The Future of Dorne

"And what is eight multiplied by two?"

Several children raise their hands eager to respond.

"Fabian."

The boy jumps up and calls out the answer.

"16!"

"Very well Fabian, you can sit down."

Arthur Uller leaned on his cane and watched as Professor Ryon taught his lessons. 32 children, all of peasant origin, are sitting in their seats listening attentively to the professor. It was something strange to see, the prince consort was still amazed. Doran has spent years insisting that everyone should have access to at least a basic education, and when he saved enough coins from his business he built Shadow City's first public school, the first of several.

There the children learn to read and write, basic mathematics and history. It is a two-year program that is free to all. Those who show talent and dedication can continue their education at Sunspear Academy, an institution modeled on the Citadel that teaches a wide variety of subjects at a fairly in-depth level. In order to be admitted, all students have to pass an entrance test, unlike the schools, the students of the Academy have to pay an annual tuition. Depending on the number of subjects they study, the price varies.

Of course, to help poor students and give them the same opportunities as students from a more privileged background, Doran created several scholarships.

The Academy is not the most advanced academic institution in Dorne, that would be the University of Dorne, founded only a year ago.

From a very young age, Doran surrounded himself with a varied and diverse group; scholars, engineers, healers, artisans, ... He learned a lot from them and they, in turn, learned a lot from him. This same group first founded the Research and Development Institute, which later evolved into the University of Dorne.

In Progress Town Doran and his many companions became pioneers in research, invented a large number of gadgets and solved many problems.

When Doran told them about his plans and the benefits of said plans, he himself thought that he was exaggerating. An educated population couldn't make much of a difference, right? Oh, how wrong he was. In recent years among the smallfolk they found some of the brightest minds of the century. A fatherless girl with a sick mother turned out to have such a good memory that she could recite a book after only reading it once. Another boy showed such a good gift with numbers that in just two years he surpassed even the masters with several links on the subject.

Geniuses that would have been overlooked otherwise, geniuses that one day, when they grow up, will become a great asset for House Martell.

When Wulfric gave them the progress report on this project, his wife smiled knowingly. Arthur quickly realized that she was not surprised by the results and privately asked her about it.

She said:

"It's something I thought of many decades ago, an idea that I spent many days developing but the war began and those plans were forgotten. When peace returned to our home I was too busy rebuilding, years later when the conditions were right I thought of launching those plans." She smiled bitterly. "Over the years I lost the spark of my youth, I was no longer so daring or brave. I became cautious, too cautious. I began to think about everything that could go wrong, thoughts of betrayal and failures embittered my ideas and everything remained in oblivion."

Arthur leaves the classroom and walks to the patio. There he sees his good son teaching some fencing movements to a group of teenagers who look at him hypnotized. The draft for the army has already begun, thousands of men are gathering around Sunspear in military camps.

Each nobleman can recruit a percentage of the population for his armies, the usual is that 1% of the population joins the army. The North has 40,000 soldiers, Riverlands and Vale with a similar number, Crownlands with 15,000, Stormlands with 25,000, Iron Islands with 15,000, Westerlands with 55,000, Reach with 100,000. Dorne used to have 30,000 soldiers, but since the Blackfyre wars began they increased the number of men recruited to 2%, which gave them just over 50,000 soldiers.

`With Yronwood's betrayal that number is greatly diminished, which is why Trystanne is recruiting green boys.`

There is a big difference between the men who are forced to join the army and the volunteers, forcing too many to join will cause a lot of discontent among the population and that could lead to riots. That is not the case with volunteers. To increase the number of volunteers, his wife created a list of benefits for volunteer soldiers.

15 Golden Dragons a year, and if they die in combat those coins would go to their families. If they are crippled they will receive an additional 15 golden dragons.

That amount of gold is twenty times what most peasants earn in a year. Therefore it is a golden opportunity that few dare to pass up.

"These children are so different from my oldest son." Trystanne comments after finishing impressing the naive recruits. The two walk towards the exit of the school, a one-story building with a courtyard built on the outskirts of Shadow City.

"Doran is one of a kind."

Trystanna is silent for a moment before turning to his good father with his serious expression.

"Do you think he is a normal boy?" he finally asks, his gaze turning to the children Doran's age playing in the yard. "Since he was practically a baby Doran always had this... motivation. This drive, almost obsession to learn and to- advance, that would be the word. It seems as if he himself were a caravel with a tornado driving his sails, moving towards forward at full speed without stopping. Since he returned from the Citadel he always has a thousand projects on his hands, his businesses, Progress Town, the boats... There was a time when I thought that his dreams and ideas were simple childish fantasies but he showed me how serious he is. He showed us all. He just goes and goes, builds and builds. I love him and I am very proud of him but I can't help but think that this is... wrong. He only has 11 namedays, a child of that age should run and play, dream of fighting dragons and saving maidens. A child should be a child."

Arthur looked at Trystanne sadly, he himself has thought the same thing over and over again. He remembers the quieter days, before "the tornado" appeared, when Doran spent his days playing with his little brother and uncle. Those days seem so far away.

"Doran is unique, not so much because of his genius as because of his character. There have been and will be many geniuses in this world, Master Wulfric and my dear wife are some I could name." The prince consort caresses his chin with one hand and looks his good son straight into his eyes. "Doran has a maturity and understanding of the world that surrounds him more appropriate to an adult than a child, but he also has a heart that is gentler and kinder than he shows. All his actions, his eagerness to advance, as you put it, are born of love. Of love for his family, of love for his kingdom. Doran is not an ordinary child, but that's not a bad thing, he is perfect the way he is."

Arthur watches the children play and smiles gently.

"He may not dream of fighting dragons or saving maidens but he is still as dreamy a child as any. Just before he went to Braavos he told me this idea of his, a machine that could fly through the skies like a dragon."

The two laugh, Trystanne's laugh sounding relieved and his eyes shining free of a burden that has been weighing him down for some time.

"Knowing him, he'll build that machine one day. Ha! Flying," Trystanne shakes his head with a huge smile. "I will look forward to that day."

***

That same day a raven arrived with alarming news, a pirate fleet was seen in the Sea of Myr. Arthur immediately recognized the fleet as part of the Blackfyre alliance, the enemies of all Westeros, and they were perilously close to where his wife and grandson's ships would shortly pass.

He hastened to send the Dornish fleet to protect his family, the fleet arriving just in time to save the life of the Princess of Dorne. Without them she would have been killed by the fleet of Nine Eyes.

Arthur, immensely grateful for the message sent by the Seabolt's captain, sent for the families of the deceased sailors to the Tower of the Sun. He and his wife personally informed them of the bad news and gave each family a very generous reward for Captain Daniel's brave actions.

Each family received enough gold to live comfortably for the rest of their days.

"Captain Daniel." Arthur muttered.

"Hmm?" His wife looked at him questioningly.

"Daniel learned to read and write at one of Doran's schools, and thanks to the knowledge he acquired there he was later hired at the Sun Trade Company."

Without the school Daniel would not have become the captain of the Seabolt, so that message would not have existed and Dorna Nymeros Martell would have been killed by pirates.

The princess read his mind and laughed.

"The gods are favoring House Martell."