Doran was hitting a straw dummy with a training sword. The prince was dressed in a cotton shirt over which he had a leather breastplate, and on his arms he had leather protectors.
The wooden sword is quite light, normally the training swords the knights use have iron inside to increase the weight equaling or even exceeding the weight of a steel sword, but the prince is still too young and his arms are too skinny to be able to use such a sword.
Lothar looked at his prince from a distance, he watched as the boy hit the straw dummy over and over again, sweat running down his face and his hair was soaked. He finally decided to intervene and approached the boy.
"Your form is awful," he said, stopping near him with his arms crossed. When Doran stopped mid swing and turned to him, Lothar smirked. "Is that how all princes fight?"
"Har har." Doran rolls his eyes and puts his sword aside, grabs a waterskin and drinks. "What am I doing wrong, Oh great knight?" He exaggerates his gestures.
Lothar rolls his eyes and draws his sword.
"Hold your sword in both hands, watch your grip, and then watch mine. What differences do you see?"
Doran follows his instructions and sees the difference immediately, Doran is holding his sword like he is holding a wand, something he is used to. Lothar holds the sword with his dominant hand on top and his left hand on top of the pommel (the base of the sword), Doran walks over and notices that Lothar is holding the sword tightly with his left hand; the little and middle fingers are more tense while the others are more relaxed. His right hand doesn't do much pressure.
"Doran, you were applying force with your right hand using it to give strength to your slashes, that's incorrect. The force when holding the sword must be applied by your non-dominant hand, more precisely the little and middle fingers, the other fingers have to be more relaxed. When attacking the dominant hand guides the direction of the blade and your other hand gives it strength."
Doran blushes as he realizes that everything he did, from the grip to the way he swung the sword, was wrong.
Lothar sighs and sheaths his sword.
"My prince, a novice should never train alone." He reprimands him sternly, "Your martial training hasn't even started, why are you practicing with a sword?"
"I'm bored." Doran admits. "We've been in this mansion for almost seven days, and father and mother won't even let me explore the city." He says in a querulous voice.
"My prince, you already know why."
Doran just shrugs.
The storm was more severe than expected and 3 of the ships were severely damaged including the Golden Spear, but luckily none sank. The small Dornish fleet had to change their direction and stop at the nearest port to fix the ships.
Tyrosh turned out to be the closest city.
The island where the Free City is located has a beauty straight out of a fairy tale: beaches with white sand, blue waters so clear that you can see through them as if it were glass, beautiful tall palm trees...
The walls surrounding the city are taller than any other wall Doran has ever seen and are made of an obsidian-colored stone called dragonstone; the prince learned that they were made by the Valyrians of old. Nobody knows the techniques that were used in their construction anymore, some speculate that they used dragon fire and blood magic, the only thing that is known for sure is that they are very resistant. Tyrosh's walls have never been destroyed, through countless wars either against pirates or neighboring cities.
There are more structures built with the same techniques, fortresses and roads that still remain unshakable centuries after the fall of Valyria.
At first glance it reminds him a lot of concrete but that's just the initial impression, as Doran gets closer he notices many differences, from the shape to the touch. Dragonstone is stronger and more resistant than concrete and when touching it feels like touching polished volcanic rock.
The prince also feels small hints of magic in the wall, something similar to what he felt from the magic buildings of his old world.
Magic sensing is a skill that Harry Potter learned and perfected during his year as Curse-Breaker's apprentice in Egypt. He never got to be as good as Bill but one thing he did learn is to distinguish between buildings built with magic and those built with mundane means.
And Tyrosh's walls are definitely magical, although its magic is very weak; Doran believes that the walls have a system that needs to be recharged regularly to keep it strong and that information must have died along with the Valyrians. They are still much stronger than mundane walls but their power is a fraction of what it once was.
The city itself is beautiful, with paved streets and stone, marble and brick buildings. Doran saw only the occasional wooden building, evidence of the city's wealth.
But what most caught his attention was not the beauty of the city, it was its people. It wasn't the Tyroshi trend of dyeing their hair and beards in bright colors or their funny hats but the chains, three out of every four people have thick chains around their necks. Doran doesn't need explanations to understand what they are: slaves.
And that is why his parents do not allow him to wander around the city. Ever since they arrived in the city, they had not allowed him to leave the mansion they had rented for their three-week stay.
Tyrosh not only practices slavery but is home to the most ferocious and stubborn slavers in the Known World. Tyroshi slavers travel as far afield as The True North (the lands beyond the Wall), stopping at nothing.
Obella, having traveled to this city numerous times, knows how dangerous they are. She told her son that they even tried to kidnap her to sell her when she was younger, apparently princesses and princes are sold for a lot of gold in the slave market.
Of course, there are few slavers who dare to arouse the wrath of powerful Houses with such moves, but the undeniable thing is that they do exist.
Dorna completely destroyed that group of slavers and all of their patrons, the anger of the Princess of Dorne was felt by every tyroshi because the princess did not stop there; she also pulled many strings to obstruct Tyroshi trade.
And that was the most damaging thing she did since trade is the main source of wealth for the Tyroshi. It took many pleas, gifts and apologies for the Princess of Dorne to stop.
Currently House Martell is respected and feared in Tyrosh for Dorna's actions, but they is also quite hated for the same reason. That is why Obella does not want any risk, she ordered her guards to watch her son day and night and under no circumstances let him leave the mansion. Doran is always surrounded by a dozen guards, he has no privacy even in his bedroom as by Obella's order five guards are stationed near the windows and doors while he sleeps.
After spending the first few days reading and drawing he got bored so he asked a guard to buy him a wooden sword and some basic training equipment.
"You are still young to train, my prince." says Lothar looking him straight in the eye. "But you won't let that stop you, will you?" His smile is wry and somewhat exasperated, Lothar knows his prince well and Doran's smile is all the confirmation he needs. "Fine, I'll teach you the basics-"
"Yes!" Doran interrupts him.
"- if your parents allow it." Lothar ends.
"Oh..." Doran sighs and slumps, thinking his parents won't let him train at such a young age. Before leaving for Kings Landing he had already asked them many times and they always told him that he is still too young.
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