Disclaimer: I own nothing of Game of Thrones or A Song of Fire and Ice. I don't own the characters, the books the titles, ect.
Update: Thank you everyone for being so patient! Fortunately, it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it might! Here's the updated, reconstructed version.
Chapter 1: When the Past Comes Knocking
It was midday by the time Lyra awoke to the hot, bright Dornish sun. Groaning at a bright ray shining directly into her face, thus making her skin hot, she pulled a pillow over her head as a shield against the offending light and its heat. Last night she had celebrated her nineteenth name day with her family. It was a quiet, reserved family affair; rather than the large celebration she had for her eighteenth name day, which included many of the nobility of Dorne. Still though, to this very day, Lyra felt embarrassed about the whole affair, but her family had insisted that her eighteenth name day be a grand affair.
It's the day you reach majority! You must have a celebration, was what her mother, Meria Martell, had argued when Lyra told her that she didn't want an affair of a celebration that day.
I'm not a Martell! Lyra had stubbornly grumbled back to her mother.
You may be a Stark in name, but you are still half Martell. Besides, t'would be inappropriate not to have a celebration for the future Lady Stark of Winterfell, Lyra's uncle, Prince Oberyn Martell, had argued to her response. After stubbornly arguing back and forth between her mother and uncle, Lyra realized that neither would budge on the issue. In the end, Lyra relented and her mother planned a rather grand affair for her day of majority. In fact, the even was so grand that even her betrothed, Robb Stark, traveled all the way down to Sunspear for the event; of course, he was accompanied by his mother, Aunt Cat, who is the current Lady Stark, Robb's sibling's, the lady-like Sansa, the ornery Arya, little Bran, and the Stark's ward, Theon Greyjoy.
Thankfully though, for her nineteenth name day, Lyra's Martell family allowed for a more reserved family affair; however, could one ever actually call any Martell celebration a "reserved, family affair"? Of course not! Everybody was drunk off of the finest wine in Dorne, even Prince Doran! The wine, of course, being compliments of Prince Doran himself whenever there was any kind of celebrating in his household. Lyra's other uncle, however, the fiery passionate Prince Oberyn, was always drunk at every celebration he has ever been to; unlike his older brother, Prince Doran, who rarely got drunk and always has a calm, collected demeanor. In fact, sometimes Prince Doran could be so cool headed that Lyra even wondered if he was actually a descendent of the Rhoynar. Of course, always drinking alongside Oberyn, his paramour, the exotic and equally passionate Ellaria Sand, was always drunk along with him. In addition, Oberyn's bastard daughters, Lyra's cousins, who were collectively known as the Sand Snakes, were typically drunk as well if they were old enough so stay up all night at feasts. There was also Princess Arianne, Lyra's buxom oldest cousin, and Prince Doran's heir, who drank a lot as well; unlike her younger brother, Prince Trystane, who tended to drink less, much like his father. Finally, there was Lyra's mother, Princess Meria, the 'little sister' of Doran and Oberyn, who had insisted that her only child's name day not go unnoticed at least to her family; which all led to last night's fun! With all the drinking and laughing and stories shared, Lyra couldn't help but to actually enjoy her name day. Something she didn't do often.
For Lyra, having the family involved in any celebration was always a painful reminder that her father was never around; the Mad King saw to that before she was old enough to remember him. The most painful reminder these affairs brought these days, though, was the fact that Lyra was a Stark and not a Martell. Granted, Lyra was proud to be a Stark, but at times, she also wished that she was a Martell like the rest of her family. Her father was Brandon Stark, and his only legitimate heir, but Lyra had grown up in Sunspear and she knew the Dornish better than the Northmen. Needless to say, she had rather complicated feelings about her place in the world. Lyra was the sole Stark in a family of Martells; who, to their credit, always treated her as family and always made her feel like their home was also her home; a place to feel like she belonged. Still, though, no matter how much she was loved by her Martell family, it was a reminder that she was all but actually banished from what should be her true "Homeland": the North.
Lord Eddard Stark, Lyra's lord uncle whom she rarely saw, was a "Man of Honor", as they call them outside of Dorne, and he did not feel right about the fact that his older brother's only child, the child who should be the true heir to Winterfell, would never receive her title; which is why she has been betrothed to her cousin, Robb Stark, Ned's oldest son and heir to Winterfell. Ever since Lyra was eleven and Robb was ten they were told that they would one day be wed, which is why her and her mother make a trip to the North once a year and stay with the Starks for a month, without the other Martells. It always feels foreign and strange to Lyra every time they make these trips; she was so used to the familiarity and the natural inclusion of the Martells that her Stark family, the family that is supposed to be her main family, always felt more like friendly strangers with whom she spent a month with once a year. To their credit, the Stark children and Ned always did their best to make her feel welcome, which made her feel guilty because she knew that the North would never be her real home. However, Aunt Cat, Lady Stark, is cordial to Lyra, but she also keeps her at a distance, like Jon Snow, Ned's bastard. Lyra's mother always said that Aunt Cat treated her this way because she didn't understand the love her and Brandon had for each other, but Lyra knew better. When she was old enough to understand the relationship between Jon and Aunt Cat, and why Cat hated her kind, noble cousin so much, Lyra realized that Cat was a proud woman and Jon's presence wounded her pride, which is why she also could not be close with Lyra; like Jon, Lyra's existence wounded her pride because she was the constant reminder that Brandon broke his oath to marry her by marrying Lyra's mother on an impulse instead. Though Lyra supposed that she should feel lucky that she was not treated with open contempt like Jon, and that Cat actually tried to be an aunt to her, but her pride always got in her way. Apparently, at least according to Robb, Aunt Cat's pride and inability to accept Jon's meer existence, as well as her pride and inability to be a proper aunt and future mother-in-law to Lyra, caused quite some contention between Lord and Lady Stark. Lyra tried to be understanding and to see these situations from her aunt's point of view, but it still hurt Lyra that she was being punished for her father's broken oath, and Aunt Cat's open contempt and loathing of Jon absolutely made her blood boil to the point that she would sometimes excuse herself to avoid an outburst of anger towards her future mother-in-law.
The Houses Martell and Stark, of course, always enjoyed the political aspect of this marriage alliance; together, they had Westeros closed in from the North and the South (though Dorne was not "technically" The South). Even the children got to enjoy this alliance in various ways; for one, Sansa got to enjoy the alliance when the small Martell party brought their annual crate of lemons as part of their gift to House Stark for having them as guests every year. As for Theon Greyjoy, he got to enjoy the Dornish handmaidens accompanying the Martell party. Robb, on the other hand, got to enjoy the presence of his betrothed, something he did not truly care for or look forward to until he was about fourteen years; as children, Lyra and Robb were always more or less playmates. They would usually either practice archery or spar with training swords, which Lyra usually beat him at, thus earning her the response from little Robb that as his future lady he was simply letting her win; or Lyra would join Sansa, Jon, and Robb in playing knights and maidens. During this game, Sansa and Lyra would dress up in their finest dresses and borrow their mothers' jewels, while Robb and Jon would duel for their favor. When they all became older, however, these games stopped and Robb and Lyra's relationship and interactions changed.
When Robb was around fourteen years of age, Lyra began to see him differently; rather than another child to play with, Robb and herself began to see each other as something more akin to romantic partners to whom were betrothed. She supposed it was likely due to the fact that he was beginning to reach manhood and finally became taller than her, but Lyra began to actually flirt with Robb. A gesture which he was initially shy to return, but gradually Robb began to do so happily as they spent much more time together, alone; which sometimes led to some rather scandalous activities. At this point, Lyra found herself beginning to find Robb to be quite handsome. Lyra had always found her uncles, Ned and Benjen Stark, to be rather handsome men; in fact, Lyra found many men with the traditional Northern build and coloring to be quite handsome. Robb, despite having inherited more Tully features like his mother, was built more like the Northmen; having a stronger, taller, and more rugged build like his Stark relatives, a trait he shared with almost all of his siblings. Dornishmen were typically average in height, but very lean and graceful in build, which are the kind of men Lyra was used to seeing. She supposed that perhaps the reason why she found Robb so much more appealing than the Dornishmen who often tried to woo her, was because he was a Northman like her father; or perhaps, he simply seemed more exotic to her than the Dornishmen.
Lyra, on the other hand, had inherited more Martell features, but she did still have some of the tell-tale Stark traits from her father; she was a little taller than the average Dornish woman, had thick long waves of dark hair, and a long face like the Starks, but she was built lean, had dark eyes, and olive skin (albeit fair olive skin, unlike the traditional Dornishman) like the Martells. In addition, her nick-name in childhood had been "horse face", a trait Lyra shared with her cousin Arya Stark, and something the Stark boys and Theon occasionally made fun of her for. However, the way Robb has looked at her during her visit when she was sixteen years, told her that he no longer found her face to be so long. In fact, he even teased her good naturally about the fact that she had "grown into her face quite prettily". For years, their houses had been trying to make them spend more time together in order to spark romantic interest, which had been all for naught until then. Now Lyra and Robb enjoy their time together, and he feels more like a friend and suitor now. Robb may not be passionate or fiery like her or her family, he was more cold and reserved like his father in Lyra's opinion. However, Lyra did not mind this because in turn, Robb was kind, noble, and honorable; he was a good man. Despite the fact that Lyra was bored in his company sometimes, she felt like she could marry him and be happy as his lady wife. Admittedly, she may need to get used to the North, but eventually she felt she could be happy being the Lady Stark of Winterfell, a title she should have had since her father's death. A title she would soon have since Robb had already had his eighteenth name day some time ago and their families were now talking about marriage arrangements during their last visit to Winterfell.
Despite all of this however, Lyra would say that she was probably closest with Jon Snow out of all of her Stark cousins. It was Aunt Cat's ire towards her, and to a much greater degree, Jon Snow, which ended up being the whole reason why her and Jon were so close. Lyra and Jon would spar with sticks as children, and when they got a little older, they would even sneak a spar here and there with sparring swords. Robb would never spar with Lyra after he was fourteen years, claiming it as "unfair" and "dishonorable" for him to fight a future lady, especially if said lady were to be his lady one day.
As Lyra was just about to doze off again, she got knocked in the face by something furry.
"Meraxes!" It was Lyra's cat who had jumped on to her pillow, the cat she had received from her deceased uncle, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, when she was about five. Her and her parents were visiting King's Landing and she had befriended her cousin, Princess Rhaeneys. Prince Rhaegar and Princess Ellia were so pleased that both girls had become so close, that they each received a kitten to celebrate the occasion. Rhaeneys had named her cat "Balerion" after one of Aegon the Conqueror's dragons; so Lyra, being just a little girl and wanting to emulate her royal cousin and friend, felt inclined to name her cat "Meraxes", especially since that was the name of the dragon that her cousin's namesake rode, Queen Rhaenys, one of King Aegon's sister wives.
"Silly cat..." Lyra muttered as she gently lifted the elderly cat down.
"Ugh...seven hells...", Tyene mumbled to herself, waking up. "Did we really fall asleep talking all night?" Tyene questioned Lyra.
"Yep", Lyra answered, stretching. "You were going on and on and on about how much you fancied Prince Doran's newly pledged knight", Lyra rolled her eyes at her cousin. Tyene was so fierce as a warrior but she tended to fall for knights like a love-sick maiden.
"It's midday, let's see if there's still any breakfast left", Lyra said splashing the cold water on her face. Drying her face with a towel, she began brushing her hair down, which had become rather volumized and frizzy from sleeping. Lyra considered herself rather fortunate to inherit straighter, finer hair than Tyene, who kept hers short so that it was easier to "deal with" as she had put it. Lyra generally just wore her hair down and brushed, preferring the freedom, but she did have the sides pinned back a little so that they would stay out of her way. She also normally wore black kohl liner and lined her eyes similar to a wolf's, it highlighted the brown in her eyes and made them more prominent while also protecting them from the rays of the Dornish sun; but now, Lyra was tired and just wanted to eat. Throwing on a light purple dress and black belt, she waited for Tyene to finish getting ready, then they went down to the kitchens to, embarrassingly, pick at the remnants of fresh fruit brought out for this morning's breakfast.
Getting down to the kitchens and seeing that all of the fruit from breakfast had been consumed, Lyra and Tyene had to beg for some bacon, cheese and toast. The head chef finally relented, called it a late birthday gift to Lyra, and told them not to make a habit out of it. Bringing their food to the main Dinning Hall, where the rest of the Martells were having their midday meal, the two girls sat down with the rest of the family.
"Hey!" Tyene exclaimed to her older sisters, Obara and Nymeria, "you could have woken us up you know!"
"Oh but little sister!" Obara sarcastically said, "you were so besotted with Prince Doran's new knight that we thought to give you and Lyra the day to recover from all the talking Tyene probably did". Obara was goading Tyene, something Nymeria usually did; but Obara thought it shameful that her little sister acted this way around knights.
Tyene was about to retort back when Doran's Head Guard, Areo Hotah, came in. "Lady Lyra", Areo addressed her, "Prince Doran has just received a raven from Winterfell and requests your presence. Your mother has already arrived. I would be happy to escort you". Areo was scary-looking, as a hulking fierce warrior wielding an axe-like spear should look, but he was always very calm and polite. Doran and Oberyn often spoke of his ferocity in battle, but they also joked about how polite and professional he was outside the battlefield.
Lyra trailed behind Areo Hotah as he led her down the hallways towards Prince Doran's solar. It was a beautiful day with a mild breeze. Maybe it's cool enough to go for a ride later, Lyra absentmindedly thought to herself.
Arriving at Prince Doran's solar, Areo announced Lyra to her own uncle and mother, who looked as if they were in the heat of a passionate argument. Lyra's presence interrupting their argument, they both stared at her a moment before her mother spoke.
"Lyra", Meria said, glaring daggers at Doran, "the Prince of Dorne has something to tell you".
Prince Doran, considered his sister for a moment with a look of distaste before composing himself back into his usual cool manner. "Robb Stark has called in his banner men in the North", he began.
Lyra, quickly realizing the gravity of the situation, sat down and seriously listened to Doran's words. Quickly sobering up.
"He is proclaiming himself 'King in the North'", Doran continued, occasionally glancing at the scroll, "he wants to expedite your marriage, making you 'Queen in the North'. In return, he wants my men to fight in his war. He is promising that in return, he will help Dorne, the North, and the Riverlands break away from the Crown. King Robb tells us that upon winning against the Crown, Dorne will be freed from the Seven Kingdoms and regain it's former glory as an independent kingdom of Westeros", Doran finished. He must have then seen the worry written all over Lyra's hungover face because he added, "Do not worry child. You will not be going". At this Lyra's mouth dropped.
"W-wha", Lyra was lost for words. The Martells hated the Lannisters and the Crown because it was held by King Robert Baratheon, the man who wanted the deaths of Lyra's cousins by her deceased aunt, Ellia, and uncle, Rhaegar Targaryen. The man who also upheld Ned's claim to Winterfell over Lyra's by Royal Decree so that Ned's claim would be uncontested, and so that Dorne, fighting alongside the Targaryens, would not lead the North against his rebellion. Dorn had the opportunity to finally get revenge on the Lannisters, specifically Lord Tywin, and Baratheons.
"What in the Seven Hells?! Why not?!" Lyra exclaimed to her uncle the Prince. Why were the Martells not taking this "golden" opportunity that would make Dorne an independent kingdom again, make Lyra a queen, regain her seat in Winterfell, and fulfill their long held family revenge in one bloody war? Doran's gaze hardened, reminding Lyra that though he is a gentle ruler and an old, wheelchair bound man, he was still THE Prince of Dorne.
"Because King Robb may have won every battle so far, but he cannot win this war", Doran spat this more to Lyra's mother, Meria, who was still glaring daggers at him, rather than to Lyra herself. "Tywin Lannister is a seasoned general, and he has won every war he's ever fought". Doran looked back at Lyra continuing, "I have much better plans concerning your future than for you to become the fallen queen of a traitor king".
Softening his gaze at his niece, Doran then asked, "Do you understand why I cannot let you marry Robb Stark?"
Lyra calmed herself and considered Doran's words about Lord Tywin Lannister. He is the same man who slaughtered House Reyne and effectively kept the Seven Kingdoms at relative peace while the Mad King was tearing it apart. After much consideration concerning Tywin's long history in battles and in wars, Lyra begrudgingly came to the conclusion that Doran was right.
"I understand why Prince Doran", Lyra finally answered.
"Good", he replied, relaxing back into his wheelchair, "now, go on and have your midday meal with your cousins".
As Lyra got up to leave her uncle and mother, Doran suddenly spoke to her just before pulling the door open to exit his solar.
"Please-" Doran suddenly stopped Lyra as she was exiting,"tell your uncle Oberyn that our sister and I would like a word".
With that, Lyra left for the Main Dinning Hall.
Princess Meria, however, was not easily pacified on the matter. "Doran, THIS is our opportunity! Why are we not taking it?! An alliance like this with the North would create the perfect strategy to become and remain independent again as a kingdom! The northern most regions in alliance with the southern most region would create the perfect pincer move against the Crown! We could have Tywin and that awful King, Joffery, on their knees, begging for mercy within two years!"
"Because sister", Doran drew himself up before his younger sister, "I am The Prince of Dorne and I have spoken on the matter. In addition, your daughter's inheritance predicament gives her an opportunity for an even bigger future than Queen in the North or Lady Stark of Winterfell that will actually last". Doran looked at his little sister angrily, while she stared at him with surprise. "Now, if you will sit down and listen to me, you will understand why; and if you wait and be patient enough for the results, it will please you more than this proposal and her previous future".
End Note: What do you think? Have I set it up well? More will be posted soon!