Chapter 128 Uncle Valarr, I Was Wrong, I Was Really Wrong
Aegon pulled the children behind him without hesitation and looked toward the speaker. Lingor struggled for a moment before squeezing himself beside Aegon, standing shoulder to shoulder with him to shield Viserys and Samantha behind them.
Hugh looked at the children with some curiosity. This month, it was his squad's turn, along with another patrol team, to maintain order in the city. Since there was no work at the smithy, Hugh had simply closed the forge, picked up his warhammer, donned his armor, and ridden the magnificent warhorse he had saved up to purchase while patrolling the streets.
The public order in Summerhall was excellent. Even the most lawless sellsword knights would behave themselves after entering the city, because no one dared offend the lord of this place.
"Children, don't be afraid. My name is Hugh, and I'm a captain of the Summerhall City Watch." Hugh thought his thick beard had frightened the children, so he hurriedly hung his hammer at his waist and knelt on one knee before them as kindly as possible. "Where are your parents?"
He could tell the children resembled one another. All of them were handsome, and although their hair was covered with scarves, Hugh could still see strands of silver hair peeking out. Viserys especially had failed to tie his scarf properly, exposing half his hair.
But so what if they had silver hair? Summerhall was hardly lacking in silver-haired residents. Judging from the excellent quality of their clothing, they were probably from a wealthy household, or perhaps the children of a cavalryman from the Silverblood Army. Hugh never even considered the family in Dragon's Lair City.
"Although Summerhall's security is good, it's still too dangerous for children your age to wander around outside alone. What if you run into bad people? And you didn't even bring servants with you." Hugh deliberately bared his teeth and made a frightening face, trying to scare the children.
However, neither the older boy leading the group nor the smaller boy beside him looked frightened at all. Hugh could only stand up in disappointment.
"Quickly, hurry home. Next time you come out to play, remember to bring some adults with you. This isn't your family's alleyway. If you get lost, your parents will worry. Hurry home."
Lingor tugged on Aegon's sleeve, wanting to tell him to listen to this uncle and hurry back. The horses they had ridden here probably had not run too far. If they ran out of the city now, they might still find them.
But Aegon's next words immediately made Lingor puff up his cheeks in frustration.
"We came out to give our family a surprise, Uncle." Aegon adjusted his expression and said pitifully, "My father's name day is coming soon, and we wanted to buy him a gift at the Summer Market. This is a surprise blessed by the Seven Gods, so we don't want our family to know."
Lingor looked helplessly toward the sky and sighed.
It's over. Completely over.
The Summer Market? That place could take an entire day to explore. Father and Mother could return on dragonback at any moment. Uncle Valarr was also waiting for them at Dragoncrystal Tower for lessons. The family would discover they had skipped class and snuck out very soon.
Seven Gods above, I've always been a good child!
"Ah, so that's how it is." Hugh suddenly understood and looked at the children approvingly. He turned toward one of his squad members, a white-haired man in silver robes, and said, "Look at children these days. They already know to buy gifts for their fathers. Tsk tsk, my little girl is the same."
Suddenly thinking of something, Hugh glanced at the horse his companion was riding.
The white-haired man was also quick-witted and immediately understood what his captain intended. He swiftly dismounted.
"Hugh, you take the children to the Summer Market on horseback. I'll continue patrolling with the brothers."
After speaking, he searched through his pockets.
"Ah, what a pity. My candy's all been taken by my boys." The silver-robed man muttered.
"Seven Hells!" The moment Hugh heard mention of those boys, he became irritated.
His companion was fairly wealthy, all because he had married the widow of a Tidewater ship captain. The petite and beautiful woman had brought with her two silver-haired, purple-eyed sons. This made Hugh's companion endlessly proud, since he firmly believed silver hair and purple eyes were signs of divine blood.
That would have been fine, but what Hugh hadn't expected was that those two boys had actually begun courting his daughter.
How could that possibly be tolerated?
Although Hugh liked the two boys well enough, his daughter was still his daughter. He absolutely could not bear marrying her off yet. At the very least, he needed a few more years to observe them.
"Alright, alright, hurry along already." Seeing the look in Hugh's eyes, the silver-robed man laughed and urged him to quickly escort the children to the market.
Hugh withdrew his gaze and prepared to speak again.
"I can ride a horse. I'll take my little brother with me. Uncle Hugh, I entrust my younger siblings to you."
Aegon quickly pulled Lingor along and climbed atop the silver-robed man's warhorse. Surprisingly, the horse behaved extremely docilely around Aegon and Lingor.
Still, Hugh failed to think more deeply about it. Instead, he became even more convinced of his guess: the children's father had to be a cavalryman of the Silverblood Army, perhaps even a fully armored knight. Only a family like that would train their boys in riding from such a young age.
"Come on then, let's go together."
Hugh climbed onto his own horse. Viserys picked up Samantha and stretched out a hand so Hugh could pull him up.
With the children in tow, Hugh rode through Hunter's Avenue outside the Bronze Gate and entered Desert Avenue, where crowded stone houses lined both sides of the road.
Looking at the increasingly tall stone buildings, Hugh could not help but sigh.
After the great northern migration years ago and the rapid development of recent years, Summerhall's population had continued growing. More and more stone houses had been built along both sides of Desert Avenue, Hunter's Avenue, and throughout the Flower Alley district where Flower Avenue was located.
Had Longze not strictly forbidden the construction of shanties, these districts would probably already have turned into another Flea Bottom long ago.
Just as the children were happily preparing to head for the Summer Market—
Valarr, looking utterly horrified, and Aslan Rondel, equally grave-faced, rushed into Dragon's Lair.
Hofar had already paced back and forth there countless times.
"Brother, the children are gone!"
The moment Valarr saw his brother standing motionless like a statue before Vermithor's lair, he immediately felt his scalp go numb.
Since childhood, he had known one thing very clearly: when Longze stood perfectly still, he was at his most terrifying, because no one knew what he was thinking. Nor did anyone know whether the next thing he would do would be drawing his sword to cut someone down—or commanding Vermithor to reduce someone to ashes with dragonfire.
"I know," Longze replied calmly.
"The entire Dragon's Lair City has already been searched. Only Daniela is still asleep in her room." Valarr's voice trembled slightly. "I even went to Ray's place. I nearly overturned all his stacks of books."
"Your Highness, it is my negligence that allowed the children to slip away." Hofar bowed his head. "I'll head to Summerhall immediately and bring them back."
Hofar knew Longze was unlikely to personally ride a dragon to search for the children. Vermithor was simply too massive, and there was nowhere in present-day Summerhall large enough for the Bronze Fury to land.
"Valarr, ride Silverwing." Longze thought for a moment before finally deciding to let Valarr search by dragonback. "They're in Summerhall. I can sense that they're heading toward the Summer Market."
"Understood."
Valarr did not even bother asking why. He immediately rushed toward Silverwing's lair.
Moments later, Silverwing roared and crawled out of her cavern, taking to the skies with several swift beats of her wings as she flew out of Dragon's Lair.
"Your Highness…" Hofar looked at Longze in confusion.
Longze suddenly sighed.
After learning the children had disappeared, he had been extremely anxious as well. Fortunately, Diana had quickly discovered the letter they had left behind.
They wanted to surprise him for his name day.
Yet Longze himself had long since forgotten when his own name day was. Or rather, celebrating it had no meaning to him anymore. To him, celebrating Valarr's name day on the same day mattered more.
In the past, only Valarr and Ray remembered it.
Valarr remembered because his own name day happened to coincide with Longze's.
As for Ray—well, Ray genuinely respected and loved his elder brother.
These children…
Longze covered his forehead, feeling both relieved and worried, as well as a trace of anger.
Although Valarr had a far hotter temper, sending him had one advantage: that boy's heart softened easily. If the children cried a little, Valarr would be unable to do anything to them.
Besides, Aegon and Lingor still had dragon-training lessons today. That absolutely could not be delayed.
Meanwhile—
Hugh rode past a tavern with the children.
The tavern's business was thriving. There was no room left inside, so many customers sat outdoors. Their loud conversations blended together into an indistinct roar.
But both Lingor and Viserys immediately pricked up their ears.
As they passed one table, they heard something extraordinary.
Two silver-haired young men dressed in luxurious silk garments were drinking competitively. One of their voices drifted into the boys' ears.
"By R'hllor, if you drink any more, you'll never ride a dragon in this life."
Another voice followed immediately after.
"You won't ride one in your next life either, damn it. The road leading up to that castle is completely blocked by those slaves. Without a writ from House Varezes, nobody can enter. When have I ever suffered such humiliation back in Volantis? Even Cleorius back then, Longze's father, never dared leave me standing outside his manor. Damn the Varezes, damn Longze. Are they really so willing to stay forever in this barbaric place?"
Lingor wanted to continue listening, but Aegon suddenly covered his eyes.
"Children shouldn't look at that."
Viserys, who sat in front, also had his eyes covered by Hugh for the exact same reason.
"Drinking is something for adults. Children shouldn't watch."
Before the sentence could finish, a dragon's roar shattered the noise of the street.
Terrified tavern patrons scattered in all directions, hiding beneath tables or rushing indoors as they cautiously watched two warhorses collapse in fright.
Fortunately, Hugh reacted quickly enough to steady the children.
Samantha burst into tears with a loud wail.
Then everyone saw the enormous silver dragon that had landed nearby—
And Valarr atop its back, wearing an expression murderous enough to freeze blood.
Aegon immediately dragged Lingor to the ground at lightning speed.
"Uncle Valarr, I was wrong! I was really wrong!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like the story please give it some power stones and reviews. And if you want to read 40+ advance chapters or just want to support me please join my patreon at [email protected]/Translatingfanfics