Capítulo 71: The Princess of Dorne
"Of course, Grandmama." Doran turns his gaze to the horizon, the sun has already set and the only things that illuminate the bay are the stars, the moon and the lights from the city. "As you know many individuals have shown an interest in my first ship, some a genuine admiration, but many more greed."
"Hmm." Dorna hums and motions for him to continue.
"In recent years there have been many attempts to steal my designs. The Velaryons tried to sneak one of their men into the shipyard as an apprentice. The Mallisters tried to bribe one of my shipbuilders. The Greyjoys tried to use force by kidnapping one of my shipbuilders. Those are just a few examples, dozens of Houses tried their luck either by trying to sneak their men among my workers, with bribes or by using force.
Velaryon, Mallister, Greyjoy, Westerling, Prester, Drumm, Harlaw, Rosby, Hightower,... And that's just on this side of the Narrow Sea. From Braavos to Lys, several Free-Cities tried to get their hands on my ship.
They also tried to steal my ships to have their shipbuilders study and replicate them. In that they had more luck than in the previous one, since between your spies and mine we managed to intercept their attempts. Stealing a caravel was not easy, it is not for nothing that it is the fastest ship in all the seas, and being successful in that company did not guarantee success in replicating my caravels. They can study my ships all they want, without knowing the construction method, caravel-build, it is of little use to them-"
"That arrogance will be your doom if you don't control it, grandson." Dorna interrupts and scolds him. "There may not currently be any man or woman who has managed to replicate that construction method of yours but it's only a matter of time, it may not be for another ten or twenty years but I assure you someone will discover it."
Doran looks away ashamed.
"You are smarter than most men and women, the ideas that occur to you in that little head of yours are changing the world." Dorna ruffles his hair and pulls him into a hug. "But you are still human, and no human is perfect, sweet child. You have to recognize your imperfections and be aware of them, or they will become your doom."
The Princess of Dorne kisses her grandson's forehead and he nods.
"Sorry." Doran feels ashamed, a small part of him knows that pride and arrogance are his greatest enemies. As the years go by Doran has had little moments of epiphany in which he realized how proud and arrogant he is becoming, but that is normal given the success he is experiencing in all of his projects; so far he has not known failure in this life.
"It's normal, sweet child. You have achieved more in a couple of years than most in their life. You have many reasons to be proud of yourself, but there is a line between deserved pride and arrogance. You are the one who wrote that book about balance in all aspects of life, maybe you should read it and remember your own teachings."
Doran nods.
"Allright back to what we were talking about earlier." Dorna motions for him to continue.
"Hhm" Doran clears his throat. "A few moons ago I received a report of some suspicious men who approached several workers at the Planky Town harbor. After scouting a bit they chose their target, Alfyn, a customs officer and a close friend of one of my shipbuilders. They approached him with a business proposition, fancy words to say that they wanted Alfy to betray us and use his friend to steal the plans for the caravel. Little did they know that Alfy is one of my men."
"Did you find out who those men work for?"
"Lord Redwyne, but something...unexpected happened."
"Oh?" The Princess of Dorne raises an eyebrow, intrigued.
"The two men were Ser Bryon, sworn shield of Lady Redwyne, and a man named Edgar. Edgar killed Ser Bryon and boarded a ship heading east."
"What do you know about this Edgar?"
"Little. I know he worked with several Magisters in Essos helping them with illicit matters. High-risk smuggling seems to be his thing, he's very good at it and hides his tracks very well."
"Not that well." Dorna looks at her grandson with a sly smile.
The prince looks at his grandmother with narrowed eyes.
"What did your spies find out?"
"Much more than yours." The Princess of Dorne playfully taunts her grandson.
"Oh?" Doran looks at her with a raised eyebrow, a reflection of her earlier expression.
"Edgar, although he works in illicit matters such as theft of goods and information, that is not his greatest 'talent'. Edgar is a businessman with several companies under different aliases. Trading is his main source of income, and the goods with which he trades are very varied; from grain to slaves. He does not seem to have any morals, if he can get gold out of a business he will do it no matter how vile it is."
Both Martells make a face.
"So he wants the caravel for himself?"
"Yes and no."
"Huh?" Doran looks at his grandmother in confusion.
The Princess of Dorne sighs and turns towards the Summer Sea.
"Edgar is a wealthy man, with wealth comparable to the Great Houses of Westeros. If he were just a ruthless businessman he wouldn't be such a concern." Dorna sighs again and takes a sip of wine. She looks at her almost empty glass and makes a face.
"Does Edgar work for someone?" The prince noticed.
"Well, you're learning." The princess looks at him approvingly.
"Who does he work for? It has to be someone important if he causes you so much concern."
"More than important, is someone dangerous."
"Who? Tyrosh? I know they have many reasons to hate us but-"
"Blackfyre." The Princess of Dorna interrupts her grandson.
"What?! But- Bittersteel is dead! And the leader of the Golden Company is not a Blackfyre. What's left for the Blackfyre to afford the services of someone like Edgar?"
"Damon Blackheart is Daemon Blackfyre. They are not lacking military might: 20,000 footmen, 10,000 chivalry, 4,000 archers and 50 elephants. And as for why Edgar serves the Blackfyre, his real name will give you the answer, grandson. "
"His real name?"
"Edgar is an alias for Edarion Blackfyre, he is the son of Bittersteel and Calla Blackfyre, the eldest daughter of Daemon I Blackfyre."
Doran was speechless, his brain racing to put the pieces together.
"They're planning a war?! And you knew it?! Why didn't you tell me anything?!" Doran loses his temper, jumps off the railing and starts pacing back and forth, his face red with anger; the prospect of a war on the horizon does not please him at all.
"Lower your voice!" The Princess of Dorne glared at him with enough intensity to make a grown man cry, Doran is not immune to his grandmother's gaze and freezes.
"The Blackfyre planning another war is old news, Doran. We've known this for many years. We didn't tell you because until recently the Blackfyre's plans were far away, we didn't want you to waste your childhood worrying about distant wars."
"Oh. Wait 'until recently'?!"
"Daemon's cousin, a man named Maelys, is making deals with various groups: he is creating alliances. We have reason to believe that war will soon come to Westeros."
"Does the king know?" Doran has a good opinion about King Aegon V, the prince sees him as a just and honorable man, and thinks that if the king knew that such a danger exists, he would surely do something.
"..." The Princess of Dorne looks at her grandson and chooses her words carefully. "The king has other matters to worry about, at the moment a Blackfyre War seems to be quite distant."
"Other matters?! What could be more important than protecting the realm from such a threat? A war will mean the death of thousands!"
"Doran I know that lately you have been very focused on your projects but you should pay more attention to the political landscape of the kingdoms. The position of House Targaryens has weakened a lot in the last generations. Since the Dance of Dragons they began to lose their power and influence, it did not help the many conflicts that continued to be created in and by their own family, the Blackfyre is the most striking but not the only one.
Daeron the Young Dragon led hundreds of thousands of soldiers to their death by invading our realm and many houses still hold a grudge against the Targaryens for it, both in Dorne and abroad.
Baelor managed to repair some of the bridges destroyed by his brother, but he himself destroyed many more with his obsession with the gods. King Septon they called him, and not with positive connotations.
Viserys was the saving grace of the Targaryen dynasty, he was the best king since Jaehaerys the Old King, but his reign was short and all the good he achieved was later destroyed by his son and his grandchildren.
Aegon IV angered many houses by demanding that their daughters become his mistresses, few noble ladies became his mistresses of their own volition. Having their daughters as his lovers, having his bastards, is an insult that they could neither forgive nor forget. It didn't help that after the first Blackfyre Rebellion the remaining bastards of Aegon IV, and thus the houses of their mothers, were treated with suspicion.
Daeron II's decision to spare the houses that sided with Daemon was also not well received among the loyalists, they saw it as a sign of weakness. They thought there would be little consequence if they were to rebel, which is why several formerly loyal Houses supported later Blackfyre Rebellions.
Aerys was more focused on his studies than on ruling, he didn't create more conflicts but he didn't fix the existing ones either.
Maekar was a warrior through and through, he wasn't a bad king but he wasn't a stellar one either.
And now Aegon V is alienating most of the nobility with his reforms. Aegon foresaw something like that so he betrothed his children to Great Houses. Duncan was engaged to the daughter of Lyonel Baratheon. Jaehaerys was engaged to Celia Tully. Shaera was engaged to Luthor Tyrell. Daeron was engaged to Olenna Redwyne. And all of his children broke those engagements, terribly angering almost the entire continent.
Lyonel was the most vocal, rallying his men and starting a rebellion that was quickly stopped by Aegon. The king was able to win back the loyalty of the Baratheons by marrying his youngest daughter to Lyonel's heir. But he did little to placate the other houses.
Aegon knows that his dynasty is at its weakest and if he doesn't do something within a few generations they will lose all their power."
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