When Jaime and them arrived in Dorne, they went straight to Prince Doran Martell's palace.
Doran was surprised to see them. "Jaime Lannister. What brings you here? And what happened to your hand?"
"That's a long story," said Jaime.
Prince Doran studied Bane. "And what's this? A talking fox? Am I correct in assuming that you've come from Mossflower Country?"
"Yeah, but that was a long time ago," said Bane.
"I suppose you've come to check up on your niece, Myrcella," Doran said to Jaime. "Come. I will bring you to her."
He led them into a living room. Myrcella was sitting at a table, playing the game called cyvasse with her betrothed, Prince Trystane, Doran's son. Arys Oakheart, the knight who had escorted Myrcella to Dorne, stood over her.
When Myrcella saw Jaime, she ran to him and hugged him. "Uncle Jaime!"
Jaime hardly recognized her. It had been so long since he'd seen her that she looked like a different person.
She saw his tentacle. "What happened to your hand?"
"I had a little accident with a goat," Jaime told her, referring to Vargo Hoat.
"This is my son, Trystane," said Doran. "And this is my daughter Arianne." He indicated a girl sitting on a sofa nearby.
"Don't you have another son?" Jaime asked. "Where's Quentin?"
"Quentin is… away from home right now."
Bane walked over to the game board. "Is that cyvasse? I've seen it before, but never learned to play. It looks too complicated with all those pieces."
"I can't make heads or tails of it either," said Arys Oakheart.
Myrcella smiled. "It's not that hard. I picked it up right away. It's all the rage in Dorne."
"Yeah, I've been playing a lot longer than she has, but she beats me every time," said Prince Trystane.
Jaime turned to Doran. "Can we talk privately?"
They walked out into the empty hallway. "What is it?" asked Doran.
Jaime pulled Myrcella's pendant out and held it up for the Dornish prince to see. "Where did you get that?" Doran asked.
"Someone mailed it to King's Landing… in the fangs of a viper statue. Sounds like a threat to me."
"We don't hurt little girls in Dorne," Doran said.
"They hurt little girls everywhere," Jaime said darkly.
"Why would I want to threaten Myrcella?"
"Maybe to avenge your brother."
Doran spread his hands. "I bear no resentment over Oberyn's death. He died in a trial by combat. He knew what he was getting himself into."
He sounded sincere enough, but Jaime couldn't be sure. "What about Oberyn's daughters?" he asked.
"I've had them under lock and key ever since we got the news of his death," said Doran. "I didn't want them doing anything crazy. None of them could have possibly sent the pendant."
Jaime said, "Maybe I ought to take Myrcella back home, where she'll be safe."
"There's no need for that," said Doran. "We can just move her to the Water Gardens for a while."
Jaime showed no reaction to this. "Fine with me. But can my friends and I stay here and do a little detective work? Try and find out who sent the threat?"
Doran smiled. "By all means, my friend. Detect away."
That evening, Jaime, Bane, and Bronn had dinner with the Dornish royal family. Afterwards, they went up to a guest room where all three of them were staying.
"Myrcella tried to teach me to play cyvasse today," said Bane. "She's a nice kid. Not like her brother."
"Did you ask Prince Doran about the pendant?" Bronn wanted to know.
"Yes," said Jaime. "He claimed he had no idea who sent it. But he wants to move Myrcella to the Water Gardens tomorrow. He wants to put her in prison. There might be fountains and fig trees there, but it's a prison nonetheless."
There was a knock on the door. Bronn opened it. A knight stood in the doorway.
"My name is Gerald Dayne," he said.
"Dayne," Jaime repeated. "Aren't you the brother of Arthur Dayne, who used to be on the Kingsguard before he died?"
"Yes. If you want Myrcella to survive, you've got to get her away from here tonight. I know about the threat on her life, and I know who sent it. It was Prince Doran himself!"
"How do you know?" Jaime demanded.
"I have my ways. We can break Myrcella out of her tower tonight. Princess Arianne is going to help us, and Ser Arys Oakheart, and a few others. We need to move fast, or she'll be dead!"
