Chapter 220: Arrival in Dorne

"The Dragon Queen is furious! She's riding her dragon, pillaging the allied capitals. Two Triarchs of Volantis have been burned alive, nearly three hundred nobles consumed by dragonfire, countless noble estates looted—losses immeasurable. Tragedy! Tragedy! Tragedy! Lords of Tyrosh, be on your guard."

"The Dragon Queen has set fire to the Palace of Bliss. Twelve princes and thirty-five noble men and women have been slaughtered—utter carnage. Additionally, ten noble estates have been plundered, resulting in the loss of eight Valyrian steel swords, one kraken horn, two dragon horns, numerous heirlooms, and countless treasures, jewels, and books. Myr's princes, beware! Be cautious—be extra cautious!"

"The Dragon Queen has transformed into a demon dragon, preying specifically on the noble heirs of the Free Cities. The saying goes, 'when the lips perish, the teeth feel the cold.' Trade governors of Pentos, take heed, and reconsider joining the alliance."

"The Dragon Queen is a tyrant, condemned by both gods and men! Braavos, as the leader of the Nine Free Cities, you must uphold justice! Even if His Grace, the Sealord, refuses to join the alliance over the slave trade, at least negotiate a deal—ask the Faceless Men to offer us a discount, even seven-tenths of their price would do. They're too expensive!"

On the night of the attack, the Lyseni believed themselves to be an isolated case. But at dawn the next day, a raven from Volantis crossed two thousand kilometers, delivering grim news.

It had flown for one day and two nights—still much slower than Daenerys' dragon.

Now, the Lyseni understood—the Dragon Queen had gone mad, launching a relentless campaign of vengeance against the alliance.

Soon, ravens were dispatched to other trade cities, and within days, the infamy of "Daenerys, Mother of Dragons" spread across the continent of Essos.

But that was a story for another time.

As a supreme "socialite," Liness knew the noble houses of Lys inside and out—who owned Valyrian steel swords, who possessed great diamonds or rare treasures. She informed Daenerys of every detail and even brought out a city map of Lys from her bedroom, marking each important location.

Daenerys, in return, reciprocated the favor. Not only did she cooperate with the siblings in staging a grand performance, but she also spared their powerful patron, Prince Tregar.

Initially, Humphrey had suggested that his sister become a "black widow," using Daenerys' hand to eliminate Tregar and his wife, thereby seizing the vast wealth of House Omoren.

That way, they could even send dozens of longships back to Westeros to save Oldtown.

But Liness refused.

She said, "Here, I am adorned with gold and silver, indulging in luxury, spending hundreds of thousands of golden glimmer coins every year.

Yet I have no talent for managing maritime trade. Even if I inherited half of Tregar's fortune, I'd squander it in a few years. The prince is not just my lover—he is my long-term meal ticket!

As for following you back to Oldtown to live in hardship, don't even bring it up. After years in paradise, returning to hell? I'd rather you kill me now."

Humphrey's face turned red. He stared at his sister in disbelief, realizing for the first time that their family carried the "mad blood"—surely a lingering effect of their past intermarriage with House Targaryen.

His sister's madness was even more terrifying than the Dragon Queen's.

As an admirer of the fearless Barristan Selmy, it was natural for Ser Humphrey to think this way. But Daenerys secretly admired Liness for her self-awareness.

Still, beauty fades with time. When that day comes, what then?

Perhaps let Ser Jorah take over?

It seemed feasible.

With the eight Valyrian steel swords taken from Lys, Daenerys' westward campaign had yielded a total of twenty swords—a remarkable harvest!

Besides weapons and the exquisite jewelry that Liness had long coveted, Daenerys also discovered two horns in Lys: a counterfeit dragon horn and a damaged kraken horn.

The so-called dragon horn was about the size of a bull's horn, made entirely of Valyrian steel—lightweight and easy to carry at the waist.

As a simple military marching horn, its sound was loud and far-reaching, requiring little effort to blow.

But calling it a "dragon horn" was an exaggeration. It wasn't made from a dragon's horn, nor did it bear a sealed dragon soul—how could it control dragons?

The kraken horn, however, was intriguing. It was actually crafted from a dragon's horn, though it lacked a sealed dragon soul. Or perhaps it once held one, but the runes had since been damaged, causing the soul to dissipate.

Daenerys could still sense the mysterious Valyrian runes within it, but their exact purpose required further study.

Lys was a narrow island stretching nearly two hundred kilometers.

Finding an isolated cliffside cave, Daenerys stashed away the jewelry, books, steel swords, and the fake dragon horn. The kraken horn, however, she kept in her backpack for further research.

By then, night had deepened. Wrapped in blankets, she and her companion rested beside Drogon for the night. At dawn, after a simple meal, they resumed their journey westward.

They did not turn north toward Tyrosh or Myr.

Their success in attacking Volantis and Lys had relied entirely on the element of surprise—bypassing heavily fortified walls, descending from the sky, and striking directly at the vulnerable cores of their enemy's estates.

After all, who would station ballistae or garrison troops in their own bedrooms?

Thus, their attacks had succeeded time and again. But if their enemies became wary…

First, valuables like Valyrian steel swords would be hidden away in secret, unknown locations. Then, archers and ballistae would be set in ambush, with siege weapons at the ready.

If Daenerys dared to charge in on dragonback then, the chances of her returning alive would be slim.

Sunspear, the Capital of Dorne

Situated on the easternmost tip of a sandy peninsula, Sunspear was surrounded on three sides by the sea.

At approximately six in the morning, Daenerys departed from Lys. By around ten, her two dragons soared past Sunspear, continuing westward for another five kilometers before landing in the desert south of the Greenblood River.

Indeed, Dorne was home to Westeros' only true desert.

Although nearly three sides of Dorne are bordered by the sea, and two vast rivers stretch for thousands of miles within its territory, eighty percent of the land still suffers from water scarcity.

Take the dark green river before them, for example. It appeared to be four or five li wide, yet the current was extremely slow, and the water was so shallow that the muddy riverbed was clearly visible.

As noon approached, the glaring white sun shone down on the golden, scorching sand. Trapped between them, one felt as if they were steaming inside a furnace, the air thick with heat.

Hmm, the main issue was the clothing. Leather armor didn't breathe well—she should have paired chainmail with silk garments instead.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Dany tugged at her brown, well-worn leather vest and asked the fully armored knight beside her.

"I'm fine. I've been to Dorne many times, always wearing the Kingsguard's plate armor."

The old knight wasn't just clad in full armor—he also wore a gray woolen cloak that draped down to the ground.

The two of them followed the river for over a mile. After crossing a stretch of sand dunes, they found a crossing on the wide river.

Seven or eight wooden rafts were moored along the riverbank. A dozen children played by the water, while each raft had a sun-darkened woman aboard—some washing turnips and carp at the edge, others already tending fires to prepare meals.

The rafts were rather peculiar, with broad decks and small, low-roofed houses built on them—like a matchbox placed at the center of a smartphone.

They looked simple, yet the carvings on the hulls were exquisitely detailed, exuding a unique and captivating foreign charm.

"They are the 'Orphans of the Greenblood,'" Barristan whispered.

After the Rhoynish people were defeated, they were forced to leave the vast and prosperous plains of the Rhoyne. Ultimately, under the leadership of Queen Nymeria, a fleet of ten thousand battered ships crossed the Narrow Sea, bringing the last of their people into Dorne.

Yet some proud Rhoynar refused to abandon their ancient riverborne traditions. With the Rhoyne's vast tributaries and fertile lands, they had always lived on riverboats.

Some of the refugees treated the Greenblood River as their new mother river, continuing their free-spirited, drifting life upon its waters.

Those who could not integrate into Dorne came to be known as the "Orphans of the Greenblood."

The name sounded pitiful, but in Dorne's parched lands, these "orphans" were actually among the happiest people.

"Where do the guests hail from?" Seeing Dany and the armored knight, a bearded man in a gray robe emerged from the "matchbox" to solicit business.

"Don't ask where I'm from. I need to get to Sunspear on the other side," the white knight replied smoothly.

"Alright!" The bearded man called out to the children swimming in the river, roughly saying, "Dog Egg, Iron Doll, come back for lunch!"

Once the two naked boys scrambled onto the raft, Dany and Barristan boarded the "matchbox" and took their seats. The man then propped up a pole and slowly steered the raft toward the northern shore.

As for the woman washing vegetables behind the "matchbox," she merely gave Dany a brief smile when she boarded, then continued her work without interruption.

It took half an hour for the raft to reach the opposite shore. The scene there was nearly identical—seven or eight rafts docked in a row, women cooking over fires, men resting in their cabins, and children playing in the river.

"They live too idly," Dany murmured to the old knight after paying the fare and stepping onto the shore.

"This is their way of life, the riverborne customs they brought from the Rhoyne."

Sigh! No wonder they were eliminated.

It seemed that Westeros' three major ethnic groups—the First Men, the Andals, and the Rhoynar—were all once refugees displaced by ethnic conflicts in Essos.

For the Ghiscari to have held onto Slaver's Bay, it was no small feat.

Dany pondered silently.

Dorne covered nearly 500,000 square kilometers, yet it had the lowest population among the Seven Kingdoms—even less than the North. With fewer than 500,000 inhabitants, its population was less than a third of Slaver's Bay's.

However, Sunspear was not desolate. Merchants from the Summer Isles, Myr, Tyrosh, and other Free Cities traveled in and out constantly. The locals had olive skin, flowing black hair, and often wrapped silk scarves around their faces or wore wide-brimmed straw hats for shade.

One had to admit, Dorne's sun was brutal—it felt as though a magnifying glass hovered overhead, concentrating the sunlight upon them. Dany eventually bought a wide-brimmed hat with a sheer veil draping over the edges from a street vendor.

Sunspear—Sun and Spear. The sun symbolized Nymeria's Rhoynar, while the spear came from House Martell's original sigil.

Over a thousand years ago, Nymeria married Mors Martell and unified all of Dorne. From then on, the newly formed House Martell adopted the sigil of a spear piercing through a sun.

Hmm, upon closer thought, it was both vivid and meaningful.

The city of Sunspear was predominantly brownish in hue. Its cobblestone streets and brick houses were neither as towering and tidy as those of Volantis nor as exquisitely garden-like as those of Lys. They were simple, monotonous, but practical.

At its center stood the old palace of the Martell Princes, surrounded by three concentric curved walls. Streets and homes were nestled within these walls.

To put it plainly, the layout of Sunspear's walls and districts somewhat resembled a bagua formation.

Well, an extremely watered-down and makeshift version of one.

Still, it was indeed disorienting. Without the experienced Barristan leading the way, Dany might have gotten lost in the nearly identical curved districts.

After over an hour of navigating, they finally passed through all three walls and arrived at Sunspear's administrative heart—the gates of the Old Palace.

(End of Chapter)

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