Lady of Dawn

The negotiations went smoothly. The soldiers Lonzell had brought never had to do anything.

At least, no one said a word when four dragons took to the sky.

After climbing down the rope ladder hanging beneath Vomysor's saddle, Lonzell turned and saw Valar wearing a baffled expression.

"Brother, what exactly was the result of the negotiations?"

Lonzell accepted the light ale Sebastian Calamityflame handed him, rinsed his mouth, and only then answered his younger brother's question. "An identity, proof, and several hostages." He placed the cup back in Sebastian's hand and continued explaining. "Mother's bloodline proves our royal status. That will let us naturally integrate into Westeros's noble system, and make the fact that we possess dragons all the more legitimate." He paused and looked up at the dragons in the sky. "After all, the Dragonlords who ruled this land for over a century were Targaryens."

Vomysor and Silverwing circled leisurely above the fleet.

Lonzell withdrew his gaze from the dragons and continued, "The Dorne Borderlands are a very special place in Westeros. According to the information Visari and Evans brought back, this land lies along the Red Mountains and includes the Eastern Borderlands of the Stormlands and the Western Borderlands of the Reach. The lords of those two regions swear fealty to the Baratheon family of Storm's End and the Tyrell family of Highgarden respectively, but the nominal guardian of the Borderlands is the Tyrell family of Highgarden." He sorted through the details of the territory. "The title of Governor of the Borderlands means that, once we have established ourselves, we will possess the legal basis to unite the entire Borderlands."

Seeing the confusion in his brother's eyes, Lonzell continued, "We accepted the gods' recompense. It is already inevitable that we will establish ourselves in Westeros and advance the writing of that A Song of Ice and Fire. So we must consider how to maximize our gains and better participate in the gods' game."

"And there is also the right to conquer Dorne." Lonzell brought up the matter that interested him more. "Aegon I of the Targaryen family once tried to conquer Dorne, but his crude methods only united the Dornish, and he ultimately failed with regret. Though Dorne ranks near the bottom in both land and population, it produces gold, copper, and iron in abundance. Its people are fierce warriors, making it an excellent source of troops and a strong rear base."

"So we're going to conquer that place called Dorne?" Valar immediately became excited.

"Not yet." Lonzell patted his brother's shoulder. "Our most urgent task is settling everyone in the family."

"And another thing." Valar raised another question. "What is a squire?"

"Everywhere in Westeros except the North follows the Andal Faith of the Seven and inherits Andal culture. Knightly culture comes from that. Knights who swear to fight for the gods and their lords need not only armor and warhorses, but also the service of squires. Knights of humble birth either have no squires, or their squires are commoners as well. But the squires of noble knights are often nobles themselves. Boys born into noble families regard serving as a squire as an important step on the path to knighthood." Lonzell recalled the intelligence they had mentioned before. "Princess Rhaenyra's son may have questionable blood, but he does have some courage. He volunteered to come here as a hostage. Heh."

"Then we..." Valar was still somewhat confused.

"Just treat them like little brothers," Lonzell said. "After all, according to the current line of succession, Prince Daemon has sent over the future heir to the throne and the future Lord of Driftmark. And his eldest son too. Hmm, he seems quite magnanimous. Valar, gather everyone. We need to discuss our next plan."

Dragonstone.

Prince Jacaerys stood alone outside his mother's chambers, as though he had just argued with her.

Not as though. Princess Rhaenyra had flown into a rage because Jacaerys had voluntarily thrown himself out as a bargaining chip. If she had not been pregnant, she might even have wanted to beat the boy.

Although she quickly sorted through the pros and cons and understood why her son had acted as he did, a mother's frustrated anger at finding her child disobedient still weighed heavily on her heart.

"Come in." Rhaenyra finally composed herself and called back the son she had just chased out.

Only then did Jacaerys cautiously push open the door. Princess Rhaenyra lay on the bed with her swollen belly and shot him a glare.

"If something like this happens again, remember to discuss it with me first," Princess Rhaenyra said in a less than pleasant tone.

But Prince Jacaerys smiled. After all, his mother saying that meant she had forgiven his rash decision.

Seeing her son's face brighten at once, Princess Rhaenyra could not help smiling as well.

Mothers always worried about their children, after all. And when a child was exceptional, a mother would also feel proud, even if the child was not quite obedient.

Unlike the brief warmth on Dragonstone, things were tense aboard a ship on the Narrow Sea.

A tall Maiden clad in bronze scale armor held a massive greatsword as pale as milky white glass, glaring viciously at the captain sprawled on the floor before her.

The Maiden was not very old. Her long pale golden hair fell simply behind her back, and her bright violet eyes seemed to shine beneath the sun. Behind her stood a Maiden in fitted clothes and a boy holding a wooden stick. Rope marks still remained on the boy's body.

"My lady, let's talk this out. Let's talk this out," the captain pleaded in terror as he stared at the two bloody heads that had rolled to his side.

"Why did you raise the fare halfway through the journey? Why did you tie up Alan at night and sneak into Diana's room and mine?"

The female Warrior planted one foot between the captain's legs, making him jerk in fright.

"My lady, let's talk this out. This was only an accident. I am willing to compensate you and these two for the fare. Would that be acceptable?"

"Shut up. I only want one reason."

Behind the female Warrior, Diana Tarly let out a long sigh in her heart. The gods truly had a strange sense of humor. The Tarly family of Horn Hill and the Dayne family of Starfall had actually ended up on the same side. One had to know that historically, the neighboring Tarly family and Dayne family had fought each other to the bitter end.

However, unlike those truly shameless Dornish lords of the Eastern Borderlands, the Dayne family had always fought for their respective lieges. Though the two families had clashed repeatedly in many wars throughout history, their conflicts had generally remained on the battlefield. In times of peace, the two houses had even hunted and competed in martial contests together.

Still, being protected by a woman of House Dayne like this was practically unheard of.

"Enough nonsense. Hand over the money, and you stay. Until we reach Pentos, you are not allowed out of our sight."

"Alright, alright." The captain looked ready to cry. "My lady, could you move your sword and your foot?"

"Shut up!"

"Captain, something's wrong!" A sailor rushed into the cabin in a panic, then staggered in shock at the scene inside and nearly fell.

"Speak quickly if you have something to say!" The female Warrior shot the sailor a glare.

"Yes, yes." Before the sailor could finish speaking, the cabin door was pushed open by soldiers wearing light leather armor and carrying spears.

"The Valaerys fleet suspects your vessel of being a pirate ship of the Three-City Alliance." The soldier expressionlessly swept his gaze around the cabin. "We need to verify everyone's identities."

"Obara Dayne." The female Warrior loudly declared her name.

"I am the true master of Dawn."

Second update check-in. To explain, the protagonist knows Strong's bloodline is questionable, but Strong's officially recognized status in the kingdom is right there. What he needs is Strong's status, not his bloodline. Thank you all for the discussion.

The boil still hurt a little.