Pre-Chapter A/N:I think at this point, we just have to accept that I will inevitably show up with two chapters a week. As for when those chapters show up, I think it's best I not make any particular promises. If you haven't already, I recommend turning on notifications for my stuff so you can see when new stuff drops right as it drops. A More chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
"Prince Qoren, how good of you to make the long journey," were the first words the Dragonlord greeted them with as they disembarked their ship. The Velaryon Lord had not changed much since they had last met. A few inches taller and wider, but that was it. The youthful face, yet to see its first bits of facial hair, still remained. If he did not know better, he would have assumed him to be a boy and little more, but he had been dealing with him for long enough to know that he was one of the most dangerous men Icarus had ever met. And that was without the giant, fire-breathing reptile he commanded. He waited for them on the island he had named Crete with his sister by one side, an armoured form by his other, and their dragons not far behind them. The bronze one, Vhagar, he tried not to stare at. He knew his history well enough. That had been the one to set fire to much of the castle he called home.
"Kill me and be done with it, you bastard," were the Prince's own words in return. Since he'd woken up, the man had been surprisingly silent. He never even tried to negotiate for his freedom. But then again, the Prince of Dorne was a wise man. There was no way releasing him would lead to anything but their deaths, and there was no way they would sign their own death warrants, so he had remained silent.
"Kill you? Why the hell would I do that? We can negotiate, can we not? I felt the messengers were being a bit slow about things, so I took it into my own hands to secure your attendance. I hope the journey was not too uncomfortable." Qoren's head snapped to his at the Dragonlord's words. Icarus felt a small jolt of panic as well. That had not been the deal. That had not been the deal at all.
If Qoren survived this, they were dead men. And the Prince knew that. New life flowed into his bones and he nearly swelled, even in the chains.
"Of course, of course. We can negotiate now," Qoren said.
Laenor Velaryon turned to his sister, and then the both of them burst into laughter.
"I told you he'd do anything to save his life. Ser Ben, if you would," he said, and the knight walked forwards, hand on his blade. Icarus gestured for his men to step to the side. The Prince did not even manage to say a word in protest before his head hit the ground. The swing had been clean and so quick Icarus had barely been able to track it.
"Now, Lords Yronwood and Jordayne, let's get to business," he said, taking a step towards them.
"Yes, Lord Velaryon," Icarus said, not looking to his side. Not saying anything about the blood that was flowing on the ground now. The blood that had already reached his feet in a matter of seconds.
"I assume you have suitable quarters within your ship for our discussion," the Velaryon Lord said next, beginning to walk forwards, heading straight for his ship.
"Yes, Lord Velaryon," he said.
"Good, good. Now as we head there, Lord Yronwood, I haven't had the chance to make your acquaintance. I hope that little bit of ugliness doesn't mar your opinion of me. You see, Qoren had been getting on my nerves over the last few months with his constant dilly-dallying around the matter of alliance. I do hope that between the three of us, we can get a good deal ironed out in an hour or less," he said, speaking further. Icarus gestured for his sailors to remain still and not draw attention to themselves.
The Dragonlord himself paid them no mind, his armoured spectre by his side while he whispered into his sister's ear as he looked around.
"Might I impose on you for a tour of your ship before we get down to business? I admit I find myself curious as to Dornish shipbuilding."
"It would be my pleasure, Lord Velaryon," he said, not pointing out that it was hypocritical for the Dragonlord to complain about wasted time, and now that they could get to business, insist on doing anything but. But still, he did it either way, because Icarus was nothing if not a pragmatic man.
— Laenor Velaryon —
"Okay, we can begin now," I said, taking a long sip of the Dornish red even as I felt Laena glare daggers into the side of my head. I was going to be hearing about this one for a while. Seemingly impulsively deciding to join them on their ship, and then from there having a glass of wine with Dornish lords of all people. I could see what it looked like from her point of view. But there was a method to the madness. These men, for good or ill, had tied their anchors with mine. This was nothing more than me showing that I trusted them to some extent.
Because if I did not trust them, and they did not trust me, what was even the point of anything?
"I think it would be best if both sides can list what they need from the other, and then we can come to some sort of agreement as to what values to give each individual item of the deal," Jordayne said. I nodded. The advantage of all Qoren's pussyfooting had been that I had a long, long time to decide just what I needed from Dorne in the end. Sure, most of the thinking had been around securing alternative sources, but now I had the real thing in front of me.
"First of all, fine coastal sand from the Tor. Then I will need sand steeds from Yronwood to see if I can breed them with my own horses and make a more unique breed of horse. Ideally, I would like herbs, spices, salt, as well as fruits. As many as can be shipped efficiently. Wood from Yronwood as well will be essential for my shipbuilding and construction efforts," I said, giving them a basic list. Most of the other things I would be needing would be sourced from elsewhere.
"And from you, we will need gold as payment, and security. As well as a promise that if we find ourselves starved out by the other houses, you will take steps to see to it that we receive food aplenty as well as all other resources we find ourselves in need of," Jordayne said. That made sense. It wasn't like the Stepstones were producing all that much right now that they could need.
"And nothing else? The Stepstones is making massive strides in becoming one of the key players in the production of all sorts of things. From glass to ships," I asked.
"We would prefer to receive our payment in gold rather than in goods," he said. I nodded. They would, of course, come to regret that in time.
"Then all that remains is for us to discuss price," I said.
—
"And that will be all, gentlemen," I said with a smile as I took another sip of their wine. It was good negotiating with fellow lords rather than merchants. For one, they were less interested in raking me over for every loose bit of gold they could find.
Of course, it was possible that it wasn't because they were Lords but because they would be relying on the Stepstones and my security umbrella to keep them safe in a Kingdom where they had just pissed off a good portion of the nobility.
"It was good doing business with you, Lord Velaryon," Icarus said, rising. I nodded and shook his hand.
They escorted us out of the ship, and then I turned to Ser Ben. I nodded at him, and he walked towards Igneel. No other dragon would have allowed any but their rider to get so close as to unlatch something from their saddle—at least not without a lot of soothing—but Igneel was superior in that he was above such things.
Ser Ben returned with a raven.
"My Maester has trained it to find its way to Bloodstone. If you do find yourself in need of my help, then I will only be a raven away. Of course, I will be taking steps today to ensure that is not the case."
"What? What do you mean?" The confusion on Jordayne's face made me wish I had a camera or something similar to immortalize the look.
"You committed treason against the Principality of Dorne when you delivered her Prince to me. But now you are my trade partners. While I could let you return and then intervene when Dorne crowns a new Prince and comes for your heads, it would be better if I prevented all of that from being an issue in the first place."
"How do you plan to do that?" Yronwood asked.
"You intend to end House Martell," Jordayne said next, connecting the dots.
"They can't really crown a new Prince if there's no one to put the crown on, can they? Knowing what I know about the Houses of Dorne, there's no chance they manage to agree to crown one among themselves," I said.
"You will end Dorne," Yronwood said, sounding far more aghast than a man who had committed treason against his Prince should have.
"No. I will end the Principality of Dorne. Dorne itself will be fine. Maybe you will fight a few more wars than usual against each other, but you are both about to become very wealthy men, so I am sure you will be fine," I said.
And having had enough of the conversation, I went to Igneel. Icarus did not follow, either realizing my mind would not be swayed or he himself being swayed to my point of view on the matter. Now, I wasn't going to break Dorne just because I wanted to protect some lords from what most would see as the rightful consequences of their actions. No. I was doing it partly to protect my investment and partly as an investment in and of itself.
Taking Dorne was not a reasonable ambition right now. But a lot could change in two decades. And two decades without a uniting force in the kingdom would mean broken bonds, broken armies in countless petty wars, and whatnot. Everything would be perfectly set up for me to swoop in and conquer all of Dorne if I wanted to. Only if I wanted to, though; this was just about giving myself the option when the time came rather than setting my mind on a path I wanted to follow no matter what.
I allowed Ben to boost me onto the saddle while I pulled him up to join me afterwards. Vhagar was larger, but she was also far less accepting of people who weren't her rider on top of her. Speaking of Vhagar, Laena had hopped into the saddle and the bronze dragon was spoiling to get going. Of course, she would be excited at the prospect of getting some burning in.
Laena looked over to me while Ben chained himself to the saddle behind me. I nodded at her, and Vhagar, the moving mountain with wings, lumbered across the ground before pushing herself off, carried more by magic than by the strength of her wings or the force with which she flapped them through the air. Igneel and I waited, giving the bronze dragon a headstart before he pushed down on the ground for a second or two, and then he shot off, fired from the ground like a bullet from a gun. I ignored Ben's screams from behind me. The wind would snatch the voice from his throat once we got high enough.
We shot past Vhagar and her rider, continuing on towards Dorne. I heard the sound of even more frenzied flapping behind me as Vhagar tried to close the distance. How cute.
—
Sunspear was a beautiful settlement from above. It was not a castle in truth, but I could see why it was called one. It was more like a small village encircled in walls than anything else. The three ringed walls were especially intimidating; those would scare down many an invading force. Looking from above, I couldn't imagine how I would take the settlement by anything less than an extremely prolonged siege. The only way to defeat those within would be to starve them out for sure.
Well, either that or have dragons. They had no answer to dragons. Igneel and I waited in the air for Laena on Vhagar to catch up while I made a decision. The shadow city was far from a city. Sure, it was better than anything the Stepstones had at present. But in truth, it was far from any proper city I'd seen. Driftmark put it to shame, and even though the Stormlands weren't anything to write home about in most respects, they still had better cities.
That was the subject of my indecision. To destroy it or not to destroy it. Destroying the city would go towards sending an even stronger message than just destroying the castle and leaving it at that, but these people had done nothing to me. And looking at it now, I was certain that once Sunspear fell, then these people would find somewhere else to live. It was too pitiful a place to survive without the castle propping it up. So, would violence be the right choice in this situation, when the violence would lead to nothing useful?
But what if the castle dying led to the city expanding to become more? This was a crucial piece of Dorne's geography. If I wanted to dissuade anyone from rebuilding Sunspear, then the city had to go. Without the city to support them, any such endeavor would be even less likely to succeed. But then again, looking at the pitiful state of the city, it wasn't like the city had all that much to offer any ambitious Lords in that vein. Oh, fuck it. There was enough blood on my hands already. Destroying this castle was going to add enough already. Let the city do what it would. It would never be a threat to me.
And if it ever became one, then it was a failing on my part to not become strong enough.
The sound of Vhagar's wingbeats drew me back to the present. I turned around to my sister, silently asking her to follow with a wave of my hands. She replied with a nod that I could barely see from the distance between us. Still, it was enough confirmation as Igneel and I dove. Ser Ben, previously silent, seemed to find his screaming voice again, trying to use it to deafen me.
I closed my eyes, slipping from my mind into Igneel's with far more ease than before the poisoning. It was quicker and easier than breathing sometimes. I did it by accident more often than not. But now it was intentional. We fused, and I beheld the sprawling castle with razor-sharp clarity.
Vhagar was behind us. With better hearing, I could hear her scales cut through the wind as she shot at the ground so quickly I suspected she was going for more of a crash than a landing. It would be best to get out of her way. I trusted Laena's control, but it was best not to give the bronze bitch any openings. Igneel chortled at the nickname even as we banked left and allowed her to shoot past us. She would land in the middle of Sunspear. We left her to do her thing. Vhagar excelled at indiscriminate violence.
We could do that as well, but where we excelled was in discrimination. Okay, wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Not like that. Discrimination in the sense that we were like a scalpel compared to the cannon that Laena and Vhagar could be. Not in the other form. We started at the walls.
'Dracarys,' I whispered in the mind of my oldest and best friend, and we flew along the innermost wall, unleashing flames that consumed the men who manned it. Then we turned inwards, heading for the Sandship next. The ancient stronghold of House Martell fell easily under our might, and then we went for the Tower of the Sun. The Spear Tower had already fallen to Vhagar's rampage. That was how we spent the next hour. Laena and Vhagar remained in the middle of the castle destroying everything around them with claw, tail, and flame, while Igneel and I circled the castle. We incinerated every attempt to escape, quelled every attempt at resistance, and for the most part, just let Laena and Vhagar do their thing.
When the massive dragon had tired of stomping things with her feet, she shot into the air again. Igneel and I banked away to give her space as she covered everything in her flames, going over and over again with the bronze fire. That landed with an explosive force that smote down everything the massive dragon hadn't already leveled with her bulk.
In the end, Sunspear had stood mighty and proud two hours ago. Now, where there had been a massive fortress made of towers and keeps, there was naught but rubble. Rubble with two intact walls encircling it from without.
Laena turned her gaze to me and then gestured at the walls. I nodded, and Igneel and I shot down.
"Brace yourself," I said, the words leaving my lips to warn Ben as Igneel and I crashed straight through the first set of walls. Laena and Vhagar were doing the same on the other end.
The great fortress Sunspear had stood for centuries before Aegon's conquest. Even before the Doom of Valyria. And all of it fell in less than three hours. Less time than it would have taken someone to navigate the mazes that separated the walls.
A/N: And here we go with the chapter. Next six chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.