Hunting in a great company at the edge of the desert north of Sunspear, the Prince of Dorne was attended by courtiers, knights and ladies both, as they tried their hawks and falcons, and tested their bows and spears. Prince Marence had been in a notably glad mood, and the rumor about the court was that recently Ser Mavros Uller had communicated from Yronwood that negotiations went well and that Lady Yronwood would soon relent in her near-rebellious obstinancy. At a desert oasis, they hunted their fill, sending arrows at scattered birds that the hunters had raised. All was going well…
... until the riders from Sunspear arrived in haste. One of the palace guard, Ser Emeric Santagar, had urgent news from Yronwood. Marence expected it to be word that Ser Mavros had concluded the negotiations and had secured peace. But no: Lady Yronwood herself had written, proclaiming that she had seized Ser Mavros and his escort for betraying the truce of parley, for trying to raise her own vassals against her. Outrage swept through the company of riders, and Prince Marence was first silenced by shock, and then by anger as he rarely showed.
Almost without hesitation, the prince had made a decision: this insult to Sunspear would not stand, and he would call the spears almost before members of the company urged him to it. Some attemped to urge moderation—the heiress to Hellholt, Liane Uller, proposed to be sent to Yronwood to try and negotiate anew—but the prince was set on his course. And it was something else Liane Uller said, that her House had already offered its spears to Sunspear if it came to war with Yronwood, that set off another witness: Ser Joris Yronwood. Taking this to be a sign of an elaborate plot against Yronwood by the Prince of Dorne and the Ullers, he spoke intemperately.
During all this, Prince Rhodry had been indulging himself, putting an end to injured birds. He paid little attention to the gathering, until Ser Mavros’s bastard Samara Sand informed him of what had happened, and that Prince Marence had called for him. The infamous prince hurried then, and in time to hear Ser Joris mouth his calumny. It set him to string an arrow to his bow, remarking that someone had missed a pigeon… but Prince Marence would have no bloodshed. He had his men put up their weapons, and ordered Ser Joris disarmed and taken to Sunspear, to a cell in the Spear Tower.
Once the man was out of ear shot, the commands began: the reading to depart with all haste, Ser Laurent Dalt to commandeer ships at the Planky Town, word for the spears together. And when the question of command came—not so much a question, as a statement, from Prince Rhodry—Marence revealed that he would lead his banners into battle himself, to make sure that Lady Yronwood’s trouble-making would be done for one and all.