"Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken"
Doran Martell
The Sandship
Sunspear
"My Prince" came a voice from behind Doran. He has been lying back in his chair, not sleeping exactly but not quite awake. Just trying to enjoy one of the few moments in which he felt some semblance of calm. Out in front of him the Summer Sea washed up on the sandy shores of Dorne and further out a Martell Galley towed a small Cog, probably a smuggler's, in towards port. A visible reminder of the trouble brewing outside the triple walls of Sunspear. Doran blinked his eyes twice and turned his head to where the voice had came from.
"yes maester?" he said, stifling a yaw.
The young, pale and ginger head of the Maester came in to view, his perfumed and combed beard and hair glinting in the sun. The young man bowed to his Prince and began again.
"Sorry to disturb, my prince, but there are more reports of Piracy in the stepstones and Narrow Sea. The Lord of Estermont has sent word that towns on the southern side of his island have been put to the sword while he hears similar reports from across the southern Stormlands." the young maester said, his voice assured and calm.
"Pirates raid the Narrow Sea coasts all the time. It is of no concern to us." replied Doran, slightly angry at this pointless interruption.
"If I may" the young man continued, irrespective of Doran's annoyance. "These raids seem more organized than others we have seen. Lord Estermont mentions war galleys with trained sailors, not the usual cogs or raiders most pirates use. There are reports of the Lyseni Salladhor Saan being seen entering the Stepstones. It is possible that he has brought together some confederation of Pirates, though to what end I cannot say."
"Is it possible these raids could have any connection to the missing Royal Fleet? and can't Lys, Tyrosh or Myr deal with this confederation? They all have powerful fleets and they need the Stepstones open." Doran countered, his interest in the matter growing.
"It is possible that the Velaryon bastard has taken his ships to the Stepstones, there are reports from traders of large warships in the area. As for the three daughters dealing with it, I would not be so confident. They are more concerned with fighting each other than a band of unwahsed pirates."
Doran nodded slowly at this "Well, there is little we can do about it. Dorne has next to no sea power and the ships we do have are needed to protect Sunspear and Plankytown. It is unlikely Saan would attack us anyway, the northern coast of Dorne is a hard land, and a poor one. Send messages to the lords and knights on the north. Tell them to be vigilant for pirates but warn them there is little any of us can do about it."
As the maester left Doran turned over a mental map of southern Westeros over in his head. When the time came, if it came, there were two invasion routes for the Dornish armies. The Prince's Pass and the Boneway. At the moment there were five thousand riders in the Prince's Pass and another five thousand in the Boneway. The Prince's was the wider of the two and the easiest to navigate, spilling out in to the open fields of the Reach good for plunder and almost impossible to intercept the column once they were in the open. However the Reach Lords were strong and still had good reserves of men and the Stormlord at Nightsong could prove a problem. The Boneway was different, smaller and longer it emptied in to the eastern Stormlands. The Baratheon lands were poorer and less populated than the Reach but many of their houses had been bled dry in money and men and thus the land was open all the way to King's Landing. In total the Dornish force should reach twelve thousand, ten thousand Dornish and around two thousand sellswords. Twelve thousand men were waiting for Doran's word. Twelve thousand to spread fear through the north in the name of the Dragon queen. Once, if, the invasion was launched the two forces would meet up at some point on the road to King's Landing and hopefully rendezvous with the armies of Queen Daenerys. And her Dragons.
Marwyn Baker
Myr
Marwyn was a long way from home. There was no where like Myr in Dorne, the two largest towns in Dorne, Sunspear and Plankytown, would easily fit within the old city of Myr while the harbour of Myr would easily swallow the entire Dornish fleet. Luckily he was not the phased by the size and grandeur of Myr, before joining the Martell Guards, Marwyn had served as a guard on a series of Traders crossing the Narrow Sea and as big as Myr was, it was small compared to Volantis which was by far the largest place Marwyn had ever visited. But unlike his previous trips to the port of the Free Cities, Marwyn was here not as a sellsword but as a gentleman warrior and servant of a Prince.
Currently Marwyn was walking around the circular harbour of Myr, his mind focusing distinctly on two different subjects. One was his official business here, two find a sellsword company of good repute and convince them to fight for Dorne. Of course with sellswords convince meant offer more money than anyone else. To find a sellsword company Marwyn had kept his ear to the ground in the less reputable areas of Myr. Most companies including the Golden Company, the Windblown and the Company of the Cat were away on Slaver's Bay fighting for or against the Dragon Queen. The Company of the Rose, Doran's favoured company, were in the north fighting for Norvos against Qohor. So far the Company of the Rising Sun seemed the most favourable. Made up of medium and heavy infantry they would be a good compliment for Dorne's cavalry and skirmisher based army who would suffer in a siege. They were camped near My as well.
The other subject on Marwyn's mind was far less professional, he was remembering the black haired boy he had enjoyed last night with a small portion of Doran's money. Tomorrow he would try and find this Ghiscari company but today he felt he owed himself some of the worldly pleasures on offer in this slaver city.