Chapter 13: Knowing each other
Arianne POV
Arianne was still furious with her father and was now heading to see the Prince. It was time to clear things up with him, and send him back to his kingdom, and avoid war. An innocent man has already died for her father's lust of power.
As she walked through the hallway of the palace, she saw her brother, Quentin, coming towards her with a smirk on his face and his guards behind him. She began to hate him more and more.
" So, dear sister. Did you like the gift you received?"
She was confused, not knowing what he was referring to, so she asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh! But how," said, smirking, "Didn't you get your lover's head in a basket?"
When she heard that, Arianne was petrified. " How do you know about that story?"
"Because it was me who cut off his head," Quentyn said with a smirk and tapping his thumb against his chest.
At that point, Arianne rushed at her brother with her nails, but the guards stopped her. "I will be Dorne's future ruler, you will be married to some prince of Westeros or some warlord of Essos."
She spat in his face, "This is not the end of it, brother. As in tea, the blood of Nymeria, the warrior queen, flows in me too, and if you believe that I will step aside while you take my throne, you are mistaken. I still have an ace up my sleeve, brother," and she walked away furiously from that crazy of her brother, who will lead Dorne to ruin, with tears in her eyes.
Now the guards also obeyed him. She had to start planning her revenge and there was only one way to do it. Seduce the Prince.
When she arrived at the cave, the Prince was awake and welcomed her with a smile. But she did not return it. She sat down by the fire, and threw some more logs into the fire and handed the bag with the food to the Prince.
He began to eat, while she kept staring at the dancing fire, but she felt his gaze on her.
After some silence, she heard him say, "Nymeria, are you okay?"
She was taken aback by the name, but then she remembered that she gave it to him.
"No," she replied, bursting into tears, having Daemon's head still fresh in her mind, and aggravated by the fact that she found out it was Quentin who did it.
She heard a gutter of pain and then powerful arms embracing her. She did not oppose to the gesture, instead, she put her head on his chest. She cried and wept, and he caressed her head and whispered words of comfort to reassure her. He was such a kind man, it seems, and he was able to calm her down with those beautiful words. Words that were not appropriate for a warrior or a king, but for the poets of the stories. After she had calmed down, she heard him ask in a soft voice, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
She, still with her head resting on his chest, and grabbing his shirt, not wanting to break the contact because she liked it very much, replied "I found out that my best friend, and the man I was in love, was killed, and his head was delivered to me, in a chest," she replied between the sobs "and it was my brother who killed him."
"Shhh.I'm sorry, that you lost someone dear to you and that you loved," he whispered, kissing her head.
After they'd been in that position for some time, she started to pull away, and looking toward him said, "How's the wound going?"
"She doesn't bleed anymore, having been cauterized, but it's still painful. But I' m alive thanks to you," she smiled.
She nodded and smiled at him. He was different from her brothers, who were arrogant. He wasn't. But he was her enemy anyway because he was making her lose her throne.
Licking her lips, she asked, "Why were you coming to Dorne, Prince?"
"Willis. Call me Willis, not Prince. That's what my friends call me." She gave him a smile.
"I was coming to Dorne to marry Princess Arianne Nymeros Martell."
"Did you know that if you married her she would lose her legitimate right to the throne of Dorne?"
"Yes."
"And you accepted anyway."
"I had no choice," he replied, in a sad voice and lowering his head. And this did not go unnoticed to Arianne. So she decided to go deeper on this "What do you mean?"
"That I had an ultimatum. Marrying the princess or giving up the throne in favor of my brother, Garlan. You don't know my grandmother and you don't know my father. Their adversity for power is unimaginable. As is that of King Tywin."
Apparently, they were both in the same boat, victims of their parents' ambition. They had more in common than she thought. "So you chose the throne."
"Yes. "
"Yet, you take away the right to the throne of the Princess, the same right that you did not want to give up."
"Believe me, if there was another possibility in this regard, I would have accepted it, but it isn't. King Tywin Lannister is already at our door and I must protect my people. The only way is to make an alliance with Dorne."
If there was another possibility, would you give up the clause of Marriage?
"Look, we're already married..."
"What? "Arianne asked in disbelief.
"I said that I have already married the princess. I had to come here to make it official and consummate the marriage."
" No, it's not true," Arianne replied, feeling the anger grow. Her father hadn't told her anything about it, and now she hated him even more.
"Yes, it is. My father, my grandmother, and her father signed everything and had me married by proxy. Anyway, why do you care about this story?"
"I care" she snapped, trying not to reveal her identity. But he saw that he was looking at her with curiosity. Calming down, she said, "If you were to find a woman with whom you would have fallen madly in love, would you annul your marriage to our princess?"
After that question he was silent and Arianne knew he was thinking about this possibility. If he agreed, she would send some Dornish girl to make him lose his head and give up.
After some silence, looking at her, he said, "Yes..." And Arianne knew that she had succeeded in doing so. "But only if that woman was you." that wasn't the response she was waiting. "Remember what I said to you while you were healing my wound the day we met?"
"That I was the most beautiful woman in Westeros."
When I was on the ship, Garrett, my best friend, asked me if I would give up the throne. I answered yes, but only if I found a woman worth it for." As he approached, he took her hand in his own and said, "So, Nymeria, I know we've known each other for a short time, but I fell in love with you from the first moment I saw you, and if by any chance you didn't want to become queen, I'll give up the throne for you."
This was an unexpected turn, and she decided to play around with it a little more. "If you're ready to give up your right to the throne for me, why weren't you ready to give up the throne for the princess?"
"Because I didn't know her..."
"And if you had known her, would you have done the same?"
"I don't know. Why do you care so much about that story? I just told you that I fell in love with you and that I am ready to give up the throne for you, and you continue with that argument. It's not like you feel the same way, is it?"
"Maybe. But I'm just trying to understand." Taking a breath, she added, "If I had to accept, would you be willing to live in Dorne, in a village, and in a small house?"
"Yes. For you, yes."
She looked toward the entrance of the cave and saw that it was almost nighttime. "I have to go now," she said, but when she was about to get up, he grabbed her by the hand and said, "You didn't give me an answer."
" Another day. "And she began to head toward the exit, but heard him call her, and she turned toward him.
"Nymeria. Can I... Can I kiss you?"
She nodded and saw him standing up, though with difficulty, and later approaching her. Leaning he kissed her on the lips, and she closed her eyes.
It was a good feeling to feel his soft lips on her, it was really a pity that he would not give up the throne for her. Breaking the contact, she said, "I have to go now. I'll be back tomorrow."
And she ran away. When she arrived at the palace, she heard her brother, Quentin, voice from inside the stables, "So do you understand what you have to do?"
"Yes. Kill the wolf and bring his wife to you."
"How many men do you have?"
"About ten."
"Don't let him discover you, otherwise you're doomed. You'll have to attack him before he sees you."
"I know what I have to do, you don't have to teach me my job, and anyway he's an 18-year-old brat. The payment?"
"Half now, and the other half when you've brought me the woman."
"Good." And he left, but Arianne saw him in passing. He looked like a mercenary with rings on his fingers and an assassin's hood.
She had to find out what it was about, maybe if she mentioned the subject to her father, her brother's plan would be ruined, setting in motion her revenge. Tomorrow she will have to have a conversation with her father.
Daenerys
Daenerys spent most of the day with Lady Ashara and was now heading towards the royal rooms to dine with the king.
She was very excited about it because they didn't have the chance to get to know each other better, but she knew that this dinner will be important.
She decided to wear an Essosi dress, which her mother had gifted her, with a blue top and white skirt, and that had a drained chest. She decided to braid her hair, letting some drop over her chest.
When she arrived to their room, she saw that everything was prepared and was very beautiful. Candles illuminated the room, and the table was settled. It smelled so good. When she noticed that there were no servants, she wanted to go and call them, but at that moment Jon came in.
He was really handsome. Wearing a black leather tunic and having his hair loose, he looked younger. For the young man who was not for the king he is.
He welcomed her with a smile, "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of this dinner, so I'm a little unprepared."
She gave him a smile and replied, "Your mother would like us to get to know each other better, and Missandei and Grey Worm helped her prepare dinner for us."
They sat down in front of each other and kept looking at each other. Daenerys began to observe him better and to formulate the questions she would ask him, in order to know him better.
"Roast deer?" asked Jon smiling. "This is certainly my mother's idea. She knows that I love this and above all, she knows that with this she always manages to corrupt me, especially when cooked in this way. So ask whatever you want," he said as he began to cut the pieces of meat.
"Don't you let the servants serve you?" she asked.
"Why should I? I have two hands too," he said, showing his hands that were holding the knife and the fork. "Hunting or in the army, I've always done it myself."
And she was quite impressed by this gesture. She knows how arrogant the lords and the ladies can be, and above all not wanting to get dirty. But he was different.
"Do you want me to serve you or you can do it by yourself?"
"No, I can do it." However, she didn't take her eyes off his face. Shaking her head, she stood up and cut herself a piece of meat.
While they were starting to eat, a curiosity came to Daenerys, "You and Robb have been friends since childhood, right?" and he nodded. "What's your story?"
"Robb and I have been friends since we were born. He was raised by my father and my mother because they made a promise to his parents. Or rather, to his father who was dying on the battlefield. His father Torrhen was a Targaryen bastard."
"Of my House?"
"Yes. He was the son of your grandfather's brother, who was part of Wolfsguard."
"I thought they couldn't have children."
"No, indeed. But I disagree with that. And I want to change that rule," Jon answered by looking at her and then taking a sip from her cup. "They are humans, as we are, and they deserve to have their love, of course, as long as they continue to keep their oath and their loyalty."
She nodded, and then drank herself out of her cup, but she heard him ask, "Have you noticed the looks that Viserys give to Dacey?"
And she immediately looked up at him, asking "My brother?"
"Yes," he smiled. "He filters with her, but she plays the indifferent. But I know her very well. We've been friends since childhood, and I know that's what she does when she likes someone."
Hearing that, Daenerys felt something inside her, something she had never felt before and couldn't help asking "Was there...mmm... Something between you and Dacey?" and at that point, he looked at her.
While she was waiting for her answer, her heart began to beat quickly, and she didn't know why. After all, she wasn't in love with Jon, she cared for him like a friend, but this feeling she had, while waiting for his answer, was something different.
After some time he smiled, "No. We're just friends. But when I was younger, I was in love with her, or rather with her warrior spirit."
"And now?" Daenerys asked with a beating heart.
"Now... Now I'm in love with another girl. The most beautiful, and the kindest girl I've ever met, with a courage she doesn't know yet to have. I fell in love with her from the first moment I saw her," he replied, smiling, and then added looking down, "But she doesn't have the same feelings for me."
Daenerys felt a little guilty, knowing that he could not be with the woman he loved because he was married to her. But she was really curious to know her name. Drinking from her cup, she asked " What's her name?" and he immediately looked straight at her.
"It doesn't matter," he replied, drinking from his cup. "Anyway, Dacey was in love and promised to someone else, who was also our friend, a bit older than us and who died against some bandits, whom I'm still trying to find. Unfortunately, I wasn't here when that happened. I was in Essos."
"I understand."
"But I would ask you not to say anything about this to Viserys."
"Of course I won't."
After they had finished eating, they sat down by the fire, and Daenerys was curious about Essos. She had heard many stories of how the Southern Kings fear him after Astapor. Her father, Missandei, the servants and even Daario, had told her about it. But they were all different versions, and especially now that she found out what kind of man Daario was, she didn't believe much in his version. The best answer would be to ask directly to the source, even if she was a little afraid of his reaction.
Licking her lips and taking a breath, Daenerys asked "What happened in Astapor? I've heard a lot of stories and from the way, people talk the South fears you after that events."
He sighed, looking towards the fire "It is of my powers that they are afraid. If I were to tell you about it, I' m afraid of your reaction.
"My reaction?" Daenerys was taken aback by that statement. The stories she heard were quite horrible, but she was sure there was a reason behind it.
"You'll think I'm a monster."
"No, Jon. I know that we don't know each other well, by hell, we've known each other for less than a month. But in this period, since we got married, and even before, I knew your goodness and your kindness," she said, and then added, chuckling "Of course, I still don't understand why you refuse to consume the marriage or to lie with other women, but I know that you are a good man. And I'm sure you're the best in this world." And she put her hand on his. At that moment he immediately turned to her and said, looking in her eyes, with those beautiful brown eyes, "If I tell you what happened in Astappor, can I ask for something in return?"
Feeling as if she had no voice, swallowing, she replied, whispering "Yes."
"Before you know what happened to Astapor, I need to tell you the origin of my powers." Taking a breath he continued. "As you know, Jonnel Stark married Daena Targaryen, mixing the Wolf and Dragon blood, which had never happened before, apart from Sara Snow and Jacaerys Velaryon, but that's another story. Anyway, as you know the Stark have a small possibility that they are born with the power of Warging."
Daenerys tried to record in her mind everything Jon said, even though it was a lot of information, but she still didn't take her eyes off him, although Jon was staring at the fire dance.
"Having blood of the First Men, I was born with that power, but the Valyrian blood strengthened my senses and especially the range of that kind of power. When I was six years old I lost control of those powers and some disasters happened. On one of the nights of that year, I met a woman. Beautiful, blue eyes, icy skin, and with a body that took the breath away," hearing these words describing the woman of her dreams, Daenerys felt a certain jealousy. "It was she who helped me learn to control my powers, certainly in return, she wanted me to free her."
" The same woman you told me the night you had your horrible dream?"
"Yes, but only because she's angry with me now. She said I have great power and a great destiny. Only one person has had this power. And that happened more than 8 thousand years ago. He was able to control armies only with his mind, and that was a great power. He was a warlord, with the mother of the lineage of the first men, and the Valyrian father. Of course, I didn't believe in that story until I used that kind of power completely at Astapor."
Jon stopped for a while and Daenerys saw tears coming down from his cheeks. So she called him in a soft voice, "Jon..." to get him out of the thoughts that haunt him, "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."
"No, it's all right. I want to do it." Taking a breath, he continued to tell.
"At Astapor I saw horrible things. Slaves on the Walk of Punishment, tortured in unimaginable ways, the story of the Unsullied, who kills children to finish their training and gives a coin to the master of the slave. And the insults that those slave-owners gave to the foreigners and to those who were there. They insulted my mother and my people, as well as my companions, not thinking that I knew the Valyrian, and above all, they captured Ghost with an iron net, because I did not want to give him to them or sell him. He was my friend, my protector, and my family. So I said enough. I knew they had to pay dearly for what they did, and I had to save Ghost. But we were only twenty. They were about 500 men, mercenaries, and there were ten thousand Unsullied. I would never have approached him without a trick. So I asked him for a meeting to buy the Unsullied. After we agreed on the price of all the Unsullied, I put my men in position on the walls and within the city."
She saw him stop and take a breath, and she knew that what she was about to say would be something horrible, so she took her chair and placed it next to him, putting her hand on his shoulders, as a sign that he could continue. He looked toward her and continued, "On the day of the payment, I gave him what was due, and he gave me the Harpy lash, but seeing Ghost chained and especially beaten, I lost control. Power took over me, my eyes became white and I took control of all the people in that plaza, except that damned Kraznys mo Nakloz. I made them kill each other. It was a slaughter, and when I freed Ghost, he began to tear them apart, one after the other."
Jon began to shake, as he continued to tell and, she embraced him, with both hands and leaned her head against his shoulder "In the sky, the sun was darkening, the fire was devouring the city and blood was flowing through the plaza. When just over a hundred remained, I gave the order that they be impaled. After freeing the Unsullied I asked them what they wanted to do, and they decided to follow me to the North. As I was leaving Astapor, I saw the city in flames, the bodies of the three Good Masters impaled at the entrance of the three gates, and all the others impaled in the city plaza, with the tips entering through their asses and coming out from their mouths. Kraznys for what he did to Ghost, to buy the Unsullied. After we agreed on the price of all the Unsullied, I put my men in position on the walls and within the city."
She saw him stop and take a breath, and she knew that what she was about to say would be something horrible, so she took her chair and placed it next to him, putting her hand on his shoulders, as a sign that he could continue. He looked toward her and continued, "On the day of the payment, I gave him what was due, and he gave me the lash of the harpy that controls the Unsullied, but seeing Ghost chained and especially beaten, I lost control. Power took over me , my eyes became white and I took control of all the people in that plaza, except that damned of Kraznys mo Nakloz. I made them kill each other. It was a slaughter, and when I freed Ghost, he began to tear them apart, one after the other."
Jon began to shake, as he continued to tell and, she embraced him, with both hands and leaned her head against his shoulder "In the sky, the sun was darkening, the fire was devouring the city and blood was flowing through the plaza. When just over a hundred remained, I gave the order that they be impaled. After freeing the Unsullied I asked them what they wanted to do, and they decided to follow me to the North. As I was leaving Astapor, I saw the city in flames, the bodies of the three Good Masters impaled at the entrance of the three gates, and all the others impaled in the city plaza, with the tips entering through their asses and coming out from their mouths. Kraznys, I impaled him last, in front of the central gate, but not before I had tortured and skinned him. When the skin of his back reached his wrists, I stuck the claws of the harpy on his wrists, which he wore around his neck. After all, he was vaunting to be a descendant of the Ghiscari Empire, which had the harpy as its emblem. "
Standing up abruptly, putting his hands on his hips, he asked, "So, Daenerys, what do you think I am? A monster or a liberator?"
She, putting her hands in her lap, replied, "You're not a monster, Jon. You gave the slavers what they deserved, and if I had been in your same loaves, and would have seen the things you saw, I would have done the same. And not only with Astapor." He smiled. "You know, Missandei was a slave of Essos, but my father bought her and set her free. She was a young girl at the time, but she didn't deserve that fate. As well as the slaves of Astapor who were placed on the stakes did not deserve it. And Kraznys deserved that after he did the things you said to Ghost."
Then Jon approached her, putting his hands on the bracelets of her chair. His lips were very close to her and her heart beats quickly. She was moving her eyes between his lips and his eyes, and it was at that moment that Daenerys heard him ask, "Can I kiss you?"
Swallowing, and licking her lips, she answered with a whisper "Yes."
And she felt his lips touching hers, with an almost chaste kiss, and she closed her eyes to the feeling that that kiss, was giving her. The warmth that it sent into her belly. However, he pulled away, and she almost regretted losing contact with his lips, but she knew that she wasn't ready to cross that line even if her body was, her mind wasn't.
They spent the whole evening talking about their childhood, how many pranks he and Robb did when they were young, venturing across the North and the castles of the lords, discovering many passages. And Daenerys really loved listening to his voice with that Nordic accent.