I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter, I really got into writing it and even cried a little. Enjoy!
They had gotten Ali back to her quarters and had her resting in bed, still unconscious, Shae had been made aware of the situation and came running to her aide along with Lady Stark, Bathanna was tending to Martayn and keeping him free from further trouble. Shae was making sure Ali was comfortable and safe in her bed and wiping her brow with a cool cloth while Lady Stark, Robb, Jon, Master Luwin, Tyrion and Oberyn Martell heatedly discussed the events that had just occurred.
"Really Catelyn, wolves running amok in the Bailey? Has the North become so savage and untamed that we cannot even keep the beasts out of the castle gates?" Oberyn asked in an annoyed and somewhat condescending tone. "Look at what you all have done to my dear niece, the new queen of Dorne." He gestured to Ali who lay abed, unmoving.
Tyrion was not amused at Oberyn's attitude, he knew full well that Oberyn disliked that north and had little love for the northmen, but he did not need to act like an asshole especially toward Catelyn Stark and Aliandra's new in-laws. "Watch it Oberyn, we are guests here and you may find yourself asleep in the woods among the wolves if you fail to behave yourself. If you remember Martayn was the one who was holding the creature that caused this mess."
Oberyn narrowed his eyes at Tyrion, "How dare you talk to me in such a way. Who are you to challenge my authority Lannister? I am the Master of Ships for House Martell and Dorne after all."
"Well I happen to be the hand of the queen if you have forgotten, now if this is settled you may show yourself out of her chambers. She seems to be ill right now and is not seeing guests." Tyrion tried to shoe Oberyn out of the room.
"I will not be dismissed!" Oberyn stood his ground. "You may be her hand but she is my blood."
"Than kindly shut up, we were almost killed today and do not need to hear from you right now!" Tyrion told him in no uncertain terms. "If you do not behave yourself I can have Bronn come in here and show you how to behave."
Oberyn just raised an eyebrow at Tyrion and looked back at his young niece laying in bed and being examined by the Master. "When you wrote me to come here you said she was pregnant, but you never said that she was so big already. How far along is she?"
"Yes carrying messages by raven and rider does require some brevity, the fine details are left out." Tyrion mused, "She's over six months now, seven within a few weeks, so you understand why we need to travel by ship. She will deliver shortly after arriving home if she manages to hold out."
"Why not have the baby here?" Catelyn asked, trying to be helpful. "We have Master Luwin, and she would be so much more comfortable in Winterfell than on a ship right now."
"Would if we could Lady Stark. Unfortunately she has to be married in front of her subjects and have a proper coronation before delivering, it would be thought improper otherwise." Tyrion explained.
"But she has been through so much already." Catelyn tried to intervene on her behalf. "Surely Dorne will understand, she is already respected down there."
"Well unfortunately my niece was not thinking when she got herself into this situation." Oberyn gestured toward Ali. "Speaking of which." He turned his deadly gaze upon Jon and Robb, narrowing his eyes making his already V-shaped brow crease deeper, "Let me see." He studied the boys intently. "You." He pointed to Robb, "Although you are a comely lad you have too much Tully in you, no Tyrion's letters said the culprit had the Stark look and would fit well in Sunspear.." He settled his gaze on Jon who was now staring at the floor, praying that it would swallow him up, "You! Yes you seem more her type. Plus you have the look of a Stark."
Jon looked to Tyrion who nodded that is was okay to speak, "Y...Yes Sir. I am the father."
Oberyn looked him up and down, "And you plan on marrying my niece."
"Y...Yes sir. We had planned on it long before we found out about the baby though."
"Hmmm. I see." Obery mused. "Well you're both stupid for what you did but at least you seem worthy of her. How is your nose?"
"It hurts, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before."
Oberyn smirked, "She had brothers, they taught her to fight like a man you're lucky that's the worst of it. I've seen what she can do." He clasped Jon on the shoulder, "Make sure to take care of yourself Jon Snow."
"Yes Sir." Jon nodded his head.
Meanwhile Ali was completely unaware of the outside world as she was elsewhere.
When Ali opened her eyes she was surprised at what she saw. She was standing in one of the lush gardens at The Water Gardens, The Martells other home a little ways from The Sunspear. It was so warm there, she could feel the sun kissing her skin, the birds were chirping away and there were butterflies everywhere, somewhere in the background she could hear the sea crashing against the shore. She was looking around trying to get her bearings and figure out how she had arrived there when she suddenly realized something was wrong, her body it felt different almost wrong, her back had no pain and there was no pain elsewhere either. When she looked down she gasped in shock and horror, her stomach was no longer large with child but had returned to it's normal slender shape. As she examined herself further she realized she was wearing a soft dress made of fine silk, it was a light gold color with white woven into it, the dress was cut just off her shoulders and left her back bare and the hem ended just above her feet which were bare. "Hello!" She called out uneasily, she needed to know why she was here and if she was alone or not, "Is anyone there? Hello!"
Suddenly a familiar male voice came from behind her. "Don't be so loud sister, it's only us here."
Ali spun around in shock and amazement, "Quentyn!"She gasped, "How, why, you died! Am I dead?" She could barely contain her excitement at seeing her eldest brother. "I've missed you so!" She ran over and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard. He felt real, she could feel the muscles of his back and shoulders under his leather jerkin and feel the warmth of his skin against hers, she never wanted to let him go, she had her big brother back.
"I've missed you too Alicat." Alicat was the nickname her brothers had for her. "We all have."
"We?" She asked breaking the hug and wiping tears off her cheeks.
"All of us have been watching you, Mother, Father, Trystane, Uncle Robert. Oh Uncle Robert, I had forgotten how funny he is." He explained with a fond smile.
"Well where are they?" She asked looking around, oh what she would give to see her parents one last time, and Trystane, and there were so many things she needed to discuss with her uncle.
"They couldn't come little sister. Only one of us is allowed to intervene at a time. There are rules on the other side."
"The other side? So is this heaven?" She asked in wonderment as she looked around.
He reached out and took her hand in his large one, giving it a squeeze. "This is your heaven sweet sister. The Water Gardens are your peace."
"I have always loved it here." She said with a smile. "What is the message?"
Quentyn smiled at her, "Little Alicat, always wanting to know everything."
"Quentyn!" She warned crossing her arms over her chest.
"Come with me little sister." He reached out for her hand again. She took it and followed along with him. "First off let me say we are all so proud of what you did in the war, you more than avenged us and Dorne. We know you love us and we know you miss us and you are still in considerable pain over what happened." She nodded her head in the affirmative. "But you have to let people help you. You are not alone. You may think you are but you are not. You have Jon, and Tyrion and even Uncle Oberyn, share your burdens with them. When you get home you will have counselors to help you along the way, they know what to do and so do you. Trust yourself."
"Quentyn I'm scared. I'm so scared. I was raised to sail not rule. Father taught you to rule. He gave you the best of his teachings on government and being Prince. I was not meant to be queen."
"Who says? You are a Martell, by our own laws you are destined to be Queen. You are the eldest child, you survived your older brothers. It is now your right and your burden." He urged her further on and when she looked up again they were standing in front of their castle at The Sunspear.
"Home." She whispered. She stared up at the golden walls, and the giant sun at the top of the spire, she felt so small and insignificant standing next to it.
"Home." Quentyn replied. "You are it's keeper now. You are it's Queen and mother. The people are counting on you."
'Mother' she thought, "Where is my..."
He cut her off, "Your child and the rest of your body are safe back at Winterfell."
"If I'm not dead why am I here? I know you had another purpose for calling me here." She said.
"You need to slow down. You are lucky you did not die in the Red Keep that night or kill your child and that stunt you pulled in the bailey today would have most certainly gotten you killed. Aside from that you lost yourself to your fireborn side and put yourself and countless others in danger, not to mention your child the next ruler of The Sunspear. You are pregnant Ali, you need to be in control at all times now. Stop acting like The Martell you think we want you to be and start acting like The Martell you are. We know this is a hard time for you, we are here to help."
Her voice cracked as she spoke, "How? It's hard Quentyn, it's really hard. I feel like every time I turn around someone wants something from me or I'm getting something new thrown at me. And look around, you are all dead."
"I know, you have a lot of responsibility for your age but you will be fine just remember what I told you. You have help, you have counselors, and you have us we are always there."
"How do I know? I can't see you?" She asked in a small childlike voice.
"Here, I'll show you." He turned her around and at her feet there was a pond that she had not seen before. "Look down." When she did she could see the smiling faces of her mother and father, her uncle Robert, Trystane and even Lorianna, they were waving at her. She waved back at them happily, she missed them so. "We are part of you Ali, we have been here the entire time, you just have to listen for us."
"Thank you Quentyn, thank you so much for this..." She turned to look at her brother as she spoke but he was gone. "Quentyn!" She called out, but no answer. "Quentyn!" She triend one more time, still no answer. She turned back to the pond and he had joined the group and was waving to her from below the mirrored surface, "No, Quentyn come back! Come back!" She called, tears began to stream down her cheeks as she called for her brother, "Come back please! I need you!" She dove into the pond after them.
As she dove into the pond she felt herself falling through an endless black hole. She felt herself land on something hard and opened her eyes screaming "Come back, Quentyn, Come back!" She burst into tears and began to breathe hard and raggedly, scaring the sole occupant of the room attending her.
Jon had been sitting in a chair near her fireplace reading when she broke the silence screaming for her dead brother he ran to her bed and gathered her in his arms, "Shh, it's okay you're okay."
"No, he was there than he left me." She cried into his shoulder. "He left me."
He continued to hold her and comfort her as she calmed down, "It's okay I'm here. I won't leave."
She calmed a bit and looked him in the eye, "You won't leave me will you?" She asked him seriously, almost realizing it for the first time.
He cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her forehead, he had no idea what she had dreamt but clearly she was upset, "I am staying right where you are, forever my love."
She smiled as she fought her sniffles, "It was not a dream Jon. It was real, he was real. I touched him. We were at The Water Gardens, then Sunspear. It was warm, i felt the sun on my skin, i felt the water on my feet. I touched him, we talked."
She was so insistent that he could not argue with her. "I believe you." He kissed her again. He had no idea what she had experienced but he was not willing to argue about it with her, it was hers to believe.
She reached up and touched his face gently, "I am sorry about today. I let my fireborn side take over and that was wrong. I was afraid for all of us, I think being pregnant enhances that side of me. I'm sorry I hurt you."
He gave her a knowing smile, "I know you are. You are forgiven. Something needs to be done about Martayn though, he needs to be more obedient."
"I know. That has been lacking since we left Sunspear. My Uncle Oberyn will most likely rail into me for that as well. But I need help Jon. I am in way over my head and I feel like I am drowning."
"I can help you if you let me."
She smiled at him, "Thank you."