Shireen knew it wasn't right to rummage through someone else's backpack, but she was truly curious. With Drogon's permission, she opened the bag and first saw a bundle of hay, then a grayish-white flint, and finally a small pile of gold and silver coins at the bottom.
"Can you still start a fire?" Shireen asked in surprise, taking out the flint.
Drogon nodded.
"Strange, I've never seen these coins before. Do you even know how to spend money?"
Drogon used his wing-hook to make a motion of stuffing something into his mouth.
"To buy food?" Shireen's eyes widened. With so many gold and silver coins, he could buy a lot of delicious things!
"Oh, I'm Shireen Baratheon. What's your name?" Shireen suddenly realized she had forgotten to introduce herself.
"A pity you can't talk..." She answered her own question with regret.
Seeing Shireen put the flint back, Drogon slung the bag over his neck and moved toward the window; he was leaving.
"Are you leaving?" Shireen asked, her mood dipping slightly with reluctance.
Drogon raised a wing and waved. Shireen blinked and pleaded with a small pout, "Can I touch you?"
Seeing Drogon nod, Shireen reached out her small hand and carefully touched the exquisite scales on his back, then stroked his crimson wings before feeling satisfied.
Drogon looked at Shireen, flapped his wings, and flew upward. Shireen stood on her tiptoes and strained to poke her small head out the window, wanting to see Drogon one more time.
She realized Drogon hadn't flown away but was heading toward a higher building in the castle. She furrowed her cute brow, wondering what Drogon was going to do.
After flying to a certain height, Drogon saw that this bell tower building had a large, open terrace, and he felt a surge of joy.
He hid on a protruding stone ledge and listened for a moment. Hearing nothing, he poked his head near the terrace. Inside a spacious room supported by several pillars, a large wooden table stood in the center, covered with various carvings, but not a soul was in sight.
He flew into the room, checked outside the door first, then turned to carefully examine the map on the wooden table. It simulated mountains, rivers, and plains, with place names marked and a scale at the edge of the map.
On the table were carvings of wolves, lions, stags, and dragons, representing the sigils of the Great Houses. The entire map felt more vivid than a modern sand table.
Drogon first found Dragonstone, then looked nearby to see that the island he had spotted earlier was Tide Island. He then searched for King's Landing, located southwest of Dragonstone, right next to Blackwater Bay.
He looked up the major cities and regions from his memory, cross-referencing them with what he saw.
As a dragon, Drogon had not only inherited the Devouring Talent and knowledge of language and writing but also possessed a powerful mind. His memory was exceptional, and in less than ten minutes, he had roughly memorized the entire map.
Just as he was about to analyze the scale further to reinforce his memory, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside. He hurriedly flew out and crouched on one side of the terrace.
"I thought I heard a sound just now," a charming woman draped in a crimson robe said as she entered the room, looking at a stag carving that had just stopped swaying. She spoke while walking toward the edge of the terrace.
"Who could be here? It's nothing but a seabird!" a male voice said dismissively.
The woman was still uneasy. She poked her head over the edge of the terrace, and after finding nothing, she returned to the wooden table.
"Your Majesty, I must go out for a while. I will serve you again when I return," the charming female voice spoke again.
"What, are you going to abandon me to seek another true lord?" the male voice questioned with a hint of anger and frustration.
Could it be Stannis and the Red Woman, Melisandre—Auntie Mel? Drogon judged based on the conversation.
"You are the one chosen by the lord of light. How could I ever leave you? Your strength is not enough to sustain you until this war is won. I am going out to find a way to increase your power. When I return, it will be time for you to rally! By then, the entire area marked on this map will be your territory."
Stannis stared into the Red Woman's eyes, judging the truth of her words. The Red Woman met his gaze calmly with a slight curl of her lips. Stannis yielded, leaning down to kiss her smooth cheek and taking a deep breath, as if to preserve her scent deep in his memory.
After a moment of silence, no more voices were heard, only the sound of footsteps slowly receding.
Drogon knew that the Red Woman could not possibly abandon Stannis. Her trip this time was likely to find King Robert's bastard, to draw upon the power of "love" and blood to obtain the power of a curse, using leeches to curse the Three False Kings to death.
A sensual and eerie scene was about to unfold, though Drogon would not have the chance to see it this time.
He didn't intend to go back inside to look at the map. Once he flew a few laps around Westeros, he would naturally become familiar with the terrain. Rote memorization was no match for a physical inspection.
With the map in his mind, Drogon kicked off from the castle with his claws and flapped his wings toward King's Landing.
Clack, clack, clack!
Just as Drogon took flight, the Red Woman ran into the room and onto the terrace, looking up at Drogon as he gradually became a black dot.
"What's happening?"
Stannis, who had followed her in, asked with a frown, not understanding what was going on.
"My feeling just now was not wrong; it was here," the Red Woman said, her expression darkening slightly.
"That was just a seabird." Stannis thought the Red Woman was being overly cautious.
"That was no ordinary seabird. A seabird isn't that fast, and I saw a shining red light on it," the Red Woman explained.
"Could it be a Shapeshifter?" Stannis also knew a bit about Shapeshifters.
"Perhaps. I need to receive a revelation."
Stannis knew the Red Woman was going to burn someone alive again. He instructed the guards beside him, "Bring a servant of darkness to the square." "Servant of Darkness" was the term used for those who opposed the Red Woman.
"One is not enough. I felt its extraordinary nature from within the red light. Bring three servants of darkness." The Red Woman narrowed her eyes, still searching for the meaning of that red light.
Ten minutes later, at the Dragonstone square, a clearing near the beach, three bruised and battered soldiers were tied to crosses, with firewood piled at their feet.
The Red Woman stood before the three crosses with a solemn expression. She glanced at the three men, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and muttered a few words before signaling the three soldiers holding torches to light the firewood.
The flames rose quickly, soon engulfing the three men. Piercing screams echoed across the beach, and the surrounding soldiers watching all showed expressions of pity.
Stannis stood by indifferently, while the Red Woman turned a deaf ear to the soldiers' wails. She stared wide-eyed at the three burning blazes, whispering prayers.
The prayers grew faster and faster, but no anomalies appeared within the fire. Just as the Red Woman thought the sacrifice had failed, a massive, hideous black dragon head suddenly roared out from the flames, snapping its jaws at her.
"Ah!" the Red Woman cried out, stumbling back a few steps. She spat out a large mouthful of blood and slumped to the ground.
Stannis, who was watching the sacrifice nearby, rushed over to support the Red Woman.
"It's... it's a dragon, a black dragon!" After saying this, the Red Woman fainted.
At the same time, Drogon, who was heading toward King's Landing, suddenly felt a hint of being watched. He slowed his flight and looked around but found nothing.
"Strange," he muttered to himself, then continued flying forward at high speed.