Over the next few days, Talvey met with the various generals and administrative officials of The Stepstones one by one, including Ser Ricken Redwyne, who commanded the entire fleet at the time, and the tax collector appointed by the Sea Snake.
He reissued orders to them to provide escort services for all merchant ships passing through The Stepstones, warned them to strictly enforce the collection of tolls according to established tax rates, and handled some matters that they were unable to resolve.
After finishing all this, Talvey decided to personally resolve a matter concerning the issue between Dorne and The Stepstones.
Bloodstone was adjacent to the Broken Arm of Dorne, and between the two places was a strait through which large merchant ships could pass.
Although the Dornish fleet was weak at the time, Talvey would not look down on Dorne.
Their numbers might be a little small, but their valor in battle and indomitable spirit prevented anyone from daring to underestimate them.
Before Aegon and his two wives rode three dragons and burned Dorne, the rhoynar dared to fight the most powerful empire in the entire world at that time—the Freehold of Valyria.
The two sides broke out into the rhoynar Wars, which lasted for two and a half centuries.
Legend has it that in the last war, Prince Garin led 250,000 rhoynar in a desperate battle to the death.
Although they used water magic, they were no match for Valyria’s three hundred dragons, and were ultimately completely wiped out.
The surviving Queen Nymeria could only lead the remaining rhoynar across the Narrow Sea to flee to Dorne.
To cut off any thought of the rhoynar returning to their homeland, she married Mors of House Martell at the time, and on that very day destroyed all the ships that had crossed the sea, then unified the entire realm of Dorne.
From then on, House Martell has always been the rulers of Dorne.
After Aegon’s Conquest, House Targaryen broke out into wars with Dorne multiple times.
Under the leadership of House Martell, the Dornish stubbornly resisted and were never conquered, continuing to this day, well-deserving of their words—Indomitable.
Talvey did not want to entangle himself with this group of crazy Dornishmen in the short term, which was why he decided to personally go to Sunspear to negotiate in person with Prince Qoren Martell, the Prince of Dorne at the time.
Talvey took Sir Azel Vanes and thirty guards, sailed from Bloodstone, and traveled south all the way along the Dornish coastline, soon arriving at Sunspear, the castle of House Martell.
Laborers, handicraft sellers, fruit and spice vendors, and slave merchants came to the streets one after another, hawking their goods, and some were even hawking themselves.
Suddenly, bursts of shrill screams broke out among the busy crowd.
“It’s a dragon!”
“Quick, hide in the cellar.”
Before Talvey’s party had even reached Sunspear, the commoners in the city spotted Terentius flying in the sky, and chaos was on the verge of breaking out.
A group of soldiers poured out, standing on various high spots in the city and shouting loudly, “Quiet, this is the dragon of House Valthorn of The Arbor, and this time it is here to visit Prince Qoren. Go about what you should be doing and do not panic.”
Since it was an official visit, out of courtesy, Talvey had already arranged for a messenger to notify Prince Qoren before setting out, which was why these soldiers were so well-prepared in advance.
The soldiers shouted over and over again, finally putting a stop to the riot among the commoners in Sunspear.
Before long, the entire city returned to its previous busy and prosperous scene.
However, besides bustling for their livelihoods, the commoners gained one more thing to pay attention to.
They began to gather in twos and threes, discussing what the dragonrider’s purpose in coming to Sunspear was, and whether another war was about to break out…
When Talvey’s party flew the Valthorn banners and arrived at the gates of Sunspear along the Shore Drive, the reception personnel arranged by Prince Qoren had already been waiting at the entrance for a long time.
As the ancestral castle of House Martell, Sunspear was expanded from the previous Sandship.
Its overall color was earthy yellow, and the first things that naturally caught the eye were the Spear Tower, the highest building in the city, and the adjacent Tower of the Sun.
Flying on the city walls was the heraldic banner of House Martell featuring a spear piercing the sun.
The spear symbol belonged to the original House Martell, while the sunburst was the symbol of the rhoynar, representing that House Martell was the joint ruler of Dorne and the rhoynar.
“Welcome, Lord Talvey, to Sunspear. Please enter!”
An olive-skinned, tall middle-aged noble offered salt and bread to Talvey’s party.
This was the ancient guest right; as long as bread and salt were eaten, neither host nor guest could harm each other.
Talvey took the tray, pinched off a small piece of bread, dipped it in salt, ate it, and then passed it back to Sir Azel behind him, turning to ask the noble, “I wonder which lord of House Dalt of Lemonwood you are.” This chapter was copied from novelping(.)com without permission.
“Haha, Lord Talvey truly has a profound attainment in heraldry.” The noble first praised Talvey, and then formally introduced himself, “I am Andre Dalt, head of House Dalt of Lemonwood!”
Andre puffed out his chest to display his family’s heraldry—lemons evenly arranged on a purple background.
House Dalt were descendants of the rhoynar and had always been one of the most trusted families of House Martell.
Their lands bordered Sunspear and Planky Town, separated in the middle by the largest river in Dorne—the Greenblood.
“Hello, Sir Andre. Please trouble yourself to prepare food for Terentius. His appetite is huge, and even I am often troubled by it.” Talvey said with a wry smile, pointing to Terentius who had landed outside the city.
Andre first glanced with awe at Terentius, who looked like a mountain not far away, and then looked at Talvey with a smiling expression, saying, “You jest, Ser Talvey. Presumably, no one would ever complain about a dragon’s appetite being too large. Please rest assured, I have already arranged manpower to prepare food for your dragon.”
“Azel, leave ten men to assist Terentius with his feeding, and the others follow me into the city.” Talvey instructed Azel, then turned his gaze to Andre and said, “Let’s go, Sir Andre.”
As important guests of Prince Qoren, Talvey’s party walked along a shortcut leading directly to the Old Palace under Andre’s guidance, without needing to detour through the maze-like town surrounded by three curved walls.
“I’ve heard that even the bravest enemies would lose their direction of attack because of Sunspear’s three curved walls.” Talvey rode forward while looking around this distinct-styled city.
Hearing this, Andre looked up at the tall triple gates and said, “Ever since Prince Martell built the three curved walls seven hundred years ago, Sunspear has only ever been conquered by dragons.”
Talvey nodded in agreement, “Heh, I’m afraid even dragons might not necessarily be able to conquer Sunspear. Of course, besides the city walls, there is also the Dornish people, who all execute House Martell’s words—Indomitable. Even when Aegon the Conqueror rode three dragons back then, he failed to make the Dornish submit.”
“Hahaha, thank you for Lord Talvey’s praise, but what you said is right, the rhoynar and the Dornish never submit.” Sir Andre laughed heartily.
He hadn’t expected this heir of House Valthorn to know Dorne so well, and furthermore, this Lord Talvey was completely different from the spoiled young scions of the Six Kingdoms.
Through this short journey of observation, Andre found that his speech was leak-proof, his conduct was neither arrogant nor impetuous, and he gave the impression of a ruler well-versed in the ways of the world, yet hidden within his brows and eyes was an edge that looked down upon everything.
Truly remarkable, it seemed House Valthorn was about to flourish once again.
Talvey only smiled this time and did not reply, because by this time they had already arrived at the Old Palace, and the towering Spear Tower and Tower of the Sun were close at hand.
The Old Palace