Longing for Freedom

At dusk the temperature dropped a lot, there was a crisp cold that signaled the end of autumn. Summer had already ended a few months ago and it seemed that autumn would come to an end soon. Doran remembered that the maesters predicted that winter would start in the second half of 252, it seems that they were wrong since they are almost at the end of the year and they are still in autumn.

For Doran one of the strangest things in this world are the seasons, their irregularity gives him a headache. The prince set out to solve the puzzle that is the seasons, for this he built his own telescope and studied the skies every day, noting the position of the stars and the sun because seasons depend on the position of the planet around the sun.

After many nights of studying and reading endless books Doran found out two things: this planet is two or three times larger than Earth and its orbit is irregular. This planet does not follow the same path around the sun every year, the orbit changes shape every so often. Doran also deduced that the size of the years is not equivalent to the time it takes for the planet to go around the sun, which further complicated his studies.

The year here lasts 14 moons, each moon lasts 28 days, that is, the year has 392 days. Doran was very upset to find out that this is not due to any scientific reason but a religious one.

`Damn the obsession these idiots have with the number 7 and its multiples.`

Doran looked up other calendars to find out how the months work in other cultures and to his annoyance most of them use the same system, and for very similar reasons. Essos uses a calendar in which a year is equal to 14 moons due to Valyrian influence, for whom the 14 moons represented the 14 volcanoes they worshiped as their gods.

In distant cultures the calendar changes but not for scientific reasons, the year in Yi Ti lasts 13 moons because of the 13 signs of the zodiac, the year in Asshai lasts 10 moons because of ten Demon Gods that were worshiped in ancient times,... All cultures have calendars influenced by their religions.

Doran's breath formed a cloud of steam as the prince snorted in annoyance.

"My prince, it's time to go." Doran turns to Lothar who is dressed in a sky blue doublet with golden griffins. That's his coat of arms, a golden griffin on a blue background, the prince quite likes it.

"Let's go." Doran was dressed in an orange doublet with gold suns and a red cape slung over one shoulder.

**

Doran and his family met the members of House Lannister outside the banquet hall. As the couples were formed to enter the room Doran remembers the Yule dance, the situation is quite similar.

The first to enter are Tytos and Obella. Tytos was dressed in a red doublet and gold cloak, simple but decorated with expensive jewels, tokens of Lannister wealth. Obella wore a gorgeous red dress with gold and orange decorations. She adorned her long dark hair with a diadem set with precious stones, whose rubies matched her dress. Around her neck was a gold necklace with an amber in the shape of a sun.

Tytos helped her up onto the dais and escorted her to her seat, Obella had a faint smile on her face and her eyes moved discreetly around the room, a calculating gleam visible in them.

Next came his father with Lady Jeyne on his arm. Both dressed in elegant outfits, she in red and gold, and he in white and purple.

After them he and Tywin entered, both walking with their heads held high and their expressions neutral. Doran managed to sit up when he saw his uncle dressed in his elegant princely attire. Lewyn had Genna Lannister on his arm, the girl was quite adorable with a cascade of golden curls gathered in a jeweled hair net. Doran noted the sideways glances she gave Lewyn as they moved between the tables, and the shy smiles she gave him.

Kevan and Mors followed. Doran's heart melted a little at the sight of his little brother walking with all the grace and pride of a baby prince, he couldn't help but smile at the endearing child.

When everyone was seated the banquet began. The room was filled with smoke from candles and chandeliers, and the air was thick with the smell of roasting meat and freshly baked bread. A group of minstrels were playing the harp, lute and the flute while others were singing a ballad, but they could not be heard very clearly due to the murmur of hundreds of conversations. Lords and Ladies, knights with their squires, and more. At that time the Casterly Rock banquet hall had hundreds of people.

`And that not all the guests have arrived yet.`

There are not as many people as in the royal banquet but still there are a lot. Doran spends the evening chatting with his friends, and from time to time he casts a quizzical glance at Lewyn, who is entertaining Genna with tales of his 'great deeds'.

Roy Reyne, who is sitting at the same table as him, tries to join in the conversation. Doran and Lewyn, heeding Obella's orders, give him short answers and quickly turn their attention to the Lannister children. Doran notices that each time they do this, the boy's cheeks turn even more red as smiles blossom on the cubs' lips. At first Doran felt bad for hurting a child's feelings but when Roy started showing his colors the prince lost all sympathy. Doran didn't like Roy Reyne's pursed lips, or the bored, dismissive look he gave his friends.

The prince heard him mutter insults several times, when Doran confronted him, the Reyne put on a face of false innocence and said:

"I didn't say anything, my prince." At the same time he gave the cubs a nasty look when he thought Doran wasn't paying attention. Needless to say, he disliked the Reynes, the boy was not the only one who exhibited such behavior. Doran heard Lord Reyne insult Tytos several times to his face, not directly but clearly enough that even Mors understood that Roger Reyne's words were ill-intentioned.

By the time the evening was over, Doran had a clearer picture of the political landscape of the Westerlands, and was finally able to understand why the Lannister children were so stoic.

Doran feels sorry for them, but he also respects how well they handle the situation. He knows that at that age he did not have half the patience the cubs showed, if someone had openly mocked his father he would have responded with violence, he would not have been able to bite his tongue.

**

The next day Tywin and Kevan gave them a tour of the castle. They visited the stone tunnels and large caverns that used to be gold mines centuries ago, now converted into chambers, storing rooms,... Then they showed them the cages where they have a couple of lions captive, to the sadness of Doran and Mors there were no cubs to play with.

Lewyn's favorite place was the Hall of Heroes, a large room where the Lannisters who died bravely are buried, next to each tomb the armor, weapons and important objects of the deceased are on display. It is almost like a museum.

What Doran liked the most were the tallest towers of the castle, being hundreds of meters high brought him a tranquility that he thought was long lost. As he was relaxing on a balcony with the cool wind blowing through his hair, Doran wished he had spent more time studying charms. Harry Potter was good at charms, good enough to get a near perfect mark on his OWLs but other than that he didn't pay much attention to that branch of magic.

`If ​​I could create a flying broom...` Doran sighs wistfully, really missing flying.

When he was flying on his broom is when he felt freer, neither Voldemort nor an army of Dementors could ruin his day if he was flying on his trusty broom. But unfortunately for Doran, he never learned all the charms that are used in the creation of flying brooms.

What Doran does know is how to build an Air Globe, but riding one is nothing like flying freely through the skies.

`Even flying animals are extinct here...`