Rhaenys Dayne sets down her book and wrinkles her nose at Aegon. They are names after queen and kings of Westeros, she and her brother, for all they are not of royal blood. Her mother had often said it is because one must honour their heroes. Rhaenys on the other hand wonder how it is that she looks not one bit like her father while Aegon is the man's very image. Her father says it is the King that had named her. But why would Rhaegar Targaryen bestow the name of a queen to a child not his own. Rhaenys has heard the whispers.

She supposes she ought to let go of her anger now. Arthur Dayne has not ever, not once, shown in any way that he makes difference between his daughter and his son. But still, it bothers Rhaenys. What if she is indeed the daughter of the King? What if those whispers are the truth and not what all these people have been telling her all her life?

The sound of steps distracts her. Looking over her shoulder Rhaenys sees her mother's brother entering. Oberyn Martell barely has time to step over the threshold before Aegon lunges for him. Picking his nephew up, Oberyn spins him round and round. Aegon laughs and Rhaenys grimaces. She only wishes she could read her book in peace. Well, relative peace, for it only goes this far. Dorne is a noisy place and she almost wishes she were somewhere else. "Uncle Oberyn," she greets the man as she lands a kiss on her rosy cheeks. "We were wondering when you'd appear."

"Have you seen mother?" Aegon asks, innocent like. Her little brother does not know the state their mother is in. Rhaenys would tell him, but even she is not supposed to know. It was by chance that she has overheard the Maester's diagnosis.

Oberyn seems struck by the question. Rhaenys' suspicions are confirmed when he picks her brother up and sets him on his knee much like father does when the news he wants to share with them is not the most pleasant. "Aye, I've seen her."

"Is she better then? Father says we can see her when she's better. And you visited her, so she must be better." Rhaenys hold back a snort. How foolish her brother can be. But at least he still has his hopes. Aegon's eyes meet hers and he bites his lip, his face pleading. "Tell him, Rhaenys. It is so. Father promised."

"Father has said so," she validates, her hands shake slightly and she hides them in the folds of her dress, hoping to mask her sudden lack of courage. The thought of her mother being ill, beyond hope tears at her. She wants to ask her for the truth. She wants to know. "Do you think, perhaps, we could see her now? For a few moment only?" But her uncle's eyes tell her differently, even as he makes a show of considering her request.

"That is a question best put to your father, my sweet." His gentle tone does nothing for the nerves that twist within Rhaenys. Father has hardly left mother's room.

Aegon pouts, his face taking a sullen cast. Whining will not help them. Rhaenys send the boy a look. "Then we shall do so. Aegon, I do believe you must go to your lessons now." In mother's absence it falls to Rhaenys to steer her brother towards his tasks. Aegon complains but his feet move so his sister does nothing to quieten him. Let him complain if he so wishes. It is only after he has left that she once more looks to her uncle. "At least allow us to say our goodbyes."

"Your mother is still of this world, girl," Oberyn retorts. His face, similar in so many ways to hers, clouds over. "Those Maesters don't know what they speak of." Empty words. "Elia is a strong woman, she'll pull through, even if your father and I have to help her every step. Have no doubt, little one, you shan't lose your mother." Oberyn catches the disbelief and purses his lips. "She needs you to believe in her, Rhaenys."

Brushing a stray lock behind her ear, Rhaenys nods her head slowly. Uncle Oberyn cannot be fought with. He has wit enough to slay her every argument if he is so inclined. But Rhaenys can feel it deep inside her, the sense that something is not quite right. There is a storm approaching and she fears this time the sand will swallow them alive. The girls slides her feet off the settee. By habit her hands reach out for the book. She holds it up and pretends to read the letters as her uncle stares off into the empty nothingness. It is all that he can do to assuage the pain. Rhaenys hides behind her ink-splattered pages, he behind the emptiness. And father, well, father simply holds onto mother and perhaps hopes it will be enough to keep her with them. Mayhap it might do.

Mother, Rhaenys wonders if she will ever be able to think of Elia Martell without that stab of pain. It is not entirely her fault. "Uncle, do you think father might takes us to the tourney when mother gets better?" Travelling unsettles Elia, it is not often that they leave Dorne. Although Rhaenys dearly wishes they would. She wants to see more than the gardens grown from sand. She wants to see the snow they say covers the whole of the North. She wants to see the dragon skulls and the Iron Throne. But her mother is ever sick and unable to move for more than a few hours at a time.

It started shortly after Aegon was born. The Maester said she would not grow heavy again. A sort of melancholy had stolen over her mother at that point. Rhaenys cannot understand why, for father's attention never abated from her, nor does it now. But Elia Martell is 'unbowed, unbent, unbroken'. Rhaenys admired her mother's strength of character and she hates it in equal measure. It tears apart at what little she thought she had left.

"I'm certain he will," Oberyn replies to her earlier question. "You might be crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty by the Prince."

"Which one?" Rhaenys asks cheekily, waiting for her uncle's amusement to surface.

True to form, Oberyn chuckles. "The eldest may take his chance in a tourney. But if your tastes run to the younger ones," the rest is left to silence.

Befitting a Targaryen, Rhaenys thinks, that she should form an affection for someone who might be her brother. "They say he looks like his mother."

"Aye, Jon Targaryen looks more wolf on the surface. But don't be fooled, he is a dragon." Oberyn falls back against his seat.