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Chapter Twenty-One: Ellaria's Bargain.

"How could you be so stupid?" Lord Uller ranted furious that his daughter would do such a thing as poison Oberyn's wife when everyone would point the finger towards them; they had the most to gain should the wife die. Now there was an investigation on who had poisoned Amara, something that would see the end of his family's connection to Prince Oberyn; the fact that he was the father of Ellaria's four children meant little.

Ellaria didn't reply to her father's ranting instead she focused on brushing her daughter's hair, knowing that at any moment that their door would be ripped open and one of them would be arrested. Her fingers were gently against Elia's hair as she worked, neither spoke while Lord Uller raved; his face turning slightly red as he spoke unable to believe how far his family had fallen.

Once they had been the family behind that of the Prince and his own, their connection to Oberyn had been assured with the birth of Ellaria's four daughters and is continued infatuation with her. However, even Lord Uller had noticed how Oberyn's attention had been solely focused on his wife as of late; his relationship with Ellaria had cooled considerably in the past weeks.

He no longer called for her as he once did and his attentions had been firmly set on Amara; the dance the night before had shown that, for the first time the Prince seemed almost tender with her. There was no demand for anything more than she was willing to offer him, not unlike the last time that they had shared a dance; where he assumed that the dance would please her enough to invite him to her bed.

"Perhaps our luck shall change if the Princess dies," Ser Ulwyck murmured knowing that their lives would be so much easier if Amara did not survive. Ellaria's position would be safe and perhaps with the other woman then Oberyn would finally see sense and talk Ellaria as his wife; Doran would not ambush him with another bride ever again.

"How can you say that?" Ellaria demanded stepping away from Elia, her eyes flickering from her father to her uncle wondering why they didn't realise just what was at stake here; she felt sick knowing just how much of a mess had been made. If Amara died then there would be no escaping the fury that Oberyn would hold, despite how his marriage was with the other woman; he would not stand for anyone murdering her. It wouldn't matter to him who had been responsible for what happened, there would be no stopping him in seeking revenge; especially given the fact he'd been denied satisfaction over his sister's murder.

"He'll never be able to marry Ellaria now, you fool. Our chance has been lost," Lord Uller told his brother with a shake of his head, there was no hope for that now; the people would rebel, Amara had been loved by the people. The idea that Oberyn would marry her suspected murderer would not sit well, they were ruined and there would be no escaping what had happened that night.

"Mama?" Elia whispered softly, her eyes filled with tears as she stared at the adults as their words sunk in; she had not thought that everyone would be this upset by what she had done. She'd done it for her mother, she didn't like the fact that her father had slowly turned away from Ellaria and was now besotted with his wife; it should be her mother that was now a Princess of Dorne.

Ellaria despite being a bastard was still the daughter of a high-ranking lord, Amara was not; before she had come to the capital Elia had not heard of House Cantrell that was how minor the house was. Taking a deep breath, Ellaria stepped towards the door knowing that there was only one way to deal with this; she had lost and now she had to deal with the consequences of what Elia had done.

"Where are you going?" Lord Uller demanded staring at Ellaria like she lost her mind, if they played this right then they would be able to swing this in the right direction. Amara was as good as dead after being poisoned, there was no doubt in his mind about this; they had to plan on what they would do when that happened with suspicion pointed at them.

"To make this right," Ellaria replied looking over her shoulder towards her father, he would not approve of her next action but she wasn't doing this for him; she was going to do this for Elia.

Staring down at Ellaria from his throne, Prince Doran could not deny that he was rather surprised that his brother's whore had approached him while there was an investigation of which she was the main suspect. Leaning back in his throne, there was nothing that Doran could say while Ellaria explained the situation to him; her eyes cast down and she had never looked so meek to him.

Whenever he had crossed Ellaria in the past, the woman had always held her head high especially when she knew her position at court was set especially when she held Oberyn's affections. Now that had changed and Doran expected that Ellaria realised that there was no way that she could escape what had happened; her prospects at court were ruined and there was nothing left for her here now that someone had done this to Amara.

"You're here to bargain with me," Doran stated not sure what to make of that, her words had been a surprise and he wasn't sure what Ellaria could offer him at such a time. Surely even she understood that in some ways his hands were tied, if Amara died then her killer would need to be dealt with; though given how his brother had been since her poisoning that he would deal with them himself.

"That I am," Ellaria replied looking up at Doran, she had always thought of him as such a weak individual; someone not worthy of the throne that he held. Her Oberyn would have made a fine Prince ruling over Dorne and ensuring that his beloved sister was avenged while Doran had done nothing to make the Lannisters pay for what they'd done to Princess Elia.

"My daughter, Elia, has confessed to me her role in poisoning the Princess," Ellaria told him, she did not know if confessing Elia's guilt would work but she hoped that Doran would show kindness. Elia's actions had been misguided and Ellaria was willing to gamble on the fact that her eldest daughter was named for Doran's beloved sister would stay his hand in calling for her execution.

"I know what punishment would be bestowed upon her for such an action. I am here as her mother to plead for my daughter's life," continued Ellaria, she did not stop fearing that if she did then she would not be able to continue with explaining why she had come here.

"I shall leave court. Never to return. Banished to my father's halls for the rest of my days. Elia shall come with me until called for. Her sister may remain here," Ellaria tried to bargain, there was not much she could offer but she knew that if nothing else that Obella, Dorea and Loreza would be safe here. Doran did not speak, his mind turning with what she had just confessed and he knew that this could be the answer to his problems; his brother would not disagree with such a deal especially with Ellaria's confession. However, there was a small part of him that knew that he had to play this carefully; Ellaria was acting to protect her daughter thus it must seem that it was her being punished not Elia.

"You shall leave court. Elia will be sent away, not to Hellholt with you. We can't have your father filling her head with more poison against Princess Amara," Doran started not trusting his most loyal follower to not retaliate. At least this way he knew that Elia would learn some discipline while she was attending to her new lord and lady; it would do her some good to be away from her mother at this time.

"To Fairmarsh, she shall go… she will be put into the care of Princess Amara's brother and his wife as punishment," Doran decided knowing that Fairmarsh would be pro-Amara. It would be a way of honouring the house that Amara had come from and there would be not many around that would speak against the new Princess in such a public way.

The colour drained from Ellaria's face at such an idea, the mere thought of being so separated from all her children almost made her speak up; she stopped upon seeing Doran's face. This was not just a punishment for her but for Elia, they would not see each other again until Doran willed it and Ellaria doubted that she would ever be allowed to see the capital again.

"If that is your wish, Your Grace," Ellaria mumbled casting her eyes down, her daughter would be safe and she would not fear an execution; all that was left would be to explain what was happening to Oberyn should she be given the chance. There was no news on the condition of Amara, only that Oberyn continued to work to ensure her survival from the poison that Elia had given her.

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