The Sun Will Shine On Us Again | Oberyn Martell

The Disappointment

Shortly after the tournament, Oberyn Martell left King's Landing with his older brother and his wife. And since then a month has passed and Joanna missed Oberyn more and more as the days were passing. She didn't want him to leave and when he was gone, she wished he'd come back. All she had left of him were the memories of the last three nights they had spent in each other's arms. They made love until they fell asleep from exhaustion.

Every single day she waited for Joffrey to complain to their mother about what he had heard, but nothing came. Her mother didn't say anything about it, and Joanna didn't want to bring up the subject herself. If by any chance Queen Cersei really didn't know what had happened between her eldest daughter and Oberyn Martell, and if Joanna would tell her about it, there would be a heated debate about what a huge mistake she had made.

However, Joanna had no idea that her mother would find out what she had done so soon. The first problems arose only about two weeks after Oberyn left King's Landing. Joanna wasn't feeling well health-wise, but she didn't tell anyone. She kept repeating to herself that all the inconveniences were only connected with her coming bleeding. The young princess was plagued by sensitive breasts and constant fatigue. And these two symptoms didn't go away, and what was worse than that was that she didn't bleed. Instead, Joanna started to feel more and more nauseous, which didn't last only in the morning.

Princess Joanna put two and two together and realized what was really happening to her body. She had heard many women in the court talking about similar symptoms, and when she realized what kind of trouble she had gotten herself into, she didn't blink an eye all night. She waited another three weeks before deciding to see Maester Pycelle, to ask him if she was really pregnant as she thought. And when the Maester confirmed her fears, she burst into tears.

Maester Pycelle tried to calm Joanna down, suggesting he'd make her milk of poppy to help her calm down, but she refused. Instead, she asked him to keep what they were talking about to himself and by all Gods not to tell her mother, Queen Cersei, or anybody else.

As soon as Joanna left Maester Pycelle's chambers, she was stopped at the door by the two men from the King's guard. She looked at both men and took a deep breath.

"Do you want something from me?" Joanna asked, kind of hoping they hadn't come for her but for the Maester.

"Your mother, the queen, is sending for you."

"Of course, she is. Where can I find her? Is she in her chambers?"

"No, she is waiting in yours," the other man replied.

Joanna put her hands together and smiled at them both. She nodded. "Thank you, gentlemen. I will get there without your help." And as Joanna told them, she did. She walked past the two men in golden armor and made her way to her chambers. She was already recalculating in her head what her mother could want from her. Maybe she somehow found out what she was hiding from her and everyone else? No, who would tell her?

Cersei sat on her daughter's bed and ran her hand over it in slow motion, waiting for her daughter to return. The moment Joanna opened the door and saw her mother, she swallowed hard. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying not to collapse on the ground. After a while, she opened her eyes and looked at the queen again.

"What is the matter, mother?"

Cersei was still stroking that one spot on the bed. She glanced at her daughter and smiled kindly. That smile told Joanna that nothing was as benign as it seemed. That smile was fake.

"Did you bleed this month?"

Joanna took a step back and gasped. She knew it. Her mother knew it.

"Why do you ask such a question? Of course, I did," she lied to her. But she knew she shouldn't have done that. There was no point in saying otherwise when she knew the truth. But who told her that? It certainly couldn't be Joffrey, he had no idea that Joanna was gravid.