a/n: sike! double chapter premiere
Watching the fountain in the middle of the courtyard grew boring far too quickly. Yet whenever she tried to calm her hands by picking at the plants, her mother pulled them away.
But she couldn't leave either. Not when her sister was right behind this bloody red door.
Perhaps that was why their father had finally allowed her to accompany him after trying to deny her for so long. Something about his agitated nature ever since they had left Sunspear told her he knew Elle would meet them here. And she would never forgive him if he did without telling her!
If whatever happened inside took any longer, she might leave anyways, and find something to bridge the time. She had not sparred in a few hours, and her tilting still needed training. Her mother could wait here, and tell Elle where to find her.
Or she could finally learn to be patient.
Eventually, the door opened, and Elle stepped out. For once in her life, she looked worse than her; tired, dirty, with torn clothing, and three scars across her face, and Elia could not help the small ounce of satisfaction.
"Everything alright?"
"Aye," Elle answered. "Could I talk to you alone for a moment?"
The seriousness in her sister's voice unsettled her, so all the answer she gave was a single nod.
Her own rooms were big, yes, but she found it a waste. She rarely spent time in them anyway, King's Landing far too exciting not to explore whenever she could. Unpacking her things from the chest had, because of this, also not happened yet.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" She picked up a bundle of clothing from a chair and unceremoniously dumped it on the floor to give her sister a place to sit. Afterwards she let herself fall onto her bed.
"I-" Elle gently sat down on the wooden chair, tapping her fingers against her thigh. "This might become a bit complicated."
"No phenomenon is too complicated for the curious mind to understand," she recited their uncle's words.
Elle's smile was small, but still there. "I shall… start at the beginning." She then took a breath, and said, "Oberyn isn't my father."
Elia blinked. "What?"
"My true name isn't Elle, either. It's Cerelle."
She furrowed her brows, trying to remember where she had heard that name before.
"And I wasn't born in Braavos, but here, in King's Landing, as the first-born child of Queen Cersei and King Robert."
It took a few moments for her to fully work through what had been said.
Elle… wasn't her sister.
No, worse than that. Elle was a princess, born to the family she ought to despise more than anything else.
"Does father know?" Elia asked.
The girl that had pretended to be her sister nodded. "I ran away from home, upon which Oberyn found me and promised to take care of me. Back then I hadn't yet been a very good liar, so he figured out who I was fairly quickly."
They sat in silence for a while, then.
"Is that-" Elia started hesitantly- "why you left?"
"In part. But it wasn't because I had grown tired of you or - gods forbid - wanted to return here. Someone had been close to figuring out who I was, so I ran to protect you. Had anyone at court known I was hiding with House Martell-" Her voice faltered. "I don't even want to imagine what they would have done to you."
"Why didn't you tell me? We could have figured out a way to keep you safe."
"I know, I know-" She buried her face in her hands, took in a breath, and then met her gaze again. "I am not very good at confrontations. Even now, even this is difficult for me. I am afraid of the people I love hating me."
And upon this, Elia knew how to proceed. Perhaps Elle wasn't her father's daughter, perhaps she was a princess, and perhaps they now were surrounded by people wishing to tear them apart, but she wouldn't let them. She was not willing to throw away their lives and relationship over such a small hiccup.
She stood up, walked over to Elle, and hugged her. The angle was awkward, but she didn't care.
Pulling away, she smiled. "No matter who our parents are, we will always remain sisters."
"Sisters," Elle agreed.