POV Oberyn
My sister is to be married, Oberyn thought, still somewhat bewildered and apprehensive about the whole notion.
Elia is strong willed and intelligent young woman, but it is not her mental strength that worries Oberyn so, it's her physical health, while Elia might not look sickly, the maesters always said that her lungs are weaker than they should be, and thus prone to chills and weaker stamina.
Oberyn does not want to let her go, Sunspear is safe, in Sunspear, all of Dorne would protect their beloved princess, in Sunspear Oberyn could protect her, here in Oldtown Oberyn is not so sure, Baelor is good enough man, Oberyn supposes, but he is not good enough for Elia, nobody is good enough for Elia, Elia is a gentle soul, the shining light of sun in a world mired in muck and darkness. Now she is to be married.
Just as Oberyn was getting lost in his worries, a guardsman from his retinue intruded with summons from his brother for a walk on the beach, the request was unusual enough for Oberyn to go to his brother without dallying.
Oberyn joined his brother on the beach of Battle Isle, with their gaurds following a distance behind for privacy, while the look on Dorans face may look inscrutable to others, Oberyn can see his brother is in a contemplative mood, " Brother, you asked for me?", Oberyn questioned.
" Janna Tyrell is to marry Stannis Baratheon in six moons, betrothal contract is drawn up will be signed tonight", Doran said out of nowhere.
" Brother, what? What has that got to do with anything?", Oberyn asked baffled.
" Hmmm, you do know who Janna Tyrell is, do you not?", Doran answered a question with a question.
Still baffled by Dorans line of thought, nevertheless Oberyn jogged his memory for a bit and answered exasperated, " Yes, brother I do know who Janna Tyrell is! She is Lord Paramount of the Reach Mace Tyrells youngest sister, I think I have even seen her, she is here for the wedding, brown hair, brown eyes and an ample bosom. Again I ask you whats her betrothal got to do with anything? "
" Hmmm, you don't see it? I know you are smart enough to figure it out Oberyn, it seems your worry for our sister has clouded your mind", Doran tsked in mock disappointment.
Oberyn almost growled, " Seven Hells, Brother, you are my prince and my liege lord, but I will throttle you if you don't say what you want to say next, I have no patience for your mind games today of all days"
Even still Doran continued walking for awhile yet letting Oberyn simmer in his irritation. When he finally spoke, it is once again a question, " Who is Mace Tyrells wife, brother? "
Oberyn curled his hands so tight that his knuckles turned white, that is Doran for you, always another test, a test of patience, a test of intelligence, a test of control, this time Oberyn did growl, " Alerie Hightower "
With a slow nod Doran replied, " Our would be good brothers sister, now do you see? "
While Oberyns patience did almost snap, he was starting to see Dorans point, as Doran said, Oberyn was many things dumb was not one of them, " With this betrothal Stannis Baratheon will be our good-brothers good-brothers good-brother ".
" Now who are House Baratheons closest allies in the Great Game ? ", Doran once again questioned.
" House Targaryen through marriage a generation ago and friendship between Steffon Baratheon and Aerys Targaryen now, House Arryn due to fosterage of Robert Baratheon and House Stark due to the same fostering and if this betrothal pans out then House Tyrell ", Oberyn answered with no delay, starting to see a glimmer of what Doran was getting at.
" You know why we arranged this marriage for Elia, we saw a power bloc forming with Houses Arryn, Stark, Baratheon and Targaryen and didn't want to be losers for this round of Great Game, since Tywin Lannister scorned mother's offer of marriage alliance between Jaime and Elia and you and Cersei, mother wanted to leverage her friendship with Queen Rhaella to marry Rhaegar and Elia, just as much as to spite to Tywin as to make Elia Queen, but that gambit failed even before it started, Starks leveraged the debt of gratitude that Aerys owes them for rescuing him for Duskendale and betrothed the wolf girl to the prince, and Aerys would have been an imbecile if he had refused the match, not only would he been an ungrateful cretin for refusing the match, but a moron for refusing such an invitation into a powerful alliance of three Great Houses. With the loss of prince for a bridegroom, we had to scramble to settle for Baelor Hightower, to atleast salvage this round of Great Game. Now the only man who had the power and influence to stop the ascension of House Stark is dead" ,Doran replied.
That last comment startled Oberyn and he whispered lowly, " Are you suggesting that the Starks assassinated Tywin, Brother? ".
" Who knows? You are the Master of Poisons, oh Red Viper, you tell me? ", Doran returned dryly.
" I do not know brother, I read the same spy reports you did. By all reports, it seems to be normal heart failure, it is uncommon in men his age but not unheard of. Excessive stress is known to cause such a thing and if any man had any right to be stressed it was Tywin ", Oberyn answered.
" Perhaps it is natural, perhaps it is the gods themselves, yet the greatest player of the board is no more. And Stark ascension is imminent. With Elias marriage we were poised to make a power bloc with Reach and Dorne for the next round of Great Game. Just as we are on the precipice of it, the betrothal of Tyrell girl once again changed the Game. While Reach has always suffered internal conflict since Tyrells were made Lord Paramounts, there are three major players in Reach, Tyrells, Hightowers, Redwynes and two semi major players in Tarlys and Florents, while Florents always opposed Tyrells, Tarlys favour oscillated between Hightowers and Tarlys. Now with Randyll Tarly marrying a Florent and Hightower, Tyrell and Redwyne being locked in marriage alliance, Reach is mostly stable, that is why we are entering an alliance with Hightowers. We are hoping to milk whatever benefits we could out of a politically stable Reach, yet just as we were about to achieve our goals, Tyrells are being tied to Baratheons and through Baratheons the greater alliance of Targaryen-Stark-Arryn-Bartheon. Tyrells could not reject Baratheons offer, because that alliance will only secure their own position as overlords of Reach, but our value as allies has reduced to half it's previous value or even less.", Doran finished sourly.
" All of this seems too convenient, brother, if Tyrells join the alliance, that means tangentially so have we, that's five out of Seven Kingdoms, which just leaves Riverlands, Westerlands and Iron Islands, last of which nobody gives a shit about, and Riverlands and Westerlands joining this alliance is easy as turning my hand, aren't there two Tully daughters, just right for the job. But why, it doesn't make sense, if all of us are allies, then politically and practically none of us are, this alliance locks all of us in Stalemate in the Great Game for atleast a generation. If everybody wins then nobody wins. What would be the goal of such a move? ", Oberyn asked Doran now entirely uneasy and confused.
Doran sighed deeply with his shoulders slumping down, " For that question, I don't have an answer, only more questions, was this a deliberate plan or an unfortunate coincidence? If this is deliberate, who is the mastermind, Jon Arryn, Rickard Stark, Steffon Baratheon or someone else? Is it Ned Stark, the seemingly common thread between these disparate factions, is he his Father's mouthpiece or does this unassuming and unremarkable young man, the shadow master behind his Father? If he isn't, then who? What's their end goal ? I don't know, if I am being honest, that not knowing is driving me insane, " Doran chuckled morbidly.
Oberyn, who has never seen his brother look so defeated, remained stunned for moment. Doran not understanding something, he put his mind to? That just doesn't seem possible, " What, Ned Stark, Eddard Stark, Rickard Starks second son?? What does he have to do with any of this? ", Oberyn asked incredulously.
" That's the thing, brother, on the surface of it, he should be an unremarkable and unimportant piece, yet he seems to be the common thread that connects these disparate factions. Apparently Jon Arryn thinks and loves him as a son, Robert Baratheon thinks and loves him as a brother, Elbert Arryn heir to Vale thinks him a close friend, Yohn Royce heir to second greatest house of Vale deeply admires and respects him, Stannis Baratheon who apparently hated him when he first came to Strom's End now grudgingly admits that he is a good and honourable man and a friend, according to Arthur, who only let this slip unwittingly said that Prince Rhaegar considers Ned Stark a true friend and a brilliant mind, my sparse sources in the North speculate that he had a hand the new prosperity that the North enjoys due to their recent Ironwood and Wintersteel. This glowing reputation and apparently many talents seem unbelievable. Either this Ned Stark is a genius player of the Game or someone is using him patsy to cover their own tracks or unbelievably he is every inch the man his reputation suggests.", Doran finished disgustedly whether that disgust was towards this conundrum or his own self for failing to solve it Oberyn didn't know.
" So that is all well and good, and this discussion has gone on for hours already. What is it that you intend to do and how would you have me serve ? ", Oberyn asked.
" Hmmm, I can't dedicate my resources on Ned Stark alone, if he turns out to be patsy then all of it would have gone to waste, but neither can I ignore him. There is one peculiarity about him, that I found that may be worth following, apparently he never showed any interest in women with the exception of minimum amount required to be polite, yet he didn't show any interest in men either, I want you to find out if there is a pressure point there that can be used to crack his facade. I want both you and Ashara Dayne to work on him, I am not asking you to sleep with him or even seduce him, you are both excellent judges of character and deft hands at intrigue, get the measure of the man. I can't exactly put dedicated spies on him, Starks have notoriously loyal households and the man moves about Seven Kingdoms regularly enough that anyone following him would be immediately suspicious. Find out what you can before the wedding festivities end, apparently the man and Robert Baratheon are about to tour Essos right after it.", Doran commanded Oberyn.
" As you command, My Prince ", Oberyn bowed and left wondering, Just what sort of man are you, Eddard Stark.