Unexpected visit

While on her way to the throne room to greet some visitors, Princess Dorna Nymeros Martell, Princess of Dorne and Lady of Sunspear stopped to look out of one of the windows. She looks in the far distance, to the outskirts of the city, where a sprawling tent complex, more vaguely resembling a town, had sprung up in the past few weeks. She sees dozens and dozens of columns of smoke rise into the skies and get lost in the clouds, if she was closer to the tents she would hear the metal song.

Dozens of blacksmiths are hard at work arming the legions. Legions that her good son is preparing. House Martell has 12,000 men, more than twice the number of any other Dornish house and even on the entire continent only House Tyrell could outnumber them.

That was not always the case, a few decades ago that number was much lower. Hundreds of thousands of Dornish died in the war started by the Young Dragon, and more still under the fire of Aegon and Visenya's dragons. With the dwindling population of Dorne, the size of the armies also dwindles.

The history books say that the Dornish population before the red dragons` invasions was over 7 million. Today Dorne doesn't have half that, but it's still a much higher number than when she was a child.

Dorne's population has increased a lot in the last decades and everything points to it increasing even more in the next generations. Most Dornish peasants have between 3 and 7 children, of which they are lucky if 2 reach adulthood, that's how things used to be in the past. Reports in recent years said infant mortality has decreased enormously and her subordinates predict that by the time her grandson is a man the population will increase by at least half a million.

`By the time Doran is my age the population of Dorne will return to what it was before Aegon's conquest.`

House Martell is not the only house that has assembled its legions, the other houses are also aware of the threats that loom on the horizon and are preparing to defend their kingdom.

***(Flashback: A few days ago)***

In the throne room the leaders of Dorne are gathered, all the noble houses have representatives present and in most cases these representatives are the Head of the House, with some exceptions such as Quentyn Qorgyle who is the regent of his nephew Guilan ( who is a few moons away from becoming a man).

"W-what?"

"The Blackfyre are launching an invasion against us?"

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes. Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh have been invaded, and we suspect the Stepstones are also under their control. We all know that Dorne is the South Gate of Westeros, so we strongly suspect they might start their invasion with us. And even if it's not the case, likewise the war will come to our gates, for Dorne is a part of the Seven Kingdoms." Arthur Uller looked at the assembled nobles. His wife is sitting on her throne and he is to her left.

`Technically this is no longer my official position, but Doran has other things to worry about and he is not yet ready to represent the Princess of Dorne. But he will have to be soon, in truth these times force everyone to take exceptional measures.`

"It's one thing to have a war against the Targaryen dynasty and another thing to invade us." Says Lord Fowler, his eyes are analytical and take on a gleam of recognition. "In past invasions they never targeted Dorne, it's something the kingdoms wouldn't expect."

"But we are aware of their plans to invade Westeros. House Martell's legions have been training for weeks, by now any man with a few spies under his payroll should know that Dorne is preparing for war." Lord Allyrion intervened. "It would be pretty stupid to attack a kingdom that already has its armies ready to defend it. Stormlands or Crownlands would be an easier target."

"Allyrion is right." Lord Dayne nods. "Not to mention the logistical nightmare that is an invasion of our kingdom. Daeron the Young Dragons had Six Kingdoms and couldn't hold Dorne, the black dragons would be botching their own invasion by attacking us."

"Not necessarily." Dorna says, getting everyone's attention. "It's no secret that in recent years the wealth of Dorne has increased tremendously, we are currently the third richest kingdom on the continent and within a few years we will surpass the Reach."

That brought much cheer from the lords and ladies, many have benefited from the new wealth of the kingdom and more than anything else they are ecstatic at the idea of surpassing the Reach.

"Can you tell me what is particular about Dorne right now?"

Before her question, many look at each other, hoping that others will have the answer.

"We can turn the desert into rich farm fields?" Proposes a lord.

"Yes! In Essos there are several cities in desertic areas but none compare to Dorne in terms of food production!" Add another.

"It's not that." Lady Wyl shakes her head. "The Blackfyre will not invade us for our food. If food were to be their target they would be targeting the Reach, who still surpass us in food production."

Other lords and ladies put forward various ideas, none of which are correct.

"The coasts." The princess tells them after a while, seeing the confused look on the faces of most of her subjects, she represses the urge to roll her eyes. `Projects to increase the level of education in Dorne must be rushed, I cannot allow the next generation to be as obtuse as this.`

"Approximately eighty percent of our wealth is concentrated on the coasts." Arthur says.

Realization dawns on the faces of many.

"Oh."

"Fuck.

"Seven hells."

"Why are you all so upset?" A clueless lord asks and the princess has to resist the urge to wail in frustration.

`This is the reason I don't reunite all the nobility in one place more than once a year. Seeing how stupid and uneducated many of them are always makes my day bitter. Indeed, one's blood and lineage are important, but so are intelligence and cunning. Qualities that more than half of these men and women lack.`

"Dorne's greatest natural defense is the desert, the hot weather will deplete the morale of any invading army and lack of food and water will end their lives. But that is only the case if the invading army intends to take over the kingdom. Given that most of our wealth is in coastal towns like Planky Town, Salt Shore or Starfall, invaders could attack and plunder those places, take our wealth and leave." The princess explains with the patience of someone who has had to deal with this kind of stupidity for decades.

"Then they will use those riches to finance sellsword companies and other things they need to take over the other kingdoms." She continues. "Since Dorne is the third richest kingdom on the continent it is a very attractive target for quick looting."

"Basically we would be their fucking bank!" Lord Allyrion spits in anger.

"Exactly." Arthur nods. "That is why we have to prepare ourselves to defend the coasts."

"How long do we have before those lizards attack us?" asks Lord Fowler.

"The speed with which they took over the Disputed Lands tells us they planned their invasion well in advance. If we have that as a precedent we can expect an attack in one or two moons." The princess rhythmically taps the armrest of her throne with one finger. "But if there's one thing the history of our kingdom has taught us, it's the difference between conquering a kingdom and holding it."

"Do you think they will have trouble maintaining control over their new territories?" asks Lord Dayne.

"It would be surprising if that were not the case." Answer her. "No man or woman with pride in their veins accepts a foreigner conquering their home without doing anything about it. Of course, we cannot trust the pride of the essosi for anything, the majority of the population of those lands are slaves who lack pride and dignity. So we'll have to pull some strings."

"Pull some strings? Do you have any plans in mind?" Asks Lady Wyl.

The princess just hums in response but she doesn't say anything, her friend doesn't take her lack of response as an offense and smiles in response. Wylla Wyl has been friends with the Martell princess for many decades, and she knows that Dorna Martell always has a trick up her sleeve. She also knows that revealing your tricks before using them is like throwing them away.

"In short, the time we have is at least a moon and a maximum of half a year." She tells them.

"What are your plans?" asks Lord Dayne.

"Defend Dorne and destroy our enemies."

***( End Flashback)***

The main priority is to reinforce the defenses in the coastal villages and towns, keep a careful watch on the coasts and be aware of any movement of the enemies. Trystanne decided to divide the Dornish forces into three groups: one dedicated to the defense of the realm, one dedicated to the offensive, and one in reserve.

The legions dedicated to defend the kingdom aim to spread out along the entire coastline and prepare defenses against quick attacks as their enemies are unlikely to attack with sieges in mind. The legions dedicated to the offensive will be assembled in Sunspear and will prepare to invade the territories of the enemies as soon as a good opportunity presents itself. The legions in reserve will be ready for anything, ready to be deployed wherever they are needed.

Trystanne Dayne is the Supreme Commander of Dorne in the absence of Arron Martell and the one who leads the legions that will be the Spears of Dorne. Jason Dayne leads the Shields of Dorne. And the reserve legions are under the command of Tremond Gargalen.

Altogether Dorne has fifty thousand men, divided into two groups of twenty thousand and one of ten thousand.

`May the gods be kind and my family survive this storm`

The princess enters the throne room and if her spies had not informed her in advance who her guests are she would have been in for a big surprise.

"Rhaella, dear, I did not expect to see you so soon." She receives the girl in her arms and gives her two kisses.

"It's good to see you again, Grandmama." Rhaella smiles back, and the princess notices how tired she looks. Rhaella is quite pale and has dark circles under her beautiful purple eyes, which sparkle like the sun after a storm.

"Something has happened?" Her spies did not inform her of any important events in King's Landing, the only thing that is happening in the capital is the preparations for the wedding of Prince Aerys.

"Olyvvar wrote to me a few days ago." As soon as she heard those words, Dorna already knew the reason for Rhaella's presence and her expression softened, she looked affectionately at the Targaryen princess and smiled gently at her.

"Doran is alright, he is almost completely recovered." She assures her. `I'll have to talk to Olyvvar, sending that kind of letter without permission is dangerous. The world mustn't know what is going on behind the walls of Sunspear. Rhaella is not a danger but all her letters are read by her family's spies, well in this situation there is no fault. The entire continent must know by now of the trial, the trial by combat and the extinction of House Yronwood.`

"I know, as soon as I arrived I found out about it. It was an immense relief, during the whole trip I felt as if my heart was going to jump out of my chest. But the details, the details are more than scandalous. A faceless man? Was it really one? Did Doran fight a faceless assassin?"

"He killed one, and Trystanne captured another." She answers.

"Oh gods." Rhaella staggers a bit and the Martell princess quickly grabs her by the forearms.

"It seems you haven't slept in days, and if my suspicions are correct you haven't eaten much either. Come on, my dear, I'll ask someone to bring us something to eat." Dorna began to lead Rhaella towards one of the tea rooms in the tower, luckily there is one very close to the throne room.

"That would be most welcome, Princess Dorna. My princess has hardly eaten since we left Kings Landing." Ser Gerold followed closely behind and looked gratefully at the Princess of Dorne.

***

Doran is in his workshop working on some designs when his friend and confidante knocks on the door.

"Did you bring that?" Doran looked at Lothar curiously.

"Aye." He takes out a Valyrian candle from a bag that he has slung over his shoulder.

"Good, all our supplies are ready. We can leave for Essos tomorrow." Doran smiled slightly and turned his gaze to the plane he was working on.

`Is it a new ship?` Lothar looks curiously at the drawings before turning his gaze to the prince.

"I think we should delay our departure a bit." He says.

"Eh?" Doran got up from his chair and turned to him. "Are you unwell, Lothar? Has something happened?"

"No, no. Nothing has happened- well, yes." Lothar scratches his chin a bit nervously. "Princess Rhaella is here."

"W- what? Can you repeat that?" Doran blinked in confusion, not believing his ears. Rhaella only left Sunspear a few months ago.

"Princess Rhaella is here. Well, she is in Sunspear. She and Ser Gerold just arrived a few hours ago."

"Why? Is something wrong? Did the Blackfyre attack Kings Landing? How-"

"No no!" Lothar shakes his head. "Prince Olyvvar wrote to her when you were unconscious and she came because she was worried about your health."

"Oh."

"Yes, that's why we must delay our departure until at least after your nameday."

It is currently the 26th day of the seventh month of the year, exactly two days before Doran's birthday. The tourney and birthday party plans had already been cancelled, all the lords and ladies returned to their lands to prepare for war. He himself had planned to take advantage of everyone thinking that he will be spending his birthday with his family to infiltrate Blackfyre-controlled territory to initiate their plans to destabilize the control of the Band of Nine over the Disputed Lands.

"I'll go see her."

"I have already prepared the horses."

***

NOTE: There are advanced chapter in my p@ tre on if you want to support me and read some chapters earlier.

p a t r e o n. com /EdenofKovir

In the last few weeks I have had some health problems, luckily I am feeling better so I hope to be able to write a little more often. Have a nice day!