Aemon and Doran rode their horses through the gates of the castle and were greeted by a massive retinue.
"Seems like the whole castle is her" Doran whispered to Aemon
"Seven hells." Aemon replied.
Lord Wyl led the retinue towards their horses and grabbed his son in an embrace as soon as they were off the horses. "My dear boys, you have made us the talk of all Westeros. The lord of Tarth will be so splease that we were able to return his sapphires" He said as he released his son and pulled Aemon in for an embrace. "We will immediately prepare for the festivities."
"Festivities?" Aemon queried "For catching a thief uncle? That seems excessive."
"Nephew, those sapphires were removed from the Lady of Tarth's personal jewelry, her lord husband has promised a feast at his expense for whomever finds them."
"Aemon, we're going to be famous!" Daemon yelled as his father turned to Ser Robert and motioned for him to step forward.
"I would like to present these fine swords to both of you for your work." Lord Wyl bellowed to the assembled crowd as he unfurled the package. "For you my dear son, a fine blade with this beautiful hilt to signify your future as Lord" he said as he pulled a longsword out of the bundle. Doran knelt and said "Father, I do not deserve such a gift," before Lord Wyl handed him the sword. Aemon admired the golden handle. It was one of the most ornate he had ever seen. The pommel appeared to be a black adder winding its way down to the blade with rubies for eyes.
"And for you Aemon, I had the smiths make this special" Lord Wyl commented as he unfurled the pack. Aemon looked in astonishment at the sword. The handle was silver, but was brightly polished to reflect the hot Dornish sun. Where Doran's was a snake, Aemon's pommel was constructed in such a way that one side was a wolf and the other an adder. Aemon picked up the sword and admired the craftsmanship. He had seen this style from some of the Braavossi but had never gotten to hold it himself. The hilt appeared to have been constructed like a knife, though the blade was as long as a sword.
"Uncle, you honor me." Aemon said as he admired the sword.
"Now boys, rest up and enjoy your spoils. There will be a feast in two weeks time. The Lord of Tarth himself will be attending and I will personally send an invite to the Prince." Wyl said before embracing each once more and turning back to the castle with his retinue.
Soon, Ser Robert remained with just Aemon and Doran as they admired their new swords. "You boys did well" he said with his usual gravelly tone. "Where's the thief."
"Coming Ser. Our men are a half day behind us. They had to break camp."
"Good. The lord has commanded we keep him alive so that Lord Tarth can punish him himself, but I'll make sure he's nice and cozy in the dungeons." He grasped each mans hand and turned back to the castle.
"Cousin, did you hear who father is inviting?" Doran said once they were alone.
"It seems like half of Dorne and the Riverlands is going to be invite to this feast." Aemon chuckled as he started to unsaddle his horse.
"Not just that, he's going to personally invite the Prince. Maybe he'll bring Ashara, she is his favorite daughter."
"Maybe he will. But that time has long passed cousin. She's of the royal line of Dorne and I am a bastard of the North and Dorne, we can never be together."
"Have faith cousin. The seven will provide." Doran put his hand on his cousins shoulder and tried to reassure him.
"The seven" Aemon thought to himself with a chuckle. "Cousin you'd best go get a warm bath. I think the heat got to you" he said turning the reins over to one of the stable boys as he lead his horse down to its stall. I'll meet you once we've rested so we can share the spoils with our men."
Aemon returned to his room and had one of the servants bring him a bath. As he sat in the warm water, he let his mind return to Ashara. They had been in love once. She had travelled with her father to the funeral of his grandfather and ended up staying for most of a year. She was kind and tender, and while none told them as much, they both knew they couldn't be together. He did not know if he would be happy to see her or if she would be happyy to see him, but he knew it would be torture to watch her leave again.