As the weeks went by, Lyanna found herself falling into a schedule. She would break her fast with Eddard at their solar before training with Oberyn, and after it she would have a bath in her chambers before joining her brother for lunch. The afternoons were the time when Ned had meetings with other lords and princes, and even if he had not told her any details, Lyanna knew that her brother was trying to struck a profitable mercantile deal with King Hoster Tully. She wondered if that was the reason why she had seen him escorting Princess Catelyn Tully to the feast the night before, because she was certain the Tully girl was not the lady he had been having an affair with. And in the afternoons, she would hide away in the library to look for more books, or she'd take Winter for a ride. The dornish prince would join her at times, and she had learnt that he was really invested in acting as ambassador for his kingdom, and held meetings with other lords almost every day. It seemed it was only Rhaegar Targaryen that he avoided. The princess of winter could only imagine what Elia Martell made of that fact.
That afternoon in particular, she found herself alone. Ned was holding a meeting with Jaime Lannister of Caterly Rock, King Tywin's son, which meant that she couldn't go back to their solar, and she was bored at the library. She also had no idea where Maege was. So, she stood from her chair and straightened the skirts of her dress before walking out of the massive room. The princess made her way to the stables, and easily found Winter, who seemed to cheer up as she approached. Dismissing a couple of stable boys who run toward her to saddle her horse, she did it herself, and then mounted Winter. The edge of her skirts moved up and swirled around her ankles as soon as she spurred the horse but, as soon as she felt the wind caressing her skin and her hair flying loose behind her, she forgot about it.
The princess was soon ridding out of the castle grounds and Winter and her seemed to fly as they crossed the forest. She only stopped when she reached the edge of the treelines and fixed her eyes across the clearing, to the lake, where a figure sat next to the water. As she approached him, the wind making her grey dress dance around her figure, she was certain he had felt her walking toward him, and didn't bother with greetings.
The Red Viper was sitting on the grass, a glass of wine in his left hand and a plate full of a fruit that Lyanna had never seen before resting next to him. He didn't raise his gaze to her as the princess of winter sat next to him with ease, but as soon as she was settled on the grass his obsidian eyes shot to meet her grey irises.
"Princess," he grinned. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"
"I was bored," was her answer, and she shrugged, aware of the grin that was still present in his features as she turned her gaze to the lake.
She was dimly aware of something warm and soft stroking lazily against her magic as she rested back on her elbows, the sun sighing brighter than it had just a moment before. Instinctively, she leaned against that presence.
"It's good to see you'd seek me for your entertainment," Oberyn purred. As Lyanna turned to him, raising her eyebrow, he finished his drink, tossing the cup aside to reach for a piece of fruit.
"What's that?" the princess asked.
"This?" Oberyn leaned closer to her, taking a bright red seed from inside the fruit and placing it between his lips. After swallowing, he smiled, "Pomegranates."
Lyanna shook her head, for she had never encountered such a thing in the North and knew not what it was or what it tasted like. He guessed, of course, that her doubt was because she had never seen or eaten the fruit, and offered it to her. She could have throttled him for the grin that seemed to be ever present in his face. But still, knowing that if she refused she'd never hear the end of it, Lyanna reached for the seeds. Some of them broke under her fingers and sticky purple juice tainted her pale skin as she brought them to her lips. They smelled like the end of summer, sweet and heavy, and tasted like it too. She licked her lips, and found Oberyn staring fixedly at her.
The essence that had been leaning against hers seemed to shift, and the air around them turned hotter than it should have been for a spring afternoon. And maybe it was that which sprung the princess into action. And maybe she was too reckless or too stupid or the heat was depriving her from thinking straight but, suddenly, she was moving, leaning forward and closing the distance between them. Oberyn's lips were soft, softer than she had expected, and the feeling was beyond welcomed. The princess told herself that she hadn't intended to kiss him, that she hadn't wanted to do so for the past weeks, that she hadn't spent those last days wondering how his arms would feel around her, and yet she knew she couldn't fool herself. Lyanna was the one to pull away, her eyes opening widely as realization of what she had just done struck her.
As Lyanna made to move away, the prince of Dorne raised his hand to her neck, compelling her to stay where she was as his thumb stroke her cheek. She could have sworn his dark eyes were aflame. "Lyanna…" he purred, and her lips parted barely a moment before he sealed his mouth with hers again.
The prince pressed closer to her, diving into the welcoming heat of her mouth, swallowing the gasp she realised in response as his tongue licked its way into her mouth. He was the one to groan when the princess moved her hand to tangle her fingers in his dark curls, pulling as if she wanted nothing but to prolong the contact of skin with skin. And, as they breathed in each other, something around them shifted. And fire, blue as frost, danced around them, but didn't burn.
"Princess…" He tipped his head back and she groaned in protest, making as if she would follow his lips with her own. "Lyanna, wait." Even as he pushed away, the princess could see the fire burning in the dark pits of his eyes. The sight of it, knowing that he wanted her as she wanted him, made her shiver from head to toe.
"What?" she smiled despite herself. "Are you going to tell me that you are nervous, viper? Never been with a woman before?"
Oberyn groaned, letting out a breath that caressed her lips softly. They were still so close, and every part of his being was telling him to kiss her again. Do you want to start a war? A voice that sounded suspiciously like Doran's whispered in the back of his mind. He ignored it, but didn't kiss her again.
"It's not my experience which concerns me," the prince confessed, moving a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. With a laugh, she leaned into his touch.
"Would you have stopped me if I weren't a princess of the North?" His hand was still on her cheek, and he laughed. Before Oberyn could say anything, though, Lyanna continued, her devilish grin matching his own. "You want this?"
"Of course, princess," Oberyn said, his voice barely a whisper against her lips.
Lyanna's eyes were drawn to his mouth again, before returning to his eyes once more, obsidian meeting freezing grey, and then they moved toward each other in sync, as if they had planned it, as if they were one mind. The princess' hands moved to grip the front of his tunic, pressing him closer, and she didn't complain when Oberyn lowered her onto her back in the grass and was forced to straddle her due to her hands still tagging at his clothes like claws. The red viper pulled away from her lips to breath moments later, though they felt like hours, and dragged his lips down her collarbone and to her neck, making her moan. Lyanna closed her eyes, feeling his wicked smile against the exposed skin of her neck before his canines pressed softly against her flesh. Every kiss he gave her, made her burn in a way she never thought she could.
"Oberyn…" She pulled at his hair, making him face her again, and an almost animalistic groan left his mouth before he claimed hers again, swallowing her moan. When his lungs demanded air, he pushed away, and Lyanna arched her back, painfully pressing against him as she made to follow his lips.
"We should go," he told her, and if looks could kill hers would have strike him dead right there and then. Oberyn pecked her lips, softly, temptingly, giving her more but not enough to ease her need. "Don't worry, she-wolf, I mean to take my time with you."
The journey back to the castle was tortuous and Lyanna had to congratulate herself from not giving in and kissing him again in front of everyone in the courtyard. There was something between them, she knew, and knew that he felt it too, and even as they crossed the courtyard and walked into the castle, and even if they kept apart from each other they still seemed to lean toward the other. The princess wondered as they walked toward her solar if others could feel it too, if they'd look at them and see how much she'd come to want him. If they could see the blue flames that seemed to take over every time they touched.
She was pulling at his clothes again by the time they reached her door, and Oberyn's laugh caressed her skin as he pressed wet kisses down her neck and bit softly at her pulse. Lyanna groped to open the door and stumbled when it opened but Oberyn made sure she didn't fall.
She felt the air turning cold before she noticed the presence behind them. "Lyanna!"
The she-wolf went still and pushed Oberyn away. She felt the urge to slap him when he saw that he was grinning shamelessly. Instead, she turned and faced her brother. "Neddie," she smiled, but the second son of the King in the North was having none of it.
Sitting at the head of the table, his leather jacket resting on the back of the chair, his hair tied back and his fists clenched in front of him, he looked more like Brandon than he ever had. Still, he had a calm about him that scared Lyanna more than her oldest brother's rage ever could.
"Lord Eddard," Oberyn had the nerve of greeting, and he was slightly panting.
Ned's grey eyes rose to meet the viper's black ones, but he didn't move, didn't return the polite greeting. Lyanna carefully slipped out of Oberyn's embrace and the movement caused the prince to focus on her again. There was a shadow of a smile dancing on his lips and the princess leaned against him almost without noticing.
"You should go, my lord." Her stare was hard enough to make Oberyn see that there was no way he could keep on challenging Eddard and get out of it unharmed. So he took her hands in his, feeling her shiver, and pressed chaste kisses against her knuckles.
There was a silent promise in Oberyn's dark eyes that left the princess staring at the door for a moment longer even after he had left. And then she steeled herself to face her brother. Luckily for her, Ned's stare had softened the moment the Red Viper had left. His anger, it seemed, was not toward her. Still, he didn't speak.
And maybe she was just reckless but she walked toward him and said, "What? You can have a secret lover and I can't?"
Lover. The word burned through her. She hadn't thought of Oberyn as her lover until that moment. He was her friend, after all…or maybe something more than that.
"You must be happy to make jokes about it," was his answer. Ned moved his hands to take hers. "You said you weren't with him," he reminded her.
"I'm not. I wasn't. This is the first time that…" She didn't have to finish the sentence. Ned frowned, and Lyanna knew he was thinking hard about the situation and how to approach it, so she offered, "I'm not a maiden anyway, so what does it matter?"
And he didn't look a bit surprised. "Ben told," he confirmed and Lyanna nodded. She wasn't angry at Benjen, she didn't really care that her brothers knew she'd had an affair with centuries before. "But sleeping with a stable boy is not the same as," he pointed at the door as if Oberyn were still there, "sleeping with the Red Viper of Dorne. The man has a reputation."
"I'm aware," Lyanna assured. She'd known about his reputation when they'd met, and she had heard of most of the tales she'd been told before from his own lips during those weeks. He had told her about his battles, about all the poisons he had learnt to use and had even offered to teach her some of them. He had told her about his lovers, about how he'd had to flee Dorne after sleeping with the wife and the mistress of an Yronwood lord and then killing the man, and he had told her about Essos, and about his girls, and she had marvelled at hearing all of those stories, wishing she could live such adventures someday.
Once again, Ned looked as if the vein in his head would explode from the hard thinking, and Lyanna was sure that if she stared deep enough into those grey eyes that were twins to her own she'd be able to see the inner workings of his brain.
"If anyone finds out…"
"You mean if Robert finds out." The princess moved her hands away from his, visibly distraught. "Just because he wants me or whatever it is that he feels for me it does not mean he can have me, brother."
"I know."
"Well, then the matter is settled. I shall do as I please." Before he could say anything else, she added "I hope you will be at my side no matter what I choose."
Ned was on his feet before she could react, his right hand moving to cup her cheek. "Of course, little sister, whatever happens." She made to move but her brother didn't let her. "But I will ask you to be careful."
"Worried about my heart?" she asked but gave him a bright smile. "Always, big brother."
Eddard's eyes moved to hers again, but this time he seemed uncertain, almost scared, and it surprised Lyanna. Still, she waited for him to speak, and when he did colour rose to his cheeks and he seemed coy in a way Lyanna had not seen since they were children.
"She wants to meet you."
Lyanna's face brightened up. "Your lady friend?"
He nodded. "I've talked to father. She made me talk to father." He laughed. "She wants to let everyone know that I am officially courting her, and we decided it'd be best to start with family."
"So you love her." Lyanna was happy for him, of course she was. Ned Stark was the most kind, most loving male she had ever met, and she had started to think there was not going to be anyone worthy of him. She was also glad to know he wanted to know what she thought of his mysterious lover.
"I do." The raw sincerity and tenderness in her brother's words made her smile even wider.
That woman. Oberyn had known he was screwed from the moment he had answered her kisses and had laid her on the grass next to the lake. Because he had known then that he didn't want to stop, that he'd take everything and anything that she would give him and if anyone had a problem with that he'd be glad to remind them why he was called Red Viper.
The prince could only imagine what Eddard Stark would be telling Lyanna. Warnings, surely. But she knew him better than her brother did, had been able to see through him almost from the beginning. She rattled him, made him shake and break in every way, and for the first time in his long life he found himself wishing for more of her.
For everything.
He wanted to take her away, to show her all those parts of the world that she longed to visit, to see her beautiful face light up in wonder and her grey eyes burn with wanting. But most of all he wanted to show her Dorne, so she could understand who he was and what he was made of, and he found that he wanted to see her North also.
If Lyanna said no, though, if she told him that the only thing she wished for was a fleeting affair for as long as their stay at Harrenhal lasted, he would accept it and show her that he did live up to his reputation. But that would pain him too. And it wasn't something the prince was used too. Women came and went for him, and he had been with both immortals and mortals alike, sometimes for long periods of time and other times for merely days or weeks. But this princess, this she-wolf of the North, was different even if Oberyn couldn't figure out why or how. For now, the prince couldn't wait to have her again between his arms, wanting to show her just how much he wanted her.
The princess hadn't known what to expect when Ned told her his friend would join them for dinner. She'd been glad her brother hadn't wanted to talk about Oberyn again, as she could still feel her skin burn were he had touched her. She carefully put those thoughts away as she braided her hair, arranging it on the top of her head, coiled around a small silver diadem. She was wearing a heavy grey gown with sleeves of myrish lace that covered her arms to her elbows.
Dinner was ready on the table at their solar and Eddard sat at the head of it as if he had been told he was going to die. "Cheer up, big brother. There's no need to worry."
"Your opinion is really important to me," was his answer.
"As yours is to me." Lyanna smiled, genuinely amused by the look on his face. She couldn't remember the last time her brother had looked so young and so scared. "Stop worrying." She wondered if that meant he was really in love. She wondered if she'd feel the same way one day.
There was a knock on the door and faster than Lyanna could process, Eddard was on his feet and walking across the room to open the door. For half a heartbeat, Lyanna didn't know what to expect, and then her brother opened the door. And there she was, as beautiful as the day Lyanna had met her weeks before, standing on her tiptoes to tenderly kiss Ned's cheek and holding onto his arm with care.
When the second son of Rickard Stark moved aside to let her in, Ashara Dayne smiled brightly at Lyanna, who had suddenly forgotten how to speak.
"Princess," Ashara made a little reverence and Lyanna couldn't hold back a grin.
"I think I told you not to do that, my lady."
Ashara's violet eyes were fixed in her grey ones as she answered, "You did, indeed."
"You knew each other already." Not a question. He led Ashara to her chair and then sat at the head of the table again, with Lyanna at his right and the dornish lady in front of her.
"Yes, we have met," Lyanna nodded, earning a curious look from her brother. "And she came to my rescue once while I was lost in this massive castle."
That made the lady Dayne laugh cheerfully, and Lyanna knew there couldn't be a more beautiful woman in the whole world. Her brother looked at her as if she were the only star in his sky.
"Well I couldn't let you wander around these dark corridors and halls." She grinned with complicity. "Maybe we would have never found you, and people would have told stories of the Ghost Princess of Harrenhal for eons to come."
Ned poured wine in both their cups as he stared at them, the most important women in his life, for which he'd go to war and more, for which he would destroy empires and himself if he had to. He allowed himself to smile at the friendship already breeding between them.
And then Lyanna asked how they'd met and he had to do his best not to roll his eyes. Ashara answered with ease, her hand moving to rest on his for a moment and making him forget about the food. His sister had no such troubles, and listened to Ashara as she ate, visibly interested. Good, Ned thought, for he hadn't known what he would have done if Lyanna hadn't supported him, if she hadn't seen in Ashara the light that he did. Focusing on his dinner, he listened to them talk with a smile on his lips.
When the dinner was done, the Stark Princess bid farewell to the dornish lady and pretended not to notice as Ned bent to peck her lips in a chaste kiss. Still, as she stared at them her mind wandered back to the dornish prince whose lips she'd been more than happy to claim barely hours before. The prince who had seen the power she carried in her bones, the ache in her heart and the wanderlust that swam in the depths of her eyes. The one who had seen her for all that she was and all that she was not.
He offered her the power to make her own decisions, gave her freedom in a world made of rules and restrictions and chains, and Lyanna wanted that. But above anything else, she wanted him.
So she retired to her chambers for the night but didn't change into her nightgown, listening carefully and making sure Ned was already tucked in his own chamber and sleeping before slipping away from the solar.
The corridors were dark and quiet, lit only by the dim light of the torches, and Lyanna felt as if her careful steps would wake a giant as she walked down the stairs and towards were she knew his chambers were. And for half a heartbeat, she thought she might be caught by a guard, perhaps, or surprised by a drunken courtier making his way back to his room. But she wasn't and soon found himself standing in front of Oberyn's door.
She knocked.
Her heart played an uneven staccato against her chest and she discovered that it was suddenly hard to breath. Ridiculous, she thought, and yet a fear lingered. That he might turn her away, that he might not want her anymore, that he…
Oberyn opened the door, and the princess had to blink twice.
He was wearing nothing but a pair of breeches, and his built was as good as she had imagined, his torso covered in scars from long won battles and defeated foes. His dark gaze stared into her grey irises almost with disbelieve, as if he couldn't believe in his eyes. And then he stepped aside, allowing her to walk in, their bodies brushing together as she walked between him and the opened door.
"Lyanna…" he started after closing the door and turning to look at her and the princess rolled her eyes at him.
"Shut up for once in your life, will you?" And just like that, she closed the distance that separated them, put her hands on his bare shoulders and kissed him.
He answered instantly, and even though she'd had the upper hand on the kiss, she soon handed control over to the viper, her whole body vibrating with energy at his touch. It lasted less than she'd have wanted.
As their eyes met again, the prince focused on undoing her braid, and soon her dark locks were falling freely down her back, the silver diadem that she'd been wearing made a loud clack when it hit the surface of the desk where Oberyn threw it.
"I love you hair," he confessed before kissing her again, and she knew she was too drunk on him by now to go back. Knew that she didn't want too even if she could have.
Lyanna was barely able to purr as an answer as his lips traced the soft skin of her neck, kissing it with the softness of a feather and biting down on the vein there as if he were trying to mark her.
"Undo the laces of my dress," she half asked, half commanded.
Oberyn's laugh was low and dark, and his eyes filled with a desire that could have made her come undone then and there. And then he turned her around, one of his hands resting on the lower side of her belly and pressing her back toward him, and the other focused on moving her hair so it'd fall down her left shoulder.
"As my lady commands," he grinned against her skin, his breath caressing her ear, and then proceeded to undo the laces of the dress, just like she had asked.
Lyanna closed her eyes as the laces came undone , as his fingers traced every inch of skin that got exposed, as he stopped for a moment to let his hands rest on her belly, the feeling causing her skin to burn, and his thumbs caressed her breasts ever so slightly, teasing her. And he was taking oh so long that she decided to finish the job for him.
Pulling at the edge of her sleeves she freed her chest from the fabric, letting only the skirts of her dress to cover her body. And then she turned around to face the prince.
There was actual hunger now in Oberyn's eyes and his smile was almost feral in a way that made Lyanna wonder if he wanted to devour her. She knew without doubt that she would happily let him.
He muttered something in a language that she did not know but assumed would be old rhoynish before kissing her again, slowly this time, more softly, and then preceded to shower her with kisses. As the prince bit down on the skin of her neck again, his hands traced up the skin of her belly until they reached her breasts. She moaned in his mouth when his fingers traced them too, as if he wanted to learn the shape of her body.
When they pulled away, he grinned again, and soon his lips and his tongue took the place of his hands, and Lyanna bit down hard on her lip not to moan out loud. A moment later, he was kissing down her belly, her fingers encouraging his movements and tangling on his dark curls, and soon she had the Red Viper of Dorne kneeling before her.
Others might have thought that a great accomplishment. The only thing she did was pull at the fabric that was still on her hips to encourage him to keep going.
And he did.
Pulling down the heavy dress until it was a pile around her ankles, Oberyn lost no time to keep on cherishing her. At first it was a kiss on her calf. Then the inner side of her thighs. Higher.
It was the tip of his tongue at first that he brushed against her, and he groaned, visibly please with finding her ready for him. And then he kissed her there too. Again. And again. Until Lyanna couldn't care about howling so loud she could have woken up everyone in the castle.
And when he stood again, as her legs threatened to give in, and he encircled her waist to kiss her fiercely and pull her toward him with the taste of her still in his lips, Lyanna reached for the hem of his breeches, pulling almost violently against the laces, ready to rip the piece of cloth apart if needed be. But she didn't have to, because it loosened easily, and soon she had him in her hand and it was his time to moan.
She wouldn't have been able to tell who gave the first step, but then both of them were moving, walking toward the bed as best they could between kisses, and touches, and moans.
Oberyn laid her on the bed and hovered over her, pressing against her inner thigh, the feeling of him almost painful when they were so close and yet not close enough. And so the princess turned them around, making him lay under her and straddling him.
"Lyanna," he whispered, and it sounded like a plea, though she wasn't sure she knew what he wanted of her. She wasn't sure he knew either.
Lyanna took him in her hand again and guided her to her entrance, a cry of pleasure leaving her as he moved against her, encouraging her movements. And she felt it again as she had that morning as he'd laid her on the grass, that feeling of their powers, their very essences, twisting and turning around them, joining and melting into one another.
The prince reached between their bodies to touch her, begging her, saying her name again and again until she forgot that there was a world out of that room and more people in it, because she could see and feel and want nothing more than this.
She fell to the side, panting, after becoming undone and biting down his shoulder so hard to make blood, and after he roared into her mouth as he found his release.
It took her a moment to notice that the canopy cover was on fire.
Her eyes found Oberyn and he laughed, loud and clear and uncaring of the blue flames around them. At the urgency in her gaze, though, he lazily moved his hand to extinguish the flames, though the damage was already done, not that he seemed to care.
"You must be used to this, right?" she laughed too, gesturing toward the ruined canopy.
Moving to the side and resting on his elbow to look at her, Oberyn made a face. "No," he said, "this is new." He moved his other hand to put a lock of dark hair behind her ear, and somehow she knew that he wasn't talking about the flames.
With a smile spreading through her face without her being able to stop it and he whole body still vibrating with energy, Lyanna Stark leaned forward to kiss the Red Viper of Dorne once more.