Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun
Chapter Ten
Doran Martell sighed happily as he watched his two children gasp and squeal delightedly as they ran through the Water Gardens, they had both been with their mother in Sunspear for the past month and he had missed them both greatly, they and their mother had come to see Elia and Ashara off. Trystane hadn't even been walking by the last time he had seen him and now the boy was running around like it was second nature.
Arianne had grown as well, already looking like a proper little lady which was her mother's influence more than anything. Mellario had since returned to Sunspear, they had been having...difficulties lately but it wouldn't do for the people of Dorne to know that their prince and princess could barely stand one another, so they had both arranged for them to spend as little time as possible together, when one of them was in Sunspear, the other would be in the Water Gardens.
His wife had never liked Dorne, compered to Norvos it seemed to be an entirely different world. His ears still rung from the argument he had with her when he told her that he was going to have Arianne trained to defend herself. He had allowed her to have her way that one time but he would only bend so far with her, Arianne would rule after him and she had to be ready.
He sometimes wondered how it had reached this point, he had love Mellario a great deal once. He still loved her very much but somehow along the way the love had faded, he was sick and tired and tired in a way that had nothing to do with his sickness.
He still remembered the day he had met Mellario, he had never been much of a traveller as being heir had meant that he had always been more focused on his responsibilities to his country and to his family above all else but his mother insisted that he tried to have some enjoyment while he was still young so he had decided to tour the free cities.
When he had come to Norvos Mellario's father had wanted to brag that he had a foreign prince for dinner and so he had invited him to stay while he was in Norvos, he had met Mellario at dinner that night and she had stolen his breath away at first sight, he didn't think he had ever seen a more beautiful woman in his entire life and her beauty wasn't only on the surface, she was kind and generous and as smart as some of the wisest maesters.
He hadn't wanted to leave her so he had sent his mother a letter that said that he would be extending his travels by another month, his mother hadn't had a problem with it as she wanted him to have a little fun before he was overwhelmed by his duties after all. But then he had sent another left saying he was extending travels and then another and another and then another.
He imagined that if he sent a few more like that then his mother would've assumed that he had been taken hostage and she would soon have half their standing forces after him and he truly did not want a war starting over him so he sent a final letter to his mother informing her that he was returning to Dorne.
And he would be bringing Mellario back as his wife.
His mother had been...disappointed in his choice, and that was something of an understatement. She had hopped to marry him to a Targaryen if he remembered correctly. She came around to the idea eventually and he liked to hope that eventually she had grown fond of her, though he realised that it was most likely wishful thinking on his part.
But they had been young, he had fallen in love with a beautiful woman and Mel had fallen for a handsome prince from a far off land, it wasn't enough to build a strong relationship on and now they could barely stand to be in the same room as one another when there children weren't with them. The hardest thing was that he didn't hate her, it would be so much easier if he did but he didn't, he loved her. But love wasn't always enough.
He wondered what his mother would think now, mostly likely she would tut and call him a foolish boy and set to fixing all of his mistakes while assuring him that everything would be alright. He missed her a great deal, she had only been gone for two years and he was still new to this and he knew that some of the lords didn't trust his judgement.
Their beloved and wise princess had been replaced by a young and sick boy who didn't know what he was doing, who wasn't ready.
If his mother was still here then she would never have stood for Elia being set aside by Areys, she had fought so hard for the match after all. She would've made him regret it but not with swords and flame but with words that would bring House Targaryen crashing down around the Mad King.
Well, he may not be as smart as his mother but by sending Elia north they had a new ally in House Stark, Rickard Stark was ambitious but not particularly subtle. It didn't take much time for him to figure out what he was doing by betrothing his oldest son and his only daughter to houses not of the north, by sending Elia to marry his second son it was a way of declaring that he would support Rickard.
And House Targaryen would be reduced to rubble.
If the Mad King found out then they would be all burned to ashes but it was worth the risk, the man was growing worse and it wouldn't be long until he tried to burn them all anyway. Still, he had cautioned Lord Rickard and asked him to be patient, they had to wait for the exact right moment before they strike...
He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at his door, he nodded his head to Areo who opened the door, he still was so surprised that the large man was so loyal to him considering that he had come from Norvos with his wife and had been in her service to her family, standing outside the door was a young servant boy holding a letter. "A letter for you has just arrived my Prince."
Doran stood and tried to ignore the pain in them but it was hard, what had started as a dull ache was now a stabbing pain that threatened to knock him to the floor, he walked over to the boy and took the letter. "Thank you, you may go now." The boy nodded respectfully and ran off.
Doran sat back down and scanned the letter, it was from Elia. He looked up at Areo. "Areo, would please go and fetch my brother? Tell him that he must come now."
Areo nodded and obidently followed out his Prince's orders, leaving the room as Doran continued to read the letter.
Before long Areo returned with Oberyen, clearly annoyed at being summoned when he had hoped to be spending time with his children. "What's wrong Doran?"
Doran handed over the letter to his brother. "Read it, it's from Elia." As soon as he said that all the annoyance had fled from Oberyen's face and he began to read the letter.
"She writes that she is well and the wedding has already taken place, she already seems quite fond of her new husband." Doran said with a smile. "I do believe they shall be fine."
"Elia would try not to worry us, you know how she is." Oberyen said, looking the letter over to see if he could find any hidden pleas for help. "How do we know she is fine?"
"We don't but I trust Elia and if she says that she is fine then she is fine." Doran said as he watched his brother with amusement, clearly his overprotectiveness was still a present feature. "Elia will be fine, I promise you."
"I hope you are right." Oberyen said as he handed the letter back. "Because if you are wrong, if we get a letter that says that Elia is in danger or unhappy then I will ride north with loyal men and get her back." He then stood up and left the room and Doran knew it was probably better to let him go, he loved Elia almost more then anything so of course he would most likely try and do that but if he tried Doran would of course stop him.
Elia would be fine, of that he had no doubt. But he couldn't have Oberyen risking this alliance.
As much as it was a hard truth to realise, some things were just more important then family.
End of Chapter Ten