered the "Net" Rune at Storm's End; its magic is woven into the walls to bar the passage of sorcery.]
[Rune-Binder: Fifth Rune Unlocked — Net.]
As the rune integrated into his spirit, Rhaegar felt a sudden, sharp snapping of an invisible thread. A lingering sensation of being watched—a gaze from the distant, frozen North—vanished instantly.
Forgive me, Rhaegar thought, glancing toward the polar stars. But I truly detest being peered at.
He knew the "Three-Eyed Crow" was his own blood—Brynden Rivers, the Great Bastard who had once sacrificed everything for the Iron Throne. But whether the man in the tree still felt love for House Targaryen or had dissolved into an abstract, inhuman divinity was a gamble Rhaegar wasn't willing to take. With the Net rune, he was finally invisible to the Greenseers.
With five runes now at his command, Rhaegar felt them begin to coalesce. In his mind's eye, they formed a flickering crown:
Net (Grey): Warding against sorcery and mental intrusion.Hammer (Obsidian): Overwhelming physical force.Sword (Bright): Precision, lethality, and martial instinct.Tree (Green): Vitality, healing, and the endurance of life.Shield (Bronze): Physical protection and steadfastness.
[Rune Crown: The runes hunger for your fire; they rejoice in your command.]
The fusion of these elements flooded his body with a surge of strength and alertness. He was no longer just a warrior; he was becoming a vessel for the lost laws of the world.
The dragons crossed the breakers and landed at Dragonroar, the now-completed fortress on Bloodstone. The island was a forest of banners, the air thick with the smell of iron and salt.
Rhaegar entered his high solar and spread out a map marked with two new points of concern: Tyrosh and the Iron Islands.
The geopolitical tides were shifting. In the Free Cities, the "Two Daughters"—Lys and Myr—were pouring gold into Tyrosh, attempting to bribe the Archon into breaking his alliance with the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, on Pyke, the sons of the "Old Kraken" (Quellon Greyjoy) were clamoring to return to the "Old Way" of reaving.
There are no eternal friends, Rhaegar mused, only eternal interests.
House Targaryen had enemies everywhere. In Essos, they were remembered as the last of the Valyrian tyrants. In Westeros, they were the conquerors who had humbled the Martells and the Ironborn. And within their own blood, the ghost of the Blackfyre pretenders still lingered across the water.
Barristan Selmy, Brynden Tully, and Bronze Yohn Royce entered the solar to report. After granting Brynden a commemorative necklace for his service, Rhaegar turned to a more specific inquiry.
"What of the boy I asked you to find?" Rhaegar asked.
"Your eye for talent is uncanny, Highness," Ser Barristan replied. "He is young, but a born sailor. He was a deckhand for a Tyroshi smuggler named Rolo who was executed by the Night's Watch at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. The boy was starving in the slums of King's Landing when we found him."
Rhaegar nodded. He had found him: Davos Seaworth. By a mere ripple of his will, Rhaegar had intercepted the "Onion Knight" before he could ever earn that name, pulling him from the gutters and binding his loyalty to the Dragon.
"I must go to Tyrosh," Rhaegar announced, his voice like iron. "The Three Daughters must not be allowed to reunite. If Tyrosh falls back into their orbit, the Stepstones will become a slaughterhouse again."
The room went silent. The Prince's word was law.
"I leave the Stepstones in your hands," Rhaegar commanded, addressing his four commanders. "Ser Barristan, you are the Lord of the Isles in my stead. Ser Brynden, you are his deputy. Ser Corlys, hold the sea. Lord Royce, hold the stone."
He looked toward the eastern horizon, where the lights of Tyrosh flickered like a trap.
"It is time to see how deep these waters truly are."