Chapter 93: Consequences
20th day of 5th Moon, 259AC
Doran and the rest of the hunting party had just returned to Yronwood Castle, their hunt interrupted after a rider arrived with urgent news. Lord Yon's health deteriorated terribly, the old lord seems to be in his last moments.
Naturally Lord Edgar commanded everyone to return to the castle, he wanted to be there for his father. When he realized that the highest ranking person in the group was not him, but Doran, he looked at the prince with pleading eyes. The prince, being as magnanimous as he is, agreed to return to the castle as quickly as possible.
The prince was very kind and sympathetic to Lord Edgar and Lord Ormond, his own humor seeming to match theirs. Such a show of empathy touched the hearts of many, and more people began to talk about how noble and good Prince Doran is.
Of course the prince played that role to perfection, no one could say that the cause of this incident is the empathetic and compassionate prince.
Behind the mask he so carefully crafted, Doran was relieved. The guilt was washed away and only calm remained. A quiet serenity.
Lothar noticed the change in the prince, he knew that his protégé was the cause of the state of Yon Yronwood but he really did not know what to expect when Doran returned to the camp that morning.
Fault? Remorse? Disgust?
What he saw in the early hours of that day matched his expectations, the prince was clearly traumatized by what he saw, by what he did. The knight did his best to cheer him up, but he soon understood that his prince wanted to be alone. Doran wanted to reflect on what happened, on his future. And at the end of that day, all restlessness, all doubt disappeared from the prince's eyes.
Doran seemed to have had an epiphany, he seems to have found his resolve.
And from that day on every time Lothar saw his prince he could see a shadow behind him, a familiar figure.
The prince entered the main courtyard of the castle, dismounted and handed the reins of the horse to a stable boy who ran towards the prince as soon as he dismounted. As Edgar and Ormond ran towards the quarters of Yon Yronwood the prince walked towards his own quarters, followed by Lothar.
Once inside, he waved his hand and murmured a few words. With the spell cast Lothar knew it was safe to speak, no spies were able to listen to their conversation.
"What will happen now? We still don't have the proof we need." Lothar leaned against the wall by the window and gazed absently out into the courtyard.
"The proof we need is in Braavos, that's our next destination." Doran sat at the desk with a map in hand.
"Braavos? How could we justify interrupting the Tour to go to Essos?"
"My grandmother sent me a message a few days ago, at first I didn't think it was something important and it really isn't. But it gives us the perfect excuse to justify going to Braavos." Doran takes a letter out of his pocket. "Prince Jaehaerys sent people for Rhaella."
"Does the letter say why? The princess is only 14 namedays, there are still another two years until she comes of age, which is when fostering usually ends."
"No, but I suspect it has to do with the war. Dorne, being the Southern Gate to Westeros, is in more danger. Although taking Dorne is almost impossible, there are ways to do it. By land it's a suicide mission, but by sea. ..Most of the coastline is made up of dangerous reefs and high cliffs, but not all of it.Shadow City, Progress Town, Planky Town,... There are many coastal villages and towns that would be the perfect target for a seaborne invasion. Prince Jaehaerys must have thought the same, which is why he sent for Rhaella."
"And for that very reason our princess ordered your father to start preparing our defenses." Add the knight.
"Yes, my grandmother is preparing our defenses. I also have various plans to increase those defenses."
"Your new ships!" Lothar notices. "That's why you ordered the construction of those ships."
"Yes, the galleon will be the pillar of our maritime defense. We already have 2 built, and I ordered the construction of another 40- Although I foresee that we will only have about 20 or 30 galleons ready by the time the war begins. But I think, I hope, that they will be enough to defend our coasts."
"Braavos has the best shipyard in the Known World, we can order several ships-"
"-and so everyone will think that's the reason for my visit to Braavos!" Doran finishes the sentence and looks at Lothar with a smile.
Lothar nods and smiles.
"Given our skills, we can 'take' those documents while everyone else thinks we're on the high seas." Lothar sighs in annoyance as he realizes something. "You will ask me to stay to watch and you will go alone to the bank."
"Someone has to make sure no one breaks into my cabin, if the news that I disappeared from my cabin in the middle of the sea were to..." Doran doesn't finish the sentence, just shrugs. "Came on, ser. Everyone need a sidekick!" The prince walks up to the knight and pats him on the shoulder.
"Sidekick? What is that?"
Doran doesn't answer, he goes back to his seat and continues elaborating the plan.
"After the funeral we will go north to the nearest port and take a ship to Wyl. A shipment from the Sun Trade Company should arrive at the port of Wyl in a few days, there we will take one of the caravels to sail to Sunspear. If everything goes well we will get home before the arrival of Prince Duncan, who was sent to escort Rhaella to Kings Landing, we will join his group to accompany my good friend, once in Kings Landing we will have to devise something that will allow us to leave soon. And on the way back we'll pass through Braavos."
"Accompanying Princess Rhaella is a good justification for interrupting the Tour, but that will anger quite a few Lords. We'll have to placate them somehow."
Doran looks at his knight gratefully, it's nice to have someone to help you see all angles of the situation. Nobility sensitivities are quite annoying, if Doran doesn't do something to placate them many lords (whom he didn't visit during the short tour) will get angry and throw a tantrum.
His vassals keeping a grunch against him for such a trifle is quite annoying. After thinking about it for a few minutes, Doran's eyes light up.
"My nameday! We had already planned to have a tourney, we can extend that celebration and invite all the lords of Dorne! With a few gifts and promises I can earn `their forgiveness`" Doran rolls his eyes at the last thing he said. "It will also be the perfect opportunity to deal with the Yronwoods."
"With all the lords present our Princess could hold the trial and punish them right there."
The two continue to refine the plan for a few hours, at the end of the planning session Doran is very pleased with the results. Now all you have to do is get everything up and running.
***
Under the dim light of the moon Doran walked through one of the courtyards of the castle. It was silent and deserted, only one guard in sight. The guard huddled in his cloak against the cold atop the battlements of the inner wall. He looked bored, no doubt he was sorry he had to be there alone. Otherwise, the castle was dark and no one was to be seen, but a sound kept repeating itself.
Doran walked to where the noise was coming from. Soon he reach one of the secluded corners of a training field. His attention was focused on Ormond Yronwood, who was currently striking a training dummy with a sword. The squire seemed to have forgotten everything he learned in his many years as a warrior, his blows lacked technique and precision. Ormond hit the doll again and again, driven by rage and pain.
The prince had seen him from one of the windows, at first his reason for coming was simply to play the role of the worried prince but seeing the magnitude of the child's pain he hesitated.
"Ormond?" Doran caught the teen's attention.
Turning around, Ormond glared at him, not mad at him, just mad in general. Doran saw the helplessness in his eyes, the prince didn't have to use the mental arts to guess what the young lord was thinking. Ormond lamented his uselness, he felt frustrated and angry that he couldn't do anything for his grandfather.
Again Doran lamented that this simple and honest boy was born into such a greedy family, into a family that sealed his fate the moment they conspired against the sun.
"I'm so sorry about what happened, I know what it's like to see your grandfather wither in front of your very eyes and not be able to do anything. My grandfather didn't die, but for a long time it seemed like he did. I know our situations are quite different, I just wanted you to know that I understand, at least part of what you're feeling, and if there's anything I can do, anything, just tell me"
"Is not the same!" Ormond yelled. "You were just a baby when your grandfather almost died! No one remembers what happened when they were babies."
"Yet I do." Doran smiles sadly. "When he woke up I was there. I remember the look on his face when he realized he couldn't feel his legs, the desperation in his eyes. I remember my grandmother's helplessness, I remember everything."
Ormond looks down and mutters something.
"Sorry."
And again Doran feels bad for him. He does not regret his actions, nor what he will do but he regrets that Ormond is collateral damage. A victim of circumstances. During the last days he thought of many ways to save the Yronwood twins because given the magnitude of House Yronwood's betrayal the punishment will be the execution of the entire family, including the twins.
***
The next morning news of Yon Yronwood's death reached the prince. Doran met with Edgar Yronwood to offer him his condolences, after which he went to visit the twins. The funeral was planned to take place in five days. Doran stayed and helped as much as he could, during which time he planned the kidnapping of Ser Ronnel.
It was pretty simple, he just had to drug him and lock him in his jail trunk. Inspired by Bartemius Crouch Jr, Doran had prepared a portable cage (several in fact) for situations like these. You never know when you're going to have to kidnap someone.
Doran stole a chest of gold from the Yronwood treasury and made it seem that Ser Ronnel was the culprit. With some letters, written by Ser Ronnel himself while he was under imperio, everyone thought that the old Knight had had enough of being Yon Yronwood's errand boy and decided to retire to the Summer Islands.
Disturbed by Lord Yon's death, Edgar believed the tale and no one questioned Ser Ronnel's "actions".
The funeral was quite boring, the old man was buried in the crypts of the castle after several emotional speeches. After the funeral Doran left Yronwood, in one day he reached the nearest port. There he said goodbye to most of his entourage, since almost a hundred people would not fit on the ship that would take him to Wyl.
Lothar, a dozen knights, Fred, and a few servants accompanied him. Luckily he made it to Wyl just before the Sun Trade Company ships were to leave. Despite hos intentions to leave as soon as possible, Doran had to stay in Wyl for a few days, as Lady Wyl is a close friend of his grandmother and the prince did not want to insult her by leaving in such a hurry.
At the end of the month Doran arrived at Sunspear, just in time to join Rhaella on the journey to the capital.
***
-Band of the Nine-
Ser Derrick Fossoway was a man with a reputation as dark as the night. After becoming a knight he broke each and every oath he made in less than a year. He robbed, raped, and murdered. But since his victims were smallfolk and he was a knight from a noble house he was never punished, no one dared to accuse him of anything.
The crime that led him into exile was the murder of his wife.
Derrick is a jealous and possessive man, when he saw his wife smile at another man during a banquet he thought that she was unfaithful. That night he confronted her, she adamantly denied that accusation. Derrick didn't believe her and he started hitting her, thinking a few hits would loosen her tongue.
She continued to deny it, which further infuriated Fossoway, who hit her more and more. When he finally calmed down he saw that the woman was not moving, her body was bloodied and full of dark bruises. Realizing that he had killed her, he knew that he had to flee, his wife's brother was the captain of the guard to his distant cousin, Lord Fossoway. He won't get away with the murder unpunished, so he took all the gold he had and fled to Essos.
There he joined a sellsword company, after a few years he befriended a member of the Golden Company and got himself admitted in it. Being part of the most famous mercenary company in the world came with many advantages, among them a very good pay, but with more disadvantages (for him). The Golden Company is a traveling professional army, the discipline and good behavior of each soldier is key. Something Fossoway couldn't get used to, moreover being treated as an equal to a peasant was not something he could accept.
His arrogance and violence led him into a fist fight with one of the captains, after which he was kicked out of the company.
That attitude caught the attention of another man, someone who was also kicked out of Golden Company for his violent behavior. Ser Derrick Fossaway became the first follower of Maelys Blackfyre, the first to join what would one day be known as the Band of Nine.
Fossoway founded his own mercenary gang, the Bloody Apple, numbering 2,000 men. All criminals; thieves and murderers, dregs of society.
In the middle of the year 259 the Band of the Nine made their first move, conquering Tyrosh. One of the band members, Alequo Adarys, was installed as its head of state. That was just the beginning. The goal of the group is to conquer a kingdom for each member. And they were just getting started.
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