Thanks for the reviews! :D That chapter was THE game changer. As for Jon, he's been legitimized (as a Stark, of course, because that's what Robb knows and Reed isn't telling) and plans to join the Watch once someone else can lead the Northern force he has there. Targaryen don't have a proper seat in Westeros anymore, though.
And repercusions:
Arianne II
She could hear the noise of children playing even from outside the Water Gardens. It was a warm, clear afternoon and, for a moment, she wished she was just a child playing in the pools, with no concern in her mind. But it was not the case. Not today.
"Princess!" saluted the guard watching the entrance
Princess Arianne Martell returned the salute and smiled "I'm going in" she simply added
"But, my princess, all these men…"
Forcing the smile, Arianne looked at her side and behind her. Her husband by now, after a quick, secret wedding in the morning, Theon Greyjoy stood to her right. Tyene and Obara Sand stood to her left - Lady Nym had remained in Sunspear, arranging distractions for the Red Viper and Ellaria. Behind her, over fifty men of assorted Ironborn and Orphans of the Greenblood stood watch.
"These are dangerous times. And I'm going in" she insisted and walked into the beautiful and cool halls where she spent her childhood. It didn't take her long to spot her father, sitting in the balcony watching the children play in the pool. He looked at her with fear and surprise, and she just returned a smile at him. She lead her entourage through the halls she knew so well and met no guards in the way. All six of them, along with Areo Hotah, rushed to guard Prince Doran in his wheeled chair. Arianne felt her legs were about to fail her when she saw them - surrounded by armed guards, her father was wary of her. In a way, she knew it had to happen: she was walking towards him, almost a cripple, with fifty armed men behind her. In another way, it made doubts assault her, but it was already too late. "Father" she said. Her eyes jumped from her father to Areo, whom she knew since she was a toddler, and to the guards who know looked at her with their spears at hand, and whom she bathed with in that very place when she was young enough to be innocent about it. "Do you need guards to protect you against me?".
Doran Martell looked at her, at the Sand Snakes at her left and at her husband on her right "What's he doing here? What are the Ironborn doing at the Water Gardens, Arianne?"
Slowly, Arianne forced herself to embrace Theon's arm "We've married, father. This very morning, as soon as he returned. And you wasn't there because you would never have approved"
Her father looked livid. For the first time, Arianne really thought he was capable of getting angry "Approved? Of course I wouldn't have approved! How could you marry this… this?" he said, but Theon stepped forward
"This son of a King of the Iron Islands? This Prince of both Dorne and the Iron Islands? Who do you think you're talking to, old man? And now you are going to do…"
"Theon, stop!" shouted Arianne, pushing him back "This is my kingdom, and this is my father. Tyene, go to my father' solar. In his desk, open the topmost drawer. You'll find the seal of Dorne inside. You, you and you" she said, pointing at several Ironborn at random "escort her. Everyone else but Obara, my father and my husband, leave now." The Ironborn waited for a confirming nod from Theon Greyjoy and quickly moved towards Tyene. All her other men begun to move back, the children at the pool gathered to watch the balcony from below and her father's guards begun to move back as well
"Don't move" said her father to his guards "Children! Get out. Playtime is over. Nobody else will leave. What do you want here, Arianne?"
'I want what is mine' she thought "Dorne. My birthright, Father, that's what I want. You can't rule, your brother has no right to it and yet you didn't want me married. I should have heirs of my own by now. And I will" she said, leaning on her father's chair.
"No. You're only right about something, daughter, and that is that I don't approve of your marriage" said her father unfazed
"Let me rule in your place, as it is my right. Here" she said, taking a paper from her dress "Sign this decree. Order me to will rule Dorne in your place"
"No"
Arianne looked again at all seven guards by her father, including old Areo Hotah "Leave. The Princess of Dorne commands it" she said, putting her hands on the armrests of her father's chair.
"Stay. The Prince of Dorne commands it" said her father, with his eyes locked into hers.
The fiery Dornish sun heated the exposed skin in Arianne's hands. A mailed hand gently descended on her left shoulder and she heard Areo's soft voice "Little Princess…" but she violently pushed his hand away
'I'm not a little princess anymore' she wanted to say. Instead, Areo's longaxe was unsheathed in front of her. Someone pushed her aside and she heard Theon shouting "Don't you lay a hand on my wife!" In a flash, she saw old Aero Hotah wielding his longaxe and meeting Theon's longsword. She heard the clash of metal against metal, the sound of dozens of swords leaving their scabbards and the thuds of flying things. Somehow, she found herself in all fours, screaming for everyone to stop and trying to shield herself from the cries of men. It ended as soon as it started. Her father was uninjured, Tyene had returned and looked in horror, and Areo Hotah laid bleeding in the floor, with an axe stuck on his chest.
"No! NO!" she heard herself shout as crawled towards her dead life-long friend. She looked at Theon's sword, unsoiled, and stared into Areo's eyes 'It wasn't him, it wasn't my husband. I can still consummate the marriage' she thought, grabbing Areo's head, laying it on her lap as the old man coughed and bled. Her husband moved his mouth, he said something and his men begun moving the bodies away. Above her, Prince Doran looked at Areo's body dismayed, with tears on his face. "YOU!" she shouted "Why? Why couldn't you tell them to leave? Why did you had to… Fool old man! Did you think I was going to hurt you? You? My father? You idiot!" cried Arianne, rocking her father's chair "LEAVE! Everyone but Theon and Tyene, leave now!"
It worked this time. Only one of her father guards had survived the encounter, and quickly left with the Orphans. Arianne looked for the decree she had ready. Her dress was all soiled by blood but, by some miracle, the paper remained intact "Sign this. Sign it!"
"Why? So you can break Dorne away, and give it to this outsider?" he said
Arianne shook her head "Dorne is mine. Not his, mine. And yes, I'll break it apart, I don't intend to surrender to the Usurper's children!"
"I will not sign it" responded her father, and Theon made an attempt to raise his sword, only to find Tyene's knife pressed to his neck
"He's my father. You will not harm him. Tyene, do you have the seal?" Her cousin nodded, Arianne took a very small inkpot and a quill from her dress, and placed the sheet of paper in the balcony handrail
"What are you doing?" asked her father
"Imitating your signature, Father" simply answered Arianne
Doran Martell shook his head "You idiot. My brother will now I have not signed it. Is that the way you mean to rule Dorne?"
Folding the paper, Arianne turned towards his father "And that's why I wanted you to do it. Now I have to keep you imprisoned here, watched by my men. Uncle Oberyn will meet you, and of course, you will betray me. Yet by the time he does, it will be too late for him to unseat me."
All throughout the ride to Sunspear, Arianne wished she was using some sort of chariot, instead of riding in a horse as she did, so she could be hidden behind silks to mourn poor old Areo. Instead, she pretended a calmness she did not feel. Theon approached her, over and over, making stupid jokes and laughing as if nothing had happened. Tyene and Obara looked more comprehensive, as they've mourned Areo as well. It was when they've finally entered Sunspear that Arianne had to put on her act and bury her feelings. "Today we free Dorne!" she shouted at all the people who recognized and saluted her. Word spread like wildfire through the city, and by the time she had changed her clothes and was ready to address the court, the plazas, inns and squares of Sunspear and the Shadow City were filled with people expecting an announcement and celebrating in advance. The Red Viper had already finished enjoying the pleasures Arianne had prepared for him and Ellaria and was forcefully restrained by Ironborn from seating in the Spear Throne, while Dornish guards refused to even go near him.
"What's the meaning of this, Arianne?" he shouted as Arianne entered the Hall and sat in the Spear Throne, with Theon at her side.
Politely, she handed the signed decree to Maester Myles "Please, Maester, would you read this to everybody here?" she said
The maester noticed the unbroken seal and proceeded to open the decree, reading it twice before announcing to the court that Prince Doran had ordered Arianne to rule in his place, causing the room to initially burst in applause.
"My brother would have never done that!" the Red Viper exclaimed over the noise of the applauses, causing them to stop at once
"And yet he did" answered Theon before Arianne could stop it
"I'm talking to my niece, Ironborn. And what are you even doing in one of the Thrones of Dorne?" insisted Oberyn Martell
Arianne stepped forward, all sympathy erased from her face "He's occupying the place he deserves as the consort of the Princess of Dorne. Uncle, it is me who rules Dorne now. Do I actually need foreigners to protect me from you?"
That seemed to relax Oberyn Martell, and the Ironborn guards let go of his arms "I need to speak with my brother" he insisted, defiant.
"And why wouldn't you, my dear uncle?" said Arianne, gently descending from the Throne "But I first need you to do something for Dorne. The King in the North has your nephew's murderer captive in Harrenhall. Uncle, my husband will lend you ten ships. I want you to pick up reinforcements from the Yronwoods on your way North, and go to Harrenhall to retrieve him, so the false knight Amory Lorch can answer to his crimes to Dorne"
"I want to speak with my brother first" he insisted, but Arianne shook her head "And if I don't want to go?"
"Then you'll go to Eastwatch by the Sea, to serve Westeros and remember the Watch Dorne has not forgotten them. I'm giving you a command, Ser, not an option. So please send my regards to my brother Quentyn when you meet the Yronwoods. And now, leave" commanded Arianne.
Pushing the Ironborn apart, the Red Viper stormed out of the room. Ironborn and men loyal to Arianne were ready to follow him the moment he stepped out of the castle, and forcefully putting him on a ship if required.
"He's going to be trouble" quietly said Theon
"He will. But by the time he does, it will be too late to unseat me" conceded Arianne in a low voice while she was seating back in the Spear Throne. And with a booming voice, she addressed the court "My Lords! Prepare feasts and celebrations! Call all the Lords in Dorne, High and Low as well! We Dornish were never conquered. We never bowed to the Iron Throne. We were never broken by the dragons, we never bent to them. We've joined them! And now that the dragons are gone, while should we bend to the Lannisters or the Tyrells? Have they conquered us?" she asked, causing the room to shout a loud "NO!"
"Have they broken us?"
"¡NO!" Screamed the room, with the servants spilling ale and wine as they've served their lords and nobles
"Have they've married us?"
"¡NO!" They shouted, clashing their mugs
"Should we marry them?"
"¡NO! ¡NO!" chanted the room
"Should we bow to them?"
"¡NO!" erupted the room, Ironborn and Dornish both in shouting
"Then rejoice and celebrate! Because from this day on, Dorne is independent once again! Unbowed, unbent, unbroken! As Dorne will remain until the end of time!"
The celebration lasted until late in the evening. Ravens flew to all of Dornish banners, ordering them to travel to Sunspear to renew their vows and celebrate the independence. All around the Shadow City surrounding the castle, both highborn and commoners joined in celebrations in every inn and square in the city. By the time Arianne and Theon decided it was time to add their bedding to the celebrations, riders confirmed the Red Viper had indeed taken his loyal men and boarded a small Ironborn flotilla towards Harrenhall.
It was the next morning that Arianne, suffering from a heavy hangover, could meet privately with Maester Myles to get up to date with the news of the Realm and the decisions the Red Viper had done when ruling in her father's place.
The Elephants had won the Volantene elections, as expected. Myr and Tyrosh were involved in some trading dispute, which might or might not lead to war. Northerners, Stormlords and Reachmen were still looking at each other over the walls of King's Landing. Dornish farmers and fishermen were making a lot of money selling their products to the city now that the Stormlords had opened the Blackwater. The Red Viper had also granted a loan to the city's merchant guilds to help rebuild the capitol, but Arianne put it on hold, as she feared Dorne could need the gold should things come to war. In Vaes Dokrath, Viserys Targaryen was murdered by his sister's husband - a tale which deeply unsettled Arianne.
Finally, the King in the North had the gall to decree the end of the Seven Kingdoms. While Arianne supported the idea, which would make even harder for the Red Viper to overturn her rule and rejoin the Lannisters with his tail between the legs, she decided to hold the news for a while. It wouldn't do for her banners to think she was following the lead of some Northerner Lord.