Mellara stepped into her father's solar, the guards closing the door behind her. Her father and one of the knights stopped their discussion and turned their heads to her.
"What is so important, father?" she asked him as she sat down on the chair. „The maid said you wished to see me."
Her father dismissed the knight and sat in the chair on the other side of table.
"A raven from your uncle Oberyn arrived today," her father said and then poured water into two goblets, placing one right before her.
"Well, what did he wish to tell us?" She raised her eyebrows and placed the goblet to her lips.
"As you may know, your uncle went to meet Robb Stark to discuss forming an alliance with him." He pointed to the letter. "Robb Stark has agreed."
"And what does this have to do with me?" she asked.
"Oberyn had also discussed sealing this alliance by marrying you or Arianne to Robb Stark."
"What?" was the only thing she could manage to say. There had never been a marriage between Stark or Martell in the whole of history. She stood up and began to nervously pace around the room with the goblet still in her hand.
"Let me guess: Robb Stark chose me, even when I'm the thirdborn and Arianne is the firstborn," she said. "Because if he would had chosen Arianne, I wouldn't be in here right now and we wouldn't be having this talk."
"Neither I nor Oberyn was excepting him to choose Arianne, because she is almost ten years older than him and men do not like to marry older woman," Doran said. "But you are sixteen, his age."
"And I suppose that I have no word in this."
"It is already arranged, Mella."
Overwhelmed with anger, she threw the goblet across the room. Water proceeded to pour out of the glass and the goblet fell to the floor.
"You can scream all you want. You can throw anything you want. But it will not change anything."
"You always said that I could choose my husband by myself." Her voice was trembling. "And yet now you are marrying me to a stranger."
"I wasn't expecting a war to begin. At least not right now," he said. "The Lannisters already tried to ally with us by sending us the Princess Myrcella to wed your younger brother, Trystane, but I refused. I couldn't ally with those who are responsible for the death of your aunt Elia and her children."
"So you ally with the North instead? I thought that we would stay independent kingdom. That we would not join any side at the war," she said. "Did you ally with Robb Stark because you want the Lannisters defeated, to be dead?"
"I want Tywin Lannister to pay for what he did to Elia and her children." Doran stood up and walked to her.
"You may be wedding a complete stranger, but you will grow to like him, maybe even love him. I assure you of that." He stroked her cheek. "And look at you, you are a beautiful girl-no, you are a woman grown. I've seen all boys turning their heads toward you when you walked by. Robb Stark will do the same. And remember, the Starks are honorable; he will never hurt you."
"Yes, the Starks are honorable. And will Robb Stark like when he sees clean sheets with no blood after we consummate our marriage?"
She realized her mistake too late. What she said was a complete lie. Yes, Arianne had taught her how to seduce mens, but she had never really had sex with any of them. It was always only kissing, nothing more.
"I know the sheets will not be clean, because you are still a maiden." He moved his hand to gently brush her hair back and smiled slightly. "Remember, fathers know everything about their daughters, as mothers know everything about their sons."
"When will I leave?" she asked, fully understanding that there were nothing she could do about it.
"Tonight, on a ship with a half of our army and the four eldest Sand Snakes. The other half of the army will come later," he told her. "And the maids are already packing your things."
Mellara nodded. "May I take my leave, then?"
Her father nodded and she then left his solar with a lump in her throat.
She went to her rooms, dismissing the maids, all of whom were already done with packing her things. Her new things, she noticed when she moved to open the chest. There were a few of her Dornish dresses, but there were many new Northern dresses so she could better adjust to the winter awaiting her. Mellara couldn't imagine herself in them. She already knew she would feel trapped in them. She grabbed one of the North dresses, rubbing her fingers at the fabric. It was light blue in color and much heavier than the dresses she was accustomed to. Heaving out a deep sigh, she placed the dress back in the chest and pushed it as far back as it would go.
She wanted to throw away the whole chest, to lock herself in her rooms, to ran away from what was awaiting her.
No, she thought. This is not you; you do not run away from things, especially not your problems. You face them.
She took a deep breath and leaved her rooms. Her steps led her to the training yard, where Nymeria and Obara stood speaking in low, whispering voices. She grabbed her spear and walked toward them.
"I expected you two to be packing your things." Mellara's voice made the two girls jump, but they quickly regained composure and turned their heads toward their cousin.
"Sarella and Tyene are already packing theirs," Nym replied. "We wanted to stay here a bit longer. Who knows when we will return?"
You won't ever come back if Robb Stark loses the war, Mellara thought, but immediately shook the idea from her head.
"Ready for the last sparring, little thing?" Obara asked her. The girl had started calling her cousin that a long time before.
Mellara smirked at her, nodding. She did not even think to complain about her nickname, for as much as it annoyed her, it did make sense; she and Arianne were the same height, no taller than five feet, just like their mother.
As they started sparring, Mellara become more and more distracted, thinking about how she would leave Dorne tonight to meet her betrothed. She wondered what he looked like. But try as she might, she couldn't even form half a picture in her mind.
Suddenly, she fell to the ground, a bit harshly. She felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder as she moved to stand up.
"You're distracted. You're not even trying."
Mellara said nothing, just stood up.
"You're thinking of Robb Stark, aren't you?"
At that, Nymeria chuckled. "Of course she is."
"No, I'm not," Mellara lied. "Can we just continue?"
"You had better concentrate this time," Obara warned her. "You don't want to go to your betrothed with bruises, do you?"
"It appears I will anyway." She gritted her teeth as she felt the pain in her shoulder.
"If you had been concentrating, maybe it wouldn't have happened."
"I'll leave you two alone, then," Nymeria said when they were starting to spar. "I need to go pack my things anyway."
Mellara nodded halfheartedly, barely noticing Nymeria's leaving. She didn't have much time to pay attention at that moment to anything but her fight, and as soon as Nymeria was out of sight, she narrowly dodged yet another blow.
Almost half an hour later the girls were still sparring, both of them drenched in sweat. Obara knocked her cousin to the floor once more.
"Do you yield?" Obara asked her as she lifted Mellara's chin with the tip of her spear, surely cutting it in the process.
"Martells do not yield," she said as she made an attempt to get up.
But Obara was faster than her. She laughed at her cousin and then helped her to her feet.
Mellara wiped the sweat from her forehead. "It's getting dark. Are you sure you don't want to go pack your things?"
"You are surely yielding now." Obara smirked. "I must have tired you."
"Yes, you did," Mellara admitted. "I should take a bath then. I should have some time. Who knows when we'll leave?"
Mellara left the training yard before Obara, taking her spear with her to her rooms. As soon as she arrived, she ordered the maids to prepare her a bath.
She sighed blissfully as she sunk into the warm water. The liquid soothed her muscles and she almost didn't notice the stings of pain from her new bruises. She thought about what Robb Stark would think about her bruises and scars. Would he ask her where she got them? Would he be surprised because he excepted his wife to be soft and gentle? Soft and gentle, Mellara laughed. No, she was a warrior, and warriors are anything but soft and gentle.
She stayed in the tub until a maid came into her rooms to tell her that she would leave Dorne to meet her betrothed in a hour.
After an hour this place will no longer be my home, she thought sadly as she stepped out of the tub. She tied a robe around her body before entering her room once more.
The maids were already taking away the chest with her belongings. The only thing that stayed was her favorite dress, the light blue Dornish dress one she wore whenever the most. She changed into it and then braided her hair into simple Dornish style.
A maid led her to the place where she would say her goodbyes. It was already full of people, mostly men from the army.
Mellara fist came to her father, hugging him tightly despite her anger.
As soon as her father released her from their embrace, her mother, Mellario, moved to wrap her arms around Mellara. "Come here, my little girl." The woman smiled as she opened her arms to her daughter.
"I love you, Mella," Mellario said. "We both love you so much."
"I love you both as well." Mellara's eyes filled with tears but she blinked them away. No, I will not cry today.
She then said her goodbyes to the four younger Sand Snakes and Trystane. The last one to say goodbye to was Arianne, her older sister, the one who would comfort her in her time of need, her best friend.
"I can't believe you are to be married," Arianne said after they were finished embracing.
"Yes, me neither," Mella admitted quietly. "I did not except to marry that soon."
"I have heard that your betrothed, Robb Stark, is very handsome," Arianne smiled, "and also honorable. He will not hurt you as some men would. And what do you know, maybe he will be the best thing that have ever happened to you."
„You are always so positive." she said. "I wish you could go with me to the North,"
"We will see each other again, I promise." Arianne moved forward to kiss her sister's forehead.
With that, all goodbyes were said, and Mellara boarded one of the ships headed to the North. Her new life was beginning.