Of Bows and Horses

Lord Beric Dayne didn't quite know what to do with the prince, he had tested the boy with swordsmanship, but he never found a noble that was as horrible at it as Morian, the prince knew he was horrible at it, but he kept forcing himself to train. So Lord Dayne changed the weapon that they trained on, now, they used a spear, and again, the prince was horrible at it. It's strange as his brother is one of the most skilled men in the way of the spear, yet the boy himself is not good at it at all. So, in desperation, Lord Dayne changed weapons again, this time, it was basic hand-to-hand combat, and much to Lord Dayne's happiness, he was quite decent at it. And so they trained relentlessly in the art of hand-to-hand combat, and after a year, the prince became quite good at it.

But Lord Dayne knew that he would need to teach the boy actual weapons, so he came back to swordsmanship again, hoping that the teachings of hand-to-hand combat made him better in the art, but unfortunately, it became worse. Lord Dayne just sighed, so he used a last resort, sending a raven to his son, Arthur Dayne, who was making a name for himself as a capable knight in the north.

But that last resort plan soon crumbled as before he sent the letter, his maester got a letter from the capital that Arthur had just been appointed as a kingsguard of King Aerys II.

Lord Dayne is happy that his son became a Kingsguard, but he is a bit disappointed that he couldn't come back anymore. Lord Dayne just sighed as he closed the letter, and he looked at the window of his chamber, and saw that one of his guards was off his post, as the guard was teaching the young prince how to shoot a bow, he also saw his daughter, Ashara, watching the prince practising rather patiently.

He first was a bit mad that the guards didn't do their jobs, but once he saw what the prince did, he practically shrieked in happiness, as he just discovered the prince's hidden talent, archery. The boy, who had just taken up a bow for the first time in his life, shot the arrow perfectly at the target, even the guards were surprised. And so Lord Dayne quickly walked towards the archery range, and when the guards saw Lord Dayne coming closer, they gulped, as they knew that they left their posts. But they soon sighed in relief as the lord just dismissed them, so they quickly ran to their posts, hoping that the lord didn't change his mind.

Lord Dayne is now looking at the prince, then he comments on the fact that a bow is a 'cowardly weapon'. The prince looked at the lord and smiled. "My lord, cowardly or not, if the weapon can help me survive, I will use it." and since then, the young prince is allowed to practice on the ways of the bow, eventually becoming a master at it.

The prince was diligent at training, every morning, he would go to the archery range and practice, the target was riddled with holes because of the prince using it, one of the guards commented on the fact that they would probably need to replace it sooner or later as the prince was using it quite often. And as he got older and taller, Lord Dayne finally allowed him to ride a horse, and when he did ride a horse, he's really good at it. His horsemanship at that age can be compared with a knight from the reach, he often told the guards to make him some obstacles so he could train on his horsemanship.

Eventually, Lord Dayne sent a raven to the prince's mother about his skills in archery and horsemanship, and about a month later, an entourage from Sunspear arrived at Starfall, bringing a box that is carved beautifully, and a black sand steed. Those things are for Morian, his brother, Doran, had given him the steed and that box as a gift, Morian wasn't a knight yet, nor he wanted to be, but he welcomed the gift wholeheartedly.

When he opened the box, it contained a beautiful black recurve bow, the wood had been carved with the Martell's sigil, and the draw weight is so high, that the young prince can't use it yet. He set the bow aside to train with it later, and now he was looking at his new black sand steed, it was a she, and the prince could already tell that the young horse would be a strong one in the future. The boy stroked her mane gently, feeling her soft yet firm neck. He eventually let go of it, and encouraged Ashara, who was looking at the interaction rather jealously, to also stroke the horse.

She stepped in, and shyly stroked the horse. After a couple of seconds, she suddenly said, "Why don't you name it Athena? From one of your stories." The prince had no qualms with it, and agreed to name her Athena.

After he got his gifts, he continued to diligently train his skills of archery and horsemanship. Once every week, he rode Athena around Starfall, sometimes even bringing Ashara and her sister Allyria. He practised with the recurve bow, and eventually could use it.

Seeing that the prince's training is going well, Lord Dayne eventually brings him to a hunting trip, he allows him to bring Athena and the bow, and so he brings them. In the hunting trip, the prince helped Lord Dayne on hunting a deer. Lord Dayne had hit a deer with an arrow, but it wasn't enough to kill it, and to much of Lord Dayne's surprise, Prince Morian suddenly jump to his steed and grab his bow, and he gallops through the forest using Athena, he draws his bow on top of her, and shot an arrow through the deer's head, killing it instantly.

Lord Dayne was definitely surprised at how skilled the prince was now, drawing a bow on horseback and actually hitting the target is no easy task. Lord Dayne pondered if he should release the fostering early, as the prince had nothing to learn anymore in Starfall. Except for spending time with Ashara and her sister, reading them tales that he made up, he had nothing to do except train here.

And so, once the hunting trip was finished, he sent a raven to Sunspear, explaining the situation, the only answer that came from Sunspear was from his mother. "Let him spend his youth there. One year from now, I will come to Starfall to discuss his future."

Lord Dayne only smiled, he knew what the Princess was talking about. So he waited patiently until that day came.