Burning Water // Oberyn Martell

Chapter 2

Maya was the calmest of the Tyrell household as they sat in the bedroom waiting for the physician's verdict on what was wrong with Maya. She was seated at the edge of her bed, hands folded in her lap and a calm look on her young face. Loras was pacing back and forth at the back of the room, gnawing on his thumbnail as if he was the one getting checked by the physician. Willas and Garlan were standing next to each other near the corner of the room closest to the door. For some apparent reason Maya had the faint impression that perhaps they found the situation dangerous or that they believed her to be in some form of danger. Margaery was seated next to their father who is seated in a large armchair next to fireplace. He was staring into the flames with a blank look on his face while Margaery spotted him to try to get down and rush over to her sister's side.

Finally, the physician stepped back from Maya and turned to the rest of the Tyrells. Mace Tyrell rose to his feet to face the man, waiting for him to tell the man what was wrong with his daughter.

"There is nothing wrong with your daughter ," the physician explained , "She is completely healthy and this most certainly has nothing to do with hallucination and considering the fact that all of your children saw it themselves there is no doubt that it really happened."

Mace Tyrell frowned, "then how do you explain what she was doing? It's completely impossible to control water, are you sure that they haven't lost their minds or you haven't lost your mind?"

The physician smiled, fighting the urge to get upset by the rude remark that the Tyrell man had said towards him. Turning around he placed his hand on Maya's shoulder and smiled assuringly at her.

"there is absolutely nothing wrong with her. in fact it may be the complete opposite. She has discovered her inner core."

"you mean what all my children saw her doing is something normal? Is something to celebrate about?" Mace Tyrell inquired, "this could very well be a curse!"

"On the contrary," the physician replied. "she is a water dancer. It is completely common and not a curse. I have never met one in person myself, but they do exist. There hasn't been one for many generations, centuries in fact."

Willas and Garlan both seemed to snap out of their silent revelry and Garlan trotted over to sit down next to his sister, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "you mean my sister can control water? And there are others like her?"

"there aren't any other like her now, they're all extinct. Your sister is the only living representative of that race," The physician replied. "it is completely normal for something like this to happen. Water dancers are not created but rather just happen. Neither of Maya's parents are water dancers yet she is a water dancer herself. Just like wargs are born even if neither of their parents are wargs. It is a miracle of the human body and of human reproduction that we will never be able to understand."

"do you mean to tell me that my sister is not human, but she is rather a different race?" Loras asked, suddenly feeling very protective and defensive against the physician's accusations.

the physician smiled and shook his head at the child, "not at all, rather your sister is not a race but a human being carrying a special trait. Water dancers are not a race so to speak but rather more of a genetic trait. For instance, two siblings may be completely different: one might have blonde hair and the other black but they're both human and they're both related. In a similar manner your sister is a water dancer while you are not. It is a trait that she has but a rare trait, almost like an albino deer amongst a herd of deer."

Loras tilted his head to the side quizzically, not quite sure what the physician had meant by his answer, "what are albinos?" he asked.

Mace Tyrell rolled his eyes , "that is completely off the subject and we will talk about that later. What I would like to know is what we should do about this? Is there a way to stop it or make this genetic trait disappear?"