Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 403: The Prosperous Silver Dragon

At dusk, Seneo Varese came to the dragon's nest at the easternmost part of the dragon cave, where a crimson shadow lurked. Cerelis, the female dragon who was once abandoned by the most noble woman in the Seven Kingdoms because she laid eggs, now curled up in the nest filled with sulfur steam like a forgotten volcanic rock.

Before Queen Desiree finally decided to fulfill her duty and marry King Daeron, she was the only Varese who chose to approach Cerelis instead of the fierce, powerful dragons.

After she left, no Varese ever chose it again until Seneoor made contact with it.

The leader of the Silver Guards had warned him: "That beast has a strange temper, and Her Majesty the Queen couldn't tame it back then." The old soldier's teeth were leaking, and he said "find" instead of "tame". "She tore the silk hem of Her Highness Xirui's skirt and singed half of her hair."

Senelor said nothing, but took out the flute carved from dragon bones from his sleeve. This was his name day gift when he was 7 years old. The bones came from Vhagar, and the Valyrian runes on it came from his grandfather Longzel. It is said that blowing it can imitate the sad tune in dragon language.

When the first whistle sounded, Cerelis didn't even raise her eyelids.

The second time, the bone spur at the tip of her tail pierced the rock wall.

Until the seventh dusk, when Ceneol changed the flute to "The Wedding of Dragons", a song that was said to be composed by someone to mourn the queen's loss of dragon riding qualifications when King Daeron married Xirui, and it was only circulated among a few people, the crimson mother dragon suddenly raised her head. There was an unnatural wrinkle on the scales of its dragon neck, as if it had been scraped by a sharp weapon. It was not until much later that Ceneol got the answer from Xirui: the queen did not use a traditional dragon whip, but a scarlet ribbon woven into Valyrian steel wire - this was a gift from Brynden when she was a child. The Valyrian steel wire came from the workshop in Wine Harbor. At that time, the Vareses family was trying to reproduce the former Valyrian steel craftsmanship, but ultimately failed at the last step and could only restore the existing Valyrian steel products. When Cerelis refused to bow her head, the ribbon cut the dragon scales in the struggle.

The queen finally gave up on that dragon training, which was the closest she had ever been to riding a dragon and flying.

"The queen cried harder than the dragon," the old soldier told him secretly, "she said she would rather never ride a dragon again than force a living being to break its neck."

Now Seneoel understood why Cerelis spit sparks at all Vareses, and why Cerelis suddenly went crazy when she was choosing dragons for Jonniel, Maggie and Aslan that day. Maggie was almost burned on the hem of her skirt by the sudden dragon flame, but fortunately she had no power to resist in front of Wormisol.

It was abandoned by Vareses, its soon-to-be partner and with whom it had established a deep bond. The dragon was not smart and it could not understand whether its partner left because he blamed himself for hurting it, or because of the old reason - it was slender and not as strong and ferocious as dragons of the same age or even those born after it.

So it chose to disguise itself by being fierce.

After that day, he started bringing different gifts:
Sometimes it was a jar of silver honey from Horn Hill, which, smeared on rocks, attracted fire beetles, Cerelith's favorite little treat;
Sometimes it is bronze scale fragments stolen from the lair of Wormithor. The dragons fear the smell of the master of the dragon cave, and this is also a rare thing that can make the dragon quiet for a while;
"You are much more stubborn than the queen," the castle treasurer muttered as he recorded the boy's consumption of medical supplies in the account book. "And smarter than your father, Lord Regen, whose golden king would only eat lambs dyed golden, and that's how he won the heart of the golden dragon."

Of course, I dare not say the second half of the sentence to his face.

The turning point happened on a rainy day after everyone dyed their hair brown.

Seneoel rushed into the dragon cave, soaking wet, but did not find Cerelis in the dragon's lair. The worried boy rushed out of the dragon cave tower and found the dragon on the top of the laurel tower. When Xirui was still there, she and Brynden often went to the top of the tower to rest after reading. Cerelis and Bloodeye often flew to the top of the tower to accompany them. Until now, Cerelis still keeps this habit. The little stubborn still ran to a safe distance and played a soothing song for Cerelis in the heavy rain that was about to end in winter.

The sound of the flute was torn into pieces by the thunderstorm. Suddenly, a heat source approached, and Cerelis spread her wings to shield him from the rain, and her crimson scales looked like molten agate in the lightning.

A few syllables rolled out from the depths of the dragon's throat, and Seneoel was sure that it was not a simple roar.

When he later described it to Lusiris, his brother laughed so hard that an apple core got stuck in his throat: "Did she say 'idiot'? Or 'get out'?"

But Jonnell pondered for a long time after hearing this: "In the ancient Valyrian language, the word 'Cerelis', in a specific context, means an unfinished oath. My uncle said that the roars between dragons will convey meanings that only dragons and dragon riders can understand. They will also understand their own names."

Senelor believed what Jonniel said, and smiled as he "took revenge" on his brother who was choked - Luciris was beaten so hard that his back and waist ached for a long time.

After that day, the crimson female dragon that had strayed from the dragon cave disappeared, replaced by a pair of dragons and humans who got along well with each other. Cerelis, who always hated being touched, allowed Seneoal to sleep soundly on her front paws. There was a scarlet thread entangled in the boy's brown hair, which was a gift from Queen Xirui. After the queen knew that Seneoal had decided to tame Cerelis, she sent it by raven.

One day earlier than the Orion couple who returned to Dragon's Nest to recuperate.

When Serena and Orion returned to Dragon's Nest, they saw a group of brown-haired children. Maggie was bandaging Jonil's training wound, Aslan was sweating in the Sword Tower, and Luthris and Moon Dance were playing catch with blood oranges - yesterday it was melons, the day before yesterday it was plums, and the day before yesterday it was pears. Ceneol was playing the flute on the top of the Laurel Tower, and Adele was sitting elegantly in the library of the Laurel Tower reading a collection of poems.

"These little brats..." Orion shook his head, but couldn't hide his smile.

Serena stroked her honey-colored hair, which had gradually turned silver, and suddenly said, "Did you really not discuss my hair back then?"

Orion sighed and said, "With my father, uncle, and Ringol here, who would dare? Besides, you rode a dragon no later than us, and there is also the example of His Majesty Jacaerys. We were not aware of this at all."

"Ah." She smiled and sighed, "To be honest, looking at these children, I kind of want to experience what happened to Joniel. What a pity, what a pity."

Orion, who was already an old man, suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

(End of this chapter)