King's landing
Ser Davos pov
"Your uncle Oberyn talks about Meraxes dying by dornish hands with pride but you talk about it like it is your greatest shame"the prince said while taking a sip of wine
"That's because Oberyn is fool with too much pride,there are many fools in dorne who remember meraxes dying but forget how the conqueror nearly razed dorne to the ground after that,north was lucky that it had a sensible king like Torrhen stark,the only man who could go toe to toe against the conqueror,he knew that they couldn't win against the dragons so he gave up his crown for his people,while dorne was bathed in dragonfire and blood north was left in peace,Harrenhal melted,armies of West and reach burned away in the fields of fire,but the north didn't even lose a single man to dragonfire,it's lands unaffected by the destruction south of the neck but still you foolish northeners call Torrhen Stark the king who knelt"the princess replied with a scoff
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown,you see Torrhen Stark's love for his people that he gave up his pride and crown for them,but you don't see the love the northern people had for their king,they were ready to face dragonfire for him even after they heard what happened in the fields of fire,when he gave up the crown the people felt betrayed,uncle Aemon once told me this,no ruler is beloved by all,with every decision you make more and more people will turn against you,a good ruler knows how to make tough decisions all the while keeping most of his people on his side,I hope you will remember this when you sit on the Iron Throne as the queen"the prince said with a smile but there was air of melancholy about him
The princess just nodded and moved her piece on the board,they played for while but as Davos thought eventually the prince won
"Your Nameday tourney is coming up in a week,and now that you been in the court for a while they are no longer calling you the black dragon,but it has changed to the dark prince,the monstrous and mysterious heir to the crown,there are even rumors going around that you practice dark magic with that red woman"the Princess said with smirk
"So what,am I supposed to care about what these idiots say about me"the prince bluntly said
"No but you know rumors can quickly get out of hand,so I want you to charm everyone at nameday celebration, let's take a page from our father's book,you can use that beautiful voice of yours to sing and you will have everyone eating out of your hand by the end" the princess suggested with a grin forming on her face
"Should I also dance for them,why don't I juggle for them while we are at it"the prince said with snark,"Father is the musician in our family,I am may have inherited his singing voice but I am no poet,I don't know how to write songs,when father sings it's more than just singing,he can pull everyone into his own little world when he sings,if I sing it will come off as a cheap imitation of him"
The princess shook her head,"I can have bards lined up outside red keep by tomorrow to write a song for you,but you are right writing a new song for you won't do much,but there is one song that you can sing better than anyone else,Jenny of the oldstones,you can sing that song like you saw summerhall burning with your own eyes "the prince froze just for moment when the princess said that last part
"Please egg just sing it as a gift for me"the princess pleaded
Reluctantly prince nodded,then princess turned to Davos and gave him a nod
Davos understood and quickly took a big scroll from his person and handed it the prince,prince opened the scroll,"what is this,it is just filled with names"prince asked
"It's been two moons since you showed off your sword mastery during the trial,By now all of the seven kingdoms must have heard about it,and since you don't have a squire yet so every lord is sending ravens hoping you will take one of their children as your squire,this list of names is of the few that I deemed acceptable among all the requests that came in,you have to choose at least one but I hope you will take three squires and a cup bearer" the princess replied with a chuckle
"I don't need squires and certainly not a cup bearer,I did just fine without them so I am not going to take any squires or anything else"the prince seriously said
Davos can't help but laugh a little,he has seen prince charge into battle without a hint of fear,but the mighty white wolf is afraid of little children being his squires
"You will choose a squire egg,or I will send ravens to the farthest edges of the seven kingdoms and call three little kids here,when these kids travel for moons to the red keep all excited that they get to learn from the first sword,then you will have look those young children in the eyes and tell them they all came here for nothing and break their little hearts,can you do that egg Or will you pick just a name like a good little brother"the princess threatened
The prince started at the princess,this stalemate lasted for a while before prince sighed and took the scroll and started reading the names,the princess smirked as she won this battle
"Podrick Payne,squire to Ser Cedric Payne"the prince read one name out loud for some reason
"Yes a distant cousin to Ilyn Payne,the boy is a squire for his cousin Cedric after boy's mother ran away with some other cousin of boy,this Cedric took him in but treats him like servant rather than a relative"the princess said
The prince said,"I see one of the criteria for being acceptable is that you know everything about them,anyway call the boy here,I can't have a lannister bannerman no matter how small as a squire right now but Ser Brianne needs a squire,and our grandfather took Ilyn Payne's tongue so the least we can do is take care of this kid"
The princess just nodded as the prince continued going through the list
"Trystane Martell"the prince said with a confused look,even lady Arianne who was on the couch reading a book looked up hearing that
"The raven was sent by my cousin and not my uncle Doran,I don't think my uncle even knows about this"the princess explained
"Tell trystane if he can make it to red keep without getting caught by his father then I will take him as a squire and personally teach him swordsmanship,and I will also handle his father"the prince said as he went back reading the list
The prince smiled as he read the last name on list,"Devan Seaworth" and turned to Davos
"The boy dreams of being a knight someday and he begged me to ask you your grace"Davos quickly explained
The prince nodded,"tell Devan to come to the red keep tomorrow,if the boy has talent I will take him"