Vira's Tower Cell

Vira felt all of Maekar's muscles instantly tense up, and she could practically feel the rage radiating off of him at the mention of Dorne. "I received a letter from the Princess of Dorne. She has seized Daenya and demands twenty thousand dragons in exchange for her freedom. She warned against sending any Dragons to Dorne, and when I replied with a more reasonable ransom agreement, her response was incidental to the first letter," he said in disgust.

The King stood suddenly and began pacing as he often did when he was angry. "That Dornish whore thinks she can seize a Dragon with impunity, and has the audacity to mock the Iron Throne with such an exorbitant ransom," he raged, forgetting for a moment to keep his voice lowered. When he spoke again, he was more in control, and calmer. "The treasury cannot pay it. I cannot afford to ransom her, and every day that she is held in Sunspear, we look weaker and weaker."

"I do not know, perhaps she was tricked into allowing herself to be separated from Vandaras. Without the dragon at her side, she is just a foolish girl with no guards or retainers," Maekar replied, with a disgusted shake of his head. "There are no gold reserves on Dragonstone of significant value, but if Aegon has spent the last six months making alliances with the Magisters of the Free Cities, he could have any amount of gold on hand; there is no way of knowing."

Vira felt him relax slightly as her arms slid around his chest, and he stopped pacing so that she would not be dragged along with him. "I doubt it. I promised the man three dragon eggs, and now I do not even think I will be able to send someone to Dragonstone to retrieve them, without risking running into Aegon and his men. We cannot spare the dragonriders. Perhaps... your birds on Dragonstone, might be able to see it done?" he asked, his voice growing excited for the idea had only just occurred to him.

"From Sunspear? I doubt it very much. I had a few contacts in Dorne, but after my invasion failed the Princess discovered most of them and had them executed," Maekar replied. "Even if we manage to get into the city and release Daenya, we'd never be able to get a dragon out of Dorne undetected, and we would not be able to send dragons of our for the same reason. She is not worth such a risk," he said bluntly. Vira got the impression that he cared more about the damage Daenya's capture did to the reputation of House Targaryen, than about Daenya herself.

"There's nothing to indicate a dragon will obey commands, if the rider is not present to give them," Maekar replied. "It has been long debated among our House, but in my experience, if a dragon is not weighted to teh ground by chains, and left to his own devices, he will revert to a wilder more feral state in a matter of days. A dragon will always allow their rider to mount them, but they will not just wait in one place because they were told to do so."

"If I were Sarella, and Daenya showed up at my doorstep, I would demand she leave the dragon outside the city; Daenya is foolish enough to have conceivably thought that Vandaras would just wait where she left him, and Sarella is wily enough to know that once Vandaras was out of the way, Daenya was completely within her power."

"That... Is not a terrible idea," Maekar replied thoughtfully. "A Princess is a great prize for one such as Azantys, and he is intelligent enough to see the benefits of such an arrangement."

Maekar chuckled mirthlessly at the last, for he'd been thinking the exact same thing. "She is rather difficult, and it would reflect poorly on me to allow my kinswoman to be publicly beaten by her husband, but I will inform Azantys that he need not fear my wrath if Daenya forces him to take... extraordinary measures to keep her in line," he replied.

"A man of means is expected to make good matches for his kinswomen, and even though they are under the authority of their husband, the kinsmen still have a duty to protect them if they are being maltreated. I would look quite weak, if I could not protect my own sister from an abusive husband, and other Houses may begin to think that they can mistreat members of House Targaryen with impunity," Maekar explained patiently. Vira had a fierce intelligence, but she was very naive in many areas, though on the rare moments when her inexperience showed through it tended to only endear her more to him. "Perhaps it is different among the small folk, but I would be viewed quite badly if I allowed such without repercussions.