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It was at [Princess Aliandra’s] court at Sunspear […] that his lordship was approached by a certain Drazenko Rogare, one of the envoys that Lys had sent to Aliandra’s court, who begged a private word. Curious, Lord Alyn agreed to listen, and the two men stepped out into the yard, where Drazenko leaned so close that his lordship said, “I feared he meant to kiss me.” Instead he whispered something in the admiral’s ear, a secret that changed the course of Westerosi history. (Fire & Blood)
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“What did you whisper in his ear?”
“Have no fear, Princess. I did not challenge him to a duel for your hand in marriage.”
“Of course you did not. Why would you? He is a man wed already. Wed to the beloved sister of a king. How very grand of our Lord Alyn.”
“Nor did I challenge him to a duel for your favors, as some of the rumors claim.”
“My favors in bed, no doubt. My sister says I provoke my suitors deliberately, for my own private amusement. ‘If only they know how chaste you really are, they will perish of shock,’ claims Coryanne.”
“And your brother Qyle? What does he think?”
“Oh, he thinks I am as wanton as a harlot. He does not blame me for it, he assures me. He says I have had an unfortunate upbringing. Our late lamented father had made the misguided mistake of spoiling and indulging his heir, according to my brother. I love my siblings dearly, as an older sister should, but neither of them sees me truly.”
“Ahhhh, I could tell you countless tales about my travails with my own brother. The Rogare brothers are famous across the length and breadth of Lys for our –”
“Later, my lord. You may tell me those tales on another day. They are splendid, I’m sure. Today, I wish to know what you and Alyn Velaryon were discussing in the courtyard. You begged a private word with him, and he agreed to step out with you.”
“How did you know, my princess? You were fully occupied welcoming Lord Yronwood of Yronwood and his sons at the time. Did he offer you his widowed self as a suitor, or one of his sons instead? It’s such a pity that they all seem like pale imitations of their lord father. The seeds are not strong there, I would wager. And Lord Yronwood himself is, of course, almost thirty years your senior. Age weakens a man’s seeds, just as it weakens a woman’s womb.”
“The potency of Lord Yronwood’s seeds is hardly any of your concern, my lord. Casting aspersion on the manhood of my other suitors will not save you from having to answer my question. And pray remember that you are not a man in the first blush of youth yourself. Your own seeds –”
“If I may, Princess Aliandra … how did you find out about my private conversation with Lord Alyn?”
“So you do admit to having one?”
“I do not deny it. I merely wish to know how it came to your knowledge.”
“Do not act the fool, my lord. I have many eyes and ears in this court, as you well know. Though, none could get close enough to you and Lord Alyn during the incident in question. You took careful precautions to ensure that your conversation was not overheard. I wonder why, Drazenko. I truly wonder.”
“My conversation with Lord Alyn had nothing to do with you, Princess Aliandra.”
“Nothing?”
“Are you disappointed?”
“I am suspicious. What plots and schemes have you been hatching with the good-brother of the Targaryen king, while you are a guest in my court? Your brother Lysandro sent you to Sunspear as an envoy to Dorne, not as an envoy to the Iron Throne. Remember that, Drazenko Rogare. Remember your place.”
“My name in all its fullness? My, my. What sins have I committed to deserve this manner of address from you? Draz. I thought we have agreed that you would call me Draz, when we are alone, as we are now.”
“That was before I discovered that you were – and still are – keeping secrets from me.”
“My princess, you have many secrets of your own, I have no doubt. I am not the kind of man who would wish to know every little thing that crosses my lady wife’s mind. I will not insist that she shares her every thought with me. I will be respectful of her –”
“Well, good for her, whoever your lady wife turns out to be. My felicitations to this oh so very fortunate lady. Now, to the other matter. Tell me, Drazenko, is it truly such a little thing, this matter you were discussing with Lord Alyn? He sailed away from my port the very next day. He had intended to remain at least a week in Dorne, he told me himself when he first arrived. What did you whisper in his ear to change his mind?”
“I will tell you, Princess, when the time is right.”
“Tell me now, or I swear by all the gods old and new that even your most sacred deity in Lys could not help you, Drazenko. You have heard tales of my fiery temper, no doubt. Persist with this obstinacy of yours, my lord, and today you will witness my wrath first-hand, in all its glory.”
“It concerns … an honored guest, my princess, who is currently residing under my brother’s humble roof.”
“Your brother’s humble roof? You speak as if Lysandro is living in a small hut by the river. A guest of the Rogares, I see. Now, why would this particular guest be of any concern to Alyn Velaryon?”
“This guest is related to the king currently sitting on the Iron Throne.”
“How closely related?”
“Very closely indeed, my princess. In fact, more closely related to King Aegon than Lord Alyn’s wife the Lady Baela.”
“I see. A full sibling, then. The lost prince. The Rogares have found him … or … have always had him in your keeping, perhaps?”
“I cannot say.”
“What else can you tell me about this guest?”
“He is also wed to my dearest niece Larra, the youngest and most beautiful of my brother’s daughters.”
“Indeed. Well, the Rogares have secured the ultimate prize, it seems. Or perhaps … not?”
:”I know not what you imply, Princess.”
“The ultimate prize would have been a marriage between your niece and King Aegon himself, would it not? I’m surprised your brother did not aim as high as that. After all, you do not deign to present yourself in Sunspear as a suitor to my younger sister. I am your intended prize.”
“I would not put it as indelicately as that.”
“No, pray do not trouble to deny it, my lord. Insincerity annoys me a great deal more than indelicacy. In fact, what many would call indelicate, I would call honest and plain speaking. Tell me true, why did your brother not aim as high as he could?”
“Alas, the king was still wed to his poor little queen at the time. We did not know that he would soon be … available. Still, this … guest … of ours, he commands a deep love and affection in the king’s heart. So all is not lost for us.”
“Speak more plainly, my lord envoy. You speak of a guest when you mean a hostage, do you not?”
“He has only ever been treated as an honored guest under my brother’s protection, I can assure you of that.”
“I suppose you will be leaving us soon, Drazenko? Perhaps the Rogares no longer need a marriage alliance with Dorne, now that your family have secured one with the Iron Throne.”
“And what of you, my princess? Do you see my value as a suitor suddenly increasing, perhaps, now that you know that my niece is wed to the king’s brother?”
“Do you think me as grasping as that, my lord?”
“Not grasping, merely ambitious.”
“Ambitious. I see. Well, at least you do not utter that word as if it is the most wicked and unforgivable thing in the world to be. I am not alone in having ambitions for my kingdom and my people, among all the rulers in the world. I am more honest and upfront about it than most, but I am certainly not alone.”
“You have great plans for the Martells and for Dorne, as my brother and I have great plans for the Rogares and for Lys. I am hardly the right man to cast aspersion on the ambitions of others, my princess. What many would call grasping, I would call striving. We understand what it means to strive, you and I. It is not for the likes of us to rest comfortably on our laurels. There is always another hill to climb, another –“
“Another path to clear of all obstacles.”
“Indeed. And if I may be so bold … is our path to matrimony cleared of all obstacles now?”
“Our path to matrimony? You are as confident as that, my lord?”
“We can achieve great things together, you and I.”
“Great for whom, that is the question. Great for you and the Rogares?”
“Great for both our interests, my princess. You see that yourself, I am certain, or you would have sent me packing long ago.”
“I would have, yes.”
“I know that I am not the sort of man that a young woman of eight-and-ten would typically choose to wed, but –”
“I am the Princess of Dorne, my lord Drazenko. I cannot afford to think and act like a lovesick maiden. And you know well enough that the great majority of young women in this world do not have the luxury of choosing their husbands. They wed the men their elders wish them to wed. Unlike them, I have the luxury to choose, but I must choose for Dorne as well as for myself.”
“And will you choose Drazenko Rogare?”
“When we are wed, you will be Draz to me.”