Chapter 24.6- The Seadragon's Roar

“And you think that the Prince will just somehow fail to notice my port receiving such preferential treatment? You think he’d be slow to put two and two together in that situation? Besides, like I said, there’s no alliance to tell you about and there’s nothing to say” Icarus said, keeping his poker face stable. The offer was tempting. Letting the Prince get burned in the war to come would be sweet revenge for what he’d done, but Icarus had not come this far by being careless.

There was a place for revenge, and a place for common sense. Common sense here was to stick to his guns. The Velaryon lord seemed hesitant to kill him, and that was important. A boy his age was probably yet to kill his first man— get blood on his hands. In that case, Icarus had good hope in his chances of navigating this perfectly.

“What do you want?” The boy asked next.

“What do you mean?” Playing ignorant was fun, Icarus was beginning to learn, especially with th way the boy seemed about to pull his hair. And then there was a roar from without. It was the dragon. Icarus went still. That had been close. Was it reacting to its rider’s frustration? Would it just pluck Icarus out of the tent and roast him if it felt its rider get too frustrated? That was a question Icarus did not particularly want to find the answer to.

“I tire of the games, Lord Jordayne. I will roast you and your ships and satisfy myself with the knowledge that if I won’t be getting the information then neither will Prince Qoren. You, my good man, are entirely expendable.” Icarus could tell when a man was lying. It was one of his greatest talents— well that and being able to lie better than most men out there. The only person he’d ever seen who could lie as well as he did was the Prince.

The Velaryon Lord was not even close to the two of them when it came to lying. That was why he had been able to tell he’d been less than honest when laying down the ‘carrot’. Just now though, he was being completely honest.

“Gold”

“What?”

“Port preferences, tariff exemptions, all that sounds good, but nothing beats the feeling of pure gold in one’s hands. One hundred thousand dragons to be deposited to an account at the Iron Bank and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

“Twenty. Don’t forget I still have your life in my hands”

“Ninety. Don’t forget that I am Dornish. I can die for a cause just as well as anyone else.”

“Forty”

“Seventy”

“Fifty, and not a dragon higher my good man”

“Deal” He said, stretching his hands.

“Now, here’s the plan…”