Facing the murderer who killed his son Quentyn, Doran's emotions were extremely angry. Under his influence, his bodyguard and Sunspear's captain of the guard, Areo Hotah, also glared at Wright, tightly gripping his long-handled battle axe as if he were about to strike Wright down at any moment.
Those who didn't understand Doran would think he was truly furious, but Wright understood that Doran, who was deeply calculating and scheming, was half-performing.
If Quentyn and Trystane had not died, he would have truly been hard on anyone for their deaths. But now that his son was really dead, the two sons in his hands were just bargaining chips for conversation. He had previously compromised and agreed to the Dornish civil war because of them.
"Prince Doran, the last time we met was not long after we took Tyrosh. I came to Dorne to discuss purchasing supplies. It's been almost four years since we last saw each other, and who would have thought that our reunion would be so tense? I have always been following the plan, and the one who acted against Trystane was someone else!"
Wright avoided talking about his eldest son, Quentyn, and instead shifted the topic to his younger son, Trystane. Killing Quentyn had been justified, legally and morally, and so Doran had not dared to retaliate. Wright, thinking of his long-term plans, also had no intention of harming him. The two had exchanged letters for years, sparring with words.
Doran had been the rightful Prince of Dorne for decades, and whether publicly or privately, he had many noble supporters. Some who appeared to be loyal to Oberyn were in fact supporting Doran. Wright didn't want Nymeria to rule a Dorne always embroiled in riots and assassinations. As long as Doran was alive, even if he secretly schemed, he was more useful than dead.
"Don't call me prince. Oberyn and I have abdicated. Now, the Prince of Dorne is your wife, Nymeria!"
Ellaria sat beside Oberyn, leaning against him, and Oberyn, ignoring the others, began to roam his hands over her. Doran waved for Areo to push the wheelchair to the table.
"Wright! I agreed to your request because the future heir to Dorne carries the blood of House Martell. You and Oberyn both promised me that Trystane would be safe. Now that he is dead, you must give me an explanation!"
"Oberyn, do you have any news?" Wright suspected that it was Varys from King's Landing, the Spider, behind this. Varys had a large number of killers who loved to carry out such things. But Wright didn't want to blindly blame Varys for every assassination and let the real mastermind go free.
Oberyn picked up a small bottle of essential oils and handed it to Ellaria to apply to him. He then took a wine glass. "Doran and I ingested the poison you prepared and set the fire, we were severely injured and unconscious. When we woke up, we couldn't even walk. For that time, we couldn't communicate with anyone, and everything proceeded according to plan. If another force interfered, it must have been after Lord Yronwood left Sunspear."
Wright looked back at Doran. "Stormlands and Reach were both taken care of in advance. I blocked the Dorne border and cut off trade, and the few smugglers were dealt with as soon as they were caught."
"Royal Fleet!" Oberyn closed his eyes and relaxed, while casually reminding.
Wright replied seriously, "The Royal Fleet was indeed not part of the original plan, but I requested that it be sent south to avoid affecting morale while rescuing the besieged House Jordayne."
Doran looked into Wright's eyes. "Trystane's assassination occurred shortly after the Royal Fleet rescued House Jordayne! The location was also along the northern coast!"
"Stannis had no reason to do this. He was always uninvolved with Dorne's matters. I know his character, and he wouldn't engage in such schemes." Wright was lying. Which noble didn't engage in such intrigues behind the scenes? Wright himself had secretly executed many people with Stannis in the past due to Robert's orders.
Hearing this, Doran leaned back in his wheelchair, no longer speaking, and the room fell into silence.
After a long period of quiet, Oberyn opened his eyes, shifted his body, and spoke in a teasing tone. "Wright, do you think Robert has only a few years left to live?"
Oberyn had always spoken this way, not showing much respect to anyone. Wright didn't mind. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "If Robert stopped indulging in his excesses, he might live longer. But who knows, his condition could worsen at any time."
"After Robert became king, the laws were almost directly copied from the Targaryen dynasty. According to the Iron Throne inheritance laws, if I remember correctly, after the Dance of the Dragons, King Aegon III made it clear that the male heirs take precedence over females, even distant male relatives like uncles and cousins take precedence over daughters."
Oberyn tapped his wine glass on the table. "Someone wants to cause trouble before Stannis becomes king!"
Wright lowered his head and stayed silent for a moment, carefully considering his response.
"Oberyn, your speculation has some merit, but there are too many doubts. Proof must be found, or everyone in Westeros could be a suspect!" Wright did not reveal his true thoughts.
Gambling brings huge profits at any time in any world. The Stormlands had developed for more than a decade, and now the money earned in a year was the same as Stannis made effortlessly with a few tournaments. Stannis' money came too easily and illegitimately, which made many people and factions envious and eager to target his wealth.
According to the intelligence provided by Andrew, in the current thieves' world of Westeros, the best and wealthiest thieves come from Dragonstone. To become a prominent figure in the thieves' guild, one must go to Dragonstone Castle, and if they manage to return alive, they will not only bring back a fortune but also gain the highest prestige. Afterward, simply taking on apprentices can sustain them. This shows that Stannis's wealth is easily gained, to the point where even daily supervision and management are neglected.
Gambling is both illegal and unethical in Westeros, a clear violation of the law. Furthermore, analyzing the situation, if Robert were to die, Stannis's rule would officially be marked as criminal, and he would not be able to gain noble support to ascend to the Iron Throne. Stannis only has one daughter, Shireen, but no sons, so the next potential candidate for the throne is Renly!
Renly Baratheon, with his vast wealth and support, has a large castle, a loving wife, children, two dragons, and the ability to learn magic with unlimited potential as his knowledge grows. He is not the superficial noble from the original story. As a king, he would not just sit on the throne—he would soar freely on dragonback. Once someone experiences it, they are bound to become addicted.
Who would want to push Renly to the throne? If Renly becomes king, the only major beneficiaries would be the Tyrell. Margaery would become queen, and the factions within the Reach, like Lord Rowan and others, would gradually be pushed out of power, making room for House Tyrell. Additionally, due to Margaery's fertility, she would gain the support of the most powerful mage, Wright, and the dragons, achieving multiple benefits in one go.
The mastermind behind this idea could only be Olenna Tyrell. While Mace Tyrell lacks the wit to orchestrate this, his eldest son, Loras, has some capabilities but cannot go as far as placing assassins on the King's fleet. As for Margaery, she is capable but does not possess the necessary influence to pull this off herself. Loras, however, would be indifferent to whether Renly becomes king or not. Thus, Olenna is the only one with the wisdom and power to execute such a plan.
Wright turned to Doran and asked, "When Prince Trystane was assassinated, who among his companions is still alive?"
"They all died on the battlefield!" Doran responded.
If Wright wanted to find the true culprit, unless he captured an assassin or a conspirator for interrogation, it would all be speculation. The participants involved were likely eliminated, and without concrete evidence, it would be impossible to pin the blame on a scapegoat or implicate someone from House Tyrell.
"I'll start by investigating Stannis's inner circle!" Wright said, hoping his previous suspicions were wrong. If House Tyrell was involved in the succession struggle for the throne, it could lead to a brutal conflict that would cost many lives.
Feeling uneasy, Wright was about to leave when Doran called out to him.
"What about my daughter?"
Wright turned around, "Arianne? I haven't seen her since she gave birth to her child. Where she lives is arranged by Oberyn, not me."
Doran looked at his brother, Oberyn, and asked, "Where is she?"
Oberyn grinned, "Haha, I arranged for her to stay in Lys. The property in Tyrosh is an entertainment venue, but if you don't mind, I can arrange for her to move here right away."
"Send her to Tyrosh, I haven't seen her in a long time!" Doran expressed his longing for his only daughter.
"Arianne is still angry and avoiding you. I'll pass on the message, but I won't force her to come," Oberyn replied. Doran's preference for his two sons as heirs, disregarding Arianne's claims, had been difficult for her to accept. After finding her uncle Oberyn, she had been living in Lys ever since.
Doran chuckled, "You try your best. Is she doing well?"
Oberyn took his lover, Ellaria's hand, and placed it on his chest, "Arianne lives in a luxurious mansion in Lys, with ten maidservants attending to her every need. She's living well. Apart from the black-haired boy she had with a Northern lad, she also started a relationship last year with a noble from Volantis. Congratulations, Doran, you now have a one-year-old blonde granddaughter."
"Has she married?" Doran asked, still probing.
Oberyn replied, "The Volantene nobleman already has a family."
Bang! Doran slammed his palm on the table, upset that his daughter, still a princess, was now having child after child, all illegitimate. It seemed like she was deliberately trying to anger him.
"Another daughter? Of Volantene blood?" Wright's interest was piqued when he heard about the Volantene noble.
Ellaria, sitting next to Oberyn, nodded, "I went to take care of Arianne when she gave birth last year. The little girl is very beautiful, with platinum blonde hair and purple eyes. If I didn't know better, I would never believe she's Arianne's daughter."
"It seems the Volantene bloodline on the male side is very pure. The Targaryens, when they married the Dornish princess with black hair and eyes, also produced children with pure blood." Wright stroked his chin, deep in thought. He knew many of Volantis's noble families and was trying to figure out which one had become the stepfather of Robb Stark's child.
Doran fell into contemplation.
"Oberyn, is there still no news of Tyene's mother?" Wright suddenly remembered something.
The Septa Lemore had abandoned Tyene as a child and raised Aegon. She had a deeper connection with Oberyn and Aegon than with Tyene herself. She might have died from the venomous effects of battle or been captured by criminals after the Golden Company disbanded. Since the end of the Battle of Meereen, she had not exchanged any letters with Oberyn.
Oberyn pointed to the lavish desk in the room. "No news, but before she went to Meereen, she left me a letter. She said if something happened to her, I should give the letter to Tyene. If she returns, there's no need to deliver it. The green envelope on the desk is it. Wright, you can decide whether or not to take it."
"Let's wait a bit longer. I'll continue sending people to search." Just after Wright finished speaking with Oberyn, Doran tapped his glass on the table, signaling Wright to look at him.
"Wright! I want you to take Arianne's son and daughter as your foster son and daughter!"
Wright, with his extraordinary personal strength and growing influence in Tyrosh, knew Doran's situation. He realized that his old noble faction could no longer challenge Wright, and his only bloodline, Arianne, absolutely could not come to harm.
At present, Wright appeared friendly and shared similar interests with Doran, but the future was uncertain. Arianne, as a member of Doran's house, had not been declared dead but merely missing, and she still retained her title as princess. If she returned to Dorne, she would be the greatest threat to Nymeria and Wright's children's inheritance of Dorne. Doran feared that, in the future, Wright might harm Arianne and her children for his own benefit. The only way to ensure their safety was to offer them as foster children, or hostages, to Wright.
Wright was taken aback by Doran's request; his three children were already causing enough trouble, and now two more? However, seeing Doran's sincere and resolute expression, Wright thought for a moment and agreed, though he couldn't understand why Doran thought of him as so ruthless and untrustworthy.
"Alright, then. Please have Arianne and her children brought to Tyrosh. They can stay in my castle."
"Two children are fine, but not Arianne! I know well what kind of person Nymeria is, and they are practically sisters. They are absolutely not allowed to act in such a manner!" Doran's foresight was impressive, and he had already thought of this situation.
"I'll arrange a guest room for her to stay in when visiting her children. You're her father, so once she's in Tyrosh, you can arrange things yourself," Wright said, uninterested in meddling with family affairs, though he was slightly irritated by Doran's distrust of him and Nymeria.
"By the way, Arianne's son is, after all, the child of one of my apprentices. The boy also has magical potential. I've been planning to recommend him to the Magic School in King's Landing once he's older."
Wright stood up, ready to leave.
"The boy's name is Geralt—Geralt Sand!"