There were stone benches everywhere in the garden. Witte took the children to sit by a pool to chat. They also learned that Prince Doran Martell's children were all in the Water Gardens in another city, and only they resided in Sunspear.
After a while, Prince Doran Martell appeared. Seeing their uncle, the three little girls ran off, afraid he would find out about their eavesdropping.
Doran watched the three girls run without even greeting him. Wasn't that a dead giveaway?
"You two, stay within the garden. Maester Duncan will come to teach you to read."
"Can we go to the library?" Witte asked.
"You both know how to read?" Doran was a little surprised.
"I do. Renly is learning too."
"I agree to let you go to the library. I've heard about the Baratheon family's precocious fourth son. I'll give the guards instructions." Prince Doran Martell agreed and then turned to leave.
Witte saw that Prince Doran wanted to leave, and since he was also here on a diplomatic mission, he took the initiative to find a topic.
"These coconuts are really big. Why aren't they sold up north?" In Dorne, the southernmost part of the continent, people referred to all other places on the continent as "up north".
"Coconuts are difficult to grow."
"Plant them in large numbers, fertilize them, and eliminate pests."
"We've tried, but the trees don't bear fruit."
Witte pretended to think for a moment.
"Men and women must be together to have children. Trees also need male and female trees to bear fruit."
"You know all this?" Prince Doran Martell asked, squinting at Witte with a smile.
"I read a lot," Witte replied, his expression unchanging.
"I've read countless books, and I've never seen any that mention these things," Doran feigned, playing along for the child's benefit.
Witte remembered that the Prince suffered from gout and was often confined, yet was considered diligent with his duties, so it was certain he read a great deal.
The longer Witte lived in this world, the more he began to forget things from before his arrival, being a proper person who didn't keep a diary.
"The Citadel doesn't value agriculture, considering it work for commoners. Naturally, there aren't any books on the subject. We in the Stormlands don't have much land for growing crops, and when we don't produce enough food, we have to buy it from other places, so we have these books in our household," Witte fabricated a half-truth, the Citadel's lack of interest in agriculture was true, but the books in his house were not.
"You can try finding a few trees first, and spread the pollen from one tree onto the flowers of another." the clever one spoke.
The Prince remained silent after hearing this, then after a moment, he said he had to go and left. Even if he thought it was correct, he couldn't nod in agreement with a suggestion from a child. Witte didn't care whether he experimented with coconuts or not; all Witte needed was to leave the impression of someone intelligent and communicative with the highest leader of Dorne.
Prince Doran Martell's political maneuvering was top-tier on the continent, always employing open schemes with a moral bottom line. He was incredibly patient, often setting up grand plans that took a decade or two to come to fruition, but luck was never on his side.
Afterward, the three little girls often came to find Witte and Renly. Princess Arianne Martell, Prince Doran's daughter, also came a few times with the three sisters.
Renly was very clever and had received a noble education from a young age, so he was very polite when speaking to people. Not to mention Witte. The few girls were actually coming to find Witte. They listened to anecdotes and jokes. Even a butterfly could be spun into a story. Listening to Witte tell stories was their favorite thing to do at this age, along with Renly.
Sitting by the garden pond, eating oranges, and listening to stories, Nymeria and Tyene always squeezed next to Witte to hear more clearly. Joyful times passed quickly.
Secondly, they could also practice martial arts. The eldest sister, Sand, was already 10 years old, the second sister 8, and the third sister 6. Princess Arianne was also 9 years old. All four were older than Witte.
Except for a few families, the spear was a must-learn for every Dornish person. Secondly, each person also had a short weapon or auxiliary weapon. The eldest sister's whip was quite proficient, the second sister Nymeria's throwing knives, the younger sister Tyene's dagger, and Princess Arianne's short spear. Witte had the help of the game system and learned single-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, and shields very quickly. He could already practice with the girls in the garden with spears, whips, daggers, and throwing knives. Without weapons, he could defeat any two of the girls in a one-on-two fight.
Renly only began to learn martial arts after coming to Dorne. He had only watched others practice martial arts before and had never seen a battlefield. It was either point-to-point in the training ground or a duel that avoided vital points in a martial arts tournament, all belonging to the upright manner that emphasized knightly etiquette.
But the three Sand sisters and Princess Arianne of Dorne didn't care about these things. Every move was aimed at vital points or the lower body. If you defended the lower body, they would attack the neck and face. If you defended the upper body, you might end up writhing on the ground in pain. And he didn't dare to use magic for defense. Renly's martial arts couldn't cope with it at all. He had to lie down for half a day after each training session, filled with resentment.
Prince Doran Martell visited the guest house whenever he had the time. Initially, he would oversee their martial training, but later he began to chat with Witte about the news from the North. His visits gradually became longer. He no longer treated Witte like a five-year-old, but instead started discussing the war situation, likely considering him to be around fifteen years old.
This was exactly the kind of attitude Witte wanted. He always emphasized the Alliance of the Four, excluding the Lannisters of the Westerlands, because he didn't know if the Lannisters would repeat their past deeds, and if the two princes would become angry with him and Renly.
Witte and Renly had not experienced the ravages of war in Dorne, but the war in the North was gradually unfolding.
After Robert Baratheon feigned defeat and led his main force north, he quickly passed through the Riverlands, thus avoiding the battle that was supposed to take place at Stoney Sept.
Having found the armies of the North, the Vale, and the Riverlands, the four rebel forces finally converged and jointly proclaimed Robert as king, marching south to attack King's Landing.
The royalists and the rebels finally met at the Trident.
Since neither side had suffered the attrition of the battle at Stoney Sept, their numbers remained relatively intact. However, with Dorne's army besieging Storm's End, and with only Oberyn bringing a small contingent of knights as reinforcements, the scales of victory in the Battle of the Trident were heavily tilted in Robert's favor. The royalists had only gathered thirty-five thousand troops, while the rebel army had nearly forty thousand.
During the Battle of the Trident, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was slain by Robert Baratheon in single combat. Jon Connington, the second-in-command, was killed by Eddard Stark, and Ser Lewyn Martell of the Kingsguard was killed by Ser Lyn Corbray.
Upon learning of the news, Witte sent a letter to Robert, requesting him to find Prince Rhaegar's body and bury it where he fell, erecting a stone monument. The inscription should detail his life and achievements, and it should be erected in Robert's name to appease the neutral and loyalist factions.
The loyalists scattered and retreated towards King's Landing, while Robert, acting as the leader of the rebels, continued his advance on the city. The Iron Islands pirates were also stirring.
Outside Storm's End, the Highgarden fleet was blockading the sea, and the army, in conjunction with the Dornish forces, launched several attacks, but Stannis held them off. The rebels' leader's home had not yet been taken, so they could only plead inability to assist the Mad King's call for reinforcements in King's Landing.
When the news reached Dorne, the death of Prince Lewyn Martell, the uncle of Prince Doran Martell and Oberyn Martell, caused Doran to distance himself from Witte, only sending his guards with messages. They were all highborn nobles of equal standing, and they had not yet turned hostile.
One day during unarmed combat training, the four girls challenged Witte to a one-on-four match. At first, it was fine, but as the fight went on, things went awry. The four girls' expressions became increasingly ferocious, and their attacks grew more brutal as they ganged up on him. Witte, refraining from using magic, slowly found himself unable to defend. Finally, he could only tightly hug one of them from behind as a shield, falling to the ground, exposing his back and one side. He was then pinned down by the other three girls, but luckily they were children and not very strong. Only his head scraped against the ground, causing it to bleed. It looked serious, but in reality, it was just a minor scrape. Apart from the usual small injuries, Renly had never seen him covered in blood before and was frozen in fear beside them.
"Kill you!" "His brother killed Prince Lewyn!" "Liar!" "Despicable Northerner!"
The girls were shouting. Witte knew why they were angry, and that, even in someone else's home, they couldn't fight back. They were exhausted in the end.
"We want to kill you and Renly, but we can't!" Princess Arianne said with a look of hatred.
"We both lost people, but they died on the battlefield, with honor!" Witte yelled from the ground, sitting up and releasing the girl he'd been using as a shield, Nymeria Sand.
Westeros had seen thousands of years of warfare, with countless families battling each other. If every death had to be avenged, the entire continent would be at war forever. Thus, a tenet of knightly honor had emerged: both sides fight for their lords, and death on the battlefield was honorable. There was no personal hatred, and no need for revenge.
Princess Arianne and her elder sister, Obara, left. Nymeria and Tyene, the two girls closest in age to Witte, hadn't gotten up yet. They watched their sisters leave, then looked at Witte, whose face was covered in blood. They sat on the ground and began to cry.
"War is cruel, and no one wants to start one. I hope you'll talk to your sisters and help them understand the cause of this war." Witte went inside, fetched some oranges, and seeing that the two girls had cried enough, wiped their tears with his sleeves. Then, he peeled the oranges and gave one to each of them.
The two girls had cried and eaten their oranges. They got up, looked at Witte, and slowly walked out of the garden, still sobbing.
Witte pulled a frightened Renly inside to wash their faces. They were not in mortal danger, so the injuries could be left to make them look pitiful. He'd heal them in a couple of days using a healing spell.
It wasn't long before the guards brought over medicine for the wound. The next day, Prince Doran Martell came to visit as well. Princess Arianne Martell and Sand never came again. Only Nymeria Sand and Tyene Sand would occasionally bring fruit. They would sit with Witte by the edge of the garden pool, eating oranges and listening to stories. But they listened quietly, with no laughter.
....
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