Doran Martell's solar resembled a library hall, buried in books and lined with shelves holding more of the same. Opposite the entrance through which we had come stood a richly made table of black wood. The same man with the axe stood beside Doran's chair. As it turned out, this was Areo Hotah, Doran Martell's most trusted man, a native of Norvos. Between the entrance and the Prince's table were two settees facing each other, with a small table between them bearing fruit and wine.
"I wish to apologize once more for last evening," Doran Martell began.
"We all lost something in this war. I lost a good father and brother: Lord Robar Royce and Ser Kyle Royce. My nephew Elbert Arryn was executed by the Mad King, and my niece's husband, Denys Arryn, fell at the Battle of the Bells. I do not blame Prince Oberyn for his... irritability."
"I confess I have been wondering what brings the second most powerful man in the realm to a region that is not well disposed toward him. What does the usurper Robert Baratheon want from me?"
"Dorne is an important and singular region of the Seven Kingdoms. I have come to Dorne for one reason only: peace."
"Peace. You want Dorne to bend the knee after the savage murder of my sister and her year-old nephew. Do you know how they died?"
"I have heard that account, along with its embellishments."
"It is not an embellishment. It is a fact. My nephew was given fifty stab wounds and had his head smashed against a wall, while my sister was violated by the dog-keeper's bastard. What had they done to deserve it? If you want peace, then you must answer for it in kind."
"And what would that require?"
"I want the heads of Tywin Lannister and the men who carried out his orders."
"Lord Tywin's head?"
"The Mountain violated and killed her. He only does as the Lannisters command. Will you deny it?"
"On a battlefield a commander may have no knowledge of his soldiers' crimes."
"Will you deny it?"
"Categorically. Lord Tywin is an honorable and worthy man who spent nearly twenty years preventing the Mad King from destroying the Seven Kingdoms."
The solar fell silent. I had no way of knowing where Doran's thoughts had gone, but mine were in the throne room, where Lannister cutthroats had laid out bodies wrapped in crimson cloaks at the foot of the Iron Throne. My astonishment at Robert's reaction to that butchery had been genuine. I had known the Targaryens needed to be removed, but it could have been done with more care. An accident arranged. A simulated illness, a quiet poison. The Night's Watch. Senseless cruelty of that kind revolted me. I had wanted to speak against it, to condemn the act as my heart demanded, but cold reasoning won out. And I held my tongue like a coward, and left a mark on my own honor. We do what is right when it comes easily, but when the choice is hard, only a strong man can do the right thing. Breaking off that stream of thought, I said:
"Prince Doran, tens of thousands died in this war. If it continues, hundreds of thousands more will follow. Why would you spend Dornish blood? For the Targaryens? Aerys was a madman. Rhaegar was no different. He abducted and violated Lyanna Stark despite having a wife and two children. And you would go to war for dead madmen?"
"We could become independent again. No one could conquer us. You know that as well as I do."
"I do not deny it. Dorne cannot be taken. But why waste your people? Dorne has three times the population it had before it joined the Seven Kingdoms. If the war continues, famine will follow, and most will die of that rather than of swords and axes and spears. And so I ask you: for the sake of peace, for the sake of stability, and for the sake of your own people, bend the knee before King Robert Baratheon. Preserve what you still have, and I give you my sworn word that everything you have will remain yours."
He regarded me at length. It would have made me uncomfortable if I did not use the very same method myself.
"Lord Arryn, give me time to think. Areo will show you to your chambers."
...