Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Trouble in Fairmarsh

Holding her son in her arms, Laerra stared down into the gardens as she watched Elia Sand sit by the fountain that lay in the middle.

A frown set on her face as she pondered the girl's very position in her household, the instructions had been quite clear from Prince Doran; she was here as punishment for her actions. 

No letters were to be allowed between Elia and her mother in fear that it might further push the young girl to think that her attempt on Amara's life was justified nor that what she had done had been forgiven. 

However, as the days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, Laerra could not help but feel sorry for Elia who didn't hide her feelings as well as she thought. 

There had been no correspondence at all for Elia, even her own father seemed content to ignore her presence after what she had done. 

Laerra could not help but think of her own mother at this time, especially now that she had a son of her own and she longed for the ability to write to her mother and ask for her advice. 

Her position was difficult, Ammett was determined to make their house great and improvements to Fairmarsh had already been implemented but it hadn't been easy. 

There was so much that needed to be done to upgrade the place that they called home, they could not linger in the past forever not if they wanted the name Cantrell to last through the ages. 

Marrying Amara to Prince Oberyn had been but the first step, a way of gaining connections that had been longed denied to the House of Cantrell in recent years after the death of Ammett's mother. 

Lady Tuya had been a lady-in-waiting to Meren Martell, the Princess of Dorne and mother to the current Prince of Dorne; her father having been a high ranking official at the court. 

Neither Ammett nor Laerra could imagine why Tuya had been allowed to marry Azra when he was nothing more than a second son of the House of Cantrell that had been unlikely to rise any higher. 

Only the death of Azra's brother had risen him up just before he had married Tuya, though still a rather uneven match and from what Laerra knew her in-laws had been very much a love-match as she and Ammett had been.

One day Anthorn would be Lord of Fairmarsh, this and it's legacy would be his and Laerra prayed that she would have played her part well enough that he would be no man's fool. 

Her son was her everything, especially after the difficult labour that she had endured to deliver him; the Maester suspecting that she might not have another child. 

If that were true then Anthorn would be the only hope of Fairmarsh staying in Cantrell hands, any child that Amara had would be a Martell meaning that it would leave the family. 

Blinking back the tears that threatened to form in her eyes, Laerra prayed to the Gods that perhaps the Maester was mistaken; she longed for a large family, she had always dreamed of having many children with her husband. 

Focusing back on Elia, Laerra knew her kindness to her had given the girl new hope; she would never tell a soul, not even her husband that she had allowed Elia to write to her mother. 

The letters were always brought to her by her ladies and she would discretely pass them to Elia when they were alone, it was the least that she could do to lift the girl's spirits. 

The quiet of Fairmarsh was a blessing to Elia, she seemed to let go of her anger after a few weeks and had started to become a welcome companion to Laerra. 

They often went down to the stables and out riding together, Fairmarsh had once been famous afterall for it's horses although in recent years they had fallen on hard times and Azra had not been as focused on horses during his rule.