All of it had to be a dream… or rather an elaborate nightmare that sprung up when you least noticed it. For Oberyn it was just like that.

It all began with him and Doran being in a hall with people he was indifferent about and people he hated. Then came Elia, the sister he'd lost to the barbarity of the Lannisters, the sister he couldn't avenge because of the compliance of the Baratheons.

Things were going well there. He was with his sister, and he could hold her hand, talk to her, and even hug her. He spoke to her and looked her in the eyes, eyes he'd long since resigned to never seeing again. It was comforting, even for Doran who could walk without pain. If that wasn't a dream then what was?

But soon it turned into a nightmare.

He saw himself die and saw his sister break because of it. There were heated arguments where brother and sister were close to outright hitting one another, like children.

And then he saw his beloved murder a child. That shook Oberyn to the core.

Children were young and innocent, never to be touched no matter what the circumstance. Oberyn had made it a rule of his, and he knew so had his brother. The murder of their niece and nephew was enough to make them understand that. Yet he'd watched Ellaria do exactly that, watched her kill an innocent. Was it Myrcella's fault that he'd died? Why had Ellaria done so?

Grief was the only explanation and excuse that Oberyn could come up with.

Yet it wasn't enough. She had killed a child. It made her no better than the Lannisters he so hated. Yet she was no Tywin, nor was she Cersei. He knew his Ellaria, he knew the woman he loved. She was nothing like them.

And yet…

"My love?"

The gentle voice drew him out of his thoughts. The world around him came back into focus. He was not in some dark hall anymore, he was back at Sunspear, back in the chambers he'd grown up and lived in most of his life.

And in bed with him was the woman who'd captured his heart like no other.

Oberyn almost recoiled when Ellaria cupped his face, but soon found himself relaxing, losing himself in the kind and gentle eyes of his lady love.

This was the Ellaria he'd fallen for, the woman he loved so dearly, the kind and loving mother of his beautiful daughters.

"You're crying," she said gently.

Oberyn noticed then that his face was wet.

Ellaria gently wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Just a nightmare, beloved" Oberyn said with a smile.

-x-

"Your brother wishes to speak with you, alone."

There was something tense in Areo's tone, in the way he stood and stared at everyone present at the table.

No, he was always like this, always on guard no matter how familiar the surroundings were, even after years of not swinging his spear against an enemy.

Oberyn looked back at the rest who sat with him. Ellaria stared blankly at Areo, while his daughters paid more attention to their own thing. Obara was busy eating, Nymeria and Tyene speaking about something or the other. Sarella and Elia too were speaking, though they were more animated. Obella, Dorea, and Loreza were focused on their food as if the three had not had any food in a long time. Appetites, all his daughters had it, something that Oberyn encouraged always.

"He is breaking his fast, surely the Prince can wait" Ellaria requested, eyeing the Captain of the Sunspear Guards with a blank look.

"I'm sorry, he has asked for Prince Oberyn to attend to him immediately."

Ellaria did not look too pleased.

"I'll go," Oberyn said before Ellaria could speak once more. He threw her an apologetic look and the woman just sighed.

Oberyn stood, planting a kiss on his lover's cheek before walking out with Areo Hotah.

"Has my brother told you why I'm being summoned?"

"He has not."

Oberyn ended the conversation there. If Doran had not shared it with Areo, the man would not even try to guess what it could be about. That was what Doran liked about the man; he was loyal and obedient, a man who did not ask too many questions.

Areo stopped and so did Oberyn, they had reached Doran's solar. The man stood by the door and motioned for Oberyn to go in. The Red Viper nods, pushing the door open and entering. Doran sat on his chair, a blanket covering his legs as he stared out the window.

"You called for me, brother?" Oberyn asked just as the doors behind him shut with a loud thump.

Doran did not speak yet, staring out the window while gently rubbing his knees.

"It felt good to be able to stand on my own and not feel this pain," he said finally.

Oberyn stiffened.

Doran motioned for Oberyn to come forward and the man did, stiffly.

"I thought it was a dream" Oberyn whispered.

"If it was, I am loathe to wake from to" Doran replied, "but it was not. You know this as well."

Oberyn did not speak.

"We must adapt our plans, to make sure the travesty that happened does not happen this time around" from the corner of his eyes he looked at Oberyn. "What will you do about Ellaria?"

"What is there to do?" Oberyn asked.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"And I'm telling you, there is nothing to do," Oberyn said with a frown, "she only went down that path because of my stupidity. Had I not gone blind from my vengeance and finished that overgrown beast when he was down, things would have been different."

"Had you not devoted yourself to vengeance you wouldn't be in that situation to begin with."

"Should I have let it go then? That they killed our sister?"

"I believe you had this talk with our sister already" Doran looked away. "Think about what you saw happened because of your choices, how your family broke, and how the people you loved become corrupted from it. Do not do it to them."

Oberyn did not speak.

"Yet if you insist and lose your head in doing so… I will not be so lenient if any of your children or your paramour show signs of becoming what we saw them become. I will not have us become the same as Tywin Lannister and his ilk."

Again Oberyn said nothing.

"We must also look away from Viserys Targaryen. He is no King, he is in no state to be King."

"Daenerys then?"

"Or even the one up North."

"Jon Snow will not try to take the throne for himself, that much I could tell by looking at him. He hasn't been raised to be so ambitious."

"No, only dutiful. Perhaps it's time I call on my daughter. It worries me that I had not seen her in the vision. Does she die? Or had she not appeared before we were sent back?"

"We will all die if we only focus on who to push for the Iron Throne. The threat Beyond the Wall, that should take priority."

"We need a good King to unite us against it, someone who understands duty and does not shirk it."

"You wish to use Arianne to convince Jon to take the throne? She is seven years his elder."

"That might be an issue… yet it might not be. Regardless, you will go to Winterfell with Arianne and whoever else you choose to take with you. You will represent Dorne's support for the efforts to fortify the Wall."

Oberyn nods. Not the worst plan. But Oberyn doubted whether Arienne would be able to convince on to do anything. The boy is honorable to a fault and prefers keeping his head down. No doubt Ned Stark instilled that in him, so if by any chance Jon ever found out who he was, he wouldn't challenge Robert or his scions.

But Robert had none of legitimate birth, which made it fair game. There could even be a chance that Ned Stark planned to-

"I didn't remember Elia being so young."

Doran's words interrupted Oberyn's thoughts. The younger brother looked at his older brother, whose eyes looked slightly misty.

"Seeing her again… it reminded me of how young she was when she was taken from us…"

Oberyn placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Doran inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"Tyrion Lannister will do what he promised to do" Doran spoke, though more for himself than for Oberyn. "Tywin Lannister will be dead and we will have our vengeance."

"Hypocritical of you to say that after telling me to stop thinking about vengeance."

The brothers shared a laugh.