บท 76: Jaehaerys
"Sorry I'm late." Doran apologizes after entering the nursery where Rhaella and his siblings are waiting for him.
Rhaella was sitting in a chair looking at a book while Oberyn and Elia played on a rug with some building blocks.
"DoDo!" Oberyn crawls over to his older brother and he reaches down to pick him up. Elia also gets up from the rug and walks to Rhaella, when she reaches her side she pulls the princess's hand.
"Go to Pwogwes Town!"
"Yes, little sun. We'll go there very soon." Rhaella scoops up the little princess, turns her attention from her to Doran who was making funny faces at Oberyn, and stifles a laugh. "We haven't been waiting long, the little ones just woke up."
"That's good. I have spoken with Lothar and he told me that the ship is ready, everything we will need for the next two days is on board."
During their morning at the beach they planned to cruise the bay until sunset and then go to Progress Town, where they would spend the night and explore the town the next day.
"We could postpone the trip." Rhaella suggests as they walk to the elevator.
"Huh? You don't feel like sailing or-"
"It's not that. Prince Andrey and his family just got back from a long trip. I thought maybe you'd rather spend time with them, I know how much you've missed them the last year."
"That's correct, I missed them terribly but they won't be going anywhere anytime soon. And I've already promised these two that we'll spend some time together. There'll be time to catch up after we get back from our little trip."
"I understand."
***
The caravel in which they will sail awaits them at the Shadow City dock, on board the crew of twenty sailors are making the final preparations.
"Boat!" Elia screams excitedly and Oberyn mimics her enthusiasm.
"Bot!" The baby screams.
The eldest chuckled at their enthusiasm.
"The Red Spear, personal boat of the Martell family for small maritime excursions!" Doran grandly introduces the ship, making quite a show of it. "Shall we board, my beautiful princesses and my galant prince?" Doran bows and offers his hand to Rhaella and Elia.
Both giggle to bit.
"We shall"
After boarding the ship, Doran shows them all the parts of it, explaining its functions, which visibly bores the little ones.
"We should start sailing before these two fall asleep from sheer boredom." Jest Rhaella.
Doran shrugs and orders the sailors to untie the ship.
The afternoon in the bay passed very quickly, and soon the sun began to set in the west. By the time the last rays of the sun had disappeared from the sky, the four of them reached Doran's mansion in Progress Town.
The mansion is located in a walled area with a wall three meters high, inside the enclosure apart from the mansion there are stables, a grand garden that contain flowers from all over the world, some greenhouses and a separate building that Doran uses for his experiments.
The mansion itself is in fact a castle following the French Gothic style of the 14th century, Doran took inspiration from various buildings that he visited in his past life; especially the Chateau de Baronville.
As you enter through the huge ironwood doors, the first thing you see is a huge vestibule decorated with various statues and paintings that makes it resemble an art gallery. All the artworks represent different times in the history of Dorne, including works that take inspiration from the traditional art styles of old Ny Sar.
There is a statue of Mors and Nymeria shaking hands marking the beginning of their alliance, another of Maron Martell in his armor from the first Blackfyre Rebellion, another of Old Princess Meria Martell,... Of the paintings, Doran's favorite is one of Nymeria aboard a ship with Ny Sar burning in the background and the sun on the horizon.
All artwork was done by local artists from Progress Town.
To the left of the vestibule, separated from it by marble columns, is a grand staircase. On one side of the stairs there is a corridor that leads to the kitchens and other rooms used for different tasks carried out by the servants, such as the laundry room. On the other side of the stairs there is a door that opens into a walk-in closet for guests to leave their coats and such.
To the right of the vestibule there is a corridor that leads to several rooms for the entertainment of guests, such as a music room, living rooms, games rooms,...
At the end of the vestibule there are double doors that lead to another corridor, straight across it there are two double doors that lead to a ballroom, which can accommodate more than 700 people and includes a stage for music bands.
That same corridor, to the right, has more rooms for entertainment, and the formal and informal dining rooms. To the left is the library and various solars and reading rooms.
Going up the stairs you reach the second floor, which contains several bedrooms for guests. And finally the third floor is destined for the family.
The cooks of Sun-Shield, name of the manor, were waiting for them with the food already served. After a dinner that consisted of a first course of Calla Lily Seafood soup, a second of Dry-Braised Salted Fish, a third of Butter Crab, a dessert of several pies and different flavor jellys, the babies were practically asleep in their chairs, Doran and Rhaella they weren't much better.
They didn't even have the energy to take a bath, they went straight to bed. Reason why the first thing Doran did when he woke up was to take a bath and then bathe his little siblings himself, he could have ordered some servants to bathe the babies but the prince prefers to spend as much time as possible with his siblings because he knows that in a few days he would embark on a Tour of Dorne lasting several months. The Tour is the excuse to investigate the Yronwood, the Princess of Dorne told her grandson that going directly to Yronwood would raise a lot of suspicion from the potential traitors, making the investigation more complicated.
`A war on the horizon, it seems that I was never destined for a peaceful life.`
After breakfast, Doran acts as a guide and shows them all the places in Progress Town as if it were their first visit there, which is incorrect since the Martells created the tradition of spending five days each moon in Progress Town.
Dorna loves to visit the Institute for Research and Development and spend hours discussing different topics with the scholars, or visiting the different artists and acquiring new works of art for her private collection that already occupies several floors of the Tower of the Sun.
Arthur enjoys the simplicity of walking around town and visiting the various restaurants and food stalls.
Obella and Trystanne can be found during their visits in the local cabarets enjoying a drink and a performance by local musicians and actors.
Lewyn enjoys wandering the shipyard and docks, learning more about ships as he shares his nephew's dream of sailing all over the world.
Olyvvar loves visiting the local stores and buying new toys for himself and his little siblings.
***
3 Moon of 259AC
Crownlands, Kings Landing
There was an uproar at court when Grand Maester Merion passed away on his way to the capital. Merion was only sixty-six years old, making him decades younger than the last men to be chosen as Grand Maester.
After the death of Grand Maester Theon it seemed like the position was cursed, since all the chosen for the position had sudden deaths regardless of the state of their health prior to being chosen.
Merion is the third Grand Maester to die immediately after being chosen. Grand Maester Ellendor died a year after taking the position, the same time that Grand Maester Kaeth lasted.
There are those who say that it is a curse, a punishment towards House Targaryen for their sins. Jaehaerys thinks that that is nothing more than nonsense and rumors spread by their enemies.
The Crown Prince sees it for what it is: another move against his house.
`And it's not like there were few in recent years,` the prince thinks with a frown. `It seems that every blessing is followed by a dozen catastrophes`
A few years ago Prince Doran expanded his business by entering the business of potions and other medicinal remedies. Slytherin Apothecary, like the prince`s other ventures, turned out to be a complete success. The potions and medicines sold in Slytherin Apothecary are effective and affordable, ranging from beautifying potions that became the obsession of court ladies, to medicines and potions to treat various illnesses.
He himself became a regular customer because since he was born he always had health problems, particularly respiratory ones. Jaehaerys was born with weak lungs. The crown prince remembers his childhood dreams of becoming a great knight like Aemon the Dragonknight, those dreams were quickly crushed. His condition made it difficult for him just to climb some stairs, martial training was out of the question.
Forced to watch out the window as his brothers learned the art of the sword and became acclaimed warriors, Jaehaerys turned to books. In real life he could never fight evildoers on horseback or go on any adventure, but in the world created in those wonderful books the prince could fight leviathans and krakens, save the maiden (who in his imagination was always Shaera) and ride together towards the sunset.
Slytherin Apothecary became the talk of the court two years ago when Lady Buckwell reappeared after two moons of hiding in her castle, to hide the ghastly red spots that appeared on her face. To everyone's surprise, Lady Buckwell's face was flawless. She wasted no time in praising the wonderful products of Slytherin Apothecary, prompting many ladies (and secretly lords) to take a look.
The variety of products offered went beyond beauty products, and it was the medicinal remedies that caught the attention of Prince Jaehaerys.
Hearing of the great fame of Slytherin Apothecary's medicines and medicinal potions, the crown prince went to see for himself if the rumors were true.
The store is located in one of the richest areas of the capital and as soon as the prince entered he was amazed. The store had a large number of gadgets that the dragon had never seen in his life and he was dying of curiosity to know what they are for .
Behind a counter was a young woman his age, who greeted him with the grace that he did not expect from a smallfolk and led him to another room in the back where a healer was waiting for him. The healer asked him several questions and examined him carefully. After examining him, the healer went to consult various books and meanwhile the counter clerk entertained him with various stories.
She told him that she was originally from Dragonstone, and that she was recruited by the Hogwarts Toy Company three years ago. After a lot of work she was given the position of administrator of this store, and her job, to his surprise, pays her in a moon what most officials make in a year.
She also told him that the healer is one of the lucky ones who studied with Prince Doran at the Citadel and later followed him to Sunspear, where he became a member of the now acclaimed Research and Development Institute.
After several more stories the healer, named Hareth, returned with a box in one hand and a scroll in the other. The box contained various potions and the scroll contained instructions on how to take them.
The first day of taking the potions he did not feel any change and was very disappointed, but the logical side of him told him that medicines and potions are not instant nor miraculous so he continued with the treatment and after four days he already saw results .
Every time Jaehaerys had to climb the stairs of the Tower of the Hand, where his solar is located, he had to take a few moments to catch his breath. To his surprise on the fourth day of taking the Slytherin Apothecary potions one of his knights commented on the improvement in his health and Jaehaerys noticed that he was less tired than usual after climbing those stairs.
Excited, he returned to the Slytherin Apothecary to ask for more of those potions. There, Hareth told him that the treatment was temporary to see how he reacts to the potions, and that after finishing the ten days treatment he gave him he would see if he needs stronger potions or if he needs others.
The prince followed the healer's instructions and after a moon they found the perfect treatment for his condition. Today one could not even tell that the prince was conditioned throughout his life by an illness. Jaehaerys has a healthy complexion and his cheeks plumped up giving him a very healthy appearance, not only that; Thanks to the treatment the prince was finally able to fulfill his childhood dreams and learn the art of the sword, thanks to his training he even gained some muscle.
Jaehaerys only has to drink two potions every moon to keep his illness at bay.
The miraculous recovery of the crown prince was greeted with great joy by the nobility and the smallfolk. Many said it was a miracle from the gods, and rumors that the Targaryens were favored by the gods began to circulate; secretly fed by the Crown.
But that blessing was followed by the catastrophe that was the death of four Grand Maesters one after another.
Grand Maester Theon passed away suddenly after serving for 26 years, his successors dying shortly after being elected. It did not cost them much to discover that these deaths were not natural, but the investigation to discover the murderers continues without clues.
"Your grace, it's time to go to court." One of his assistants reminds him.
Jaehaerys gets up from his chair and walks to the Throne room with a small smile on his lips, not even the mysterious deaths can take away the joy of walking without feeling that the air does not reach his lungs.
"Father, brother." Jaehaerys greets his royal father and his brother, whom he meets on the way to the throne room.
"You seem in a good mood brother, has something good happened?"
"No, I just enjoy the beautiful day."
Aegon chuckles.
"Maybe I should get one of the healers from the Slytherin Apothecary to examine you, son. It's been raining all morning."
"There is beauty in the rain, father."
"If you say it."
Once they enter the throne room, Aegon walks up the stairs to the Iron Throne while his children sit in chairs set up on the right side of the throne for the members of the Small Council.
Lord Mooton and Lord Rosby were already in the room, chatting amongst themselves, but Lord Velaryon was nowhere to be seen.
"Shall we start without our Master of Ships?" Duncan asks his brother.
"Didn't you hear, your graces?" Lord Rosby intervenes.
"Hear what, my lord?" Jaehaerys asks.
"There has been a fire at Driftmark and several Royal Fleet ships have been burned to the ground, Lord Velaryon went immediately to assess the damage. Lord Mooton and I were discussing it a few moments ago."
"What?! How is it that we only found out about this now?! Father knows?" Duncan gets up from his chair enraged.
"Peace, my prince. Lord Rosby has already informed the king about it." Lord Mooton raises his hands placatingly.
"Sit down brother, court will start in a few moments."
Duncan sits huffing and puffing, looking between his father and his brother.
"Did you know this Jaehaerys?"
"Of course not, I've been reviewing reports on the situation in the east all morning." The crown prince half whispers to him, reassuring his brother.
"Why didn't father tell us anything?" Duncan looks up at the king with narrowed eyes.
"I don't pretend to know how father thinks, maybe he didn't have time, maybe he thought we'd find out on our own." Jaehaerys answers.
"Let the court begin!" The king's voice echoes through the room and all conversation stops.
The first courtiers explain their cases, some want more land, others want their neighbors to be punished for this or that. Jaehaerys watches as Duncan's attention dwindles with each new request, his eyes clouding, a clear indication that he is lost in thought.
He himself is tempted to follow the example of his older brother but he knows that as the future king duty demands that he pay attention.
While a knight explains how another knight wronged him by poisoning his horse in the last tourney, the prince sees someone interesting at the back of the room.
An old woman with tangled gray hair dressed in rags.
`The classic village witch` thinks the prince amused before remembering something. `But the court today is not open to smallfolk, it is only for the nobility and knights. That woman could only enter with the patronage of some nobleman, but who?`
***
NOTES: A cabaret is a place similar to an inn but more elegant with a stage where musicians and actors perform (Thanks to The Witcher 3 for that info!)
Jaehaerys' disease is asthma.
I didn't want to cut this chapter in half so I took longer to finish it and therefore publish it. I bet you know who the old hag is, and if not I'll give you a hint: it's something that happened in canon.
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