...
It seems Prince Doran's mild physical exertion, of having stood up rapidly, with a tad amount of rage, of his seat had resulted in the man being forced to delay his return to his quarters and pretend everything was fine. While holding what I presumed was supposed to be a secret meeting with his brother, in broad daylight, in the middle of the Water Gardens.
Oh sure, there was no one within the vicinity of him, his brother and his faithful captain of the guard, but still, it painted a pretty visual picture of how far gone the man's health was.
I, as well as Sandor, we're currently on the opposite side of the pool, as far away as we could be with Oberyn keeping an eye on me at all times. The man's gaze never wavering even as he spoke with his brother in hushed tones.
As if a dozen guards near us weren't doing a good enough job of that themselves.
I let out a sigh, idly waving a hand towards the two princes, before turning my gaze back towards my silent shadow. The man standing behind my seat, his eyes wary as they kept watch on everything he could.
"Who do I gotta kill to get a drink around here, eh Sandor?" I questioned, somewhat amused. The words themselves earned a twitch from the man as he leveled his gaze towards me. I rolled my eyes as I pointed towards the empty seat on the opposite side of the table before me.
"I am good." The man let out in a gruff tone after a moment's thought, before shaking his head at me. "You're a brave one though, I'll give you that."
"For killing?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"For wanting a drink around here." He remarked pointedly, before to my surprise, he reached into his side and grabbed hold of the leather drinking pouch that belonged to him, and offered it to me.
Staring at the thing for a moment, I let out a snort and shook my head. "No thanks, I much prefer my drinks in a cup."
The man, not so much as reacting at the remark, let out a shrug.
"Your funeral."
"Coming from the guy who's already planning to sleep here for the night?" I questioned idly. "Or was the room not satisfactory?"
"It was expected," The man sniffed, before his gaze momentarily narrowed at me. "Though I didn't expect to have to use it." A single beat passed. "Are you really planning to spend the night here?"
I gave him a non-committal shrug as I lowered both my hands onto the table before me.
"I suppose we'll have to see, the Prince's already willing to let me stay here for a week, at minimum."
Which is all he'd really said on the matter before my dismissal to the little kid's table.
That I had a week here, as thanks for the gifts I'd brought along with me.
After that, well, it'd depend on his mood, or whatever happened with the crown-
For some odd reason, the man hadn't made any mention regarding my offer of creating weapons for him.
Not that I'd personally planned too- Honestly, I'd intended to use the week of resources he had on hand to try and make some sort of drug to get him high as a kite, point him at his lost cause of a daughter, and watch the fireworks. Mostly as a joke, but also to test his patience.
I heard he was cautious, so naturally, I wanted to see how far I could push that before I drove Doran Martell into actually lifting a finger.
If I am lucky, it might be the finger that finally pushes me into the next life, but I wasn't holding my breath.
Idly taking notice of Sandor's sudden silence, my gaze settled on its cause as I stopped paying him any mind. The man elected to take a step backward from me as Arianne Martell, with a servant behind her holding a tray, walked up towards me. A haughty look on her face.
"My my," I snorted, leaning back into my seat. "News travels fast."
Barring the raised eyebrow, I watched as the princess promptly ignored my remark, flipped a loose hair strand back, and promptly sniffed at the seat on the other side of the table, before asking another servant to bring her a freakin' pillow, while the servant behind her placed the tray holding a flagon of wine and two cups down on the table.
I raised an eyebrow at the action while holding gazes with the princess, watching as she took a seat once said seat was covered with a rather comfortable-looking pillow.
"Well go on then," I remarked tipping my head towards the princess, earning a brief look of bemusement. "Aren't you going to pour me a drink?"
Her expression briefly cracked, before the woman took in a deep breath and leveled a passive look towards me, her nose tipped the slightest bit upwards.
"You really do have no manners, do you? To ask a princess such a thing..." She remarked with a sneer.
I rolled my eyes at her without a missed beat, watching as she twitched at me before I reached over towards the flagon and poured it into the cup closest towards me.
The princess's expression turned sour the moment I simply placed it back down without doing the same to her. With a subtle gesture towards her servant, I watched as the poor woman treated the princess like the brat she was. And, you know, poured her a drink for her and all that.
Honestly, it was like the woman couldn't handle the idea of not making every little action a power play.
Arianne Martell's bloody handjobs probably came with a freakin' political concession of some sort. Presuming the woman would ever lower herself to do such a thing anyway.
I idly watched as the woman, after a brief moment of silence, promptly picked said cup up to her lips and took a sip.
"Hm," I shrugged, picking the cup up. "Guess there's no poison in the flagon," I remarked, earning another pair of narrowed eyes. "Pity," And promptly downed the whole thing.
"Pity?" The woman questioned incredulously, a glint quickly growing in her eyes as she watched me pour myself another drink. "How would you know? Perhaps I've already drank the antidote myself."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow at the princess, pausing the cup in the air before lowering it onto the table. "Are you teasing me, little princess? I do so hate that."
The glint disappeared, replaced by more incredulousness.
"...Are you suggesting you want to be poisoned?" The woman questioned, bemused before her lips tugged upwards into a smirk. "Because that really can be arranged," She remarked, leaning forward.
I idly noted the fact her eyebrows didn't help her appearance at all whatsoever.
"Perhaps all the rumors about wanting to die are true after all." She finished, reaching into her chest and pulling out what looked like a small vial- One she reached the slightest out towards my cup. "Maybe I can help you with that?"
I blinked at her, placing the cup down on the table.
"I understand you must feel bad princess, but taking your own life because your younger brother's considered the better heir is a tad dramatic." I deadpanned. The words practically cut her coyish expression into an almost feral one.
Which, well, in all fairness didn't even tamper with the woman's attractiveness at all.
No wonder so many people fell for the crazy woman.
Still, taking my chance at her sudden lack of composure, I promptly snatched the vial from her hand and gave it a quick lookover.
The action startled the princess for a brief moment before to my surprise once again she managed to dampen it all down into another smirk. "Having second thoughts?" She questioned easily, as she leaned back into her seat, a strange sense of calm or rather... Relief emanating out of her?
Which was surprising given I'd just insulted her.
I raised an eyebrow at her, idly noting the rather panicked prince walking over towards our side.
I hadn't even noticed he'd been close enough to hear us, stood next to a nearby pillar as he'd been- Doran Martell was nowhere in sight.
"Not at all," I grinned, watching as her composure broke the moment I opened up said vial and promptly dumped it all into my mouth. Swallowing it, I gave the woman a gleaming smile. "I just prefer to skip the middle man- No sense in diluting it with wine after all."
The dread that suddenly filled the woman's rapidly paling face was somewhat confusing, given she'd practically offered to poison my cup for me herself.
I watched as she haphazardly stood up, her gaze turning towards her even more panicked uncle as she called out for an antidote to a strangely named poison, before her gaze quickly turned back towards me as she walked over to my side, her hands reaching out to my face-
"Spit it out!" She remarked freezing her hands inches away from my face, a panicked wide-eyed expression on her own face, before her uncle calmly pulled her aside-
"Karma, what-" Whatever the man had been about to say died down as he shook his head and promptly pulled out another vial, one he held out towards me. "Drink this- Quickly you crazy fool!"
I stared at the offered vial, before once again leaning back into my seat and letting out a sigh.
"What are you-" Oberyn looked about to shove the freakin' vial down my throat based on his expression.
Only for the man to suddenly stop, for the princess's panic to quickly subside, for Sandor's utterly done face to turn into bemusement.
And all because I'd started laughing.
"Oh, aren't you all just precious," I remarked, shaking my head, before promptly grabbing hold of the vial, opening it up, and dumping it into the pool beside me.
It was telling that for a brief, very, confused moment, Oberyn looked like he was about to ask the gods themselves where my missing sanity was as he took a step back. His gaze turned from bewilderment to concern, before finally to utter confusion as he searched my face for something.
"What is the matter with you!?" Arianne Martell suddenly shrieked. "Do you have a death wish!?"
I nodded at that, before letting out another sigh. "Out of curiosity, princess,"
Oberyn's face rapidly turned into dread.
"How fast was that poison supposed to be?"
"..." Arianne Martell blinked once, twice, and finally a third time before she spoke with an almost haunted tone to her voice. "Without the wine... Seconds..?" She turned a questioning expression towards her uncle. When the man didn't react to her, she turned back towards me.
I tilted my head at her, still grinning, as I raised an eyebrow towards her. "Funny that, isn't it?"
Oberyn rapidly moved a shaking hand towards his niece's shoulder, his wide-eyed gaze still on me.
"...Why..." The princess's voice seemed to crack. "How..?"
I snorted in response.
"If it was that easy to get what I want, I'd already be dead, little girl..." I let out another sigh. "Alas, I happened to be very hard to kill,"
Oberyn's face seemed to have lost some of its colors as he definitely started seeing me in a new disturbing light.
Sandor's utterly done expression seemed to change to one that found god, and decided he was an utter maniac- In that, he was looking at me like I'd grown a second head, ate the first, and then grew a third.
While the princess, breaking expectations, had settled for an utterly fascinated expression as she shrugged off her uncle's hand and promptly moved her seat closer before taking it- A nearly fanatic look to her face as she stared at me.
"You called yourself Karma... Of the Gods right..?" The woman suddenly chuckled, her voice ringing through the area as she shook her head. "What are you? Truly?"
Needless to say, bitch was clearly crazy.
The fact I was starting to see Doran Martell's freaking point of view, at least regarding Arianne Martell, wasn't a feeling I'd expected, nor wanted.
Honestly, that feeling hurt more than the poison ever freaking did.
...
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