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Suns and Stars Both Light the Way
Chapter 9
Elia's gift caused a good deal of raised eyebrows and whispers among the Queen's ladies. Mina herself looked surprised but when, later, she clenched here throat and lips with the utmost effort and Elia pushed at her some lemon slices, cold and bitter, the first thing she asked after the nausea passed, was, "Could you send me another chest of these?"
"As it happens, I can," Elia replied and the chamber full of women who had all suffered while carrying their children started whispering. The Queen gave Elia a considering look.
"I wish I had known about these when I was carrying Ormund," she said. "We have lemons in the Reach, of course, but only the most southern parts – and we don't always manage to keep them well protected in winter. I've never heard that they could be used to lessen nausea when expecting."
Elia reached for her own plate and the Queen's ladies watched with horror and fascination how she took a slice without sweetening it with even a drop of honey. "I took a pot with a lemon tree with me at Dragonstone," she said. "It died before it could ever produce any fruit."
The women grew quiet at this casual mentioning of her time as the then Crown Prince's wife. Mina looked at her thoughtfully once again and Lady Olenna huffed without bothering to hide her distaste. Elia was expected to grovel at everyone's feet there and hope that they had forgotten about her unfortunate first marriage and she wasn't playing according to the script. That's what can be expected in a court where women have no open power, she thought. She was actually better received by the King and his men… although she could not find any fault with Mina.
"But you managed to give birth to such a lovely little girl," the Queen said pleasantly. "I've never seen such deep black eyes and long eyelashes."
Elia bristled, not sure where the blow would come from. Lady Olenna huffed. "Do you have to waste our time with praises of a girl of twelve?"
The Queen of Thorns indeed! Elia would have been mortified if her own mother had treated her like this in public but Mina only smiled. "You're always welcome to find some more interesting things to do, Lady Mother. I wouldn't want to keep you against your will. In fact, I'd love to keep my conversation with Lady Dayne on motherly themes going, so you can all feel free to go."
The dismissal was clear and Olenna was the last who obeyed, with a last glare. Elia wondered what was going on.
Mina spread a little honey onto a slice of lemon and bit at it. "Delicious," she said and looked up at Elia. "You should come at court more often, Lady Dayne," she said. "It's a pleasure for us to receive you."
"Perhaps we will," Elia said. "But you know how it is with small children."
Mina grimaced. "I am not fond of processions with Ormund insude my wheelhouse, so yes, I understand. Is this the reason you left your two youngest ones home?"
Why this interest all of a sudden? "At seven, they're too young to appreciate the court," she said neutrally.
"But Rhaenys seems to have taken to it like a fish to water." Mina sipped from her wine. "The more I see of her, the more hopeful I am that she'll make a good queen if you so choose."
Elia's hand froze on her goblet and she relaxed it only with the utmost effort. "How so?"
"By wedding Ormund when they both come of age, of course," Mina said easily. "That's something that the King and I have discussed extensively."
And Lord Arryn? Elia wondered. The Hand of the King seemed to have retained Robert's affection but there was little doubt as to who commanded the court. Robert Baratheon was in love with all pretty women, his own queen included, but she had managed to affirm some influence that differentiated her from his flames – more influence than Elia had realized, it seemed.
"How?" Elia asked. "What kind of prince marries a bastard?"
"The one who wants to rule over a united realm," Mina replied without missing a beat. "The King was more inclined towards Sansa Stark but Lord Stannis and I have a better look at the danger of new estrangement between the Reach, the stormslands, and Dorne."
Mina Tyrell and Stannis Baratheon reaching an agreement! Elia picked her jaw from the floor but could not stop staring at the tiny woman in amazement. And then, her mind started working. Of course! There had been certain overtures from the Reach that could end up with Garlan Tyrell being chosen as a husband for her niece Arianne. She could well imagine that neither the Queen nor the Master of Ships were pleased with Jon Arryn's influence; they did not need to contend with Eddard Stark as well which would inevitably happen if his daughter became the Crown Prince's betrothed. And with the rumours that in Essos, Rhaegar had not yet given up the hope to return and claim back the throne in his still imprisoned father's name, there was a certain cold logic in using Rhaenys against him. Fighting against Robert would mean taking his daughter down as well. Elia had little doubts that he would do it without thinking twice, just like he had made their daughter a bastard and then used her to force Dorne to fight for him and Lyanna Stark. Of course, Robert Baratheon – or rather, Mina and Stannis – knew it well. But it would make Robert look better in binding the wounds and Rhaegar even worse in showing that he was ready to truly destroy his daughter in the name of his ambition.
"I know you want this rapport as well," the Queen went on smoothly. "Else, you would not have betrothed Lady Allyria to the young Dondarrion. A peace that had long been meant to take place. Let's hope that this girl has a better fate than the other Dondarrion bride, Lady Aurelia. The Sad Lady, she was called, I believe?"
Only the strength of Elia's will helped her not to clench her fists. Mina had no way to know. No way. To the world, Allyria was Lady Amira's daughter. Nothing could prove otherwise and rumours were not proofs. Surely neither the Iron Throne nor Storm's End would try to end her betrothal?
Fear, hope, and helplessness fought a vicious battle within her. She did not want to leave Rhaenys here, as the Queen would undoubtedly want, did not wish to turn her into a symbol against a man who did not care enough for her. But could she really refuse without raising suspicions that she still sought an accord with Rhaegar? Could she endanger Dorne's standing? Allyria's match?
"I need to discuss it with my husband," she managed to say calmly enough, although she knew what Edric would say. There was only one reasonable thing they could do in this situation. The memories of her own betrothal to Rhaenys' father, when she had been weeping for Edric and her babe and wishing for nothing and no one, a throne and the man who went along with it least of all, rose, as bitter as the thought of Rhaenys' match. As bitter as a slice or unsweetened lemon, and not nearly this refreshing.
A few years later…
Elia loved busy cities. Busy children, not so much. Especially when they were her own. And restless. "Mother, please."
"No, Aegon," she replied wearily. "The three of you don't get to wander down the streets on your own – and don't tell me that you'll have guards. Was it in Lys when you managed to slip away from them?"
Her son looked down and at least had the decency to look ashamed. Just look, though. And not for long, at this. "We'll be as good as gold!" he promised and Dyanna and Ulrick started nodding along. They probably even believed it, Elia thought as she stared at them. Alas, she knew them only too well. A look at the two Baratheon guards walking behind them let her know that no one was willing to put any faith in her offspring's good intentions. Even the maidservant who accompanied them with a basket looked away – and one of the men looked at her as if he actually hoped that the woman would gladly take what was a squadron of men's task.
Around them, busy crowds passed and pushed them from all sides. Life in Pentos made little accommodations for a Westerosi lady with a gaggle of children and unwilling guards. The white square building of the covered market glistened before her, the stalls peeking through the open doors, reminded her of the markets in Sunspear and strangely, Baelor's Sept. She wanted to buy some newly developed spices and also, she had heard of a shop that sold Myrish silks better than the ones sold in Myr itself. But more than anything, she wanted to walk among people. During the months of their travel, she had come to realize that one could feel much of the spirit of a city by walking its markets.
"I'm sure Edric would have let us have a walk on our own," Aegon muttered.
"Why don't you ask him when we meet him?" Elia asked.
That shut her son right up for a while.
Before they could truly rebel, she entrusted them to the guards. "Be careful, though," she warned. "Aegon, don't you leave them out of your sight. If any of the three of you gets involved in a trouble, you'll be the one I hold responsible."
"Not fair!" Aegon said indignantly.
Elia was not moved. "Then, you can all stay with me."
She could see how his twelve-year-old mind worked, saw the moment he decided that unwanted responsibility was still better than trailing along his mother. "I'll look after them," he said sullenly and even stopped the seven-year-old twins from bolting down the street as soon as they heard his assent.
Elia and the maidservant headed for the market. Elia did not need to look back to know that one of the Baratheon guards was following her while the other had gone with Aegon. It was strange how accustomed she had become to so many things. If she found herself not being trailed out of any confines, she felt as something was amiss.
The early morning still left some pale trace of freshness clinging to the dry hotness of the day. Elia wondered why the air here was so different from the air at Starfall and Sunspear, or even the other Essosi ports. A sea city was a sea city was a sea city, right? But this one was too dry. It was not unpleasant but it was different.
The white building awaited her, full of smells and colours. Elia loved the Essosi cities and the fact that no one knew or cared about Westeros. No one cared about her. No one even knew who she was. Here, she could indulge in haggling over the price of a wool that was certainly dyed with plum and would fade as soon as it was washed, choose some irregularly shaped silver bracelets and anklets, buy a hot cake full of cheese and spices and start eating it as it still steamed… From time to time, her thought flew to the three troublemakers that she had let on the loose and she comforted herself with the thought that it was the guards holding the purse.
She enjoyed this journey that Edric had promised her when it looked that the spring winds would never end. She had traveled too little just for pleasure and rarely, out of Dorne. She wished she could have taken Rhaenys with them but her daughter lived at King's Landing now and was rarely allowed even to Starfall. Elia compensated by buying things for her obsessively – Edric jested that the ship would need another hold to contain the presents and he was not far off the mark. Even today, most of the things that she had chosen were for Rhaenys, although she was careful not to miss the purchases to be added to Allyria's dowry. But with Allyria, she was in constant need to measure every gesture of affection, not look too concerned. She had no such troubles with Rhaenys.
When she left the covered market, she looked at the sky and was surprised to see how high the sky had come. She had arranged to meet Edric here at noon and she had ordered the guards to bring the children on time as well. But she still had an hour or two and she sat on the pedestal of the first statue she saw to eat her cake. A small kitten came forward and sat at her feet; sighing, she gave it half of her breakfast and thought about Rhaenys and her love for cats.
The maidservant gasped and Elia looked up. The shock jolted her and propelled her on her feet as she found herself face to face with Rhaegar Targaryen.
Good manners were so deeply seated within her that she almost said, Good morning. She almost said, Good Morning! She did not know how she stopped herself. He stared back, just as shocked.
"What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Elia shot back. The guard stepped forward and she glanced at him." This is Rhaegar Targaryen," she said curtly before looking back at the man in question. "Look, you're placing both me and this good man here in an awkward situation, so I'm leaving."
She tried to make good at her word but Rhaegar's hand shot out and grabbed her. Unfortunately, he was just as strong as she remembered. "Let me go," she snapped.
"Let her go," the burly guard said and Rhaegar did – out of surprise more than anything else.
"So you have his guards taking care of you now?" he asked, stunned.
"I have his guards following me everywhere, just in case I try to do something stupid, like conspire against the Iron Throne or something," Elia snapped. "But yes, it looks like… they're taking care of me as well," she finished, taken aback.
"I thought I saw a Baratheon livery earlier this day," Rhaegar said; annoyed, Elia thought that he could have at least changed, grown fat or at least bald! Instead, he looked like a Pentoshi magister, rich robes and all. At least he looked as bewildered as her and did not make much more sense than her. "I asked you what you were doing here!" he said again, his tone sharper.
"Why, I'm having a leisure trip with my husband and famiy," Elia said coldly, gaining back her footing. "What about you? Begging your bread from the magisters?"
Alas, he did not retaliate. He did not even looked like he had noticed her barb. "I saw a Baratheon livery a while back," he said slowly. "And a silver-haired boy playing tag with two other children…"
He looked so moved that her hand itched to slap him. "Yes," she said curtly. "This was Aegon, I suppose."
He looked like she had slapped him. "And you… you let him romp about in the streets of Pentos just like this, as if he's the son of a common tradesman?"
The guard took his meaning before Elia did; he spat on the ground before Elia could find her voice again. "You pushed him lower than the son of a common tradesman! You'd better not forget this, Rhaegar!"
Something flickered across his face and disappeared before she could realize what it was. Not that she cared.
"I haven't forgotten," he said, very softly. "It was a mistake, Elia."
All of a sudden, her fury mounted. How dared he bother her with his mistakes or whatever? When she had told him that she had a man spying on every word they exchanged right here? That Rhaegar did not care what his supposed confessions would bring her, she could understand. But this could cost their son his very freedom.
Then again, Rhaegar would have gladly left this same son in his mad father's hands while lying to the world that Aegon was still his heir to win the throne for Lyanna Stark's offspring – with Dorne's help!
"I'm not interested in discussing this further," she said icily. "Go back to the hole you crawled out of and leave me and my children alone. I'll…"
Their eyes locked in an angry battle. Elia was ready to yield because what did her pride matter when her children's future was in the line when Dyanna bumped into her mid-run, almost knocking her down.
"Mother! Lady Mother, come quickly!"
Rhaegar's jaw dropped. Elia noticed it passingly because her attention was focused on her daughter entirely. "What? Who?"
"Aegon!" the girl cried out, already running back.
Elia followed, cursing herself for letting motherly indulgence overcome her sound judgment. The maidservant and the guard, all used to Aegon's antics, did not waste time with questions either.
After a brief hesitation, Rhaegar followed and she did not have the time to tell him off right now.
