The Wrong Prince.
Chapter Two
She was beautiful, no man could deny her that. Pale as milk with flawless skin, a mane of golden curls that spilled over her shoulders, and bright green eyes that would put any emerald to shame with their shine. She was dressed in green silk and pale Myrish lace, a delicate thread of gold adorned with emeralds and diamonds went around the younger woman's neck and her curls were contained in a sliver hair net, adorned with more emeralds.
Mellario knew that many would consider Doran lucky, that he had a prize out of his grasp but he had always been the most handsome of men to her. She still remembered the stirring low down in her belly when she had first caught sight of him, the three bells of Norvos had been ringing loudly and the bears had been dancing but when she caught sight of Doran's eyes for the first time.
They were the color of moss, and he had been garbed in gold and red and orange and Mellario had felt her heart skip a beat when his eyes meet hers and she had loved him from that moment on, her father had been supportive of the match and he had enjoyed feasting him that night and seven more nights as well when Doran had been meant to move on from Norvos.
When Doran finally had to return to Dorne, she had gone with him and her parents had sent her with trunks of gold, the finest silks from Lys, and the more interesting inventions from Myr, looking back on it now it was clear to her that it had been her parent's idea of a dowry but it simply showed that they understood as little of the land she was being sent to as she did.
She had been frightened to go, even though her father had sent Areo Hotah with her to keep her safe, but Doran had spoken such sweet words to her that it was easy to ignore them. He had told her of Dorne of Sunspear and its shadow city with its markets where you could find so many wonderous, wonderous things and of the Water Gardens with its pools and fountains and orange trees and how their children would splash about in them when they were old enough.
But once they had arrived in Dorne it had become clear to her that was not going to happen. Princess Loreza was a handsome woman indeed, and all you needed to do was look at her to feel her authority, and Mellario thought that she might have been able to like her a great deal if she had not set all of her energy on stopping them from wedding.
If she had a bit of sense then she would have gone back home, back to Norvos, but Doran had implored her to stay, to become his paramour until he could convince his mother to allow them to wed and the earnestness of his words had swayed her and so in Dorne, she had remained.
But he had never been able to sway his mother and all his plots had come to nothing and yet she had not been able to pull herself away from her love, even when her father had sent word across the sea commanding her to return to Norvos, and so she had stayed with him even when it had become clear to the both of them that they would never be able to marry, even when his mother was rotting in the ground.
And so here she was now, a paramour and respected in that right with a daughter of her own who would be raised no differently than a trueborn Martell could expect but for all the happiness that her life as it was now had brought her he always knew that it would not be forever, that Doran would one day have to do his duty and take a woman to wife and now the day had come.
It was a lovely wedding, to be sure. All of Dorne's houses of note had come to Sunspear for the wedding, Yronwood and Fowler, Dayne and Dalt, Jordayne and Ladybright all in their best, with jewels blinking at their throats and fingers. The great hall of the old palace thrummed with life and a great haze of heat was trapped inside.
The feast was as lavish as any jewel as well, goats roasted in lemon and honey and stuffed with chestnuts and mushrooms, white fish caught from the Greenblood and served with a sauce of lemon, butter, and parsley, snakes roasted whole on skewers with a sauce of dragon peppers, mustard seeds and a single drop of snake venom to give it an extra kick.
And the wine. Mellario didn't think she had ever seen so much in her life before. There was a great selection of Dornish reds, of course, both sweet and sour as well as the strongwine that her husband was so very fond of but as well there were wines from the Arbor, mainly for their guests from beyond the mountains, as well as rums from the Summer Islands and honey wines from Tyrosh.
But all the wine tasted like vinegar to her now, all the food tasted like nothing as well. Still, she picked at each dish that was brought to her and drank her fair few cups of vinegar, if nothing else it passed the time.
When the first sweet was brought in, a cake made of tiger nuts and honey, Mellario rose and left the hall. She had no doubt that would cause some whispers, but she was well past the point of caring as she made her way to the doors. She felt a thousand eyes on her as she moved, some friendly and some not.
There were so many lions in the hall, the girl's aunt and uncle had come with her and the disapproval of her was plain to see when they both looked at her as if they thought that it would cow her. Let them take this for a victory if they wished, she did not care.
Once she was outside the hall she walked around the nearest corner and then took in a deep breath of the cool night air, and sobbed. She fell to her knees with the force of them and wept. Her eyes burned and her throat felt like it was fit to tear from the sheer force of her misery, for a moment it was so all-encompassing that she thought it might shake the entire castle down to stones.
She wasn't sure when she stopped sobbing but she knew she stayed on her knees for a while longer even after all of her tears had dried, eventually, she found the strength to get to her feet and carry on walking.
Mellario came to a stop and she listened to the sounds of the Shadow City, food and drink had been shared out among the people to bolster their affections and Mellario could hear them singing and cheering and she hated them for being so happy when she was miserable, though she knew that it wasn't fair.
She stayed there listening to the sounds until a hand tapped at her shoulder and made her jump, spinning on her feet she didn't know if she should laugh when she saw Oberyn's face or slap him. "Do not do that."
"Forgive me, sister," Oberyn said with a grin as he handed her a cup of wine and then stood closer to her. She loved him for calling her sister, Oberyn had always been on their side against his mother as had Elia, not that even all three of her children against her had been able to sway Loreza Martell's mind on the matter but it had mattered to Mellario.
She had probably had too much to drink already but she took the wine gladly and brought it up to her lips and drank deep of it, it was sourer than the kind Oberyn's older brother preferred she knew but it all tasted the same to her. "You aren't supposed to call me that."
"If I let what I was supposed to do stop me then I wouldn't have done half of the things that I've done, and my life would be all the poorer for it," That made her laugh, Oberyn could always make her laugh, and he seemed to take that as a victory as his grin widened. "And don't worry, that girl may be able to sit beside at firsts but we all know who truly has Doran's heart."
And that knowledge should have been enough for her, shouldn't it? But the sight of her sitting by his side, the sight of the both of them standing in the sept together as they spoke their vows, it was too much for her to bear.
But bear it she must, she finished the wine and handed the cup back to Oberyn before she rose to her feet. "Thank you brother, but I should return to my covers and you should go back to the feast. The Lannisters may not care that Prince Doran's whore left but they may care that his brother did."
Oberyn frowned but nodded and left her be to return to the hall and Mellario took one last glance at the city before she made her way to her apartments.
As soon as she reached them she made her way to her daughter's room, Arianne had not been at the feast in order to not offend the Lannister's sensibilities but Doran had promised her it was just for the wedding feast, Mellario took a seat on the edge of Arianne's bed and stared down at her, trying to memorize every single feature of her precious girl while she was still this young.
She pressed a kiss to her forehead and crept out of the room so as not to disturbed her daughter's sleep before she made her way into her bedroom and laid down atop her covers and closed her eyes tightly, trying to pretend that she still couldn't hear the sounds of laughter and music drifting up from the hall.
Eventually, she managed to drift off into a light sleep but she woke up a few hours later and when she tried to go back to sleep she found that she only managed to sleep for an hour or so before waking up again, but she had nothing better to do than to sleep and so she kept trying to force herself to do so.
The last time she woke from that sleep she nearly started to find someone who had their arms wrapped around her and she almost slammed her elbow into their face, which would have no doubt caused a few stories to spread through Sunspear, but stopped herself when she realized that it was her love that was holding.
The sun was low in the sky which suggested that it had only just turned dawn and Mellario adjusted herself in Doran's hold to press a kiss to his lips, that slightest gesture bringing him out of his sleep and the hum he gave off made her smile. "Good morning love."
"And to you," She brought up her hand to run her fingers through Doran's thick dark hair while she looked deep into his moss-green eyes, all she wanted was to press close to him and forget the world but a question, that she wished she could just ignore, demanded to be asked. "Is your wife still abed?"
Doran sighed. "Yes, I did not wish to wake her and I wished to see you."
Mellario felt her eyes start to burn as the second, much harder, question came out. "Did you...do your duty?"
"I had to Mel," Doran cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her tears away when they rolled down her cheeks. "Dorne must have a trueborn heir, Arianne is treated with more kindness and respect than she would be in any other kingdom but Dorne has not forgotten the Blackfyre's either, some might say that the first rebellion was in part our fault. I must have a wife, and I must have a child with her."
"Do you love her?"
"I only met her a few days ago!"
"That is not a no."
"Of course, I don't love her," Doran insisted and his eyes darkened and for a moment the resemblance between him and Oberyn was plain to see, but as soon as the anger flared up it was gone. "But I will not dishonor her either, she is simply doing as her Lord Father commands her to do and I do not wish to cause her any pain. I shall be kind to her, but no more."
Mellario nodded, even as the tears kept falling. "Arianne will not be up for a few more hours, show me the difference between your duty and your love."
Doran looked confused for a moment but then he understood. She had such a clever love and the way he grinned at her then lightened her and heated her loins and when his mouth was on her skin all her worries were forgotten, for a time at least.
End of Chapter Two
Another chapter is done, In the next chapter we are going to switch back over to Cersei and we will see how the morning after her wedding turns out for her.
With a ton of love,
DiscordantSymphony.