46
----
112 AC
Stepstones - Grey Gallows
Daeron Nymeros Martell
----
If I knew it would take them this long to get here I would have just scouted out some of the other islands from above the clouds. I have been waiting nearly a full day here on my own and am just now seeing some damn sails in the distance. Grey Gallows was empty as a grave other than campsites that do not look long abandoned. I combed over it for hours and hours and so not a single soul.
If I have to guess I would say the Triarchy is concentrating its forces on islands they plan to not lose no matter what. Grey Gallows seems to not be one of those such islands, I suppose they will be holding the ones closer to Tyrosh. It would make sense to not want to fight us at the lower part of the Stepstones for a few reasons. Wanting to draw us into the broken islands so they can set ambushes and even try and force us aground. There are tons of half-submerged islands that need to be avoided and choke points.
I expect the majority of the fighting to be done around The Skulls, Dark Den, Torturer's Deep, Wreckstone, and finally Bloodstone. The other islands from what I have seen and read are not much of their concern except Sunstone which is right off the shore of Dorne. Sunstone and Shame Island are two that we will take after Grey Gallows since they are so close to our shores. We can easily get supplies brought to those two islands with how close to Dorne's shore they are, House Toland already has a stockpile waiting to send to Sunstone and then later to Bloodstone once we take it.
House Toland is an interesting one that took a green dragon on a gold backing as their sigil after Aegons conquest. They were one of the ones most against my Father marrying my Mother but these days they seem like cheerleaders with all that has happened. They are pushing hard for this conquest of the Stepstones and are going to be the ones responsible for building upon Bloodstone.
But enough of my musing I suppose I need to do my part and fly over them showing everything is clear. I will make another loop around the area for the sixth time just to be sure and then I expect we will begin unloading and fortifying a position here. Lewyn and Laenor will start scouting from higher than the enemy can even shoot even if they wanted to try.
----
112 AC
Stepstones - Grey Gallows
Qyle Nymeros Martell
----
"Are you ready?" I ask Daeron as I finally get a moment to check up on him, he has been on his dragon since we landed to be prepared for anything to happen.
"I am ready, when am I leaving?" I can not see any nervousness or uncertainty and that brings pride to my chest.
"First light, we will have things set up here by the time morning comes around and the portion that is sailing with you will be resting in the meanwhile. Once we have our feet under us your brother and Laenor will be more than enough to keep an eye out and can engage an oncoming fleet should it be necessary." I am a bit worried about the young Velaryon on the back of a smaller dragon than my boys but if his Father is fine with it and Laenor himself is then I can't say much.
"Alright then, I guess I can get some sleep before I need to escort them tomorrow." He looks thoughtful before looking down at the map beside me on the table. "Even with good winds, it will take a similar amount of time for the ships to reach Lys that they took today to get here. Gaelithox will need to take a break at some point on the trip over there and I also do not want to leave the fleet alone for too long..." His brows scrunch together before he points out the small island off the coast to the north of Lys.
"What are you thinking?" He shrugs and stands back up straight no longer looking at the map.
"I will just have to fly ahead when Gaelithox wants to rest his wings, he can fly for a very long time but I do not want him tired when it comes time to burn a fleet. I think I will fly ahead and land on the smaller island apart of Lys and let him rest before regrouping with the ships and finishing off the journey." He yawns and stretches his arms above his head before turning to walk off. "I guess I will see you before I set off in the morning." I shake my head and look back to the map putting him out of my mind as I focus back on what I was doing before he showed up in my tent.
----
112 AC
Stepstones - Bloodstone
Craghas Drahar
----
"Are we prepared for this? The shipment from Myr was lacking what was promised and we need all the bolts we can get. The damn sand dragons have two dragons almost as big as the stories of the Black Dread, one even looks the part." My Tyroshi co-admiral speaks up with annoyance as he glares my way, it's true the shipment was short but we had to send some to the fortifications in the disputed lands as well.
We can not leave the fortifications in the disputed lands bare, if the dragons fly over and start burning the farms and farmers it will be disastrous.
"We have allowed ourselves to be cut off from support from Lys, we should have attacked when they made their way to Sunspear or held them off from getting onto the Stepstones." A Lysene man from an old family speaks up while holding back his anger.
"If we moved out to attack either time they sailed passed we would have had to send everything we had at them. We have seen or heard of the size of the dragons and one is small but two are quite big and won't go down easily. It will take more than a few well-placed bolts to down a beast that size, the best bet is to take out the rider and hope the beast flies off." I speak up and all in the cave go silent, looking at me as they wait for my next words. "If we want to kill the 'sand dragons' then we will need to have damn good accuracy or get them when they are not on their dragons." I raise my wineskin and take a drink while I let them think about my words.
When I heard from my people back in Myr that the Martells had dragons I always knew this would eventually happen. I felt it in my bones and when I heard the size of two of the beasts I knew it would be a hard battle. I put forward the idea of cutting their throats almost immediately but was denied, now look at us.
I knew what would happen, Dorne will want to grow in power with their newfound strength. Hearing of the Prince of Dorne marrying the fucking heir to the Iron throne... well that was a startling find for my friends. But it was too late, The Velaryons got engagements with the other two Martell kids and now they are coming for us. Now the only option, if we want to keep the Stepstones and the shipping lanes, is to kill them. Killing the dragons will be next to impossible and the Dornish knows this best of all, they managed to get one but it was a lucky bolt in the eye. They know out of all people what dragons can do after they were used against them time and time again.
"We will lay traps with crossbowmen laying in wait and they will only aim for the riders. It is the best option we have to take the dragons out of the fight, then it will be just a matter of kicking the Dornish and Velaryons off the rocks into the sea." Prince Qyle will be furious if his sons die but it's the price of war, he sent them here.
The kingdom of the three daughters has been friends with Dorne since we founded it, and they spit on us with this invasion. They got full of themselves with dragons under their control and a marriage to the Targaryens. Now they want to take control of the shipping lanes, it won't happen on my watch.
Prince Qyle will not be able to do anything other than try to fight us at sea if we can kill his sons. The Targaryens will likely thank us if we can kill them, yes they have a marriage alliance but it is most likely only possible because of their dragons. Without dragons, the Targaryens would sooner conqueror Dorne with Fire and blood and not the marriage bed, they might even thank us for killing the Dornish dragon riders.
----
112 AC
Kingslanding
Myriah Nymeros Martell
----
I groan and slam the book shut causing Rhaenyra to jump in her seat from the loud noise.
"How many times have you read the damn thing?" I narrow my eyes at the message that came with a raven not long ago.
"Just a few..." Rhaenyra sets it down and picks up the book on the long night once more.
The raven was sent by my brother, he sent word to his 'beloved wife' and she has been much more cheerful since she got it. I also received a small message but it was only a few pleasant words wishing me well and good health along with telling me to stay out of trouble. But Rhaenyra got a full bottle of ink written on hers with all the scribblings of my brother.
He won't be able to send another for quite some time unless he flies off to one of the castles in Dorne. But he said he is confident and not to worry about him but he did not mention any plans as they could have been intercepted. So Rhaenyra is rereading it trying to find some damn hidden message. I find it both annoying and cute of her but when she invites me to this stale library with her just to read the message... I get more annoyed.
"Let's call it a day, for now, Alicent invited me to go buy some more cloth." The little Hightower girl is trying her best to be friends with me but I see through it.
She seems too stiff to be genuine and Rhaenyra has told me all about Alicent's Father Otto, the man likely put her up to it. We have been around each other plenty since she comes around Rhaenyra all the time and that is where I usually am. But she started wanting private shopping trips and to eat just the two of us, she wants to get closer. She might not have any harmful intentions like wanting to stab me but it's what she will tell her Father that makes me hold back.
But there is no reason to turn her down when she offers to pay.
"Uggghhh, fine let's go and see what she is up to." I tilt my head at Rhaenyra who just squeezed herself into my day's plans, but knowing it will interfere with Alicent's plans I can't stop my smile.
"Of course sweet sister, let's go find Alicent and have her waste her Father's gold on us." Rhaenyra chuckles as I loop my arm around her.
Sometimes it is nice to have the future Queen of Westeros as your good sister, even if it means she is stealing away my brother. There is plenty of time to work for my goals and there is nothing wrong with enjoying the process of getting to meeting my goals. I just hope Ser Otto sent his daughter with enough coin for two Princesses.