[Daenerys POV]
By the time the setting sun bathed Pentos in its golden glow, a magnificent and luxurious gathering had already begun at the manse of Magister Illyrio. It was a banquet, a feast, a celebration that had been organised on an unprecedented scale.
The city of Pentos was not unused to such displays of extravagance. Lavish feasts were a regular occurrence at the mansions of the various magisters. I myself along with my brother had been invited to various such feasts as the guests of Illyrio Mopantis.
But even so, this was no ordinary gathering. Magister Illyrio had gone all out in organizing this banquet. I had seen him prepare for this feast for at least a couple of weeks.
The rarest, most costly wines and ales had been sourced from all over Essos. Wines that would have been fiercely protected and reserved only for the true elites at previous gatherings were flowing as freely as water this evening. Exotic fish and wild beasts from the most distant corners of the continent had been procured for the tables. As I already said, Magister Illyrio was leaving no stone unturned in impressing Rhaenys Targaryen. The sheer scale of the feast had not been seen in the city of Pentos for years.
And yet, despite all the luxury and glamour, the mood among the attendees was somber at best. The deafening roar Obsidian had let out after Viserys's foolish attempt to approach him had not only shaken the entourage at the site. Its roar had sent waves of nervousness and fear through the entire city.
The entire city had felt the tremor when the massive beast had almost gone berserk. Soon after we returned to Pentos, news had spread of what had transpired at the edge of the forest. Thousands of people had rushed to the site to witness the devastation Obsidian had unleashed. For the entire day people had been leaving the city walls to see the might of a dragon.
They had all heard the tales and imagined scenarios in their minds what these five creatures of destruction were capable of. But seeing the aftermath firsthand was an entirely different experience.
They had not been there to watch the dragon unleash the torrent of fire from its maw, but the smoldering forest, the trees reduced to fine ash, and the charred, unrecognizable bodies of animals told the story perfectly.
And the more they imagined it, the more they thought about the sheer scale of the destruction, the more terrified they became.
My brother and I were both present at the gathering. Our importance at this feast was hardly any worth. There was barely anyone who cared enough to acknowledge our presence. We were left alone to our own instruments and I was genuinely more comfortable with this treatment than all the fake flattering and false promises of support that came our way. And this behaviour was not limited to the attendees of the feast.
Ever since we returned to the city, Viserys had barely acknowledged my presence. It was as if I had ceased to exist to him.
He wore his usual expression. It was a mask of sneers, false pride, and arrogance. He was trying to project the illusion that he was entirely unaffected by what had transpired earlier that day, and to his credit, he was almost successful.
He wanted everyone to believe that the dragon had not terrified him to his very core. That he had not been rattled. That he was still the exact same Viserys he had been yesterday.
But I, who knew him inside and out, could easily see through his performance. Behind his false pride, he was deeply agitated and irritated. An occasional and uncontrollable flicker of sheer terror would flash in his eyes. Those were probably memories of the events flashing before his mind.
And every time his gaze shifted toward Rhaenys, the venomous hatred was blatantly obvious. At least to me. If looks could kill, he would have already killed her.
I, on the other hand, appeared to be my usual self. Even those who knew me well could not have guessed that anything was different. But inside, everything had changed.
My mind constantly replayed the events at the edge of the forest. I suppose that was not surprising. Anyone who had been present was likely obsessing over the exact same thing.
But unlike them, whose thoughts were consumed by Obsidian and his scorching flames, my mind was entirely elsewhere. It was focused on the red scaled dragon. I still did not know its name, but I felt as though I knew it.
I had felt a strange resonance, a thrumming connection with all five of the dragons. But that connection was far stronger with the red one. I could almost sense an invisible thread binding us together.
When Viserys had walked toward Obsidian, when Rhaenys saved him, when the great black beast unleashed its fiery wrath,I had barely registered any of it. My eyes had been locked onto the red scaled dragon, and despite all my efforts, I could not look away.
But that was not all. I knew and I was absolutely certain of it that the red dragon had been staring back at me. I do not know if it felt the same profound connection that I did, but it was unquestionably intrigued by me. Interested in me.
Unlike my brother, I would never arrogantly boast that I could claim the beast. But I knew for certain that if I ever approached it, its first instinct would not be to kill me.
A sudden wave of chaos and clatter in the main hall of the mansion snapped my attention away from my own thoughts. I craned my neck to look toward the grand entrance. It was Rhaenys Targaryen.
The star of the feast had finally arrived, and her mere presence was the cause of all the sudden commotion.
She was flanked on either side by the mercenaries of the Golden Company as she made her way across the hall toward the centre.
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