Chapter 716: Conflict

"Traitor!"

"Barbarian!"

From the sides of the Mud Gate, a tumultuous noise arose from the gathered crowd. Some even dared to shout insults directly at Prince Doran's carriage. The young Prince of Dorne, seeing his father insulted, immediately showed signs of anger.

"Silence!"

"You lowly scum!"

The Dornish soldiers accompanying their prince's carriage also tensed up, gripping their curved blades and shields tightly.

"You've always been traitors!"

"Dornishmen are nothing but treacherous wolves!"

"That's right!"

"They're just a bunch of uncivilized barbarians!"

Prince Quentyn's reprimands did not silence the crowd. Instead, they seemed to incite even more accusations and vulgarities. Due to past actions and historical reasons, the Dornish were not well-received in Westeros. Their culture, appearance, beliefs, and accents were vastly different from the mainstream Westerosi culture.

However, the Mud Gate, known to the common folk as the Rotten Gate, was a place where the lower classes of King's Landing congregated. The number of people watching the Dornish delegation was vast. Although Prince Quentyn was furious, he couldn't pinpoint who among the crowd was shouting.

Suddenly, a stone was thrown from the crowd, striking Prince Doran's carriage with a loud thud.

"Protect the Prince!"

"Guard His Highness!"

The situation escalated instantly. The Dornish soldiers, already on high alert, drew their blades and raised their shields. The towering man with the massive axe looked even more enraged.

"Find that person!"

On the other side, the Unsullied soldiers following Quentyn quickly formed a protective formation around Prince Doran's carriage.

"This is bad—"

Tyrion and Ser Davos exchanged worried glances, sensing the gravity of the situation. They quickly dismounted.

"Calm down!"

"Everyone, stay calm!"

Tyrion and Davos tried to mediate, but the enraged Prince Quentyn was beyond reasoning.

"I'll kill you all!"

Quentyn Martell drew his sword, pointing it at the agitated crowd, clearly ready to charge.

However, a calm and authoritative voice emanated from the carriage.

"Areo!"

"Stop him!"

The insulted Prince Doran remained composed. He hadn't let anger cloud his judgment and calmly ordered his chief guard, the axe-wielding Areo Hotah, to prevent Quentyn from causing a scene.

Areo, who had been searching the crowd for the stone-thrower, immediately obeyed Prince Doran's command. With one hand, he effortlessly lifted Prince Quentyn off his horse, as if he were lifting a small chicken.

"What are you doing?"

"Let me go!"

"I'll kill them!"

But Quentyn was silenced by Areo's deep voice.

"Prince, it's the command of the Prince!"

Quentyn immediately deflated. From a young age, the person he feared the most was his father. Just one look from Prince Doran was enough to make Quentyn back down.

The commotion by the Mud Gate was quickly quelled by the Dornish soldiers and the Unsullied. The local city guard also arrived to maintain order, dispersing the unruly crowd with force.

The Dornish delegation, under protection, left the Mud Gate. To avoid further incidents, they chose the main road leading to the Red Keep instead of the narrow Hook Alley.

Inside the throne room atop Aegon's High Hill, many local nobles and imperial officials had gathered, awaiting Prince Doran's arrival.

The formal audience in the throne room was brief. Emperor Viserys had summoned Prince Doran to King's Landing primarily to assert dominance and force Dorne into submission, not to hear what he had to say.

His words were not important; his presence or absence was what mattered most.

If Prince Doran had refused the emperor's summons, Viserys might have had to personally lead an army to Sunspear to meet his father-in-law. Such a confrontation could have been disastrous.

"Dorne has many who wish for war."

"But I've seen war."

In the gardens of the Red Keep, Princess Arianne and her handmaid Sansa played with Arianne's daughter under the shade of the trees. Emperor Viserys and Prince Doran sat under a canopy, conversing.

"I've seen mountains of corpses on the battlefield."

"I've seen orphans starve in the cities."

Prince Doran remained seated in his wheelchair. His Dornish guards couldn't enter the Red Keep, so only Areo Hotah, his chief guard, was allowed to push his wheelchair. Areo's massive axe had been temporarily confiscated upon entering the throne room.

"Your Grace."

The burly, white-haired giant, Areo, showed respect to Emperor Viserys. Even after the insults they faced upon arriving in King's Landing, Areo's manners were impeccable.

He also looked towards Arianne, his gaze softening. He had been with Prince Doran since he was sixteen, accompanying Princess Mellario to Dorne for her marriage to Prince Doran. He had watched all of Doran's children grow up, especially Arianne, the eldest daughter. Areo felt a fatherly affection for Princess Arianne.

Seeing her now, happily married to the most powerful man in the world, Areo felt at peace.