The royal wedding between Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister was promising to be the most lavish event since the tourney of Harrenhall. Easily as large given that the coffers of the former Targaryen dynasty were being opened, as well as the seemingly endless wealth of Casterly Rock. The number of lords and ladies in attendance dwarfed even that grand event. With the great council concluding only a month or so beforehand, most of the lords in attendance of that event, to say most of the lords of Westeros, were to attend the coronation and wedding of the next king of the realm. Even those houses that had fiercely defended the displaced Targaryens, houses from the Reach and Dorne especially, had made points of confirming their attendance.
Of course, Elia knew that Dorne was staying because she was. Lord Kurt and the rest of the Westerlands were planning to stay in order to watch one of their own become queen. The princess of Dorne, for she was still that even if she was no longer princess of the realm, could only imagine the smug satisfaction that must be flowing through Tywin as the servants of the Red Keep bustled around catering to Cersei's whims.
Taking a deep breath, Elia calmed herself. It would do her no good to be aggravated by a woman like Cersei Lannister, who would be more than happy to revel in her irritation, thinking it bitterness over how she had supposedly usurped Rhaegar's widow in becoming queen. Of course, Elia could scarcely care less over the Lannister woman's ideas of superiority. She was only impatient because the longer it took for this wedding to take place, the longer it would be before she, Rhaella and the rest of House Terra would return to the Plataea and she and her children would be delivered back to Dorne. Lord Kurt had been more than happy to discuss the logistics of their release and relocation with her and Rhaella, only mentioning delays in regards to this royal wedding, and her eventual return to attend Rhaella's own wedding to the spartan lord.
Of course, the event would be postponed until later in the new year, given Rhaella's condition and the travel needs of many lords across the realm. Most everyone would be returning home after the royal wedding, and Lord Kurt had no desire to appear competitive by having his own nuptials so close to those of the new royal dynasty.
From what Elia knew, Rhaella felt the same, and Elia was glad that at the very least this husband of politics was proving more amenable to Rhaella's wishes than her last one. She had no illusions that they would likely ever love one another, but she hoped that at the very least Rhaella would be able to live a life of satisfaction with Viserys and the child she was now carrying.
Elia took a deep breath, putting the finishing touches on her dress alongside the ladies that Doran and Oberyn had ordered to attend to her. They were not the only ones present though. One of alpha-company, Lord Ambrose's spartans, stood against the wall. Officially it was for her protection, unofficially, Hazel was present to ensure that nothing devious was occurring now that she was close to her family.
Elia was glad at least that Lord Kurt had seen sense and limited her protectors to female spartans. Ser Robert and Shane might have been familiar faces comparatively, but it would be highly inappropriate to have a man standing in the room, watching her bathe and dress.
Hazel was the latest of the spartans assigned to her, and this was so far her fourth day attending to Elia. The princess found Hazel to be interesting. Unlike so many of her 'siblings' Hazel seemed incredibly interested in Westeros, specifically focused on the history of war. Elia might have considered it expected, even typical that the female warrior would be interested in the manners by which wars were waged in Westeros, but Hazel had proved more than just curious where her fellows were stoic. Hazel was personable. Human in a way similar to Lord Kurt. She didn't think she would miss anything like the man's almost condescending patience, but compared to the silent duty of the spartans who had so far been assigned to her, Hazel's calm conversation on warfare was exhilarating.
Today, she walked with her companion to the gardens, where she would be having lunch with her brothers and Rhaella. The former queen would have her own guard with her, but Lady Jane was attached enough to Rhaella to give her at least some privacy.
The gardens of the Red Keep had once been her favourite place in the entire castle, as it was one of the few places that Aerys never visited and was therefore freer of his suffocating influence. Walking amongst the well-trimmed hedges and flowerbeds filled with beautiful blooms, Elia found her brothers and former good-mother sitting already within a gazebo near the wall's edge. On one side, the sea stretched out for miles around, and the gardens were clearly visible on the other. This exposure, paradoxically, made it one of the safest places in the Red Keep for a private conversation, as no one could get close enough to spy without being seen or heard.
As soon as Oberyn caught sight of her, garbed in a splendid gown provided by Lord Ambrose, he jumped to his feet to embrace her. Only a week since the duel that had resulted in two of his teeth being knocked out and her brother had made no mention of the new gaps in his smile. On the first day she had seen him following the duel, she had made mention of Lord Kurt's offer to have the teeth replaced, but Oberyn had been expectedly stubborn. He had refused, of course, but been quite vehement in his distaste of the lord's offer. Elia had more than once tried to get her brother to reconsider over the last few days, but Oberyn had refused to budge in his dismissal.
She put that topic out of her mind however as Hazel helped seat her and then stepped back, coming to stop beside Jane as the two swapped looks.
Elia herself swapped a look with Rhaella before she turned back to her brothers.
"Doran." She started. "As much as I do love speaking with you my brother, please, why are we here?"
"Can I not wish simply to speak with my sister? Especially after the great upheaval that has occurred over this last week?" Her brother returned, his face morphing into a simple, kind smile.
"I wanted only to speak with you again Elia. I have spoken with Lord Ambrose and he has been most accommodating in regards to your return."
Elia's heart jumped, excitement building in her blood.
"That is wonderful Doran. I hope that you and Lord Kurt have come to a satisfactory agreement."
"Indeed, we have Elia. Lord Kurt has agreed to ferry your children, Ashara, and her son to Starfall where we will meet them after this travesty of a wedding."
Elia's head snapped around to make sure there was no one listening, but all around her, she found only her two spartan guards, who made no move to show they had even acknowledged the words of one of the princes of Dorne.
"Doran." Elia hissed. "Do not say such things. Are you trying to make enemies?"
"Make enemies?" Doran asked, leaning forwards in his chair. "What more enemies could I make Elia? Already the other kingdoms have abandoned us, if they were ever with us in the first place. In a situation of true irony, the Reach is out closest ally in Westeros, and even they will inevitably abandon us when the time comes to seek favour and good will with this new dynasty. The Tyrells are opportunists to their core."
"Still Doran." Elia said. "I would have no hint that Dorne would take action against the Baratheons for Rhaenys and Aegon."
"And you will not." Oberyn said through gritted teeth.
"Lord Kurt has made clear, transparently clear, the consequences for disobedience." Doran said, rage tinting his normally level voice.
"And though I would like nothing more than to spit upon the man for making such threats against my family." Doran seemed to stare right past her and Rhaella, glaring at the two spartans who no doubt would report his words back to their lord.
"I will endeavour to promote peace amongst the Dornish lords who will no doubt be displeased by our own lack of action."
Elia felt herself tense, and action she could tell was mirrored by Rhaella by the woman's grip on her own hand tightening. Elia had always known that the other nobles of Dorne would be less than happy with her family's descent from the throne, and after all the indignity that her people and her especially had suffered under the rule of Aerys, to have the rule of the next monarch begin with her family being removed from power, well Dorne had reacted worse to lesser slights.
Particularly, the lords of the Red Mountains and the Marches would be restless as a stormlord, their sworn enemies since the dawn age, had risen to the throne.
"If assistance is required to ensure a smooth transition, our captain would be amenable to providing the necessary forces to bring stability."
Elia didn't know whether Jane was being sincere or patronizing, but Oberyn's tensing arm told her that whatever the woman's intentions, they were not appreciated.
"We can deal with a few rebellious marcher lords." Oberyn spat at the woman. "The last thing we need is more of Tywin Lannister's spartan dogs running around Dorne, especially after you failed to rein in Rhaegar when he absconded away from his duties and his lawful wife."
Elia squeezed down on Rhaella's hand as Oberyn hissed. Irregardless of his offences against her, she knew it was painful for Rhaella to hear of Rhaegar following his death.
"Oberyn." Elia snarled, showing some of the fire that her people were known for, and she was famously mean to be bereft of. "Rhaegar harmed me, but I would not have you speak ill of a child in front of his mother."
Jane, it seemed, agreed with her as she also stepped forwards, placing a hand on Rhaella's shoulder and glaring coldly at Oberyn. The prince, despite his rage, could not seem to match the iron stare of a spartan for long and broke eye contact with the woman before levelling an apologetic look at her and Rhaella both.
"Apologies my lady. I spoke out of turn on this." He said, lowering his head.
Rhaella seemed to wipe her eyes of unshed tears.
"Rhaegar made mistakes Prince Oberyn." She said. "I would make sure that my grandchildren are given the chance to live long and joyous lives, whether they sit on a throne or not, and that requires that Dorne acts well in this trying time of unexpected transitions."
Elia rubbed her thumb over the back of her good-mother's hand, trying to soothe her even as the woman pushed down her own sorrow. The conversation soon turned to other subjects however. Her own accommodations and those for her children were sorted with little difficulty, as both Doran and Oberyn were more than happy to have her stay at Sunspear or the water gardens.
It was her eventual wish to return to the Plataea that brought up objections. Rhaella's wedding day had not yet been set, but both she and Rhaella knew it would not be for a while yet, given how the former queen was barely showing more than the smallest bump in her stomach. Neither mentioned the impending child though, better to have as few people as possible know for the moment, with the dethroning of the Targaryens so fresh.
"Arthur will be returning to Starfall, and uncle Lewyn will return with us to Sunspear alongside the rest of the Targaryen kingsguard, unless Lady Rhaella has any objections."
This was perhaps the piece of conversation that Elia was most dreading. The kingsguard who had been defeated at the trial by seven were not deterred in their ambitions, she was sure of this. The looks that the sworn knights gave her as she had moved about the keep were a mix of hope and disappointment. Ser Barristan had been perhaps the most understanding of her plight, and held for her no judgment over sale her throne to save her children.
Of course, none of the other knights had made their disappointment known, after all, to refuse or condemn her action would be all but admitting they would prefer the death of her son to his abdication. None of them wanted this of course, but what they did want, whether or not they admitted it to others or themselves, was the chance to fight for Aegon, and by extension, Rhaegar. Ser Oswell, Ser Gerold, and Arthur had all been avid supporters of her late husband, even over his own father, and now the chance to seat him or his son on the throne over the little missed Mad King had been lost.
Arthur's return to Dorne, as well as the residence of the other five members who would with little doubt be joining them, was something Elia was both thankful for and not so secretly dreading. Of course, additional protection for her children was always welcome, and having the remaining knights of Aerys' kingsguard protecting Aegon took some fear out of her heart. At the same time, she knew that at least Arthur had not fully abandoned plans to place Aegon on the Iron Throne as some form of posthumous tribute to Rhaegar.
If such a thing ever occurred, she knew that none of them would be safe. With few exceptions, Dorne had managed since the Dawn age to fend off foreign invaders. Even the greatest dragon kings of the Targaryens had failed to subjugate her country.
But subjugation would not be the goal should her people rise for Aegon. Lord Terra had made it clear to her that simply eliminating her children would end any future plans for Dorne to gain power in Westeros. Dorne had long since relied more in defensive battle, holding its borders but rarely trying to extend beyond them. For all their rightful pride in their land's natural defences, those same obstacles had prevented her homeland from raising an army that could challenge any of the other kingdoms in open battle. Dorne could muster fewer men than most of the other kingdoms, and the tactics that had long served her people in defense would be largely unhelpful in actively invading and conquering other lands.
Without the claims of Aegon and Rhaenys, Dorne would find no allies, as few in the realm cared for her people. Without her children to draw their loyalty, how quickly would the Reach turn against their ancient enemies, in favour of the more familiar Stormlanders who had for centuries shared their perceived cruelties at the hands of Dornish marcher lords?
No, Elia knew that the time for fighting and war was over. It would not come again for years, likely not for generations. Enough time would need to pass for the old hatreds and threats to die out, then perhaps could her children's descendants attempt to take the throne. After all, her people had long memories, and as such they remembered much that the other kingdoms might forget. Let them rest easy for now, Dorne would persist, bowed for the moments, bent for a time, but never broken.
Shiera felt her arms shaking as she pushed her body up off of the ground. Training had been gruelling, something that over the last year and a half she was used to. Beside her Meria gasped in relief as she finished her set of push ups. Shiera herself had only three left to do before she could rest her burning arms. In a display of effort, she pushed herself through the last of her exercise, panting in exhaustion as she moved to sit and shake the soreness from her arms.
Around her, she watched the rest of her generation finish up their own sets. She could see Moyra sitting cross-legged, looking as tired as she felt, before she flopped down onto the grass. Shiera might have been surprised at how much the once skinny girl from the North had grown over the near two years since their training had begun, if it were not for her own growth. Gamma-company had promised that whatever growth they experienced now, would be nothing compared to the final phase of their training, to say nothing of the augmentations, but Shiera had seen what her fellow spartans looked like compared to other children their age. Delta-company measured nearly half a foot taller than the average child their age, and even their shortest were larger than most other kids. Their studies had given her insight into their growth. While spartans were expected to be peerless warriors, it had also become known to them that they would need a good education to understand what was happening to them. Most of the work was done by Boundless Autumn, who managed their lessons and kept them on an advanced track that consistently had her head spinning in the early days.
Learning the true ways of the world was incredible. To know the mechanisms of the day and night, to know how the thunder and lightning worked and to have explained to her the mechanics of flight, both terrestrial and interstellar, had left her feeling lost. If it were not for the fact that Autumn had often showed them the results of her teachings, Shiera was not sure she would have believed her, but the translucent woman clothed in the swirling colours of the season she was named for had made good on every one of her explanations and fulfilled many a demand for proof.
"Cadet-001" CPO Mendez shouted, causing Shiera to bolt to her feet and adopt a crisp salute.
"Sir, yes sir." She shouted back, standing straight and fearing for a moment over what she had done to earn their drill instructor's attention.
She crushed the fear down after a moment, spartans didn't fear a dressing down.
"Report to medical. The egg heads have some tests to perform. Cadet-023 and 047, they want you two so go with her."
Shiera exchanged questioning glances with Moyra and Thoren, another of their company who like Moyra, hailed from the North, but offered no objections. The rest of the company said nothing as she walked away. Each of the three of them were handed their bottle of water by one of the Alpha-company spartans that were assigned to supervise today's training.
Even without the noise though, Shiera could feel the curiosity and unease that permeated her generation. She signed silently, the same signs that they had all been taught by alpha, beta, and gamma. Three fingers pointed to the ground loosened the tense muscles of her siblings left behind. Moyra, always one of the most emotional of their group, took it a step further and shifted, walking backwards, and gesturing with two fingers a quick swipe across her face. The 'spartan smile' as it was explained to them one day by a Beta-company spartan who had overseen one of their exercises, prompted a round of nods returned from the rest, though CPO Mendez quickly shouted at Moyra to turn around and everyone else to give him another set of push-ups.
The last thing the three heard was the sound of shuffling before grunts of exertion filled the air. Climbing into the back of a troop transport warthog they were driven quickly back to the Plataea.
The warthog rolled along the countryside. Shiera watched as the fields that surrounded the Plataea passed them by. The families who tended to those fields had once lived on the land now occupied by the grounded super-carrier. According to her lessons, after a brief disagreement with the Farmans and the arrival of the Lannisters, the lands immediately surrounding the crashed ship had been granted to the Captain as its lord, and the Plataea had been exporting technology and goods to advance the lives of the people of Westeros ever since.
These citizens, many of whom were resettled in the now growing native district of the Plataea's off ship settlement, were typically the first to receive and test the innovations that the UNSC would then export out to the rest of the kingdom and then the continent. Because of this many farmers had benefited immensely and relations between them and the UNSC had been largely positive. Shiera had already seen the schoolhouses that had been set up, meant to provide education to the other children sent by the families within the UNSC's territory. UNSC naval personnel and off duty ship security made up most of the teachers. As education in Westeros was so backwards compared to the UNSC most everyone on the ship was a maester by the native standards.
Shiera could still remember how much her head had spun after the first few days of education. Everything they were taught seemed magical to her. She knew enough, even at her young age to know that reading and writing were typically not common skills, and being taught them as they were showed how important they were. At least that was what she had thought before it had eventually been explained that reading and writing, as well as a multitude of other subjects, were the most basic skills that every member of the UNSC obtained from childhood. Her education since those early days had shown her just how backwards her home was, and made her in many ways more grateful than ever that she had been chosen for delta-company.
Whatever musings she might have had seeing the prosperous smallfolk ended as she, Moyra and Thoren were led into the Plataea though one of its lower entrances. A quick journey through one of the internal rail cars and an elevator ride brought the three the medical wing. Doctor Tefara, the lead doctor in charge of biological variation in the local population and the overall health of delta-company, had performed comprehensive tests on each member of her company since they had first been brought to the Plataea.
"Ah, children." Dr. Tefara said.
He gave their spartan escorts quick salutes which were returned promptly before ushering the three candidates into one of the examination rooms. Moyra and Thoren were brought into separate rooms than her, and Shiera herself was quickly handed a hospital gown to change into and then instructed to lie down in the MRI machine. Shiera had been through such a machine before, though she still had no idea about how it worked beyond the very basics of it. Most of the more complicated technologies on the Plataea seemed more like magic than she would like to admit.
The machine moved around her, scanning out a map of her brain before the rest of her body was similarly studies as she went though several more x-rays and other texts meant to give the Plataea's medical staff a thorough understanding of her biology.
The battery of tests went on for the better part of an hour, with some repetitions as the medical personnel repeated tests with different variables.
"Encouraging results." Dr Tefara said, ushering Shiera through a set of doors and into another room. Inside, she could see Moyra and Thoren being brought in as well.
"Please wait here." The doctor said. "A member of the crew will escort you back to your communal quarters.
The three exchanged glances, but Shiera was the only one to raise her hand.
"Dr. Tefara."
"Yes Cadet D-001." He said.
"What were these tests for?"
"Just standard protocol D-001. Some of the data on the physicals was lost recently. We just needed to replace it."
"Oh, alright."
Before she could ask any more questions, a Beta-company spartan walked through the doors.
"Spartans D-001, 023 and 047. Follow me."
Snapping to attention, the three Delta-company trainees followed the senior spartan out of the medical wing and back to the rest of their company.
"Nothing about this makes sense sir." Dr Tefara said, pointing out the affected parts of his spartans' brains to Kurt.
"Their neural pathways seem perfectly fine, they conform correctly to the guidelines set down by Dr Halsey, and the modification made by the loosened genetic criteria for the Spartan III program. But in at least these three candidates, we see completely unexplained fluctuations in their neural mapping."
"Will it cause problems in during the augmentation procedure?" Kurt asked, looking over the brain scans of Shiera, Moyra and Thoren.
"Unknown sir. It shouldn't, given that the areas impacted by the augmentation protocols and the standard neural implants aren't the ones undergoing these unexplained phenomena. Additionally, even with these unexplained deviations from the norm, they still fall well within the genetic guidelines set for the program. but we can't be one-hundred percent sure given we don't know exactly how the locals' biology differentiates from our own."
"Should we hold off on the augmentation protocols for Delta then?" Kurt asked.
"Augmentation is still up to five years away according to the training schedule modified for Delta company." Dr Tefara replied. "We still have more than enough time to get more information on these oddities. For now, I'm simply informing you of any hiccups in the candidates' medical reports and asking for permission to perform further tests on the designated candidates."
"Approved. I want updates monthly Dr. Tefara, on top of the standard reports logged for all Spartan candidates."
"Understood."
Kurt gave the doctor a nod and deactivated the terminal that had connected the two from the Plataea to King's Landing. Looking over the new information about three of his candidates, Kurt wondered what these new discoveries might mean for their uplifting and integration with the natives. Of course, planetary scans and samples taken across the biosphere indicated a lack of any serious biological differences, and crew's own medical crew had worked overtime to ensure that they didn't wipe out the locals with a strain of twenty-sixth century flu that would ravage the world. They'd been lucky in that regard, that until now they hadn't had to deal with a plague or viral apocalypse.
Sighing tiredly, Kurt got up from the desk in his chambers, walking out into the Red Keep to discuss with Tywin another shipment of instructions for improved ploughing equipment.
Ice zombies, dragons riders, now neural mutations. This world was just one mystery after another.
Long update times are becoming more common to me as I have more shit thrown at me IRL, but hopefully I can fix this. Hope your guys enjoy.