Chapter 25: Chapter 10: The Choice (Aegon) (Part 1)

First Moon, 8003

The Greenblood River

The air was sweltering hot as the small pole-boat made its way down the Greenblood river, its oars slowly dipping into the murky green water. Occasionally a large splash would be heard, the river was rich in wildlife, with large whiskerfish and birds making the Greenblood their home. They also passed many small farms and orchards, with their inhabitants shyly looking out from these river villages. This region had not been touched by the war but they were still cautious.

Aegon sat at the forefront of the first small ship, looking at the landscape around him.

A beautiful land He thought to himself Land I will be responsible for soon.

The King's silent reflection was interrupted by Ser Garmon Hightower, his Kingsguard who had been uneasily pacing the small ship for the length of their voyage, the young man was determined to catch a glimpse of anything suspicious.

‘’Your Grace….I ask you once again to reconsider…you need not attend these negotiations personally….the Dornish have an unsavory reputation with this sort of thing, if this peace must be attained through a negotiation, let your Kingsguard face the danger.’’ Ser Garmon said, his eyes scanning the horizon.

‘’It makes a poor King that does not see personally to the end of a war he started Ser….and if I must ask the Princess Deria to guide her people and kneel…I owe it to her to have her kneel before me personally, not a stranger….oaths made to one standing in stead for another are feeble bonds.’’ Aegon explained as a bird entered the water beside them with a splash, hunting for food.

‘’I would ask that you at least consider moving to one of the benches your Grace, you are exposed here at the front, any one of these rock ledges might hide a company of archers or javelineers waiting to ambush us.’’ Ser Garmon pressed.

Aegon sighed ‘’We have taken precautions….I will not hide myself for fear of treachery.’’

The King was right on that count, he would not arrive at the negotiations like a beggar and traveled with a  retinue that befitted the King, taking ten pole boats, each with at least 10 men not including the crew, most of them knights armored in plate. Aegon had also bowed to Ser Garmons earlier suggestion that he and Rhaenys take separate boats so that if something happened, they both would not be in the same place; Aegon had given his sister's boat into the protection of Corlys and Ser Harold Langward.

Before Garmon could respond, Ser Gregor Goode put a strong arm on his younger companions shoulder ‘’Come Garmon….we will bow to the Kings wisdom.’’

Despite the Knight of Hightowers concerns, the rest of the voyage passed smoothly, with the small island that was to be the location of the peace negotiations coming into view an hour later.

Ser Garmons concerns proved to be even more unfounded when the size of the Martell retinue became clear, the Princess Diaries retinue couldn't have numbered over a dozen men, of which included a gouty knight leaning on a cane.

‘’That must be her crippled husband.’’ Ser Gawen Corbray sneered as their boat approached the sandy island, which stood in stark contrast to the greenwaters around it.

Aegon nodded slowly, over the course of his campaign he had heard of the rather strange husband the young princess had taken as her consort, and Aegon had to admit the man was just as unimpressive in real life as he was in rumor.

The man was pale, having much fairer skin than his lady wife, he had uncut brown hair and a large beard, though not large enough to cover the obvious red splotches of sunburns the man had suffered. He was clearly much older than the young princess, by a factor of almost twenty years if the King had to guess, and he leaned on a walking cane.

What's more, the man was a lowborn, coming from a family of landless hedge knights from the Reach, adding further insult to the Dornish nobles the princess had spurned to marry him since the Dornish and Reachmen were old enemies. Despite the fact the man had sired children on two other Dornish women, it was said the young princess had grown fond of him and taken him as her consort.

The only other individuals of note in Derias retinue were her two younger brothers, Ser Lewyn Martell, the man who had led troops against Corlys at the Battle of Watersmeet as well as Oberyn Martell, a squire. The rest of her men were spearmen, their faces obscured by the cloth that covered their mouths and the top of their heads.

Deria herself did not make for an impressive figure either, she was a rather unassuming woman with olive skin and curly black hair, she wore no crown and was dressed in a simple cloth robe in the fashion of the local fisherwomen.

It had not been a surprise to Aegon when he had received a messenger from Deria, stating her wish to meet and negotiate an end to the fighting. It had been six months since the Ironborn had taken Sunspear by force, and the Martells' position had only grown worse since then.

Not long after Sunspear had fallen, the King's cousin and master of ships Aethen Velaryon had starved the island castle of Ghaston Grey into submission, and the northern coast of Dorne was blockaded by Aethens 45 galleys, the strength of Dragonstone.

Meanwhile near Sunspear, the river city of Plankytown, knowing they would be next to face the Ironborns wrath had declared for Aegon to avoid the looting of their city, contributing some 2000 levies to the war effort though in truth they did little but camp outside their city.

The most damning blow had come at the Battle of Sandgate, the third major engagement of the war, with the others being the Battle of Watersmeet and the Storming of Sunspear. Aegon had wished to avoid more battles following news of the bloodshed at Sunspear and had been content to siege fortresses into submission without the use of Dragonfire until the Dornish surrendered. The Dornish however in their desperation ambushed Aegon's army as he approached the fortress of the Tor.

Unlike the Battle of Watersmeet, in which the Dornish had put up a respectable fight, the same could not be said for this battle, which was born of desperation. By the end of it, some 2100 Dornish lay dead, heavily wounded or captured, compared to only 500 Targaryens.

This battle had been the final straw, and Princess Deria, realizing the futility of further resistance and the poor tactical position the loss of many of their Northern fortresses had put them in decided to sue for peace, inviting Aegon to negotiations on a small island in the middle of the Greenblood River where she had been hiding out after fleeing from Sunspear.

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The knights of the Kingsguard exited the boat first, making sure there was no treachery, but the island was small and it soon became clear there were no Dornish lying in wait. Aegon was content to wait, not for fear of treachery but he did not wish to stain his clothing in the murky-green waters of the Greenblood by exiting before the boat was docked.

As the pole-boat hit the sandy shore of the island with a gentle thud, Aegon exited the boat.

If Aegon had expected any sort of defiance from the young princess, these thoughts were immediately alleviated as Deria kneeled in the soft sand, causing her brothers and her men to follow her lead, albeit reluctantly.

‘’Your Grace.’’ The Dornish princess said.

Aegon let them kneel for a moment before gesturing for them to rise.

‘’My lady…..I am told you are ready to make peace.’’ Aegon said.

Deria dusted the sand off of her plain robe ‘’I have a duty to my people……they have suffered greatly in your war….House Yronwood will be gone within half a century, with no hope of recovering, the women of the village of Olivegrove are saltwives to your Ironborn….and the garrison of Sunspear was slain almost to a man, their blood watering the streets…and thousands of my people burned at Watersmeet and Sandgate, many of them to their death.’’

Aegon bristled somewhat at that ‘’This war is just as much your making as mine my Lady…I gave you a chance to surrender…your people would have been spared much bloodshed if you had.’’

Deria made no move to interrupt him.

‘’What happened to the Yronwoods was a terrible tragedy and not my intention my Lady….as for the actions of the Ironborn…I hope you will understand such is war….when I called my banners they were the only ones to answer the call…..it makes for a poor King who would deprive his vassals of their spoils, no matter how roughly gained….you have my word that I shall see to it that any noblewomen taken as saltwives will be returned.’’ Aegon continued.

‘’I suppose that is all I can ask for.’’ Deria said with a nod.

‘’No.’’ A voice from behind them rang out.

Aegon turned and saw his sister Rhaenys approaching them, he knew what she was going to say, he made no move to stop her however, he knew  his sisters well enough to know they would always speak their mind.

‘’Every Dornish woman taken as a salt wife by the Ironborn will be released, not a single one will be taken back to the Isles…on that you have my word Princess.’ Rhaenys said, using Derias traditional title, since at least for the next few minutes she still was a princess.

‘’Rhaenys….we ca.’’ Aegon began before his sister shook her head.

‘’When you outlawed reaving in the seven Kingdoms, you also outlawed the practice of taking salt wives from your lands….once Dorne capitulates, those women will become your subjects just as much as any other.’’ Rhaenys said, it was clear she had put quite a bit of thought into her argument.

Aegon grunted at that, in truth he could find no fault with his sister's argument and had to admit that his earlier declaration did apply to the protection of the Dornish women taken by the Ironborn, they would not be happy, but Aegon would see them rewarded in other ways.

The King nodded ‘’My sister speaks true…..you have my word the Ironborn will return the women taken as saltwives….now let us get to the matter at hand.’’

Deria nodded ‘’My Maester has told me the words.’’

The Princess of Dorne knelt on the sand ‘’I, Deria Martell, Ruler of Dorne do submit both my house and Kingdom to the House Targaryen, both for my lifetime and that of my descendents….and with this I proclaim my vassals fealty as well.’’

Aegon nodded ‘’And I…..Aegon Targaryen….first of my name…King of the Andals, the First men, and the Rhoynar, Lord of the seven Kingdoms and protector of the realm do affirm your houses dominion over Dorne for your lifetime and that of your descendents.’’

And with that, on a small island in the middle of the Greenblood, the war was ended Kingdom of Dorne which had been independent since the time of the First Men, was joined with the six other Kingdoms of Westeros, pledging fealty to the Targaryens, thus ending Aegon's conquest.

The war for Dorne had been the bloodiest of Aegon's wars, by the end of the conflict, which had raged on for well over a year and a half, over ten thousand men had been killed and heavily wounded, and unlike the other wars, the Targaryens and their allies suffered significant losses, with some 3500 losses, most at the battle of Watersmeet and the storming of Sunspear.

The Ironborn of course were not pleased with the King's demand to return their claimed salt wives, though in truth they had not taken many as they had only taken one village and city. Their anger was also alleviated by the King rewarding one of their principle leaders. Aladale Wynch, lord of Iron Holt and the man that had led the assault of Sunspear. The King understood that the Ironborns assault of Sunspear had shortened the war by many months and had duly rewarded the man, both in gold and silver and in a far greater honor, Aladales son Dalton Wynch would be fostered in the capitol as the King's own ward, significant for an Ironborn boy from a small house.

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