Burning Water // Oberyn Martell

Chapter 7

It seemed like any ordinary day in Littlefinger's brothel as Oberyn Martell studied each of the women that the man Olyver had brought in for his amusement. Ellaria lay behind him, lounging on the bed as she waited for him to select the perfect candidate. Oberyn honestly did not want to be there, selecting a woman whom he felt suited Ellaria's fetish. It had been this way for almost six years, wishing desperately that he had found a better purpose in his life rather than visiting every brothel known to man with his paramour who would one minute seem obsessed in sharing Oberyn's bed with a third party and then the other minute, acting ridiculously jealous if Oberyn's full attention was not on her enjoyment.

As Oberyn ordered the women to remove their clothes so he could "examine them" his mind raced back several years when he was standing upon that dance floor in Highgarden, his hand securely placed on the slender, but not too thin waist of Mayaka Tyrell. Her perfectly curved hips swaying to the gentle music, her long auburn ringlets dancing against her back, the gold in her hair radiated by the color of her dress. Her eyes, as blue as the clear sky of Dorne looking up at him inquisitively from beneath thick, long lashes that dusted her creamy cheeks. Her perfectly rounded bosom dangerously close to being pressed against his own chest, her tiny, slender hand cupped firmly in his tanned one. For a sixteen-year-old girl, she was a picture of beauty, elegance and grace.

The man was snapped from his thoughts by Ellaria who made a laughing comment about the shy and timid personality of the girl Oberyn had been examining. Oberyn hastily moved on to the next girl, realizing that he had zoned out. When Ellaria seemed satisfied with the red head before him, Oberyn took a step back, the tension in his shoulders relaxing now that he didn't have to view girls whose very existence was about sleeping with people. Not that he didn't like sleeping with women... but it was one thing to have one's physical pleasures taken care of and another for all the pleasures of the body to be caressed and appreciated.

Oberyn turned and faced the man, Olyver, who stood beside the girls, seemingly pleased that one of the girls he had selected suited Ellaria's tastes. After Oberyn had fathered eight girls, four of which had been by women that he had slept with only once or twice, he had made it a mission to not father children unless he meant to. That was why he took Ellaria as his paramour since his brother Doran seemed to dislike any woman in Dorne as the candidate for Oberyn's wife so a paramour was the next best thing and the best way Oberyn could father children without suddenly happening upon a 5-year-old child who was declared his bastard. He had seen that mistake being made by Doran with Oberyn's niece Nanteza. Doran had fathered the girl without his knowledge and Nanteza had been discovered by Doran the night of Elia's rape and murder, an innocent, lost child with no family.

Oberyn had taken the girl under his wing and disguised her lineage as her being his daughter, fearing that either Doran would deny her being his child or would treat her terribly because of her lack of legitimacy. It was safer for both Nanteza's sanity and safety that she was believed to be Oberyn's daughter, though the knowledge of the truth was known only by Nanteza and Oberyn. He had told Nanteza the truth upon her 7th name day, feeling that it was only fair she knew but the girl had declared that she understood that Doran might have been the one to create her, but Oberyn was the one who loved her and had continued to look upon Oberyn as her father, though only called him "uncle" in private.

The prince of Dorne strode over to Olyver and considered the young man who was just a little taller than him. "You stay."

Olyver frowned. He had been frowned upon for the past three years since his brother had foolishly raped the serving girl Maya in an unconscious state and he had soon found that unless the customer payed handsomely, he was not allowed to gift his time to the desires of the guest. He was not sure if this was because Miss Veer wanted to avoid him getting into a similar situation as his brother who had become thirsty for flesh after years of constant pleasure giving to guests or perhaps, she was doing that to punish Olyver in his brother's absence (who had been sent to prison for his crime) by denying him the pleasures except at certain times. The latter seemed less likely but even so, Olyver preferred to not get in trouble today.