Chapter 1: The Daughter of the Sun
In Dorne, bastards were given the surname Sand. Antoinette Sand was the bastard daughter of Ser Lewyn Martell. Her father was Prince Lewyn, the younger brother of the former ruling Princess of Dorne. He was appointed a member of the Kingsguard in service of King Aerys II Targaryen, and later, King Robert Baratheon. He had since retired and resided with his children in the capital of Dorne.
Antoinette was born and raised in Sunspear, the hottest region of Westeros. She had bronzed skin and her hair was long and black as night, framing her oval-shaped face in a delicate way. Her eyebrows were fairly thick and her forehead was much too big for her liking. What stood out the most about her, were her piercing grey eyes. She grew up with her older brother, Odin Sand. Antoinette was very close with Odin, even though there was a four year age difference. At an early age she learned how to fight with the help of her brother and her father. Her primary weapon were double daggers that her father had them custom made for her.
The sun blazed down on the city of Sunspear from a cloudless azure sky. It was a beautiful day. Well, most days in Dorne were beautiful, the sun was shining every day and the sky was so blue that no one could be hiding inside all day.
Antoinette had left her hair loose, wild, and messy. She had dressed in her usual clothing brown harem pants and a bright orange tank top embroidered with golden suns.
The sound of the dull clangs of wood against wood rung out in the air with each contact.
She peered through the legs of the people in front of her. She was too short and far too small to push through the crowd to get to the front but from where she stood she could see her brother in the training grounds.
It was a duel and it was a vigorous one. The other opponent who been glaring at Odin in a menacing manner, had shaggy light-brown hair and was a foot taller than him.
Antoinette wondered if the two boys were the same age. Both were looking for a weakness, for an opening for the other to fail. They were strong opponents and this wasn't her brother's first duel. A thrust there, a parry there, a lean and a kick. The two boys were heated in a deadly tango.
Antoinette couldn't help but cringe as she observed the fight that everyone else were also watching.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her small waist and lifted her, "There. Now you can see, nuha gevives."
She looked into her father's dark eyes, who now held her in his arms. She giggled as the scruff of his beard tickled the side of her face. He was dark like she and her brother, tall, but didn't have the same colored eyes as she and her sibling. They all had the similar dark black hair, her father's was long enough to be sleeked back.
Antoinette can now see her brother clearly sparring with the other Dornishman. The sweat rolling down their faces was a sign of tiredness. Such complicated moves, with precise angles and cuts. It was terrifying and enriched at the same time.
The boy's attack came fast and surprised her. Odin was hardly able to raise his sword to block it, the wood clanging as he pushed Odin backwards. His blows came hard and after only a minute Odin's arm weakened but he was too stubborn to admit defeat, slashing his sword through the air, almost letting out a cry of victory as he stumbled backwards. Antoinette didn't realize she was holding her breathe the entire time. She felt sick with fear for her brother, her heart pounding fast against her chest. Seconds later, Odin was lying on his back, having no idea how he got there.
The boy hovered above Odin as he pushed his wooden sword against Odin's chest.
"Yield!" The boy shouted.
Odin growled throwing his wooden sword down off to the side causing the dirt to fly up from the ground. He managed to get himself up, glaring at the boy who defeated him. He turned and walked away pushing through the crowd. Antoinette saw her brother's retreating figure and struggled to get down from her father's arms.
"Leave him. He did well, defeat doesn't finish a man. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits." He smiled at his little girl who still struggled to get out of his grasp. He bent down to lower his daughter on the ground.
"Father, I need to go to him." Her black hair whipped around her shoulder as she gave her father one more glance before running after Odin. She felt his anger and knew he must've felt embarrassed with the defeat. She couldn't stand her brother feeling like this, because in her eyes he would always be the true champion.
"Leave me be, Antoinette." Odin mumbled, his face was stained with dirt and dried up tears.
After running off to find Odin, it took Antoinette a while to finally find him next to the fountain in the Water Gardens.
"No." Antoinette simply said, out of breath she took a seat next to Odin but made sure she kept a distance.
Odin sniffed, and shook his head. "You don't understand how it feels... I'm never going to be like father. He's the one who's a true fighter...a real fighter. Not me... I'm going to be a swordsmith. At least that'll save me the embarrassment of defeat-"
"Don't say that..." Antoinette put her hand on her brother's shoulder to calm him but in return he shook it off.
There was tense silence between the two siblings except for the occasional sniffles from Odin. Antoinette looked off into the distance, trying to think of something. Anything to calm her brother..
"Father said you did well...that you weren't defeated."
Odin finally turned to look into Antoinette's grey eyes, his face finally relaxing. Antoinette never broke eye contact as she continued, "You never yielded."
All the fights Antoinette witnessed of her brother, he had always been the victor.
"I shall fight him again... when I am ready."
"Yes... and he will yield." Antoinette said confidently.
Odin smiled softly as his younger sister, his dark eyebrows no longer furrowed in a frown. He nodded his head, "I'm hungry. Lets find something to eat."
Antoinette stood up brushing off her pants as her brother raised his hand for his sister's help to stand up.
"Help me." Odin grinned, his hand out waiting for Antoinette's assistance.
Antoinette laughed, she knew being that she was five years old, wouldn't be able to lift or properly assist her brother to stand, but she still grabbed his hand. Antoinette froze as everything around her disappeared.
It was a blur and all of a sudden replaced by her brother at the training grounds fighting the same little boy. It was different this time, Odin wasn't tired this time and his blows were quick and fast. The boy lost his sword after Odin knocked it out of his hands. He held the sword up to the boy's chest, "Yield!"
"Antoinette!" Odin had already stood up and Antoinette still had his hand in her grasp. He looked at his little sister concerned, "What's wrong with you?"
Antoinette blinked, and saw her brother in front of her. Tears had formed in her eyes from fear of not knowing what had just happened.
"I saw you..." Antoinette paused, trying to steady her erratic breathing.
"You saw me, what?" Odin impatiently urged his sister to explain.
"I-I just saw...I saw you-" She fumbled on her words, she wasn't sure how exactly to explain without sounding crazy or untrue.
"Go on with it!"
"You win the fight, I've seen you win the fight. I don't know, it was as if it was a dream."
Odin shook his head at his five year old sister. He was happy that Antoinette was trying to cheer him up, but he didn't appreciate her lying to him.
"Really!" She tugged at Odin's sleeve, "You must believe me! I saw it, it was-it was like some sort of vision! You're going to win the next fight, you knock his sword out of his hands and he yields! I saw it! I think it's going to really happen!"
Odin had enough of Antoinette's childish antics, "Oh, shut up! Lets go. I'm hungry."
He turned away from Antoinette stomping off in the opposite direction towards the kitchens as Antoinette jogged to keep up with his fast pace.
She knew she couldn't tell anyone about this. She trusted her father but she didn't know if he would react as accepting as her brother. She was five and didn't understand what she had just experienced, or if she really did experience it. Maybe it was the heat that caused her to be delusional at one point.
Days had passed and Antoinette quit trying to convince her brother of what she had seen. Her brother was reluctant to believe her until a week after her vision turned out to be right. Odin and that same little boy fought at the training grounds, and Odin was in fact the winner. The fight was exactly how she saw in her vision, but longer and much clearer now that she had seen in it in real life. At the end of the fight, Odin ran to his sister and picked her up swinging her around in joy.
"You were right!" Odin smiled up at his sister as he held her up as high as his arms could extend.
Antoinette laughed and looked at her brother in admiration, love and respect. Their father smiled at their fondness for each other. Odin had apologized for not believing her at first and Antoinette understood him completely. It was madness, her visions, being able to foresee events that haven't yet took place.
FOUR YEARS LATER
It was an unusually cool morning for a summer day in Dorne. The sky was bright and clear, the wind light but welcoming. The grass had recently been cut, but the smell still in the air, lingering with that of fresh squeezed lemons and the slight aroma of horses. The fountain had been scrubbed so that the dark marble of a spear piercing the sun shone in the light of the morning. The barns and arenas beyond the fountain were immaculate, with horses hanging their heads lazily over their stall doors.
Antoinette was seated on one of the balconies of the Water Gardens, under an orange tree. This particular tree was her father's favorite spot.
"Would you like to spar today, sister?" Antoinette turned to look up at her thirteen year old brother.
"Of course, brother." She took hold of her brother's hand and proceeded to walk into the training courtyards.
She was nine years old now, and her brother Odin Sand had already made it his duty to follow her everywhere she went. When he wasn't training in the courtyard, he was there behind her, a not-so-silent shadow.
At first, Antoinette found it annoying. For some reason, she never found the worse to tell him that to his face.
"I'll always protect you." He said, when she finally tentatively brought up the subject. And even to young Antoinette, he looked ridiculous, a mere boy trying to keep a solemn face as he made a promise to her.
She had no idea why she nodded, and believed him completely.
Over the years, she got used to having her brother around everywhere, so much that it felt like a part of her was missing whenever he wasn't around her but as they grew older, she found her brother being preoccupied with more adult manners. She ceased every opportunity she had to spend time with her brother now. Ever since the first vision she experienced when she was five, she never did have another one after.
"Keep your guard up," Odin instructed, aiming a quick slash at Antoinette's chest.
Antoinette dodged aside, shaking sweat out of her eyes. She tried to retaliate with a lunge to her brother's throat, but Odin parried.
Odin grew up to be a tall, broad young man with black hair that was all slicked back and his the sides of his head were shaved. The style of his hair never changed throughout the years. He too, had the trait of thick eyebrows and olive skin just as his little sister. His features were sharp and elongated with large eyes the color of light blue, a light beard trailed across his angular face. There was a small scar just above his right eye; an accident that happened during one of his spar matches with Antoinette when she managed to nick his skin with the point of her dagger. His effect on women was even bigger thanks to his natural charisma and overall friendly demeanor. When someone spoke to him it seemed like there was no chance in this world that this young man would be able to kill a man twice his size using only his bare hands.
Even now as he stood no more than half a foot from Antoinette, he exulted power and authority.
"Don't stand so close to me, you'll get us all tangled up in each other. Stay further back and move quickly in and out." Odin demonstrated, scoring light taps on each of Antoinette's shoulders and thighs in rapid succession.
"I can't do that," Antoinette complained, trying to back away.
"Of course you can," Odin scoffed, "It's not hard."
Just then Antoinette tripped over a small rock and Odin took his advantage, pressing the tip of his sword to Antoinette's throat.
"I win," he announced, smirking, "Again."
"It's not fair," Antoinette huffed, batting Odin's sword away and sitting up, rubbing the sore spot where her head had met the ground. "Your sword's bigger. You can hit me without ever getting close enough for me to touch you."
Odin chuckled, offering his sister a hand up. "It's not the size of the weapon that counts, sister, it's how you use it."
"No one really believes that, Odin," Antoinette retorted scathingly, but she accepted the hand up.
"Want to go one more round? I can show you that twisting move I did earlier."
"No thanks," Antoinette stretched her back carefully, mindful of sore spots, "I don't think I could handle more bruises. I'm done for today."
Antoinette wiped the sweat that procured above her eyebrow with the back of her hand. The coolness of the morning evaporated in sheer terror of the coming torture of the day.
"Have you not heard?" Odin had a sudden frown on his face, "Father has some business to tend to, and we're supposed to depart in a few days."
"Where to?" Antoinette put her wooden sword on the bench next to her, not bothering to ask what business her father had.
She was still too young to understand, especially if it involved politics.
"King's Landing." Odin replied as he and Antoinette walked over to the open grass where a tree was rooted and developed the only shade around the training grounds.
"Am I part of that 'we'?" Antoinette asked.
Odin scoffed, "Of course not. Are you aware of the dangers in King's Landing? Smoke, sweat, and shit. King's Landing, in short. Not much to see, sister. If you have a good nose you can smell the treachery too."
King's Landing was the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, festering city of filth. It was the site of the Iron Throne and the Red Keep. Blackwater Bay, the waters that the city flanked must have only acquired such a name only after years of contamination.
Unless one was of the nobility or of wealth, there was no way such a place could be seen as a capital city of much price. The stench of the city had been known to accost travelers and visitors alike for centuries.
"Oh."
Antoinette could not manage to speak any further as she finally sat down on the grass, leaning her back against the base of the tree while her brother continued to stand.
She had never left Dorne. Though she had to admit, the Seven Kingdoms did not tempt her as a designation. Especially not King's Landing, for many reasons, but it would be nice to have a change.
Antoinette had a slight idea of why Odin wasn't so happy about this invite, though the Royal Family, nowadays merely consisting of the Lannisters, were their sworn enemies. They had once had Elia Martell killed, Antoinette's and Odin's cousin, a princess of Dorne. Tywin Lannister himself also ordered the deaths of Elia's children in order to secure the throne for the present king Robert Baratheon.
"Can I please go with you and father?" Antoinette begged her brother, pulling grass from the roots and tossing it.
"No." Odin would never want to risk putting his sister in danger, even after years of training in combat and weaponry, she was far too young still.
"Please! I promise I won't bother you or father. I promise I'll stay out of the way. Besides, what am I going to do here when you're gone? Please, Odin. It's not fair!"
"Enough! I said no. Father will say no as well."
Antoinette fell silent once again after Odin had raised his voice. After a few moments of a tense silence between the two siblings, Odin sighed sitting down on the grass next to his sister.
"I'll speak to father." He finally said and leaned, relaxing against the tree and closing his eyes.
Antoinette couldn't contain her excitement as she threw her arms around her brother and hugged him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Did he speak with you?" Prince Lewyn did not look up when his daughter entered his chambers. She sat down, facing him, without saying a word, but Lewyn took her silence for an answer.
"I take it, he did. And now you come to me, craving approval." he said finishing the letter he was writing. Again silence rose in the room, while the prince sealed the letter. He took a raven out of a cage next to him and bound the letter to its leg, while Antoinette watched him quietly.
King's Landing wasn't favored by Prince Lewyn at all. During the battle of Trident, Elia's husband Rhaegar was killed by Lord Robert Baratheon. Rhaegar's father, the Mad King Aerys II, believed that Prince Lewyn must have betrayed Rhaegar on the Trident, so Aerys kept Elia and both of her children in King's Landing as hostages against the possible Dornish betrayal.
When he had sent the bird on its way Antoinette finally managed to speak: "Father, I beg of you to let me go."
"And, what is it you will do there hmm?"
Prince Lewyn never brought his children out of Dorne, and King's Landing was the last place he wanted them to see. Even though years had passed he remembered the old familiar stinks of King's Landing; the scents of sour wine, bread baking, rotting fish and nightsoil, smoke and sweat and horse piss.
"I won't be of any trouble." she answered, not daring to break eye contact with her father. "I will not disturb you with the King. I will be..."
"You can't even answer that question properly and you want me to agree on you accompanying us to Kings Landing, nuha gevives." Lewyn said calmly.
Antoinette pouted and folded her arms, "You only picked Odin because he's your favorite!"
Lewyn smiled and shook his head. Antoinette continued to test his patience, she was stubborn and determined get her way. Since the day she was born, she was a fussy baby always testing Lewyn by trying out different behaviors to see what his response would be. She cried and cried until she was held, and if it was anyone other than Lewyn, she would continue to cry until it was his arms that she was placed in.
Antoinette furthered her begging, "Please! If you and Odin leave me here, I will follow you!"
Lewyn laughed out loud, "Follow me? You know how to sail across the Sea of Dorne?"
"That's why I should go! To learn more about the Seven Kingdoms!"
"That's a good reason."
"Then?" Antoinette asked.
"Yes?"
Antoinette stood up and wrung her arms around her father's waist looking up at him, "Pleeease!"
He always had a soft spot for his daughter, the minute he would see her pout and look into her beautiful gray eyes full of sadness, he would easily give in. This time was different. This time it wasn't a toy or a sweet treat she was pleading for. She asked for something that she barely had any knowledge about. If only she understood about the dangers in King's Landing...
Discomfort snaked through him. He placed his hands on her head, "I will think about it."
"So yes?"
"I said I will think about it." Lewyn sighed.
"Great, I will pack right now!"
Before he uttered a single word Antoinette fled out of the room.
Prince Lewyn was left alone with his thoughts. But it was not to last, for peace, even frail and tattered, is forever haunted by troubles.
Raising two children was incredibly challenging. Shortly after Antoinette had turned two, Lewyn's paramour, the mother of both his children was stricken with a harsh fever that eventually led to her untimely death. He was devastated. But not once did he ever think about abandoning his children.. His duty as a father was to love, protect, and guide them until his last breath.
He found himself acknowledging that he was indeed more protective of his daughter than he was with his son. He was more suspicious of Odin than he was of Antoinette. He felt equipped to warn his daughter against the evils of "bad men" out in the world. With Odin, he focused more on not letting him become one of the bad men.
It was the same bad men that led to Elia's death...
There was no kind of affection so purely angelic of a father to a daughter. In love to his paramour, there was desire; his son, there was ambition. But to his daughter, there was something which there are no words to express.
The ship was well-kept and neat, with a trade ship's careful balance of speed and a huge cargo space. There were about twenty other Dornish seamen and guards that had set sail with Prince Lewyn.
During the weeks' sail to King's Landing, Odin made sure Antoinette was informed about the politics and cruelty of Westeros, a land filled with so much corruption and thirst for power.
Odin had told her the story of the infamous Iron Throne at King's Landing that contained the swords of those Aegon the Conqueror defeated in battle, but not of those who had surrendered honorably rather give battle.
He described the throne was so large in fact that it was physically impossible to move it and during the reign of House Targaryen, the walls of the Great Hall in the Red Keep were decorated with the skulls of dragons.
She ignored the sudden flutter of her heart caused by fear, she knew her brother well enough that he was trying to convince her that coming along on this trip wasn't the best decision for her.
Antoinette leaned on the ship's rail, staring at the town and towers in the horizon ahead of them. She was barefoot and dressed in a sleeveless silk gown.
She closed her grey eyes and basked in the sudden peace and quiet with the warm wind blowing in her dark untamed hair.
It had took two weeks for King's Landing to finally come into view. As they neared the Blackwater Bay, the sea had risen considerably higher for them to dock and unload easily.
The Dornish seamen were busy all along the deck as the ship was anchored, coiling the ropes and stowing the away the sails that were stitched with the Martel house sigil. Antoinette and Odin followed their father as he walked along the dock. There stood three men of the king's guard, wearing all-white cloaks and gold armor with extensive white enameling.
The fourth man, who wasn't dress as the rest, wore a gold brooch shaped like a hand on his brown leather tunic. He had grey hair, kind blue eyes and an aquiline nose.
"Jon Aryn... It seems as if it was just yesterday I last seen you." Lewyn greeted the man now known as Jon Aryn.
"Your presence honors our house, Prince Lewyn." He said with a low curtesy. He was missing half of his teeth.
"As do your courtesy." Lewyn returned the bow. "We were becalmed at sea some days. Did we miss anything?"
"Barely." Jon Aryn's eyes drifted right. "I see you brought your children."
"I've sent a raven to the king. I was assured my children would be welcomed." Lewyn said, raising his thick black eyebrows. "They won't be in any need of a septa or septon, perhaps maybe a handmaiden. At Sunspear, they shared personal attendants with the rest."
"Yes, yes. Everything is arranged." His expression was grave, riddled with something Lewyn was not in a mood to unravel. "Prince Lewyn, the circumstances of this visit-"
"Could scarcely be less congenial. But men like you and I must put aside such considerations."
"Very well. We shouldn't keep the king waiting any longer. Please. Follow me." Jon said.
Antoinette walked along side of her brother as she looked around with her startling grey eyes as the sun danced on them. Around the walls and gates, the city was surrounded with arbors, brick storehouses, timbered inns, merchants' stalls, manses, taverns, fish markets, and brothels. Between buildings the roads were lined with trees, alleys and streets. Her brother was right, it smelled. Horrible.
They had stopped at an entrance that was made up of two huge bronze and wooden doors. As they entered, Antoinette looked around The Great Hall. It was a large, cavernous room. Overhead was the towering vaulted ceiling, with massive arches and columns. Antoinette didn't see the skulls of dragons on the walls as Odin had explained during the sail, however there were vine motifs and several candelabra placed to illuminate the place.
They reached the assembled retinue of the household guards of the royal family, and the rest of the king's guard.
The Iron Throne sat on the opposite side, atop of a raised dais where two set of wide steps of rough black stone were placed to climb to the throne. It towered about forty feet in height. Behind the throne, a tall stained-glass window depicting stags-the sigil of House Baratheon.
On the last step leading to the Iron Throne stood a man with a beard as coarse and black as iron wire covered his jaw to hide his double chin. He stood at six foot two, slick black hair that reached down to his shoulders. He was on the chubby side but still had broad shoulders, on top of his head rested a golden crown. He was dressed in fine clothing with a cloak emblazoned with his respective sigil, a stag.
Antoinette believed this was the King Robert Baratheon. A woman stood next to him who Antoinette knew was the Queen, Cersei Lannister. She was a strikingly beautiful woman; golden hair, brilliant blue eyes, fair skin, and a slender graceful figure dressed in a crimson red floor length gown.
The Dornishmen joined the king's guards and Lannister knights that were also standing in place near the tall pillars. Prince Lewyn walked to the steps, and dropped into a low curtsy in front of the man who slayed Prince Rhaegar. Antoinette and Odin mimicked his actions, dropping in a low curtsy as well.
"Rise, Prince Lewyn." King Robert said with no emotion.
The King and his wife exchanged formalities with Lewyn as they continued to talk about something Antoinette couldn't interrupt the meaning of. She continued to scan the Great Hall, in awe of how different everything was compared to Sunspear.
On the right side of the Hall stood a raised gallery that looked like it was connected to other areas of the Red Keep. To the left side of the Hall, there were several windows with stained-glass depictions of the seven-pointed star of the Faith of the Seven. She knew in King's Landing practiced the faith of the Seven, the faith that holds that there is one God who has seven faces.
Her thoughts were ceased as King Robert's voice was louder than before, "Who is he?" He asked
"That is my son, Odin Sand." Lewyn said smoothly, gesturing to Odin.
"I don't think I've ever met a Sand, before." Cersei spoke. Antoinette could see in her eyes that she was looking down at her brother with some distaste.
"We're everywhere in Dorne..." Odin laughed a little, "I probably have ten thousand brothers and sisters."
"Bastards are born out of passion, aren't they?" Lewyn added. "We don't despise them in Dorne.
"How tolerant of you." Cersei smirked, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"Shut it Cersei! What will more bastards do with one already here?" Robert snapped harshly at his wife. "Now, I've met your son. I know who he is. Where is the girl? She can't hide forever!" He asked searching around with his belly pulsing as he laughed.
During the conversation between the men, Antoinette had kept herself partially hidden behind Odin. Her short stature was unnoticed or perhaps forgotten when the king had started to converse with her father and brother.
Odin reluctantly looked down and behind him. Antoinette took a small step forward from behind her brother. Thankfully, King Robert hollered for more wine and glanced around until another cup was in his hand. It took him several minutes to even notice the girl suddenly at her father's side and when he did, the wine cup was paused at his lips. Robert stared for a long moment, taking in the girl's appearance with more seriousness in his eyes than Lewyn had seen in some time. Then, as if he'd seen Lewyn's curiosity, the King laughed heartily.
"What's this?" he asked throughout his laughter. "Certainly you don't expect me to believe this lovely maiden is your bastard?" Lewyn saw Antoinette visibly tense and he placed his hand on her shoulder to help calm her.
"Her name is Antoinette, Antoinette Sand of House Martell." Lewyn countered and the King's laughter died down slowly as he looked down at her, contemplating his next words.
"Who was your mother, girl?" he asked and Antoinette looked up to her father who nodded.
"Nhya Folmer, your grace." She said confidently, looking Robert in the eye which seemed to unnerve the stag as he glanced back at his cup. "She lived just outside of Lemonwood." Robert cleared his throat.
"She must have been a great beauty to allow Lewyn to be blessed with such amiable looks," he told her, reaching out to her and placing his hand under Antoinette's chin. She was more uncomfortable than before but she continued to hide it under the eyes of the king. "How old are you?"
"I will celebrate my tenth name day in a few months, time. Your grace."
"Seven hells, Lewyn!" he proclaimed. "The poor girl will be condemned to the life of an old maid if she is to live in Dorne! You should consider living here in King's Landing. It's a sin to waste such a pretty face, if you ask me." He said laughing. "I know a great deal of Lord who would kill to conquer a Sand bride with a face like hers."
She felt the heat rise to her cheeks, reddening her olive skin. She was embarrassed. In fact, as she stood there trying desperately to search for the right word to describe how disgusted she felt, there wasn't one good enough that came to mind. Marriage or men were the last thing on her mind, she was nine. Her father had discussed marriage with her only once and in Dorne, there were no forced marriages.
"I've vowed to let her decide on marriage, when that time comes." Her father cut in, she could hear the anger in his voice. "She is perfectly capable of making a decision as such on her own, your grace."
"You should feel quite lucky, girl. Not many women are blessed with the choice on who to marry."
"Yes, your Grace. My father is most gracious." She said with a forced smile. At this Robert laughed.
No sooner had those formalities of greeting been completed than the king had said to Prince Lewyn, "Come. Let us discuss the matters at hand and let your people get settled in!"
The tension was momentarily forgotten as the King turned and Lewyn followed close behind him. Antoinette didn't waste time fleeing out of the hall doors alongside of her brother. All she wanted to do was be completely unnoticed by the lot of them.
