the Old and the New

When you ask the prince of any particular memory of his mother that stood out the most, he would say that he will always remember the conversation he had with his mother a month before Rhaegar came to Sunspear. The prince wanted to talk to his mother about Ghaston Grey, but instead, he got a talk of his life.

It starts in the morning when Prince Morian knocks on the door of his mother's chamber. His mother told him to enter, and the Princess of Dorne was seen laying on her bed weakly. While she wasn't bedridden, her body needs a lot of energy to stand up, so she's mostly laying on her bed all day.

His mother told him to fetch a chair and sat beside his mother's bed. He complied and there he sat, in front of his weak mother. The Princess then asked what he wanted to talk about, so Morian got straight to the point.

"Mother, I wish to use Ghaston Grey as my place of experimentation."

His mother hummed. "I thought I said to go to your brother about Dornish matters, as you can see, I am done with those things."

The prince just smiled. "I know mother, but Doran told me to ask your permission about it, as it was not a light matter."

His mother nodded. "Help me sit."

Morian then helped his mother sit on the bed, the mother then asked. "What kind of experimentation are you talking about? And please, be honest with me."

Morian nodded weakly and sighed. "I… wanted to know how human bodies fight their surroundings."

"Speak clearly my dear, I'm not a maester." warned his mother.

"I wanted to see if I could weaponize nature mother…"

"Nature?" his mother asked. "What kind of nature?"

"Diseases, sickness, human body weakness…"

His mother hummed. "And you intend to experiment on those prisoners on the island?"

"Yes mother."

His mother looked him in the eyes, his clear blue eyes showing no sign of guilt or fear. "You do know that it is inhumane to experiment on other humans right?"

"And since when did it stop us?" Morian refuted. "Our ancestors used their captives as an experiment to their poison and venom, why should it stop now?"

His mother nodded. "Then if your experiment is successful, what would you do with it?"

"I- it is a weapon mother, we use it for war." Morian answered.

His mother hummed. "Do you have a sense of honour, Morian?"

Morian was confused. "Since when are we bound to honour like those northerners?"

His mother chuckled in front of him. "We may not be as honourable as those northerners Morian, but we Dornishmen always protect our own, we swore to protect our lands, our ancestors honoured that promise, I honoured that promise, your brother will honour that promise, but will you? Our numbers may be small compared to the other kingdoms, but we are prideful, when Aegon the conqueror came to our lands, our first priority is evacuation, the only one that stayed are a few prideful old men and their wives, they do not want to run away from the foreigners, so they burned alongside their homes. When Daeron I defeated our armies and invaded Sunspear, our smallfolk retaliated, taking Dorne back. Morian, our homes might be destroyed, our walls might fell, but Dornishmen will never bow, Dornishmen will never bend, Dornishmen will never be broken, so it is our job as the ruling Princes and Princesses to take care of our smallfolk, make sure that they would never suffer because of the politics of the nobles, make sure that they won't have to use their pridefulness in a losing war that results in a massacre. Learn from our ancestors mistake Morian, not repeat them. And yet here you are playing with nature's wrath my dear, is there any guarantee that this 'weapon' won't hurt your kin and instead protect them? Nature is unpredictable Morian, sometimes they are a kind loving mother to us, but most of the time, they would gladly get rid of us."

"I-"

"You are young my dear." said his mother once again. "Engineering a weapon of mass destruction is not for you yet, start small, like that black powder you are so proud of. If you think you are sure that your inventions won't hurt your kin and subjects, then you can do it."

Morian sighed and smiled. "Very well, mother."

"Good." she nodded, she then suddenly opened a drawer near her bed, and took a couple of parchments from it."I have read a couple of your inventions that were just sitting around in your old chamber, and I must say, you have a brilliant mind my dear."

"Thank you mother," said Morian.

"But…" his mother continued. "There is no way that you would be able to invent all this, be honest with me Morian, how?"

Morian was surprised, he sighed, and he proceeded to tell her what it was. His mother certainly knew Morian's secret, she was one of the two that knows. The prince had written his conversation with his mother in his journal, but when he got to the point of the conversation of his inventions, inks covered the writings, as if Prince Morian didn't want the journal to even know it. To this day, we never knew what he had said to her mother, she kept it until she died a year later. The other one who knows also kept it a secret until her death.

We may never know the secrets of Prince Morian, but his ideas and inventions will stick to Dorne and raise them to a powerhouse that we know today.