Chapter 2: The Red Viper
She laid in a tub of warm water, spirals of steam rose from the bath and floated to the top before disappearing into thin air. She was sweating, liquid beads spotted her face. It was summer yet her handmaidens knew she loved a hot bath. Once her maids filled the tub to the brim, she asked them to leave. She liked to bathe herself. Destiny liked her privacy. It was her time to relax, breathe, and self-reflect.
She took the bar of soap and lathered it with water until soft suds started to form. The scent of roses filled the air as she scrubbed her body. She started with her arms, making sure to remove any traces of dirt, if there were any. She moved to her tanned chest, massaging over her breasts and gliding over her light brown nipples. The soap bar dived underwater attacking her mid-body that soaked underneath in the bath until it reached the surface again, scrubbing her slender legs until she smelled like a garden of roses from Highgarden.
She remembered to wash her lady bits very well so they smelled like fresh flowers. Ellaria, Uncle Oberyn's paramour, once told her that a women ought to keep herself clean down there if she wanted to please her lover. Was that how Ellaria has kept her wild uncle, the Red Viper, throughout all these years? By smelling like a bed of flowers? Destiny didn't have a lover to keep happy anyway. She was still a maiden. Although, as she was to be woman very soon, she though she should get into the habit.
Destiny got out of the tub and walked to a long mirror framed in gilded gold. Her wet body was glistening as she looked at her own reflection. She took the tiny razor on the stool next to the mirror and started trimming her hair down there. Her cousin, Obara, once told her that men like a neat bush down, not too clean or you'd look like a babe, but just clean enough so they could have a clear view of your lips when they go down on you. Destiny did not understand what Obara meant by lips or go down on you, but she trusted her older cousin. Obara, and the other Sand Snakes have always treated Destiny like their own sister, as she had no true siblings of her own. They often bathed naked together in the pools at the Water Gardens. She saw they had always groomed their bodies well and she made an effort to do so as well. They knew much more about men than she did. Destiny examined her handiwork in the mirror. The soft brown hair of her lower regions were trimmed neatly, and when she spread her legs, her soft pinkness showed.
Grabbing the soft, plush white towel from the stool, Destiny dried herself and proceeded to wrap herself in the silk white robe hanging next to the mirror. Destiny's room was filled with white fabrics. White towels, rugs, curtains, tapestries, bedsheets, covers, pillows... She loved the cleanliness and purity of being surrounded by everything white. There was just an occasional orange or gold item here and there that she brought from Dorne.
Knock, knock. Destiny walked towards the door and opened it. Outside stood her guard, Ser Isaac Dayne; he was her childhood friend and the fifth son of Lord Aryan of House Dayne a vassal to House Martell. Ser Isaac was only knighted recently when she was sent to King's Landing as part of her Princess' Guard.
"Isaac!" Destiny sang gleefully, "I mean, Ser Isaac. What is it?" Destiny asked with a smile, gesturing her old friend to enter her chambers.
"My princess, your father has sent you this gown to wear to tonight's pre-wedding feast," Isaac stated respectfully.
It was only then did Destiny notice what was in Isaac's arms. A large orange velvet box, which she guessed contained the dress her father sent. Looking up from the box, she glanced at Ser Isaac, admiring his new suit of armor. It was a beautiful golden set of steel, freshly forged at Starfall, gifted to him from his lord father once he was anointed as a knight. The chest of his armor adorned a sword and falling star emblem, the sigil of House Dayne. He was a knight of Dorne now, and Destiny couldn't help but notice that her childhood friend had really filled in over the years. Isaac was a scrawny and lean kid, but then he left for Storm's End to squire for Renly Baratheon, and once Renly Baratheon was named a Usurper, Isaac returned to Dorne at least a foot taller and well-built. He had guided her on the way down the King's Road. Her father appointed him as one of her guardsmen. She couldn't help but feel they were quite distant after he left to be a squire. He had left a boy and came back a man. She didn't quite recognize the new Ser Isaac.
When Destiny finally realized she was dazing off, her eyes went to meet his, "Thank you very much, Ser Isaac," Destiny said when she realized he was not meeting her eyes, but gazing at her oddly.
Isaac was looking at his childhood best friend, his first crush. She was wrapped in the thinnest of white Myrish silks. He could see her petite yet curvy frame outlined by the roundness of her breasts and the shape of her hips. Her nipples peaked through the fabric, mesmerizing him, until he was interrupted by her voice... "You're most welcome, my princess," Isaac finally replied curtly.
They were awkward with each other now, unsure of what else to say. Luckily, they were quickly interrupted.
"Well... well," said a voice at the open door. Destiny looked up to see her Uncle Oberyn. He was wearing his signature orange robes decorated with gold Sunspears. The deep-v shape of his robes allowed for the soft brown curls on his toned tanned chest to peek out.
"Uncle!" Destiny sang in delight. "Finally, you show your face."
"My princess," Isaac bowed at Destiny. "My prince," Isaac bowed at Oberyn, before he left the room, finally closing the door behind him.
Destiny walked to her dressing table, placing the box that Isaac brought her on top of it. As she walked away, her hips swayed gently from left to right, the white silk hugging her curvaceous bottom snuggly. Oberyn's eyes followed his niece's every move from behind. He admired how beautiful of a woman she was now.
Once Destiny placed the box on the dressing table, she opened it and took out a beige sand dress made of the finest Myrish silk. The gown almost exactly matched her skin color. She held it up to her body as she looked into the square mirror above her dressing table.
"What do you think, Uncle?" Destiny asked looking at Oberyn's reflection in the mirror.
Oberyn glanced into the mirror, meeting Destiny's eyes. "The dress is exquisite. It matches you perfectly, melting into your skin," he said without blinking.
"Such a strange dress for father to choose for me. Usually he would have me wear orange for our House Martell at these kinds of gatherings," Destiny said still eyeing herself in the mirror, not sure if this was the right dress for the occasion. "I should try it on. Please wait here one moment, Uncle! I need you to let me know what you think."
Destiny disappeared into the bathroom as Oberyn went to sit down in a chair near the window. He was searching around the room and noticed it was covered in all white. Suddenly, he was feeling thirsty and wrong for admiring his niece the way he had. She was beautiful, of course. She was a Martell.
"Do you have any wine, my sweet niece?" Oberyn called scanning the room for a red jug of sweet Dornish wine.
"Afraid not, Uncle. They only have that stinking Arbor piss here in the Capitol. I refuse to drink that horrid stuff. I wish I brought more wine from home. Sadly, I finished the only 10 casks I brought from Sunspear. I didn't realize how rancid the wine would be here. I was hoping you brought more with you," Destiny explained as she walked back into the room.
Oberyn glanced up at her. If he didn't focus, then he'd think she was standing naked in front of him, for the gown truly matched her skin tone so well. However, the soft Myrish silk that matched the Dornish sands looked beautiful upon Destiny's tanned olive toned body. It was a simple gown that flowed down to her ankles, but the silk was braided into ropes from her shoulders, and the dressed plunged down her breasts, with a tiny golden Sunspear brooch pinned just above her navel. She looked exquisite and Oberyn struggled to look away from her body to meet his niece's deep violet eyes, the eyes of her deceased mother, Oberyn thought.
Luckily, Destiny did not notice her uncle's non-discrete gaze, as she was too busy adjusting the fabric on her body, obviously a bit uncomfortable with how much skin she was baring. Her breasts were threatening to slip out with every movement.
"Of course, I brought more Dornish wine with me, my sweet niece," Oberyn finally replied. "I knew you would have drank through your supplies within a fortnight with your drinking habits," he chuckled.
"Whatever should I do with my hair?" Destiny exasperated, choosing to ignore her uncle's teasing. She walked back to the square mirror in front of the dressing table, not sure how to style her dark, sleek locks. She normally would have had her handmaidens prepare her for the feast, but they were busy unloading all the carts and supplies that her father, Prince Doran, brought in from Dorne. She presumed her father will be staying in King's Landing for a while, much longer past the royal wedding.
"Leave it straight and down, just like how it is now," Oberyn said as he walked up to her and bent down to smell her head of hair. "You have the darkest and straightest locks in all of Westeros. You can thank you lady mother for that. Your hair and your eyes."
Destiny's dark, cold eyes stared at him within the mirror. She hated when people brought up the mother she never knew.
"Don't look at me like that, Destiny Elia Arianne Martell. Don't be ashamed of your unique beauty. You may not have the soft curly locks of the rest of the Martells or the deep brown eyes of most Dornish people. But, you are not like most people at all. Own that. Unbowed. Unbent. Unbroken," Oberyn said to her.
Destiny hated getting lectured, especially by her Uncle, the Red Viper, most of all. He was always so sweet and so nice to her. Always letting her get away with everything her entire life. He was the most carefree person she's ever known, especially when you compare him to his brother, her father, Prince Doran.
"I'm not ashamed..." was all Destiny could reply without getting more upset at her uncle.
Oberyn grinned and sniffed her hair once more before planting a peck on the crown of her head. "May I escort you to the feast, my sweet and only niece?" Oberyn winked. "We are about to feast with the lions. Are you ready?"