Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun
Chapter Twenty-Eight.
Doran smiled as he watched Arianne bite into a blood orange, that he had peeled before hand, and giggled as the juice splashed over her chin and stained it along with her hands, the fruit was overly ripe and it's siblings had splattered the ground around them, he picked up his silk handkerchief and when she was done eating it made certain that he cleaned all of the juice and pulp away. He was certain that if Mellario was here than she would have words for their little Princess for eating so sloppily.
But she was not hear, and in this one moment Arianne could still be a child. Doran did not fear death but for her, and for Quentyn, that he would live a long time still. He did not doubt that his little princess was smart, that one day she would make a great ruler but he didn't want that for her yet, he wanted her to be a child for just a little while longer.
How many times had he wished that he had more time? That he had just one more day when he didn't have to worry about Dorne and how best to protect it, to better protect his family? He would do anything to make sure that Arianne was spared from thoughts like those for as long as possible.
His attention was drawn from his daughter to his son who was sitting at the side of one the many little pools that were scattered all through out the water gardens, his tiny fat little hand hit the water and he giggled loudly with every splash he made in the pool.
His children's septa sat at his side, ready to move if the small boy fell into the water. Aero and a small squad of guards stood around them in a loose circle, ready to fight to the death to protect their prince if they had too.
"Why isn't mama here?" Arianne's small voice brought Doran out of his observations and he turned his head to face her, all the joy that had been in her eyes seemed to have faded while he wasn't looking. It broke his heart too see it. "She's never here when you are, and your never there when she is."
Sometimes it was a curse to have such an insightful child, they could always see the truth of things and did not yet have the tact that was often needed to soften the blows. It must've been hard to see your parents against one another.
In the months that had passed his and Mellario's relationship had been cool, there was still some love there he knew but not much. She was dreadfully unhappy, that was the truth of it. She had few friends here as many in Dorne saw their prince marrying a woman who was not of Dorne as an insult to them and their ancient families.
Even after all this time and blessing him with two children, few in Dorne had warmed to her. His heart went out for his wife but there was little that he could do about it, he may have been the Prince but he couldn't tell the people of his country what to think. If he tried then he would be no better than the Mad King.
She resented him for not being able to do anything, in her mind it must've seemed that he was unwilling to do anything when in fact anything would be further for the truth.
"Your mama is often very busy, little one. She would be here if she could." In truth as a consort Mellario had no true responsibilities but he did not wish his daughter to know that, he didn't want her to think bad of her mother when none of this was her fault, she was just unhappy and she could not control that.
He was unhappy as well, there were times when he wondered where that young man and woman had gone. Perhaps they had killed them.
Arianne did not convinced but she said nothing else even though Doran was certain that he could still see the gears turning behind her mind, he knew that his daughter was truly smart, there were moments when he ever saw a shade of his mother in her. Though, to be true she had little patience but he was certain that in time that she would grow out of that.
He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of little pattering feet, he turned his head and through the loose circle of his guards he saw a servant boy approaching. Areo knelt down in front of the boy who whispered something into the bearded man's ear, Doran watched his most loyal man's face grow grim which was of some great concern.
Areo was good at hiding his emotions, even from him. To see such emotion on the bearded man's face was clear indication that something was wrong. He stood to his great height once more and patted the boy on the back to send him running along. "My prince." Areo began as he turned to face him. "Prince Oberyn has been spotted by the guards approaching the gardens, he's accompanied by your guards and the servants you sent with him...and by a small host of Dornishmen from other houses."
Doran frowned, he knew that this was coming but he had held out hope that he would at least come here first. "How many?"
"A dozen, many of them seem to be young so it is unlikely they are the lords." There was at least some good news, if they were the lords of their houses then what he might have to do would not be easily taken by the rest of the country, he didn't think that it would go well as it was but at least it might not come to open war.
"Do we knew how long he will be?"
"Any moment now I'd imagine my Prince." Doran nodded and let out a deep sigh.
"Go and fetch my brother, if you would not mind." Areo nodded his head, always happy to obey his prince, before he turned and began to walk away, two guards following him as he went.
"Papa, what's wrong?" Arianne asked and though she tried to hide it Doran was certain that he could hear a little sliver of fear in her voice, she was still just a child for all how clever she was. "Uncle Oberyn isn't going to hurt us, is he?"
Doran wondered how many times his heart could break before it would kill him, and it concerned how often his little girl had the ability to do so. "No, of course not my sweetling. Your uncle would never hurt us, but he's a viper and his anger can get the best of him and make him do things without thinking. I want you to promise me that you will never let anger get the best of you."
"I promise." Arianne muttered with a small sigh before she reached into the middle of the table and plucked a grape from the bronze bowl in the middle of it and popped it in to her mouth, distracting herself by chewing on the grape.
Before long there was the sound of footsteps, three pairs of them. Doran turned his head and his eyes glanced from Areo, to his brother who looked as furious as he had been expecting, to his brother's eldest daughter who not only looked as angry as her father but perhaps even angrier. He supposed that he should count his blessings in the fact that neither of them seemed to be armed.
Though it was not beyond either of them to have weapons hidden. Still, he knew that he wasn't in any true danger.
A shout of delight filled the air as Quentyn got to his feet and ran towards his uncle, his little legs carrying him so fast that his septa could not stop him nor could any of the guards reach down and grab him before he was past them, throwing his arms around his uncle's legs. "Hello uncy!" The boy said happily, a bright smile on his face.
For a moment Oberyn's anger had faded from his face and with a shout he reached down and scooped the boy up into his arms and gave him a small smile. "Hello little one, did you miss me? I'm sure you did, what fun could you have with out me?" He asked and pressed a kiss to Quentyn's forehead before he set him down back on to the ground.
As they came closer the septa stepped forward and looked like she was about to reprimand the boy before she her head and carried the boy back over to the small pool and sat down next to it, this time making sure the boy was firmly settled into her lap so he couldn't run from her again.
"Hello brother." Oberyn said and while, to his credit, he was still angry but he managed to control it better than Doran had expected him too. He gave Arianne a bright smile and ducked to press a kiss to his forehead. "Hello sweetling."
"Good day uncle, are you well?" Arianne said sweetly even as her face scrunched up with suppressed laughter from where her uncle's beard tickled her.
Oberyn's gaze darkened slightly as he pulled away from Arianne and turned to face his older brother. "I'm afraid not, sweetling. But don't worry, I will be soon enough assuming your father isn't going to be a fool."
Doran's eyes narrowed slightly at his brother's words and tone but he choose not to say anything for the moment, it would do no good to give into his anger and cause an argument when there was the slightest chance he could avoid one. "Oberyn, if there is something you would like to speak with me about then I would recommend that you stop making snide comments to my children and instead come and speak to me like a grown man."
Oberyn walked over with a causal swagger and he knelt in front of him, taking his hand and pressing a kiss to his ring before he got back up to his feet, standing to his full height which was not unsubstantial and he was only made taller to Doran's eyes from where he was sitting.
Behind him Obara lingered, her arms, thickly muscled for a girl of her age, were crossed over her chest and a deep frown was set on her face and her viper's eyes burned with a cruel rage, in that moment Doran was never more certain that the girl was his brother's daughter and that was a matter of some concern.
"Elia has been taken, the King had ordered that her marriage to Eddard Stark be dissolved. Which I am sure that I do not need to remind you that he can not do." With every word that Oberyn spoke his anger seemed to grow or at least it became that much more apparent.
"I know." Doran said, keeping his gaze on his brother's face. His little brother was a terrifying man but Doran was still his prince and he would not be cowed by him and he would not be the one to look away, he could not stop a small twitch of his lips when he saw the surprise on his younger brother's face. "The spider is not the only one with little birds, I found out six days ago."
"You...You've known for six days!?" Oberyn roared and stepped forward, Arianne buried her head in her hands, Quentyn began to sob loudly and his sept let out a gasp of shock, Areo quickly raised his long axe and held one of the grey iron blades to Oberyn's throat while the rest of the guards raised their spears, though none of them clearly relished the idea of having to fight their prince.
Obara glared viciously at the large man and Doran couldn't be sure but he thought that he saw the sun glint of something metal in her hand, this was not going the way he had hopped, to put it lightly.
"Please step away my prince, I would hate for you to find out exactly how sharp I keep this axe." Areo said as he kept the axe held high though his voice was nothing short of courteous, as though he was simply admiring how pleasant the sun felt on his skin and was not in fact threating to remove a man's head, Doran was surprised that he did not seem to even hesitate. Simply kept the axe steady.
Oberyn let out a rough snarl of frustration but thankfully, and rarely for his little brother, common sense prevailed and he stepped away. Areo stepped back as well but he did not lower his axe, when Doran glanced over at Obara he was glad to see that he could no longer see anything catching the light of the sun. That would've been unfortunate.
Oberyn took a deep breath to calm himself, keeping his eyes shut as he did so, and then let it out. "If you've known for such a long time, why did I not see a host of ten thousand men waiting on the prince's pass waiting for the orders to march? Why have I not seen ten thousand waiting on the Boneway? why have I not seen any hosts at all? You can not ignore something like this."
"I assure you, I am not ignoring this." Doran said simply and then turned to where the sept was sitting, she was currently busy trying to sooth Quentyn who while no longer sobbing was still sniffling slightly. "Septa, would you be so good as to take my children inside? Send word to the cook to make them a plate of lemon cakes to sooth them."
The septa nodded and stood up, keeping Quentyn close to her and walked over to Arianne and held out her hand for her to take. Arianne sniffled and did not take the hand until she saw her father nod, she took it and leapt out off her chair but before she went inside Doran gently patted her head and sent her off with a smile.
When Doran turned his attention back to his brother he was a little surprised to see him on his knees with his head bowed, holding out his hand. Doran held out his ring hand and Oberyn took it gently before pressing a kiss to his ring. "Do I still have your love, now and always?"
"Always."
"Am I still your brother, now and always?"
"You know the answer to that."
"Then grant me your blessing now brother, I have men of Uller, Yronwood, Wyl, Toland, Fowler, Blackmont, Allyrion and more besides. I will go to all the other houses and raise a great host. We will march up the Kingsroad and I will save Elia and...send her back to her husband." Doran almost didn't hear that last part, it was barely a whisper.
He had not been expecting that to be sure, he had assumed that Oberyn would want Elia brought back here. He must truly approve of Lord Eddard as a husband to their sister, the only problem was that he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
"And would you have the entire host march up the kingsroad, where the king who has made this insane decree would see you coming? As mad as he is Aerys Targaryen still as some slim grasp on logic, when he sees a Dornish host marching what do you think he is like to do?" Doran asked as he gazed down at his brother.
"Most likely attack us, to try and kill us and drive us back. Which is why we will be a diversion. A second host will go through the Boneway, Robert Baratheon is Ned Stark's foster brother and when he hears what has happened he will not stop us from going through the Stormlands, they will go to the Westerlands and get Elia and fall back. When word arrives that Elia is safe we will fall back and if they are mad enough to follow us then we will bleed them in pass and the way. Elia will be put on a ship and sent to White Harbour where her loving husband will be waiting."
Doran had to admit that he was pleasantly surprised, all things considered it was certainly not the worst plan he had ever heard. But alas, it could not be. "No, Oberyn. Elia will be a hostage in Casterly Rock and we have no hostages, we can not ensure her safety. I will think on this matter some more."
Oberyn's eyes darkened and he slowly got to his feet. "So, you will do nothing? Our sister is in the lions jaws and you will do nothing, that is your response to this crime? This travesty?"
"I am not doing nothing, I am-
"Oh, yes. I know. You sit here in these water gardens, you plot and you wait, and you plot and you wait." Oberyn reached down and picked up one of the overripe blood oranges which had smashed into pulp against the ground. "These are you plots, Doran. You wait for the right moment and yet, the right moment never seems to come, so you plot some more but you never act!" He shouted as he threw the pulp at his feet, Doran did not flinch as the pulp splattered against his feet.
"Are you done?" Doran asked, his voice showing a clam that he did not feel.
"No, Elia is pregnant."
"What?" Doran breathed.
"Pregnant, with child, there is a babe in her belly." Oberyn spoke as though he was dealing with a dim child and not his prince, from behind him Obara snorted loudly. "Will not even that force you to act?"
Doran closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No."
Oberyn spat at his feet and glared at his brother. "When the Maester said that you legs were beginning to fail you, he said it was because they were starting to rot. He was wrong, it was because you had no spine. If you can not do this then I shall do it, no true Dornishman would ever leave his princess in the lion's jaws." Oberyn turned and began to walk away but Doran reached out and grabbed his sleeve and started up at him.
"You are my baby brother, I meant what I said. You will always have my love and you will always be my brother. I pray that you live a long and happy life, filled with love and joy and pleasure, speak to me that way again, scare my children like that again, and you won't. You will still be my brother when you are dead." Doran hissed and roughly shoved Oberyn's arm away.
For just a moment Doran thought he saw something that looked like fear, and hurt, in his brother's dark eyes but as soon as it was there, it faded away. Doran scoffed and turned away, storming off. His daughter followed after him.
"My prince, what would you have off me?" Areo asked as soon as Oberyn was far enough away that he would not hear. Doran stared at his brother's retreating back for a long hard moment, and when he could no longer see him he let out a long, hard breath.
"Find Maester Caleotte and take these guards with you, I shall be fine. My brother, his daughters and all the men he has brought with him are to be placed under arrest. The Maester must be there to treat any injuries and deal with any poison my brother would use. This must be bloodless, can you do as I have asked?" Doran asked as he stared into his old friend's eyes.
"I will not say it will not be difficult, but I will see it done to the best of my ability." Areo spoke and Doran nodded as he gazed down at the blood oranges.
"Then, see it done Captain." Areo nodded and turned to leave, the guards following him. Doran watched until they were out of sight and then he released a weary sigh that seemed to make his bones shake. How did his mother ever do this, day in and day out? Making the choices to keep her people safe, to keep all of Dorne safe even from themselves?
The men from the houses who come with Oberyn would have to be kept as...guests, he was certain that the houses they came from would have more sense than to call for way but it was best to have some for insurance in this regard. Even as he hated himself for it.
He sat there in the shade of tree until the sky turned orange and the shadows grew longer and the air gained a chill, he shut his eyes for a moment and almost felt himself slipping away into a sleep when he heard the footsteps approaching. When he opened his eyes he was half expecting to see Oberyn standing there, a spear in his hands and dripping from head to toe in blood with a look of rage on his face.
But, he only saw Areo.
"It is done my prince, Prince Oberyn and his daughters have been locked into separate rooms, I decided to let the two little one be in the same room with their septa. If it please you." Once he saw Doran nodded he carried on. "I have also had your brother's...guests, placed in their own rooms as well."
"They are to be treated as kings." Doran said with a sigh and he began to fish around at the side of his chair to look for his walking stick. "Any injuries?"
"Your brother killed two of the guards, Obara stabbed another's eye out but he'll live. A few others suffered scrapes, Caleotte is seeing to them." Doran sighed when he heard of the guard, he wondered who was more responsible for their deaths. Oberyn for killing them, or himself for sending them.
"I see." He muttered as he finally found his walking stick and pushed himself up to his feet, holding in a groan as he did so. "Would you walk with me? I would like to see my little brother."
Areo nodded but said nothing more, he offered his arm to support him and Doran took it. Grateful for the extra support as with each day that passed, walking seemed to grow ever more difficult.
The room Oberyn had been placed in was beautiful, closed off with no way to the outside other than the door so he would try nothing foolish. Oberyn did not look beautiful at that moment, rage his twisted his face into something ugly and he was certain that if it were not for Areo being present that his brother would attack him there and then.
"Are you so craven, so scared of that mad man and Tywin Lannister that you would lock your own blood away rather than face them!?"
"Some would say that only a fool would not fear men such as them, I have never been a fool. Nor am I a craven, despite what you might think." Doran kept his voice cool, he had indulged in his anger one time too many today and he would do so no more. "You've brought this on yourself, you've always acted to rashly."
"How long am I meant to be kept in here?" Oberyn said with a disgusted scoff as he sunk down at the table in the middle of the room. "You can't keep me in here forever."
"I do not intend, just long enough for you to calm down and for me to prepare." Doran had no more to say and turned away and made his way out of the room, as soon as he stepped out into the corridor he Oberyn calling from behind him. "You can't do this, Doran! You can not do this! Dorne won't stand for it when they here! Doran! Doran! Doran!"
When the door was shut and firmly looked Areo came in front of Doran. "My prince, what is to be done."
"They are to be kept here until I decided to release them, until then I shall be returning to Sunspear to spread the word." Doran let out another sigh, already feeling twenty years older than he was. "Let the king know what a loyal ally he has in the Prince of Dorne."
End of Chapter Twenty-Eight.
Well, there we go another chapter. I know I said I was going to spend some time away from this story, but I got impatient and couldn't wait any longer so I decided to update. Consider it an early Christmas present, I hope you enjoyed and that you will please, follow, favourite and my personal favourite, review.
Thank you!
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