The Necromancer King (A Game Of Thrones)

The Sea Dragon

Aerion was so tired after the affair that he had to rest for a good while before leaving. He did not wish to stay in Arianne's chambers for too long as explaining the situation would be quite difficult. After dressing himself and adjusting his hair, Aerion left Arianne with a kiss on the cheek.

Aerion quietly opened the door and closed it behind him. He looked at Arthur as if nothing had happened... only a long private conversation. Arthur, however, was not deaf but neither was he disloyal.

"I will not speak of this day, my prince."

Aerion smiled. "I know you won't."

He returned to his chambers to sleep until the morning.

~

The eleventh moon of 294 AC, Sunspear.

It felt like a short while since he had returned to Sunspear from the desert. Time had gone at a swift for Aerion, who was enjoying his time in Sunspear. The desert had taught him to appreciate its wonders once more. Being a diligent young man, very rarely was he idle. He always had to do something whether it was practising swordsmanship with his Kingsguard, use magic outside of Sunspear, spend time with his family and read multiple books... among other things. Most importantly, he valued time with family more than anything else at this point since he was going to leave Sunspear for a very long time.

His encounter with Arianne was not a one-time thing... no, it was only the beginning. Although Aerion was as discreet as possible, in the end, it was Arianne who told her father about it. Knowing her father, she was not afraid of revealing the truth. Doran Martell saw it as a great thing, in truth, but he gave a very neutral reaction. This act would only strengthen the ties of the true King of the Seven Kingdoms and House Martell so he had no issue with it. Although they were cousins and four years apart, Targaryens of the past tended to marry their siblings so their relationship would be deemed more than acceptable.

Finding a suitor that Arianne would accept was also extremely difficult, if not impossible... unless that suitor was to be Aerion. It made matters much simpler for Doran Martell. Still, he decided not to spread this news to Elia... not yet, at the very least.

Aerion stood before his three ships and hundred men, all of whom were Dornish. Every man was a true soldier and simply incomparable to the average pirate that they would soon face. With the right advantages, these hundred men can equal several hundred. Along with the hundred men, he had his three Kingsguard. Those three alone equal a dozen men at the very least.

Lastly, Aerion had himself. His magic vitality had exponentially risen to 20 since he reached the Master stage and chosen which aspects to focus on. He was the very core of this force... with him, the small army's potential fighting strength was much greater due to the power of his magic. Not to mention that his own fighting ability was equal to that of a formidable Kingsguard. He was not in Arthur's or Jaime's league, but he was not too far from it either.

Before sailing away from Sunspear, Aerion said his farewells to his mother and the rest of the family.

"Stay vigilant and avoid any storms that may come near you," Doran advised.

"I was born in the storm." Aerion smiled.

Not long after, his three war galleys set sail.

~

2 weeks later, one of the Stepstone's islands.

Aerion had spotted his first set of potential recruits. Near the small island was a galley with a few men while the rest were on the island. There were several rowing boats placed on the sand so that they could easily row to the galley. It was likely that the pirates were taking a break of sorts before continuing to test their luck in the sea.