"Did you find who the kid was, Heward?"
"No, Lord Benjen," the Knight answered. "The people don't know, and the guards of the City don't speak."
Alysanne overheard her father talking to her Protector after she climbed the stairs and entered the aisle.
The two turned to look at her, and her father helplessly smiled when she pouted at him.
"Rhaemon is not a bad person, Father."
"I know. I am only curious about his origins."
"He's related to the City Lord," She revealed, and her father raised his brow at her.
"His son?"
"I don't know. All the guards were very respectful to him. No one stopped us when he took me inside the Sky Pyramid. Not even a single guard said anything."
Suddenly, the Translator from yesterday climbed up the stairs and entered the aisle, taking them by surprise.
He bowed to her father before looking at her.
"My Lady, Prince Rhaemon is waiting for you downstairs," He said, and Alysanne excitedly rushed down the stairs before her father could stop her.
"Rhaemon!" She jumped at the boy, who was wearing a cape and high boots, hugged him tightly, and then politely curtsied to the three Protectors whom she had seen yesterday with him.
"Good morning, Alys."
"Alys?" She smirked at him.
"Is that not your nickname?" He asked.
"You could have just asked me about it." She rolled her eyes.
"So, what's your nickname?"
"Alys."
She laughed when she saw his right brow twitch.
He, however, soon looked behind her and smiled, and she heard some footsteps descending the stairs.
"Ser Benjen," Rhaemon greeted the man with a nod.
"You know who I am," He smiled and bowed politely bowed a little, "Prince Rhaemon?"
"I do. I hope you are enjoying your time in Dragonport."
"It's an interesting place. The weather is certainly very pleasant. And your Hippogriffs are a sight that makes the city seem magical."
"Thank you. They are certainly an irresistible attraction," he agreed and nodded. "My sister asked me to invite you and your family to a meal tonight. We will be having some more guests from Westeros joining us as well."
"Who?" Bejen raised his brow.
"I believe they are from the Reach. House Tyrell and House Redwyne."
"Garlan Tyrell?"
He already knew that the second son of Mace Tyrell was in the City with his newly wedded wife, Leonette Fossoway.
"Yes."
"Father, please..." Alysanne suddenly grabbed his hand, giving him the doe eyes, and he did not have the heart to refuse her.
Was he even in the position to refuse an invitation from the people who ruled this city?
"You honour us, Prince. We accept your invitation."
"Good," nodded Rhaemon. "Aro will escort you to the Pyramid of Pride in the evening."
As he spoke, the Protector behind him nodded to Benjen, who greeted him back in the same manner.
"May I take your daughter to explore the gemstone market, Ser Benjen?" He requested, and Benjen intently looked at him.
He did not know why, but those eyes and hair, that smile on the boy's face, reminded him of Lyanna.
"Yes, you may." He smiled.
"Thank you," Rhaemon politely nodded to him and then offered his hand to Alysanne, who quickly accepted it and rushed off with him without looking back.
"At this rate, he will ask for her hand in marriage at tonight's dinner." A sweet voice sounded from behind them, and Benjen smiled when he saw his wife and son walk out from the table under the stairs.
He had thought that she had gone out for a walk, but she was still in the Inn, listening to their conversation.
"My Lady," Heward bowed to Rhea, who smiled at him and then grabbed her son's hand to walk to her husband.
"He's an interesting kid."
"He is," Benjen nodded and then looked at his friend and the head of his Household Guard. "Why have you not gone with them, Heward?"
The Knight immediately bowed to him and rushed out of the Inn to catch up with his young lady.
Thankfully, he knew the way to the gemstone market, and he found Rhaemon and Alysanne within a few minutes.
Both of them were excitedly looking around at the activity of the place, intrigued and confused by some things.
The Prince's Protectors were scanning everyone around them with sharp eyes, and he could tell that the brothers, who looked almost identical, were deadly Warriors.
"Where's your Brother, Rhae?" Alys curiously asked after they finished watching an open auction for some uncut jades.
"Aelyx has fallen in love with books lately. He was in the library and did not want to come out today."
"Oh, and did your sister punish you yesterday?" She mischievously asked.
Rhaemon flinched at the mention of the punishment, and Aro had an amused smile on his face, which he schooled when the little girl glanced his way.
"I am sorry..." She whispered, feeling very guilty that he had been punished because of her. And now she was a little scared to meet Rhaemon's sister in the evening.
"It's okay. I just had a spar with her in sword-fighting," he said, and she surprisedly looked at him.
"Your sister fights with swords?"
"Yes. " He weirdly looked at her. "Is there anything wrong?"
"No..."
"She's a Knight, and she's brilliant with the sword," he informed her, and her eyes widened in shock.
"She's a Knight?!" Alysanne exclaimed.
"Yes?" The Prince was really confused by her exaggerated reaction.
"Wow... I never knew that girls could become Knights." She was still in shock.
"Not in Westeros. The Faith of the Seven does not allow it. But we have our own Gods and Laws." He playfully said and met her eyes. "My Mother is a Knight too." He laughed at how cute she looked as her mouth dropped open in another shock. "So are my twin Sisters-in-Law, who are the Ladies of Dragonport."
Alysanne's mind was buzzing now.
"Wait... your brother is the City Lord?"
"Yes," He nodded his head.
"I thought he was your father..." She giggled.
"He is a father to me," Rhaemon brightly said, and his words conveyed a lot.
Alysanne felt both sweet and sad after hearing him say that.
He thought of his older brother as his father, which likely meant that his father was no longer in the world.
"Isn't the City Lord's name Ostaryen?" Heward, however, was curious about a certain detail.
"Yes," He smiled. "But I am not his Heir, so, I can not have the same name. Aelyx is a Nefaeryon and I am a Zaelystar. We will both create our own houses in the future."
"Oh... like we Starks had Greystarks and Karstarks," Alysanne understandingly nodded.
"Yes, but unlike those two names, which formed over time as people twisted them, ours are decreed surnames, honouring our Gods and Blood," He smiled when Alysanne furrowed her brows. "Karlon Stark created the castle called Karl's Hold. It later became Karhold, and over centuries, to make it roll off the tongue better, Karhold Starks became Karstarks. The same can happen to the White Harbour Starks or Barrowton Starks after enough time passes and they gain fame and glory."
She felt a little embarrassed that Rhaemon knew more about Starks than she did. And she was a Stark...
"Does the Prince have a keen interest in the history of the world?" The Knight asked, and Rhaemon nodded his head.
"But not as much as Aelyx. He knows so much that whenever he starts speaking, my head buzzes."
Alysanne laughed at his words and Heward smiled as well.
Rhaemon, under the guidance of Aro, led them inside a big shop, one of the most extravagant places in the City, where armed guards, likely Slave Warriors, were present.
There were a lot of gemstones and a variety of jewellery on display, and Allysane's eyes were dazzled by their sparkling glamour.
The customers inside the shop were all wealthy, and people were even being offered wine as they viewed the pieces of jewellery.
The Prince calmly walked over to the far corner, where a few guards were standing outside a curtained entrance.
They did not stop them as they entered the hall behind, perhaps because Aro had signalled to them.
"My Lord." When they looked around, a servant girl immediately came over and bowed to him.
"I wish to see Master Marzok's Pigeon Blood Rubies."
The servant politely bowed again and then led him to a room under the ground.
It was a chamber, where ornate and beautiful benches and tables were placed. This was the room where the most esteemed of the customers made their purchases and were entertained.
The servant girl asked them to take their seat, and then she soon disappeared behind a wooden door.
A while later, an old man, carrying a small chest, walked into the room from the same door.
His dark skin was a stark contrast to his pearl-white beard, and though Alysanne found him frightening, Rhaemon thought of him as amiable and wise.
"My Lord!" The old man bowed and then placed the chest on the table in front of them.
When he opened the lid to show the contents inside, Alysanne gasped at the sight of seven big rubies, which truly resembled blood in colour.
Rhaemon curiously picked one up, inspected it, and then did the same to all of them.
"Has your Master found a buyer for them?"
"Not yet, My Lord." The man answered.
"I want these two," He chose two Rubies and kept them in his hand. "Name the price."
The old man smiled at him and picked up the chest that now contained five rubies.
"Give me some time, My Lord. I will inform my Master that you have chosen two rubies."
Rhaemon nodded to him and then played with the rubies in his hand as if they were marbles, not anything expensive.
It took a while, but the Old man did return and informed them of the price that his Master had named.
"Master does not seek Coin, My Lord. He is willing to accept anything in return that is deemed equal in value by you."
Rhaemon frowned, and after debating for a while, he opened his cape and took off the dragonbone brooch that he was wearing. It had a shiny yellow gemstone inside it.
"Bring me another ruby from that box." He said, surprising the man.
However, the old servant did not raise any questions and returned moments later with a ruby in his hand.
Rhaemon accepted it and handed the brooch to him.
"Dragonbone and a Yellow Diamond..."
When they left the shop, Alysanne and Heward kept sneaking glances a him and the girl eventually asked him the question that was bothering her.
"Why did you exchange that brooch? It was so pretty."
"It's fine. I have a lot of them. Brother always says that when someone shows their sincerity and respect, you must not hold your hand back in repaying the courtesy. Marzok now knows that his trust was not in vain." He smiled, and the Stark stopped in her tracks.
"What?"
"Yes. Even if I cheated him, he would have not stopped me from leaving with those rubies. Their value is hard to determine, so, he was always prepared to make a loss."
"No, no... I mean, do you really have lots of such brooches?" She embarrassedly asked, and he laughed at her words.
"Yes."
"How? Isn't dragonbone very rare?" She had just learned about it from her Protector.
"I just have lots of them." He shrugged. "If anything, my family doesn't lack wealth."
"Right." Alysanne rolled her eyes.
"I am serious. My brother is the richest man in the world," He informed her and then said something that shocked her and Heward. "He can even buy the Seven Kingdoms if the people are willing to name their price."
"That's quite a bold claim, Prince," The Knight could not help but say.
"It's the truth," Rhaemon shrugged as he glanced at him and then smiled at the Stark. "Want to see a Griffin today?"
"Yes!"
Two visited the Sky Temple again and climbed up several floors before coming out on the steps on the side of the Pyramid that was not visible to the people of Dragonport.
From here, one had a splendid view of the sea and the small Island far away. The Shipyard being built was visible from here as well, and the two stopped to take a look at it.
Just like how was the case with all the Steps of the Pyramid, there were platforms here, next to every exit and entrance. And right now, two Griffins were perched on the platforms, bathing in the sun after their morning meals.
One of them was almost twice the size of a horse, but Rhaemon led her to the other one. Smaller than the first, but still big.
"We can not ride him, but we can touch him. He belongs to my mother. However, you must not laugh and speak loudly when we are next to him. Understood?" He gently spoke to her, and she nodded in a promise.
Even the Kharzik Guards had stopped and did not get close to the Griffin, and seeing their reservation, she became nervous.
Alysanne noticed that the creature was much bigger than a Hippogriff, and it looked more menacing than beautiful.
"Hello, Magnus." Rhaemon greeted the magical creature, who bowed to him and did not resist when the Prince ran his hands through his mane and petted him.
Under his signal, Alysanne sat next to her new best friend and kept her fears in her heart as she timidly ran her hands through the soft feathers in the beast's mane.
It was truly a magnificent creature.
On their way out of the Pyramid, there was an infectious smile on her face, and she happily started skipping, which made the Prince laugh. It was exactly how his older sister behaved whenever she was happy.
The two checked out the markets again and spent hours chatting with each other, and in the afternoon, Rhaemon walked her back to the Inn where she was staying.
After promising to see each other in the evening, he rushed back to the Pyramid of Pride, into his room, and opened the sack that he had brought with him from Siren.
After rummaging through it, he found the two dragonbone bracelets that he was looking for and beamed a smile at them.
Suddenly, the door to his room opened, which made him jump in surprise, but when he saw that it was Rhaenys and not his mother, he relaxed.
He quickly took off the pouch from his waist and walked over to hand it to her.
"You didn't find what you were looking for?" She asked when she checked the weight of the coins that he had borrowed from her.
"I did. I exchanged it for something I had on me."
"May I see it?" She requested, and Rhaemon showed her the three rubies that he had purchased.
"They are pretty."
He told her what he wanted to do with them, and the Princess attentively listened to him.
She did not say anything to dishearten him, appreciated his thoughtfulness, and then told him to get some sleep.
At her reminder, Rhaemon started feeling a little sleepy, and Rhaenys left the room after giving her brother a tight hug.