"Perhaps you'd like to stay back and enjoy a few more days with your wife, brother" Visenya suggested.
"I will enjoy many days to come with her after we've dealt with the threat that is Dorne" Aenar answered smoothly.
With the wedding festivities coming to an end, it was time that the focus shifted to Dorne. The Dornish had made no attempts to attack the Targaryen lands whilst the lords were busy attending a wedding feast. There were no shrouded attacks, no assassination attempts, nothing of the sort. Aenar credited it to the Dornish Lords that bordered The Reach, Stormlands and Dorne, Men who had bent the knee to Aegon and wished to fight against The Martell rule. Blackmont, Kingsgrave and Wyl became a wall of sorts.
On another hand, just because the Lords feasted and celebrated, It did not mean that they made no preparations. Orders were given to Lord Tyrell and Lord Baratheon to prepare men of the Reach and Stormlands and to send them ahead and be prepared for an attack any day. Orys Baratheon rallied a thousand knights and ordered them to Blackhaven, while Harlan Tyrell called up his banners and marched them to Nightsong. Both Lords had attended the wedding and were gone the next day to join their armies.
The Targaryen Siblings would part as well, divided into teams of two. Aegon and Rhaenys would fly to Nightsong while Visenya and Aenar would fly to Blackhaven to back up the men there.
Of course, that was not the only plan. Aenar insisted he meets the Dornish Lords that sided with Aegon's cause, to sit and get to know the kind of people they were.
The Lords of Dorne in support of Aegon gathered at Wyl to meet Aenar and Visenya, something that was odd considering how they had yet to meet their new King. Something Lord Yronwood had pointed out the moment he met Aenar and Visenya.
Yorick Yronwood was a hard man (an apparent characteristic of Stoney Dornishmen), with bright blond hair bordering white and deep blue eyes. He was as tall as Aegon was, maybe even an inch taller.
"You will meet my brother soon, Lord Yronwood. That much I can promise you" Aenar smiled at the man. "The reason you are meeting me first is because I would like to employ the Dornishmen's ability to fight battles where none can see them."
Lord Yorick raised a brow, while the other Lords either snorted or looked bored.
"Explain" Lord Yorick demanded.
Visenya took a step forward, but Aenar stopped her with a look. He turned back to Lord Yorick.
"Lord Wyl over there has many tunnels running under his castle if I'm not wrong. Each one leads to a different exit to the desert outside."
"Aye, I do" Lord Wyl, the Widow Lover, said with a small frown.
"And such tunnels also exist all around Dorne, used by your ancestors to take over castles of other Kings during the warring eras?"
"Tunnels long shut after the Martells took control of all of Dorne" Lord Wyl explained with a sneer.
"Perhaps the one to Sunspear for certain, but not all those tunnels are shut, yes?"
"They are all shut!"
Aenar sighed before smiling.
"A shame then" the young man stated.
"Is that all?" Lord Yorick asked.
"No. I had another reason to want to meet you all. It was a shame you couldn't attend my wedding. We all understand the political headache that would have caused, but it is still a shame. As an apology, I present to you the finest wine from the Arbor."
Aenar clapped his hands and his squire walked in holding a jug of wine. He pours a cup for each of them, including Aenar and Visenya before leaving.
The Lords of Dorne stare at the cup with distrust.
"To our long-lasting friendship!" Aenar declared before taking the first sip of wine. Visenya followed his example and seeing the two drink, the Lords of Dorne found the confidence to drink as well.
A moment passed after the first sip in complete silence, Aenar's eyes scanning them all individually.
"Let us return to plotting" Aenar hummed. "The tunnels no longer accessible has thrown my initial plans into chaos… But—"
"The tunnels are still operational" Lord Wyl cut in, his tone soft and drawn out. "I apologise for hiding the fact."
"It's alright. It just shows you have now gained trust in me and mine" Aenar smiled. "So with the tunnels back into play… I would like your men to use the tunnels to ambush our enemies while my sister and I with our troops divert their attention. Dismantle any scorpions they have and kill as many as possible before retreating. We will rain fire on them from above the moment we receive your signal. Should anyone drop their blades and wish to submit themselves, gag them, bind them and throw their weapons away before you take them as prisoners. If needed, strip them naked. "
The Lords nod numbly before one after the other they all leave the chambers, leaving only Visenya and Aenar.
"Your plan seems too simple" Visenya spoke the moment the Lords were gone. "Our enemies would know about these tunnels as well, and they will guard them heavily. Your ambush may not work."
"It won't" Aenar conceded, "Dornishmen will fight Dornishmen before our troops will swoop in to kill. We will move from castle to castle and take them down one at a time. The most we will lose are Dornishmen if my plan goes along well."
"Our allies, you mean."
"Our allies. They will fight for us, and like any of our allies, will die for our cause" Aenar agreed.
Visenya frowned.
"What do you have against the Dornishmen?" she asked.
"Me? I have nothing against the Dornishmen. I am simply doing what I must to win" Aenar clarified with a smile.
The Lords of Dorne separated once the meeting was adjourned and all Lords and their men were feasted with food and wine Aenar's party had brought forth from Oldtown.
Lords Manwoody, Blackmont and Qorgyle travelled to Kingsgrave to join up with Aegon's host to relay the plan to them, while the rest marched with Aenar, Visenya, Orys and their men to Yronwood up the Boneway.
The closest to the latter group was Hellholt, the castle of House Uller. As per the plan, the land troops under Orys and the Targaryen siblings marched overhead, while Lord Wyl led a troop of Dornishmen down the tunnels below after they crossed one of the secret exits in the desert. The Targaryen army waited for their signals from a distance, close enough to still see the castle but far enough that a scorpion bolt would still find it hard to aim.
The signal came in the form of a grand fire on one of the highest towers of Hellholt.
Aenar and Visenya flew ahead of the army, Cannibal and Vhagar raining fire down on the castle until the stones melted and the sands turned to glass. Orys led his troops after the aerial attack stopped, killing anyone who'd managed to escape the fire.
The divided armies met up again at the same place they'd divided.
"Casualties?" Aenar questioned.
"We have lost a few of our men, but not too many. Most were stationed on the towers so we were able to ambush them. Some even dropped their swords and gave themselves to our cause" Lord Yronwood explained.
"I'd like to meet these men. You have done well, Lord Yronwood. Rest and let us allow your men to rest and tend to their wounded."
The Lord of Yronwood nodded before walking away.
Aenar, with Visenya and Orys, went to the captured men, tied and gagged. The surprising one from these was the son of Lord Uller himself. Aenar removed his gag.
"I did not expect you here" Aenar admitted.
"My father was a fool to think we stood a chance against Dragons, let alone after Dornishmen had come to their sides. The Martell cause is a doomed one and I for one did not wish to die a horrifying death."
Aenar turned to meet Visenya and Orys' eyes, both of them looking stoic. He turned back to Umren Uller.
"How many have turned the cloak with you?"
"Ten, my Prince."
Aenar nodded, running his tongue over his teeth.
"Very well" he called the men patrolling nearby and he freed Umren himself. The patrolling soldiers freed the rest of the captives and stuck close, just in case. Aenar motioned for his squire, the boy ever so close, to fetch him a cup and jug of wine. The boy rushed and returned with them and poured a cup for Aenar, who drank it easily before pouring a cup for Umren. "A toast to our new alliance" Aenar explained.
Umren drank without complaint, and after him so did his men.
The Uller men along with Umren Uller were given to Lord Yronwood to command as the army marched the next day for Vaith. Aenar did not doubt that Skyreach and Starfall would fall to his brother's armies just as easily as hellholt fell to his.