It was the 8th day of the 2nd Moon, Elia's two and thirtieth nameday, when she woke up from her deep sleep, in the arms of her lover.
"Slept well?" Azaerys gently asked her as he tucked the strands of dark hair behind her ear, and when she raised her head, he leaned in to capture her lips.
Even after the long and wild night that they had shared, she woke up craving for more, and luckily for her, Azaerys needed her as well.
The two moaned and grunted as they became one again, and neither could keep their lips or hands under control.
Elia took his name over and over again as she swayed her hips on his lap, and her nails left marks on his shoulders and back. Her insides gripped him, squeezed him, but even as she used all her skills, she failed to make him orgasm together with her.
Her body convulsed in his arms as tremors rocked through her, but stubborn as she was, she started moving again, determined to not leave him wanting.
Azaerys grunted before he bit her shoulder, holding himself back from digging his teeth in her flesh, and not to grip her too hard with his hands that he would hurt her.
She was delicate, she was sweet, she was beautiful, and even more when she was naked before his eyes. Her voice was already very charming, but her moans were like a mermaid's call, a song that was becoming his bane now.
The Young King grunted again as her walls clamped against his hardness in a vice grip, and he spilt his seed inside of her as he squeezed her convulsing body in his arms.
A sudden knock on the door made Elia groan, and he smiled at her before he picked her up and left her inside the bath.
After returning to the room, he slowly wiped his body, in no rush to answer the door, and used magic to clean himself up.
Azaerys then spent a few minutes dressing up for the day, choosing to wear simple pants and a shirt, wore his riding boots, and finally walked towards the door.
He was a little surprised when he found Lyanna waiting there, and the maids behind her bowed to him before they entered the room to change the sheets.
"It's quite early for breakfast." He smiled at the Stark, who frowned and tried to look inside the room as if searching for someone. "Elia is in the bath."
He watched her flinch in response to his words, and amused at her antics, he inquisitively raised his brow at her.
"The Eggs are hatching," said Lyanna, revealing why she had come here so early in the morning.
"Oh," Azaerys blanked out for a moment as he quickly checked the state of the Eggs, and soon a smile formed on his lips. "Let's wait for Elia. We will head to the Hatchery together."
The Stark nodded to his words and walked to the side to lean on the railing, looking at the vast grounds and the hills in front of her.
"Are they back yet?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"No." Lyanna shook her head, glancing at the spots where Aerylyx and Rhaelyx usually rested.
She frowned when he left her alone and entered the room again, only to come out together with Elia after a good wait.
"Good morning!" The Martell greeted her, and looking at the radiance on her face, the Stark felt envious and insecure about herself.
The three of them walked into the Hatchery and found Ser Gremm and his younger brothers and sisters already present there.
They were a family of mages, aeromancers, who fell on the wrong side of the House of Undying and were sold into slavery.
When Azaerys arrived in Siren, he visited the Grand Temple, and there, he met Gremm and his family, who were going to be used as sacrifices by the Red Priests.
He negotiated the freedom of all the slaves at the Temple, who had not yet submitted themselves to the Lord of Light, and after sharing some Arance Knowledge and answering the questions the Grand Priest had raised before him, he came into the ownership of all the slaves.
Even though he set them free, only two out of a total of three hundred and eighty-seven slaves, expressed their desire to return to their homelands, the rest submitted themselves to his servitude.
Over the years, the Grand Priest would often visit him, offering him more valuable slaves to purchase from the temple, even the soldiers who were trained by the Red Priests. And the price was more knowledge and answers to some questions. Now, he had more than twelve hundred people in his service.
"Azaerys!" Viserys, who was closely watching one of the Eggs that was hatching, excitedly called out to him, ushering him to come over.
The two of them had collected exactly thirteen Eggs from the mountains, taking one from each nest, not to distress the wild Griffins too much, and now, four of these Eggs were hatching on the same day.
Except for Viserys, no one else in the Hatchery had seen a Griffin before, so their excitement was understandable.
Even Ser Gerold was closely watching the Eggs, and then there was Ser Willem, who had a bright smile on his aged face.
"Gremm, Garret, Glenn, Gaius, come here," he called the four brothers, the youngest of whom was only eleven years old, but all four of them were magical, Aeromancers, and were physically big and strong.
They had all already taken a Blood Vow, promising themselves and their legacy in servitude to the House of Targaryen. For this, he granted them a new Family name, Gryffonn, and decided to bless them with the Griffins.
The four brothers arrived at the table, and the rest stepped aside to give them the way.
"Pick," ordered Azaerys, and starting from Gaius, who was the youngest, all four of them selected the Egg they wanted.
The Dragonlord then asked Viserys for the Valyrian Steel Dagger that he was wearing on his waist, and then carefully made an incision on the right palms of the four brothers.
Some blood pooled out, which he made them collect and hold in their palms, and then started reciting the Binding Spells in the Ancient Valyrian, which no one present could understand even though they could be considered well-versed in High Valyrian.
The brothers felt like their blood was starting to boil, almost as if a storm was brewing inside it, and the cut on their palms started to heal as well.
Suddenly, they heard the loud cracks in their minds, and then watched as four beautiful creatures, with the hind legs of a lion, the front legs and head of an eagle, a pair of beautiful wings, and a long tail with feathers shaped into an arrowhead, came out of their eggs.
The bronze and cream-shaded little Griffins cried in restlessness, and their cries were sharp, very sharp, which almost hurt their ears.
"Offer them your blood," said Azaerys, and the brothers lowered their palms in front of the small magical creatures, who sniffed the blood before starting to drink it just like birds would drink water.
Once they were done feeding, the Griffins looked around, no longer restless, and they flapped their wings, as if to try to fly, but failed.
The brothers smiled when the small creatures, whom they now felt bonded to, climbed on their hands and then on their arms, finally coming to perch on their shoulders.
A series of sweet cries were heard, and this time, their voices were soft, very soft, almost soothing.
The Griffins nuzzled their heads into the necks of their Masters and after rubbing their scent on them, they fell asleep.
"How big do they grow?" Lyanna excitedly asked, with desire already burning in her eyes.
Her question made Viserys grin. "Larger than horses. Big enough for you to ride them," he informed her.
The Prince had accompanied Azaerys on the flight when they discovered the Griffins living in the mountains of Shadow Lands.
"They also shoot out blasts of sounds and cries that can rattle your mind and make your ears bleed, causing you to lose your sense of hearing," the Prince informed them, and the four brothers, who loved dabbling in air magic, grinned.
"Be nice to them. And at any one time, you can only stay bonded to one Griffin. If you lose your companion to death, then you can form a bond with another Griffin, but I will warn you, their loss will hurt you a lot. It will be no less painful than losing your child or your sibling, so, cherish them, and take good care of them."
"We will take care of them, Your Grace," Glenn resolutely promised him, and his brothers nodded their heads before all four went to their knees to thank him for this blessing.
Viserys smiled when he saw Gaius, who was like a friend to him now, introducing his companion to his little sister, who was terrified of the small Griffin. The boy was coaxing her and assuring her that the little beast was harmless, but the girl was hiding behind her older sister, nearly on the verge of breaking into tears.
"When will the next one hatch?" The Stark agitatedly asked.
"You want one?" Asked Azaerys, to which Lyanna unhesitantly nodded.
"You said that a person does not need to be magical to make a bond with them."
"I never said that," he shook his head and then corrected her. "I said that though a Non-Magical person too can bond with them, it is preferable that only people will Magic do it. It concerns their growth. Where the Griffins of Gryffonn Brothers will reach adulthood within four years, the beast bonded to a Non-Magical person will take seven to eight years, perhaps even more, and they will be stunted."
"Then teach me magic," said Lyanna, and Viserys laughed at her words.
"We thought you would never ask." He said. "Lucky for you, Starks do bear traces of Magical Blood. You can learn magic, and even warg into animals and your bonded companion."
"What?" The girl looked at him in shock, and when she saw Azaerys nod his head, she was in disbelief.
"Why did you not tell me this sooner?" She asked, and he smiled at her.
"Rhaemon and Dany."
The answer deflated all her agitation, and she sighed in understanding.
Her son and her adopted daughter were still young and needed a lot of her attention. Though lately she had finally started finding some time for herself, her days were still very busy.
Yes, for her, learning magic right now was not feasible. But now that she knew that she could learn some of it, she was excited.
"So, I can have one. Right?"
"Yes." He nodded at her, and a bright grin crept on her face.
However, her excitement was nothing compared to how Rhaenys, Aegon, Rhaemon, and Daenerys reacted to the news of the Griffin Eggs hatching.
The Young Targaryens were so excited after seeing how pretty the beasts were that they started calling dibs on the Eggs, but Azaerys refused them and asked them to wait for the hatched Griffins to grow into adults and lay eggs.
He also warned them that their Dragons might kill these creatures if they tried binding with them.
Though disappointed, they were still happy that they would, at least, get to play with them and use them as their steeds.