Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun
Chapter Fifty-Three.
The flesh of the blood orange was as sweet and tart as she remembered and the juices stained her fingers, she had carved the flesh out and cut it in to pieces before popping one into her mouth. She picked up another piece of the sweet fruit and offered it to Mors, laughing as the baby bite into the soft flesh and cooed and giggled at the sweetness of the fruit.
He was growing so fast, he had been the smaller of her babes and yet he had become the bigger in the days that he had spent in Dorne, his brother had been born bigger than him and but he had been growing slower than him, still he may be growing slower but Torrhen was still growing and he would be as healthy and hearty as any babe should.
She had spoken to Maester Caleotte, the soft and fleshy maester had not changed at all since she had last seen him and he was always a welcome sight; she had always preferred him to the one from her childhood, in his opinion both of the babes had long since left the most dangerous period of their lives and in his mind there was no reason that they should not continue to thrive.
She knew that should have soothed her thoughts but she couldn't shake the fear that something would happen to them, she still remember the first time when Doran had told her about what had happened to Mors and Olyvar, how one moment they had each been a perfectly happy and healthy babe that always seemed to everyone that they had looked so healthy, that they would thrive and grow strong and would soon enough be playing in the pools with all the other boys and girls at the Water Gardens.
Elia had never known them but Doran had been six when Mors had been born and close to ten when Olyvar had come. He had told her how both of them had left this world, with Mors it had always been a bit more gradual, one day he had seemed a bit sluggish and not as bright as he always seemed too and from then on it had just gotten worse for him.
The poor boy had eventually grown so weak that he couldn't even cry, the Maester had told their mother that it was a poison of the blood and there was little and less that could be done for him and one day, he had just not woken up from his crib. It hadn't been a surprise, everyone in Sunspear had known where it was going and that the second son of House Martell was going to die, the tears they wept in the days that followed were not unexpected but they were bitter and full of grief and the knowledge that they would come did not make the weeping any easier.
With Olyvar, it had been so sudden. He had been a happy baby and there had been no illness, one day he had gone to sleep in his crib and when the septa had gone to wake him, she had found him dead. The maester had opened his throat, looking perhaps for a scrap of silk that might have gotten lodged in his throat and stopped him from taking in air in the night. But there had been nothing, he had just died in the night and there was no clue how to how.
The thing that her saddened her the most of it, was nothing to do with her brothers, though there was always a sense of melancholy about the fact that she would never get to know them, no it was what Doran had said it had done to their mother and their father. It had reduced their mother to a sobbing and screaming wreak both times, it had been so scary for him as he had only even seen his mother as the Princess of Dorne, he had never seen her lose such control and it had been terrifying.
When Doran had first told her that, she hadn't been ready to believe it. Mother had only ever been the Princess, distant and while she knew that she was loved by her mother, there was always a distance between them while she had still been alive. She had almost been like the Spear Tower of Sunspear, beautiful and graceful and made of stone.
But when she had gotten older and she had thought about it more, she imagine that it really only made sense. Mother had miscarried several times and lost two children before Elia was born and she had been a small and sickly babe, unlikely to survive even a moon's turn. The Septon had told her that in the first few weeks of her life, every day that she had lived was a blessing from the gods, any other babe would have died.
Mother had been terrified that she would die, had woken up each day terrified that would be the day that the wetnurse would come to her and tell her that she had died in the night. She had shielded herself against the hurt of that by not allowing herself to get to close to her. And even when Elia grow and survived, she still did not let down her walls as her illness continued to persist.
Strangely, at the same time it also made her Mother pay that much more attention to her. While other boys and girls would run through the Shadow City of Sunspear or going riding on their horses through the sand dunes of the desert or playing in the pools of the Water Gardens, Elia had been stuck inside under the care of nurses and septas and the maester, all of them watching her every single second of every single day.
Father had always been protective as well and had always been ready to stand watch over her himself, he had been reduced to a pale spectre when Mors had died according to Doran and he had been even worst after Olyvar had died as well. He oft refused to let her out of his sight and when he wasn't holding court with his mother, he was almost always with her.
Elia had almost resented Oberyn, there was only a year between them after all and for such a long time when she was a child she didn't understand why they had been treated so different. She was coddled and locked up in order to keep her safe, Oberyn was always allowed to go and play with the others, with bigger boys than him and to fight and he almost never got in trouble for it. For a time, when she had been very, very young, she had been convinced that her Mother and Father must have hated her to keep her locked away, or at the very least had not wanted a daughter.
Looking back now, she knew it was silly and foolish but it was ever so surprising to look back and see what actually made sense to a child. And while there were certainly things that she would change about it if she could, in a perfect world she would have three older brothers and not just the one, there were also things she would not change about it if someone offered her all the gold in Casterly Rock and in all the Westerlands besides.
Oberyn would always bring her flowers and fruits from the Water Gardens and would carve her little wooden toys as well, the first had been a dragon with three heads. She still remembered the way that he had smiled at her as he held it out for her to take, the toy resting in palms that were covered with cuts that her brother did not seem to mind at all. He had just kept smiling up at her, the smile on his face threatening to outshine the blazing sun above.
Father would spend whole days with her and would read her as many stories as she liked and would spend countless hours teaching her letters and numbers, Mother would pick her up and rest her on her knee as she held court and would introduce her to all of the lords and ladies in Dorne and when she told her all the names of the houses of Dorne, and their words and their banners, she would smile and pat her head and hand her a piece of blood orange cake.
Even Doran, whenever he visited from Salt Shore, would bring her presents. Mostly old books that he thought that she would like and more often than not he was right but he would also bring her little toys, brightly coloured dresses and even one time a Myrish lens which she loved more than any other gift that she had ever been given, she would spend countless hours at night at the very top of the Spear Tower, using the lens to see the stars in the sky as close as she could. Several times she had even fallen asleep up there and had to be carried to her bed by a servant.
She could fell the tears pricking at her eyes and Elia quickly wiped them away before anyone could see, she didn't know why she was crying. She was not sad, though the thought of her childhood was a bittersweet one. Father was gone and Mother had followed after him not too long after and now she and Oberyn and Doran were separated by thousands upon thousands of miles, those days would never come again.
Elia quickly bowed her head to press a kiss to the top of the babe in her lap's head, and partly to hide her face until the attack of melancholy passed her. She didn't wish to ruin the jovial mood that had fallen on everyone else. Mors cooed at the affection and clung tightly too her and when Elia pulled back to look at him, she traced his face with her finger.
No would could ever make the claim that she was a woman who believe in old wives tales but she had to wonder if part of her fear had been the name she choose to give to one of her boys, she had chosen to name him after Mors Martell her ancestor, she hadn't paid the brother she had never known much thought beyond that other than telling Ned that he was not who she had chosen to name their son after.
Perhaps she hadn't realise that giving him the same name might make her terrified that the same thing would happen to him and his brother. No matter what the master said or didn't he say, she somehow had the sense that she would be suffering with the fear of something happening to her sons for a long time indeed yet.
Her melancholy was soon put out of her mind however by a savage war cry which made her look up from Mors face, the sight greeting her making her smile and for a moment all her fears fled from her. Ned and Oberyn were standing in one of the pools of the Water Gardens, the water coming up to their knees, both were shirtless and Obara was perched atop her father's shoulders while Nymeria was perched atop Ned's.
Ned and Oberyn were trying to push the other over while Nymeria and Obara were trying to push the other off of their shoulders, Ned was taller and broader in the shoulders than Oberyn and as he tried to push her brother over, she could see the muscles straining under his skin. But Obara was a bigger girl than her older sister and Nymeria was barely able to remain seated on Ned's shoulders and the rules stated that the first to fall into the water cost their partner the game.
Tyene and Arianne were toddling around the pool, holding hands and whispering secrets to one another like they were sisters even through they did not look much at all alike. One was as dark as the other was fair but even so, many who would look at them would think that Arianne was Tyene's sister, more than either Obara or Nymeria.
Sarella was sitting under the shade of one of the blood orange tree's, little Quentyn was sitting next to her with a septa watching over them. Elia had grown fond her newest little niece and she was shyer and sweeter than any of her sisters though she did not doubt that with Oberyn as her father, that would not last long and she would soon be getting herself into trouble.
It seemed to her that all of her little nieces had favoured their mothers, all except for Obara, she had never met the woman and knew nothing about her other that she was from Oldtown, was a whore and was dead but she had seen Oberyn every day of her life and looking at Obara, even with a glance, would be enough to tell that she was his daughter.
Her face was the same shape, her nose came to the same point, her eyes were the same colour. Obara had not been granted any beauty but she had been granted the same features as her father and the same strength as well, he had always been able to topple the older boys in the pools and it seemed that Obara would not prove to be any different.
Her younger sister proved to be as different as the night was to the day, Nymeria's colouring was that of a Dornishman of that there could indeed be little doubt, the thick dark hair which she oft chose to wear into a long braid that travelled down to her back, the dark eyes that were often as black as a starless sky and the dark olive skin that burned even darker under the hot sun.
But as where Obara's mother had been a lowborn whore from Oldtown, Nymeria's mother had been a noble lady from the Free City of Volantis and she had all of her mother's beauty. Her cheeks were her high, her nose was small and delicate and her eyes sparkled in the light like two small black diamonds, and indeed in some lights might have even looked like dark onyx.
She would be one of the most beautiful women in all of Dorne once she was grown, Elia had no doubts when it came to that. But for now, she was just a little girl playing with her sister and father and her aunt's husband, she wanted to freeze them all in that moment and let no one else into it so that it could remain unspoiled for the rest of time.
Though she doubted that it would remain that way. All that was good, always seemed to pass. The thought had came so suddenly and she didn't know from where, the attacks of melancholy were infrequent but on a day when she had one they would not clear from her no matter what even when there was so much around to cheer her, whens she was surrounded by all of those that she loved.
Elia turned her attention back to her nieces, hoping to shake the thoughts away. Of all her sisters, it was Tyene who resembled her Mother the most. Her hair was as fair as wheat and shone like spun gold in the sun and her eyes were as blue as the sky above their heads. When Oberyn had told her about the septa he had bedded, she had smacked on the back of the head and had screamed at him for being so very foolish.
But Tyene was a sweet girl who had always loved to sit with her when she was ill and read her stories from whatever book that had fallen into her lap that day or even just to sit and sing with her to try and cheer her. She had loved her so much for that, and perhaps held a certain fondness for Tyene that her other sisters had not quite been able to match.
Elia had the sense that she would not meet Sarella's mother but even with just a glance at her she could tell that she favoured her Mother over her father, she was as black as a pot of maester's ink and the top of her head was a mop of chestnut curls. Her eyes were a warm and bright amber and when she laughed, her voice was like a song.
And it wasn't just Oberyn's daughters who favoured their mother, Arianne favoured her mother as well. Mellario was a small woman with eyes the colour of golden honey and Arianne was a small girl with eyes of the same colour. Quentyn resembled his father more, with dark curls and dark eyes and a strong looking nose.
Speaking of Doran he was the only one who was not with them at that moment, he was up in his personal solar and every now and then she had caught sight of him watching them but now it seemed as though he had retreated to his solar with Areo. Mellario was sitting next to her at the table under the shade of a small clustering of blood orange trees, Torrhen was sitting in her lap and his chubby little fist was playing with her sapphire, ruby and garnet necklace.
Mellario did not seem annoyed and indeed smiled down at her nephew, offering him her finger to which he could clutch on too. Mel seemed to notice that she was staring at them and turned her head to look at him, offering her a warm smile. "Is everything well Elia? Are you feeling ill? Would you like me to ask Ned to come and take you to bed?"
Elia shook her head at her words but not for the first time she wondered how Doran could be so stupid, to not see what he was loosing right in front of him. Mel was kind and generous and had never been anything but dutiful to him and had crossed the narrow sea to be with him and yet he barely seemed to care sometimes that his union to her was falling apart, she knew that they barely saw one another, most times when one was holding court in Sunspear, the other would be in the Water Gardens.
They did their best to hide it from the rest of Dorne but it wasn't a well kept secret that their marriage was an unhappy one, they were able to keep it from the children and she was thankful enough for that. She knew that Doran had his duties as a prince and that sometimes Mellario wasn't used to that, or the way that they did things in Westeros.
She still remembered the argument they had over dinner when the matter came up that any children they might have would more than likely have to be fostered to other lords and ladies to build alliances. It was not a common or even a well known practice and Mellario had been completely against it, it had only gotten worse when Arianne and Quent had been born.
Elia had to wonder how she would feel when the time came for Mors and Torrhen to be fostered out, it would be awhile yet, most children didn't get fostered until they were at least seven and she would enjoy them for every moment that she had them and there would of course be letters and visits but even so she couldn't imagine that she would handle the separation from her sons well, it would be even worse if she had both taken away from her at the same time.
"I am fine Mellario, just lost in my thoughts, such as they are." Her hand came to rub her thumb over Mel's knuckles and smiled at her before she turned to look back at the wrestling match taking place in the pool, it seemed that Nymeria had regained her mount and her strength and had almost pushed Obara off but suddenly Ned's feet slipped and fell backward, grabbing on to Oberyn's arm as he fell and dragging both him and Obara under the surface as he and Nym fell, sending a wave of water over the edge of the pool, soaking Arianne and Tyene's feet and sending them both into a fit of giggles.
After a moment, Ned, Oberyn, Obara and Nymeria all surfaced, laughing. Even Obara was smiling before she splashed at her sister and soon another great battle was on. If only all battles brought such joy and brought no injuries on to those who fought them, if all disputes could be solved this way then perhaps the world would be a better place than it was.
But she was no such fool as to believe that would ever be the case.
Elia and Mellario watched them playing in the pool for a time, the moments slipping past like golden sand through their fingers. Tyene and Arianne had joined them and Quentyn and Sarella were dipping their feet into the water under the careful eye of the septa. A small cough bought her attention and made Elia look away from the pool to see a servant approaching, a letter clutched in her hands.
"This came but a few minutes ago Princess, Maester Caleotte wished for me to bring it to you." Elia took the sealed letter with a word of thanks and looked down at the paper, sealed with a blob of grey wax. The fierce head of the Stark direwolf emblazoned upon it, as her fingers came up to trace the seal, a chill of cold ran through her despite the blazing sun above them.
Dark wings, dark words. As she stared down at the letter Elia knew that whatever was hidden by the wax seal would not bring them any joy but she also knew that it couldn't be avoided. Her fingers brushed over the harden wax for a moment before she called out to Ned. "Ned, there's a letter and it looks to be from Winterfell."
Ned looked at her and then smiled before he crawled out of the pool and stood up, droplets of water running down his chest and his wet trousers clinging to his legs like a second layer of skin. His skin had been baked brown by the sun, in the first few weeks that they had been in Dorne, the sun had been burning his skin red and it had caused him a great deal of pain and he was forced to stay inside but as of late, he had been able to bear it better than he had been.
She held the letter out for him and he took it from her hand, glancing down at it for a moment before he looked back up at her. "I imagine that it's my Father summoning up back to Winterfell, we've been here far longer than I had been expecting."
They had indeed, they had only come to Dorne to show her brothers their sons, they hadn't expected to be in Dorne for longer than a week but as soon as they arrived, their departure for their return journey back to Winterfell had been put off more and more. Ned had been interested in speaking to Doran about the sand steeds and proposed the idea of some matches between Dorne and House Ryswell of the North, try and breed houses that were as fast and enduring as the sand steeds but large enough that they could support a knight in full armour.
Doran had seemed so interested in the idea as did Oberyn, who always had an interest in horseflesh and was often in the stables of Sunspear, over seeing the breeding and care for the steeds. Elia had missed them so much, that the thought of going back to Winterfell hadn't occurred to her in all the weeks they had stayed.
The Sand Snakes had also grown fond of their Uncle Ned and none of them wanted them to leave yet, even though Obara would neither call Ned that or would admit it. Letters had been sent back to Winterfell, assuring them that all was well and they would be returning shortly. Shortly never seemed to come however.
If it was just a summons to return to Winterfell than she would be fine with that, happy. But a summons wouldn't be instilling this sort of dread into her as she watched Ned's strong fingers break away the wax and unfolding the paper, his eyes scanning the words. After a few moments of reading, his fingers clenched tightly around the paper and he let out something that sounded like a strangled gasp.
"Ned, what is it?" Elia asked as she handed Mors over to Mellario who sat him on her knee next to his brother before standing and walking over to her husband, when she glanced behind him she saw that Oberyn had gotten out of the pool and was standing up with his arms crossed over his chest, a frown on his face.
Ned handed the letter over to her with a look on his face that she couldn't describe, at first she thought that it was a look of horror but it looked too angry for that. She began to read the letter for a moments and felt horror, shock, disappointment and rage and sadness running through her as she read the words on the paper in her hands.
Ned,
As soon as you get this letter you need to come back to Winterfell, as soon as you can. Something's happened and I have no idea what to do, Brandon's gone. He left Winterfell a few nights ago and no one has any idea where to look for them or where they went and Ashara and her daughter are gone as well and he left a note saying note to look for them.
Father's going mad, I don't think I have ever seen him this angry before in my life. As soon as he read Brandon's note, he tipped the table over and threw his chair through a window. The Maester says that if he doesn't calm down then he's going to have another attack and Benjen won't stop crying because of how scared he is.
Catelyn was hiding up in her room for days, not eating but now she's sent a letter to her father and he's coming to Winterfell but we don't know if that's just to talk or if it's to bring an army. Father's not taking any chances though because he's sent a few hundred archers down to Moat Cailin to hold the causeway if they have too.
Ned please, you need to come back now. I am scared and I have no idea what to do and I am trying to be brave for Ben but I can't, please come Ned. Please come right now.
Lyanna.
She had to read the paper again, and again before the words finally sunk in and when they finally did, she shut her eyes and let her fingers release the hold on the paper, it fluttered towards the ground as she shut her eyes and imagined all the things that she could have done to stop this. Ashara was her lady, she could have commanded her to come to Dorne with them and all this could have been avoided.
Gods, to think of how happy she was when she learned that Ashara was coming North with her, that she was bring Lauryn with them as well. That she wouldn't be alone in a strange land with strange people. How grateful she had been when Doran had summoned her down from Starfall to accompany her North.
Something clicked in her mind then and there, why had Doran chosen too summon Ashara to act as her lady? There were hundreds in Dorne who would be so grateful for the honour but Doran had chosen Ashara. And he had chosen her after the betrothal had been set and Ashara had brought Lauryn with her North and Doran had not commanded her not too.
In that one moment, Elia saw all the pieces of the puzzle that had been bothering her for so long falling into place and it all made a horrible, brutal sense and a mix of rage and horror filled every single inch of herself. She turned to Mellario. "Mel, take the children to my chambers please. Ned, come with me." She didn't wait for her husband's answer or for anyone to ask any questions, she simply stormed inside the Water Gardens.
Someone was following her but she didn't look back to see who it was, her mind was focused on one thing and one thing alone. She climbed up to the second level of the leisure place that a prince of Dorne had made for his Targaryen bride and walked the lengths of the pink marble corridors until she came to the oak door that would lead into Doran's solar, she did not knock on the door, she threw it open and walked inside.
It was so sudden that Aero Hotah drew his long axe up and looked ready to charge at her like he was a bull but once that he saw that it was her, he hesitated and Doran held up his hand to gesture for him to stand down. "Is there a reason you have decided to burst in my solar without knocking, have you forgotten your manners and courtesies?"
She wanted to slap him right there and right then, he knew. He had to know what had happened, he had planned for this. She managed to hold herself back and kept herself calm as Ned came to stand next to her, his face a mask of confusion. "Brandon Stark has run off with Ashara, he has taken Lauryn with them as well. Ashara wouldn't leave her either way but Brandon would have as well, because she is his daughter as well. But you knew that, that's why you sent her with me to the North. You planed for all of this."
Ned looked at her like she had just said that the Wall was made of frogs but Doran just stared at her for half a heartbeat before he stood up from his chair and poured himself a goblet of strongwine before picking it up and taking a sip from it. "Aero, would you be so kind as to close the door for us?" The Captain of the Guards nodded and went to shut the door without saying a word.
"You don't deny it Prince Doran, you knew that Ashara had a child with my brother?" Ned's voice sounded so cold that it would be able to freeze the Sea of Dorne on the hottest day of the year. Elia didn't think that she had ever heard him so angry in all the time that she had known him. "If that's so, then why did you send her North with Elia?"
"Let us be clear, I did not know that Ashara had a bastard with your brother, though I certainly suspected." Doran's face quivered from the pain in his legs but for the first time in possible all of time, Elia found that she didn't care about his pain. She might have even thought that he deserved it. "We all knew that Lauryn's father was not a Dornishman, and your brothers appetites were known well enough Lord Eddard. Even if it turned out that Brandon wasn't her father, Ashara would serve well enough."
"Your brother is known for being charismatic and Ashara is a beautiful woman, some would even call her the most beautiful woman in the world. One way or another, I knew that Brandon would fall for temptation and take her and would soil his reputation and would more than likely be disinherited. The fact that Lauryn was his daughter, well that just made it all the easier."
"Why?" There was a dangerous edge to Ned's voice that made Aero run his hand over his long axe and take a step forward but Doran held up his hand again to stop him. "Explain to me why you would do this, and do it now."
Doran let out a sigh before he sat back down, clearly unable to keep standing due to the pain in his legs building up. "You are a good man, Lord Eddard. A very good man indeed. You are honourable, kind and indeed wiser than I had been expecting and your idea for a match between Dorne and House Ryswell is an excellent one and you treat my sister better than I could hope but you are a second son, do you really think I would allow my sister, a princess of Dorne, to be wed to a man who was heir to nothing?"
"I wouldn't, I need to get Brandon out of the way so that you would be the heir to Winterfell instead of him and it has worked almost perfectly I think." There was no gloating in Doran's voice, that was the worst thing of all. He wasn't a villain from a song who was boasting all over his plans coming to fruition, he was her brother and he almost sounded sad.
"And in truth, it's all for the best. Lauryn get's two parents, Brandon is free of his responsibilities which I am lead to believe that he doesn't enjoy, the North gets a finer Lord Paramount in you than it would in your brother, Elia get's to become the Lady of Winterfell and my nephew is now the heir to Winterfell when you become Lord, Eddard." Doran took another sip of his wine then before he spoke again. "Everyone's happy."
"Everyone is not happy, Catelyn Tully and the child she carries is not happy at all. Lord Rickard and Lord Hoster are not happy." Elia growled out as she took another step towards him. "Your foolish plan failed Doran, Hoster Tully is going to Winterfell right now and Catelyn Tully's child will be the heir to Winterfell once it's born."
"If." Doran replied, a cool look on his face and Elia saw that her brother was gone and the Prince of Dorne had taken his place. "If the child is born, it might not and many and more things have not been settled yet. And Lord Rickard...well, things are never quite as they seem are they? He knew exactly who Lauryn was the moment he set eyes on her, he told me so in a letter and he knew what his son was as well. Did you not find it odd that Brandon and Ashara were able to escape from Winterfell so easily? I think I will leave it up to him to explain the most of it, needless to say that the alliances will hold as they have done. I imagine you will both be returning North?"
"Yes, yes we are. Today in point of fact." Ned spoke quickly and emotionlessly, his eyes as dark as pair of fat grey storm clouds. "Prince Doran, I thank you for your hospitality but I find that we have no more need for it, I will ride for Planky Town once I have changed and find a ship that will take us back North. Excuse me." With that, Ned turned and left the room and slammed the door hard behind him.
"Well, that's the end of that. I trust you will that he is soothed." Elia whirled on Doran then and slapped him hard across the face and then backed handed him with the same hand on his other cheek. She would have slapped him again but before she could, Hotah came forward and clamped his meaty hand around her wrist like it was an iron manacle.
"Princess, you forget yourself." His voice came out in a quiet rumble, like a thunderstorm approaching while Doran took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the thin trail of blood where the fire onyx of her ring had dug into his skin. With a single word he ordered Hotah to let her go as he looked up at her from where he sat.
"I will forgive that-
"I will not." Elia spat as she rubbed at her sore wrist from the strength behind Aero's hold, it was almost throbbing in pain. "I will not forgive this, any of it. I do not care for what reason you did any of it, it is unforgiveable. You used me, my friend, her daughter, my husband and his family like we were all pieces on game board to you. You and Lord Rickard both, I may step foot in Dorne again Doran, but I promise you. So long as you draw breath, I shall not forgive you." She turned and began to make her way to the door but Hotah stepped in front of her, an impassable mountain of a man.
"Let her go Captain." For a moment, Doran sounded so sad and tired that she wanted to tell him that she hadn't meant it but she didn't do that. Once Hotah had stepped out of her way, she made her way to the door and slammed it shut after she had left before making her way through pink marble corridors towards the apartments that Doran had gave them when the had arrived.
Ned was dressed in northern riding leathers, and not the sort that Doran had given him not to cook in as he rode, when she arrived and looked more angry than she had ever seen him. Mellario was sitting in the corner and left the room with a look of deep sorrow and confusion before she left the room and soon it was just the two of them, the babes asleep in the other room.
"You can't think that I knew anything about this?" She muttered quietly as Ned packed his clothes away in a trunk, the few he had decided to keep. He froze for a moment at her words before letting out a deep sigh and turning to face her, walking over to pull her close to him. Elia almost cried when she felt him kiss the top of her head.
"I know that you didn't." His words did bring on the tears and he held her for a moment before he pulled back. "But I can not, I will not stay here for a second longer. I can't."
Elia nodded, she couldn't either and so she decided to help him pack. As they packed Oberyn came to them and asked what had happened and when Elia told him he had a look of murder in his eyes that had this not happened, she might be more concerned about what he meant to do. Once all the trunks were packed, Ned left to ride to Planky Town.
He came back a few hours later as the sky was starting to turn a dark shade of pink. There was a trading ship from the Summer Isles going up to White Harbour, carrying silk and cinnamon and cloves but it would not be leaving till the morning. Neither of them wanted to stay a moment longer than they actually had too and so they still set off that night.
They arrived in Planky Town with the moon high in the sky and the chill setting into her bones and with two very unhappy babes, Yalla gave them beds for the nights and hot wine to warm them.
When the morning finally came after the longest day of her life, they were finally sailing home.
End of Chapter Fifty-Three.
Welp, there we are then. Another chapter done and this one finally answers some long asked questions, the main one being why Doran would send Ashara north with Elia if he knew, or at least had a suspicion about Lauryn's true identity. The reason is thus, he wanted to ensure that Elia would have more than a dismal little holdfast.
Now some are going to point out that this would more than likely destabilise the alliance but I offered some small clues at why that isn't going to happened, chapter after next which will be from Ned's POV will explain them. All I will say now is, Doran does nothing without considering all the factors.
Sadly, Doran's plans also don't consider the personal cost. A fault which I have always found very interesting in him. In this case, he might just cost himself his place in Elia's affections.
Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and will consider favourite, following and leaving a review.
With much love,
DiscordantSymphony