Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun

Chapter Twenty-Six.

It had been a long and slow ride back to the keep, Oberyn had been spitting with rage and Obara had not been far behind him when it had been explained to her what had happened and her younger sisters had simply been quiet and were more focused on doing their best to try and cheer her but at the moment, as much as Elia loved all of her nieces and was thankful for the attempt, she found that she was not being cheered and all she wanted was quiet.

She could feel Ned's eyes, burning with both anger though none was directed at her but only at this terrible situation and concern for her, on her and she felt guilt burning in her heart, in her mind she knew that none of this was her fault and was all the king but that logic did not seem to matter to her heart which seemed to be finding any way it could to blame her for the mess that they had found themselves in.

And in a way wasn't it her fault, she was the one who had wanted to come to King's Landing to see Oberyn, she had been the one to bring them here in to the reach of a king who the entire realm whispered of his madness and she had been so stupid and sentimental and it was her fault, it was.

Eventually they had made it back to the keep and made their way into their apartments, Obara had taken Nymeria and Tyene back to Oberyn's room while he accompanied them, as soon as they walked in Elia collapsed into the nearest chair and closed her eyes, savouring the darkness for a moment.

She was so very, very tired.

She opened her eyes and looked down to her lap to the crown of flowers in her lap, it was so beautiful and she had always dreamed about being crowned the queen of love and beauty but she always thought she would be crowned by her husband, but then she always thought that her husband would've been Rhaegar.

Elia twisted the crown in her hands as the light of the fire caused shadows to dance across it, the shadows obscured the thorns and Elia pulled her hand back when they bite into her palm and she held it up, watching as blood bloomed out of the wound for a moment before she looked back down at the crown.

Who would ever guess that such a beautiful thing would cause such anguish?

Her attention was drawn away from the crown when a rough hand gently curled around her wrist, she looked to see Ned smiling at her as he held her wrist and used his other hand to tightly tie a scrap of silk that he had found around her wound.

Who would ever know that a northern barbarian could have such a gentle touch?

Elia looked into his eyes and her husband sat next to her, pulling her into an embrace. She tried to savour the contact as it could be one of the last that she would ever for a while.

Oberyn was pacing up and down the room and it reminded her a great deal of how he had been acting in the Water Gardens when he learned that Aerys had broken her betrothal to Rhaegar and she was going to be married to Ned instead.

She imagined she would've found it funny, might have even laughed, if it weren't for the fact that her heart was actually breaking into a thousand pieces at the moment. She shut her eyes tight and tried to will her tears away, with a heavy shudder and with what felt like colossal effort she finally managed to open her eyes and not have any tears spill.

"He can not do this." Oberyn spat out the words with a rapid shake of his head, his viper eyes burning with a dark rage with which Elia was quite familiar with. "He may be a king but he can not dissolve a marriage, not one that has been consummated and not one with a healthy child on the way. The faith won't stand for it, Dorne will not stand for it."

"It was a marriage before the old gods." Ned pointed out as he gently stroked the bottom of Elia's back and Elia, while she still felt like she was moments away from breaking down into sobs again, felt herself slowly began to relax as the action soothed her. "I am uncertain if the faith of the seven really has a jurisdiction over it."

"It doesn't matter in which faith the marriage was done!" Oberyn shouted and Elia glared at him for his sharp tone but it did not seem to effect him at all as he just continued with his ranting. "He can not break apart a marriage even if he is the king, and the High Septon will care because if he tries to break apart your marriage and he succeeds then it will set a dangerous precedent."

"If he can't legally break us apart and obviously Ser Jaime can not marry an already married woman then why don't we all simply leave King's Landing now?" Eddard asked but Elia shook her head with a sigh.

"I would be extremely surprised if the King has not already given the City Watch and the guards inside the keep orders to make sure that we are not to leave until he says otherwise." Elia explained before she stood up and walked across the room and picked up a large pitcher which was filled with a sour Dornish Red and used it to fill a goblet.

Both her brother and her husband looked like they were going to say something, perhaps to remind her she was pregnant and should not be drinking, but then they both at same time seemed to remember what a day it had been and instead simply poured themselves a cup as well.

Elia drank the bitterness down, she preferred the sweeter reds but at the moment she simply needed a drink, she had been so happy on the first day of the tournament and now all of her happiness had turned to ashes due to the action of a simple madman who had been given a crown simply due to who his father was.

Elia realised in that moment a simple truth which she should've realised the moment her betrothal to Rhaegar was called off.

King Aerys was a cruel, mad and fickle bastard who smelled plots all around him and would do anything to stop them.

Ned finished of his cup of wine and quickly refilled which Elia had to raise an eyebrow at, Ned wasn't much of a drinker so he must've really been upset tonight. He had drunk a lot the night his father had a heart attack as well and she did not judge him for it then or now. "What I do not understand is why the king would do this? I know that he is insane but even mad people have reasons that make sense to them?"

"I can't be certain but...I think he might be doing this to mainly get back at Tywin Lannister." Elia suggested and then continued as both of the men turned to look at her. "Think on it for a moment, you remember what he said about Joanna Lannister? He was bitter that he could not have her and that Tywin did in the end?"

"Ser Jaime can't marry you unless you're unwed and the King can not break our marriage." Eddard said slowly as he tried to piece it together. "Wait a moment, if Ser Jaime and you are essentially betrothed together by a king's command.."

"Then Ser Jaime can not marry or have any true born children that can inherit Casterly Rock, meaning that he cannot be a proper heir as he can not produce any true heirs himself." Elia explained as she took a sip of her wine. "Lord Tywin would have to name another heir and who does he have to do that?"

"He has a second son." Ned pointed out and Elia shook her head at that.

"I do not judge Lord Tyrion, but he's a dwarf and from what I have heard complications from his birth was what killed his mother and I remember how cruelly the Lady Cersei treated him when Oberyn and I went to Casterly Rock with our mother." Elia stopped for a moment as her thoughts turned to Lord Tyrion for a moment.

It had been a surprise when she saw the little man in the tent but not an unpleasant one, she always hoped that the sweet little babe who had been locked away would be able to one day live in the light and now it seemed that wish had come true. But his sister still seemed to be as cruel as she could remember.

Lord Tywin did not seem to be over enthused about his younger son's presence, he barely even seemed to notice that he was there most of the time and when he did Elia saw no joy in his eyes, no love. She supposed that all things considered she should not be much surprised at the lack of love since it was obviously it was Lord Tywin who had hidden poor Tyrion away in the darkest corner of Casterly Rock.

"I do not think that Lord Tywin would want Lord Tyrion to have Casterly Rock, they were never kind to him." Elia lamented with a gentle sigh as she shook her head. "Lord Tywin is a proud man, I don't think that he would want any of his nephews to take the seat either, the King has essentially robbed him of his heir without having to do anything."

"What does any of this matter?" Oberyn asked with a scoff. "Assuming that you are right in your theories and the King has given orders that we are not to leave King's Landing until he decides that we leave then all we have to do is wait until he decides that we can go, then all we have to do is wait and when the time comes when we leave the city then we just ride north."

"He will want me to go to Casterly Rock with my..."betrothed" I am certain that he will send guards to make sure that I go there, I wouldn't even be surprised if he sends a few members of the Kingsguard with them." Elia shook her head as their situation sunk in. "We must remember that he is mad, not stupid. This may have been an impulsive decision but it is one that he has made and he will want it carried out."

"Well then, if that is the case then we simply attack the Lannisters and take you back." Oberyn declared and Elia stared at her brother like he had suddenly turned purple and sprouted another head.

She didn't have a chance to criticise him for that line of thinking as Ned had already beaten her to it. "We can not do that! If we attack the Lannisters then it is a move of open aggression and an act against the royal family, it would be taken as treason. More importantly I didn't bring the men to attack their host, did you?"

Oberyn's dark scowl and fierce glare was answer enough to that and he simply turned and muttered to himself.

"And the most important thing is, even if we did attack them there is a risk that Elia could wind up being hurt and I will not risk her or our child for anything in this world or the next, do you understand that?" Ned said and his voice lowered to a dangerous level and despite the sadness and anger that she still felt Elia could not but help but smile.

She stepped forward and placed her hand on Ned's arm and he turned his face towards her, a smile on his face and Elia leaned into kiss him. Oberyn sighed heavily and shook his head. "So, what are we going to do? We cannot just lie down and accept this! I refuse to do that!"

"That isn't what we're going to do." Elia said as she broke her kiss with Ned and turned on her feet and walked over to the trunk in the corner of the room, she opened it and pulled out the two unsealed parchments that Rhaegar had given her when he had come to see her. "A few weeks ago when you two went to have your private conversation, Prince Rhaegar had come to see me."

Ned did not look pleased at this revelation but he did not say anything and this was more important at the moment so Elia simply carried on. "He said that he wished to speak with me and I did not turn him away, at first all we talked of was how I was finding my marriage and how he was finding Lady Cersei but then, he asked me to make sure that these reached Doran and Lord Rickard."

As soon as Elia finished talking she handed both of the letters over, giving the one meant for Doran to Oberyn and the one meant for Lord Rickard to Ned, Ned seemed a little uncertain about reading a letter that was meant for his father but once he saw that Oberyn was already reading the letter for Doran he opened his as well.

For a moment in the room there was only silence in the room as the two men read the letters, taking in every single word that had been written upon them. Ned finished reading his first as he looked up from the letter to meet his wife's eyes, his own were nearly as wide as plates. "What is written on here-

"I know, but I promised Rhaegar that I would get these too Doran and your Father. And considering what has happened today, that is a promise I intend to keep." Elia stated firmly before she turned her gaze to her younger brother, he was still reading his letter but then he quickly folded it up and raised his head to meet his sisters eyes, his own eyes were dark but Elia could see something else in them other than anger or bloodlust now.

A deep sense of satisfaction, of approval.

Elia did not know if anything ever unsettled her more.

"What are we to do with this?" Oberyn asked but his tone gave Elia the impression that he already had an idea of what he had to do, or at least what he wanted to do.

"We need to get these messages for who they are meant for, now I've already memorised these and I must ask you to do the same, I know that is easier said than done and I've had several weeks to do so and I would be surprised if the King gave us more than a day or two after Cersei and Rhaegar's wedding before I am sent to Casterly Rock." Elia explained.

"As soon as you are confidant that both of those messages are memorised then we must destroy them because if they are discovered then instead of being humiliated and separated for awhile then our heads will end up on pikes, and that is the best way that this will end." Elia pointed out.

"This letter seems to suggest that Lord Tywin is already allied with Prince Rhaegar." Ned muttered, to himself as much as the rest of them. "Which I suppose does make sense, his daughter is married to him and that makes them bound by oath. And, of course he wants her to be the queen."

"Which is why, no matter what we think or feel, we can not make an enemy of any of the Lannisters, either during the next few days or while I am a..."guest" at Casterly Rock." Elia was addressing the both of them but she kept her eyes firmly on Oberyn, they were both angry about what was happening and she knew that because she was more angry than either of them, she was so angry that all the sadness and fatugie that she had been feeling before seemed to have abandoned her, but Oberyn was the most impulsive of them and he could wind up doing something that would ruin everything.

Oberyn held her gaze but didn't say anything, in the end it was Ned who broke the silence. "You heard what the king said, he wanted you to be rid of the child. What do we do if he goes to Casterly Rock and he sees that you have not done as he aske?"

Despite herself Elia could not help but smile, knowing that her husband and herself were both firmly on the same page, that there was no chance in all seven hells she would cleanse herself of her child. She would burn all seven kingdoms to the ground first.

"Well, it's a long journey to Casterly Rock and I am a very sick woman, I am sure the maester of Casterly Rock can be persuaded to agree that by the time we get there it will be far too risky for me to cleanse the child from myself." Elia suggested and Ned nodded his agreement to that.

"But who knows how long you will be stuck at Casterly Rock, you could be there for so long that your children will be born there." Oberyn pointed out before he let out a heavy sigh. "And I would hate to point out a flaw in your theory but you're assuming that the King will care about you being at risk for cleansing the babe and that Tywin will risk his daughter's safety for allowing you to keep them."

"The king's entire plan depends on me being alive, he doesn't want Tywin's golden son to be the Lord of Casterly Rock and if I die then his plan is ruined." Elia pointed out. "I know it's a risk but at the moment it is a risk that we are forced to take, if we can work with him then we have an advantage. We would have all of the seven great houses on are side except for the Tyrells, and we would have Rhaegar working on the inside. This could work."

"My father has been working towards this for years." Ned pointed out and both Elia and Oberyn turned to face him and he shrugged. "He was marrying Brandon to a Tully and Lya to a Baratheon and he did not seem as all hesitant to marry me to you Elia, I'm not a complete fool. It didn't take me long to figure out what he was doing."

"I thought you said that northerners didn't have the time to play the game." Oberyn said with a smirk on his face and Ned smirked back, an unusual expression on his face but Elia found that she did not mind it.

"We don't, but to be utterly frank he wasn't technically playing it in the north." Ned said but his face suddenly grew intense, Elia had lived with her husband long enough to know he was contemplating something. "The North, Dorne, the Riverlands, The Stormlands, that splits the continent in half and if you add the Vale and Casterly Rock then we have the capital surrounded, again aside from the Tyrells and the Reach."

"That isn't a surprise, even if we did march against the King I doubt the Tyrells would help us. The Martells have never been on the best terms with them." Elia reminded him, she couldn't remember exactly why the Tyrells and her family had been at one another's throats but she knew that one of the Tyrell's had been assassinated by one of her ancestors but she didn't know that if that was the cause or if it was a simply another causality but it did not help them.

The only way she could see the Tyrells siding with them was if every single other kingdom, every single one, side against the king.

"Nevermind the fucking flowers, they can die with there mad king as well if that's what they want, I will be glad to be rid of them. We can march on the capital as soon as possible and put an end to this." Oberyn spoke with a dark smirk, nothing would please him more and Elia was certain of that which only made her worry more.

"Keep your voice down, we all like our heads where they are. I am certain of that if nothing else." Elia whispered as she glanced at the door, half expecting a dozen guards to come bursting in. "Remember to keep yourself calm, being angry will not help anything. Go back to your apartments and make sure to keep your daughters calm as well, Obara looked like she was nearly ready to carve her way to the king and that will not help, go and stop her before she gets her spear and remember to make sure you've got it memorised."

Oberyn bowed. "Your wish is my command, princess," He said with a mocking grin but there was no heat in his words, there was never any heat or cruelty in his voice when he spoke to her and Elia could not stop herself from smiling at that thought. Oberyn stood straight and nodded his head to Ned before he turned and made his way to the door, closing it behind him once he had left.

Elia finished off the wine in the goblet and turned back to the table and picked up the pitcher but before she could refill the goblet a pair of strong and familiar arms encircled her middle and a pair of lips pressed firmly to her neck. She closed her eyes and let out a contented sigh and placed both the goblet and the pitcher back down on the table and melted into the embrace.

She felt Eddard's hands gently rubbing over the bump of her stomach, it had been growing quickly and she know most it was fat but she didn't care and Ned didn't seem to care either. "This is our child growing inside of you, I'll let them think that they've won for now. Let them think they can take you both away from me, but they won't. I won't let them." One of Ned's hands began to slip lower and lower, while the other hitched up her skirt higher and higher, until it arrived in between her legs and began to rub firmly, slipping a finger inside of her.

Elia whimpered and if it was not for Eddard standing behind then she would've very likely fallen backwards but his hard chest, Ned chucked softly and slipped a second finger inside of her while using his thumb to rub at the nub of flesh that always made her feel so heavenly. "Did you like that? Would you like me to do it again?" Ned asked as he pressed another kiss to her throat and gently moved the fingers that were inside of her, pushing them forward and pulling them back.

"Yes please." Elia muttered as she tilted her head back and let her eyes fall shut, swallowing around the heavy lump in her throat.

"Are you mine?" Ned asked and Elia wanted to hit him in the face but she also wanted him to do that again, so really she had no choice but to tell the truth.

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Ned."

"Elia."

"I'm yours you insufferable bastard now do that again or I swear to the old gods and the new that I will take Oberyn's spear and shove it through your head if you don't-" Elia's words were cut off by a strangled gasp that ripped from her mouth as Ned dragged his thumb over her nub and once her mind had returned to her she was certain she could hear her husband chuckling.

He really was an insufferable bastard, maybe not as much as his older brother but an insufferable bastard all the same. Was it simply a Stark trait? As much as she had grown on her in her time at Winterfell Lyanna was quite insufferable to her at first, before his heart attack Lyanna and Brandon both seemed to find their father insufferable.

Benjen was quite sufferable, he was nowhere near insufferable as his siblings so perhaps it wasn't an inescapable fact that all Starks were insufferable or perhaps they simply became insufferable as they matured.

Her thought process was interrupted by Ned picking her up, carrying her like a bride towards the bedroom door. She was glad of being carried because at the moment she was certain that if she tried to move her legs then she would collapsed, Ned kicked the door open and laid her down on the bed.

Ned climbed on to the bed and laid at her side, and pressed their lips together. "You are mind, and I am yours." He whispered between their kisses.

Elia couldn't stop the tears, she tried. By all the gods she tried but she could not stop them and once the first tear fell she could not stop the rest of them, with every tear that Ned wiped away another dozen seemed to fall from her eyes. "I do not think that I can do this." She whimpered.

"You can, I know that you can. You are one of the strongest women I know, the strongest. You are a Princess of Dorne, a Stark and a Martell and you are Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken." Ned said firmly as he cupped her face, looking deep into her eyes.

"Because winter is coming." Elia responded and leaned in to kiss Ned, who kissed back with equal fierceness, she deftly undid the laces of his breeches and gasped as his slid inside of her, closing her eyes.

It did not last long, it had been exhausting day and Ned spilled inside of her. The both of them soon began to fall asleep together, entwined in one another's arms.

The last thing that Elia thought, before she allowed herself to slip into the sweet darkness that was waiting for her, was that this was where she was happy. This was the man she loved and the child they had made together was growing inside of her. She wouldn't let anyone take this from her.

Oberyn was the red viper, Doran the grass that hid it, but Elia? Poor sick, gentle dutiful Elia?

She was the viper that would wait, she would wait years if she had to but in the end, she would kill her pray.

End of Chapter Twenty-Six.

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