Chapter 24.1- The Seadragon's Roar

‘We need names for these islands’, I thought to myself not for the first time as I struggled to relate to the others just where exactly I had come in contact with the Jordayne fleet.

“And you let them go? You couldn’t think that they were tricking you for a second?” Daemon scoffed from his position at the table. This had turned into a nightly council of we Dragonriders where we gave updates about anything interesting we experienced while on our patrols.

“Oh, I’m almost certain they were lying about at least part of the story. Maybe the Dornish want to make common cause with the Triarchy. Maybe the Triarchy called them in for some other reason. It doesn’t matter”

“And why not? You don’t see why it matters that our enemies are in contact.”

“If I had burned the ships, in a matter of weeks, the Dornish would have sent another envoy and this time they would have hugged the coast and we would have learned little. By letting them by with no issue, we know where they are and have the resources to keep a watch for them when they return, and then we can capture them”

“You could have just as easily captured them with your dragon”

“And how would I have done that, Daemon?” He bristled at being addressed by his first name and nothing more, but remained on topic.

“Set the sea on fire and dared them to cross. A dragon alone is enough to delay even the most stubborn captains. And then you would have forced them to beach and come call some ships to take them into custody.”

“First of all, what if they crossed? My father thought me to never make a threat you can not back up with action. If they had crossed my line, I would have incinerated them and achieved nothing— no information beyond warning off the Dornish. And then even if I had forced them into a landing, what was the guarantee that they would remain there after I left. The second I turned my back, they would have been gone. Maybe if I had forced them off their ships and then destroyed said ships immediately afterwards, but these are Dornish sailors. What would have done if they had dared me to burn them? Their national loyalty is so great that we know they would die for it so why tempt it?” I asked, shutting down his argument and then the counterargument.

“Then you should have killed them. What do we gain by allowing the Triarchy and Dorne to talk to each other?”

“You’ve got a plan, don’t you, Laenor?” Mother asked, cutting Daemon off and basically saying I didn’t have to respond to his question. Not like I would have. Such a silly thing to ask. We have the world to gain.

“I do. I want the Dornish to attack us. I want to burn their fleets to the last man. I want to cripple their navy, and after that, use reprisals as an excuse to strike all over Dorne. Sunspear, the Tor, whatever it takes. Until we can come to a peace agreement that would see the Stepstones gain.”