9th Month of 286 A.C. Sunspear

Prince Oberyn Martell

It irked him that he had not managed to get to Rhaenys, not before she had disappeared, how she had disappeared he did not know, but he had scoured high and low throughout Essos and even some of the more shadier places in Westeros to find her, and he had found nothing. He was worried, for he knew that Prince Viserys and Queen Rhaella were still out there somewhere as well, but from what he could gather they were not together, and that, that was the greatest cause for concern he had. Where was Elia's little girl? And why was she not with her family? Either side of them. For whilst, Oberyn might despise Rhaegar for a coward and a craven, he did not want his niece growing up without a loving family, and that was something he knew might well happen if she were on the road.

Doran, however, seemed unperturbed by all of this, indeed he seemed slightly tired. "She will be fine, wherever she is, she will be fine. None would be so foolish as to sell her off to the usurper, not after his comments about the Essosi were made. Now they will merely think he is a fool who is wearing a crown. Nothing more, nothing less."

"And how can you be so sure?" Oberyn asks. "The Essosi are not like us Doran, they can remember things, Rhaegar was the one who spited them long ago, or was it Aerys? Either way it makes no matter, save to say the insult that the Targaryens dealt them is older than the one Robert Baratheon has given them. They have long memories, so long as Rhaenys is missing she is in danger."

"I cannot allow you to go gallivanting across Essos though brother. The more you disappear the more the spider in King's Landing gets suspicious, and he will whisper to that idiot sitting on the throne. The more suspicion you draw to yourself, the more chance there is of someone trying to do something smart here. You think the Yronwoods are not looking at all of this with glee? They most certainly are." Doran responds calmly.

"Do you think I give a damn about the Yronwoods?" Oberyn asks dismissively. "They are nothing but beggars, nothing but what you allow them to be. They have not power in Dorne anymore, nothing that is real. Allow me to go and look for our niece, it is the least I can do."

"The least you can do for who? Me? Yourself? Elia? I do not think you are doing this for Rhaenys, the girl is a child, she will not know who you are. Jaime Lannister has gone, disappeared from court, he must be with her." Doran responds.

"All the more reason for me to go and find her then. Surely you do not think Rhaenys will be safe under Lannister protection? It was the damned Lannisters who had her brother and Elia killed. She will be in more damned danger if she is with Jaime Lannister, because of who the man's father is. Tywin Lannister has not stopped looking for his son even though he is married again and has another child. He will not rest until he finds the boy." Oberyn says.

"And he will look to you, to see where to look next. Come now Oberyn, think clearly now. If you got charging off, looking for Rhaenys, you are drawing attention to the fact that you think she is alive and well. That not only brings the Usurper's knifes into this, it also brings Tywin Lannister into it. And that man is more dangerous than anyone else right now. We must keep low, to make sure that in time people forget about us." Doran responds.

"Knowing that Rhaenys could be out there somewhere? Alone and afraid?" Oberyn responds.

Before his brother can respond, there is a knock on the door, and when the door opens a servant scurries in handing Doran a sealed letter, Oberyn watches as his brother reads the scroll and then goes quite pale. "What is it? What does that scroll say?" Oberyn asks.

"It would seem that Ser Willam Darry, the man who accompanied the Targaryens out of Dragonstone is dead. Our men found his body in Braavos a fortnight ago. There are no signs of the Targaryens." Doran responds, his voice shaking slightly.

Oberyn feels his heart begin to beat rapidly. "Now you have to let me go. They are going to be alone out there, without any sort of support. How can we claim to be their leal supporters if we do nothing?"

Oberyn can tell from the way his brother's shoulders seem to slump that he has won this argument, for now. His brother looks at him and responds. "You might go, yes. But remember do not do anything that would draw attention back to Sunspear. And make sure you do not go by the way of the serpent, I do not want to have to be holding another funeral for another sibling."

Oberyn bows. "Of course, I shall be as quiet as a mouse when it comes to it."

He turns to leave then, but before he can, his brother stops him. "And I want you home before the year ends."

"That is nowhere near enough time to do this properly." Oberyn protests.

"I want you home before the year ends Oberyn. We do not have time to fool around." Doran says.

"This is not fooling around, this is looking for our niece gods dammit." Oberyn snarls.

"I know what it is Oberyn, and I know that you need to be back before the year ends." Doran responds stubbornly.

"Why?" Oberyn demands.

"Because, I shall need a commander for my armies when the time comes. I have had enough of sitting down and doing nothing. The usurper sits unsteadily on his throne, you have three moons to find the rightful king and bring him back to Westeros, and otherwise, I shall take care of things myself." Doran says forcefully, leaving Oberyn feeling quite stunned.


12th Month of 286 A.C. King's Landing

Lord Jon Arryn

Things were not going well, they had won the rebellion, but the ghosts of the past were still there haunting their every footstep. Robert was slowly turning into a thing that Jon did not recognise and was not proud of saying he knew. His former ward was now the king, but there seemed to be not a lick of happiness in him, nothing that seemed to fill him with joy. Gods, there was nothing that even filled Jon with joy, not anymore. He was slowly ageing and turning into what his father had been, something he had sworn he would not be. It was becoming more and more frustrating as the days turned into weeks and turned into moons and then into years. He did not know what to think or what to say, still he sat at the head of the council and listened and counselled.

"It has been some time since we last met my lords. And there is much and more that must needs be discussed. I would hear what has to be said, so we might reach an amicable conclusion." Jon says.

There is a silence and then Pycelle asks. "Will His Grace, the King not be joining us?"

Jon looks at the old man-gods he is old himself- and merely responds. "No, he has not deigned to join us. Now, what word is there from around the kingdoms?"

At this Pycelle speaks once more. "Well, I can confirm that Lord Eddard Stark has finally agreed to pay the taxation due on the canal he is building. And though he continues to insist that the taxation is unlawful considering the agreement he reached with the king, he will pay the small amount that was asked."

Jon breathes a sigh of relief. "That is good, it solves one major problem. Has Lord Stark written in response to the other query that was made of him?"

Pycelle shakes his head. "It seems to have slipped his attention my lord hand. There is not a mention of it anywhere within his letter."

Jon sighs, he wonders how things became so bad between them, him and Ned, and Ned and Robert. The damned Lannisters, they are at the heart of all of this, and yet Jon is not foolish enough to believe that they could function without them here at court. Robert has not really been interested in the rulings of the kingdoms for some time. "What word from Pyke? Has Balon answered the queries as to why he was building those longships?"

Once more Pycelle speaks. "He has my lord hand. It seems he was building them in preparation of campaign into Essos, he wishes to make more money that way to be able to cover the costs of building said ships."

Jon does not believe that for an instant and looks over at Varys asking. "How likely is that story to be true my lord Varys?"

The eunuch is silent for a moment, considering his answer, when he responds. "Not very likely at all my lord hand. More than likely Balon Greyjoy is plotting something or the other, and it is going to be quite sinister."

Jon Arryn sighs. "Why is that when the Ironborn lose a man such as Quellon Greyjoy, they are replaced by a man such as Balon? They are never going to learn that their way is dead, and has been dead since the conquest. I suppose we shall merely have to show them why their way is dead." Jon looks at the king's brother Stannis and says. "I want the royal fleet prepared and ready to depart at a moment's notice. I also want letters sent to the Arbor as well as to Casterly Rock, should Greyjoy try anything we shall crush him."

"It shall be done my lord hand." Stannis responds.

Jon nods and then turns his attention back to the eunuch. "What word has there been on the Targaryens?"

"Ser Willam Darry is dead. His body was found in Braavos quite recently but there was no sign of the Targaryens. It seems they might well have left for the further east." Varys responds.

"Further east? What is there for them further east, but desert sands and waste?" Jon asks.

"Norvos my lord hand. A place that has good ties with Dorne, the Martells specifically. And furthermore, it is a place that has taken quite a grave offence to King Robert's latest blunders. They are not likely to give them up to the crown if asked." Varys responds.

Jon sighs then, Robert, Robert and his drink, Robert and his damned desire to see people laugh at his jokes when drunk, jokes that more often than not ended with someone being offended and Robert left angry. How did it go so wrong? He looks at the eunuch and asks. "And what exactly might they do should the exiles end up there?"

"Welcome them with open arms, treat with them, speak with them and make sure they are well seen to. Norvos might not be the most powerful of the free cities, but it does have some powerful allies. And they are gathering at this moment in time. They are preparing for something." the eunuch responds.

Jon does not like how ominous that sounds. "Do you know what it is they are planning for?"

"The same thing that some lords here are planning for." the eunuch responds.

"And that is?" Jon asks, fear and impatience mingling together.

"They are preparing for the return of the dragon, and I do believe they are preparing to make it something that will make all of Westeros and the known world stand on end. There is something serious being planned, and I am not sure whether we have the power to prevent it from coming into being." the eunuch responds.

"And why do you say that?" Jon asks.

"Because there are plotters everywhere, and it is hard to kill one before another one springs up to replace them. We are in fact surrounded my lord hand." Varys responds.