Capítulo 83: Sandy Inn
Beginning of 5 Moon 259AC
Doran advances through the desert surrounded by fifty knights. After several weeks of traveling, visiting every castle on the way, they are about to enter the lands of House Yronwood.
His Tour has gone great so far, his vassals proved loyal to his house and he formed important bonds with the lords and their heirs. He also took the opportunity to make some business partners.
Contrary to the warnings of Lothar, the prince enjoyed the months traveling through the desert very much, the sand getting everywhere even into his socks did not bother him. He could have used some charms to make the ride more comfortable but Doran wanted to experience life on the road so he refrained from using magic.
It helped a lot that his horse is so well trained, making the endless hours of riding quite easy as he didn't have to worry about controlling his steed. The prince spent his days chatting with his knights, reading books or writing new ideas to increase his businesses or develop new inventions.
Rocinante is a magnificent horse black as night, with a more grayish mane that looked like dark smoke when trotting. The horse is five and a half years old and was a birthday present from his great granduncle Jace. Doran raised the horse from a foal and developed a strong bond with him.
Since the death of Salazar, his beloved snake, the prince spent more and more time with his horse, as if trying to get the horse to fill the gap left by his first animal companion in this world.
Salazar was already an adult when Doran met him and unfortunately for the prince, snakes rarely live more than ten years. If the snake had been his familiar, the story would be different, but Doran was still too young to be able to form the familiar bond with Salazar back then.
`There's no use getting lost in those memories.`
"Lothar I'll go ahead a little." With those words Doran gently touched Rocinante with his legs. The horse instantly knew what he had to do and picked up speed.
Rocinante's trot was smooth as silk, moving gracefully over the desert stone road. The knights that form his retinue parted at his pace, letting the prince advance freely. With all eyes on him Doran gave the horse another touch and he picked up more speed, moving from a moderate trot to a brisk one. The feeling was exciting with a hint of fear and Doran grinned.
The slightest pressure from his legs, the slightest touch of the reins, and Rocinante responded as if he read his mind. Soon they were galloping and his knights began to cheer him, laughing and shouting, some even hastening their steeds to follow their prince.
And so Doran galloped at full speed across the desert until he saw the landscape begin to change around him. Gone were the sand dunes and the land became hard as rocks, but dry and barren. Small bushes began to be seen, dry bushes that don't even seem alive but plant life that is very rare to see among the dunes.
Doran slowed down and turned his head, of his retinue only five knights were close to him, the others were far behind and he couldn't even see them in the distance.
"The landscape is changing, we must be two days away from the Seat of House Yronwood." Lothar comments once he reaches his prince's side. The knight is breathing quite heavily, still catching his breath.
"Yeah, I noticed. Sandy Inn must be a couple of miles away." Doran is also breathing heavily.
"Shall we stay there tonight, my prince?" Ser Loras asks, a knight in his mid-thirties with straw-blond hair and brown eyes.
"Yes. Ser Loras, you and Ser Matias go with the rest to inform them of our plans. The rest of us will continue to the inn. We will meet there, don't be in a hurry, I plan to stay at the inn today and tomorrow, we will resume our journey to Yronwood once we've rested for a while."
"Yes, my prince!"
The two aforementioned knights turn around and start on their way. Doran and the three remaining knights continue northwest at a light trot.
"Is it wise to enter Yronwood territory with only three knights to protect you?" Lothar whispers to him, careful not to let the other two knights, Ser Thomas and Ser Gaemon, hear him.
"I used `it` to scout the terrain ahead, there is no visible threat." Doran reassures his knight. "Besides, I have a plan."
"Of course you do, but remember not to let your guard down." Lothar murmurs before taking a drink from his canteen.
The four of them spent the rest of the ride exchanging stories. Just as Ser Thomas was in the middle of telling them about his first tourney they spotted the inn a few hundred yards ahead.
The inn is an orange-brown structure that blends in nicely with its surroundings, made of orange brick, clay, and wood. It has two buildings, the inn itself which has three floors and some stables on one side.
The land around the inn has a couple of green trees and some grassy parks but the territory is still pretty dry for the most part. A large tree stands out with a swing hanging from one of its branches and a well next to it. That tree is just about thirty meters away from the inn and when the prince's group approached it they spotted a boy sitting in one of the branches.
The boy, about ten years old, had dark brown hair and was dressed in rags and barefoot.
"Are you the stable boy?" Doran asked the boy.
The boy smiled and looked at them cheekily.
"Only if the pay is good." He responded with a mischievous smile.
Doran smiled amused, already liking the boy's attitude.
"Watch your tongue, you're talking to Prince Doran Nymeros Martell. Don't make me go up there and give you two good slaps." Ser Gaemon rebuked him with a frown.
"Could you even climb the tree with that fat ass?" The boy replied with a mocking smile.
"You-!" Gaemon's cheeks reddened with anger and embarrassment, and he jumped off his horse. He took long, quick strides up the tree but before he could get up Doran stopped him.
"Ser Gaemon, come back here." Doran had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing, he knew that laughing at one of his knights is not appropriate but he couldn't help it, this boy was very entertaining. "And how much is a good pay, if I may ask?"
"10 Golden Dragons!" The boy answered bravely.
"Watch your attitude boy, our prince may be nice and kind, but he is no fool. Not even a knight earns that much for less than a day of labor!" Lothar looked hard at the boy.
"The boy may be half deaf and he may not have heard the name of the distinguished person with whom he has the honor to converse." Scoffed Ser Gaemon.
"I'm not deaf, you ass! I don't need you to tell me who he is,I can recognize the red sun belonging to House Martell!" The boy looks distastefully at Ser Gaemon.
`And even knowing who I am still... Interesting, very interesting`
"Remove the saddles, brush them well and give them oatmeal and some apples. Once you've done that I'll check the quality of your work, and see if you deserve those 10 golden dragons." Doran's words took the four of them by surprise.
The knights look at him in disbelief and the boy almost falls out of the tree in surprise.
"Are you serious?!" He asks, yelling with wide eyes.
"Of course, a man is as good as his word," Doran replies. "By the way, what is your name?"
"Fred, my name is Fred, my prince." Fred's tone when answering him is very different from the one he used before, the knights hear the deference.
"Nice to meet you, Fred." Doran gives Rocinante a light blow and he begins to walk towards the inn. His knights and the boy follow him.
"My prince, 10 Golden Dragons is too much-" Ser Gaemon still didn't regain his composure and stumbled over his own words.
"I agree, it's more coins than that rascal deserves! Especially after how he talked to you." Ser Thomas agrees with his companion, Lothar nods but says nothing, just looks between the boy and his prince with a thoughtful look.
Arriving at the stables, Doran jumps down and grabs the horse's leather saddlebags and slings them over one shoulder. He also removes the sword from the saddle and straps it to his waist.
"Take good care of Rocinante." He tells Fred before walking to the door of the inn. His knights rush after him.
"Yes, my prince!" Fred yells before grabbing Rocinante's reins and leading him into the stables.
The sun hadn't set yet but the lanterns outside the inn were already lit. Doran opened the door and entered the inn. The Sandy Inn is quite a famous inn in these parts so seeing it almost empty, with only a dozen customers, greatly surprised Doran.
Sandy Inn sits right on the border between the lands of House Yronwood and House Jordayne, it is the place where all travelers and traders stop by to rest and recharge for the rest of their journeys.
`This is odd`
Doran looked around. The inn's common room was long, with a row of barrels and a wooden door behind a counter at one end, an unlit fireplace with a deer's head hanging above it at the other end, and several tables in between. Some of the tables were long with seats for ten men at each bench, while others were smaller. Directly in front of the entrance, on the other side of the room, there are stairs that lead to the second and third floors of the inn.
Sitting at a round table with six chairs is a group of knights, a bard is tuning his lute by the fireplace, and some merchants are discussing something while looking at a map on another table.
A short, plump, fair-skinned woman in her fifties approaches them and bows.
"Welcome, welcome!" The woman smiles widely at him, and Doran sees her yellowed teeth. "Can I serve you food, beer, wine? Or do you want to rest in one of our rooms? Our best rooms are free, if you want right now I'll send my daughter to prepare them."
"How many rooms do you have free?" Doran asks her.
"21, my prince."
"Well, prepare all of them."
"A-all?" She stutters.
"You heard the prince, woman." Lothar answers.
"Yes! Yes! Of course! Right now! Alyce, come here!" The innkeeper runs to the counter yelling a woman's name. A girl of no more than sixteen years old comes out of the kitchen.
"Yes mother?" The girl was chewing on something and she seemed quite irritated.
`Could she have been having dinner? Anyone would be annoyed if their dinner was interrupted` Doran thinks.
"Stop eating and get to work, you have to prepare all the rooms!"
"A-all?! But if hardly anyone comes since-"
"Shut up and get to work! We have a distinguished guest today!"
"Distinguished?" Alyce looks toward Doran's group,who were still in front of the entrance somewhat awkwardly, and recognizes the Martell emblem with wide eyes. She bows to them before running up the stairs to get to work.
The innkeeper runs into the kitchen and after a few moments she comes out and follows Alyce. A man about her age comes out of the kitchen and walks toward them with a big smile on his face.
"Sit wherever you like." He told them. "Would you like me to get you something to eat or drink while the women prepare your rooms?"
"Both." Doran answers as he sits at one of the smaller tables, with only six chairs. The knights also sat down and everyone ordered their food.
The man, who introduced himself as Toby, immediately brought them their drinks but told them that the food will take a while.
Doran sipped from his glass of wine while he waited, and as he took the second sip the bard approached him. The man is about twenty years old and he smiled at them.
"Would you like to listen to a song, my prince?"
"Sing something from these parts." Dorian answers.
The bard nods and begins to play the lute and sing. The music isn't stellar, but the bard has a pretty good voice, even if his lute skills leave a lot to be desired.
After listening to several songs the food is finally ready, and after throwing a silver coin at the bard, Doran begins to eat.
They dine on roast lamb with herbs, potatoes, cheese and bread. The women come downstairs just as they are about to finish dinner, both of them looking very tired.
After dinner Doran went up the stairs to the third floor and entered one of the rooms. The room had a wooden floor, a bed with a nightstand on one side, a closet on the other and a table with two chairs next to the window.
Doran leaves the saddlebags on the bed and sits in the chair by the window. The glass was milky, full of bubbles, and outside he watched as the twilight began to spread its cloak over the land. In the distance he saw a large group approaching and knew it was the rest of his entourage. The prince has already ordered the innkeepers to prepare food for fifty men, so his men could dine directly without having to wait.
`I will rest a bit before going down`
The reason Doran decided to stay at this inn is not for the comfort of a bed but to acquire information. The inns have a flow of travelers coming and going, and those travelers love to gossip so this place is ideal for finding out what's going on in the Yronwood lands.
If there really is a group of bandits terrorizing these lands, it will not take long to hear rumors about it and most importantly:
`I have to find out if those bandits, if they do exit, are criminals or Yronwood men`
Lord Yronwood having his own men disguised as bandits to cover his tracks is something the Princess of Dorne expected and warned her grandchild about. She also told him of the possibility, more likely if Yronwood is smart, that the bandits are mercenaries hired by Lord Yronwood.
Doran's mission is to find out the truth of what is happening in these lands, and discover where the loyalties of the Yronwood lie.
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