The group crossed the three iron gates, the iron portcullises creaking down one by one, cutting off the cheers and shouts of the people.
Led by Princess Elia and Prince Aerys, the Lords, nobles, knights, and courtiers entered the Old Palace of Sunspear together.
Princess Elia and Prince Aerys walked into the Old Palace side by side, after which the Dornishmen and guests automatically formed two lines according to order; Rhaegar was required to take Princess Elia's arm, which was considered a form of etiquette.
The girl was delicate and sickly, her appearance was high-class but not breathtakingly beautiful, unlike the Tyrosh girl Shireen or the Baratheon girl Roberta whom Rhaegar had met before.
Although the Dornish royal family still resided at the Water Gardens most of the time, the Old Palace was clearly more formal.
The Old Palace contained a throne room, banquet hall, and more.
Rhaegar followed the footsteps of the ruling Princess of Dorne and the Prince of Dragonstone, walking up the long stone stairs of The Tower of the Sun, where the sunlight slanted through the thick, colored glass dome, making the pale marble much warmer.
In front were Prince Doran and his wife, Rhaegar with Princess Elia, and Prince Oberyn with a Dornish noblewoman; they were all young heirs. In truth, Prince Doran was no longer young; there was a large age gap between him and his younger siblings, and he was somewhat melancholy by nature, not fond of swordplay.
In the hearts of the Dornish people, Doran was not as popular as the passionate and combative The Red Viper, Oberyn, who was sturdier, fiercer, and full of passion.
Rhaegar noticed Hotha; the guard held a long axe with an ash handle, truly like a silent mountain. Hotha stood on the Dornish side, while Ser Barristan stood on the Iron Throne side, perfectly echoing one another.
Prince Doran's wife had considerable influence in Norvos, otherwise, she would not have been able to procure such a loyal and reliable axe-wielding guard.
Rhaegar saw two identical thrones on the dais, differing only in their sigils: one had a golden spear on the back, representing House Martell, and the other had a sun sigil, representing the rhoynar people.
The group chatted in the banquet hall, waiting for the sun to set before the grand banquet would be held in the throne room.
Prince Aerys appeared triumphant and energetic, so he began to introduce his plans to the Princess of Dorne.
"The kingdom you rule is vast and beautiful, but the desert is truly an eyesore. I have a grand idea to transform the rainforest and desert: we can dig a canal from the Red Mountains to realize the diversion of water from the north to the south, so that everywhere in Dorne will turn into beautiful farms and orchards."
"A grand plan! Prince, but we Dornishmen truly cannot support such a massive project," Princess Elia replied. She was very familiar with Aerys and simply treated it as humoring the Prince.
"Money is not a problem. We control the Stepstones, and once Bloodstone Customs is up and running, money will flow in in abundance," Aerys boasted.
As soon as these words were spoken, many people cast sideways glances, but everyone understood Aerys's nature and simply took it as bragging.
Tywin clearly just smiled it off, without exposing him.
Tywin was a perfectly chaotic rationalist; if you let him work, he was a master at it. If you let him do evil, he was equally adept.
Rhaegar looked at Aerys and inexplicably thought of certain ancient emperors who were often good at dreaming but not at execution; they did not look like true rulers.
Over time, Aerys was almost earning the nickname of 'The Dreamer', but due to royal protocol, few dared to evaluate the Prince this way.
However, this was not the first time the Prince had talked big; within a month, he would likely forget these grand but useless plans and choose the next great idea.
Just from what Rhaegar knew, Prince Aerys's grand plans included building another wall north of The Wall to occupy an extra hundred miles of land.
Building a great fleet to make the titan of braavos kneel.
Building a pure white city of marble on the south bank of the Blackwater Rush.
When the sunlight gradually faded, the lights inside the throne room continued, having transformed into a grand banquet scene, well-decorated.
First, Princess Elia offered a toast to King Jaehaerys, who was far away in King's Landing, "My Lords, my Ladies, let us drink to the King of the andals, the rhoynar people, and the first men, the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, Jaehaerys II!"
The crowd stood up and raised their glasses, the sound of clinking glasses stirring the heart, and the beautiful red wine even more so; the wine was top-grade Dornish summer red, hot and sweet, with a hint of fragrance.
Seven courses were served during the meal to honor the Seven.
The dishes included lemon egg soup, long green peppers stuffed with cheese and onions, lamprey pie, honey-roasted capon, and well-grilled, top-quality steak from the valleys of the Red Mountains.
Dorne had coastlines and the Red Mountains, so the diet was relatively diverse.
The most hardcore dish was the specialty Dornish-style snake soup; this was something other regions generally did not eat, but the Dornish loved it to madness, and roasted snake meat and snake soup were both fascinating.
The snake soup was made by simmering seven different kinds of snake meat with fire-dragon peppers, blood oranges, and a little snake venom over a slow fire.
After Rhaegar drank it, he felt it was extremely spicy.
After the snake soup came frozen blood orange sorbet, which could cool the palate.
As for dessert, everyone received a marshmallow shaped like Bloodstone, filled with sweet custard and small pieces of plum and cherry meat.
"On this expedition, I commanded tens of thousands of troops, traveled thousands of miles, wiped out pirates, and made the Two Daughters kneel. In the history of the kingdom, no one has ever ended a war as quickly and concisely as I have," Prince Aerys boasted, but many people just smiled without answering, not wanting to spoil the Crown Prince's good mood.
"Congratulations on the great victory you achieved on the battlefield!" Princess Elia complimented.
"Of course, all of this could not have happened without the dedication of my son and the soldiers on the front lines. I worked hard coordinating the rear, but the soldiers at the front worked even harder."
"Cheers to the great victory of the Iron Throne!"
Rhaegar and the others raised their glasses together, and joy enveloped the hall.
The banquet was one of joy and happiness; these were peaceful times, and also beautiful times.
Everyone enjoyed the food; even though the Dornish snake soup made people's mouths and noses smoke from the spice, the banquet was high-class and showed status, so everyone still enjoyed themselves.
After the banquet, people still occasionally chatted in the hall; the space here was vast and cool, and although it could not compare to the Water Gardens, it was acceptable.
"You should take a good look at these two books." Oberyn walked up to Rhaegar, and the gift he suddenly presented made Rhaegar pleasantly surprised.
Rhaegar took a brief look; both books were about the Young Dragon, Daeron.
One was 'Born a True Dragon', written by Daeron's admirer and Attendant. The other was 'Conquest and Destruction', written by a local Dornishman.
A legendary figure, who ultimately died from the rebellion and schemes of the Dornishmen.
"The same person is different in everyone's heart. In most regions, the Young Dragon's war is seen as a heroic stage. But in the eyes of some Dornishmen, this child's war was a game that ultimately destroyed him. However, 'what is rigid will break'—this is the truth. Hero or tragedy, it lies only in each person's choices, especially for the Targaryen. If a king could be a little more humble, perhaps things would be better," Oberyn said.
This was indeed the truth, just like Oakfist Alyn; those who loved him wrote that he was as firm as oak, while those who slandered him wrote that he was born a bastard.
Rhaegar nodded and looked at Oberyn; this kid had hidden meaning in his words, as if he were advising him to be humble and not too reckless.
Oberyn was not a mere martial artist; on the contrary, he possessed high intelligence and had also studied for a time in Oldtown, making him an outlier among those knights who loved fighting and the sound of blades.
"Thank you for your kindness, Prince! It is a pity that I was in a hurry and have nothing on me to give you," Rhaegar said.
Oberyn's intelligence was indeed quite high, but besides advising others to be humble, he himself should also be low-key.
"If I really wanted to ask you for a gift, I would hope it is luck! People all say that you are a lucky prince who has brought good luck to many. To King Jaehaerys, to Lord Arryn, to the whole country. If possible, I hope the Prince's luck can spread to my sister, making her healthier. I have read many books and found many maesters wanting to cure her, but this congenital weakness is still hard to heal," Oberyn said, his eyes somewhat dim as he looked at his sister Elia, who was accompanying their mother.
"Everything will get better, Prince!" Rhaegar said. Such genuine human emotion was indeed easy to be moved by.
"Everything will get better, Oberyn." Seeing the two chatting, Prince Doran also walked over and happened to hear Oberyn's wish. Doran was also somewhat saddened; of the three siblings, only Oberyn was in good health.
"I would like to ask you for a gift, Prince Doran."
"Please speak, Prince!" Doran was somewhat surprised.
"I would like to spar with your guard," Rhaegar said.
Doran's expression was uncertain; Rhaegar knew he was not just afraid of him getting hurt—Rhaegar was certainly brave enough to lead an army, but Hotha was also formidable.
Doran also thought of that ancient rumor: A hammer slays the True Dragon! It was originally a rumor spread by hearsay, but later, through coincidences, the rumors grew more and more frequent.
Not to mention that heavy hammer blow with which Maekar hammered his brother to death!
Although a long axe is not a hammer, it also belongs to the category of strength-based weapons, so it is better to stay away.
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