----
112 AC
Kingslanding
Daeron Nymeros Martell
----
I thankfully made it in time even with how long I spent fooling around in the garden with Rhaenyra and Aemma. Though I wish I hadn't as my father spent every moment until Lord Corlys arrived going over stuff I already knew. But Corlys arrival silenced him from reiterating what the next few months will look like.
"It is nice to see you sitting in on this Prince Daeron." I nod toward the Lord of the Tides as he is served some wine and my Father brings out a map.
I am both excited and nervous to hear what they have to say and how the foundation for this invasion is planned. I know what our side will be doing, Lewyn will be at Sunspear with his dragon acting as a deterrent along with the troops that will be raised. I meanwhile will be flying to Braavos to then escort the fleet my father bought from the Sealord, along with meeting him. The transaction for the ships is a done and sealed matter and the gold has been paid in advance, I am just going to protect the fleet as it sails to Sunspear. The meeting with the Sealord is something he requested and we agreed to but we have no idea what he really wants.
The Sealord is an old friend of my father and even wanted to marry his son to Myriah, but he was denied her hand. The Sealord is not a hereditary position and instead is elected so marrying his son would gain nothing for Dorne as a whole. There were also many better matches and eventually it was settled that she would marry Laenor. But I doubt this meeting is about any sour feelings from that instance, I think he is digging for information personally. It is not hard to figure out why House Martell needs a fleet when our backyard is the Stepstones and things are getting chaotic.
Craghas Drahar is a greedy man and is taking massive tolls on anyone wanting to sail through the shipping lanes. With us being in close proximity it is not hard to guess we are getting involved. If he has heard of the engagements of my siblings to the Velaryons as well it only serves to be fuel for any digging he may try to do. Maybe it is just curiosity or a desire to meet face to face when he heard I was the one coming and I was doing it on dragon back. But I feel like the meeting with the Sealord is going to be more interesting than my father is expecting it to be.
It could also be that I am just excited to put on the big boy pants and meet someone like the Sealord on my own. I will be representing Dorne and House Martell for the first time in a meeting with a free city leader and it's kind of exciting. Meeting King Viserys or Queen Aemma was not as exciting when I knew my father would be doing all of the negotiating. But this time around it's me and I hope something interesting comes up for me to deal with and prove my capabilities.
----
"So what was your take on the meeting?" My Father asks after we are alone in the room.
"He seems angered that we are delaying from what you originally told him, but he also knows that things have changed. Rhaenyra being named heir changed the nature of our marriage greatly and that has stalled my departure to Braavos." He nods but his eyes narrow and I snort while shaking my head. "He also seems to be holding an interest in our plans for Bloodstone once the Triarch's forces are wiped from the Stepstones. The plan to raise a serious fortification there seems to be something he wants involvement in. At the very least he is very interested in who will be the one in charge of Bloodstone once it is fortified." It will take years to get anything substantial built but once it's properly fortified it will be next to impossible to raid.
With Bloodstone being so close to Sunspear and by extension the dragons of House Martell it will only take a raven and a dragon could be there by the end of the day. As it is now there are only wooden fortifications on Bloodstone and caves that people camp out in. With a real stone castle and walls even if it is not large someone could hold the island for months if not years. Dragon support would only take hours to get to Bloodstone and cook any would-be invaders, the plan to capture and keep the Stepstones seems more than viable.
"He wants to know who will be 'in charge' because he fears that eventually, they will become worse than who is there now. The plan to fortify a position on Bloodstone after we capture the Stepstones sounds like a future threat to his interests. Nothing would be able to stop us from extracting high tolls ourselves once we dig in deep into the Stepstones." I nod as I fill my glass back up while I think of how to put Lord Corlys worries at ease.
"Well, we can name a Lord of Bloodstone as we are effectively claiming the Stepstones as Dornish lands anyway. There is not much if any land for food to be grown in the Stepstones so there would still need to be a toll to supply a way of living for the new Lord. But that is to be expected since the pirate threat will be permanently dealt with and we also will be keeping the Essosi off the islands. A fair toll could see the Lord of Bloodstone become one of the richest Dornish Lords so it is a decent seat once it is built." A plan slowly forms in my mind as I set down my cup after taking a sip of the sweet wine. "We could name Lewyn the Lord of Bloodstone, Lord Corlys should be at ease with his good son taking the Stepstones. His grandkid will then be the next Lord of Bloodstone after Lewyn and that should make him happy. Lewyn has no lands to inherit as things stand and this could be a strong seat with a steady income and a chance to make many allies with foreign traders." It also will be good for my future plans with the Triarch and the disputed lands...
My father doesn't react outwardly as he looks out a window toward the sky in thought. His jaw working itself back and forth as it usually does when he is deep in thought.
"It is possible, House Martell would already have to defend the claim on the islands whenever someone comes to cause problems. We might as well put one of our own on the island and reap the benefits of the toll ourselves instead of appointing someone else to the 'duty'." I sit back in my chair as he slowly starts to convince himself of the idea.
I am sure he is also thinking about how much more effort and gold will have to go into whatever he planned to build on Bloodstone. With him putting his own son into the seat of whatever is built he will be putting in the extra effort. But it is probably for the best that way anyway, it would be annoying to have to recapture it if it was lost and held by pirates. But Lewyn would be able to keep it from anyone who might have ideas about taking the lands for their own purposes. He has Tyraxes after all and will be there in the taking of the lands, defending them with a giant dragon should be much easier as well.
Though I wonder how he will manage to keep a big enough flock of sheep on Bloodstone...
----
112 AC
Kingslanding
Qyle Nymeros Martell
----
"So how did it go?" My wife asks as I enter the room and shut the door behind me.
"He did well as usual, though he brought something to me about his brother after the meeting with Lord Velaryon." The plan for his brother to take Bloodstone and be the Lord of it was surprising.
"What did he say about his brother?" She looks up from her book and her enchanting purple eyes bore into me.
"He wants his brother to be the Lord of Bloodstone should we succeed in this war and claim the Stepstones. In his own thoughts, he worked out that Lord Corlys was concerned about us calming the shipping lanes and having our own high tolls. If his good son is going to be the one enforcing those tolls and holding the shipping lanes Daeron believes he will be more at ease. I agree with his line of thought, but I also think it will be good for a Martell to hold such a strong position. Lewyn had nothing to inherit before and if this works out he will find himself with a new castle and a nice source of gold." Left unsaid if anyone has a problem with him holding the shipping lanes like the free cities he will have to deal with that, but he will not be alone.
"I see." She nods as she takes that news in and she slowly adjusts herself on the couch. "Do you think he will even want it?" Now that is the kicker, will Lewyn even approve of the plan?
"I believe he will, I won't say it will be easy but he will be hammering in our power over the Stepstones that will hopefully last a long time. He will also be within a few hour's flight from visiting so you do not have to worry about not getting to see him as well." I smile when she rolls her eyes but I can tell she is happy about that, she dreads any of our kids leaving.
With Myriah marrying the next Lord of Driftmark she will be spending a lot of time on Driftmark and she is concerned about it. She does not want to part with our sweet little girl even if she is all grown up now.
"Nothing else happened?" I shake my head as I sit down next to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Nothing you don't already know, things seem to be going as we planned and it will not be long before the invasion starts. How did the wedding plans go on your end, I know you have been getting involved?" I just hope she is not spending any of our own gold, the fleet we bought already took a huge chunk out of our savings.
"It will be a grand event, not as many people will be in attendance as there could be but that is fine. I am sure most would just scowl at the Dornish guest that we would bring along if there was more time to prepare. This idea of having another celebration in a year or so might be for the best, it will give people time to accept the reality of what happened." I am sure even with a hundred years the people would still grumble about the Dornish attending.
There is lots of bad blood and old grievances that will take a very long time to heal and forget. But I could care less, House Martell is on the rise, and we won't be stopping anytime soon. They can get use to it and accept it or grumble and complain until they wear their tongues out, we won't be stopping. With dragons and having my heir marry the heir to the Iron Throne we are the highest any family has ever been in Westeros other than the Targaryens themselves.
My bannermen were originally upset with me about marrying a Targaryen, now look at us. I have three dragon-riding children and my House is at heights unthinkable to any other House in Westeros. They were all fools and I had the right of it from the start, it also helped that my wife is so lovely. I can not wait for what is to come, there is so much more for us to do and achieve.
I kiss the top of my wife's head and she tucks herself under my chin wrapping her arms tightly around me. I could not ask for more with how everything is turning out after all the work we put in together.