Rhaegar leaped down from the dragon's back, looking at the rowdy crowd. Visiting Sunspear again, Rhaegar still felt it was strange and novel.
Sunspear was built of brownish mud and straw bricks, far less beautiful and luxurious than the pale red marble of the Water Gardens. Sunspear, facing the sea on three sides, sat on the eastern side of the peninsula, followed by the freely growing Shadow City to the west. The city was filled with the smell of dust, sweat, spices, and smoke, and it was full of noise and commotion. Sunspear was indeed not large, but its rich exotic style, coupled with the three wonders of Sunspear, made up for the city's small and chaotic nature.
First to catch Rhaegar's eyes were the three great wonders of Dorne: the slender Spear Tower, topped with a gilded iron spear, totaling about 180 feet high, rushing into the clouds. The majestic The Tower of the Sun, with its beautiful dome, could be seen with gold and leaded glass; below it was the double throne room of Dorne, representing the combination of the spear and the sun. Rhaegar felt that the scale of The Tower of the Sun was still not comparable to the Dragonpit in King's Landing, but unfortunately, the dome of the Dragonpit had been thoroughly demolished by Rhaegar and converted into a barracks. The dark brown Sandship, like a great galleon turned to stone.
Rhaegar felt that the great Lords of Westeros were almost all enthusiasts of wonders; cities had to be built to be magnificent and steep, like natural moats. Famous examples were The Eyrie, Storms End, Harrenhal, and Casterly Rock. By comparison, in terms of scale and difficulty, Sunspear and Riverrun were indeed a bit lacking, which might also be a question of the strength of the Lords. The most powerful Lords were still the few who claimed kingship earliest; House Tyrell was an exception, having taken over the wealthy Highgarden, and their strength increased rapidly. Although House Martell also proclaimed themselves kings, that was also hugging the thighs of the rhoynar people, which could be considered upstarts.
The triple gates on the curved walls on the west side of Dorne had already been opened to welcome guests from afar. Guests could reach the Old Palace directly without walking for several miles, bypassing the narrow streets, hidden courtyards, and many noisy markets.
The men and women of Dorne all appeared fiery and overly wild.
They excitedly called out the names of Prince Aerys and the visitors, especially that intoxicating young prince.
The Princess of Dorne led the welcoming party, standing outside the curved wall gate. The Dornish spearmen were lined up in two rows to express welcome and solemnity, and also to stagger the fanatical crowd.
House Martell chose purple and yellow multi-layered silk robes, also matched with the symbol of the spear piercing the sun. Leading were House Martell and their stewards, courtiers, and maesters. Behind them were the various Lords of Dorne, with elegant costumes of different colors. Dornish Lords often wore silk or satin robes, with long sleeves fluttering and gemstone belts cinching their waists.
Rhaegar could easily see the differences between the three great races of Dorne: the Salty Dornish were soft and dark, with olive-colored smooth skin and long black hair floating in the wind; they were good fishermen and sailors, and House Martell was typical of the Salty Dornish. The Sandy Dornish were darker; they could not bear the strong sunlight of Dorne, so they were accustomed to tying bright long scarves on their helmets, and their numbers were the fewest. The Stony Dornish had the best figures and were the most beautiful; they were descendants of the andals and the first men, with brown or blonde hair, though their faces appeared slightly rough due to the sun of Dorne. The distinction between these three great races was made by the Young Dragon.
What attracted Rhaegar the most was not House Martell or the Dornish Lords, but the guard protecting Doran. A guard of House Martell holding a great axe; he was out of place with those spear-wielding guards. This person should be Doran's Norvos guard, Hotha.
The party of Lords led by Prince Aerys was no less impressive. The four most prominent Lords all decorated themselves with embroidered clothes, gold, and jewels, representing the four great families of Dragon, Lion, Stag, and rose. Originally there was also Ser Brynden of House Tully, but he was arranged by Rhaegar to guard Bloodstone. Prince Aerys wore black clothes with blood-red satin trim; the buttons on his clothes were beautiful Silver Dragon, gold dragons plated with red, and the eyes were rubies. Prince Aerys also had three large square rubies strung on a gold chain around his throat, representing the colors of the House Targaryen, black and red. His silver hair and purple eyes, with beautiful decorations, had a very royal flair. Lord Tywin wore crimson clothes, with roaring Golden Lion embroidered on them, sparkling beautifully. Ser Steffon wore black finery with twelve golden Stag embroidered on it. Ser Mace wore green velvet robes, adorning himself with soft gold rose buttons and golden roses on the robes.
"Long live Prince Rhaegar!"
"Prince Rhaegar smiled!"
When Rhaegar's black leather boots stepped onto the ground of Sunspear, everyone's luster was stolen by the beautiful silver-haired prince who descended from the dragon's back. Handsome men were rare, especially one so handsome, tall, athletic, and mysterious. Rhaegar was about six feet tall, which was tall enough at this age. Rhaegar felt that he might finally grow to about six feet five or six inches. Rhaegar used a silver steel ring inlaid with red gemstones to bind his silver hair. He wore black finery; the clothes were not embroidered with twelve red dragons but with twelve silver Silver Dragon representing himself, and he wore that dragon-bone handled valyrian steel sword, Shadow, at his waist.
Rhaegar's pair of beautiful purple eyes were full of warmth, courage, sunshine, and determination. Rhaegar looked around, his eyes sweeping, his demeanor unmatched. Beautiful appearance, good at joking, open-minded, and natural by nature.
The onlookers in Dorne let out a lot of cheers. Everything fears comparison; before the peak beauty, others looked like cowherds.
"I also have a gift for you!" Princess Elia let her daughter step forward. Elia brought a shimmering red Silver Dragon brooch.
Rhaegar looked at the girl's slightly red face and accepted the gift. Prince Oberyn looked at Rhaegar with slight anger; this person was really not very enthusiastic. By comparison, his sister, although shy, was relatively enthusiastic.
"You are really popular. Your parents will have a hard time in the future." Princess Elia said to Rhaegar with a smile, and then Rhaegar saluted and stood aside, welcoming Prince Aerys and others to come first.
"You should have brought Rhaella and Lady Joanna together, to let the children meet as well." The Princess of Dorne accepted the gift brought by Rhaegar, and her tone still had some blame for Prince Aerys and Lord Tywin.
"The remaining two princes are still too young. If the Princess misses Rhaella, you can board a ship to King's Landing. Now, after the sweeping of the Iron Throne's army, the coast is now peaceful." Prince Aerys said proudly, hanging his war exploits on his lips. In fact, everyone knew that the Prince was just a puppet who didn't cause trouble, and the command of the front line in the later period belonged to Prince Rhaegar.
"Thank you for your kindness, Princess. But the children are all too young to adapt to long-distance travel." Tywin replied indifferently. Lord Tywin only played for real and would not agree to let his children condescend.
Next was the introduction of family members. Princess Elia introduced her eldest son, Doran.
"Let me introduce to you my two little flowers. My daughter Elia, and my eldest daughter-in-law, Mellario." Princess Elia proudly pointed to the two girls: one was Princess Elia, and the other was a girl about five feet tall, about 1.6 meters. This girl had olive skin, big black eyes, and a head of jet-black shiny curly hair, plump and beautiful, but she seemed not very old, probably younger than Elia.
Rhaegar had an impression of the short girl; this was Doran's foreign wife, Mellario of Norvos. Rhaegar looked at Doran; Doran was much older than this foreign wife, looked thick-browed and big-eyed, and also liked lolis.
However, the person Rhaegar was most interested in meeting was the Norvos guard Hotha. At the age of 16, this person completed his training. Married to the battle axe, branding the mark of the long axe on his chest. Speaking of techniques, the Norvos slave soldiers were famous for their strength, and Rhaegar was delighted to see a talent.
Hotha saw Rhaegar's gaze, but there was still no change. He was a piece of steel, obeying only Prince Doran.
Rhaegar had a guess in his heart: the Bearded Monk of Norvos might also have mastered a kind of rune. The rune of the axe represented strength, power, and weight. The theocratic slave soldiers cultivated were also very elite.
Areo Hotha had broad shoulders and a head of jet-black hair.
The wooden handle of the long axe he held was six feet long.
Rhaegar looked at this person; he was like a mini version of the Mountain.
Like the Mountain, he was not a nimble general, but relied entirely on strength. He was completely a pig-charging general with great strength. The Mountain was terrifying in terms of strength, but that was all. After all, Rhaegar had the fire seed.
Rhaegar looked at Hotha and really wanted to compete with him.