Different cultures, different customs

Author note; In this chapter you readers will meet Domelvo and Ginghis Khan, the main male couple from a smaller story called "A life not forgotten" focused in Mordor during the first year Rhaegar found himself enslaved to become a male courtesan in a brothel there after narrowly escaping death by drowning after losing the battle against Robert at the Trident. I chose to make them show up as especially Domelvo would be perfect for some culture clashes between the Westerosi and the Eastern followers of Suleiman. / Rogercat

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2 March, Haven of Umbar:

Seven days had now passed since that massive portal had been crafted out of the sea water and whirlwinds. Aemon had been free from his most recent fever this morning, so now all the siblings and cousins in House Baratheon could finally explore their current surroundings. Though because Sultan Suleiman had taken Umbar by force, this sadly meant that they had to stay within the palace area for their own safety, especially as they were young foreigners.

"Holly said that there is a custom of concubines here in this part of the other world, so that is how she explained us three and why we look slightly different than our royal siblings. That we were born from different mothers than the main wife of our father," Mya explained to Gendry as they walked along one of the palace roofs to see out in the distance over the rest of the haven and the sea from both sides. Some well-armed guards were following them not far behind, as Suleiman had made it clear that the Baratheon children and Brienne Tarth were guests under his protection until they returned to Westeros.

"Concubines are a fancier word for mistresses, right? That sort of long-term lover who lives in the same household? I may be learning to become a blacksmith and aim for that sort of life away from the royal court, but my master is still very good at explaining other cultures outside Westeros. He says that if I get foreign customers, I must show respect for their background."

The crown prince of Westeros nodded.

"At least it was easy to say that my mother, the legal wife, refused any competitors about sharing the bed of my royal father and you had to grow up in separate households, because in truth both yourself and Mya have commoners as mothers. It was more trickly with Eric," Argella commented from where she was checking in a small basket for the right colour of dark blue silk thread to keep building up a small embroidery that would be turned into the coat of arms for House Tarth. At her side, Brienne and Mya were once again reminded that their thick fingers were not that suitable for finer sewing.

"Good thing that your septa is so clever."

It had taken Holly some mixture of the truth and some white lies to explain why Eric was not the older brother of Shireen and Rhea despite looking like they really could be siblings for real, but rather an illegitimate cousin on both sides of their family tree. Calling him an "unplanned result" of the festive atmosphere on the wedding between Stannis and Selyse was actually a more polite manner of explaining how he had been begotten.

Behind the older siblings, in the other end of the large chambers, the younger ones and their cousins from Storm's End talked about the new clothing that they currently wore:

"I like this style because we got to wear trousers just like you boys!" Rhea pronounced in joy, happy showing off the baggy trousers gathered in tightly at the ankle which she wore under the caftan robe. Because she and Aemon shared the same rare Targaryen looks among their relatives as well being only a handful of months apart in age, they had been mistaken for twins at first by the palace servants here in Umbar and Holly had needed to explain several times that no, they were actually first-cousins with their fathers being brothers married to different wives.

"Brienne, how are the clothes that you got to borrow?"

Because their original clothes had been ruined by the salty sea water, not so much the plainer undergarments of cotton for the legal-born children or linen for Gendry, Mya and Eric but especially the rather lavish clothes made from expensive silk and velvet worn by the royal and their two female cousins, all of them wore clothing that had been donated from noble families here in Umbar. Only Brienne, whose unusual body build and tall height had revealed early on that she would need male clothing despite being female, had gotten a robe and study trousers that clearly did not come from this city. Her height was rather rare, after all, so perhaps some person not hailing from Umbar had been requested to help.

"They are comfortable, neither too small nor too large. And I must say, it is rather interesting that those are of a very different style than yours."

From what they had learned in their lessons about different cultures outside Westeros, both Lyonel and Argella believed that Brienne had gotten the clothing of a nomadic person, because when you did not leave in permanent settling and constantly traveled, you needed clothing that would last for a long time and not hinder any movements.

"While it is a little odd to wear veils to cover our faces and hair, it is a good disguise as well if we would need to hide, as long as we would not have to speak," Elinor commented as she and Argella tested to fasten said veils on their own without the help of servants, though Brienne had gotten a turban to wear like Lyonel, Gendry, Eric and Aemon because she could be mistaken as a man on a distance.

They was well treated and could move freely as long as they took some guards along for protection outside their guest chambers, but despite getting a lot of board games to play between them, some nice toys for the three youngest ones and fabrics to embroider if the girls wished, especially as they could not read the script used here in Umbar or the ones used by Suleiman and his court, there was a feeling of restlessness in them all.

"I wanted to go to the market to see the fabrics and clothing of this land!" Elinor complained as she looked out through the big window, "I want to see if there is anything similar to the clothing of Dorne, as I am betrothed to Quentyn Martell after all..."

"Sweet sister, sometimes I think that the Martells have not requested you to come to Sunspear and be fostered there, because you are still a little too young. You are already eight years old, but I was stated to not be fostered by the Manderlys until the age of 12 and using the last four years before my wedding to become used to the North," Argella muttered to herself as Lyonel tried to teach Gendry the rules of a board game. Granted, it had now been changed to that she would have joined Lord Stark, his heir and two daughters back to the North in 298 when Eddard and his three children had spent two years in the capital so Robb, Sansa and Arya learned more of the southern cultures than risking to come off as uncultured on a wider scale in adulthood.

"Holly is back!" Aemon commented, and indeed Holly arrived with her brother Morgan after having a discussion with Suleiman and a few of his men.

"My dear charges, out in the palace garden there is a newly started musical performance by some of the followers of Sultan Suleiman. He thought that you may like to see more of those who followed him as their leader in this war, as it is not merely people from his native Rûm choosing to rise up in rebellion against the Dark Lord."

"A musical performance and a chance to see more people? Of course!" Lyonel said on behalf of them all, happy for a reason to go outside.

On the way to the music performance, Holly also told some more joyful news: Robert and Stannis were expected to arrive at Umbar that afternoon with a fleet of soldiers.

"Father is also coming?" Shireen asked, since she and Rhea had not been sure if Stannis even knew that they had been kidnapped alongside their cousins.

"Of course! Having the two heiresses to Storm's End stolen from their parents is not something that would be ignored! If our side of the family dies out, it is uncle Stannis and his descendants that will inherit the crown next!"

Indeed, when they arrived near an area where exotic flowers and trees were blooming as a sign of spring being on its way, they passed an open space where performers entertained spectators. Many of them wore similar robes to the one Brienne had, but their fur-brimmed hats and some other details in the clothing were not like anything the younger newcomers had seen earlier.

"Oh, a harp?"

The music instrument was crafted very differently from the harps used in Westeros, looking like a hunting bow made into a harp by setting it into a study wood piece for balance and then stringed. But the harpist was very good, careful movements revealed many years of training and refining this into an art. When looking closer, they could see how the harpist covered their face with a veil, but there was some escaping long black hair in tight curls hanging out from the fabice. Oddly enough the hands were also hidden in forearm long gloves of white silk, but they were slender with long fingers and slightly feminine.

"Oh, I see why the servants of the Sultan wondered if I had some robes that I could lend out. Rare to see someone in my own height here," the harpist suddenly spoke when seeing the new group of on-lookers, noticing what Brienne wore. Then, raising up to stand up in full height and removing the finely embroidered, dark blue face veil that she had been wearing, the woman revealed herself: she had mahogany brown skin, but around her mouth and eyes, almost like a strange mask spit apart in two halves, her skin was noticeably much paler. Yet it was the black eyes alongside the androgynous face that seemed to draw full attention despite the discolour of her skin.

"Oh, looks like Margarey Tyrell may have suddenly gotten an unknown, fully grown adult rival about being a stunning beauty," Argella realized when noticing how her twin brother and two half-brothers all seemed thunderstruck at the sight of the woman. Well, at least they were not alone in staring like idiots among the crowd, and personally Argella had always thought that youngful beauty in half-grown girls and maidens was nothing against the mature looks of adult women who had finished growing. Honestly, all the regions of the Seven Kingdoms had different beauty standards, Argella herself showed all signs of that she would inherit the fuller figure of her long-dead grandmother Cassana and her younger sisters was still too young to reveal which side of the family that they would take after, but Mya was pretty sturdy as well.

"Keep eating like that, Argella, and you will look like one of those stuffed pig sows that is served on banquets. What sort of man wants an overweight wife, I wonder? Perhaps that Stark groom of yours will joke to his friends about having to marry a Princess that will personally come down to the kitchens to steal from the food storage between meals, all because you can eat vast amounts like your good-for-nothing father!"

Again Argella heard a haunting echo of Cersei in her mind. Those unwanted memories of her mother and how she would always complain about how Argella and Elinor took after their Baratheon blood more than the Lannisters.

"I thank you all for watching, now I need to go and prepare for the banquet later this evening."

With a smile that clearly was meant to seem inviting against the foreign royals, the woman covered her face again with the veil and left with the harp in her arms.

"If she would show up at the royal court, I can imagine the alarm of the courtiers and nobles," Brienne whispered to Argella, who nodded in agreement. Whoever this woman was, she clearly would have no trouble with possibly rising to the position of a royal mistress in no time at all, even if Cersei Lannister was replaced by another woman as Queen consort. They would need to watch the behavior of King Robert at the banquet later this evening. Hopefully, this woman was already married and thus would be out of his reach because of her marriage vows to be faithful to her legal husband.

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A few hours later, the Baratheon King and his brother arrived in Umbar.

"Father! Uncle! You are here!"

"Children! Are you alright? No one was injured? How did you end up as the guests of the ruler here?"

While Robert had no problems with gathering all of his legal children in a bear hug, Stannis gave his two daughters a far more awkward hug but he showed on his face that he was relieved that they were at least alive and unharmed.

"Yes, we are being treated well here, no need to worry about that."

On the other hand, Brienne, Mya and Eric all groaned in displeasure when spotting another person not far behind:

"Oh no," Eric whispered when seeing who it was.

"NOT Lord Alester Florent!" Mya muttered under her breath, both she and Brienne had a history of being insulted by the Lord Florent for their lack of femininity and despite Eric being a great-nephew from his youngest niece Delena, he was generally not spared from any such scorn either.

"Why did he have to come along? Because Lady Selyse is his niece, and Shireen and Rhea are the heiresses to Lord Stannis so far without a son!"

As Gendry did not know who the noble was, he got a little enlightened on the Lord Florent as they went towards the big throne chamber where the banuet would be held.

Of course, even as their children explained some of the details that Robert and Stannis had only heard from Davos Seaworth, it was Holly who chose to say a plain truth:

"King Robert and Lord Stannis of House Baratheon. This whole mystery is proof that your children are marked by an ancient power far beyond what most people would understand. Not to be saints or martyrs for the Seven-that-is-One, but the souls of a family that died a long time ago, and is slowly gathering together around the sole survivor of the event that killed most of them. The surviving sister of that life, who was reborn not long before the very Rebellion that gave your House the royal crown and the Iron Throne!"

Holly could not reveal that it was Rhaenys, the oldest child of her cousin Elia, who indirectly was summoning the current lives of her past-life siblings to help her to free their once shared father from the Dark Lord. But in her disguise as a septa in the Faith, no one would question how she knew it. It was well-known that the servants of various faiths could have visions from their gods, after all.

"Please explain what you know, septa Holly."

Hiding a smile over the irony that it was Rhaenys, the daughter of Rhaegar who had called the Baratheon children to her help, Holly obeyed.

Soon, they met with Suleiman, who had dressed up in a manner of hiding that he actually was six respective four years younger than Robert and Stannis themselves. Still, despite Holly and Morgan needing to act as translators because of the different languages, he proved himself not a beginner at being a host for foreign guests.

"I would not recommend insulting the main dancer who shall lead the entertainment while we enjoy the fine works of the cooks. That person is a master in the art of dancing and playing harp, and to insult the many years of training to become skilled enough to be allowed to perform for royalty...is not enjoyable for anyone who works so hard."

Robert, Stannis, their children and several Westerosi nobles were not the only guests in the great chamber. Many of the generals and army commanders under Suleiman had also gathered here, watching the newcomers with the eyes of hawks with clear intent to protect their Sultan if needed. One of them was actually sitting right next to Suleiman, not as a food taster but as the best man to act quickly if there was someone brazen enough to try an attack.

"Domo! Domo!"

However, now the attention fell upon a group of veiled dancers that had entered, and it was hard to miss the very tall main dancer in nearly see-through clothing of purple silk, only a loin cloth covering the most intimate body parts. It looked like a dress more than a robe, actually, oddly enough, especially when paired with all the gold jewelry, yet from the happy cheers of the men, the dancer was no stranger.

"Oh, it is that harp-playing lady from earlier today!" Lyonel commented when he spotted some long gloves on the arms of the dancer and connected those alongside the height with what he recalled.

"She must be a professional performer that follows the army, given their reaction," Argella agreed, setting down her glass with apple juice on the tray that she had been seated at.

"Alester. Alester Florent, keep your hands off the dancers, our host said! Even my brother is actually controlling himself with such a warning!" Stannis growled in obvious disapproval when his uncle-in-law reached out with his hand.

"So what? In the end, dancers as those are just fancier sex workers!"

And with that comment, Alester grabbed the long of the tall dancer, stopping the dance movement forcefully. But that was not the only thing happening:

The sound of the fabric tearing up as the dancer tried to get free by stepping back, the veil slipped off the head all together….

"HEY! That is MY SPOUSE you are dishonoring in front of everyone!" the man next to Suleiman yelled, rising from his seat in anger over what he saw and grabbing out of habit after a sword at his side that was not there right now.

"Ginghis, should you not already know what will happen next?" Suleiman asked calmly, as if he was looking forward to watching something. And indeed something unexpected happened now.

"But my Lord, it is still my…!"

In movements that were almost too fast to see, Alester Florent suddenly found himself grabbed at the throat, another hand on his tunic, and then the tall dancer threw him over the unexpectedly strong body as if he weighed nothing, slamming Alester back first into the stone floor.

THUD!

If the Lord of Brightwater Keep was stunned by shock and pain over the reaction to him grabbing the dancer, then he was very alarmed at feeling something sharp pointing at his manhood through his trousers, and the pain in his body did not allow him to switch the angle. A figure knelt over him, loose hair hanging freely now.

"Grabbing me like that in front of my own husband... Are you a noble-bred man or a rutting pig?"

It was one of the hairpins crafted in gold and gemstones that the dancer now held to the manhood of Alester Florent, yet without the now ruined dress covering up the body, a clearly male chest was revealed, and the same face from the music performance out in the garden earlier today, much to the shock of the younger guests.

"Domelvo. Castrating the male guests for being rude is a little out of line," Suleiman spoke out, and the dancer raised up to his feet, seeming disgusted over something.

"My apology, Lord Suleiman, but as I am not unfamiliar with how men can grab after dancers, thinking that their movements are an invitation to use the covered bodies for their own pleasure, I felt that a lesson was needed."

As he talked, Domelvo stomped hard down on the manhood of Alester Florent with his shoe heel, not once but several times, making the other male Westerosi shudder in terror over the imagined pain.

"Hmph. What does an uncultured barbarian know about finer art such as dancing?" Ginghis muttered, still upset but a little calm over that his spouse was dealing with the situation just as he would do so many years ago when they first met.

"Oh, right, before I forget."

Taking out two other hairpins that still held up his hair somewhat, Domelvo placed them in front of Robert and Stannis.

"One of my best spies, the formerly male courtesan Domelvo, married to my general Ginghis Khan. They have been in my service for the past fourteen years and I have never found a reason to kick them out. Those hairpins of his are a sign that you can ask for information as well, should it be needed," Suleiman explained with a smile.

"People are naive to think that a eunuch is harmless, just because he is missing his peaches of life, my Lord," Domelvo replied bluntly with his arms crossed, and in near perfect Common Tongue of Westeros. Robert was not the only one to suddenly spit out his drink in shock.

"A eunuch?!" Lyonel and Gendry shared the same shocked thoughts, yet they also had a minor blush both at seeing how well-sharped Domelvo was all over his body from his dance skills. If anything, he was pretty enough to pass himself off as a very tall woman, in the right clothing.

"Ladies, keep dancing, this is not the right time or company for me to perform a striptease," Domelvo told the other dancers, who all were female, with a meaningful glare over his shoulder towards the younger children Bowing for Suleiman and the other high-ranking guests, Ginghis joined Domelvo as he then left the banquet with his back straight and head held up high, as if he was not ashamed of being castrated.

But there was one impression that would last far longer than just for tonight; By looking on Domelvo and seeing how attractive he was for a adult, Lyonel had come to the drawing realization to why he sometimes had difficult to see how many of the noble maidens was said to be fair and promising to become great beauties as they grew up. It was rather hard to ignore handsome young knights when they were around as well.

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Author note; The younger Baratheon children and Brienne are NOT aware that Sansa and Arya were kidnapped by Visenya and dumped into Minas Tirith through magic. They were busy trying to escape from the sand cobras of Khamûl at that time and ending up in Umbar did not give them access to what happened in King's Landing after that they opened the sea portal. Besides, Argella is NOT the babysitter of her future sisters-in-law, she would be busy with her daily duties as the oldest royal princess and spending time with her friends at court, not focusing only on the Starks just because she will marry Robb as her husband

This is how a bow-harp from Uganda looks like uganda/2015/03/20/adungu/

Argella plays a lot of attention to her fellow women as she actually is a lesbian, and simply does not like slender women as Cersei would always nag about losing her pre-pregnancy slim figure and often criticize her two older daughters for showing signs from a early age that they would take after the sturdy figure of Robert. That sort of weight-shaming from her own mother would be affecting Argella as she grew older, especially now when she is almost a teenager

Suleiman was fourteen years old when we first met him in Foreign Lands, so even at his current age of 27 nearing his 28th birthday, he would still be younger than Robert and Stannis

Domelvo stands out among people not only for his tall height and being a eunuch, he tends to get attention drawn to his vitiligo in the face and on his arms as well, which is why he covers himself up outdoors.

Lyonel realizing that he may be bisexual, is a nod towards a possible fan theory that for Robert his friendship with Ned is more than just friendship on his part and thought that Lyanna would be more like her middle brother in personality. Besides, Holly would likely also tell Lyonel that just because same sex relationships are frowned upon in most of Westeros, it does not mean that homosexual and bisexual people does not exist. Also, given how Robert seems to have a charming personality both in his youth and adulthood, I am sure that not only women have fallen for him (Remember how in the GOT book, Ned mentions a young Robert looking like a maiden's fantasy, anyone?)